2021 Ongoing MOTY List: Santee vs. Kyle 2

2. Bruce Santee vs. Justin Kyle ICW 2/27

PAS: We have seen a lot of US Indy worked MMA fights before with Paragon's UWFI rules and Bloodsport, but this was a worked Toughman contest, and man did it deliver. It really felt like a pair of biker gangs rented a cage to see which of their baddest guys was the baddest. Basically just a bare knuckled fist fight, with both guys delivering full force bare knuckled punches to the face. Either they worked nothing in this fight, or these guys are Lawler level masters at throwing and taking worked punches (I am going for door #1 here). There is one spot where they stand there and exchange slaps, and another where they do forearm exchanges. I hate both normally, although a fight like this is all about searing machismo so it kind of works. Kyle is the faster and throws more volume and mixes in some kicks, getting a big knockdown on a superman punch and a short left hook. Santee is a bit bigger and has one punch power and just drops Kyle with a right hand which nearly spun his head around. Their first fight was fun, although this is clearly where they figured out their specific brand of insanity. Someone book either or both guys against Hoodfoot or just run this back 20 times. 

ER: Yeah man, this was like everyone was hoping/expecting UFC before anyone had seen UFC. When every potential UFC PPV buyer was convincing themselves to spend money on cage fighting, they were definitely picturing something exactly like this. And why wouldn't they? Anybody who was enticed by the prospect of no holds barred cage fighting wanted to see something exactly like this, and were probably not exactly picturing a smaller Brazilian man lying on his back. This match is the greatest possible post-playoff loss parking lot fight, with Santee wearing jeans and looking like a Horace Hogan cousin (it's Florida, certainly a possibility), and Kyle coming in looking like a lost McCully brother. And the incredible thing about this match is that they DO work strikes, they just have a super impressive ability to work the exact right ones. Every big punch to end a flurry is clearly worked, but Kyle has an extremely nice worked right KO blow, something I had to watch back a couple times (this match is short enough that it's easy to watch 3x). It's the kind of expertly worked strike that is thrown at 80% and at the ear, not on the jaw button, so it won't lead to a KO but it will look exactly like something that will knock a man out. 

The standing slaps were something that were thrown full force, and might be my favorite standing slap exchange I've seen. As with Phil, standing slap or forearm exchanges are one of my least favorite things in modern wrestling, but I thought they fight into this fight spectacularly. These slaps looked like both men were going for a KO, and it felt like the kind of shots that would result from a bar challenge, which is the atmosphere this match had. Kyle backs up Santee with a headbutt at one point, his leg kicks to set up strikes looked good, and the superman punch felt real natural. Kyle backs off Santee on a knockdown and the announcers rightly feel like it's a big mistake to not capitalize, and it was. Santee gets a sick knockdown shot that really looks like a KO shot, then rushes in with a hard shot to the back of Kyle's head, and some suitably mean follow up GnP. Santee is a guy who's been kicking around Florida indies forever, Kyle is a former MMA guy getting into wrestling, and in less than 3 minutes they made a fan out of me. 

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST