News of Hominick’s addition to the Montreal card’s lineup was announced by UFC officials.

Hominick was caught on the button after being uncharacteristically aggressive against Jung in the opening moments of their bout at UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida, then put away instantly for the upset loss. Prior to the performance the popular Canadian fell by way of decision to featherweight champion Jose Aldo, snapping a five-fight winning streak in the process. “The Machine” holds an overall record of 20-10 with sixteen stoppages and victories over respected adversaries like George Roop, Yves Edwards, and Jorge Gurgel.

Though Yagin has only fought in the UFC a single time he is no slouch as indicated by his recent win over former Bellator title-holder Joe Soto. The 15-5-1 32-year old made his Octagon debut in September, losing a hard-fought decision to Junior Assuncao.

Hominick-Yagin will take place alongside a number of other interesting match-ups at UFC 145 including Rory Macdonald-Che Mills, Chad Griggs-Travis Browne, and Ben Rothwell-Brendan Schaub.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

“The Machine”, a native of Canada, defeated George Roop in early 2011 to earn a shot at UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo, While Hominick was unsuccessful in defeating Aldo, he enjoyed a happier moment a few weeks later when his wife delivered their first baby.

For the 20-9 Hominick, the journey of the past twelve months has been a culmination of his entire career in MMA.

“I would say it’s like a 15-year overnight success,” said Hominick, in a recent interview with the UFC’s website. “I think that’s the way it works with anything you’re passionate about. You see the same thing with musicians or people in any kind of art, movie stars, whatever it is, they work the grind for years and years and get that one opportunity, and all of a sudden they’re in the limelight. That’s the opportunity I’ve been given, and now it’s my responsibility to run with it.”

Just like his fight career, however, there has been personal loss this year for Hominick. Shawn Tompkins, a trainer of Hominick’s and several others, passed away suddenly this year. “The birth of my daughter was definitely life-changing and the greatest thing that’s happened to me. It was an eye opener. And with Shawn, it was such a shock and I honestly don’t even think its hit me yet. But I’m looking at it as I have a responsibility to carry on his legacy, and the way I do that is I go out there and fight.”

Hominick has earned plenty of admiration by the MMA community and fans for his effort against Aldo where he fought back from a several beating early on to go all 25 minutes with the champion. He has nine knockout and six submission victories in his career.

“Anyone who likes to throw down and stand up, you’re gonna be a fan favorite,” Hominick said. “So I’m lucky that my style and my skill set cater to that.”

UFC 140 takes place on PPV starting at 9:00 PM EST with a main event featuring Jon Jones defending his light heavyweight belt against former champ Lyoto Machida.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Hominick suffered his first loss after five straight wins in that April bout. Three and a half months later, Hominick suffered another, much more tragic loss when his long-time trainer and friend Shawn Tompkins passed away.

It was a few rough months for “The Machine” but with a December challenge in the form of Chan Sung Jung, Hominick is ready to get back to action at UFC 140.

“I just want to go out there and destroy (Jung), and make a statement with the fight.” Hominck said in an exclusive conversation with Five Ounces of Pain “I want to go out there and show the fans that I’m still here and that I’m going to be a contender in this division for a long time. I’m gonna climb my way back until I get a title shot and get the belt around my waist.”

Without Tompkins in his corner for the first time in years, Hominick will look to draw strength from his former coach and friend.

“We’re going to miss his leadership and guidance. We’re trying to rally around each other but it’s going to be a big void without him,” the 29-year old explained.

“As a core unit, it’s made the team stronger,” he continued. “We’ve always had the Adrenaline training center so we’ve always done our day to day camp there with the staff there, we would just head to Vegas for the last five weeks to train with Shawn and have him in the corner.”

A staple of Team Tompkins technical striking has always been the left hook to the body, which just happens to be Hominick’s favorite strike to throw. He’ll need to keep things technical against “The Korean Zombie” a striker known for his brawling style. Hominick looks to do just that when the two meet on December 10.

