Cholish Claims Ring of Combat Crown; Couture Drops Decision

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- John Cholish utilized his superior jiu-jitsu skills to capture the Ring of Combat lightweight title with a submission victory over Rich Moskowitz at Ring of Combat 32 on Saturday at the Taj Mahal’s Mark Etess Arena.

For the first two rounds, the bout was primarily a grappling match, with each competitor going for submissions. Later, Cholish, a Renzo Gracie protégé, got the fight to the ground and positioned himself for the fight-ending reverse triangle choke at 3:05 of round three. Cholish has won five consecutive fights.

In the co-main event, Munah Holland outworked Kim Couture for a unanimous decision in her mixed martial arts debut.

A veteran of Chuck Norris’ World Combat League, Holland drew first blood. Bleeding from her nose, Couture, the ex-wife of UFC hall of famer Randy Couture, continued to engage Holland standing. Although Couture eventually tried to take the fight to the ground, she wound up on her back in the third round. There, Holland landed damaging ground-and-pound that cut Couture again. She returned to her feet and again embraces a striking battle with Holland, the far more accurate striker of the two. In the end, all three judges sided with Holland.

Finally, a matchup between Marcus Finch and Costantinos Phillippou ended under unfortunate circumstances, as Finch could not continue after an unintentional groin shot at 2:47 of the second round.

Early in the first round, Finch, a Cincinnati native, found success and dropped Phillippou with a right hand. “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 11 alum took down Finch early in the second and delivered some ground-and-pound. However, after a stalemate, the fighters were returned to a standing position, where Phillippou landed the groin strike that ended the fight.

Other Bouts:
Robert Conner def. Marc Berrocal -- Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) 2:10 R1
Joshua Key vs. Erik Oganov -- No Contest (Inadvertent Illegal Blow to Key) 1:01 R1
Randy Smith vs. Brendan Barrett -- Draw
George Sheppard def. Tim Troxell -- TKO (Punches) 2:33 R1
Claudio Ledesma def. Michael Murray -- Unanimous Decision
Liam Kerrigan def. Evan Chmielski -- Submission (Triangle Choke) 1:51 R1
Giedrius Karavackus def. Chris Connor -- Submission (Armbar) 2:46 R3
Melissa Bopp def. Ashley Nee -- Unanimous Decision