Niinimaki Tops Beebe For 10th Straight W; Kuivanen and Vanttinen Retain Gold at Cage 22

The Finns did just that, as Tom Niinimaki, Anton Kuivanen, and Marcus Vanttinen all defended their promotional titles in impressive fashion.

In the headlining bout, featherweight prospect Niinimaki outwrestled former WEC bantamweight champion Chase Beebe to take control of the bout and retain his belt via unanimous decision. “Stoneface” used an inside trip to take the fight to the ground in the first round to set the tone of the bout, using his strength and takedowns to put the tough-wrestling Beebe on his back. When the fight was brought back standing, the Finn swept the American’s feet, sending the Flawless MMA representative back down to the mat.

Over the final 10 minutes, Beebe looked for guillotine chokes to end the fight, but Niinimaki’s body punching and slams took their toll on the Chicagoan, who couldn't find a finish before the judges had their say. The 30-year-old Turku native has now won 10 straight, improving to 19-5-1. Beebe falls to 24-10-1 in his MMA campaign.

Perhaps the biggest draw on the night, however, was locally popular UFC veteran Anton Kuivanen, who defended his lightweight crown with a hard-fought unanimous verdict over “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 9 alum Jason Pierce, improving to 18-6.

Photo: Iikka Nikkinen/Sherdog.com

Kuivanen kept his crown at Cage 22.

Marcus Vanttinen retained his Cage light heavyweight belt without much resistance, charging Frenchman Boubacar Balde and slamming him to the mat, where Vanttinen dominated with elbows to the face and knees to the body before taking the back at the end of the round. In the second, Vanttinen slammed Balde down and hammered him with elbows until a submission opportunity arrived. “Caveman” took the back, then the rear-naked choke at 3:01 of the second round.

The 25-year-old Vanttinen, now 22-5, had lost three of four entering the bout after racking up an 11-fight win streak.

Kai Puolakka and Mickael Lebout had a three-round welterweight war, with the Finn ending up on top. Each fighter was able to show effective mixing of punches and kicks early, but it wasn’t until two minutes left in the second until the GB Gym product was able to land hard, straight punches putting the French fighter on his heels. Lebout got Puolakka on the mat late in the third, but it was Puolakka who was able to reverse, finish the bout on top and earn a unanimous verdict.

Photo: Iikka Nikkinen/Sherdog.com

Balde offered Vanttinen little challenge.

On the Class-B pro undercard, MMA Team 300 lightweight Kennet Mattsson earned his fifth consecutive win, triangling Aleksi Mantykivi at 2:32 of the first round. Also at 155 pounds, Jani Salmi and Rasul Khataev won two-round unanimous decisions over Juho Kahranaho and Patrik Pietila, respectively.

At bantamweight, Tuomas Gronvall tapping Miika Kauppinen with a brabo choke at 1:25 of the second round, while featherweight Mika Hamalainen needed only 48 seconds to tap Jere Varila with a heel hook.