GFS "Caged Vengenance 3"

Cleveland, Ohio
Gray's Armory

With the holiday season around the corner what better way to kick off December then with another unforgettable night of MMA. The historic Grays Armory was once again the host venue as another capacity crowd was on hand to witness what would be one of the most competitive Gladiators Fighting cards of the year. Caged Vengeance 3 “Seasons Beatings” may have been the most appropriately named fight show of 2006.Gladiators Fighting super heavyweight champion and hometown hero Dan “The Bull” Bobish won his fifth straight fight and improved to 16-9 with a first round submission victory over Des Moines, Iowa’s Chris Clark. This was a grudge match of sorts as the two super heavyweights met earlier this year with a similar but somewhat bloodier outcome. However this time Bobish left no room for questions as the Cleveland native pounded his way into position for the finishing submission, a kimura in the opening round. Kickboxing champion Ryan “The Lion” Madigan (3-0) looked to stay unbeaten in MMA competition as he would clash with rapidly rising welterweight Ricardo Martinez (6-3) of Cincinnati, Ohio. Martinez, who was coming off his biggest career win when he KO’d the previously undefeated Dorian Price (7-1) earlier this year, quickly found out why many fans feel Madigan could be the next big thing out of Ohio at 170 lbs. It didn’t take long for Madigan to establish his presence as he pushed the pace in the opening moments throwing a series of kicks both high and low which seemed to keep Martinez off balance and out of rhythm. Martinez momentarily was able to close the distance and took the fight to the ground but a slick reversal from Madigan would get the fight standing again where Madigan could do more damage. Madigan would find his spot nearly halfway through the first round and from a thai clinch landed a right knee strike which would find its target and finish Martinez by devastating fashion. Madigan will now set his sights on the World Combat League for its 2007 season but plans on returning to the cage as soon as possible. Jason “Freebird” Freeman (5-1) wasted little time in dispatching MMA veteran Todd Seyler (15-12) by first round KO. Freeman showed off a well rounded arsenal on Saturday which left fans buzzing after one of the night’s most entertaining finishes. Freeman opened the fight with a right leg high kick and a spinning back fist which nearly connected and sent an early message to Seyler who knew at that point he was in for a battle. After a failed take down attempt by Seyler it was a final barrage of strikes from Freeman that sealed the deal for the Freebird who has his sites set on the current Gladiators Fighting LHW champ, Rob Wince. Michigan’s Nate Carey improved to 9-1 as a pro with an emphatic first round TKO win over Hammer House product Chris Hickock (2-3). Carey was originally scheduled to fight for the Gladiators HW title against current champion Josh Hendricks until an injury forced Hendricks to withdraw and allowed Hickock to step in for his opportunity at a possible title shot down the road. Carey would have none of it as he quickly took the bigger man down and from the mount unleashed a series of hammer fists and elbows that forced Hickok to tap at just over a minute into the bout. Carey will likely get his crack at Hendricks and the Gladiators Fighting HW title in early 2007. Team Griffonrawl’s Mike “The Bull” Russo evened his professional record at 9-9 with an impressive win over cross town rival Torrance “The Tyrant” Taylor (3-3) in a welterweight showdown. Russo wasted no time in getting Taylor on his back and began to work from the guard. Taylor would eventually sweep and find himself on top but not necessarily in control. From his back Russo maneuvered his way to a finishing armbar forcing Taylor to tap in the first round. The North American Amateur Fight Series in conjunction with Gladiators Fighting crowned its first ever national champions on Saturday night in what was the culmination of a years worth of work for many of the up and coming MMA stars of tomorrow. In a series of highly anticipated championship match-ups, the lightweights were first on the docket as Mike Nesto (6-1) looked for revenge over NAAFS rival John “The Mongoose” Myers (5-3). Nesto suffered his first and only career loss to Myers back in October and won two fights in a thirty day span to earn his shot at a rematch and the opportunity to fight for a title. The fight quickly went to the ground after a Nesto takedown would lead to top position for the former BJJ national champion. Unlike their first match-up, this time out Nesto would capitalize on an early Myers mistake and sink in the finishing armbar just minutes into the fight and made history as the first ever amateur to hold an NAAFS title. Next up were the welterweights as unbeaten and top ranked “Smokin” Joe Heiland (7-0) looked to cap off a successful year with a win over the always tough AJ Pulling (5-3). In primarily a stand up war, Pulling was unable to use his reach to his advantage as Heiland counter-punched his way to win and the 2006 NAAFS welterweight crown by unanimous decision. Pulling would never get close enough to seriously hurt the Shelby, Ohio native nor would he be able to take the fight to the ground where many felt he would have the edge. Instead it was another impressive win for Heiland who closed out the year with a 7-0 record and as king of the 2006 NAAFS welterweight division. The Iron Dragon, Taiwon Howard (4-1) won his fourth straight fight as he captured the NAAFS MW title with an emphatic win over New York’s Garret Matheron (1-1). After an early exchange the fight quickly went to the mat where neither fighter would be able to gain control or finish. Howard, a former amateur kickboxing champion, waited for his opportunity to get the fight standing where he would look to make his move. The opportunity came nearly halfway through the round when Howard was able to land a right hand that stunned Matheron and followed it with a combination which would end the night for the New Yorker. Canton, Ohio’s Chuck Ellison out lasted backyard rival Nick Duell in a battle of the top two ranked light heavyweights. In another typical NAAFS slugfest, Ellison executed a near perfect game plan while overcoming Duell’s early flurry and escaping early trouble with Duell in his guard. The fight would be restarted with both fighters on their feet and Ellison would now gain the advantage and mount Duell in the closing seconds of the first round. With Duell’s left eye swollen shut, he surprisingly answered the bell for round two and both fighters again came out firing punches. After a surprising turn of events, it was Duell who shot in for a take down which seemingly worked to Ellison’s advantage. This time Ellison would be able to sink in the finishing choke and force Duell to tap at just under a minute into the second round. Congratulations to both fighters on a great effort and to Chuck Ellison, the 2006 NAAFS Light Heavyweight champion. Fan favorite and highly touted NAAFS heavyweight John “The Showstopper” Hedges was named 2006 NAAFS Heavyweight Champion as his scheduled opponent Terry Davinney was unable to fight due to the flu. A disappointed but appreciative Hedges thanked his fans for supporting him throughout the year and assured fans that he would show them why he is the man to beat in this division come 2007. In preliminary action, Ricky “The Thriller” Miller (2-0) lived up to his nickname with a thrilling come from behind win that set the tone for the rest of the night. Miller would end up knocking out NAAFS newcomer Charles Blatt (0-1) but it would not be easy. The unorthodox Blatt was able to land shots at will early on and stunned Miller several times in the opening minute. However a bloodied up and now motivated Miller would shrug off the early Blatt assault and mount an attack of his own landing a right hand down the middle that dropped Blatt not once, but twice before the fight was eventually stopped in just under the three minute mark of the opening round.Hamilton, Ontario, Canada’s Chris Roy won his MMA debut over local favorite Dave Osborne in a two round battle. Osborne won round one on our card while controlling the fight and scoring points from Roy’s guard. The second round was all Roy as he took top position and eventually moved in for the finish via strikes midway though round two. “Slippery” Nick Golembieski (2-1), of Silver Creek, NY reminded fans why he should not be forgotten when it comes to next years 205 pound division. After an even exchange early in the fight, Golembieski took care of a game Izzy Martini with a finishing armbar late in round one. Expect both fighters to have a breakout year in 2007. The nights opening bout featured Cleveland’s Silas Maynard (1-0) against Pittsburgh’s Scott Alfer (0-1) in a middleweight NAAFS clash. In a back and forth fight, Maynard won a unanimous decision and earned his first career win in a very entertaining opener. Caged Vengeance 3 “Seasons Beatings” was proudly sponsored by Tazmanian Freight Systems, BetonFighting.com, Champions Bar & Grille, Bloody Buddy Fight Gear, 2XL Sports Gear, Rascal House Pizza, SportstalkCleveland.com, MMAvideo.com, and the on line voice of the fight fan, PKW Live! Seasons Beatings will be televised regionally on Sports Time Ohio in conjunction with Fightfest Ohio. Check with your local cable provider for a replay schedule. Check back to this site soon for the release of the official Seasons Beatings DVD.....Quick Results:Gladiators Fighting Professional Featured BoutsSHW Main Event – Dan “The Bull” Bobish 16-9 (Cleveland, OH) over Chris Clark 9-13 (Des Moines, Iowa) - Keylock rd1265 lbs – Nate Carey 9-1 (Grand Rapids, MI) over Chris Hickok 2-3 (Columbus, OH) - TKO rd1205 lbs - Jason “Freebird” Freeman 5-1 (Dover, OH) over Todd Seyler 15-11 (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) - KO rd1170 lbs – Ryan “The Lion” Madigan 3-0 (Orville, OH) over Ricardo Martinez 6-4 (Columbus, OH) - KO rd1170 lbs - Mike “The Bull” Russo 9-9 (Cleveland, OH) over Torrance “The Tyrant” Taylor 3-3 (Cleveland, OH) - armbar rd1NAAFS Amatuer Title Fights 205 lbs - Chuck Ellison 3-1 (Canton, OH) over Nicholas Duell 2-2 (Canton, OH) - Tapout rd2185 lbs – Taiwon “The Iron Dragon” Howard 4-1 (Cleveland, OH) over Garrett Matheron 1-1 (Jamestown, NY) - KO rd1170 lbs – “Smokin” Joe Heiland 7-0 (Shelby, OH) over AJ Pulling 5-3 (Mentor, OH) - Unanimous Decision155 lbs – Mike Nesto 6-1 (Uniontown, PA) over John “The Mongoose” Myers 5-3 (Dover, OH) - Armbar rd1NAAFS/Gladiators Fighting Preliminary Bouts185 lbs – Ricky “The Thriller” Miller 2-0 (Canton, OH) over Charles Blatt 0-1 (Pittsburgh, PA) - KO rd1185 lbs - Chris Roy 1-0 (Hamilton, Ontario, CA) over Dave Osborne 0-2 (Cleveland, OH) - Tapout (strikes) rd 2205 lbs – Nick Golembieski 2-1 (Silver Creek, NY) over Izzy Martini 0-1 (Uniontown, PA) - armbar rd1185 lbs - Silas Maynard 1-0 (Cleveland, OH) over Scott Alfer 0-1 (Pittsburgh, PA) - Unanimous DecisionFound On:http://www.prokarateweekly.com/

