Hopefully you were one of the couple dozen people who checked in to last night’s liveblog, something I hope to turn into a regular feature from shows I cover live. (Quick thanks to the Go Fight Live crew for sharing table space and power with a brother.) If you were with us either at the John Perzel Community Center, or watching on GFL and following the live blog, you saw some good fights. The pro card featured some of the most even fights I’ve seen in a while. There were two titles on the line, the amateur 145Lbs title which went to Fight Firm‘s Ben Tichy, and the LITC Heavyweight title, which was won by Joel Wyatt from MMA Institute in Virginia.
Locked in the Cage returns to Philadelphia this Friday for LITC 4 from the John M. Perzel Community Center in Northeast Philadelphia. Two titles are on the line when Ben Tichy (3-1) takes on Brian Pitaniello (2-1) for the amateur featherweight title. And on the pro card, Randy Smith (11-5) finally takes on a guy with a winning record when he steps in for the heavyweight title against Joel Wyatt (5-2). Doors at 7:00PM, first fight at 8:00PM. The fights will be broadcast at GoFightLive.tv.
North Jersey upstart league Urban Combat Championship announced the line-up for their second show, Strikedown. At the head of the card is Dante Rivera (14-7) vs Ryan Contaldi (7-2). Dante is a mainstay cornering for Ricardo Almeida fighters in New Jersey events lately. But is coming off a loss to Herbert Whisper Goodman at New Breed Fighter‘s pro show in February. Dante is a UFCThe Ultimate Fighter Season 7 veteran with Reality Fighting, IFL, ROC, and New Breed Fighters shows on his nine year long resume. Continue Reading
This weekend’s fight calendar starts up in North Jersey this weekend with the debuting UCC Fights 1 from the Jersey City Armory. UCC has some baller guests coming in, including UFC fighters Dan Hardy, Charlie Brenneman and Ricardo Almeida. The card itself features 11 pro bouts, anchored by Lamont Lister vs Ryan Contaldi. Lister’s languishing in the midst of a five fight losing streak, and is 1-6 in his last 7 (6-9 pro). Ryan Contaldi won his lasting outing against, which was against Joe Stripling at Locked in the Cage 2. Continue Reading
Jeff Cressman after his win over Joe Finneran, photo by: Paul Miles
Tonight’s Locked in the Cage 2 went down at the John M. Perzel Community Center. And thanks to Tom Joyce at MMA Explosion, we now know that John Perzel was some sort of politician that was indicted on some sort of something or other. The fight card broke down to six amateur and six pro fights with one title (amateur lightweight) on the line. Some excellent fights, and a great crowd. Typical loud and obnoxious Philly fans, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Want to take a second to send a shout out to Jackson Galka, a Daddis fighter who’s on the DL with a back injury. He was forced to pull out of a Matrix fight because of his back. Get that back healthy, bro. Also want to thank Ted Czech at MMA Explosion for syndicating the tweeted results.
Now, down to business. The following results are unofficial until verified by the PSAC. Continue Reading
Locked in the Cage 1 allowed Philadelphia based fighters Wilson Reis and Tara LaRosa to fight in Philly for the first time. The second edition of LITC features an appearance by Bellator champion and top 3 ranked 155′er Eddie Alvarez. Aaron Meisner anchors the pro fight card. Meisner’s flirting with a .500 record coming off a loss to Leonardo Pechana. But, with fights this Saturday and February 27th, Aaron has a great opportunity to get back on his streak. The rest of the card features a ton of Philly based fighters out of the top camps like Team Balance, Fight Factory and Daddis FC. Not too many big names on this card, but a lot of young fighters with short records.
With four days to go, the card is sitting firm at 8 amateur fights and 6 pro fights. The pro card is anchored by Meisner vs Marcus Ajian of Ohio’s Team Beatdown. Hit the jump for the full card. Continue Reading
Prospect Watch: Cody Donovan and Carey Vanier 28 yr old MN LW
The first Mixed Martial Arts card ever in the state of Maryland featured two local MMA prospects outside of state lines making a name for themselves at Shogun Fights.
Stock Up – Greg Jackson trained Cody Donovan continued his progression as a complete MMA fighter with his win over Joe Stripling.
The 28 year old Donovan got a late start to his MMA career turning pro in the fall of 2008. Backed by a solid amateur career where Donovan went 5-0, the Colorado prospect has all the physical tools to make some noise on the local MMA scene.
Donovan put on a Muay Thai on clinic with his opponent Joe Stripling becoming the unwilling case study. A series of knees to the body caused the fight to end at the 1:16 mark of round two.
Stock Up – To the surprise of no one, another Greg Jackson MMA fighter also put on one of the more impressive performances of the evening. Minnesota lightweight Carey Vanier recently moved to Albuquerque, where he has served as one of WEC’s lightweight contender Donald Cerrone’s sparring partner.
Vanier 7-2 has fought pro MMA on and off since 2003 with a notable loss coming at the hands of five star prospect and current UFC 155 pounder Nik Lentz. Vanier took control of Paul Mann in the second round, working knees to the body and repeated takedowns to wear down his opponent. The end came when Vanier unloaded with punches on a fallen Mann until the referee called the bout a TKO finish.
With the win Vanier is now 3-0 in 2009.
Shogun Fights Full Results
Binky Jones def. Jason McLean by unanimous decision
Ryan Mackin def. Joe Kelso by submission Keylock 1:57 R2
Dave Daniecki def. Wade Drake by submission D’arce choke hold 2:25 R1
Mike Paschal def. Scottie Ayers by TKO 0:40 R2
Jacob Kirwan def. Brad Pole by submission Guillotine choke 1:05 R1
Joey Kirwan def. Dan Root by submission Rear-naked choke 1:30 R1
Carey Vanier def. Paul Mann by TKO (strikes) 2:09 R2
Cody Donovan def. Joe Stripling by TKO 1:16 R2
Jim Hettes def. Steven Baker by submission Armbar 1:35 R1
Brett Thomas def. Rick Desper by split decision
Steve Deangelis def. Lazar Stojadinovic by unanimous decision
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