160 lbs MMA Bout
3 Rounds / 3 mins ea
Sparta Sports and Entertainment’s SPARTA Fight Night 24: This is a Super Lightweight MMA Bout between JORDAN PUPUA VS NICK TAYLOR. From the September 27, 2025 event at Relentless Volleyball Club in Castle Rock, CO.
For upcoming event info, tickets, merch, and PPV Pre-orders, visit www.SpartaSE.com
Video by Sparta Media Group / Custom music by @Rudeboymakesmusic
Ladies and gentlemen, our next bout of the evening brings us back into the cage. Three threeminute rounds in MMA at 160 lbs. Introducing first out of the blue corner. Jordan Papua. Jordan Papua. He’s a representative of the wild card fight team and he’s got the nickname of pretty boy, which always mean a pretty boy. You know, back in the day for us that are a little longer in the tooth. [Music] [Applause] [Applause] Nice crowd on hand tonight down here in Castle Rock, Colorado. Love this venue cuz it’s only 8 miles from my house, J.R. I know it’s a little longer for you, but driving up north, I kind of like this. # jealous. [Applause] I suppose you’re centrally located after you south down here. Yeah, little little bit more south. Yeah, absolutely. Was wasn’t too bad of a You’re one of the smarter fighters down south here, you know. Man, guys, I I really can feel the energy in the room tonight. It is uh like you were talking about Todd, it is a packed house, man. And and the fans definitely brought the energy tonight. Big crowd. And if you guys think you know Ebenezer, it’s probably from our prior broadcast. Fought the main event in a great fight with Romero Figaroa to take the belt, remain unbeaten, and really one of the up andcoming fighters in the nation. So keep your eye on him. And I guess you’re coming back November 1st, right? November 1st on Sparta. Man, I’m I’m super super excited. Can’t wait to put on a performance. [Applause] his opponent out of the red corner, Nick Taylor. [Music] Speaking of high energy. Yeah, slow heartbeat. Stewie’s always got high energy. It’s air guitar tonight. All right, guys. Nick Taylor coming out with the American flag. Absolutely love it. Mr. Taylor, representative of Catharo Training Center. and he’s out of Roxboro, Colorado. All right, Jordan Paputo out of Colorado Springs. He’s a 18-year-old wrestler making his debut. 5′ 11″ in tall, 160 lbs. Facing off against Nick Taylor out of Roxboro, Colorado. Just a bit the Elder, 24 years old, he’s a freestyle fighter, making his debut. 6’1 in tall, just a little lighter, 158. You know, I will say when I when I look at Jordan Papua, I’m looking at him a lot of times you see an 18-year-old fighter and they may not have the stature. We ran into it a couple cards ago and you’re like, he looks 18. He looks young. But Mo’s put together a little bit better. He’s long lengthy. He’s got some muscle to him. He’s got some shoulders to him. And when you look to see that, you’re less concerned than you are a fighter that’s very young that doesn’t have muscle mass. Right. Absolutely. I think it shows the one the dedication in the gym, but two also the how long they’ve been doing the sport, right? Um it it it takes time to build that muscle, that muscle mass, that muscle definition. [Music] Ladies and gentlemen, this is elimination MMA for three threeminute rounds in 160 lb division. Let’s beat our fighters. Introducing first, fighting out of the Poseidon water blue corner. He is a wrestler making his MMA debut. He stands 5′ 11 in tall, weighted at 160 lbs with wild cards fight team high bomb, Colorado Springs, Colorado Jordan the three boy from [Applause] No lack of confidence there. Speaking of energy, yes, his opponent fighting out of the micron for blue corner. He’s a freestyle fighter making his MMA debut. He stands 6’1 in tall, weighed in at 158 lbs with Cathro Training Center from Roxboro, Colorado, Nick Taylor. One of the funny things, J, when I saw Oscar Martin, Taylor definitely did a little bit of eyeballing before this and a little bit of talking, a little bit of eyeballing. You and I have talked about this before, Ty. We’re talking about a young fighter coming into the cage at 18 years old, but with the wrestler background, if he’s one of those wrestlers that started when he was five or six years old, he’s been in the arena of combat probably 100 plus times. Yeah, he does not look intimidated. Not even a little bit. Looks ready to charge across the cage. This Papua, this might be exploding. Taylor with that open hand and you got to be careful with that. Oh, great leg kick. Beautiful leg. Taylor charges in for the taked down. Good lift by Taylor. But man, look at the balance by Papua. Outstanding defense. Taylor getting his hands clasped on the double. He’s going to try to rip him off the cage and sit him down. Look how quick though able to do so, but Papua just bounces back up. Look at Valley trip to get the drag down by Taylor. Great roll. Nice back control by Taylor. There’s the reversal right there. Taylor turns in. Beautiful reverse. Almost into full man, but not quite. It was the Whizzer that’s saving it for Taylor right there. Beautiful job maintaining that whizzer. It was a little bit you loose, but in position enough. Back on his feet. Finally. Finally, somebody throws a punch. Yeah, that took a while. Poo, he told you he’s a little bit stronger than you think. Taylor coming right back and showing his strength. Well, Taylor loo himself as a freestyle fighter, but man, look at his wrestling. His ability to scramble is really a sight to behold. Look at this. Look at the bruise on his leg. Yeah, from that one leg kick, man. That I don’t know if that may have been there beforehand because that looks like it’s been there a while. Taylor thought about climbing