Francis Tiapis Wins by Split Decision at Coga: Posener’s MMA Vancouver
Congratulations to Francis on a hard fought win on Saturday night, February 17 ’18 at the Coga Combat Games MMA in the US.
Here is a brief review of the fight:
In the First round , Santiago came out strong with crisp hard, fast strikes, that were perhaps a bit better than expected based on the small amount of video we could find. He came into this mma fight with a 5-1 record. There were some good exchanges by both fighters. Francis did land some low kicks, his patented overhand right, some jabs and clinch battles. Santiago did land a takedown or two but Francis was able to recover and keep battling, as he always does. The first round was close but Santiago may have gotten the round based on initiating the takedown and being busy in the clinch with some knees and punches.
In the Second Round , there were some relatively equal exchanges of strikes and some back and forth action against the cage and in the clinch. However, Francis gained top cross body side control against Santiago and Santiago was defending the position quite well considering his position close to the cage. Of course, Francis likes to execute his submission attempts from cross body side mount. That option was limited and he was close to us. We told him to get the mount, and he did effortlessly. Francis spent quite some time on the top mount and Santiago was defending strongly and Francis was able to get the back mount and was fighting strongly to finish the RNC. Santiago was defending the RNC strongly and Francis did not get the finish. Santiago was able to scramble free right at the end of the round. Francis, in my opinion, certainly got that round.
In the Third Round, there were some good exchanges of strikes, clinch battles and cage fighting that were back and forth. Santiago was using the 100% grip position to control some of Francis movement and was busy and quite strong in the clinch. Francis did fight well against this strong opponent and was able to also finish the fight on the mount. In my opinion, that strong finish and mount position got him the round.
It was a good battle with good sportsmanship by both camps. It was a pleasure to be involved with this organization that was run by an old friend of mine. The venue, and organization were professional and the sold out crowd enjoyed the action, which we had the pleasure of watching the remaining fights. Francis is now 5-0 in mma.
Thank you to our awesome instructor team, Costa Rojas, George Kassimatis, Hayden Francis, Gus Rodriquez, Andrew De Leon, Emilio Ditrocchio, Jonathan Chan, Victor Tiapis, and those who helped Francis get ready for this fight. We are looking forward to the next challenge.
www.PosenersPankrationmma.com