Tim Payne Promotions: "Caged Combat II"

Highland Heights, Ohio
Team Energenics Conditioning Center

Caged Combat II was held November 10, 2007 at the Team Energenics training facility in Highland Heights, Ohio. Team Griffon-Rawl was well represented, placing fighters in six of the ten match-ups. Jim Payne, Miguel Defina, AJ Carl and John Strmac returned to the cage, while Brian McCrosky and Nick Killian made their debuts. Brian McCrosky made his debut at 170lbs versus Steve Ganzorn. Brian was ready to go, but early in the first round Steve was able to land a hard right to the jaw that sent Brian to the canvass. Although Brian appeared to be gathering himself, the referee immediately jumped in and called a stop to the contest. It was a good stoppage, with fighter safety being paramount. Brian is a beast and will back in action soon.John Strmac was pitted against Edison “Puerto Rican Thunder” Martinez at 140lbs. Using his reach, John stayed outside landing hard Thai kicks to the legs and circling away from Edison’s power. John closed the distance and maintained control against the cage until the fight went to the ground. Round two went much the same way as round one. Round three started much the same way but ended with John fighting off a Guillotine submission attempt. John received a unanimous decision over Martinez after three rounds. AJ Carl bumped a weight class to face David Himes at 155lbs. AJ wasted no time in getting the action started by executing a beautiful takedown from half way across the cage and moved quickly to the mount position. He unleashed a barrage of rights and lefts, “riding” Himes as he tried to escape. The referee jumped in calling a stop to the action at 1:00 of the very first round, giving AJ a win via TKO.Nick Killian’s debut at 195lbs was only surpassed by how he took the fight. Out on a date Friday night, Nick was literally called at the last minute as a replacement to face Mike Blankenship on Saturday. With only hours to mentally prepare, Nick showed no signs of a rookie. He handled the first round, landing a beautiful cross and executing solid takedowns, controlling his opponent from the top position. Nick again came out strong, taking the fight to the ground where he unloaded causing the referee to stop the contest at 14 seconds into round two.Fighting at 170lbs, Miguel Defina was pitted against Mike Rinkers. Miguel was part of the fight of the night at Tim Payne’s last promotion. This time, Miguel was determined to finish this fight with a win and came out with unbelievable intensity. Once the bell rang, Miguel pressed the action, taking the fight to the ground where he quickly mounted Rinkers and set up a beautifully executed arm bar causing Rinkers to tap at 1:06 of the first round.In the main event at 185lbs, Jim Payne danced with Eddy Gonzales momentarily before landing a nice double-leg take down and secured side control. Fighting off a Guillotine attempt, Jim was able to maneuver to the mount position with Eddy pinned against the cage. From here, the blows came hard, often, and accurate with Jim landing upwards of 20 shots before the Eddy tapped out to strikes stopping the contest at 1:04 of the very first round.Tim Payne’s second show, (renamed “Caged Combat”) was an even better success than the first (previously named “Criminal Combat”) event. Again held at Team Energenics, there was a standing room only crowd this time around. The facility was again great with most fans being close to the action. It was clear Jason Dent and the other instructors prepared Griffon-Rawl fighters well as the team went 5-1 on the night. Tim’s next show is slated for sometime in February 2008.Written by: John Strmac Complete Results:Ron Counter def Rocco DeTillio by Unanimous Decision Chris Vespoint def Kris Morin by Split Decision Steve Ganzhorn def Brian McCrosky by TKO John Strmac def Edison Martinez by Unanimous Decision Shane Lehman def Dana Coon by Guillotine Choke AJ Carl def David Himes by TKO Nick Kilian def Mike Blankenship by TKO Miguel Defina def Michael Rinkes by Arm Bar JR Garbo def David Baker by Kimura Jim Payne def Eddie Gonzales by Submission to Strikes