Bantamweight Matt Coakley captures belt with fourth round win vs. Ivan Grijalva in main event of Rock At The Dock 6

September 11, 2012

By Ryan Gibson

On Fall Saturdays in the South many people tailgate for their favorite college football team, but this past Saturday on the rainy banks of Lake Norman in Mooresville, North Carolina sports fans were tailgating for Rock At The Dock 6. With dark storm clouds rolling towards the outdoor MMA event fans showed up to support their local MMA fighters. RATD 6 sported a seven fight bill that included local legends and a main event for the promotion's 135 pound title belt.

When former RATD bantamweight champion Matt Coakley (13-6 AM) vacated his title earlier in 2012 he eyed the pro ranks. Ivan Grijalva (5-1 AM) won the vacated title at RATD 5 in dominant fashion. After his pro debut fell through Coakley wanted his title back. With the rain pouring down around the open tent cage area the fight began.

For much of the bout Grijalva fought from his back as Coakley went to work alternating between side mount and full mount. After multiple submission attempts by Coakley the crowd rallied behind Grijalva with chants of "Let's Go Ivan, Let's Go Ivan!" The rally chants seemed to spark a little fire in Grijalva and he fought his way back to his feet and landed a few solid hooks.

In round three Coakley attempted a rear naked choke that was stopped seemingly only by the will of Grijalva and his faithful fans. Round four saw Coakley land a vicious left hook that stunned Grijalva and allowedthe former champ to get the takedown. On the mat Coakley moved to full mount and finished Grijalva with ground and pound to regain his title.

After the bout when Coakley was asked about the possibilities of vacating his title again and going pro; he responded to ULTMMA.com and said "Naw, I'll defend it one, two, heck maybe three times."

Other bouts on the exciting card showcased Cody Gulley (3-0) and Kyle Shano (4-4). Gulley showed a relaxed and controlled approach to the fight working his ground game to perfection executing a textbook gator roll to set up his guillotine choke. The tight guillotine put Shano away in the second round.

In heavyweight action Josh Smith (4-2) knocked off three years of rust with a calm, collected, and strategic win over Sam Burns (2-5).

Leo Perez (3-0) won striker of the night in his split decision win over granite-chinned Luis Pastern (0-1).

Matt Walker (1-0) added a savage 0:32 first round KO of Tyler Brogden (0-1). Brogden was escorted out of the cage by medical personnel to start off the night with a literal ‘bang'.

The most jaw dropping finish of the night was Terry White's (1-0) outrageous Inverted Triangle submission of Zak Baker (0-2). This submission, common in BJJ tournaments, is a rarity in the cage and won White submission of the night.

After the storm clouds cleared, the smoke of the grills dissipated you could hear someone ask RATD fight promoter, Matt Sredzinski, "what is there to do next?" to which he replied "Guess, it's time to plan Rock At The Dock VII."

Rock at The Dock 6 results
Mooresville, NC

Matt Coakley def. Ivan Grijalva by TKO (strikes) 1:20 R4
*Kodey Gulley def. Kyle Shano by submission guillotine choke 2:43 R2
Matt Walker def. Tyler Brogdon by KO 0:32 R1
Josh Smith def. Sam Burns by submission rear naked choke 2:03 R1
Kiel Samson def. Mark Sundara by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-27)
Terry White def. Zak Baker by submission inverted triangle 1:53 R2
Leo Perez def. Luis Pastern by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

*Prospect to watch