NAAFS "Midwest Combat Challenge 4"

Akron, Ohio
Chapparell's Community Center

The NAAFS treated MMA fans to an exciting night of action on Saturday night at the sold out Chapparell's Community Center in Akron, Ohio. Team GriffonRawl sent three veterans into action and what follows is a recap of each team member.Tom Lutz was pitted against Mark Strickland of Kombat MMA at 205lbs for his NAAFS debut. Tom looked excellent on his feet to start the first round, landing two beautiful combinations before Mark shot in for a takedown. Two times, Tom had Mark in a triangle choke but Mark was able to escape and moved to the mount position where he unleashed a wicked ground and pound attack. Tom escaped a choke to end a crazy round one. Both men were cut and bleeding and the fans knew these two were the real deal. Mark scored a takedown early in round two, where the G&P continued before the refereee was forced to stop the contest at 1:19 of the second round. Tom handled himself with class and will no doubt be back soon, better than ever.John Strmac was up against Edison "Puerto Rican Thunder" Martinez in a rematch from their November contest at 145lbs. John was able to score takedowns in all three rounds and executed ground and pound the entire fight, but could never finish the super tough Martinez as he kept tying up John and manuevering to rarely take a clean shot. John ended the final minute of round three in the mount position. After three rounds, all judges scorecards read 30-27 in favor of Strmac, giving him his fourth win in a row. (This portion written by Jason Dent.)Finally up for the team was Dominic "The Ironman" McGhee, taking on Joey "The Hitman" Holt from Gym City Gladiators at 155lbs. Joey and Dominic stood toe to toe for three exciting rounds, in what many deemed to be the fight of the night. The two appeared to forget it was an MMA fight and were happy to put on a kickboxing exhibition. Everytime one appeared to catch the other with a good hand combination, the other came right back and executed a combination of his own. Throw in wicked leg kicks, multiply that by three rounds and there's your fight. Both men laid it all on the line showing excellent striking and even better chin's. Announcer Jake Dingman summed up the fight by saying "Every time Holt hit McGhee he smiled, and everytime McGhee hit Holt he smiled." When the dust settled, a split decision in favor of Holt was rendered from the judges scorecards.Technically of Team Playland, Dan "Daredevil" Jones supplemented training at GriffonRawl. Taken from the NAAFS website, here is the NAAFS recap: "Dan “Daredevil” Jones (5-0/Team Playland) defeated Jason Davis (3-2/Pain Headquarters) at 0:29 into the first round after a Technical Knockout when the ref stopped the fight. The two touched gloves and Jason took an immediate swing with his right, which appeared to me to be a blatant cheap shot. Dan landed a quick punch, which busted Jason open badly. This was the shortest bloodbath I’ve ever seen. Dan totally dominated."The energy in the arena was electric and it was clear the fighters drew from it. Congratulations to all those that competed. On a personal note, I was able to meet a lot of fighters and enjoyed the "BS" sessions backstage.Written by:John M. StrmacComplete Results:Kris Morin (1-1/Team Air Gadfly) defeated James Fenske (1-1/Underground MMA) at 1:47, Rd 1Brad Muns (1-0/Underground MMA) defeated Mike Conner (0-2/Pain Headquarters) at 1:23 Rd 1 via Guillotine ChokeSean Hefflemen (2-2/East Coast Martial Arts) defeated Derrick Nothum (0-1/Team Air-Gadfly) at 2:30 RD 2 via Triangle ChokeMarvin Williams (2-0/Rising Dragon MMA) defeated Ric Ady (0-1/Team Instigator) via a Split Decision Josh Lang (2-0/Western New York MMA) defeated Fadi Nader (1-1/Kombat MMA) via a Unanimous DecisionKearn Nedd (1-1/Kombat MMA) defeated Brad Stanton (0-1/East Coast Martial Arts) at 1:30 Rd 2 via Technical Knockout Aaron “The Hamburglar” Bartow (2-0/Team Instigator) defeated Brandon “Birdman” Bailey (0-2/Independent) at 1:49 into the first round via tapout from strikesMax Gretch (2-1/Kombat MMA) defeated Garrett Matheron (1-2/Team Air-Gadfly) at 1:38 Rd 2 via Technical Knockout Mark Strickland (2-1/Kombat MMA) defeated Tom Lutz (2-1/GriffonRawl) via Technical Knockout at 1:19 Rd 2Chris Bradley (2-2/Team Instigator) defeated Dan Gale (2-2/Pain Headquarters) at 1:43 into the second round via armbarJohn Strmac (4-2/GriffonRawl) defeated Edison “Puerto Rican Thunder” Martinez (3-4-1/Lorain, Ohio) via unanimous decisionChase Martin (2-0/Team Instigator) defeated Paris Boyd (2-4/Underground MMA) at 2:41 Rd 2 via a rear-naked chokeJoey “Hit-Man” Holt (4-1/Gym City Gladiators) defeated Dominic “Iron Man” McGee (2-4/GriffonRawl) via a split decisionMatt “Light Breeze” Rosborough (2-2/Western New York MMA) defeated Anthony “Hurricane” Hayes (4-3/Gym City Gladiators) at 2:10 Rd 2 via triangle chokeRuss Halsey (3-1/Pain Headquarters) defeated Jacob Mitchell (1-3/Salem, Ohio) at 1:41 Rd 1 via Technical KnockoutJohn Hawk (3-0/Jungle Fight Team) defeated Richard Wadell (4-3/Higher Power) at 2:24 Rd 1 via Technical KnockoutDan “Daredevil” Jones (5-0/Team Playland) defeated Jason Davis (3-2/Pain Headquarters) at 0:29 Rd 1 via Technical Knockout Nick “The Savage” Duell (9-2-1/Jungle Fight Team) defeated Mickey Hughes (3-2/Team Bloody Buddy) at 2:23 Rd 1 via an armbar