Weekly Newsletter: New England MMA Legend Sean Gannon Passes Away
New England MMA's Lars Borssen covers Gannon's life and legacy.
The Big Story.
Sean “The Cannon” Gannon, the Boston-born police office who became a viral sensation after fighting the famous street boxer and mixed martial artist Kimbo Slice, passed away last Monday after suffering a heart attack at the age of 51. Gannon, a South Boston native, began training at Boston BJJ and had his Amateur MMA debut in 2003. He fought Josh Diekman as an amateur and Mike Dexter as a professional before being given an opportunity to fight MMA veteran Dan Severn, who at the time held a record of 65-10-7. The local promotion- Hardcore FC in Worcester- cancelled the matchup on account of the experience gap.
Gannon explained in an AMA session on R/IAmA that Kirk Jenness and Slice’s manager, Icy Mike, set up the fight on the UnderGround, Jenness’ online forum on MixedMartialArts.com. In late 2004, Slice and Gannon met at an undisclosed gym in Rhode Island and fought a roughly ten minute unsanctioned bareknuckle bout. Numerous strikes to the head and body were exchanged, including knees from Gannon which were contested by Slice’s corner, though Slice would succumb to exhaustion and Gannon was declared the winner of the bout. Neither fighter would make money from the fight, all revenue from DVD sales of the fight going towards St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
The viral fight put Gannon in hot water with his employer, the Boston Police Department. The video became popular on the internet, even making its way to the font page of the Boston Herald.
(Photo Credit: Boston Globe/subfighter.com)
Gannon’s viral fame landed him a fight on the co-main event of UFC 55 at Mohegan Sun against Brandon Lee Hinkle, who he lost to via TKO at 4:14 in the 1st round. Following his loss to Hinkle, Gannon was diagnosed with multiple concussions and in 2006 was deemed unfit to be a police officer. Gannon later sued the city over the ruling 2012, citing approval from numerous doctors- however, the case was prevented from moving forward by a Superior Court Judge backing the BPD. The decision was later reversed in 2017, but the Boston PD refused to re-hire Gannon. He made headlines again after coming forward with evidence of corruption from former Boston PD Detective Trent Holland.
Gannon was well-known in both the MMA and police worlds as a kind, intelligent man with morals and a sense of humor. He trained fighters at numerous gyms in Boston including Redline Fight Sports and Peter Welch’s Gym.
(https://www.newenglandmma.org/post/new-england-mma-legend-sean-gannon-passes-away)
Staying On Top.
CES 64 Preview: Bessette vs. Dela Cruz Lightweight Title; Smith vs. Perrin Bantamweight Title by Travis Lizotte
The Classic Entertainment and Sports MMA promotion will be hosting CES 64 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Fighting on the co-main title fight event against American Top Team’s Josh “That Guy” Smith (10-6) is Syndicate MMA’s Jay “The Joker” Perrin (9-4). A Lowell, Mass. Native, Perrin got his start at Sityodtong Muay Thai in Boston, fighting in Cage Titans where he still retains his title of 135 lb. champion. Perrin later moved to Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he reportedly changed himself as a fighter and a person.
“The Joker” fought on Dana White’s contender series, where he lost to Team Alpha Male’s Dwight Joseph. Perrin sees his upcoming battle with Smith for CES’ batamweight belt as a second chance at the UFC. This is not Perrin’s sole motivation for defeating Smith, however, as “That Guy” submitted Perrin’s longtime friend, Dinis “Sweetbread” Paiva by Rear Naked Choke in Paiva’s final bout before retirement. Perrin sees this as an opportunity to bring the belt back to his friend.
The other Massachusetts fighters on CES 64’s card are Charra Phon (debut, 1-1 amateur), Justin “The Fort” Sumter (7-4), as well as Nate Ghareeb (3-1) and Eduardo Rodrigues (1-0), who will be fighting each-other.
Snapshots
Cage Titans 50 is formally announced for Nov. 6 and matchups have been officiated, including: Jeff Joy vs Jason Rine, Kam Arnold vs Rob Fuller, and Kylie O’Hearn vs. Whittany Pyles.
Donnybrooke Fight Promotions: Battle in Barre 5.
Two Massachusetts MMA fighters- Nick”Kid Presentable” Mulrey and teammate Michael “Misanthrope” Caron of South Shore Spotfighting- won their professional debuts at Battle in Barre 5 in Vermont last Saturday.
Jay Perrin: “I don’t think Josh Smith matches up well with me” in CES 64 Title Bout.
Perrin believes Smith, while not outmatched, will not be his hardest fight.
Randy Costa VS. Tony Kelley Set for UFC 269.
Taunton, Mass. native Randy Costa will face off against Tony Kelley in UFC 269 on Dec. 11
What’s Missing
Since this Newsletter’s posting, Perrin defeated Smith in Round 2 of their fight via Rear Naked Choke- the same way Smith finished Paiva at CES 62, also in the same round. Here are the results of the other Massachusetts fighters at CES 64:
Aaron Reese def Charra Phon via Unanimous Decison.
Justin Sumter def. Albert Tadevosyan via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in Round 1 at 2:20.
Nate Ghareeb def. Eduardo Rodrigues via TKO (Strikes) in Round 1 at 4:31.
Perrin’s next plans- the UFC, or a possible return to Cage Titans- remains unknown, thought with a still-developing card for Cage Titans 50 confirmed for Nov. 6, nothing is off the table.
Speaking of CT50- with only three fights confimed, there’s a lot of space left to fill, with any number of possible fighters available to take a spot on the card. Reaching out to gyms and seeing who is interested in putting their fighters on CT50 will be something to do in the future.