HOUSTON, TX, May 20, 2013 – The Humble Civic Center was the host to a great night of fights courtesy of Garcia Promotion’s Cage Combat 14 this past Friday, May 17th. From beginning to end amateur fighters from all over Texas showed up to fight – leaving their blood, sweat and tears in the cage. Local fighters were especially well represented by most of the major teams in the area including Silverback FC, 4OZ Fight Club, Kingwood MMA, Elite MMA, Bushi Ban, Gracie Barra Champions and many more.

The night kicked off with IVOZ’s Ramiro Ruiz and Silverback’s Mike Ross in a 115 lbs. matchup – a first at that weight here in Houston. Ruiz was mostly dominant throughout the fight, but was caught and dropped with one punch by Ross midway through the first round. Ross failed to capitalize though and Ruiz rallied back for a standing guillotine finish before the first round came to its end.

The first fight would then set the pace for the rest of Cage Combat 14 as an action-packed evening. All-in-all there were nine finishes and only four fights saw the final bell with all of these bouts being entertaining affairs. Like with any MMA event the night was not without some controversy, some felt that the Tyler Flores ‘s first round knockout over Sean Ferguson may have been a bit of an early stoppage, but the referee was most definitely trying to ensure the safety of Ferguson who will no doubt live to fight another day.

As for the highlights of the evening in the main and co-main events, Christian Sutton and Tony Orozco Jr. would leave the event as champions with Sutton taking the middleweight belt from defending champion Trevin Giles while Tony Orozco Jr. did the same at bantamweight, giving opponent Edward Longoria his first loss.

Here our TXMMA Fight Night Awards for Cage Combat 14:

Submission of the Night: John Rodriguez wins with his first round RNC on Santos Hernandez. We chose this one out of all the great submissions because of the devastating effect of Rodriguez’s end game. Hernandez was laid out cold for face-first after valiantly trying to fight off the choke.

KO of the Night: none

Fight of the Night: What the main event lacked in length it more than made up for in intensity. Christian Sutton came for Trevin Giles’ belt and he got it in the end with his signature guillotine before the first bell went off. Giles was heartbroken after the fight because he had trained to defend Sutton’s go-to technique and still could not keep him from having his way. Lots of emotional coming out of this fight. Looking forward to seeing more from both guys in the near future.

Garcia Promotions: Cage Combat 14 – Quick Results

Chris Sutton over Trevin Giles by submission (guillotine), RD1

Tony Orozco Jr. over Edward Longoria by unanimous decision

Manny Lozoya over Eric Charalambous by submission (RNC), RD1

Omar Khosravi over Michael Eaglin by unanimous decision

Randy McCullough over Steven Vera by submission (RNC), RD2

John Rodriguez over Santos Hernandez by TKO, RD 1

Tyler Flores over Sean Jefferson by KO, RD 1

Jay Sader over Jeremy Lieder by unanimous decision

Garvens Brun over Francisco Segura by TKO, RD3

Joe Scott over Joshua Kothman by unanimous decision

John Butler over Tyron Casanova by TKO, RD 1

Miguel Martinez over Max Mungai by TKO, RD 1

Ramiro Ruiz over Mike Ross by submission (guillotine choke), RD2

Cage Combat 14 – Complete Event Photo Gallery

The complete high-resolution gallery is now available on mikecalimbas.com. Check out the slideshow below for a pictorial of all the action from Humble.
 

Derek Perkins wins at XKO | photo: Sean Malone, Cage Authority

FORT WORTH, TX, May 20, 2013 – Coming out of his two-year amateur career with an official 1-4 record according to MMA.tv, It’s safe to say most people did not expect Phalanx Powerhouse’s Derek Perkins to come away with a win when he made his pro debut this past March at XKO 18 against Octagon MMA’s Rashad Coulter. Yet for all those expectations of another failure he turned the tide and made victory a reality with a win over his highly-touted opponent.

A fresh start, an undefeated record, and a new perspective on what he can do in the fighting world. In speaking to Derek, he surely seems to be using this momentum to motivate himself heading into his second pro fight this Saturday versus Jose Serna at STFC 25.

“When I fought Rashad, he was 3-0 KO’ing guys left and right. A lot of people felt it wasn’t a good fight (for me) to have my pro debut, but when you’re climbing a mountain you can’t take baby steps all the time. You have to take chances, and in this business I understand it’s about making an impact. In my debut I did that. It was the first time I ever was suggested to be an easy finish. I think you guys might of even had him as a 99% favorite to take me out. Glad I was left with that 1% because it’s was all I needed. I believe Rashad was ranked in Texas and I just want to be his replacement. And so on and so forth as I continue to knock off the guys in my way from being number one!”

“My mindset is to seek and destroy. I’m on a mission, and until I reach it, everybody else is just in the way! Just obstacles courses to get me to where I belong. I want to be the top 85′er or 70′er in Texas, that’s a goal of mine.”

From a training perspective, Derek Perkins feels a few changes – including a recent move into a new location for his team – have all helped make this fight camp good one for him heading into STFC 25.

