Carlo-Clauss Wins Main Event at the Rock

By Lynne Snierson

Strikeforce veteran Don Carlo-Clauss made his return to Combat Zone MMA action at Rockingham Park a triumphant one as he scored a TKO over local favorite John Ortolani in 3:53 of the second round in the main event on Friday night in front of a capacity crowd in the track’s Sports Club.  

Carlo-Clauss, representing the power house Team Bomb Squad in New York, executed the take down on Ortolani, who fights for Triumph MMA in Nashua, in the fateful second round and then rocked him with a flurry of strikes and punches before referee Kevin McDonald called off the action for the 155-pounders.

Carlo-Clauss, who lost in a second round TKO to John Benoit of Methuen, Mass., when he last fought here in Combat Zone 35 in October of 2010, said afterward that the ride home to Rochester, N.Y. would be shorter and sweeter this time. 

“It feels really good to win here,” said the former standout wrestler at the University of Virginia, who is now 8-6-0. “I was just grinding on him and hit him with a good shot and he rolled over. I knew it was the end then. So I got some good space over him and put a good punch into him and it was over.”  

Former UFC fighter and The Ultimate Fighter semi-finalist Chuck O’Neill, who is now affiliated with Triumph MMA and worked the corner for Ortolani said, “John will definitely come back. He’s a strong fighter, a good fighter and a young fighter. He’ll be back and he’ll be fine.”  

Ortolani, a Major League Lacrosse player who hails from Billerica, Mass., is now 7-2-1 as a pro.

In the co-main event for welterweights, the hometown crowd wasn’t enough to help Brandon Cyr of Salem, who got nailed with a left hook early in the going and then was knocked flat on his back when Ray Shawdee followed up with a powerhouse punch that resulted in a TKO in only 1:13 of the first round. The 26-year-old Cyr, who fights for Team Dow, is still looking for his first win as a pro while Shawdee, who is from Saugus, Mass., improved to 3-1-1 for Brazilian Top Team.  

The most intriguing match on the 11-bout card was between Bellator and Strikeforce veteran Louis “Handgunz” Taylor from Chicago and Perry “Filthy’ Filkins, one of the fastest rising middleweights in the Northeast. Filkins is now one step closer to the big time after scoring a second round TKO in 4:02 when he caught a tired and bloodied Taylor with a right uppercut that put him on the ground and left him vulnerable to a pounding from the local fighter.  

“I trained really hard for this fight. My cardio was the difference,” said Filkins, who represents the Militech Fighting System in Hooksett where he lives. “I got tired, too, and was a little sloppy but I pulled it together and that’s all that counts. I got him down and started raining elbows after elbows, and elbows hurt. I did what I had to do to win. This is definitely the biggest win of my career and a big step up in competition. I should have finished it in the first round.”  

Filkins won his fourth fight in a row as a pro and now stands at 4-1-0 while Taylor slipped to 7-3-0.  

In the first of the four pro matches of the night, Walter Smith Cotito, who rolled through the amateur ranks making light work of his opponents and had his debut as a pro, faced his toughest foe yet in Josh Lange, who was also a first time pro with a spotless amateur record. Cotito had several chances to submit his opponent by triangle choke in the final round of the bantamweight test but he couldn’t execute the moves and ultimately lost when all three judges scored the fight 30-27 in favor of Lange (1-1-0), who was part of the Team Bomb Squad arsenal. Cotito (0-1-0) represented Triumph MMA and is from Milford.  

Combat Zone 41 returns to Rockingham Park will another full card of action of Friday, April 27.  

RESULTS: AMATEURS: 135 lbs: Tim Lightfoot (1-0-0), Jaffrey, NH def. Jay Parrin (0-1-0) of Hudson, NH by unanimous decision 155 lbs: Lloyd Fernandez (1-0-0) of Boston, MA def. Cleon Hoggard (0-1-0) of Manchester, NH (0-1-0) by unanimous decision 150 lbs: Mike Materkowski (3-2-0) of Amesbury, MA def. Derek Shorey (1-4-0) of Rochester, NH by rear naked choke; Round 2- :52 165 lbs: Cody Anderson (3-0-0) of Billerica, MA def. Ahsan Abdullah (3-2-0) of Binghamton, NY by TKO; Round 2- 2:11 135 lbs: Jared Cuomo (2-0-0) of Windham, NH def. Hassan Mahmood (2-4-0) of Queens, NY by Peruvian choke; Round 2 -1:16 170 lbs: David Spero (2-2-0) of Atkinson, NH def. Nick Berube (2-3-0) of Manchester, NH by split decision 135 lbs: Peggy Morgan (1-0-0) of Manchester, NH def. Fernanda Aurajo (1-0-0) of Wakefield, MA by arm bar; Round 2- 2:54 PROS: 135 lbs: Josh Lange (1-0-0) of Sanborne, NY def. Walter Smith Cotito (0-1-0) of Milford, NH by unanimous decision 185 lbs: Perry Filkins (4-1-0) of Hooksett, NH def. Louis Taylor (7-3-0) of Chicago, IL by TKO Round 2- 4:02 170 lbs: Ray Shawdee (2-1-1) of Saugus, MA def. Brandon Cyr (0-2-0) of Salem, NH by KO Round 1- 1:13 155 lbs: Don Carlo-Clauss (8-6-0) of Rochester, NY def. John Ortolani (7-3-1) of Billercia, MA by TKO Round 2- 4:02