Story Photos
 Benji Radach, left, of the Los Angeles Anacondas watches as doctors tend to his opponent, Brent Beauparlant of the Toronto Dragons, during their International Fight League middleweight bout on Nov. 3, 2007, at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Photo courtesy of International Fight League
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Castle Rock's Radach scores TKO in prime time MMA event
Tuesday, October 7, 2008 7:57 PM PDT
By Rick S. Alvord
Printable version
E-mail this articleBenji “Razor” Radach was definitely ready for prime time. The 1997 Castle Rock High School graduate appeared in the third installment of the mixed martial arts “EliteXC Heat” fight special Saturday night, which was televised nationally by CBS from the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla.
Radach, 29, made the most of his opportunity by knocking out Brazilian Murilo “Ninja” Rua in one of the undercard bouts. Radach needed just 2 minutes, 31 seconds to win by technical knockout in the second round.
The main event was supposed to feature veteran Ken Shamrock against rising star Kimbo Slice, a former Miami street fighter and bodyguard. But Shamrock wasn’t cleared to fight by doctors because of a cut over his eye sustained during a workout, and was promptly replaced five hours before the bout by unknown undercard fighter Seth Petruzelli.
Despite giving up nearly 30 pounds, Petruzelli won by knockout in just 14 seconds.
Many observers and bloggers, however, agreed that the Radach-Rua duel was the best of the night.
Both fighters set a furious pace in the opening round. Radach hurt the Brazilian with a series of strikes, but Rua came back with a dangerous ankle lock that had the ex-Rocket scrambling to survive. Radach summoned his Castle Rock High wrestling experience to escape and make it to the bell.
Radach (19-4) managed to get Rua (16-9-1) on his back during a furious start to Round 2, and when a string of blows delivered by Radach went undefended, the official stepped in and stopped the fight.
The match was seen by an estimated 6.5 million television viewers.
“I couldn’t pass up the publicity on this one, just because it’s on live TV,” said the 185-pound Radach, who finished fifth at 141 pounds in the state wrestling tournament as a junior for the Rockets and eighth at 148 as a senior.
“There was a big headliner — Ken (Shamrock) and Kimbo (Slice). The one thing about that fight is that they put people in the seats. They get a lot of people’s attention,” he added. “I definitely had to go with it. I couldn’t pass that up.”
The victory was Radach’s sixth victory in his last seven fights. Fifteen of his 19 wins have come by knockout.
Rua had won five of his last six bouts heading into Saturday.
Radach’s diversified mixed martial arts (MMA) career includes three fights in a four-month span in the popular UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) in 2002. He went 1-1 with a win over Nick Serra, a loss to Sean Sherk and a no-contest against Steve Berger in UFC 37.
Radach knocked out Berger in 27 seconds, but the bout was later overturned by the Louisiana State Athletic Commission after a questionable stoppage and a possible illegal blow by Radach.
He spent several years away from MMA after sustaining a severe broken jaw in a fight against Chris Leben, but recovered from his injury and began fighting at middleweight for the Los Angeles Anacondas of the now-defunct International Fight League (IFL).
Radach signed a three-fight deal with EliteXC earlier this year, a contract that likely will be extended after how well he performed on national television.
Radach’s legend grew in 2006 when he and his training partner tackled a 64-year-old man who was attempting to hold up Elmer’s Restaurant in Vancouver with a gun.
He was recently named the corporate director of instructor’s training for LA Boxing and Kickboxing Fitness Training, the largest franchise of its kind in the United States. His responsibilities primarily involve training and preparing potential instructors.
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