King of the Cage: Distorted takes place on October 1st, at the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino in Highland, CA.
All 14 fighters weighed in and were cleared to fight this evening at the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino, in anticipation for “King of the Cage: Distorted,” which takes place on Thursday, October 1st and features three KOTC title fights.
Only two fighters, Waachiim Spiritwolf and Uber Gallegos, did not make weight on their first attempts. Spiritwolf, who challenges Rick “The I.E. Bad Boy” Legere for the vacant KOTC junior welterweight (160 lbs.) title, had to make the designated weight, since the bout was a title fight, according to California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) rules. He was given two hours to weigh in again, and came back at 159.2 lbs.
The vacant junior welterweight title was last held by Victor “Joe Boxer” Valenzuela, who recently relinquished the belt to shift down to the bantamweight (145 lbs) division. Valenzuela had defended the 160 lb. belt twice this year.
Gallegos weighed in at 187.4, almost 2.5 lbs. over the 185 lb. limit. However, Gallegos’ opponent, Ben “Bad News” Lagman (Team MASH), opted to take the fight at an adjusted 190 lb. catchweight, accepting Gallegos’ initial weigh-in.
In the main event, KOTC double champion Tony “Kryptonite” Lopez (Team Oyama) defends the heavyweight title against Joey “The Mexicutioner” Beltran, in a rematch from their May 2008 clash over the Lopez’ light heavyweight title. In their original meeting, Lopez caught Beltran with a highlight reel standing kimura armbar, which many people thought would be the end of The Mexicutioner’s fight career. Instead, Beltran recovered and has since built up a five-match win streak, most recently training with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Brandon Vera’s Alliance MMA team. In a recent interview last week on the King of the Cage Network (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/king-of-the-cage-channel), Beltran discussed the war of words between he and Lopez, which developed after their match, and Beltran’s own burning desire for revenge.
“I’ve been on a samurai mission to get back to that fight,” said Beltran.
In addition to the heavyweight and junior welterweight titles, KOTC welterweight champion Mike “Joker” Guymon (Joker’s Wild Fighting Academy) puts his gold on the line against Quinn Mulhern (Santa Fe BJJ), a jiu-jitsu specialist with an unblemished 8-0 record. In his last appearance, Mulhern shocked fans by beating MMA pioneer Chris “The Westside Strangler” Brennan with a first round omoplata submission. Guymon is coming off his last title defense, a second-round submission win against Kyacey Uscola, at that same show.
Also on the card is Lake Elsinore’s favorite son, Joe Crilly, facing his toughest test to date, former KOTC middleweight champion Brandon Hunt, and Mike “Rhino” Bourke, who takes on newcomer Liron Wilson.
Final weigh-in results are as follows:
Joey Beltran – 237 lbs.
Tony “Kryptonite” Lopez – 217 lbs.
Quinn Mulhern – 169.6 lbs.
Mike “Joker” Guymon – 169.2 lbs.
Waachiim Spiritwolf – 159.2 lbs. (second attempt)
Rick “The IE Bad Boy” Legere – 159.2 lbs.
Nick Gaston – 260.8 lbs.
Boban Simic – 237.8 lbs.
Brandon Hunt – 181.8 lbs.
Joe Crilly – 181.2 lbs.
Uber Gallegos – 187.4 (match weight was adjusted to 190 lb. catchweight)
Ben “Bad News” Lagman – 181.6 lbs.
Mike “Rhino” Bourke – 264 lbs.
Liron Wilson – 229 lbs.
“King of the Cage: Distorted” takes place on October 1st at the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino in Highland, CA. Tickets are still available at the box office, by phone at (888) 777-7404, or at www.Ticketmaster.com. Doors open at 6:30 and the show begins at 7:30pm.
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