“It (training for this fight) has been awesome. My fight team moved into a new location, and for the first time in a long time I can train as much as I want in every aspect of MMA under one roof. Phalanx doesn’t bring guys out, guys gravitate towards Phalanx and become members, because they see the work the team is putting in, and we’re making this a year to remember. We have a lot of elites under our roof, from Hayward Charles who’s on a 6-fight win streak to James Vick who was a Ultimate fighter semi-finalist. When you train with these guys, you have to increase or quit.”

“The only weird thing about this fight is that he (Joe Serna) is a ghost, I haven’t seen anything on the guy. It’s a shot in the dark. Good thing I have excellent aim, and I will hit my target, no matter what style he brings. He could be Anderson Silva good with striking, or GSP good with wrestling and ground and pound. I’m just training for every scenario and just have to enforce my will, keep him guessing, and get into his head early.”

Fighter Acknowledgements

“I want to give thanks for the time you took out to do this interview. Know I’m looking to push 2-0 with another statement May 24th. Shout out my team Phalanx Powerhouse all the way. Coach Durwyn Lamb and Lisa Marie all put in a lot of work with me whether its advice or lessons during class. Shout out my fans who have been supporting me from day 1, and push me as well. My management Killer Instinct with Mike Taylor/Lotis Butchko, Born2Bang – my sponsors. And last but not least the people  I know support me through thick and thin, Bryan Williams/Taylor France and my family thank you all. I won’t let you down!”

Nate Diaz | Photo: Getty Images / Zuffa LLC

MAY 17, 2013 – Mixed Martial Arts is in its final phase of transitioning from niche sport to a fully mainstream and globally enjoyed combat sport. Zuffa has been heading the charge into this new stage, and has made some compromises to shed the label of “Human Cockfighting” and the connection between mixed martial artists with cage fighting thugs.

One of those compromises was the UFC fighter conduct policy, which has led to what some consider, controversial disciplinary actions for fighters expressing their views outside of the octagon. Matt Mitrione was the first UFC fighter disciplined, under the new policy, for not letting his fists do the talking. Mitrione’s choice of words, when discussing Fallon Fox and her right to fight against females as a transgendered person, led to a fine and suspension that was recently lifted. Nate Diaz is also in hot water due to his choice of words in a recent tweet about Pat Healy’s loss of bonus money.

This is the second instance in which a fighter has been punished for violating Zuffa’s newly installed code of conduct policy. In both cases fighters were disciplined for using terms considered to be derogatory and offensive towards the LGBTQ community.

The UFC code of conduct states:

“Fighters shall conduct themselves in accordance with commonly accepted standards of decency, social convention, and morals, and fighters will not commit any act or become involved in any situation or occurrence or make any statement which will reflect negatively upon or bring disrepute, contempt, scandal, ridicule or disdain to the fighter or the UFC.”

This statement is in-step with the views of major American sports leagues regarding how to deal with athletes generating bad publicity for their teams, cities and sport. If the UFC wants to continue attracting brands like Reebok, Budweiser and Nike then playing PC ball is a necessary and logical progression. And if MMA fighters want to make NFL and NBA money they better step in line too.

That means Mitrione can’t describe transgendered people as “sociopaths” and that means Miguel Torres can’t make jokes about windowless vans. And that means that fighters who are trying to make it to the bigger promotions also need to watch what they say because people may not be paying attention to you now, but the words you choose to use will linger on in the Internet when you’re famous.

Going mainstream means guys like Nate Diaz can’t use words like “fag” to describe other fighters anymore. Nate’s use of the other F word led the UFC to make the following statement:

“We are very disappointed by Nate Diaz’s comments, which are in no way reflective of our organization. Nate is currently suspended pending internal investigation and we will provide further comment once the matter has been decided.”

Nate Diaz’s expected punishment is being met with some controversy because Dana White made similar word choices in the past. When White became unhappy with a report he referred to the writer as a “p*ssy and a f*ggot” in a now infamous 2009 vlog. The profanity laced video resulted in considerable backlash against White, and ultimately, the UFC brand as well because he is their public face. Since then, the UFC has made an effort to appear as a more politically correct organization.

Dana White has gone on record, when describing the 2009 vlog, as the sole regret he had throughout his tenure as president of the UFC during an interview with Ariel Helwani, and has made it a point to distance himself and his brand from any association with homophobia. For an organization and sport that is trying to become mainstream in the middle of a downturn economy it would make sense that they try not to alienate demographic groups which represent potential sources of revenue. And when discussing expanded sources of revenue Biggie Smalls said it best: Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems.

As the sport becomes bigger the magnifying glass used to scrutinize every MMA fighter’s words and actions is also increasing ten-fold. When this happens fighters and MMA promoters still retain their freedom of speech, but freedom of consequences for their choice of words becomes compromised. Dana White and Nate Diaz are public figures, their words might not carry more weight than that of the average Joe but they are certainly heard on bigger platforms. Fighters are free to say whatever they want in whatever outlet they choose. The only thing is that they have to remember that, once they hit the big time, a lot more people are listening…which means there are a lot more people out there to potentially piss off. Mo Money Mo Problems for real.

On paper it seems extremely hypocritical that White would punish Diaz for using a derogatory term that he has used on public record in the past. That said; Diaz’s statement was made after the new conduct policy was installed so he exercised his right to free speech knowing that his words might carry consequences. And they did.

