If you stayed up late or woke up early for Rizin Fighting Federation’s second event, you got treated to the best worst fight of 2015.
Noted Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Gabi Garcia (1-0) made her long-awaited MMA debut against professional wrestler Lei’D Tapa (0-1). And it was glorious.
Tapa nearly stunned the MMA world when she leveled Garcia early in the fight.
Lei'D Tapa drops Gabi Garcia pic.twitter.com/wqXKjjlDf3
— caposa (@GrabakaHitman) December 31, 2015
Garcia survived and continued. They got into another exchange, and Tapa thought she was out of danger. But Garcia is huge. Her massive wingspan allowed her to flail her right hand backward and connect flush, dropping Tapa. Garcia pounced and finished with hammerfists.
Gabi Garcia pic.twitter.com/RcyBfQFLdy
— caposa (@GrabakaHitman) December 31, 2015
Gabi Garcia laying the smack down... pic.twitter.com/t9Zqt22Tka
— #WHOATV (@WHOATV) December 31, 2015
What a glorious mess of a fight.
To be fair, both women were making their MMA debuts without any prior striking experience. To expect high levels of striking would have been naive, but the resulting mess gave fans plenty of entertainment.
And Twitter enjoyed it quite a bit:
yep this is somethin
— GFKonMMA (@GFKonMMA) December 31, 2015
And we have chaos. #RIZIN
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) December 31, 2015
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA that was awesome. I'm dying of laughter over here guys haahahaha.
— Adam Martin (@MMAdamMartin) December 31, 2015
MMA gets no lower than what we just witnessed.
— Jeremy Botter (@jeremybotter) December 31, 2015
Gabi Garcia won after getting knocked down in the first toughman exchange. That was. Something.
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) December 31, 2015
Well that was insane and ridiculous.
— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohnMMA) December 31, 2015
That backhand is my everything. Cracking up. #RIZIN
— Nathan McCarter (@McCarterN) December 31, 2015
I'd appreciate it if they'd just play that whole fight again, because what did I just watch. #RIZIN
— Sydnie Jones (@syd1138) December 31, 2015
Good MMA>Bad MMA>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Mediocre MMA No denying the entertainment y'all just got out of Garcia vs. Tapa. #RIZIN
— Steven Rondina (@srondina) December 31, 2015
@GrabakaHitman Hit her with the Sound of Music backfist. pic.twitter.com/PC3pWXXI9E
— Eric Jackman (@NewYorkRic) December 31, 2015
That's real sport entertainment ladies and gentlemen! Freakshow as its best! I love it!
— Vinny Magalhães (@VinnyMMA) December 31, 2015
There is no division for these two women. There just isn't enough talent in the world for women at this weight, but it was an entertaining sideshow for Rizin’s second event. And there will remain interest in Garcia’s MMA career. There is no one like her in this sport.
Rizin is the perfect promotion for Garcia. Japan loves these types of fights, and Rizin will be able to pay willing participants to stand opposite the ring from her. Tapa showed that Garcia is vulnerable, and that will add a bit more intrigue to Garcia’s next fight in terms of whether she has improved or will get dropped again.
The Brazilian wasn’t able to dominate this fight like many people, myself included, expected.
When MMA technique is this poor, it usually results in more entertainment than some mid-level fights, and that is exactly what we saw out of Garcia vs. Tapa. Technique was null and void. Garcia’s Sound of Music backfist, however, will be a memorable moment from the best worst fight of 2015.
