HCL 8

HCL 8: A Gross Display of Moderately Unnecessary Violence is the eighth mixed martial arts event held by the Human Cockfighting League. The event took place on September 2, 2012 from "The Honeypot" (Tupelo Events Center & Honey Warehouse) in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Event
This event was the first HCL event to feature eight sanctioned mixed martial arts bouts. This show featured three inaugural title fights, with champions crowned in the Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight and Welterweight divisions. All championship fights consisted of five five-minute rounds. Non-title fights consisted of three five-minute rounds.

The opening fight of the night determined the first ever HCL Heavyweight Champion, as Leo Serengeti took on Jorgi Magumbo. This international affair started on the ground, with Magumbo as the aggressor, cutting open Serengeti with vicious elbows late in the first round. However, Serengeti repeatedly attempted to trap Magumbo's leg in a kneebar. Magumbo dominated the stand-up game once again in the second round, but Serengeti once more almost secured a kneebar submission. In the third round, Magumbo came out with a strong head kick, but Leo Serengeti was able to take the fight to the ground, and secure an armbar to win the fight and the championship belt.

The second fight pitted Corgi van de Groof against Peter Oliveira, with the end nearly coming mid-first round with a head kick from van de Groof. However, Oliveira continued to take punishment and almost secured a triangle choke in the second round, followed by an omoplata and armbar, but to no avail. Van de Groof finally wore Oliveira down with enough crushing blows to score the knockout with a left hook. The third fight saw Artemis Kroop debut in a losing effort against Rupert Takamura. After rocking him and nearly finishing the fight in the first round with punches, Kroop walked right into a stiff right cross from Takamura, giving the Japanese fighter the win.

The fourth fight showed Aaron "Baby" Blue and Rodolfo "Bad News" Cruz go nearly the distance in an absolute war. Both fighters traded huge shots for three rounds, and the fight was very even before Blue cinched in a late armbar for the submission victory after nearly falling to a TKO finish earlier in the round. Next, we saw Alejandro Sandoval go the distance with Andrew Harvard and pick up a decision victory in a very close match that saw Sandoval edge out with a more effective ground game.

The sixth fight nearly stole the show, as TJ McAllister pulled out a huge upset win over Canadian Wes Blackwell, scoring a shock KO victory with a Superman punch in the third round. Blackwell had trouble finding his stride, getting rocked early, as McAllister never let up, getting the late win.

The co-main event saw the second title fight of the night, with Ralph Marshall and Teddy Grabowski fighting for light heavyweight gold. Grabowski, from the get-go, attacked Marshall, scoring an early knockdown, while Marshall stayed close in clinching range, able to stun Grabowski with knees from the double neck tie. However, the second round was all Grabowski, and quickly, Marshall was knocked down with an overhand right cross, and eventually fell to the TKO decision, awarding Teddy Grabowski the HCL Light Heavyweight Championship.

The main event, as touted, was arguably the biggest fight in HCL history. Dwayne De Recha and fan favorite Stuart Peppers competed for the HCL Welterweight Championship, and delivered their best effort to win, but ultimately, De Recha won in the third round via TKO. The fight started slowly, with both men testing the waters, until De Recha struck first, knocking Peppers down with an uppercut, and cutting him with a vicious elbow. Peppers came back to end the round with some knees from the clinch, and continued his aggression in round 2, before the fight turned into a duel once more. De Recha kept getting the better of Peppers, landing precision punches that rocked him, including another uppercut in the last five seconds of the second round. Peppers went for his signature left head kick to start the third round, but after a brutal knee from the clinch and a few punches, Peppers was knocked down yet again, and after a few more punches, Teddy Neverland called for the end of the fight, and Dwayne De Recha walked away with the convincing victory.

Fight Card

 * Note 1: This fight was for the HCL Welterweight Championship.
 * Note 2: This fight was for the HCL Light Heavyweight Championship.
 * Note 3: This fight was for the HCL Heavyweight Championship.

Bonus awards



 * Fight of the Night: 🇺🇸 Teddy Grabowski vs. 🇺🇸 Ralph Marshall
 * Knockout of the Night: 🇯🇵 Rupert Takamura
 * Submission of the Night: Leo Serengeti