“He’s more of a brawling type and the way to beat that is to be technical, which is what I do.,” said Hominick. “I never think about getting into a brawl. I like to keep it on the feet but I do with it speed and technique.”

Besides his technique, Hominick is hoping that his experience will help him overcome the relentless attack of “The Korean Zombie.” Having fought in the co-main event at UFC 129, which did a record attendance of 55,724 fans and 800,000 buys on PPV, the 20-9 featherweight has dealt with the pressure of fighting on a big stage before.

Regarding the match-up’s magnitude, Hominick said, “I understand what it takes to be at the top and the added pressure. Just the schedule leading up. Not just the training, but the media and the attention that comes with the fight. I understand that there’s a lot more to the job then just training every day.”

Due to their two styles and ability to produce exciting fights, Hominick vs. Jung is a fight that the fans ever since both men last stepped foot in the octagon. Jung took to twitter and asked for the fight shortly after Hominick’s loss to Aldo, and Hominick had no problem stepping up to the plate.

“I wanted to fight a name fight and solidify my spot as a top contender. Everyone knows the Korean Zombie,” stated the former title contender. “He’s coming off the submission of the year against Leonard Garcia and the fans know him and his style. He comes to fight every time. This is going to be a fan friendly fight that we both wanted. He called me out first and I gladly accepted.”

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

The bout has been confirmed by the UFC.

One of the top strikers in the featherweight division, Hominick had won five straight bouts prior to failing to beat Jose Aldo for the belt at UFC 129. Despite the loss, Hominick was praised for how much heart he showed. In that bout, a huge hematoma developed on the Canadian’s forehead but it didn’t slow down “The Machine” as he continued to press the action and even dominated the fifth round of the fight before losing the decision. Hominick picked up an extra $129,000 for his performance as the title bout picked up the “Fight of the Night” award.

Hominick should have a willing striking partner in the form of Jung, an unafraid scrapper known for his ability to take punishment. Jung made his US debut in April 2010, losing a controversial decision to Leonard Garcia. The fight earned accolades from all fans, with some calling it the best fight of the year. Jung failed to capitalize on the momentum though, getting KO’d in his next bout via head kick against George Roop. In the rematch against Garcia this past March, Jung abandoned his wild style and showed off a more patient zombie, eventually taking the fight to the ground and submitting Garcia with a rare twister submission.

UFC 140 is scheduled for December 10 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada. The event will be headlined by a rematch between former heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir.

White’s statements on the matter confirmed a recent report of the possible scenario from Canadian outlet SportsNet.

However, it’s doubtful Hominick is looking beyond his challenge at this month’s “Fight for the Troops” event scheduled for January 22, as Roop is no pushover in the ring and is coming off a devastating knockout head-kick of “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung last September. He is 11-6-1 overall with a draw against Leonard Garcia and the bulk of his wins assisted by a solid grappling base.

If Hominick loses, according to White, it’s “back to the drawing board.” However, “The Machine” has emerged with his hands raised in four straight appearances and six of his last seven. The 28-year old most recently outpointed Garcia at WEC 51 and holds past victories over Jorge Gurgel and Yves Edwards. He will also be fighting for more than a title-shot when he faces Roop, as Hominick is an Ontario native meaning he’d earn the opportunity to potentially win gold in front of friends, family, and countrymen at UFC 129.

Aldo will undoubtedly be anxiously awaiting their Fight Night 23 result as well. Sidelined with a neck injury since late last year, the dynamic Brazilian champion watched an expected match-up with Josh Grispi slip away when Grispi was soundly beaten by Dustin Poirier at UFC 125 and is likely looking forward to having a set opponent to prepare for.

PHOTO CREDIT – WEC/UFC

News of the switch was reported by Heavy.com.

In a press conference earlier this week, UFC President Dana White stated that he considered Aldo one of the top three pound-for-pound fighters in the world. The Brazilian Muay Thai fighter is on an 11-fight winning streak, and has won all eight of his WEC bouts–with only one fight going to decision. His most recent outing was an impressive knockout victory over Manny Gamburyan, and he holds notable wins over Urijah Faber, Mike Brown, and Cub Swanson.

