Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaKOTC Canada promoter Ken Kupsch, aided by announcer-extraordinaire partner Keith Crawford, invaded the beautiful Canadian city of one million-plus in a supercharged fight card that drew 3500 fans to see a face off between Canada’s best cagefighters and top American invaders highlighted by John “The Natural” Alessio. Also on hand to celebrate the action and throw their support behind KOTC Canada were mixed martial arts celebrities Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Jeremy Horn, and Pat Miletich. While the original card was scheduled for 17 bouts, by the time the Edmonton Boxing Commission had vetted the card due to various technicalities it was reduced to a still-respectable 11 matches. Preliminary Fights Kyle Cheyne (185) from Edmonton started the action against fellow Canadian David Mah (170) from Saskatoon. The fight went to mat early with Mah getting the top mount almost immediately against the fence and absorbing some hard ground and pound. Cheyne finally turned over and was tapped-out via rear naked choke at just 1:01 of the first round. Jessy Lessard (168) of Edmonton then faced Donnie Walker.(155) from the faraway and exotic land (if you’re from Edmonton) of Cleveland, Ohio. The two clinched on the feet quickly, and after some jostling for position went to the ground with Walker getting side control. From here, Walker transitioned to the top mount and rained down punches on Lessard, cutting him. Seeking to block the punishment, Lessard reached up to block, allowing Walker to swing into straight arm bar from the top and the 2:32 get round one submission. Next up, David Rodrique (185) of Edmonton faced Demarques Johnson (185) of Salt Lake City. Johnson immediately took the fight to the ground, got the top mount, and seemed to be in control. Rodrique, however, got a reversal – only to be immediately reversed himself! From here, Johnson unleashed a barrage of devastating top-mount blows, which caused Rodrique to tap at 1:51 of the first round. Mike Newton (170) of Edmonton continued the inter-country rivalry as he took on Elmer Waterhen (170) of Saskatoon. The fight was very even on the feet to start, with perhaps Newton having a slight advantage with several stinging punches. Waterhen turned it around quickly, though, as he landed a leg kick to back Newton up, bull-rushed him to the ground via a leg trip, then landed several powerful hammer fists from the top that caused referee Herb Dean to stop that match for a 1:12 first round TKO. Featured Matches The next match featured Billy “The” Kidd (135) of Newcastle, Indiana against “Slick” Rick McCorkell, originally out of Ontario, Canada but now training and fighting out of Los Angeles (135). Kidd wanted to stand and strike from the beginning and stung the shooting McCorkell several times. Persistence finally paid off, however, as “Slick” finally used his superior ground skills to get the takedown and move to side control, where he landed punches that forced Kidd to turn, giving McCorkell his back. Although Kidd gamely hung tough for nearly a minute, McCorkell worked the choke from the back and finally got the 2:05 tapout in a fast-paced and entertaining match. Both fighters looked good and even though Kidd lost, his aggression and desire to mix it up was not lost on the appreciative crowd Mike Jerrace (170) of Edmonton then entered the cage against Kevin Manderson of Winnipeg (170) with Canadian bragging rights on the line. Jerrace hammered the ring post with rights and lefts before the bell, but when it rang he was surprising tentative. Finally, Manderson took the initiative and slammed Jerrace to the mat several times with thundering throws, finally following him to the mat where he got the full mount and unleashed a barrage of blows. Jerrace tried to hold him in to avoid the blows, but Manderson would not be denied and pounded out an impressive and aggressive first round 2:45 TKO. Josh Kyrejto (155) from Edmonton then went international against opponent Jimmy Boyd (155) of Winchester, Indiana. Boyd clinched and took the fight to the ground against the fence, inside Kyrejto’s guard, who smartly held him in until a referee stand up. They clinched again and Boyd went on top again, getting side control but not throwing very many punches, although he did land several knees. Boyd stood up, was put into the guard, and landed a few punches before passing to side control where they were again stood up. Boyd again got a takedown and then the full mount where he landed effectively before Kryrejto pulled him in at the bell, becoming the first fight of the night to go past the first round. The second started with Boyd picking up Kyrejto and slamming him to the mat where he got immediate full mount, rained down punches, and forced a TKO stoppage by referee Herb Dean at :25 of the second round. Chris Peak (205) of Victoria, BC then met Ron Fields (205) of Cincinnati, Ohio. They went almost immediately to the ground with Peak on top. He was then reversed by Fields, only to have Peak execute his own reverse and end up in side control, where he landed several rib punches and a few blows to the head. Peak eventually stopped punching and started dropping forearms, which hurt Fields and caused him to tap out from the bottom at just 2:38 of the first round. Main Events Mac Danzig (155) from Los Angeles, an experienced and tough fighter who trains with John Alessio, then met Frank Kimse (160) of Dallas, Texas in a match far, far from home for them both. Kimsee tried a jumping kick to open the fight which sent Danzig backwards with Kimsee clinching, but Danzig quickly reversed him, got on top against the fence, and landed a punishing ground flurry. Kimsee covered up and resisted, but eventually had had to turn over where Danzig locked in the rear naked choke for the 1:45 round one tap-out. Jason Dent (145) from Cleveland, OH then faced Brandon Garner (145) of North Carolina. The two feinted with each other for nearly a minute before Dent shot in and took Garner down, inside the guard. Garner held him in effectively, but Dent walked him into the fence where Garner launched an arm-lock attack which he then transitioned into a triangle. Dent tried to punch his way out of the lock, but Garner had it cranked tight and got the 2:49 first round tap-out win. John Alessio (175) of Los Angeles, in the main event, the met Savant Young (180), also of Los Angeles, coached by Bo Hershberger, who had taken the match on very short notice. The slow first round mainly consisted of circling and feinting and although Alessio did counter, Young threw most of the initial punches. Young started fast in the second, but Alessio took him down and tried to get to his back. Young countered well and eventually stood up, where he was pressed against the fence by Alessio, who held him there without a lot of action from either fighter. The lack of pre-fight conditioning started to show from Young as the second round wore on, as his attacks slowed and Alessio picked up the pace. When Young tried a big overhand right, Alessio took him to the mat, worked to his back, and had the rear choke locked in as the bell rang, saving Young from the sure submission. The third started with an Alessio takedown, where he got inside Young’s guard and landed several good blows, although Young was effective in blocking many. Young, looking exhausted, turned to his back and Alessio worked for the rear choke, landing several punches to the head in the process. After a game and gutsy performance, Young finally succumbed to the rear naked choke from the precise and very technical Alessio at 2:09 of the third round. Conclusion For the previous fight in Edmonton, KOTC had drawn 4500 fans and would have been a cinch to exceed that number had it not been for the “Audio Slave” rock concert, next to the KOTC venue, that pre-sold 12,000 tickets! As it was, they still drew a very respectable 3,500 fans to the 5,000 seat venue. TSN (the Canadian equivalent of ESPN) was on hand to tape the show and they plan on broadcasting regular KOTC Canada e vents, which should make it explode in popularity. Perhaps the savior of the night was Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. When it was announced to the crowd that six of the original 17 bouts had been cancelled, they started to boo heavily. At this point, “Rampage” jumped up from his ringside seat, ripped off his shirt, started flexing, and then ran into the audience slapping high-fives up and down the rows! The booing immediately turned to cheers and the event went on as scheduled. Found on:
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