Here are the official results from Combat in the Cage’s 12 Strike event that took place at the Newark Boys & Girls club in Newark, Delaware this past Saturday.
All bouts were WKA sanctioned.
Bout 1/Bantamweight (135 lbs.):
Joe Finneran (Team Loch Haven) submitted William McKenna (Team Hammer) at 2:00 of round 1
Bout 2/Welterweight (170 lbs.):
Sam [...]
Matt Cava and I went up to Trenton, NJ this past Saturday to check out Combat in the Cage. As I’ve said before, there are a lot of fighters who compete forEd Hsu’sCombat in the Cage/Extreme Challenge Northeast that you’ll be seeing on the big shows in the not too distant future.
One of those fighters I have no doubt that you’ll be seeing more of is Wilson Reis.
Despite being on 22, Wilson is already a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu and is an instructor at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu United in Philadelphia. I train at BJJ United when I have free time, which is almost never, but I’ve attended a few of his classes and his skills are sick.
Below is video of his second pro fight from this past weekend’s event. He’s in the red trunks and you’ll notice that his opponent, Diego Jimenez, doesn’t get much offense in. Well, Jimenez is a strong fighter who trains out of Anthracite Combat Club in Minersville, PA with pros such as Jim Bova, Jon Murphy, and Shane Ott. Basically, Jimenez is no joke and Reis was able to earn a win in impressive fashion against a quality opponent.
Here are the quick results for tonight’s Combat in the Cage show in Trenton, NJ at the Sovereign Bank Arena:
1. Tinh Tupy won a unanimous decision over Rick Desper in a bantamweight match
2. Baba Shigeyashu won a split decision over Anthony Montaro in a lightweight bout
3. Mike Shenk looked very impressive in submitting Steve McCabe with a rear naked choke at 2:25 of round 1
4. Aaron Miesner defeated Chris Reedy via TKO at 1:25 of round 1. Miesner dominated the fight and had a tremendous size advantage. Reedy took the fight on short notice and agreed to the fight at 185 lbs. even though he normally competes at 170 lbs. Miesner cuts from 200-plus and appeared to be about 195 lbs. for the fight. Reedy didn’t take the loss well as he stormed off before the official decision was announced.
5. Pat McGreal won via TKO (ground strikes) over Mike Groves at 0:42 of round 2. Groves trains out of the Fight Factory in Philadelphia and I believe Eddie Alvarez was in his corner.
6. Wilson Reis improved his pro record to 2-0 with a submission victory via rear naked choke against Diego Jimenez at 2:00 of round 1. Jimenez is a strong fighter who trains out of Anthracite Combat Club in Minersville, PA. Anthracite is the same school where Shane Ott and Jon Murphy train out of. The win by Reis was impressive and he really worked the choke in even though Jimenez was defending it well. Jimenez didn’t tap and instead allowed himself to go to sleep.
7. Tim Carpenter submitted Sean McCaan with a triangle choke at 1:43 of round 1 for the Combat in the Cage Light Heavyweight Title. This match ended in controversy because Carpenter had McCaan in a full triangle but the ref stopped the match because of a cut on McCaan’s head. The doctor cleared him and the referee re-started the match with McCaan in a full choke. It appeared as though as he tapped but he was disputing the outcome. I’m not completely positive, but I think he was complaining that the choke was in much deeper than it was prior to the re-start. Crowd heavily booed the outcome.
8. Jim Bova won the Combat in the Cage lightweight title when he submitted Mark Getto with a rear naked choke in round 1. I do not have the official time but I believe it was at about 1:45 into the round. Bova trains out of Anthracite.
9. Zach Makovsky won a unanimous decision over Emerson Souza to claim the Combat in the Cage Bantamweight title. Makovsky trains out of the Fight Factory and had Eddie Alvarez in his corner.
Jon Murphy was supposed to fight Jason Dolloff in the main event but the match was scratched from the card after Dolloff’s medicals did not check out. Apparently he had a pre-existing medical condition and didn’t follow the doctor’s recommended course of treatment. The NJ State Athletic Control Board had some questions about Dolloff’s medical records and called his doctor. They must have not liked what they heard.
Murphy attended the show and looked ready to fight. He’s hoping to return to action sooner rather than later.
Also, there was some talk backstage about the cancellation of CFFC 6. A lot of people are unhappy with how things played out and word is that CFFC promoter Felix Martinez could face an uphill battle in being able to promote a card in New Jersey again.
Here are the quick results from Extreme Challenge 81 at the Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange, NJ. Notes at the bottom…
Wilson Reis made his pro MMA debut and defeated Baba Shigamashu via unanimous decision in a 145 lbs. bout.