"Friday Night Fights" in NYC

New York, New York
Church of St. Paul the Apostle

Great trip and great fights. Two of GR's best Thai fighters Ben "Thundercat" Parks and Aaron "Juice" Veverka both got to compete in the Big Apple. Ben & Aaron were accompianed by corner men and women Mike, Melissa, and Jason. Before we talk about the fights I would like to give a brief description of some of the fun stuff we got to do. On the morning of the fights prior to weigh ins we took a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, walked down Wall Street, and checked out the memorial set up at Ground Zero. Other than myself it was everybody else's first time in NYC. Okay enough of this lets get on to the fights.Both Ben and Juice fought some tough ripped quality competion and they both did awesome. Unfortunetly the fights were left in the judges hands and when you are the outsider you must totally dominate or KO your opponent to beat a hometown boy. Ben and Juice both lost decisions. Bens fight was not one sided by any means as he gave just as good as he got and Juice's fights he should have won as I was sure he had it. Bottome line is the promoter was extremely happy with our performances and called me the next day when I got home to thank us and invite us back for their next show. Look for Ben & Juice to turn Pro next year and this was just some more good experience for them to have.Written by:Jason Dent

Relson Gracie Seminar at GR Academy

Mentor, Ohio

A big thanks to Jeff Starr and Mark Stefanac of the Relson Gracie Lake County Chapter for getting Relson to our Academy to do this seminar. The seminar was great as it covered both Gi and no Gi techniques. Relson showed some of his own stuff and answered any and all questions that students had. Following the two hour seminar he was also kind enough to stick around and take picture with everyone. I'm not going to go into detail on any of the material that we covered as that would take way to long. Many of you will just have to witness it first hand as it is applied on you - LOL!If you were unable to make it you should definitly make the next one as it was well worth the money and then some. Enjoy the pictures below. Written by:Jason Dent

NAAFS "Team Challenge"

Akron, Ohio
Chaparrell's Community Center

Below you will find the full results of this event as found on the PKW website. We actually only had three of our boys fight as our Lightheavyweight was a fill in from another team and are heavyweight pulled a no show. Overall we did pretty good as we went 2-1. Congrats to GR's own Chuck Schilling, and AJ Pulling as they both looked fantastic.The North American Amateur Fight Series made a triumphant return to Chapparell's Community Center in Akron, OH for the 2006 edition of the Team Challenge. The fans were treated an impressive night of MMA action, featuring Team Air-Gadfly, Team DNA, Team GriffonRawl, & Strong Style Fight Team all vying for the Team Challenge trophy and a $2500 gift certificate courtesy of Combat Sports International.The lightweights kicked off the competition in impressive fashion, with Team Griffon-Rawl's Chuck Schilling & Team DNA's Danny Balon going the distance in a phenomenal opener that went to the judges. Schilling won the fight by unanimous decision, earning Team Griffon-Rawl 15 points. Despite the loss, Balon still put Team DNA on the board with 5 points because the fight went to the judges' scorecards.Scott Bickerstaff, representing Strong Style Fight Team, took on Mark White, who was representing Team Air-Gadfly in the second Lightweight bout. Bickerstaff took control early and scored the all important 1st Round victory by TKO to earn 25 points for Strong Style Fight Team.Next up was a non-Team Challenge NAAFS Bonus Bout between NAAFS veterans John Rohn and Carl Dean Roff. The ending came in Round 2 when Rohn caught Roff in a triangle choke to earn the submission victory.The 2nd Round of the Team Challenge featured the Welterweights in action. In the first bout, Team Griffon-Rawl's AJ Pulling continued to his winning ways over Team Air-Gadfly's James Myers. With this win, Pulling improved his record to 5-2.In the second Welterweight bout, Team DNA's Grant Sarver took on the #1 Ranked Welterweight in the NAAFS "Smokin" Joe Heiland. These two competitors showed what the NAAFS is all about in this three round battle. The fight went to the judges' scorecards, who unanimously decided in favor of Joe Heiland. This now sets up the NAAFS Welterweight Finals on December 2nd at Seasons Beatings, where #1 Ranked "Smokin" Joe Heiland will #2 Ranked AJ Pulling for the National Championship.Up next was an NAAFS Bonus Bout between Mike Nesto of Shrader's MMA & Roff-Ryder's Fight Team's Matt Sanders. Nesto earned himself the victory by Guillotine Choke in Rd 1. With this win, Nesto has positioned himself for a highly anticipated rematch against John "Mongoose" Myers in the NAAFS Lightweight Finals at Seasons Beatings.The Team Challenge competition continued with the Middleweights in action - or not. Unfortunately for Team DNA, John Heynoski was unable to attend the event for unspecified reasons, thus giving Craig Wasik of Strong Style Fight Team the victory and 25 points.In the other scheduled Middleweight bout, Garrett Matheron caught Milan Welsey in a Guillotine. Wesley tried to free himself, but was eventually rendered unconscious. The win boosted Matheron's stock in the NAAFS Middleweight Rankings and gave Team Air-Gadfly 25 points.The Light Heavyweights were up next in Team Challenge competition. The first bout featured Team Air-Gadfly's Mike Darling taking on Team DNA's Mike Kelley. The crowd was full of energy as these two sluggers began to battle it out. The victory went to Mike Kelley when Mike Darling could not answer the bell for Rd 2. The next bout in the Team Challenge pitted Team Griffon-Rawl's Keith Smetana against Strong Style's Terry Davinney. The fight started off evenly, but once Davinney took control he didn't let up. He hooked in a side choke for the submission victory in Rd 1 giving Strong Style another 25 points.In another NAAFS Bonus Bout, "American Nightmare" Shad Conley made his return to the NAAFS to battle Jungle Fight Team's Nick Duell, who was coming off an impressive victory at Caged Vengenace 2. Despite giving up a considerable amount of size in this Heavyweight Bout, Duell caught Conley with viscous strikes to earn the victory by TKO. This win now puts Duell's name in the hat for a possible title fight at the NAAFS National Finals on December 2nd.The final round of the Team Challenge competiton came down to the big boys of the NAAFS Heavyweight Division. Unfortunately, Anton Jackson of Team Griffon-Rawl failed to appear for his scheduled bout against Strong Style's Stepe Miocic, thus forfeiting the bout and giving Strong Style another 25 points. This still goes into the win column for Miocic and he now can throw his name into the hat as possible combatant in the finals of the NAAFS Heavyweight Division at Season's Beatings.The Main Event of the night saw Adam Farrell of Team DNA battle Chris Howard of Team Air-Gadfly. Farrell got the job done early, scoring the submission victory in Rd. 1 to give Team Air-Gadly another 25 points.The winner of the 2006 NAAFS Team Challenge is Strong Style Fight Team, who recieved the 2006 NAAFS Team Challenge trophy & a $2500 Gift Certificate courtesy of Combat Sports.A special thanks goes out the NAAFS Event Staff and everyone who helped make this event possible: Bloody Buddy Fight Gear, 2XL SportsGear, Soundz Crazy Entertainment, Levinson's Family Chiropractic, Fat Boyz Pizza, SportstalkCleveland.com, & PKW Live.2006 NAAFS Team Challenge Final Scores1. Strong Style Fight Team ----- 1102. Team DNA ------------------- 553 . Team Griffon-Rawl ----------- 354. Team Air-Gadfly -------------- 25Found On: http://www.prokarateweekly.com/

