Wallaceburg Fighter Jesse Gross Suffers aTough Loss in His Bellator Debut

Wallaceburg’s own Jesse Gross got a rough time and a jiu-jitsu education in his Bellator 47 preliminary bout against Alexandre Bezerra on Saturday night as he was choked unconscious early in the first round via a rear naked choke submission.

It is the second submission defeat in a row for Gross, after he burst on to the mixed martial arts scene late in 2009 and went on a six fight winning streak. His impressive streak included solid wins over high level fighters like Rory McDonell and Pablo Santos but ended in June of this year with a controversial loss to Brad Cardinal. Cardinal had a rear naked choke on Gross as well, but Gross seemed to be aware and defending when the ref jumped in and stopped the fight in error.

This time there was no doubt at all as the thicker and stronger Bezerra showed quick technical strength and dominance once he secured a takedown as he was able to maneuver and secure Jesse’s back extremely quickly. The Brazilian sunk his two hooks in tight and secured the choke knocking Gross unconscious before he was able to tap out.

Gross is notorious for being a raw, aggressive, tough as nails fighter but he is going to have to work on his concealed aggression and takedown defense as Cardinal timed his take down easily on a charging, overly aggressive  Gross.

As is known with his aggressive style, it is also known that Gross is studying to be a police officer and also holds down two separate jobs to put himself through school and train for MMA. He is now facing competitors who train for this sport full time and Gross needs to take the chance and go for broke in his training, and make his dream happen. If he continues to try to do this part time, he will continue to have many nights like last night. He is young and highly skilled, and a break through sponsorship funding is paramount for him as soon as possible in order to take his career to the next level.

Josh Rich (2nd from left) surrounded by teammates including 2010 Canadian National Grapplers Quest Teen Champion Justin Steele (2nd from right) and (right to left) Shane Francoeur, Jed Wells and Joey Redding.

Gracie Barra Chatham’s Josh “The Ripper” Rich Dominates with 90-second Submission

Gracie Barra Chatham fighter Josh “The Ripper” Rich once again proved his dominance in the cage with another fast submission victory this past weekend at the TXC 30 Summerfest event that took place in Commerce, Michigan.

Josh finished the fight in just over 90 seconds of the 1st round against Justin Baricsky, a fighter out of True Fighter Team in Michigan.

The event took place outdoors at the Uptown Grille in Commerce, Michigan on Saturday, and was held by Triple X Cage Fighting, one of the top amateur mixed martial arts organizations in Michigan.

 Triple X Cage Fighting events can be seen live online, or on MY20 Detroit.

Dwight Wakabayashi is CKSN’s MMA Editor, and a new Featured Columnist at CKSN.ca (Also a  Feature Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and a correspondent for MMACanada.net).

 Catch him on Twitter @wakafightermma