the back. Going in again for the taked down. Taylor expending a lot of energy right now. Kapouo relegated to primarily defense here. Great offensive output by Taylor. I’m interested to see who’s uh whose conditioning shows through now after that long tussle on the ground. Yeah, there’s a lot of energy expended right there. Great point. And I feel like Taylor’s breathing a little bit. Yeah. Well, he just walked halfway around the cage with his hands down at his waist. Mouth open as well. That’s That’s one thing. Always look. Oh, and a big left shot. Taylor’s a little bit wilder. Got to control your punches. Papua controlling the range very nicely. Big left hand by Papua. [Applause] Taylor’s more apt to throw that kick. It’s awkward as well. Taylor breathing very deep here. Yeah. Yeah. One thing I always always notice on guys is uh when they have their mouth open, that’s that’s that’s not something you want to see. Beautiful head. Beautiful head. Great head. Just clipped Taylor. Knocked him dizzy. Now Papua looking to close in and finish. But Taylor again back to the wrestling. Look at those instincts, gentlemen. But doing a good job with his hands and his elbows, pushing down that neck, trying to avoid the takedown. Listen, if I’m in Papu’s corner, I’m saying go for it, man. You got a guy that’s gassed a little bit. You got to press the action. Yeah, that’s that that that’s that’s a great point, Todd. I think that uh he looks like he’s in better conditioning as well. You know, he does. Although Papua taking some deep breaths himself. Yeah, not quite belly breathing as much as Taylor was, but definitely taking some deep breaths in there. If I’m in corner, I’m saying listen, come out in the second round and put it on him. Lot of blood around the face of Taylor nose. And I’m not sure if there’s a cut. Big wild shot. And there you see the counter. When you get somebody off balance, it doesn’t take much weight coming forward. Just Yeah. Head down, hips back. Just not real great positioning there by Taylor. I think he was thinking close in and go for the take down, but got clipped a couple of times hard on the way in. Yeah. You get this where Pua throws the head kick. Yeah. All right, get those corner net out of there. Let’s get second round going. And the face of Taylor very marked up. [Applause] Gig’s door is locked. Seconds out. Let’s go. Oh, you got to go. Yeah, Taylor was looking at his corner. Yeah, you can’t be doing that. Looks like ta Taylor wants to take him down. Buy himself a little bit more time to recover from those shots. Good job sprawling, but Taylor notches through and gets the taked down. Well, coming out of the Catharo training center, they’re a great jiujitsu academy. Oh, he’s just bleeding on him on purpose. He’s doing that on purpose. He’s hanging over him and bleeding on him on purpose. Interesting tactic. Yes. Papua trying to build a base. Looking for back control by Taylor. Great job rolling out roll through. And that’s why you see the fighter that’s in good shape can do that. Taylor just starting to wear a mask of blood. Papua, you got to coming out of his nose. For your Papua, you got to take this opportunity. Listen to your corner and attack. Absolutely. But uh I I think that was a intelligent move by Taylor taking him to the ground, buying himself a little bit more time to recover. Um because you know, you get that minute in between rounds, but sometimes you need a little bit of extra time. And I think Taylor did a great job of uh taking him down and and and just buying himself a little bit more time. I will say Papoua’s best scoring has been when Taylor rushed in. Great right hand by Taylor. Papu walked into that one. It’s been about three times that we’ve seen Taylor take the back and during no none of those takes has he tried to set his hooks in. Yeah. Not once, guys. I think he’s uh it looks like he’s he’s resting a little bit when uh when he when he takes his back. [Applause] Will’s got to turn into him. Little better job with the hooks now by Taylor. That’ll allow him to control the hip movement of Papua some. That’s primarily how Pua has been escaping is either by rolling or getting a quick pop turn. There’s a punch. You got to work it when you got those hooks in. [Applause] Good right hand scored. It’s probably the best punch of the fight for Taylor looking to sink in the choke now as Taylor. He has it threaded through, but I can’t see if it’s under the chin. Almost looked like a neck crank. Now it’s underneath under the chin. Trying to fight the hands of Papua, but Taylor looks to have that locked in. Papua still in it. Referee checking to make sure. Papua’s doing enough to just keep in it. 24 seconds left. Papua not really fighting the hands very hard. I think he just has himself in a position where he’s safe right now and he’s just holding that position. Absolutely. I think Corner’s probably screaming the time at him. So, he’s just going to ride it out. Now, he’s starting to pry that hand off. Very difficult for Taylor to get a choke with just one hand. Now, look at Taylor breathing, too. What a round. What a round. Giving a big thumbs up as he comes up from the campus. Okay. There’s some of those fighters that would they make you seem like that they’re tired. They have that look about them. I think it’s also a a testament to uh one the experience of Taylor, you know, uh he’s he is six years older. Um and he he he came back really strongly in that second round and uh I think he won that round pretty handy. Well, as JR said, it took a while to sink the hooks and it gave him control. Right now, you you it may be 1-1. If if I’m in the corner of Papua, I know my opponent’s tired. I know that he’s shot