GFS "Cage Vengeance 2"

Cleveland, Ohio

Once again we were able to go undeafeted at the Grays Armory venue. The first time we fought here we went 3-0 and this time we went 2-0 bringing are overall record to 5-0. This time around it would be GR's own AJ Pulling and Donny Walker who would bring home the W's. AJ actually is the only one of us to have competed here twice now. Speaking of bringing stuff home Donny was able to bring home a nice peace of hardware with him as he defeated the ever tuff Dan Swift for the GFS vacant Pro Lightweight Title. Great night of fights and a great night for us for sure. Below you will find a full list of the results of the night. Enjoy.155lbs - Paul Compton over Leo Fowler - KO rd1205lbs - Nicholas Duell over Jason Scherer - KO rd1170 lbs – AJ Pulling over Ryan Victory - Guillotine rd1155 lbs – Dustin Neace over Tommy “Gun” Ridenbaugh - Tapout rd1170 lbs – Ryan “The Lion” Madigan over Chad Trukovich - KO rd1185 lbs – Ricky “The Thriller” Miller vs Jamie Niner - TKO (strikes) rd1155 lbs – John “The Mongoose” Myers over Mike Nesto - Split Decision170 lbs – “Smokin” Joe Heiland over Frank Carabello - TKO(strikes) rd1Gladiators Middleweight Title Fight – Mitch Whitesel over Ron Hedges - Armbar rd1 *Whitesel retains Gladiators Fighting Middleweight TitleGladiators Lightweight Title Fight - Donny Walker over Dan “The Pennsylvania Hitman” Swift - Split Decision *Walker is new Gladiators Fighting Lightweight Champion MAIN EVENT: Gladiators HW Title Fight - Josh “Heavy” Hendricks over Geza Kalman - TKO (strikes) rd1 *Hendricks retains Gladiators Fighting Heavyweight Title

UFC 63 Jason "Dynamite" Dent makes debut !

Anaheim, California
The Pond

GriffonRawl's own Jason "Dynamite" Dent made his UFC debut on this card on just a week and a half notice. Coming off of a big win in Hawaii over hometown favorite Kola Koka obviously put Jason on the UFC radar. Below you will find a full play by play run through of nights fights. As far as Jason in the UFC goes Dana White ended up giving him and his opponent the fight of the night bonus check for $15,000 dollars. On a side note Jason was able to pay the off the gyms new zebra mats and install us a 20' boxing ring. Even though Jason lost the decison he is still on contract with the UFC and will be most likely to make his return this December or early '07. Look for Dent to capture his first UFC win as he will have plenty of notice this time around.David Lee vs. Tyson GriffinRound 1David Lee lands a crisp flying knee to get the action started. Griffin secures a takedown off a body lock. Griffin takes his back and forces the tapout with a rear naked choke at 1:50 of the first period. Danny Abbadi vs. Jorge Gurgel Round 1Sherdog.com scores the first round 10-9 for Abbadi. Gurgel landed a right hand and worked for a kneebar and an armbar, but a clean knockdown from an Abbadi punch and a left straight that consistently beat Gurgel to the punch earns the 10-point round for Danny. Round 2Round two is all Gurgel. The Brazilian had Abbadi backpedaling from a lead right that found its target several times in the round. Gurgel scored a takedown and some solid ground and pound to end out the second stanza. Sherdog.com has the fight scored even as the thrid round sets to kickoff. Round 3More of the same in round three with Abbadi backpedaling while Jorge pushes forward. in the closing moments of the fight, Abbadi scores on a flurry that could have stolen the round. Gurgel scores a takedown as the horn sounds to end the battle and gain the nod on two of the judges's scorecards. 29-28 x2 for Gurgel, 29-28 for Abbadi. Jorge's gutsy takedown in the final second may have been the difference in the close fight. Mario Neto vs. Eddie Sanchez Round 1Both fighters traded strikes to start the fight. Neto secured a takedown and control for a few minutes but Sanchez defended well. Neto tried to pull guard and finish the fight with a front choke byt Sanchez escapes to his feet. Sherdog.com scores the first round 10-9 for Sanchez. Round 2Sanchez lands a huge overhand right that ends the fight at 17 seconds of the second round. Sanchez followed the stunned fighter to the mat and finished with three punches that put Neto out cold. Jason Dent vs. Roger HuertaRound 1Dent lands a spinning back kick to the body, in what would be his only offense in the opening stage. Huerta landed strikes on his feet at will and scored a few takedowns, one of which was a huge slam followed by some serious bombs to Dent's face. Sherdog.com scores the first for Huerta, 10-9. Round 2More of the same in round two, with Huerta getting the better of the ground and standing action. the last 30 seconds of the round Huerta peppered Dent with a torrent of strikes. Huerta coasting so far, 20-18 after two rounds. Round 3Dent scores with a flying knee that opens up a gash on Huerta's head. Both fighters bleeding now. Dent starting to find his range with the strikes. Huerta lands a takedown at the 2:30 mark, and appears to rest and ride out the fight, before he started unloading bombs on the ground again. Huerta captured every round on all the judges' scorecards, 30-27. Joe Lauzon vs. Jens PulverRound 1Lauzon scores a single leg takedown in the opening seconds. Jens escapes to his feet the grabs the cage to avoid being taken down again. The foul fails and he is taken down anyways. Jens again works to his feet but catches a left hook right on the button that puts him to sleep. Lauzon wins by knockout at 0:48 of the first. Jason Lambert vs. Rashad EvansRound 1Rashad rushes in to clinch but Lambert defends well with single wrist control. Evans scores a takedown but Lambert works back to his feet. Evans picks Lambert up slams him to the mat into side-control. Jason works for a Kimura but Evans stays put in side position and defends. Both fighters back to their feet. Lambert now pushing Evans against the fence while working for a single leg takedown. Another takedown from Evans. Sherdog.com scores the first round 10-9 for Rashad.Round 2Fast takedown from Evans into his opponent’s guard. Lambert again tries for a Kimura but Rashad escapes. Evans explodes into a double leg and gains mount shortly after. Evans lands a flurry of heavy strikes from the mount that knock Lambert out at the 2:22 mark. Gabe Ruediger vs. Melvin GuillardRound 1Guillard sprawls to avoid several Ruediger takedown attempts in the first minute of the fight then lands a takedown of his own. Left hook stuns Ruediger. Gabe has a mouse over his left eye from a standing elbow delivered by his opponent. Melvin grabs the fence to defend a takedown. Ruediger scores a takedown. He moves quickly to mount then Guillard gives up his back. Ruediger working for a rear naked as the round expires. Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Ruediger for the near finish at the end of the round. Round 2Guillard finds his range in the second round with punches. He landed two straight rights to the body within 30 seconds of each other, the second of which collapsed his opponent. Guillard then landed a soccer kick to the shoulder, forcing Herb Dean to stop the fight at 1:01 of the second round. Mike Swick vs. David LoiseauRound 1Right kick lands to the body of “The Crow.” Loiseau clinches Swick against the fence but the referee restarts the action after a minute of inactivity. Swick unloads with a barrage of punches at Loiseau covers up. The first half of round one is all Swick. Finally “Crow” lets his hands loose and backs up the American. Swick scores a takedown into the Canadian’s half-guard. Swick momentarily takes Loisaeu’s back but “The Crow” escapes to his feet. First round is dominated by Swick, 10-9. Round 2Swick taunts his opponent as the second period begins. Spining back kick lands for Swick. Loiseau lands 2 leg kicks that back Swick up. Flying knee from Swick finds its target. The Ultimate Fighter veteran scores a takedown. Loiseau bleeding over his left eye. Swick rides out the rest of the round inside his opponent’s guard. 10-9 for Swick. Round 3Loiseau now stalking Swick aroud the cage. Swick hits a single and drags Loiseau to the mat. “The Crow” tries to sweep but Swick escapes to his feet and waves his finger at Loiseau. “The Crow” finds his range on a few elbows and gets a takedown of his own. “The Crow” now working from half-guard against the cage with heavy elbows. Swick raises to his feet after surviving the onslaught of strikes. Swick catches a Loiseau kick and takes him to the canvas as the horn sounds to end the bout. Sherdog.com scores it 10-9 for Loiseau (29-28 Swick).Official score - 29-28x3 for Swick. Matt Hughes vs. B.J. PennRound 1Penn enters the Octagon looking calm and confident. Hughes makes the walk to the cage to his usual Hank Williams Jr. theme music. Penn lands a left hook to the body to kickoff the action. Hughes working for a single but Penn leaps on foot to the cage and defends. Hughes eats a right hand and answers with a punch of his own. Hughes backs away and eats a right hand before scoring a single leg takedown. B.J. rises to his feet and hits Hughes with a one-two. Hughes is poked in the eye accidentally, requiring a doctors check. Hughes gives the OK after the doctor’s thumbs-up and the fight continues. The duration of the first round is spent against the cage as Hughes works for a takedown. Sherdog.com scores the first 10-9 for Penn. Round 2Hughes lands a left jab and a right to the body before scoring a takedown against the cage. Hughes working to pass guard. Penn Closes his guard as Hughes tries to posture and pass to both sides. Hughes lands a elbow. B.J. working for an omaplata. Hughes escapes and drops another elbow. Two elbows rock B.J. Penn sweeps and takes Hughes' back. B.J. working for the rear naked choke. Bj now has a triangle from the back with an arm trapped. The fight is almost over. B.J. switched to an armbar just before Hughes escaped as the round comes to a close. Penn wins round 2, 10-9. Round 3Hughes opening up with some punches as the third period begins. Left hook lands for the champion. Another left lands for the mainlander. Stiff jab from Hughes. Huge uppercut lands for Hughes. B.J. rocked. Hughes scores a takedown and passes to half-guard. Hughes now in side control and traps Penn’s left arm. Hughes pounding away. Hughes pounds on a trapped Penn until “Big” John stops the fight. Hughes defeds his title with a TKO at 3:53 of the third round. Found on:http://www.sherdog.com/