Whether Dana White’s response to the Nate Diaz tweet was hypocritical or an honest attempt at “better late than never” isn’t the important issue here. What fighters should gather from this is that, unless you are of vital importance to the company, making the UFC look foolish won’t be tolerated. As the UFC becomes more mainstream their core demographic of 18-34 year old males has also grown to include more women, children, seniors and people from all walks of life, socio-economic status and YES even sexual preference. Gay dudes may not like MMA, but they may like wearing Reeboks and driving Fords. If the UFC seems to condone gay bashing behavior, these brands may feel hesitant to establish marketing partnerships with the promotion. From a business stand-point this potential loss of revenue is inexcusable.

MMA may be a sport, but it is also a business. In America being bigoted is bad for business, and the UFC has never hidden the fact that they are here to make money. And in this regard Zuffa is no different than any other business. They will not and should not allow their employees to interfere and compromise their ability to profit.

The case of Nate Diaz is a strange one. He is being penalized for being who he is. All he did was sprinkle some 209 dust on his opinion. The thing is someone didn’t hear him call Caraway a “fag” in a private conversation. He took to a social media platform that is heavily promoted by the UFC to use a word that is highly offensive to some people. The twitter account may be his, but any comments he makes on that platform are not just his own, they are also perceived as those of a UFC employee. Like in any business, when you speak on behalf of a company your words may carry consequences. And in the case of Nate Diaz, they did.

HUMBLE, TX, May 15, 2013

At the time of this writing, the show should feature fifteen amateur fights in total with two championship fights in the middleweight and featherweight divisions highlighting the evening.

At middleweight, we have a battle of undefeated fighters vying for the title with incumbent champion Trevin “The Problem” Giles (4-0) of Elite MMA defending his title for the very first time against Chris Sutton (3-0) of Gracie Barra Katy in what should be a very interesting fight between two similarly-sized and fairly well-rounded prospects. Hard to predict what this fight will look like but one thing that is for certain is that neither fighter is looking to be a pushover for the other. To the contrary both fighters have professional ambitions and a title win here would go a long way to make that a reality so look for both to come out swinging.

Meanwhile in the featherweight division, Silverback Fight Club’s Tony Orozco Jr. makes his long-awaited return to the cage after almost two complete years since his last fight, a loss to (now pro) Colin Wright at Cage Combat 5 with this same title on the line. Fast forward to now and he’ll be taking another fresh face in Edward Longoria, currently 2-0 after debuting in MMA just this past February. With so much time gone by it’s easy to forget Tony went 3-0 in his first three fights when he first burst on the scene in 2011, even winning against Joe Zamora and going to his high school prom on the same night at one point. Still only 20 years old with two extra years of training behind him he could be right back in the thick of the prospect talk with a title win in this one. Or will the 22 year old Longoria take his place? We’ll see on Friday night.

As for the rest of the card, it’s anybody’s ballgame in terms of who we can expect to perform.

Out of all the rest of the card, only Manny Lozoya (Silverback) has more than a few fights and a winning record at 5-3 heading into his fight with Metro Fight Club’s Eric Charalambous.

The remaining fights are loaded with a mixture of reasonably-experienced amateur ‘veterans’ and debuting fighters but one thing they all have in common is that they’re still looking to make a name for themselves.

Here’s the entire card as it stands today.

Stay tuned to TXMMA.com  as we report back after the fights and let you know which of these fighters make a name for themselves with their performance at Cage Combat 14.

CAGE COMBAT 14
FRIDAY MAY 17, 2013

1. Mike Ross (Silverback) VS. Ramiro Ruiz (4oz) – 115

2. Robert Henson (Elite MMA) VS. Anthony Tsafantankis (Bushi Ban Bloodline) –155

3. Tyron Casanova (Champions MMA) VS. John Butler (JP MMA/ Team Tooke) – 160

4. Miguel Martinez (Unleashed) VS. Max Mungai (Kingwood MMA)- 170

5. Joshua Kothman (Unleashed) VS. Joe Scott (Bushi Ban Bloodline) – Hvy

6. Francisco Segura (Laredo MMA) VS. Garvens Brun (Kingwood MMA) – 135

7. Omar Khosravi (Silverback) VS. Michael Eaglin (Elite MMA) – 170

8. Jay Sader (Silverback) VS. Jeremy Lieder (Ground Dwellers) – 185

9. Sean Jefferson (Paradigm) VS. Tyler Flores (GB Woodlands) – 170

10. John Rodriguez (Silverback) VS. Santos Hernandez (Metro) – 145

11. Eric Perdew (Bushi Ban Bloodline) VS. Kyle Villarreal (4oz) – 163

12. Randy McCullough (Windy) VS. Steven Vera (Metro) – 135

13. Manny Lozoya (Silverback) VS. Eric Charalambous (Metro) – 145

14. Edward Longoria (Bushi Ban Bloodline) VS. Tony Orozco Jr. (Silverback) – 145 Title

15. Chris Sutton (GB Champions) VS. Trevin Giles (Elite MMA) – 185 Title

MAY 10, 2013

The McKinney North High School grad recently announced just last week that he and longtime girlfriend Marilyn were having a baby girl. And as if that weren’t enough, he’s set to make his debut in the AXS TV-aired Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC) this evening and in the MFC 37 main event no less!

