Oz Pariser wins at Reality Fighting Nightmare! »

Oz “The Wizard” Pariser vs Tim Gillotti

So Oz’s third fight was this weekend in Plymouth Massachusetts. The early
scouting report on his opponent, Tim Gillotti, made it seem like it was
going to be a walk in the park for our friend, but it turns out Oz had
another war on his hands. What his opponent lacked in skill and speed, he
made up for in toughness. This kid’s head is so solid it should be half
buried somewhere on Easter Island (look it up on Wikipedia, that joke is
fucking funny!). He kept taking was Oz was dishing out and coming back for
more, albeit a little slower than before!

No Mistakes

This fight was near perfect for Oz. He made no mistakes and his
techniques looked polished and sharp compared to his opponent (not to
mention the fighters in other bouts). His hand combinations were landing and
he threw a few head kicks that really got the crowd into the fight.
Unfortunately for their insatiable blood lust, the kicks didn’t end the
fight. What DID end the fight was the cumulative effect that better
striking, better clinchwork, and better grappling will have on a person.

Striking Game?

Each of the three rounds started the same with Tim trying to get
his striking game going. And each of the three rounds taught Tim a lesson.
Oz really let his hands go for this one, some really good combos landed and
it looked like the fight could end at any second. The only thing protecting
Tim from some nasty looking head-kicks was his smart awareness under fire to
close the distance on a better striker. Tim hung in there, returning fire
after each of Oz’s flurries trying desperately to climb the uphill battle
that was this fight. None of Tim’s shots landed that I could see (and after
checking his face out after the fight, I was right), but Tim’s punches made
Oz defend enough that he could close the distance and clinch up. But Oz was
no less dangerous from this position than from striking distance. His clinch
work was great and he was able to completely nullify any offensive attempt
made by his opponent. Oz kept busy, controlled his opponent and landed
really hard knees to the chest and stomach at every opportunity. Tim fired
back but his knees were slow and didn’t land cleanly and had little to no
effect on Oz.

A Strong of Grappling Game

The one thing Tim was able to do was scramble in takedown
situations. When in the clinch, Oz’s takedown of choice was a simple
over-under leg trip which usually worked. The trouble Oz was having, the
only thing Oz was actually having a hard time with, was staying on top
during the trip to the canvas. Oz would end up with Tim in his guard after
just about every takedown, but anyone who has grappled Oz knows that in his
guard isn’t such a great thing to be. If anything, Oz seemed to be more than
happy to be in that position. He kept on the offensive which is important in
a striking situation. He nullified Tim’s ground and pound by staying
dangerous from his back. This is where Tim’s strength was apparent, there
were at least 3 potentially fight ending kimuras that are probably making
his shoulder throb as we speak. He was able to muscle out of them or at
least last in them long enough for the round to end. Oz was getting them
from guard and half guard and Tim was just surviving. The one that looked
the best was at the end of the first or second round (I was too busy
screaming at Oz to be worried about simple things like round numbers,.though
one of the ring girls was pretty hot!). Tim had ring position on his side
and it looked like the ropes helped him last to the horn.

Time to Finsih

The third round was much of the same as the first two. Tim tried
to strike with Oz, Oz landed blow after blow from a distance and the clinch.
It didn’t take long for Tim to remember how much better Oz’s striking was
than his before he closed the distance where he absorbed some rib cracking
knees along with a fine display of dirty boxing. Towards the middle of the
round, Tim’s moral victory of surviving with a better fighter was slipping
through his fingers. Again with the over-under clinch, Oz hipped in and
lifted his opponent in the air and slammed him perfectly landing safely in
side mount. Of course the crowd nearly rioted, guys were throwing their
girlfriends, I think I saw a family running out of a burning store with
stolen groceries,.it was just ridiculous. Anyway, it wasn’t long before Oz
bettered his position to a full mount where he was landing blow after blow
until Tim was able to roll into Oz’s guard again. The only different this
time is only one of Tim’s arms made it into his guard and the triangle was
slowly tightened to illicit the tap. Tim’s friends were just beyond the ring
from my view, they erupted when Tim got into the better position, however,
they wouldn’t have been so happy if Tim was facing them so they could see
the danger he was in. I have to admit, I took an inappropriate amount of
pleasure from how upset he was able to make a group of people after getting
their spirits so high mere seconds before. Thanks for that Oz, it means a
lot to me.

Lessons Learned

If there is anything we learn in class, it’s that there is no
substitute for technique. Oz proved that Saturday against an opponent with a
rock solid head and a lot of heart. You can tell that Oz was comfortable in
every position the fight ended up. He shows improvement in every fight and
the biggest one I saw in this fight was his poise which enabled him to
protect himself better. Oz came up to the balcony I was watching from to say
hi and there was nothing more than a scratch on his face. After the fight he
announced that he will likely be fighting in the 155 pound division from
here on out. I can’t wait to see him fight at the lighter weight class!
GREAT JOB OZ! ! !

This article was written by Ryan from Kobukai Ju-Jitsu. Ryan is a brown belt and one of the best students at Kobukai. Thank you Ryan for the excellent article and permission to post.