for takedown. I know he’s how hard he’s breathing. If you’ve got it in the gas tank, you got to spend it. Yeah. And I got word from somebody that had a better angle on that choke than us. Said Pua was pulling the arm down, creating space. So, he was more comfortable than we thought he was. Little blood clean up between rounds there. That starts early. And we’re going to have a timeout. I think the people that cleaned the blood left a little fluid on the floor. They’re going to clean up. clean up some of the water that was used to mop up the blood. Well, that’s a little extra advantage for Taylor right now. Yeah. Looking at Pakua though, it looks it looks like he’s uh breathing heavy as well. Some some deep breaths. I don’t know if that’s intentional to try to lower his heart rate a little bit. Taking those intentional deep breaths, but we’ll look at that during the round. A little meditative breathing. Little pause. Let’s clean up for the folks at home. Guy’s getting an extra minute here. Yeah, this is a little bit of a long break. But you got to safety comes first. Got to have safety in the cage. Here we go. Third and final round. Yeah, I don’t want somebody with an advantage cuz somebody else slipped. [Applause] And Papua definitely the more energetic of the two. Yeah, as they come out, but not utilizing an Taylor walks away. Walk into one. Pua gets the nice turn. Good hip positioning by Pua, but Taylor stays with it. Drives through with the single leg. Yeah, that single leg still got a hold of it. Trying to get get that leg around to get him dumped. Poula hanging on. Now he’s got to give it up. Papua has good knee position. Might try to get one foot underneath him to affect his stand up. Build a base. There you go. There he goes. It turns in like very explosively did for Pua. I’ll tell you what, saving Taylor is his strength. Well, and his wrestling skill. Now, Papoul’s got to do something with this here. Yeah, Taylor is, you know, not looking like he’s going to really try to work much in the way of escapes from here. I think he’s just going to try to hang on and hope for the stand up. Poua did throw two knees to the body. Yeah, Pua would be well advised to continue with, you know, there is striking just enough even so they don’t get stood up cuz he’s certainly enjoying the dominant position here. Press down with that hand. Get that forehead down. [Applause] Taylor’s holding on for dear life right now. I just keep going with those knees to the body. Right to the ribs. He did it three or four times. Let’s see if he does it again. There it is. There it is again. Yeah. Taylor tries to bring his right knee into play to block a little bit of that. Not allowed to knee to the head of a grounded opponent. That’s why we’re not seeing Papua do anything with his left knee. And this is exactly what Taylor wanted. Yep. And and a great call, J.R. to explain that that they’re going to be stood up if they continue this way. Taylor’s He’s breathing. He’s breathing hard. Yeah. What the referees look for when there’s a stalled position is either one fighter trying to advance his position, another fighter trying to escape, a fighter trying to affect his submission, or spitting back fist. [Applause] Good knee by JR. And this is where when you see two debut fighters, there’s a lot to improve on from this fight, Jr. from both from both fighters standpoints. But if you’re if you’re judging this fight, you’re definitely paying attention to who’s not in shape. Good defensive awareness there by Taylor. Kept his head out of range of the strikes of Papu all while he was on the ground. Jr., I think you mentioned this earlier during the ring walk, but the balance of Papua is is commendable. The balance he showed when he missed that that head kick and uh he did a 360 spin and nailed a right hand. It was beautiful. Great. Wow. For JB fighters, man, that was fun to watch. And again, at 18 years old, you want to gain that experience. And I thought he had some strength for an 18-year-old. You know, when you look at it, Evan Ezer, as we watch the replays, you know, when it’s not how much you miss by, as long as you miss, you’ve seen a lot of big punches miss. And as that get better, that will get better. Well, there’s a couple punches from Kapur on the replay that didn’t miss. Yeah. No, absolutely. that Taylor diving for the legs. When you see that wild, those wild punches too, that takes gas out when you miss. Absolutely. It’s uh all those extra movements that uh aren’t short, crisp, concise punches that’ll really tax your body. But man, guys, I must say I’m really really impressed with the balance of it. That was that was that was very impressive. the balance he showed. Yeah. Very very first taked down that he defended be enough up in the air literally got his feet back under him. And I think J.R. you made an excellent point of before the fight when he talked about he’s probably wrestled 100 times. So exactly where that balance comes from cuz that’s not rehearsed. That’s that’s learned behavior. [Applause] [Music] Let’s see if Stewiey’s got the numbers and see if it’s a 2928 fight like I think it might be. I give Taylor a lot of credit for hanging in with strength and continuing to go for those takedowns. [Music] [Applause] Ladies and gentlemen, give these fighters a round of applause. debut fighters landing on the run. That’s after that battle we go to the scorecards. All three judges have scored this bout the same 2928 in favor of your winner by unanimous decision. Jordan the Pretty Boy. Congratulations to Jordan, the pretty boy. Pua out of the Wildcards fight team from Colorado Springs gets the victory in his debut. Now he gets to say he’s an undefeated fighter.
