Cleveland, OhioThe 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/
Cleveland, Ohio