Lester Caslow recorded a TKO victory at 3:36 of round two over Mike Murray in a match contested at 150 lbs.
Charlie Brenneman recorded a unanimous decision victory over Marcello Olivera in a 170 lbs. match.
Chris Volo submitted Anderson DeCastro at 1:05 of round one in a heavyweight clash.
Matt Makowski scored a TKO victory in his pro MMA debut over Julio Cruz at 1:10 of round two in a 170 lbs. match.
Carlos Moreno recorded a TKO over Marcos DeSilva at 0:36 of round one in a battle of heavyweights.
Mark Geto won the Extreme Challenge Northeast Lightweight Title after submitting Joe Camacho in round one with a rear naked choke.
Dominic Tafuri submitted Ryan McCarthy with a rear naked choke at 3:27 of round one in a lightweight matchup.
In the main event, Tim Boetsch won the Extreme Challenge Northeast Light Heavyweight Title when he submitted Brendan Barrett with a guillotine choke at 3:00 of round two.
Notes:
This show was probably produced for half the cost of Bodog Fight two weeks ago (possibly less) and offered twice the action. A lot of aggressive fighters were booked for the card and a lot of them really pushed the action. There was a strong turnout from a crowd that I would estimate was primarily comprised of friends, family, and training partners of the fighters. I heard one boo and his buddy told him to stop and instead yell “Stand them up.” By and large, a much more well-behaved crowd in a city that wasn’t too far from Trenton. The pacing of the show was also top notch. It was a nine match card that started at 8:30 p.m. ET and was over by 11:30 p.m. ET. In comparison, Bodog had ten fights and started at 7:30 p.m. and didn’t end until 1:30 a.m.
My “Fight of the Night” honors goes to Lester Caslow vs. Mike Murray bout. The first round was really back and forth and tough to call. It had a nice pace to it with good technique. Caslow took over in the second round and the ref stopped the fight. Murray fought hard and had blood coming out from beneath his eye.
My “Submission of the Night” would go to Mark Geto, who won the Extreme Challenge Northeast Lightweight Title.
“Knockout of the Night” goes to the debuting Matt Makowski. Makowski was up against Julio Cruz, who I was told is a black belt in BJJ and trains out of Renzo Gracie’s school in New York. Matt systematically took Cruz a part with lower leg kicks early in the bout. Cruz realized he couldn’t stand with him and made several attempts to get the fight on the ground but Makowski’s takedown defense was impeccable. Cruz got tired, dropped his hands a bit and Makowski then started mixing in high kicks and then knees. He let his hands go in round two and really broke Cruz’s spirit. Matt smelled blood and caught Cruz who backed into the cage. He went in for the kill and just started unloading. Cruz turtled up in a standing position and barely was covering himself and making no attempt whatsoever to answer back. The official jumped in and called the match. Just a very impressive performance and Matt made it obvious that he’s got a big future ahead of him in pro MMA. Matt trains out of the Daddis/MFS Affiliate (full disclosure: I used to train there) in Philly and was undefeated as an amateur and held several regional titles.
Wilson Reis, who also trains at Daddis/MFS and with BJJ United put on a ground clinic vs. Shigamashu in his debut. Reis, who holds a black belt in BJJ and is one of the best grapplers in the Northeast, immediately shot in for the takedown. He hit his shot and that set the tone for the rest of the bout. Not a lot of striking in the bout but there were multiple submission attempts. Shigamashu had no answer for Reis’ takedowns but was able to reverse position several times on the ground. He threw some decent strikes but the match was still pretty much all Reis. He’s a name to keep your eye on at 145 lbs.
UFC lightweight fighter Frank Edgar was in the crowd and introduced to the audience. He trains with the Rhino Fight Team in New Jersey. Rhino had a couple of fighters from their school fighting on the card.
I was also impressed by Geto and Joe Camacho. I was especially impressed by Camacho, even though he came out a little aggressive and got caught in a choke. He was very aggressive and quick and was really pushing the action early on. At one point he caught Geto with a knee and the ref stopped the fight. I thought it was over but the ref then called time and spoke with each fighter and then restarted the bout. My guess is that Camacho delivered an illegal knee. The only thing I think could be possible was that maybe Geto was in a down position? I’m not sure as no official explanation was offered. The refs need hand signals at these events like at a football game. But I wouldn’t mind seeing Camacho fight again as I think he has a lot of potential.
Dominic Tafuri looked real good in his win as well.
Charlie Brenneman was announced as the winner of the first season of Joes vs. Pros show on Spike TV.
This is the same Extreme Challenge that is affiliated with Monte Cox. Ed Hsu was the promoter of record. He also holds many amateur shows under the Combat in the Cage title. Check out CombatInTheCage.com for more info.