A good number of the GR family made the near two hour drive to Ridgewood HS, and those that did were rewarded with a well organized and run all amateur event. They also were treated to three GR warriors making their cage debut for the academy. All three faced men with more experience. Jason felt it was necessary to take the chance of such unequal matchups because we’ve had some bad luck this year with opponents backing out at literally the last minute. The gamble paid off: all three fights happened, and two out of the three went in our favor.
Kevin McCallion was up first for GR against Tyler Cavalear (145) McCallion opened aggressively, landing several good shots, his opponent covered up and McCallion took the opening to move in for a takedown, gets full mount and opens up with hard punches. Cavalear verbally taps moments later.
William Sutton fought Criston Williams (205). It was described as a real dogfight. Very competitive. Advantage was traded back and forth several times in each round, and the fight nearly went the distance. Scott Corbin has to be congratulated on good matchmaking. Sutton was caught in a Rear Naked Choke midway through round 3. Jason says he will be placed in another fight sooner rather than later as he is ready for the cage.
Nikolai Gionti vs Aaron Woods (135) finished the evening on a strong note for GR. Woods has 3 fights to NG’s 0. Nick dominated the stand up, but Woods is very tough and athletic. Nick ran through a textbook of submissions and Wood would not tap. He kept escaping and dumping Nick in spectacular throws, Nick would spin through to place another submission, or try a submission from the bottom, every time Wood would escape and stand again. In round 3 Nick had top position, instead of going directly to submission, decided to Ground and Pound, Wood turned and gave his back and Nick sinks the Rear Naked Choke for the win.
These three GR youngbloods are proof that you don’t have to wait for the academy pros to be matched up to make a drive to see exciting fights. Expect to see Kevin and Nick inducted to the GR Fight Team this week - but don’t forget you have to be at the academy to see it happen.
Our thanks to
Explosive Fight Promotions for inviting us to compete, every event has been better than the last and we look forward to fighting on more cards soon. Special thanks to
Scott Corbin, the EFP matchmaker, for his perseverance in getting these matchups done. And finally thanks to
Mike Wrobel for letting us use his images in this article.
Written by: Bob Donaghy
No comments:
Post a Comment