Hostile Takeover Recap and Results

By Adam Morgan

LOUISVILLE, KY – Revolution Fight League delivered an exciting night of action on Saturday night at Hostile Takeover, topping the evening off by crowning a new welterweight champion in Roger Bowling. In the night's main event, Bowling defeated former champion Shamar Bailey via ref stoppage before one minute had passed in the first round. Bowling came out extremely aggressive, pushing the pace and forcing Shamar scramble around the cage to gather his wits. Bowling was relentless, however, knocking Bailey down with his powerful punching and ending the fight quickly with numerous unanswered strikes on the ground as the referee stepped in to save Bailey from taking more punishment. Roger Bowling not only walked away as champion on Saturday night, but also showed the RFL and its fans that he is not to be taken lightly.

In other action, heavyweight Mike Yanez returned to the cage, making short work of his opponent Craig Schoonover. Yanez immediately secured a takedown against the cage and once his opponent was on the ground he was no match for Yanez. Yanez immediately mounted him and transitioned to a beautiful armbar that ended the fight within the opening two minutes.

The Ferguson brothers, Josh and B.J., also put on crowd-pleasing performances. Josh Ferguson went the distance with Orville Smith, threatening with several submission attempts throughout the fight. He secured an extremely deep guillotine choke on Smith in the first round that looked like it could have been a fight ender but Smith was able to work his way out. Ferguson looked to have the more technical standup and landed a spinning backfist in round two that wowed the crowd.

Unfortunately for Ferguson, however, that gave Smith an opportunity to take him down and work some ground and pound for most of the second round. Smith was able to lock up a deep triangle choke at the end of round three but was unable to finish as Josh held on until the end of the round. Smith ended up being the victor via split decision on the judges' scorecards but Ferguson had nothing to be ashamed of, as he and Smith gave the crowd an extremely entertaining bout.

Josh's brother B.J. also fought on the card, beating Brandon Bell via unanimous decision. Ferguson was never really in trouble during the fight and threatened Bell with several submission attempts, including a gogoplata attempt just as the horn sounded at the end of round one. Ferguson also threw up several armbar attempts from the bottom and landed a lot of great knee strikes in the clinch when the fight was standing. Bell proved to be a very game opponent but Ferguson's overall game ended up being too much for him in the end with Ferguson coming away the victor via unanimous decision.

It was a great night for Revolution Fight League, crowning a new welterweight champion and hosting a slew of entertaining fights and early finishes. Macon, Georgia is in for a treat on May 17th when the RFL rolls into town.

FULL RESULTS:

Mike Yanez def. Chris Schoonover via submission (armbar), round one
Rob Smith def. Billy Smith via submission (choke), round one
Johnny Cardona def. Lane Splawn via TKO (strikes), round one
Josh Ball def. Tommy Wales via TKO (strikes), round one
Joe Heink def. Isaiah Combs via submission (rear naked choke), round two
Tim Cook def. Nick Moeler via unanimous decision
Orville Smith def. Josh Ferguson via split decision
Charles Nutt def. Brandon Walker via submission (armbar), round one
Craig Turner def. Derek Sawyer via split decision
B.J. Ferguson def. Brandon Bell via unanimous decision
Roger Bowling def. Shamar Bailey via TKO (strikes), round one*
 
*Roger Bowling wins RFL Welterweight Championship