Grispi was signed by the WEC after going 10-1 in smaller organizations and currently holds a record of 14-1. He is coming off of a first-round technical submission victory over L.C. Davis. The guillotine earned him “Submission of the Night” honors. Grispi also defeated Jens Pulver and Mark Hominick by submission and defeated Micah Miller by TKO.

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Aldo recently spoke with Tatame and briefly mentioned the UFC’s proposal of a match-up with “Top 10″ lightweight Ken Florian, though he explained his managers declined the bout without going into specifics about why.

“I wanna fight – it can be at WEC or in the UFC,” said Aldo.

The versatile 145-pounder did, however, go on explain his current focus on featherweight was in-part related to his training partners at Nova Uniao in Rio Di Janeiro.

“When I was fighting in the division above (André Pederneiras) thought there were many people of the gym on that division, and in my division there’s me and Marlon (Sandro),” he elaborated on the situation. “I can play pretty hard in this one and I’m the champion, so I think it’s best for me to stay in this weight division.”

Just because they won’t be fighting each other in December doesn’t mean Florian and Aldo will be left looking for future opponents, as both have since gone on to agree to other bouts in their home-promotions. Aldo will be defending his WEC title against Mark Hominick at WEC 54 in January, while Florian will face Evan Dunham at UFC 126 at the company’s standard Superbowl Weekend card on February 5th.

Ultime Fanatic is reporting that Adrian “The Bully” Wooley will be defending his TKO bantamweight title against The Ultimate Fighter alumni Noah Thomas. Wooley is currently one of Canada’s brightest prospects who holds dominant victories over Guillaume Lamarche, Syd Barnier, and Danny Martinez.

TKO is currently in the hunt for an opponent to face Japanese-featherweight Hatsu Hioki. Hioki was originally set to clash horns with Stephane “Simba” Vigneault but the fight was scrapped when it was announced that Vigneault had suffered a nasty eye injury during training. Hioki, known for his history in Shooto, has fought under the TKO banner twice defeating UFC veteran Mark Hominick in both outings.

In the final title fight, Jesse “Water” Bongfeldt will defend his TKO welterweight title against an opponent to be determined. Bongfeldt, much like Wooley, is currently regarded as one of the top fighters coming of the Canadian stable. Bongfeldt holds victories over notable names such as Sean Pierson, Chris Clements, and T.J. Grant. There were rumors that UFC veteran Chad “The Grinder” Reiner would be the challenger but he may have to wait after dropping consecutive bouts to Dan Hardy, Brandon Wolff, and T.J. Grant.

MMATraining.com is reporting that Hominick will be making his return to “la belle province” for the first time since running through Danny Martinez at TKO 31: Young Guns. His opponent has yet to be announced but it is expected that the bout will headline the October 3rd card.

I am looking forward to getting out and seeing some live MMA this weekend. While Matt Cava is planning on being in Atlantic City for Battle Cage Xtreme 5, I will be at Combat in the Cage’s 14th Strike at the Greater Newark Boys & Girls Club in Newark, Delaware. The fights start tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET.

If you’re interested in going to Combat in the Cage, tickets can be purchased at the door. Directions to the Boys & Girls Club can be found by clicking here. You can buy tickets in advance by clicking here.

You can check out the complete card by clicking here, but the match I am especially looking forward to is a cruiserweight matchup between Tim Williams from Millville BJJ and Matt Andirkut of Team Loch Haven. Joe Pond will also be competing in bantamweight action, and he had one of the most brutal knockouts I’ve ever seen in his last fight.

In other CITC-related news, my wife, Andria, is slated to fight on CITC’s August 16 card. I’ll have more info on that in the future, but we’re looking for sponsors. Interested parties can e-mail me at SCaplan8 at comcast dot net.

One of the most anticipated matches of the night was a title fight between Jesus Martinez from the Fight Factory and Charlie Joseph out of Renzo Gracie’s Jiu-Jitsu Academy.

I’m not exactly sure why, but there was already a lot of heat between the two heading into the fight. The feud between the two fighters only escalated during the fight.