Benoit’s bout versus Anthony Birchak (9-1) was elevated to main event status after the cancellation of MFC 37′s planned main event between Chris Barnett and Smealinho Rama.

“It’s a dream come true,” he says. “MFC is the real deal and a great promo. The exposure I’m getting is awesome. I was dying just to get on a card and now I’m the main event. It’s just crazy. It means a lot I feel very blessed about the opportunities that have been given and I’m so thankful.”

Fighting out of the Saekson Janjira Muay Thai camp in DFW and also training down in Mexico at Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s gym in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico whenever he can get down there, “Babyface” feels he has stepped up in both training and skill lately and has high hopes for what he can accomplish in 2013.

With that in mind, Ryan Benoit will look to follow up his 3-0 campaign in the Legacy Fighting Championship last year with his first MFC win over his most accredited opponent yet in Arizona-based Anthony Birchak.

There’s been no love lost between the two ever since the fight was announced with both fighters chattering back and forth on Twitter.

“I hate that guy,” says Ryan Benoit. “No seriously the trash talk just comes with the fighting. Personally I think he is a douche but at the same I don’t have any personal reason to hate him besides him signing the contract to fight me. (As an opponent for me) He isn’t the most experienced but has the best record. I think we match up good but I think my skills will dominate his skills. I’m looking for a first-round TKO. Then hopefully it’s the UFC but if not I’ll fight for the MFC bantamweight title in August.”

“I would like to thank Saekson Janjira, my teacher for sure. I wish he was here with me. Thanks also to my sponsors: KO Reps, Lockout Supplements, and all my sponsors.  Thank God for all these opportunities and for giving me my baby girl coming in October. Time to go win this fight.”

HOUSTON, TX, May 8, 2013 – In search of an authentic Thai experience we (Mike and Felix) recently visited the famed gym and restaurant of Kru Pong (Thussayu Phumswarng) and his wife Toon on the southwest side of Houston, TX and got exactly what we expected.

As the owners of Kru Pong Thai Boxing and Thai Gourmet Restaurant, Kru Pong and Toon have long served Houston with their share of Thai culture throughout the years. Through extremely hard work, sacrifice and dedication they’ve developed quite a reputation in both the art of Muay Thai and traditional Thai cuisine. Martial artists from Texas who are seeking an authentic Thai experience don’t need to travel any further than to the city of Houston in order to do so.

Naturally, we had to learn more.

Sawadee krap.

A Brief History on Kru Pong (Thussayu Phumswarng) and Kru Pong Thai Boxing

Smile.

Thussayu Phumswarng is a two-time Lumpinee Stadium champion known in the martial arts community as Kru Pong. The combination of being a well-tanned at 67 years old along with his infectious smile make Kru Pong look more like a grandfather living in blissful retirement than the seasoned trainer of fighting machines he actually is. As with many things in life though, looks can be deceiving.

Kru Pong is the man considered responsible for bringing Muay Thai to Houston, TX in the early 1980s. At the time Kru Pong was already an accomplished fighter in his own right, but has really come into his own as a trainer and coach during the past four decades. Starting with his efforts in Patumwadee Kai in Thailand, Kru Pong has been responsible for guiding seven fighters in their paths towards a Muay Thai world championship title, and he has continued that tradition of excellence since relocating to Texas in the 1980s. The walls of his gym are covered with championship belts, awards, medals and clippings recognizing many of his past accomplishments as a teacher, fighter and business owner going back nearly 30 years.

Kru Pong’s influence in the development of Texas’ Muay Thai culture is so pervasive that most Muay Thai academies in the state can be linked to him in the same way that actors can be linked to Kevin Bacon through films in the game Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon. Kru Pong has trained a who’s who of established Texan instructors in the art of Eight Limbs that include Metro Fight club’s Saul Soliz, Elite MMA’s Hai Nguyen and Ed Liem, active champions like Nethaneel Mongolia and Alexis Chavaria, and many more.

Kru Pong has had a hand in molding a who’s who in the Texas Muay Thai scene and will continue to leave his mark by introducing people to the art he learned from his own father for as long as he lives. He already put his passion for fighting to the side once when he decided to migrate to the U.S. in search of a better future for his family and he is certain that he never wants to do this again.

Kru Pong and his wife Toon arrived in the U.S. in 1983 and immediately began working as chefs for a restaurant called Thai Pepper in Houston. Although fighting was something Kru Pong could not live without – not being able to put food on the table was something he needed to avoid in order to survive as well. And put food on the table they did. The Phumswarng’s style of cooking was so popular that they eventually were offered an opportunity to branch out on their own in 1995 with the help of some financial backers who believed in them. Kru Pong and Toon took the chance and once their Thai Gourmet Restaurant was established. All the while as business began booming, Kru Pong was able to re-address his main passion, teaching and training others in his country’s style of fighting.

