Anyone who turned up late to Cage Warriors 92 missed out big time on Darren O’Gorman.
Cork native Darren O’Gorman set an explosive tone with his one-round war to kick off Saturday night’s preliminary card.
It was no secret what direction O’Gorman was taking with this fight. All five of his victories heading into that card came via submission. On paper, his adversary Salih Kulucan appeared to be content to engage in a grappling war with 60% of his wins coming by way of submission.
Sure enough, after spending a couple of minutes on the feet, Kulucan changed levels and got the takedown. Leaving his neck slightly exposed upon entry, O’Gorman latched onto a guillotine, but the English man was able to pop his head free after enduring some squeezing.
Brutal #CW92 https://t.co/uxE9YweeoC
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 25, 2018
Kulucan then attacked the leg. O’Gorman tried to roll out of the toe-hold attempt, before tying up his opponent’s leg and escaping to take the top position. A brief ground and pound recess proved to only be the eye of the foot lock battle storm, but O’Gorman soon freed his leg again before swiftly transitioning to side control.
An attempted sweep from Kulucan came to nothing and soon Kulucan found himself on his back again. O’Gorman transitioned to a mounted crucifix position and began peppering elbows. With the clock winding down, finishing via strikes from that position didn’t seem too likely.
So he stepped over the head and worked for the reverse triangle. Under time pressure, he toyed with the possibility of a straight armbar but instead opted to go for the jugular. With less than one second left in the opening round. Kulucan tapped.
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