NAAFS "Northcoast Showdown"

Euclid Sports Plant

This past weekends NAAFS event may have been the most memorable show yet for several reasons both positive and not so positive. On the positive end, fans were treated to a number of outstanding fights including what is surely a candidate for NAAFS fight of the year with Frank Carabello’s come from behind win over DJ Jacobucci… but more on that one later. In addition to the anticipated featured bouts, several new NAAFS fighters made emphatic debuts this weekend and had an immediate impact on the soon to be released updated 2006 rankings, while others looked to solidify their stance in hopes of earning one of two spots in each weight class during this December’s NAAFS finals in Cleveland. The night opened with a lightweight bout pitting Team DNA’s Dan Balon against newcomer Walter Shwanbeck of Warren, PA. After negating several take down attempts from Shwanbeck, Balon established position and worked his way to the back of his opponent securing a fight ending rear naked choke midway thru the opening round. Balon, who normally fights at 145lbs improved to 3-0 and could have something to say in the lightweight division before the year is out. The newly founded Team Playland’s Dan Jones was next up as he took on NAAFS veteran Brodie Arnold in another exciting lightweight clash. In what was a very entertaining fight (which nearly featured the NAAFS’ first ever pile driver) it was Jones getting the best of Arnold with a rear naked choke near the end of round one. With both fighters coming in with wins during their first NAAFS bouts, Milan Wesley of Cleveland and New York’s Nick Golembieski knew that each needed an almost flawless performance to get by the other. On this night it was Wesley who worked his game plan to near perfection and showed the rest of the NAAFS middleweights that he is in fact for real. With UFC bound Jason Dent in his corner, Wesley avoided danger and several submission attempts from Golembieski while pounding his way to a second round KO. Both fighters dropped down from light heavyweight for this fight and it appeared to be the right move for each particularly Wesley. Mike Nesto improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the NAAFS with his latest win over Jay Wadsworth. In yet another intense battle, Nesto got an early takedown and never looked back while pushing the action for much of the fight. Wadsworth was more then game and had his moments in the fight testing Nesto’s chin on one occasion in the first round, however is was the aggressiveness of Nesto that has made him a fighter on the rise and one of the most versatile on the lightweight class. Next up was Griffon-Rawl’s Chuck Schilling taking on Team DNA’s Adam Swift who was a late fill in for the injured Carl Miller. In another back and forth bout it was Schilling who imposed his will on Swift while pinning his opponent against the cage and doing most of his damage on his feet. Swift came out aggressive in rounds two and three but could never establish a consistent attack of his own. Schilling worked his way to a finishing rear naked choke midway through round three. Our thoughts and prayers are with Carl Miller who was involved in a car accident while driving to the show from his home in Michigan. PKW has learned that Miller suffered no serious injuries and plans on returning to action in the not too distant future.In a super heavyweight clash, Cleveland’s Bobby Favors took advantage of a nearly 80 pound weight difference and wasted little time in finishing Anthony Holder of Warren, PA. Favors came out swinging and things quickly went to the ground. From there it was all Favors who ended the fight via rear naked choke in under a minute.The final preliminary bout may still have fans buzzing after the display put on by Rising Dragon’s Frank Carabello and Team Griffon-Rawl’s DJ Jacobucci in a middleweight showdown. Jacobucci won the first round with an aggressive attack and a right hand that seemingly rocked the iron jawed Carabello several times, however Carabello would survive and turn the tide in round two with his own fire power which Jacobucci would not have an answer for. The second round started with Jacobucci on the early attack and another overhand right that would momentarily back up his opponent but then came the punch of the night from Carabello, a clean uppercut that stunned Jacobucci and began to turn momentum in Carabello's favor. Several more punches were then thrown by both fighters with Carabello clearly getting the better of the exchange and his confidence growing with each shot landed. A final combo from the Italian slugger would down Jacobucci who would not be able to continue earning Carabello his first NAAFS win. Keep an eye on both of these fighters in the future….wow!Kicking off the main card was Carabello’s team mate and Rising Dragon captain Taiwon Howard who was looking for his third straight win against backyard rival Ben Parks of Team Griffon-Rawl. In a battle of two former kickboxers, this fight stayed standing and lived up to its expectations with Howard avoiding an early Parks flurry and turing the table in a very fast paced fight. A right hand down the pipe set up a barrage of Howard strikes that would end things for Parks in the just over a minute in to the fight. Howard will now likely be on the top of the 185 lbs class when the new NAAFS rankings are released and sent a message to the rest of the division at the same time with the win.In a featured lightweight battle Cody “The Wolverine” Stevens improved to 4-0 as he took out very tough Jay Morris. Stevens, who came out ultra aggressive, never gave Morris a chance to really get into the fight while showing off a very well rounded attack. Stevens went on to win the fight via ref stoppage late in round two. Top ranked NAAFS light heavyweight Dan Spohn suffered his first career loss to the hands of Chuck Ellison who evened his record at 1-1. Ellison came out firing while stunning Spohn in the opening seconds with a barrage of punches which Spohn could never recover from. With the win, Ellison has vaulted his way to the top five of the light heavyweight class.In a featured heavyweight bout, John “The Showstopper” Hedges wasted little time in defeating newcomer Bill Streller by TKO in the opening minute of the fight. Streller did all he could to avoid the take down but the “Showstopper” would not be denied and coasted to his second straight win. Streller has vowed to return and fight again while Hedges will now set his sights on his next opponent and a possible top three ranking.In what ended up being the nights main event, John “The Mongoose” Myers defeated Ryan Miller in another highly anticipated yet controversial fight. A great early exchange got things started with Miller gaining the fights first takedown and control early. The mongoose in typical mongoose fashion then reversed position and shortly their after got things standing where he could make a move. From there things got interesting as Myers applied a standing guillotine which prompted referee Doug Patterson to stop the fight giving the win to Myers. A very vocal and unpleased Miller did not agree with the call and felt he was in no serious trouble and the fight should have been allowed to continue. In the end it was Myers walking out with a win and solidifying his spot near the top of the lightweight division while Miller will be forced to regroup and make another run.And then came the not so positive. After getting the news nearly a week ago that his first scheduled opponent (Josh Stansbury) was forced to withdraw due to an injury, Dominic Qurazzo was next slated to face Toledo’s Clark Baker (now 3-2) in the night’s main event but that’s where things apparently went wrong. Baker allegedly weighed in and then left the premises never to return forcing Qurazzo to win by disqualification. Needless to say Qurazzo’s disappointment was evident as he took center stage and addressed his loyal fans who came out to witness his NAAFS debut. A gracious and thankful Qurazzo assured fans that he would make this up to them with his next fight while warning future opponents of his intentions the next time he steps into the cage. It is not clear when Qurazzo will fight again however fans can expect an official announcement from the Qurazzo camp in the weeks to come on PKW. NAAFS HW Dominic QurazzoEven with the disappointing end to an otherwise very competitive and entertaining card, the fifth round of the 2006 series will go down as a memorable one with a night of amazing amateur action. All of us at the NAAFS want to thank the fans, fighters, trainers, sponsors, staff and everyone involved for their continued support and for making the NAAFS the nation’s undisputed leader in amateur MMA. We can honestly say that the best is yet to come……see you in November!Found on:http://www.prokarateweekly.com/Quick ResultsFeatured BoutsMain Event 265 lbs - Dominic Qurazzo over Clark Baker - Disqualification (Baker No Show)155 lbs - John "The Mongoose" Myers over Ryan Miller - Guillotine rd1265 lbs - John “The Showstopper” Hedges over Bill Streller - TKO rd1205 lbs - Chuck Ellison over Dan Spohn - KO rd1185 lbs - Taiwon “The Iron Dragon” Howard over Ben “Thundercat” Parks - TKO rd2155 lbs - Cody "The Wolverine" Stevens over Jay Morris - TKO rd2Preliminary Bouts185 lbs - Frank Carabello over DJ Jacobucci - TKO rd2SHW - Bobby Favors over Anthony Holder - RNC rd1155 lbs - Mike Nesto over Jay Wadsworth - Guillotine rd2155 lbs - Chuck Schilling over Adam Swift - RNC rd3185 lbs - Milan Wesley over Nick Golembieski - KO rd2155 lbs - Dan Jones over Brodie Arnold - Guillotine rd1155 lbs Dan Balon over Walter Shwanbeck - RNC rd1