Kru Pong’s Thai Boxing is conveniently located in the same strip mall as his restaurant; both locations share a wall. The convenient location of his Thai boxing academy allows Kru Pong to remain very much involved in the day-to-day activities of the family business while still being allowed to dedicate as much time as he wants to his beloved Muay Thai. The school is a long corridor that is blocked by Kru Pong’s desk. Behind this reception area the academy is divided into three sections; a small area for weight lifting and jumping rope, a section full of heavy bags, speed bags and other types of striking equipment, and the third and final part of the school is occupied by a single ring for Thai boxing.

The school is run in the traditional Thai style. Kru Pong explained that he does not teach a Muay Thai “class” in the classic western sense of the word. Kru Pong’s classes operate more like a well-organized circuit-training machine that is designed to push fighters to the point of breaking while they’re being asked to smile throughout the process. The gym opens from 4:00pm to 8:00pm each day and fighters take turns rotating from station to station so that they can develop and sharpen multiple aspects of their game.

The two constants during our visit with Kru Pong were the thuds of fighters punching and kicking their bags and Kru Pong reminding his tired fighters to “smile please” as they exerted the last of their energy training in their designated stations. Kru Pong’s students took turns doing endless sit-ups and push-ups, lifting weights, practicing hand-eye coordination with a speed bag, working on their clinch work and knees on a heavy bag and then drilled their techniques in grueling three minute sessions of pad work inside the ring. The workouts were very self-directed and required minimal supervision from the old Thai Master who spent his time going from station to station instructing his students to make simple adjustments to what they were doing.

Easy, right?

The workouts looked grueling and turned out to be much harder than they looked. We asked to participate in the class after being treated to a dazzling display of pad work by Alexis Chavarria, an assistant instructor at Kru Pong’s academy. Kru Pong nodded while giving us a half smile and then instructed Alexis to shorten the station rounds from three to two minutes in length. Though initially offended by the gesture it turned out that this was a smart and kind move on the part of Kru Pong, who knew that we trained in jiu-jitsu and were accustomed to creating opportunities for resting while in the middle of a ground fight.

The circuit was grueling and unforgiving. Kru Pong kept a watchful eye on each station and directed each person to a new one once the bell rang after every two minutes.

Our training at Kru Pong’s began with a light warm-up exercise that consisted of kicking a heavy bag while simultaneously holding dumbbells and throwing punches with the opposite arm that one kicks. We went from the warm up bag straight to hitting the pads. Pad work on its own is fairly tiring, but hitting pads while being told to smile brings things to a whole other level. Trying to maintain a consistent striking pace without lowering the rate of speed or level of power was exhausting and made us appreciate the demonstration given by Alexis even more once we tried out the Kru Pong Pad working style for the first time. Few sounds have been sweeter than the bell-which brought that first round of pads to an end. A round on a speed bag and another session of pads followed with only thirty seconds of rest between each round.

According to the students who were there that day each person training will do anything from 6-12 rounds of work and around 200 sit-ups in Kru Pong’s stations during an average two-hour workout day. We lasted four rounds -for a grand total of eight minutes of work- those eight minutes felt like an hour of continuous rolling on a BJJ mat, without proper cardio there was nowhere to hide as it became harder to keep our hands up to protect our chins and to generate power and speed for our strikes.

Martial artists from the Houston area owe it to themselves to check out Kru Pong’s Thai Boxing Academy. The man is a cultural legacy and one of the most savvy exponents of his fighting style in the entire country. We would be lying if we didn’t admit that Kru Pong made us feel exposed on our feet, but he appreciated the fact that we tried. Kru Pong was either amused by our struggles or impressed by our effort because he gave TXMMA a standing invitation to come back and visit before sending us off to go try his wife’s food next door.

Coming soon: Make sure to check back for our review of Thai Gourmet in the second part of our feature on Kru Pong and his wife, Toon.

For more information on Kru Pong’s Thai Boxing academy check out their Facebook Page for their address and hours of operation and as Kru Pong likes to say, “Sawadeekraap” and don’t forget to “smile please!”

HOUSTON, TX, May 7, 2013

The event will feature a title defense by the organization’s middleweight champion, 20 year old Trevin “The Problem” Giles out of Elite MMA. The undefeated (4-0) champion won the belt this past December with a convincing TKO victory over Silverback’s Eric Thompson who couldn’t answer the bell for the fifth round, giving Giles the win via TKO.

Defending that belt for the very first time, Trevin will be facing off against another undefeated fighter, Christian Sutton out of Gracie Barra – a fighter who won his last fight in just 24 seconds by submission when he guillotined Joe Whichard into submission at Cage Combat 13 this past March.

We recently caught up to the champion to discuss this fight, his opponent, and what his plans are for the near future.

Cage Combat 14 Interview -Trevin “The Problem” Giles

How does it feel to be defending your title at Cage Combat 14?

It feels great to be defending my title, but it always feels great preparing and going into a fight. Belt or not it’s a fight and I’m excited about it.

Tell us about your last fight against Eric Thompson. Did it go pretty much as you expected?

My fight with Thompson didn’t go exactly how i expected. I really thought that he would be more aggressive because the tape i watched on him and his fight club’s reputation. That being said I never expected him to quit but we did predict that i would break him and i guess that’s what happened.

What was it like to go five rounds for the first time? How did it feel to win that title?

It felt great having a five round fight even though i didn’t get the opportunity to experience the 5th round. And winning the title was great as well. I know I’m the best amateur middle weight fighter so it felt good to finally get what is rightfully mine.

