Darabedyan, Khashakyan dominate at CXF Gold Rush

STUDIO CITY – Once a rising star in the lightweight ranks of mixed martial arts, Karen Darabedyan exemplified just why he was once a burgeoning prospect and why his star isn’t yet done shining on Friday night.

Turning in what is likely his biggest and most impressive victory since his days in World Extreme Cagefighting, Glendale’s Darabedyan submitted Joe Condon at 1:12 in the first round of their junior welterweight main event title fight at California Xtreme Fighting’s Gold Rush card at the Sportsmen’s Lodge late Friday night.

“Once he shot in, I had to go for the guillotine, it’s my go-to move,” said Darabedyan, a Glendale High graduate who trains at Glendale’s Main Event Gym and Team Hayastan in North Hollywood.

Darabedyan wasn’t the only Jewel City fighter with a standout victory.

Alfred Khashakyan of the Glendale Fighting Club thoroughly dominated Andrew Natividad en route to a first-round technical knockout at 1:51 in the co-main event, which was for the CXF bantamweight belt.

“When I caught him with that first right [I knew I had him],” Khashakyan said. “But actually, I think I had him at the weigh-ins [on Thursday]. I think I broke him down spiritually.”

Long regarded for his versatility, Darabedyan (12-5) showed his prowess standing before locking in his third consecutive first-round submission, all of them coming via guillotine choke. It was Darabedyan’s second win in less than two months after having fought just once in 32 months prior to his March win. Condon, a World Series of Fighting veteran, fell to 12-10.

“I’m trying to get to the big show,” said Darabedyan, who was cornered by Main Event’s Roma Kalentaryan, Hayastan’s Gokor Chivichyan and Sevak Magakian. “I don’t know, we’ll see what’s next.”

At the onset of the main event, which was preceded by a huge “Kar-ren” chant, Darabedyan worked a quadruple left jab. While none of them looked to connect, it showed a clear striking advantage. Darabedyan followed with myriad right leg kicks.

“I knew right after the first two leg kicks landed,” said Darabedyan, whose fight was contested at 160 pounds. “I knew I had him wobbly.”

The beginning of the end came when Darabedyan landed a left kick to the stomach and Condon shot in, allowing Darabedyan to seamlesslylock in a guillotine. As they went to the ground, Darabedyan cinched it in tighter and got the first-round submission.

“I think [the kick] hurt him a lot because it was right to the liver and it forced him to shoot,” Darabedyan said. “I knew I had a chance to finish him, I just didn’t know it would be that quick.”

GFC’s Khashakyan (6-2) emerged with his sixth knockout victory, as he hunted down Natividad (6-7) and rebounded from a unanimous decision loss in his last bout in October.

“This is something where, after a loss, I came back better,” said Khashakyan, who was cornered by GFC’s Edmond Tarverdyan, Martin Berberyan and Jesse Forbes. “I feel like I’m ready for a step up.”

It was apparent from the get-go that Khashakyan had a massive advantage on the feet and after landing an early right hand that looked to stun Natividad, it seemed the end was a foregone conclusion. Khashakyan used nice footwork to angle and cut off his opponent.

The conclusion closed in with a left hand that dropped Natividad. Khashakyan rained down punches, but Natividad worked his way up only to be dropped viciously by a right hand.

Follow-up punches ensued to prompt the stoppage at 1:51.

“It feels great,” Khashakyan said. “Now I feel like I have to defend this title against a better opponent.”

In earlier action, Main Event’s Armen Bakanyan lost a tough rematch to Dmitry Gerasimov.
Bakanyan (2-4-1) made his pro debut against Gerasimov (6-4) and lost via split decision. This time, Gerasimov took a unanimous nod by scores of 29-28 twice and 30-27.

Bakanyan and Gerasimov engaged in a see-saw first round. Bakanyan stunned Gerasimov with a right cross, but Gerasimov worked a clinch and then wrestled him down to the canvas.

The fight returned to standing and the two exchanged good shots before Bakanyan got a takedown and went for a guillotine. Bakanyan landed another takedown off a missed spinning back kick, but Gerasimov landed a takedown right at the end of the round.

The second round was mostly all stand-up with Gerasimov getting the edge due to aggression, though both landed some good shots. Late in the round, though, Gerasimov reversed a Bakanyan takedown attempt and landed some solid ground and pound and then shots in the clinch.

In the third and final round, Gerasimov was the aggressor and landed the better shots, connecting well with punches and leg kicks. Late in the stanza, though, Bakanyan turned it on and the two exchanged shots as the crowd cheered loudly to conclude it.

In the first of three CXF title bouts, Moses Murrieta knocked out Matthew Spencer 51 seconds into the opening round. Murrieta (3-0) defended a takedown against the cage, got his space back and landed a perfect left jab-right uppercut combo to put Spencer (4-2) to sleep.

In a bantamweight matchup of popular Southern California fighters, Terrion Ware outboxed and out leg-kicked Rob Gooch, battering and bloodying his foe en route to a unanimous decision. Ware improved to 14-5, while Gooch fell to 3-3-1.

The second bout of the night was a controversial one.

Marlen Magee (4-3) picked up a disqualification win over Craig Plaskett (0-1) in the latter’s pro debut. Plaskett, out of Team Hayastan, seemed to connect on a low blow that was missed and then almost finished the fight with a barrage of punches. Another low blow later halted the bout. Shortly after, Plaskett unleashed a huge overhand right that knocked out Magee. Plaskett followed with a hammerfist on the downed fighter just as referee Mike Beltran got in between them, but Plaskett launched another punch, prompting the DQ.

In other bouts: Derion Chapman (4-4) kicked off the night in spectacular fashion with a left head-kick knockout over Team Hayastan’s Serob Minasyan (7-7) at the 2:50 mark of the second round in a lightweight bout; the third bout of the night saw Joshua Jones (3-0) defeat Akkim Lee (0-1) via second-round guillotine choke in their 159-pound catchweight tilt; Bulgarian bantamweight Tihomir Blagovestov (5-0) stayed unbeaten with an arm-in guillotine submission at 2:22 of the first round against Fard Muhammad (3-4).