Icon Sport “Mayhem vs. Lawler”

Honolulu, Hawaii
Blaispell Arena

GR Instructors Jason Dent and Mike Russo made the long haul a 12 hour plane flight to Honolulu, Hawaii. Set to compete on the Icon sport Superbrawl card this was Jason's second time with this organization and the debut for mike this will mark the biggest event of his career. Nearly 8,000 poeple in attendance it was a pretty packed venue. I would lie to take a moment and send a shout to Chas are manager for getting both myself and Jason on the card. I would also like to thank Rob Monroe for coming on short notice to be are cutman for the night. Below you find complete result for our fights as well as the rest of the line-up. Hawaii was awesome we can not wait to go back and fight for this organization again they took very good care of us. In a see saw battle Saturday night the questions were answered. At least for the time being. Jason “Mayhem” Miller answered the critics and brought it big time at the Neal Blaisdell Arena in Hononlulu Hawaii. Miller showed up with the Rastafari ring entrance donning a dreadlock wig and rasta hat along with his customary mask. Miller played the pro Mayhem crowd to the hilt."Ruthless" Robbie Lawlers entrance was anything but entertaining aside from the obvious anger he had coming into this fight, tearing his warm ups off and throwing his shirt, shoes and warm up pants.The first round saw Miller come out firing with his seemingly new found penchant for kicking, Its widely known that Miller is a Jiu Jitsu expert but as of late, including this performance and his last performance in California on the WFA card against Lodune Sincaid he has now done a remarkable job with his striking. He battered Lawler with nice kicks and knees. Leaving Lawler with bruising on his left side rib cage by the end of round one. Lawler seemed extremely hesitant in the first throwing only one punch. The first round clearly went to Miller as he was the clear aggressor and landed punches, kicks and knees. Especially effective was Miller with his leg kicks just as in Lawler’s previous UFC bout against Pete Spratt a few years back. Doesn’t appear Lawler worked much on leg kick defense. Oddly enough it didn’t appear that Miller was looking at all to get the takedown. It could be that he wanted to prove to his critics that he can fight stand up with the best. Round two-The start of the second was like a completely different fight. Lawlers corner seemed to wake him up with their urging and at the start of the second round the war was on. It was the old Robbie Lawler in there firing away and landing solid shots. Hurting Miller on numerous occasions. Lawlers power can not be denied. Lawler at one point had Miller turtled up on the mat and it appeared the referee was very close to stepping in and stopping it. Miller survived the onslaught and got to his feet near the end of the round. Once to his feet Miller exploded with solid kicks and knees pushing Lawler back into the ropes as the horn sounded the end of the round. The second round was most definitely Lawlers round. The third round started off where the second left off. An all out war. Close to mid way through the third round Miller was able to mount Lawler but both fighters were stuffed in the corner. The referee stopped the action and positioned them in the center for a restart with Miller still in full mount. Miller proceeded to land two solid elbow strikes to Lawlers head, which is a foul. The Miller – Lawler fight was to be contested under full Pride Fighting rules. Elbows to the head are illegal. A warning was given but the fight resumed in the position the fouls were commited and the Lawler corner vehemently argued that due to those fouls the fighters should have been stood up after the warning. Long story short the referee left them in that position which inevitably led to Miller securing a triangle arm choke, the same choke he used in his last fight in Hawaii vs. Stephan Gamlin. One could only wonder had the fight been stood up what the eventual outcome might have been. Winner Jason “Mayhem” Miller by triangle arm choke at 2:50 of the third round.In the semi main event “The favorite Son of Polynesia” Kolo Koka had his hands full with Jason “Dynamite” Dent from Ohio. The Koka we saw in this fight was not as willing to stand and trade shots like the Koka of previous fights. Both fighters did exchange their fare share of leg kicks and punches but Koka seemed intent on securing a leg and taking the native Ohio fighter to the ground. Once on the ground Dent seemed to be able to neutralize everything Koka tried to do. Dent caused considerable damage while on bottom. Dent continually worked for the high climbing guard and was searching for submissions. The stale mate on the ground forced the referee to stand the fights on numerous occasions. Dent landed a monsterous knee strike in the second round that had Koka in big, big trouble. All credit due to Koka for surviving the second round. He was visibly hurt and fought on with huge heart. My personal opinion from ringside was that Koka was not recovered at the start of the third round. He came out with glassy eyes and I believe he did not get his head completely clear during the break. But always the warrior he battled on and once again found himself in Dents guard but this time Dent found the submission opening and secured the triangle choke causing Koka to have no choice but to tap. Once again my personal opinion of Kolo Koka. He is a huge ambassador of the sport and represents Hawaii as well as any place could be represented. Total warrior and the most gracious and respectful person that I have come across in the sport in a long, long time. Kolo Koka is a first class fighter and more importantly a first class person.Jason Dent defeated Kolo Koka by triangle choke in Round 3.Peni Taufaao defeats Isaiah Cobb-Adams by guillotine in Round 1 Shaun Durfee defeats Thomas Ferguson by Rear Naked Choke at 1:30 of Round 1 Keoni Bryant defeats Derek Stadler by Unanimous Decision Both fighters had mount numerous times in the bout but in the third and final round Bryants striking seemed to give him the edge.145-lb TITLE FIGHTChico Cantebaros defeats Kevin Delima by Referee Stoppage due to strikes Cantiberos was the obvious dominant fighter standing utilizing the whole bag of tricks punches, kicks and kneesMakana Albino defeats Marshall Harvest by decision Seemed the crowd saw it different and booed the decision but mma Hawaii saw Albino outworking Harvest and therefore getting the decision.Mark Oshiro defeats Paul Gorman by TKO Oshiro lands the left hand bomb referee stops the contest.Sydney Silva defeats Kimo Woefel by armbar A very game Woefel was able to fight off numerous submission attempts but Silva’s Jiu Jitsu proved to be too much and was able to secure the armbar for the victory.Jack a Brazillian Jiu Jitsu black belt was too much for Russo, Jack was the aggressor and left Russo defending. Jack secures the back and sinks the choke.Jay Jack defeats Mike Russo by Rear Naked Choke in Round 1.Wriiten By:Rob Monroe

Ohio Kickboxing Challenge

Hilliard, Ohio

We got a phone call about a week before this show was to take place looking for a 185lb fighter for an International Rules kickboxing match. As luck would have it GR's own Ben Parks was game to throw down even on short notice. The drive down wasn't bad as it was less than 3 hours and we had good company as DJ, Sara, Russo, and myself were all coming along to support Ben. To make a long story short the guy Ben fought was 4-0 in MMA and was the hometown favorite. Ben and Josh fought 3 hard rounds where Ben landed leg kicks at will and was able to land vicious straight right hands also. In Josh's defense he did land a couple haymakers on Ben but was never able to do any damage with them. At end of the 3 round the fight went to the judges score cards and had it ruled a unanimous decison and we were positive it was in favor of Ben. To our dismay the judges gave the fight to Josh Keener and we were shocked. Turns out the judges were friends of Keeners and Keener is a student in the promoters gym. Dirty buisness the fight game can be and we will never fight for this promotion again nor are we even ackowledging this fight on Bens record. O and even the ref came to us in the corner and agreed that Ben had been robbed along with the crowd booing about it after we left. Nuff said.Written by:Jason Dent

Team GR Florida visits Team GR Ohio for mini camp

Mentor, Ohio

Dan "Tanis" Rawlings along with fellow GR Florida warriors Becky, Telly, Bruce, Chris, and Lindsey all made the long haul from Brookesville, Florida to come up and train with us. We had four days of training at various times of the day. We would usually work out in the morning for a couple of hours followed by an evening workout too.Dan taught the majority of the Thai classes and I taught the MMA classes. Most of the classes took place inside the new GR Academy except for one of the days we all took off and met up at squires castle where we did some cross country running followed by some Thai Pad workouts out in the grass. Overall we had a big turnout of GR Ohio memebers at all of the workouts. To say the least the camp went great everyone learned alot and had a great time. I personally can't wait till they all come back again next year. Written by:Jason Dent