Looking at your record, you’re 4-0 now. In your own words, how would you define your amateur career so far?

Due to the fact that I am 4-0 i would have to define my amateur career as successful. No matter how it happens the ultimate plan is to win and I haven’t failed to do so.

Have you given any thoughts to going pro?

I have giving a lot of thought to going pro. As a matter of fact this fight will more than likely be my last amateur fight.

Let’s talk about your upcoming fight. How do you feel about your matchup?

I feel great about this match up. Sutton looks like a pretty strong guy and if I am correct he is undefeated like me. So someone will leave that night with an ugly 1 on their record which makes this match up very exciting for me.

Did you watch his last fight? What do you think he brings to the table that you have to watch out for most?

I did watch his last fight and I saw that he ended it with a choke and I pretty sure that he believes that he will get it on me because he love throwing an arm over the head in the clinch. So I would say that the guillotine is his best weapon which isn’t saying much because everyone and their mamma can jump for a guillotine.

What are you looking to show in this fight?

For this fight I’m looking forward to showing how well rounded I am as well as how unforgiving my attack is.

Any predictions? How do you see this fight playing out?

I predict that I will knock this guy out. I seriously doubt that he will make it to the championship rounds.

If you had to give last words to your opponent before the fight, what would you tell him?

My last words to him would be “you are about to be in a hell of a fight.”

You have several other teammates fighting on this card also right? What other fights besides yours are you looking forward to most?

I’m really looking forward to seeing my boy Zach Henson has his first fight. I’m also looking forward to seeing my big homie Mike Eaglin go out and give someone hell. It’s going to be a great night for Elite MMA.

VINTON, LA, May 2, 2013

Although this is a Louisiana-based show, IXFA has strong ties to Texas with both Reed and Dawson residing in the Houston area. Likewise, the promotion held the bulk of their shows in Texas during 2010-2011 before making the move back out to Delta Downs and they continue to use many of the area’s fighters with IXFA 9 being no different.

As of now this pro-am card is currently slated for 13 fights overall with 7 of those bouts in the professional ranks. The bulk of the pros fighting on this card are from Texas and 5 out of 7 bouts are title fights so look for some continuity to be established on this card as IXFA decides a multiple of its’ latest champions in between the 135 lbs. – 185 lbs. divisions.

Let’s go over these championship fights and the rest of the pro card in further detail…

IXFA 9 – Main Card Preview for May 18, 2013

Brandon Farran

Middleweight Title: Abilene’s Brandon Farran travels all the way to Delta Downs looking to bounce back from a rough stretch of three losses in a row in his last fights, albeit to some tough competition in Derrick Krantz, Jason House, and Alex Morono. He’s be looking to bounce back again Louisianan Aaron Davis, 9 years his senior but definitely on the upswing career-wise with 4 straight wins heading into this title fight.

Welterweight Title: Making his return to the cage for the first time since July 2011 is defending IXFA middleweight champ Antonio ‘King Kong’ Flores. A knockout artist, Flores won the IXFA title with a 26-second TKO of Brandon McDowell in Houston in October of 2010 before similarly succumbing to Pete Spratt in his last bout at Legacy. Now a year later he’s looking to right the ship. Also looking to bounce back after two tough losses in a row is another hard-hitting fighter in Jonathan “Hulk” Harris. The former powerlifter opened his career at 6-1 prior to his last two fights so he’s definitely looking to get back to his winning ways and pick up a title in the process in this one. Looking at the styles at both men, this should make for one of more exciting fights of the night.

Lightweight Title: Jason “Karate Man” Carter travels all the way from Houston to take on LA native Marcus Andrusia in this one for the IXFA lightweight title. Carter is fairly familiar to us coming from the Houston area but the selection of his opponent here is perplexing considering he’s lost 4 out of 5 as a pro and is winless since the summer of 2010. How that merits a title shot is something beyond our realm of comprehension.

Rey Trujillo

Featherweight Title: When looking at fighters competing out of both Texas and Louisiana in recent years, you’d be hard-pressed to find many as exciting as Rey Trujillo. This knockout artist will be looking for his third win in a row on this card, having viciously knocked out Chris Jones at Legacy FC 19 in his last fight and scoring TXMMA’s KO of the Year in our 2012 Awards Season. This experienced fighter will be taking on a relative newbie in Todd Matarona – who despite winning both his amateur bouts lost his pro debut by TKO to Cody Williams at IXFA 8. He’ll be facing another uphill battle here as he tries to upend his veteran opponent.

Bantamweight Title: Last but not least in title action could be a ‘fight of the night’ between two exciting fighters looking to build some consistency at the pro level in Cody Williams and David Armas. Take away their records and what you have are two guys willing to go toe-to-toe with any opponent they meet. Will they do the same here? The best guess is YES they will but if not, this could also prove to be an interesting duel on the ground as well with Cody ever-improving there while Armas has proved almost impossible to submit in his own career thus far. Then of course there’s the battle on the scale as well. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention this but David’s last fight was at 155 lbs. and this fight is at 135 lbs. – a weight he’s had trouble making in the recent past. With a title on the line, will he make it here? We’ll find out on May 18^th.

