Alaska Fighting Championship would celebrate both the past and the future at AFC 128 in contrasting main events as two Heavyweights would bow out after turning back the years and one of Alaska’s hottest prospects, Nick Novelli would remain undefeated.
AFC 128 took place at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, Alaska and would feature Brian Ryan and Julio Paulino battling it out in a main event rematch that was 11 years in the making.
The AFC icons had come out of retirement for this final fight and despite Ryan being the longest reigning AFC Heavyweight champion and Paulinho’s UFC run, with both men the wrong side of forty, this bout would never feel like anything other than an exhibition.
Paulino didn’t take long to get started in the first round, catching a body kick from Ryan to tip him over and pounce into top position. Smothering his opponant and working with slow methodical strikes, Paulino would close the round out in that fashion. This was to become the story of the fight.
Ryan rushed out, clocking “The Dominican Demon” with a big right hand at the start of round two but Paulino would recover and take control before taking the fight to the ground for a repeat of round one.
The next three rounds would follow suit, with the striking exchanges short and ineffective before more takedowns by Paulino. The highlights of the bout coming late on with Ryan lifted up and slammed on his back by his dominant opponant with high impact that gave the fans something to cheer about.
At the end, it could only go one way as Paulino was declared the winner by unanimous decision to bring both men’s careers to an end.
The importance of both fighters to the early days of the promotion was recognised in a presentation that immediately followed the fight as they were given AFC Hall of Fame belts and became the first ever inductees.
In the co-main event, Nick Novelli continued to look like Alaska’s top prospect as he successfully defended his Featherweight belt against Maui Fights‘ Zach Zane in an impressive and dominant performance.
At the start of the first round, Zane landed a big knee which dropped Novelli and shockdd the crowd. Quickly recovering and with Zane unable to capitalise, “The Natural” swept his opponent and took control of the fight swiftly takig the back and hammering on the Hawaiian with hard elbows until the bell.
Novelli would continue to work his ground game against Zane in the second round however he became a bit overzealous with his elbows leading to a points deduction when he struck his foe in the back of the head.
Buoyed by his grip on the fight, Novelli turned it up on round three immediately pressuring Zane and forcing him into the same pattern as before. This time though the Alaskan would secure a rear naked choke forcing Zane to tap quickly to retain his Featherweight crown.
Holding both the AFC Featherweight and Lightweight titles simulataneously, the 33-year-old would take his chance after the fight to issue a plea to the UFC to make the call and with his undefeated record in tact, that might be not too far away.
Meanwhile, Chris Bennett left an impression as he needed just over a minute of the first round to get the submission win over Clifford White.
Bouncing back from two losses in his previous fights for AFC, Bennett looked a class above the less experienced White. Immediately taking his opponent to school with his superior BJJ skills, it was a case of ‘when not if’ for Bennett as he smoothly transitioned to the back and quickly got the submission from there with a tight rear naked choke.
Also on the card, Jordan Wright bested John Stern by submission to remain undefeated and local fighter Skyler Moore would grab his second professional win over fellow rookie Aaron Ulron.
AFC 128 Results
Julio Paulino def. Brian Ryan via unanimous decision
Nick Novelli def. Zach Zane via submission (RNC) in 1:07 of Rnd 3
Chris Bennett def. Clifford White via submission (RNC) in 1:13 of Rnd 1
Andrew Garrett def. Kenny Hill via TKO (Punches) in 2:56 of Rnd 1
Jordan Wright def. John Stern via submission (Arm Triangle) in 1:32 of Rnd 1
Skyler Moore def. Aaron Ulron via submission (Shoulder Choke) in 2:05 of Rnd 3
Dedrek Sanders def. Vedad Pezer via submission (RNC) in 2:52 of Rnd 2
