Friday March 7, 2008

King of the Cage #21 Gold Rush from Prince George, British Columbia.

KOTC has officially kicked off the 2008 season and have set the standard on MMA competition in Canada.

Due to opponent injury Josh Gallant's fight was cancelled. Chris Conlin of Barrhead Alberta was not cleared by commission doctors and therefore his matchup against Nick Coulombe did not take place either.

The night however still packed a punch with 10 incredible matches including a title fight between Gary Wright and Aaron Bruce.

The first fight of the night saw Ruben Brownlee defeat a determined Frank Wright via ground and pound leading to referee stoppage at 1:53 of the second round.

The second bout featured 41 year old Chris Lesley against Chris Gammond. A three round battle had Gammond pressing with an array of leg attacks only to be met with Lesley's quick hands ultimately earning him the judges nod after 15 minutes.

Zack Gate and Ryan Knysh set up the third bout. Immediate action by Knysh established the pace and opened up Zack early. Both fighters jockeyed for position with numerous sweeps and counter submission attempts with Knysh trying for three seperate triangle chokes leaving Gate no option but to slam the opening and pass to full mount where Gate let loose the leather and ended the fight via TKO at 3:22 of the second round.

Fight number four put 2-1 Jordan Bills against debut fighter Nolan "the full" Nelson. Bills who is a well rounded fighter was momentarily startled at the beginning of the first round when Nolan threw a quick barrage of punches. Weathering the storm Bills took the fight to the ground where he controlled Nelson well enough to gain a full mount position and earned a ground and pound TKO victory at 2:56 of the first round.

The first submission of the night was awarded to Aaron "Barnyard" Bernard who took only 38 seconds to ensure the victory over Trevor Nielson. Bernard set up the take down right off the hop and utilized excellent form to take Nielson's back and sink in a rear naked choke.

With full intent on having his record reflect his skill Dan Shenk, like teammate Bernard, made sure to get the job done early. Pressing hard, Shenk took a clean kick straight to his head before stuffing TKD star Jordan Boudreau against the cage and down to the mat where he circled around to sink in a rear naked choke at 24 seconds of the first round.

The seventh fight of the night made Prince George history as Kate Roy of PEI faced Impact MMA's Rachael Swatez in the cities first female MMA fight. Refusing to blink Roy looked more like a machine throwing numerous flurries and stalking her opponent for all three rounds. Swatez withstood some punishment but definately made her presence felt. In the end Roy took the judges unanimous decision.

Weigh ins at the Treasure Cove shed some light on the situation that lie ahead for Rob "The Enforcer" Konopski and Scott Stewart. Clearly filled with emotion Konopski had shoved Stewart Thursday night and made sure his opinion was known well before they touched gloves. As the first fight set in the cruiserweight division for KOTC, both men were there to make a statement. Konopski was compelled to do so in a timely fashion. Within 13 seconds "The Enforcer" had stepped across the cage to quickly close the distance and knock the jiu-jitsu instructor unconcious. Konopski, both physically and verbally made his position known to the crowd that he is a new breed of fighter and is "about kicking ass".

After a few months away from competition Jared "J-Rod" Kilkenny had been preparing for his comeback by training every aspect of his game especially his cardio, its too bad he wasn't able to show it. It took only 24 seconds into the first round for Kilkenny to show exactly what he has in his new and improved bag of tricks by knocking out 11-16 Chris Peak with half a dozen precision hammerfists. Immediately after the fight Kilkenny announced that he wants the belt. His opportunity awaits as he sets his sights on current heavyweight champion of KOTC Canada Tim "The Thrashing Machine" Hague.

In the main event of the evening, Aaron Bruce accepted the short opportunity to face Welterweight champion Gary Wright. Bruce and Wright had met before in Bruce's debut. Looking to avenge his loss, Aaron held an iron chin and a steel heart. Despite being unable to effectively defend the takedown Bruce continued to better his position and get back to his feet and exchange strikes with the very controlling and focused Wright. In what could be described as the fight of the night both warriors showed what it takes to be at the top of a division. Bruce attempted to chop down Wright with very strong leg kicks only to be countered by the cool and calm hands of the defending champ. Five rounds of back and forth action had eveything from huge power punches to destructive leg kicks and a belly to back waistlock suplex. After 25 minutes of battle the judges voted a unanimous decision in favour of Gary Wright.