Scotty Juarez

Best of the Rest: The rest of the pro card features only two more fights with Silverback Fight Club’s Scotty Juarez traveling to Vinton to take on another skilled newcomer Jordy Morgan out of United MMA and two other vets set to do battle with Edgar Verdin taking on RJ Knepp.

All in all it should be a good card overall at Delta Downs with some of the intriguing matchups they’ve put together so make sure to stay tuned to TXMMA.com for results if you don’t make out to Delta Downs to catch this one LIVE.

Here’s the IXFA 9 card below as it stands today.

IXFA 9 – Updated Fight Card

Professional Fights

185 lbs.: Brandon Farran (7-7) vs. Aaron Davis (5-3) <TITLE>
170 lbs.: Antonio Flores (5-3) vs. Jonathan Harris (6-3) <TITLE>
155 lbs.: Marcus Andrusia (1-4) vs. Jason Carter (2-2) <TITLE>
145 lbs.: Rey Trujillo (14-9) vs. Todd Matarona (0-1) <TITLE>
135 lbs.: Cody Williams (4-4) vs. David Armas (4-7) <TITLE>
155 lbs.: Scotty Juarez (1-1) vs. Jordy Morgan (1-1)
185 lbs.: Edgar Verdin (2-4) vs. RJ Knepp (2-2)

Amateur Fights

135 lbs.: Xavier Siller vs. Andy Stoute
115 lbs.: Halleigh Haak vs. Devaney Clayton
170 lbs.: Lewis Copeland vs. Trent Parker
185 lbs.: Isaac Castillo vs. Andrew Martinez
170 lbs.: Matt Cantelmo vs. Beau Koenig
155 lbs.: Hernan Vasquez vs. Charles McLendon
155 lbs.: Alec Williams vs. William Leads

Direct from Microsoft, we received a reminder that beginning today, April 25th, through April 28th, it’s Xbox LIVE’s Big Sports Weekend – with all sports apps on Xbox unlocked for use by both free and paid subscribers. Of interest to MMA fans are 7  fights of Jon Jones’ and Chael Sonnen’s leading up to this bout, that have been unlocked for free viewing. Additionally, you get access to the weigh-ins and pre-fight interviews.

If you’re planning on watching the fights this weekend and have an Xbox, this might be a nice way to build up to the event. check it out.

Press release details are below, and full details are at:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/promotions/big-sports-free-weekend

“Next weekend (April 25^th through April 28^th), Xbox LIVE members in the US and Canada will get free access to some of the most popular sports apps on the service – including more than 50 MLB games and 7 UFC Fight Story fights for free.  Here are the details:

Enjoy free access to Sports on Xbox LIVE this weekend.

·       All sports apps from April 25^th-28^th will be unlocked for both Free and Gold members in the US and Canada, including ESPN, UFC, MLB.TV, NBA Game Time, and NHL Game Center.

·       Watch live coverage and highlights of the NFL Draft on ESPN, catch more than 50 MLB games for free, and watch all 7 UFC Fight Story fights in preparation for Saturday’s big UFC 159 Pay Per View fight between Jon “Bones” Jones and Chael Sonnen.

In addition, enjoy highlights, recaps, and clips from the best of the NHL as teams jockey for position leading into the NHL Playoffs, and catch up on highlights of first round clips and highlights of the NBA Playoffs.”

This bout marks the conclusion of their saga coaching opposing teams on Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter reality show on FX.

Meanwhile, the co-main event will feature a middleweight contender bout with Michael Bisping taking on Alan Belcher while another interesting clash happens at light heavyweight with former NCAA champion wrestler Phil Davis taking on ADCC champion Vinny Magalhaes.

Bouts featuring heavyweight fan favorite “Big Country” Roy Nelson taking on Cheick Kongo and lightweight Jim Miller facing off against Pat “Bam Bam” Healy complete the main card.

Here’s the complete lineup for UFC 159 below followed by our fight picks!

UFC 159 – Main Card (PPV)

205 lbs.: Jon Jones (c) vs. Chael Sonnen

185 lbs.: Michael Bisping vs. Alan Belcher

265 lbs.: Roy Nelson vs. Cheick Kongo

205 lbs.: Phil Davis vs. Vinny Magalhaes

155 lbs.: Jim Miller vs. Pat Healy

UFC 159 – Preliminary Card (FX)

155 lbs.: Rustam Khabilov vs. Yancy Medeiros

265 lbs.: Gian Villante vs. Ovince St. Preux

135 lbs.: Sara McMann vs. Sheila Gaff

135 lbs.: Bryan Caraway vs. Johnny Bedford

UFC 159 – Preliminary Card (Facebook)

145 lbs.: Leonard Garcia vs. Cody McKenzie

170 lbs.: Nick Catone vs. James Head

145 lbs.: Steven Siler vs. Kurt Holobaugh

UFC 159 – Main Card Preview and Predictions

205 lbs.: Jon Jones (17-1) vs. Chael Sonnen (27-12-1)

Is anyone really giving Chael Sonnen a shot in this fight? The undisputed UFC kingpin at 205 lbs. has defeated wrestlers along the likes of Ryan Bader, Vladimir Matyushenko, Rashad Evans, and just about everyone else he has faced. Meanwhile, “The American Gangster from Oregon” is a blown-up middleweight version of those guys minus any type of striking threat on the feet. Not to say he’s not a respectable fighter but versus Jones’ skillset, he’s got a smaller chance of winning that Ron Paul in the last US presidential election. At least he’s only slightly less popular.