Martinez got off to a strong start in the first round, but Joseph rallied and stole all of his momentum. He had Martinez, the defending champ, on his back and pinned against the cage. From there, he started to land some pretty good shots and when the round ended, Joseph was in control.

What happened from there depends on who you talk to. What’s certain is that Martinez suffered a serious cut above his eye while absorbing Joseph’s ground and pound. Martinez claims he was busted open by an illegal elbow; Joseph claims it was a punch that opened Martinez up.

There are those who have looked at multiple replays and pictures and claim that Joseph never hit Martinez with an illegal shot of any kind while others I have spoken to claim they have seen different angles in which you can see an accidental elbow by Joseph.

There are also different accounts about how and why the fight ended. On Saturday night, I spoke to witnesses who were in the cage who claimed that Martinez refused to continue. Now I am hearing from those who claim that Martinez was willing to continue, but that his trainer, Stephen Haigh took one look at the cut and decided his fighter couldn’t continue.

Despite Joseph being declared the winner, Martinez didn’t react well and ripped the title away from the ring girl and stormed out of the arena. Needless to say, Joseph wasn’t too happy with how Martinez conducted himself.

A war of words between Joseph’s camp and Martinez’s camp is heating up and a rematch appears to be a formality. One one hand, it’s a shame that two great amateur prospects from strong camps are engulfed in a feud that has become highly personal. On the other hand, it is making for great theater.

Joseph’s camp recently released the following video — set to music — in which you can see Martinez storming out with the title. The video is only going to add fuel to the fire.

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 Anderson (Team Steele) won a unanimous decision over Aaron Bojan (Gai Jin Ryu Dojo)

Bout 3/Bantamweight (135 lbs.):
Joe Pond (Warriors MA) knocked out Chris Be (Team Hammer) at 0:10 of round 1

Bout 4/Featherweight (145 lbs.):
Kyle Dolan (Team Loch Haven) TKO’d Joshua Ledbetter (Team Hammer) at 1:21 of round 1

Bout 5/Welterweight (170 lbs.):
Jeshua Alston (Team Hammer) won a unanimous decision Andres Lebron (Modern Army Combatives)

Bout 6/Welterweight (170 lbs.):
Frank Lauro Jr. (Team Steele) TKO’d Neil Gardner (LVIRK) at 1:25 of round 1

Bout 7/Cruiserweight (195 lbs.):
Matt Andirkut (Team Loch Haven) TKO’d Thomas Waltemyer (Alliance BJJ) at 1:26 of round 1

Bout 8/Super Lightweight (165 lbs.):
Tim Sylvester (Maxercise) submitted Frank Piff (Team Hammer) at 1:08 of round 1

Bout 9/Bantamweight (135 lbs.):
Jeff Cressman (Daddis Fight Camps) submitted Kevin Papics (LVRIK) at 3:37 of round 2

Bout 10/Bantamweight (135 lbs.):
Pat Sabatini (Warriors MA) TKO’d Lance Umholtz (GAMA) at 2:28 of round 1

Bout 11/Middleweight (185 lbs.):
Yohanes Habtu (Revolution Academy) TKO’d Jeff Morber (Team Hammer) at 1:16 of round 1

Bout 12/CITC Middleweight Championship:
Charlie Joseph (Renzo Gracie) TKO’d Jesus Martinez (Fight Factory) after round 1

Bout 13/CITC Cruiserweight Championship:
Tim Williams (Millville BJJ) submitted Kyle Braun (Team Loch Haven) at 0:23 of round 2

Bout 14/CITC Interim Lightweight Championship:
Will Martinez (Fight Factory) submitted Juan Contrerez at 0:27 of round 2

Bout 15/Light Heavyweight (205 lbs.):
Joe Stripling (302 BJJ) TKO’d Derek Hopkins (Fight Factory) at 3:08 of round 1

- There was a lot of controversy pertaining to the Joseph vs. Martinez match. The fight was stopped after round 1 after Martinez refused to continue. Martinez, the defending champion, claimed after the round that he was hit with an illegal elbow. The referee, Jon Murphy, did not see such an infraction. Despite visual pleas from his corner to continue, Martinez did not want to continue. Joseph was announced as the winner and right after the announcement, Martinez ripped the title belt away from the ring girl and stormed out of the cage.

