Empire Championship Series — Battle for the Throne Results

Thirteen Finishes and Three New Champions: Empire Championship Series — Battle for the Throne Results Alright fight fans, if you weren't in the building on September 19 for Empire Championship Series: Battle for the Throne, here's the short version — almost nobody heard the final horn. Fifteen bouts, thirteen finishes, and only two fights that needed the judges at all. Seven of those finishes came in the opening round, three championship belts changed hands, and every single title fight ended the exact same way: somebody's back got taken and the lights went out. We shot every bout on the card. Here's how the night went, top to bottom. View Full Results The Pro Card AJ Hotchkins (@biggamehuntermma) closed out the light heavyweight bout with one second to spare, stopping Tommie Britton by ground and pound at 2:59 of round one. One more tick of the clock and we're talking about a round two. No such suspense for Devon Pepin (@d_slang) , who needed all of 33 seconds to put away Giovanny Meza at featherweight — ground and pound, first round, done before most of the room sat back down. Marquis Johnson (@cagefightinghippiewizard) was the only pro to find a submission, catching Javier Duchene in a guillotine at 2:05 of the first in the flyweight bout. And the one pro fight that went deep was worth the wait: Miguel Tovar and Chris Crosby went two full rounds at middleweight before Tovar broke through with ground and pound at 1:15 of round three. Three Belts, Three Rear Naked Chokes If you had "every amateur title fight ends by RNC" on your card, congratulations. Gabriel Enriquez (@g.baby.125) was the quickest of the three, taking the flyweight strap off Kaleb Aguilar with a rear naked choke at 0:55 of round one. Isaiah Delgado (@Isaiah_deli) took a little longer, but got there the same way — RNC over Eddie Gonzales at 2:19 of round two for the featherweight title. The bantamweight title was the grinder of the group. Daemian Jaloma (@theeedae) and Jacob Reed traded through two rounds before Jaloma got the back and sank the choke at 1:16 of round three. New champ, and he earned every second of it. The Amateur Undercard The fastest finish of the entire night belongs to Robert Briseno , who stopped Vuong Nguyen by strikes at seven seconds of round one at featherweight. Seven. If you were still finding your seat, you missed the whole fight. Ryan Garcia (@ryangarcia.mma) kept the lightweight bout brief too, submitting Devon Arzate by rear naked choke at 1:15 of the first. Moses de Alejandro opened his flyweight bout against Isaac Aguilar and finished it in the same round, ground and pound at 2:42. At strawweight, Jesus Anchondo weathered the first before stopping Jeremiah Sanchez with strikes at 1:02 of round two. The catchweight bouts delivered. Charles Johnson (@treshawnj) got Will Porter out of there by ground and pound at 2:57 of the second. John Suarez (@johnsuarezmma) found the rear naked choke on Fernando Munoz at 2:19 of round two. And Max Fuentes (@mmaxtx) was one of only two fighters on the whole card to go the distance, taking the decision over Juwan Smith . The other full-distance fight was Nick De Santiago (@rollixnick) , who went three hard rounds with Adrian Juarez at flyweight and came away with the decision win. View Full Results The Night By the Numbers 15 bouts, 13 finishes — an 87% finish rate 7 first-round finishes 7 TKOs, 6 submissions, 2 decisions 6 of those submissions were chokes — five rear naked, one guillotine 3 new amateur champions, all three by rear naked choke Fastest finish: Robert Briseno, 0:07 of round one After the Horn The best photos of any fight night usually happen about ninety seconds after it ends — corners in the cage, teammates coming over the fence, the people who did the work in the gym getting their moment. Here are a few from Battle for the Throne. Your Fight, Your Photos — Dropping This Week This is the part you've been waiting for. Individual bout galleries are going live this week — every fight on the card, shot from the cage, sorted into its own gallery so you're not scrolling through fourteen other people's night to find yours. There will be free images in every bout gallery , ready to grab and post. And for the shots you want without the watermark — full resolution, print-ready, the ones that go on the gym wall — those will be available for purchase in the same gallery. Fighters, coaches, cornermen, parents, and anyone who made the trip: keep an eye out. Galleries go live over the next few days, bout by bout. Follow along so you don't miss yours going up. Congratulations to every athlete who stepped in the cage at Battle for the Throne, and to the three new champions. See you at the next one - November 14th