Sonnen might make this an entertaining fight in the beginning by coming forward like a man with nothing to lose but he’ll find that “Bones” has some wrestling chops of his own and won’t be as easy to take down as his last opponent (Anderson Silva). Look for Jones to make this look like a walk in the park or a plain and simple deconstruction of a smaller, limited opponent who belongs in a lighter weight class and has no business in there with him in the first place.

Prediction: Jon Jones over Chael Sonnen by TKO, RD1.

185 lbs.: Alan Belcher (18-7) vs. Michael Bisping (23-5)

There was once a time when Michael “The Count” Bisping was one of those that would outwork all of his opponents, impossible to put away and hard as hell to win a decision against. That was a few years ago though and now he finds himself having lost 2 of his last 3 fights, reeling after a brutal TKO in his last fight against Vitor Belfort. Belcher was never held to as lofty a status as Bisping has achieved in the sport (no title shots yet) but he has been hanging around on the fringes of the top level minus time of due to injury. He too is coming off a loss to Yushin Okami after winning 4 straight. This fight represents his opportunity to climb back.

All in all this should be a close fight with both guys likely to choose striking on the feet as their weapon of choice. With that being said, no matter what happens (on the feet or on the ground), this one should be a very close fight with Belcher edging it out by decision unless he can somehow find Bisping’s chin like Vitor did.

Prediction: Alan Belcher over Michael Bisping by unanimous decision.

265 lbs.: Roy Nelson (18-7) vs. Cheick Kongo (18-7-2)

Always a fan favorite, “Big Country” Roy Nelson has been a career resurgence as of late, winning two and a row and looking much like the MMA version of Charles Barkley when he went to the Houston Rockets in the 96-97 season – round, impressive, and wanting to get to a title run that probably won’t ever happen for him. In this fight he’ll face another heavy-handed fighter in Cheick Kongo. The Frenchman also happens to be coming off a win after winning a decision over Shawn Jordan this past July but lost to another round heavyweight in Mark Hunt just one fight prior.

So what happens in this fight? Let’s see. Nelson is the better grappler of the two but more importantly, he’s only been KO’d once in his entire career and that was to an absolute homerun punch by a prime Andrei Arlovski five years ago. He’s still as durable as they come while Kongo seems to have seen his best days put behind him. I don’t see any way Kongo can win this one. Look for Roy to prove himself the better fighter and keep knocking on that door to title contention a la Sir Charles.

Prediction: Roy Nelson over Cheick Kongo by TKO, RD2.

205 lbs.: Phil Davis (10-1) vs. Vinny Magalhães (10-5)

This fight is pretty straight-forward.

ADCC winner Vinny Magalhães is looking for the fast-track to notoriety in the 205 lbs. division and called out the top-ten ranked fighter he thinks he can beat in wrestling standout Phil Davis. Styles often make fights so in that respect he may have been smart to do so considering he likely does have the ground edge but that doesn’t mean it will be easy to get him there or that Davis is a walk in the park.

…Quite the contrary actually.

In his 11 fight career Phil has only lost once – via decision to another top wrestler (Rashad Evans) in a standup-oriented fight. This fight might actually turn out to be that type of fight again if Vinny can’t take Davis to the ground long enough to sub him – which is a highly-probably scenario. In that type of fight it’s anybody’s ballgame and it might be a sloppy ballgame at that but Davis should have enough of an advantage to take the win.

Prediction: Phil Davis over Vinny Magalhães by unanimous decision.

155 lbs.: Jim Miller (22-4) vs. Pat Healy (29-16)

Fighting in front of his home state crowd in this one will be grizzled veteran Jim Miller as he takes on Northwest-based Pat “Bam Bam” Healy.  Miller won a tough bout against Joe Lauzon in a fight that garnered FOTN honors in his last one and seems motivated to string together two in a row for the first time since early 2011. Meanwhile, Healy is another tough vet that’s done better as of late with six wins in a row but those were all in Strikeforce against slightly-less than top competition.

As inconsistent as he’s been with wins as of late Jim Miller has never lost to less-than-top-level competition and Pat Helay is not quite at that level. Look for the hometown favorite to prove he’s the more well-rounded vet in this one.

Welcome to the UFC Pat.

Prediction: Jim Miller over Pat Healy by decision.

UFC 159 – Undercard Quick Picks

Rustam Khabilov (15-1) over Yancy Medeiros (9-0) by submission, RD2.

Ovince St. Preux (12-5) over Gian Villante (10-3) by decision.

Sara McMann (6-0) over Sheila Gaff (10-4-1) by decision.

Johnny Bedford (19-9-1) over Bryan Caraway (17-6) by TKO, RD2.

Cody McKenzie (13-3) over Leonard Garcia (15-10-1) by submission, RD1.

James Head (9-3) over Nick Catone (9-4) by decision.

Steven Siler (21-10) over Kurt Holobaugh (9-1) by decision.