After speaking with officials that viewed the replay, the shot in question was ruled to be a clean punch and not an elbow. Martinez did suffer a bad cut from the punch and required stitches. Joseph wasn’t announced as being the new champion, but I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be. There’s already talk of a rematch.

- There’s talk of the first female bout in Combat in the Cage’s history taking place during its July event.

- Pond’s TKO was absolutely brutal. Be dropped down like a ton of bricks and it really looked bad. However, all indications were that he was going to be okay.

- All fights except the Stripling vs. Hopkins main event were WKA-sanctioned amateur bouts. Stripling vs. Hopkins was a pro fight and it was a really good fight. Hopkins, the Muay Thai coach at the Fight Factory, rocked Stripling early a couple of times and looked like he had him in trouble. But Stripling kept his composure and turned the momentum in his favor.

- CITC’s next event will be a co-promotion called “Kings of New York” on Saturday, June 7 at the Shinnecock Reservation in Southhampton, Long Island. CITC will be returning to Delaware on June 21 and will be back again on July 12.

- The photo is by Fred Haas of Paragon Photography and is run with permission from Combat in the Cage. In the photo, Charlie Joseph is pictured left and Jesus Martinez on the right.

Tomorrow should be an interesting day, as I be be taking in a combat sports double-header. Have no fear, as I will be submitting timer-released content to the site before I leave the site.

I’ll be headed down to Delaware in the afternoon to check out Combat Zone Wrestling’s annual “Tournament of Death” and will then venture up to Newark (Delaware) for Combat in the Cage’s 12th Strike at the Greater Newark Boys and Girls Club.

The card will start at 8 pm E.T. and feature 17 amateur bouts plus one pro fight. The night’s main event will be a pro fight between Derek Hopkins, the Muay Thai coach at the Fight Factory, taking on Joe Stripling from 302 BJJ (a Balance affiliate).

There will also be three title fights on the card, including Jesus Martinez from the Fight Factory defending the Combat in the Cage middleweight title vs. Charlie Joseph; Tim Williams vs. Kyle Braun for the vacant Combat in the Cage cruiserweight title; and Will Martinez from the Fight Factory fighting David Price for the Combat in the Cage interim lightweight title.

Jeff Cressman from Daddis Fight Camps, which is also home to Jon Murphy, Matt Makowski, and Aaron Miesner, will be taking on Kevin Papics in a bantamweight bout.

Since I’m from Philadelphia, I spend a lot of time on 5 Oz. covering MMA in the New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Delaware area. And as such, we have a strong concentration of readers from the tri-State area.

That being the case, I wanted to post results from this Saturday’s WKA-sanctioned Combat in the Cage card that I attended in Newark Delaware.

It was another strong show from Ed Hsu’s promotion. The Martinez brothers, Will and Jesus, continued to look dominant. I’m not sure whether they have pro aspirations or not, but it looks like they certainly have the skill. They’ve improved greatly since joining the Fight Factory.

Also, Ryan Mackin’s Combat in the Cage featherweight title win over incumbent Brad Pole improved Team Ground Control’s lifetime record in Combat in the Cage to an impressive 24-0. Team Ground Control is based in Maryland and is one of the top MMA camps on the East Coast. BodogFIGHT and ShoXC competitor James “Binky” Jones is one of the main trainers at the school. Jones, who is 2-0 in his last two fights, indicated to 5 Oz. of Pain that he expects to be fighting again very soon.

In addition to Jones, other pro fighters at the event included referee Stephen Haigh, Zach Makovsky from the Fight Factory and Aaron Miesner from Daddis Fight Camps.

The full results are listed below but I wanted to congratulate all the fighters for stepping up and testing themselves in the Cage.

