Connecticut's Exclusive MMA Coverage
For Connecticut Residents Who Love MMA
ARCHIVED STORY FALL 2019
De Jesus retains title with vicious
knockout at CES 58;
Porter punches his way to a win;
Hartford crowd angry with
Kosakowski loss
Vinicius De Jesus, left, versus Chris Lozano on September 7 at the Connecticut Convention Center.
Photo by Tasha Naomi Anastasi
By Brian Woodman Jr.
(Hartford, CT -- September 7)
CES welterweight belt holder Vinicius De Jesus (9-2) successfully defended his title on Saturday night and made a statement with a third-round knockout of Chris Lozano (10-5). The bout marked the main event at CES 58, which took place at the Connecticut Convention Center.
De Jesus, a Brazilian who trains with Team Link, secured the win during the third round of a five-round bout. He ended the bout by kneeing Lozano in the face at least four times before the referee waved the fight off.
Clevelander Lozano knocked De Jesus down with a shot to the temple during the first round,. But De Jesus persevered and locked up Lozano’s legs in the clinch. De Jesus picked up the pace and threw a flurry of punches as the fight ended.
Lozano fell early in the second round after he missed a kick and De Jesus pounced. They were back on their feet and De Jesus later threw a spinning back kick from a very low angle that caught Lozano in the side of the face. Lozano threw a few lower leg kicks during the round, at least one of which landed inside the leg, but De Jesus generally appeared more dominant in the exchanges.
De Jesus punched his way into a dominant position during the third round and sealed the deal at 3:22 with a TKO.
A heavyweight fight between Parker Porter (8-5) and Dirlei Broenstrup (16-7), who fights out of Brazil, capped the rest of the three-round professional fights. Porter, who fights out of Underdog MMA in Hartford, secured a TKO in the final round with a straight right.
Porter seemed more aggressive during the often-wide punching exchanges in the first round, but fell and wound up clinching with Broenstrup as it ended. Porter attempted to dictate the pace during the back-and-forth punching in the second round but clearly had a bloody nose. He landed a Muay Thai plum, which a knee to the face during the cinch, and eventually pounced after Broenstrup fell and wound up in his closed guard. He landed another plum during the third round before finishing the fight at 3:17.
The evening opened with a banatamweight fight between Will Smith of Springfield, MA and Aaron Reese, who fights out of New Mexico. The two threw lots of lower leg kicks during the exchanges in the first round, which ended with West Haven native Smith getting a takedown.
Reese caught one of Smith’s kicks during the second round and grounded him before taking his back. But Smith later lifted Reese by the waist and threw him as the round ended.
Smith throw more punching combinations and knees as the third round progressed. He ended the round with a combination of wide punches that missed but secured an unanimous decision.
Dan Randall, who trains at FAA, secured a first-round win over fellow heavyweight Jesse Baughman of Team Link at about two minutes in the first round with an Americana during the second fight.
Nick Giuletti grounded and pounded his way to a first-round TKO of Cody Schieve at :38 during the lightweight fight that followed.
The next bout, and the first one shown on UFC Fight Pass, was a flyweight fight between Justin Valentin of Underdog MMA and Adrian Haly of Brooklyn MMA. Haly secured a win by split decision.
Haly landed some kicks during the striking exchanges in the first round but Valentin took his back in the middle of it. The second round featured more cautious striking exchanges and a little cinching as Haly sprawled out of a takedown. Valentin managed two single-leg takedowns and took Haly’s back during the third round -- Haley subsequently took his back but Valentin reversed it as the round ended.
Harris Bonfiglio managed to get a takedown during his bantamweight fight with Jornel Lugo. But Lugo still managed to land a knee and punch his way to a first-round win at 3:27.
Robbie Leroux won a featherweight bout with Pete Rogers Jr. at 1:55 in the first round with a heel hook. Rogers attempted a guillotine and had Leroux’s leg during the bout but ended it in visible pain.
Area favorite Jesse Kosakowski (3-1) landing a few slipping elbows in the clinch during the first round of a lightweight bout with Reggie Merriweather (13-5). Kosakowski threw a kick that appeared to miss and Merriweather countered with a right punch that ended the fight at 2:37 in the first round with a knockout and catcalls from a visibly irate audience -- Kosakowski legs appeared to be up as the referee waved the fight off and some audience members expressed the opinion that it was an early stoppage.
(Editor’s Note: statistics for some of the fighters were not available as of press time).
Parker Porter, in the white shorts, versus Dirlei Broenstrup at CES 58.
Photo by Tasha Naomi Anastasi
