After spending a good part of 2009 training for two title fights with Jason Volpe, Ryan Chiappe will finally head into 2010, as the King of the Cage Canadian Middleweight Champion. On Saturday night, at KOTC's "Catalyst" card in Vernon, BC, Chiappe laid claim to the promotion's 185lb. title by submitting Volpe in the first round with a rear-naked-choke. With the win, Chiappe brings to an end a near 6 month long chapter on a good note, after being disqualified for poking Volpe in the eye during their first tilt in July.

"It feels really good," said Chiappe, when asked to reflect on the win. "I trained very hard for this fight so it's nice to see some of the fruits of the labour. It feels good. I got the result that I desired. It's been since July that I've been preparing for this opponent so it's nice to get it finally over and done. I'm very happy for sure."

Prior to this weekend's rematch, Chiappe was extremely confident that he would be able to successfully implement his game plan against Volpe, as he was in the process of doing, when the two met for the first time at "Capital Excalibur."

"It was very similar to the first fight," Chiappe noted. "There was a little feeling out process on the feet; last fight he stood southpaw but this fight he went orthodox. I was able to take the single, and then go to mount, did some ground-and-pound. I believe he gave his back, so I rode out his back, did some more ground-and-pound and sunk in the rear-naked-choke."

Revolution fighter and trainer Bill Mahood was the matchmaker for "Catalyst," and when KOTC Canada spoke with the veteran last week, he also was confident that Chiappe would become the new middleweight champion.

"I was not able to attend the fights but have gotten a lot of feedback," said Mahood. "Ryan's fight went just as I figured it would. He has been working very hard and improving at every aspect of the MMA game. He will be capable of retaining this belt for some time. I also think he will be ready very soon to challenge for the 170lb. title as well. I truly believe his style would prove to be a very bad match up for Gary Wright and that he has a great chance of holding KOTC Canadian titles in 2 weight classes."

Chiappe is hoping to stay busy over the coming months, and is looking forward to defending his belt against any Canadian contenders, as well as, taking on any other established veterans that might sign with the promotion.

"I'm just going to sit back, see what happens, and train. I'm actually going back to training tonight," said Chiappe while discussing the future. "I just want to keep working and improving. That kind of stuff is out of my hands and I'm sure they'll figure it out as far as future opponents go."

"I want to be an active fighter and keep busy," Chiappe added. "With defending the belt I'll be as active as I can. Barring an injuries I'd like to fight four times next year for sure. I'd say 4 to 6 times; that would be ideal. I'm looking to hopefully defend it sometime in early spring for sure."

"Catalyst" featured 12 other bouts, and some of the other winners from Saturday night included Graham Spencer, Colin Daynes, Clay Davidson, Del Melnyk and Chang Hyun Kim, who worked his way to a Unanimous Decision victory over Vinicius Lemos in the card's "Super Fight."

"As for the match making, I thought we had the makings of an action packed night and it seems to have come off that way," said Mahood. "It's awesome when it all works out. I had the opportunity to work with some great teams on this card, when you work with good teams you know what you're getting. Toshido, Revolution, Impact, Pride and Iron Dragon are all very tough camps and continue to turn out top young talent."