What: Combat in the Cage

When: Saturday, April 12,2008

Where: Newark, Delaware

Results:

1. Chet Hardaway (Team Hitman) def James Harris (Crosswinds Kai) via TKO 2:22 Rd 2

2. Chris Finley (Simrell MMA) def Scott Petty (6 ft Deep) via TKO :55sec Rd 1

3. George Hibbs (Daddis FC) def William Bookwalter (Ephrata MA) via Unanimous Dec

4. Anthony Chicone (Fight Me Fight Team) def Logan Wheeler (Primal Fighting) via Submission 1:58 Rd 1

5. Ryan Cassidy (Maxercise) def Ryan Hodge (Loprestis MMA) via TKO 1:38 Rd 1

6. Tim Williams (Millville BJJ) def Robert Peach (Daddis FC) via RNC 0:46 Rd 1

7. Pat Sabatini (Warriors MA) def Adam Bisignani (Simrell MMA) via unanimous dec.

8. Vincent Velluci (Daddis FC) def John Schollser (Loprestis MMA) via unanimous dec.

9. Will Martinez (Fight Factory) def Jerome McLane (Simrell MMA) via Armbar 2:20 Rd 1

10. Ryan Mackin (Ground Control) def Brad Pole (Primal Fighting) via TKO 2:11 Rd 1
-Ryan Mackin becomes the New Combat in the Cage Featherweight Champion

11. Jesus Martinez (Fight Factory) def Erik Williams (Training Center) via RNC 0:56 Rd 1
-Jesus Martinez retains the Combat in the Cage Middleweight Championship

When: Next Saturday, April 12 @ 8:00 p.m. ET

Where: WKA-sanctioned amateur MMA and Muay Thai at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Newark, Delaware. Address is 109 Glascow Drive, Newark, DE 19702.

There are a lot of fights scheduled and I’m looking forward to seeing the Martinez brothers, Will and Jesus, as well as Robert Peach from Philly MMA all fight. Click here for the entire fight card. Hope to see you there.

While attendance figures are not available, the show was packed and the boisterous crowd was enthusiastic for all the fights. In attendance were several pro fighters including Eddie Alvarez, James “Binky” Jones, Aaron Miesner, and BodogFIGHT women’s champion Tara LaRosa.

This had to have been the best amateur fight card I’ve seen with a lot of good matches. Most of the fights were standup encounters that featured several momentum changes and early finishes.

The show also provided a few unusual moments that you don’t see everyday at an MMA show.

In a moment that is begging for the YouTube Hall of Fame, referee Stephen Haigh, of Fight Factory fame, found himself in a position where he was on the receiving end of an extended assault from a fighter.

While we’ve seen flash knockouts before where the knocked out combatant comes to and attacks the first thing near him (usually the ref) this incident was so strange because the fighter appeared to be almost fully conscious and the attack lasted so long. The actual fight lasted 14 seconds but the post-fight altercation between Haigh and Brian Hartkoph seemingly lasted twice as long.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS AND THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

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.

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 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 N.J. 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.

BodogFIGHT women’s champion Tara LaRosa was also at the show and came out during one of the introductions for a Fight Factory fighter. It appears that LaRosa is now affiliated with the Fight Factory in some way.

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.

1. Wilson Reis made his pro MMA debut and defeated Baba Shigamashu via unanimous decision in a 145 lbs. bout.
2. Lester Caslow recorded a TKO victory at 3:36 of round two over Mike Murray in a match contested at 150 lbs.
3. Charlie Brenneman recorded a unanimous decision victory over Marcello Olivera in a 170 lbs. match.
4. Chris Volo submitted Anderson DeCastro at 1:05 of round one in a heavyweight clash.
5. 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.
6. Carlos Moreno recorded a TKO over Marcos DeSilva at 0:36 of round one in a battle of heavyweights.
7. Mark Geto won the Extreme Challenge Northeast Lightweight Title after submitting Joe Camacho in round one with a rear naked choke.
8. Dominic Tafuri submitted Ryan McCarthy with a rear naked choke at 3:27 of round one in a lightweight matchup.
9. 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.