Capital Fighting Championship returns to Sacramento
Fresh off the main event of what many fans are touting as the best MMA event thus far of 2010, Urijah Faber , with his Capital Fighting Championship team of Matt Fisher and Tabrez Ansari, promoted another “Friday Night Fights” CAMO event at their Ultimate Fitness Mixed Martial Arts Training Center downtown location. The standing-room-only event featured some of the top MMA teams in Northern California.
“I know we were turning some people away. We were pretty much at capacity. So it was a great turnout . . . Urijah twittered it. Our fighters twittered it. Sean from Fulsom and especially Overcome MMA, out in Cameron Park . . . they always have their communities support them,” reported matchmaker Ansari.
By all accounts, the night featured some furious knockdown, drag-out barnburners, with consecutive KO / TKO finishes in the first four matches, as well as a highly competitive draw in Eric Smith vs. Adam Corrigan, and a thrilling main event, McLean Obichere vs. Jerry Gates, which Ansari didn’t hesitate to anoint as Fight of the Night:
“As far as back and forth, yeah, it’s the heavyweight fight. Obichere came out 30 pounds lighter, and Jerry is a big guy. Very athletic. He rocked Obichere a couple times. Then Obichere came back and rocked Jerry a couple times. . . Those punches were so hard, it’s hard to imagine how it feels.”
Match results from Capital Fighting Championship on 4/30/10 are as follows:
160 lbs. – Mike Lowder def. Jay Koch via TKO, R3, 0:44.
160 lbs. – Mario Soto def. Eugene Ivanov via TKO, R1, 1:27. Ivanov was put on suspension.
155 lbs. – Eric Perrault def. Chaz Sanchez via KO, R2, 0:25. Sanchez was put on suspension.
205 lbs. – Mikhail Venikov def. Jeff Prescott via TKO, R1, 0:31. Prescott was put on suspension.
170/175 lbs. – Ryan Dressel def. Anthony De La Cruz via unanimous decision.
185 lbs. – Erik Betancourt def. Ben Alderman via disqualification. Betancourt was put on suspension.
205 lbs. – Eric Smith drew with Adam Corrigan. Smith was put on suspension.
135 lbs. – Diamond Templeton def. Pao Vang via unanimous decision.
170 lbs. – Alex Ivanov def. Richard Rigmaden via unanimous decision.
160 lbs. – Idres Rahmani def. Steve Cartwright via submission (verbal), R1, 0:55. Cartwright was put on suspension.
265 lbs. – McLean Obichere def. Jerry Gates via TKO, R3, 0:39. Gates was put on suspension.
With two events now under their belts, and a long-established community of Team Alpha Male / Ultimate Fitness supporters behind them, Ansari felt strong enough to pinpoint several names as promising up-and-comers.
“There is a kid by the name of Alex Ivanov, from Overcome MMA. That kid’s gonna be the real deal when he gets out. His coach, Jim West, has really got him dialed in. Jim’s doing a great job with the guys out there. They’re all very skilled fighters,” he noted.
Ivanov, along with his older brother / teammate Eugene, are second generation fighters, as their father is a noted boxer and kickboxer from Russia.
“They’re very level-headed, put together kids.”
Ansari also spoke proudly of his teammate Mario Soto, who earned his second win that night, ironically enough, against Eugene Ivanov.
Back for more in the Pasadena “Proving Grounds”
The following night, in Southern California, John Bostick, David Dunn, and Savant Young also held their second CAMO show of the year. Entitled “Proving Grounds,” the amateur MMA showcase series had made such a splash with their initial event that they ended up moving this installment to an expanded area.
“With the larger size, we were able to get a higher occupancy rating on the building and sell some more tickets. It worked out real well,” explained Bostick.
Likewise, Fight Academy founder David Dunn noted improvement with the fighters’ overall performances, saying “I think we had better fights this time around than we did the first time. Savant [Young] does an amazing job with the matchmaking. The fighters came out and did what they were supposed to do.”
Among the highlights was a heavyweight slugfest between Moses Murietta and Jesse Escobedo, who made his CAMO debut last month in a three-round slobberknocker against Kipeni Luto, and Trevis “Tre” Sims, who impressed his Fight Academy coaches with a hard-fought victory against the very dangerous Tony Kolakov.
“Tre had a heck of a fight [against] a real tough opponent. Guy was a purple belt in jiu jitsu, and had quite a bit of skills,” said Bostick.
But it was Kenny Hwang and Jonathan Garcia who set the high water mark for the night in terms of electricity and excitement.
For any debuting fighter, being in the main event position would naturally add pressure, but Hwang and Garcia gave fans their money’s worth with three rounds of intense action.
“They both went out and gave amazing performances, showed heart, and did what fighters were supposed to do to put on a show – dig deep and pull out stuff you don’t pull out when you’re in the gym. And I think that that’s what we got out of them,” commended Dunn.
“Aaron Miller’s gym, Blood Bank. Those guys are great. Aaron always brings guys that are in shape and ready to go,” added Bostick.
For their efforts, Hwang and Garcia were both awarded “Fight of the Night” plaques.
Match results from Fight Academy Pasadena’s “Proving Grounds” on 5/1/10 are as follows:
135 lbs. – Rocky Morales def. DJ Holden via submission, R1, 1:14.
130 lbs. – Quac (Johnson) Thatch def. Jay (Elijah) Villena via TKO, R2, 1:20. Villena was put on suspension.
130 lbs. – Ryan Barela def. Kelvin Martell via submission (kneebar), R2, 0:54.
160 lbs. – Anthony Olivas def. David Hah via split decision.
185 lbs. – Trevis Sims def. Tony Kovalov via submission (rear naked choke), R3, 0:38.
140 lbs. – Oscar Torres def. Cameron Harris via unanimous decision.
170 lbs. – Vince Borquez def. Derek Johnson via submission (rear naked choke), R2, 1:21.
265 lbs. – Moses Murrietta def. Jesse Escobedo via TKO, R2, 0:24. Escobedo was put on suspension.
175 lbs. – Kenny Hwang def. Jonathan Garcia via unanimous decision.
Capital Fighting Championship installment will be June 25th, while Fight Academy Pasadena anticipates their next “Proving Grounds” to take place in early to mid-July.
For more info on upcoming amateur MMA action, visit http://www.camo-mma.org/events.
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