NAAFS " Fight Night in the Flats 2"

Cleveland, Ohio

The Gladiators Fighting Series made it’s return to Cleveland this past weekend with one of it’s biggest and most competitive cards to date. Fight Nite in the Flats 2, presented by BetonFighting.com and PKW Live, once again took center stage in Cleveland’s magnificent Plain Dealer Pavilion considered by many as one of the regions premier outdoor venues. The night featured four Gladiators title fights along with a stacked feature and preliminary card which made for an unbelievably competitive line up.Team Griffon-Rawl's Jason “Dynamite” Dent once again impressed his hometown fans with a memorable performance in a featured lightweight showdown against Team Next Level’s Luke Spencer. In a fight that Ohio fans thought was long overdue, the two battled into the third round in what was a very tight and fast paced match up. Dent and Spencer held nothing back while going toe to toe for most of the fight but Dent was able to capitalize on a late Spencer mistake and sink in the winning triangle choke in round three. Dent, who improved to 18-6 with the win, will now be fighting in October for the Gladiators Fighting lightweight title.Donnie Walker looked to make a name for himself by taking out the previously unbeaten Jason “Steeltown” Taylor in a lightweight clash. Both fighters showed a well rounded attack in a back and forth fight but Walker eventually would capitalize on a Taylor mistake late in round two to earn the submission victory. Walker improved to 6-2 and has established himself as a contender in the Gladiators lightweight division.Kickboxing champion Ryan “The Lion” Madigan made his MMA debut a successful one as he took care of a feisty Clint Zeedyk in a welterweight clash. Madigan showed early patience after Zeedyk took the kickboxer down in the opening stages of the fight. After avoiding what appeared to be a tight heel hook, Madigan turned the tables on Zeedyk and at one point even mounted the Gladiators veteran. The second round started with a brief exchange and another Zeedyk takedown but once again Madigan was able to sweep and gain control after slipping through Zeedyks guard prompting his corner to throw in the towel. An impressive debut against a tough Clint Zeedyk likely assured Madigan a return to the cage this October.The opener saw Dan Spohn improve to 2-0 with a first round submission win over Cleveland’s Dave Osborne.The Gladiators Fighting Series would like to thank the fighters, fans, the Ohio Athletic commission and our sponsors for all of their support in making this one of our best events ever.Featured Pro BoutsMain Event: Super Heavyweight Title Fight - Dan Bobish over Erik Knox - TKO (ref stoppage) rd1Heavyweight Title Fight – Josh Hendricks over Patrick Barrentine - Armbar rd1Light Heavyweight Title Fight – Rob Wince over Allan Weickert - Unanimous DecWelterweight Title Fight – Jeff Cox over Chris Myers - Front Choke rd1155 lbs. – Jason Dent over Luke Spencer - Triangle Choke rd3155 lbs. – Donnie Walker over Jason Taylor - Triangle Choke rd2170 lbs. – Ryan Madigan over Clint Zeedyk - TKO (towel thrown) rd2155 lbs. – Torrance Taylor over Toby Grear - Split Dec195 lbs. – Matt Masterson over Todd Seyler - KO rd1155 lbs. – Tommy Ridenbaugh over Casey Leonard - TKO rd1205 lbs. - Thomas Russell over Jason Freeman - Armbar rd1Preliminary Bouts170 lbs. - Joe Heiland over Josh McBride - KO rd3155 lbs. - Tyler Combs over John Myers - Arm Traingle rd3155 lbs. - Carl Dean Roff over Marcus Keith - Unanimous Dec170 lbs. - Rob Stroup over Dominic Ciricillo - Rear Naked Choke rd2205 lbs. - Dan Spohn over Dave Osborne - Rear Naked Choke rd1Written by:Pro Karate Weeklyhttp://www.prokarateweekly.com/

NAAFS "Caged Fury"

Dover, Ohio

Round three of The North American Amateur Fight Series rocked the Tuscarawas County Fairgrounds in Dover, Ohio this past weekend with ten action packed bouts.Milan Wesley showed a well rounded attack with his first round TKO win over Jason Ross. Wesley, who was making his MMA debut, showed patience in avoiding serious trouble from an early Ross flurry and finished the fight nearly halfway through the first round.Jason McBride solidified his #1 ranking with a hard fought victory over Team Griffon-Rawls AJ Pulling (3-2) via unanimous decision. McBride escaped early trouble including a triangle attempt by Pulling but finished strong controlling round three while doing most of his damage from Pullings guard.Round four of the NAAFS series is tentatively scheduled for late July and a location is expected to be announced soon.Results170lbs - Joe Heiland (Team Strong Style) over Pete Beamer (Vander Fighting Systems) – Ref stoppage (strikes) rd 1185 lbs - Dan Spohn (USA Fight Club) over Tony Prey (Wreck Room Athletics) – Tapout (strikes) rd 2155 lbs - Tyler Combs (Killing Fields MMA) over Carl Roff (Roff Ryders Fight Team) – Split Decision155 lbs - John Myers (Vander Fighting Systems – Dover, OH) over Chuck Schilling (Team Griffon-Rawl) – Unanimous DecSHW – Joel Castillio (Brunswick MMA) over Frank Pierce (Hannibal, NY) - KO rd1170 lbs – Josh McBride (Northeastern Pummeling Den) over AJ Pulling (Team Griffon-Rawl) - Unanimous Dec170 lbs – John Rohn (Ungs’s MMA) over Brian Baker (Iron Fist Fight Team)– armbar rd 1155 lbs – Ryan Miller (Wreck Room Athletics over Adam Hooser (Iron Dragon MMA) - Ref stoppage (strikes) rd 1205 lbs – Milan Wesley (Team Griffon-Rawl) over Jason Ross (Vander Fighting Systems – Ref stoppage (strikes) rd 1155 lbs - Dan Jones (Team Griffon-Rawl) over Carl Miller (Big Rapids, MI) – Guillotine rd 1Written by:Pro Karate Weeklyhttp://www.prokarateweekly.com/

King of the Cage "Drop Zone"

Mt. Pleasent, Michigan

Aptly named “Drop Zone,” the level of entertainment for Saturday’s King of the Cage at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort dropped faster than coins in the casino’s slot machines. The under card was littered with mismatches and unproven talent, while the main card saw Mac Danzig (Pictures) and James Lee successfully defending their lightweight and light heavyweight weight titles, respectively. Danzig, defending his title for the first time after dismantling Takumi Nakayama (Pictures), won a unanimous judges decision against a game Jason Ireland. Danzig looked tentative as the scrappy Ireland pressed the action early in the first round. Controlling the distance with his jab and leg kicks, the southpaw Ireland kept Danzig on his heels. Hoping to improve his situation, Danzig attempted a hip-toss only to have Ireland counter and land a belly-to-back of his own. After a brief scramble on the ground, Ireland landed a straight left that crumbled the Millenia Jiu-Jitsu fighter. Ireland, searching for a quick finish, pounced on Danzig, who was able to recover from the punch only to find himself locked in a tight guillotine choke. Danzig escaped, passed guard and worked to get his hooks in just as the first round ended. Wanting to push the stand up action, Danzig opened the second frame with a flying knee that connected, but resulted in Danzig on his back. The Irish Tornado then peppered the legs of the butt scooting Danzig. Ireland lowered himself into Danzig’s guard with a right hand that brought that Ireland-friendly crowd to their feet. Once Danzig was able to establish the top position on the ground, he quickly forced Ireland to give up his back. Ireland’s strength and grit would not allow Danzig to improve on the dominate position, as referee Herb Dean (Pictures) was forced to stand the action shortly before the end of the second round. The third stanza saw Danzig prove his mettle by dominating all aspects of the fight. He opened up with two hooks, a shot to the body and a double-leg takedown and then quickly cut through Ireland’s guard. Once in mount, Ireland did not want punches rained down so he gave up his back. As Danzig worked for the choke, referee Dean confusingly halted the action and requested the fighters to stand. After a brief exchange, Danzig secured the challenger’s back again, this time with a leg triangle. With Danzig still working to finish the fight, Dean again warned of an imminent stand up. Appearing to be comfortable on the ground, Danzig attempted an armbar, then transitioning to a Kimura and then heelhook and Ireland deftly defended. When it was clear the heelhook would not finish the fight, Danzig attacked the knee, forcing the leg past 180 degrees. Ireland, showing the heart of a warrior, refused to tap as the round came to a close. Danzig, who was very apologetic after the fight for not finishing his opponent, showed tremendous character being able to come back and control the fight after being dropped with a punch. Ireland proved that he can be a force in the future at 155 pounds. James Lee, with a horde of the MASH team in his corner, improved his record to 18-2 by walking through a haggard-looking Brian Hawkins (Pictures). Hawkins, who has lost a step or four, was outclassed quickly. Lee landed a hard right hand that would have finished the fight, but the champion quickly advanced and locked up the clinch. Had Lee not engaged, Hawkins would have dropped. Lee muscled the fight to the ground, where he ended the action with a heelhook 24 seconds after the opening bell. Charles Bennett (Pictures) attempted to bring his out-of-the-ring flair into the cage, only to get choked out cold at the hands of Buddy Clinton (Pictures) 18 seconds into the bout. As referee Dean gave the fight instructions, Bennett used the opportunity to sniff Clinton like a rabid dog. Straight out of the movie The Matrix, Bennett parried Clinton’s overhand right so deftly that both fighters spun to the ground. Clinton used this chance to lock a deep rear-naked choke. The consummate combatant, Bennett refused to tap while slipping from consciousness. Matt Shaw impressed the crowd by pulling a sneaky armbar out over Derrick Keesley one minute into the second round. The bout was action packed, with both fighters showing quick hands and strong ground work. After calmly fending off a opening flurry by Joe Voisin, Jason Dent forced a tap 4:50 into the first round with a guillotine choke. Brendan Seguin (Pictures) won a unanimous decision over Thomas Russell by controlling the fight with a strong wrestling base. Josh Taibil reigned down punches from the mount after escaping a sloppy armbar attempt from Josh Martin. The strikes induced a referee stoppage at the 2:15 mark. Using his 40-pound weight advantage, Don Richard (Pictures)s armbarred Allen Weikart 1:55 into the first period. Wearing a singlet, a fighter announced to the crowd as “Count Blackula” used a karate style to confuse Tony Forgione early in their bout. However, once the “Count” ate a punch, he ran away attempting to keep Forgione at bay with sidekicks. Forgione danced through the snap kicks and landed some meager punches that compelled “Blackula” to verbally submit two minutes into the bout. Brian Harper choked out Kevin Brent 32 seconds into the opening bout of the evening. Sorry but do to the photographer pulling a no show we have no pictures.Written by:by John Hanlon

