THE CANADIAN PRESS
BOISBRIAND, Que. — Steve Bosse continues to show the same fighting prowess in the ring that he used to display at the rink.
The former hockey tough guy knocked out former UFC fighter Houston Alexander on Friday in the main event of the Instinct 1 mixed marital arts event.
Alexander was the recipient of a Bosse standing elbow late in the second round that ended his night. Bosse, from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., won an exciting first round against the fighter known as "The Assassin" and rode the momentum into the second round for the victory.
Bosse, who improved his MMA record to 9-1, credited his trainers for his success. Bosse promised to "to continue to work harder…to keep my head down and keep training" following the biggest win of his career.
Before taking up mixed martial arts, Bosse played in the fight-heavy North American Hockey League based out of Quebec, where he racked up 1,042 penalty minutes in 150 games.
Patrick Cote defeated UFC veteran Crafton Wallace, giving Cote his third straight win since leaving the UFC. Cote and Wallace traded blows to start the match, but Wallace injured his knee after a Cote takedown.
Cote said he heard Wallace’s knee pop as he went to the canvas.
"I was coming aggressive … and I was happy," Cote said. "I always had more success when I was having fun. I found a way to have fun again and I think it showed."
Eric Barrak defeated 356-pound Eric (Butterbean) Esch in a fight that didn’t live up to its billing as a standup war. Barrak worked his jab from outside out of the range of the huge Butterbean. Butterbean tried to chase him down with little success, then Barrak caught Butterbean in a choke in the third round to end the fight.
In the highlight of the night, Quebec’s Martin Grandmont landed a sensational head kick to put William Sriyapai to sleep in the first round. It was announced that Grandmont will face (The New York Bad Ass) Phil Baroni, who is newly signed, on Instinct MMA’s next show on Dec. 2 in Quebec City.
"My trainer Yannick Bergeron was calling for the head kick 10 seconds before I threw it," Grandmont said.
As for his next fight, Grandmont stated: "The New York Bad Ass will meet the Quebec Bad Ass."
Derek Gauthier of nearby Laval ended his two-fight losing streak by submitting Travis Cox with a kimura in the second round of their fight.
In other main card action, Chris Kelades of Dartmouth, N.S., surprised Dimitri Waardenburg of Granby, Que., and won a split decision. Despite getting knocked down by a Waardenburg head kick in the second round, Kelades came back and clearly won the third round to clinch the victory.
Jason Courchesne quickly dispatched Alex Gutierrez in the first round. Courchesne impressed the crowd by quickly obtaining the full mount on his Mexican opponent and finishing him with an arm bar.
Elsewhere on the card:
— 32 year old Guy Poulin won his MMA debut via ground and pound over Yannick Duval.
— Strahinja Gavrilovic defeated Evan Nedd in a slower paced fight that lasted three rounds.
— Devin Henry survived a first round knockdown by Johan Croes and came back in the later rounds to win a decision.
— Guillaume Vigneau choked Shawn Levesque for a first round victory.
— Brad Morgan dispatched Dave Bedard with strikes for a first round win.
— Todd Stoute outclassed Scott Edward and finished him in the second round with some vicious ground and pound.
— Levis Labrie won the first fight in Instinct MMA history against Pete Martin.
NOTES: Impact MMA boss Stephane Patry said attendance was roughly 4,200 at the venue, the Centre d’Excellence Sports Rousseau, a rink converted for the MMA event with a capacity of about 5,000 … The organization has also signed former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver, who will fight on the December card at 135 pounds … Bosse may have suffered a broken hand. He will get it X-rayed and evaluated in the coming days.