North League Extreme Kickboxing 8

Cleveland, Ohio

Once again we returned to McCarthy's Ale House to compete at Extreme Kickboxing 8. This time around we had one debut and two of our veterans making their return. Below you will find the results of this event and see that we ended up going 2-0-1. Our guys fought very hard, very smart, and made me and the rest of our team very proud. Here is a quick breakdown of our guys fights. 1st up was Juice who made short work of his opponent with his viscious knees. 2nd was Anton who looked awesome and nobody could hardly believe it was his debut fight. Anton and his opponet matched up well and it was a very exciting fight. 3rd up and last but not least was Thundercat, Ben looked great and dominated every round. Not many people know this but Ben was actually battling a cold all week and for him to go out there and perfom like that was just awesome. Until the next time !Written by:Jason DentXK 8 Results:Cruiserweight - Ben "Thundercat" Parks (Team GriffonRawl, Cleveland, OH) over Dustin Holbrook (Peak Submission Fight Team) - Split DecisionSuper Heavyweight - Lorenzo Kane (Aharta Inner Power) vs. Anton Jackson (Team GriffonRawl) - Draw155 lbs - Aaron "Juice" Veverka (Team GriffonRawl, Cleveland, OH) over Rob Murden (Kimly's Martial Arts - Columbus, OH) - TKO rd 2For info on the next Extreme Kickboxing event call 330-324-3034 or McCarthy's Ale House at 216-344-9099.

Gladiator Fighting Series "Caged Vengeance"

Cleveland, Ohio

The Gladiators Fighting Series made a triumphant return to Ohio with "Caged Vengeance" on Saturday, February 18th as 32 Mixed Martial Arts warriors put on a show for the ages in front of a capacity crowd at the historic Gray’s Armory in downtown Cleveland.Gladiators Amateur MMA set things in motion with seven explosive bouts featuring some of the top amateurs in the region. Pennsylvania’s Josh McBride made an impressive “Gladiators” debut as he out-muscled a very tough Scott Bickerstaff of Michigan’s Team Shoot in a fight that included one of the best “body slams” of the night from McBride.Home town fighter A.J. Pulling of Team GriffonRawl improved to 3-1 with a strong performance en route to a first round armbar win over a game Carl Miller of Big Rapids, Michigan, who was making his MMA debut, while New York’s Dustin Bloom of team Air-Gadfly escaped early trouble to submit John Myers of Vander Fighting Systems, Dover, Ohio, in a grappling "chess match." Delphos, Ohio's Peak Submission Fight Team made its mark early in the night with two back-to-back wins on the amateur undercard. First, Thomas Russell bounced back from his only career loss to beat Kickboxing champion and Cleveland native Taiwon Howard in what was a very heated match-up. Look for these two to meet again sometime down the road.Then came Peak Submission's second victory as Dustin Holbrook earned a second round TKO over PA’s Matt Barth in a very competitive, action packed bout.Fan favorite Jason Freeman representing Vander Fighting Systems out slugged the previously unbeaten from Ohio's Team Next Level Josh “The Sandman” Stansbury, in what was no doubt the best fight of all the amateur bouts.Both warriors showed tremendous will as neither would give in to the other's take down attempts and battled to the closing seconds of the opening round until a brutal right hand from Freeman ended things for Stansbury who definitely will be heard from again. Freeman meanwhile is considering making his Gladiator's pro debut in June when "Fight Nite in the Flats 2" rolls in to Cleveland for one of the year's biggest MMA events. In the Pro Gladiators MMA ranks, Team GriffonRawl’s Mike “The Bull” Russo put on what may have been his best performance as a professional with a first round submission victory over previously undefeated Chad Truckovich of Ohio's Wreckroom Athletics.Team BOF’s Torrance “The Tyrant” Taylor won his second straight fight in Cleveland as he made his pro debut in the Lightweight division. Taylor's Team HammerHouse opponent Derrick Collins would not make things easy as he fought off the Tyrant's early barrage of knees, while looking for chance to take things to the ground, but in the end it was too much Tyrant as referee Steve Whitehurst called the match midway thru the first round.Peak's Brandon Lee looked to made it three straight wins with a victory over HammerHouse slugger and former high school wrestling champion Richy Karst. Lee came out the aggressor early as he took the fight to Karst in a very fast paced opening minute.After a Karst take down, Lee was able to maneuver his way into an ankle lock which nearly ended the fight, but Karst would not be denied. Eventually both fighters got back on their feet where Karst tried to do his best to get to the now confident Lee.The second round saw much of the same as each fighter took his shot at various submission attempts. Lee would not give up as he continued to work the ankles and legs of a now aching Karst. With nearly a minute left in the second round Karst would not be able to continue and the bout was called giving Lee a hard earned win. Team Strong Style’s Arman Loktev of Cleveland won his third straight fight to start his professional MMA career in an epic battle with Next Level's Luke “The Apostle” Spencer. Loktev showed a well rounded attack as he aggressively looked to engage early and often.Standing for the first minute of the round, each fighter took his shots and looked to score from their feet, but Loktev eventually found an opening and went for the shoot. Once on the ground, Spencer showed great heart as he defended an onslaught of Loktev forearms as the first round ended, but the stage was set for what was to be an action packed second round.The scrappy Spencer opened the second with a nice flurry of right hands that hit their mark, but were unable to slow down the now hungry Loktev. With two minutes gone in the second Loktev finished the fight with strikes from the mount.Pittsburgh’s Jason “Steeltown” Taylor is looking to make a home in Cleveland. A Team BOF standout and 2-0 in bouts taking place in Northeast Ohio, Taylor took on HammerHouse product Tommy “Gun” Ridenbaugh who has taken on all comers early on in his pro career.After battling the unbeaten John Freidland (7-0) and Patrick Horner (13-0) in his previous two bouts, Ridenbaugh now set his sights on the undefeated Taylor (3-0) who came to town with a posse of yellow "Terrible Towel" waving Steeltown fans, which needless-to-say set the tone for a very intense match-up.Taylor opened the fight with a surprise, flying right punch which nearly connected and immediately drew Ridenbaugh's attention. After a brief exchange Taylor was able to get the back of Ridenbaugh and sink in a rear naked choke ala Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg part one.While giving Steeltown fans the one-fingered salute on his way down, Ridenbaugh struggled to fight off the Taylor choke and the fight was stopped much to the dismay of Ridenbagh. Look for a possible rematch between these two warriors in June if both parties can agree on the terms.Next up was hometown product John Soeder of Team Strong Style who looked to settle the score with Black Dragon’s Chris Larkin. This was a rematch of a fight that took place in December of 2005 which was scored a draw and both were anxious to finally decide things for good. In a very strategic battle, Soeder edged out a split decision win over Larkin as each fighter came ready for a war which was exactly what the fans got. . . a war. A well deserved standing ovation was accorded both fighters in a classy move by the C-town fight fans. Look for both fighters to be back on upcoming GFS shows.Wreckroom's Josh Hendricks made it five straight wins with a twenty second KO over KNT Jiu-Jitsu's “Madman” Rick McChristian. Hendricks, a former collegiate all-American wrestler showed off his stand up with a quick combination that put down the 260 lb. McChristian and put himself in the GFS Heavyweight title hunt. Hendricks will likely fight for the championship belt in either June or September and is looking forward to the chance to take the next step in what may be a very successful career in the Heavyweight division.Peak Submission’s Allen Weickert took out the chiseled Matt Hershberger in another exciting LHW match-up. After a quick start by Hershberger, Weickert opened up the arsenal with an impressive display of hand speed which stunned Hershberger who was now backed up against the cage.After a barrage of damaging forearms and hammer fists the fight was stopped and Weickert awarded the TKO win. “Weickert is an extremely talented fighter and has proven himself worthy of a title shot,” said event co-promoter Duke Roufus. Weickert will likely be fighting for the #1 contender slot in June's "Fight Nite in the Flats 2" in Cleveland. In the evening's main event, hometown hero, Jason "Dynamite" Dent, Team GriffonRawl (15-6), took out a very stubborn Clint Zeedyk in a Lightweight showdown. Peak Submission's Zeedyk, who made the jump down from 185, would not go quietly as he fought off an early surge of Dent strikes, but the lack of experience on a pro level showed as Dent was able score with a variety of weapons.Dent finished the first round strong with an overhand right followed by a flying knee that stunned Zeedyk, but was unable to finish him as the bell sounded to end the round. The second round opened with a brief exchange, but once again the more experienced Dent was able to dictate the tempo and wear down the tiring Zeedyk. With just under two minutes left in the second round a quick right connected and dropped Zeedyk and Dent immediately pounced to end the fight. Dent could now be considered the Gladiators Fighting Series # 1 ranked MMA Lightweight and has his sights set on a title shot. Look for Dent and Steeltown to meet down the road with Loktev also making noise amongst the exciting LightweightsSome notable names in the fight game made appearances at Caged Vengeance, including Forrest Petz, Jeff Cox, Ryan Madigan and Dan Bobish who announced his plans to fight this June in Cleveland. Duke Roufus, a lifelong student of the martial arts and 4 time kickboxing world champion, served as the ring announcer for the evening."Caged Vengeance" is proudly sponsored by the SportstalkNetwork.com, McCarthy's Ale House, Progressive Martial Arts Training Center, Ohio Motorcycle/Yamaha, House of Pain, Total Fitness Concepts, HF Screen Printing, Sounds Crazy DJ Service, Combat Sports International and the world wide leader in MMA gaming BetonFighting.com.Gladiators Fighting Series "Fight Nite in the Flats 2" MMA show is set for Saturday, June 10th at the Scene Pavilion in Cleveland. Confirmed fighters will include Dan Bobish, Josh Hendricks, Jason Dent, Allan Weickert, Jason Taylor, Jason Freeman and Torrance Taylor among others.Complete "Caged Vengeance" Results:Pro Card Co-Main Event Results Jason Dent (Team GriffonRawl, Cleveland, OH) over Clint Zeedyk (Peak Submission Fight Team, Delphos, OH) - TKO 1:40 Rd 2Allan Weickert (Peak Submission Fight Team, Delphos, OH) over Matt Hershberger (HammerHouse - Ohio) - TKO 1:19 Rd 1 Josh Hendricks (Wreckroom Athletics, Ohio) over Rick McChristian (KNT Jiu-Jitsu, Ohio) - TKO 0:20 Rd 1Pro Card Feature Bout ResultsJohn Soeder (Team Strong Style, Cleveland, OH) over Chris Larkin (Black Dragon Martial Arts, Ohio) - Split DecisionJason Taylor (Team BOF, Pittsburgh, PA) over Tommy Ridenbaugh (HammerHouse - Ohio) - RNC 1:26 Rd 1Arman Loktev (Team Strong Style, Cleveland, OH) over Luke Spencer (Team Next Level, Ohio) - TKO 2:05 Rd 2Brandon Lee (Peak Submission Fight Team, Delphos, OH)over Richy Karst (HammerHouse - Columbus, OH) - TKO 3:27 Rd 2Torrance Taylor (Team BOF, Cleveland) over Derrick Collins (HammerHouse, Ohio) - TKO 0:56 Rd 1Mike Russo (Team GriffonRawl, Cleveland, OH)over Chad Truckovich (Wreckroom Athletics, Ohio) - Guillotine 1:58 Rd 1Preliminary Amateur Bout ResultsJason Freeman (Vander Fighting Systems, Dover, OH) over Josh Stansbury (Team Next Level, Ohio) - KO 2:43 Rd 1Dustin Holbrook (Peak Submission Fight Team, Delphos, OH) over Matt Barth (PA) - TKO 0:26 Rd 2Thomas Russell (Peak Submission Fight Team, Delphos, OH) over Taiwon Howard (Rising Dragon Martial Arts, Cleveland) - TKO 1:14 Rd 1Dusitn Bloom (Team Air-Gadfly, New York) over John Myers (Vander Fighting Systems, Dover Ohio) - Guillotine 2:20 Rd 1AJ Pulling (Team GriffonRawl, Cleveland, OH) over Carl Miller (Big Rapids, MI) - Submission (Armbar) 0:49 Rd 1Josh McBride (North Eastern Pummeling Den, PA) over Scott Bickerstaff (Team Shoot, MI) - Submission (choke) 1:05 Rd 1Daniel Cliff (WingLam Fight team, Cleveland, OH) over Brody Arnold (Akron, OH) - Submission (choke) 0:46 Rd 1Found on:http://www.prokarateweekly.com/

Dan "Tanis" Rawlings Muay Thai Seminar

Mentor, Ohio

I must say with Dan Rawlings living in Florida and all, we were very lucky to get him up here to do a seminar for us in the middle of February. It was definitly an honor being able to fly Danny up here to teach for us at a full seminar. Danny put on a fantastic four hour Muay Thai clinic that covered everything from footwork, head movement, blocking, striking, clinching, etc. A few of us veterans have trained with Danny before but it was nice to introduce him to all of our new students. To sum up this story the seminar was a HUGE SUCESS in many ways, we got to have Danny up here to train with us, everybody learned alot, and we got to raise a good amount of money towards our future mats. We most definitly are looking foward to having Dan back sometime in the future to do another seminar for us.Good luck to Dan on March 4th as he prepares to do battle in a Pro Muay Thai fight on the Shin Do Kumite fight card down in Florida. Written by:Jason Dent

North League Extreme Kickboxing 6

Cleveland, Ohio

Congrats to Ben "Thundercat" Parks for another dominating perfomance. Ben finally had a fight that lasted a little while. Great fight by Ben and another solid victory for our team.Complete ResultsLee "The Kid" Kreisher over Jimmy "The Hammer" Hughes - Majority DecisionElonzo "Hollywood" Harvey over Brandon "The Blade" Arnold - KO rd1Ricky "The Thriller" Miller over Jason Cadle - TKO rd3Jason Freeman vs Darren Cassidy - Exhibition DrawBen "Thundercat" Parks over "Bad" Josh Barden - TKO rd3Found on:http://www.prokarateweekly.com/

International Combat Events 19

Fairfield, Ohio

Following class late Thursday night on January 19th I got a phone call from Monte Cox looking for fighters to fill his card. Apparently there had been lots of drop outs due to injuries and guys backing out and they were in danger of not having enough fights to have there show. To make a long story short I asked Ben and AJ if theye wanted to fight Saturday night and without hesitation they jumped right at the opportunity. AJ and Ben both finished there opponents in round 1 of their fights. AJ won by rear naked choke and Ben won by verbal submission after delivering a nasty right body kick to his opponents mid section. I am so proud of both of these guys performances and ability to perform so well on such a short notice. Also Cheyenne got to be a corner woman and did a fantastic job assisting me in preping and cornering are guys. Great road trip and one I'm sure we will remember for quite a while.Complete Results:Thomas Baber Def Eric Lovelace TKOScott Zink Def Steve Tyrell SubmissionRich Belanich Def Mike Swank Decision AJ Pulling Def Reno Dahli SubmissionDustin Winterholt Def Gerald Pearson Decision Ben Parks Def Jimmy Flanders SubmissionSteven Banks Def JP Wilson DecisionWritten by:Jason Dent