Lewiston, Maine (August 22, 2013) - New England Fights Mixed Martial Arts (NEF MMA) today announced the full fight card for the fight promotion's September 21 event. Entitled "NEF X," the event will mark NEF MMA's return to the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston and the third and final event of the mixed martial arts promotions “Summer Vacationland Fight Tour.”
"It feels good to be going back home," said NEF MMA promoter and co-owner Nick DiSalvo. "We took the show on the road with events in Bangor and Biddeford and now we're back in Lewiston. I personally can't wait to get back in the Colisee to present our biggest and best card to date."
NEF MMA went out of its way in putting the fight card together for its fans. Known for marathon-length shows, and wanting to do something special for its tenth-anniversary event, the fight promotion made 35 fights for the card, including 14 professional bouts.
"Like we do with every card, we wanted to really give the fans as much action as we could for their dollar," stated NEF matchmaker and co-owner Matt Peterson. "In this economy, people work hard for their money and we want to give them as much great entertainment as possible with tickets marked low. From top to bottom, this is the most well-matched card we've put on to date. Any fan of MMA in Maine, or anywhere in New England for that matter, won't want to miss this show."
The top of the card is headlined by two title fights. The first fight features Bucksport's Ray “All Business” Wood (4-0) defending his Maine State MMA Featherweight Title against fellow undefeated 145-pound competitor Joe Pingitore (4-0-1) of Rhode Island. In the second title fight, to fill the vacant Maine State MMA Lightweight Championship, Jon Lemke (3-1), based out of Marcus Davis's Team Irish, will meet Massachusetts native and professional lacrosse player John Ortolani (7-7).
In other feature bouts on the pro-side of the card: UFC veteran and recent contestant on The Ultimate Fighter, Jimmy Quinlan (3-1), will see action against the ever-popular Luc Bondole (2-0) in a Middleweight contest; Jarod "Last Minute" Lawton (3-1) of Augusta brings his full arsenal of submissions to the cage when he takes on Leon Davis (4-2) in the Welterweight division; and featherweights Damon Owens (1-0) and Josh Parker (4-6) will square off.
The full fight card (subject to change and subject to approval of the Combat Sports Authority of Maine):
PROFESSIONAL
145 *Title Ray Wood 4-0 (Young’s MMA) vs Joe Pingitore 4-0-1 (New England Combat)
155*Title John Ortolani 7-7 (Team Triumph) vs Jon Lemke 3-1 (Team Irish)
185 Mike Zichelle 4-3 (Team Triumph) vs Jason Anderson 11-30 (A&S Fight Team)
185 Jimmy Quinlan 3-1 (Mass BJJ) vs Luc Bondole 2-0 (Team Fink)
170 Jarod Lawton 3-1 (Innovative Athletics BJJ) vs Leon Davis 4-2 (Fighting Arts Academy)
170 Ryan Sanders 4-4 (Young’s MMA) vs Rashaun Spencer 4-4 (First Coast Full Contact)
170 Ryan Cowette 0-1 (MMAAthletix) vs Mike Hurlburt 0-2 (Team Triumph BJJ)
155 Jesse Erickson 1-1 (CMBJJ) vs Babatunde Odumosu 0-1 (Sila Voli)
145 John Raio 0-4 (First Class Fight Team) vs Asa Zorn 0-3 (Hard Knocks Gym)
145 Josh Parker 4-6 (Independent) vs Damon Owens 1-0 (Young's MMA)
145 Bruce Boyington 3-5 (Young’s MMA) vs Walter Smith Cotito 1-2 (Team Triumph)
130 Tommy Balzano 1-1 (Team Irish) vs Jovan White 0-3 (First Coast Full Contact)
125 Ernesto Ornelas 1-3 (Choi’s) vs Theo Desjardin 3-7 (Team United Muay Lao)
265 Jason Dolloff 6-17 (Anger Management) vs Terry Blackburn 3-2 (First Coast Full Contact)
AMATEUR
265 Kevin Smith 2-1 (Young’s MMA) vs Ray Miclette 1-0 (New England Combat)
265 Josh Parr 0-1 (Independent) vs Dan Randell 0-0 (Fighting Arts Academy)
205 Jeremy Stevens 1-0 (Sipayik Boxing Club) vs Matt Coolidge 0-0 (CMBJJ)
195 Ramon Saintvil 2-0 (CMBJJ) vs Dan Connaughton 1-0 (Defensive Edge)
185 Jacob Cameron 0-3 (Team Cameron) vs Kyle Gauthier 0-0 (Team Lysak’s MMA)
175 Crowsneck Boutin 3-4 (Choi Institute) vs CJ Ewer 2-0 (Young’s MMA)
170 Brandon Traknis 0-1 (Independent) vs Nash Roy 0-0 (Young’s MMA)
170 Greg Morse 2-1 (Team Irish) vs Nick Alley 1-0 (Team Link Hooksett)
155 Dom Cofone 4-1 (Balanced Ground) vs Mark Graham 3-1 (First Coast Full Contact)
155 Jeremy Tyler 1-1 (Team Irish) vs Shawn Bang 1-0 (CMBJJ)
155 Jarrod Tyler 0-1 (Team Irish) vs Nate Charles 1-5 (Balanced Ground MMA)
155 Chris Ouellette 1-0 (Team Irish) vs Trevor Roberts 0-0 (CMBJJ)
155 Ryan DiBartolomeo 0-3 (Team Triumph) vs. Nermin Zilic 0-1 (Defensive Edge)
150 Corey Hinkley 0-1 (CMBJJ) vs Zach Labbay 1-2 (Team Irish)
145 Drew Waltz 1-3 (Young’s MMA) vs Charlie Stambach 1-0 (Team Irish)
145 Caleb Costello 0-2 (Team Irish) vs Anthony Parker 0-0 (Team Nitemare)
140 Nick Spencer 3-3 (Choi Institute) vs Alex Clark 2-0 (CMBJJ)
140 Matt Denning 2-2 (CMBJJ) vs Cody Sargent 1-3 (Balanced Ground MMA)
135 Erik Nelson 1-1 (CMBJJ) vs Jay Perrin 3-1 (Team Triumph)
125 Jason Bell 0-0 (IABJJ) vs John Parker 0-2 (Team Nitemare)
125 Dustin Veinott 0-1 (CMBJJ) vs Mike Brown 1-0 (Independent)
125 Norman Fox 1-0 (MMA Athletix) vs Nick Mancione 1-1 (Fighting Arts Academy)
125 Nate Russell 1-0 (Fighting Arts Academy) vs Tom Hutchinson 0-0 (Team Triumph)
“NEF X” is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 21, 2013 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston, Maine. Tickets start at just $25 and are on sale now at www.TheColisee.com. The card will feature Maine State Featherweight Champion Ray "All Business" Wood (4-0) defending his title against Rhode Island's Joe Pingitore (4-0-1). Also scheduled is a 155-pound bout between Jon Lemke (3-1) and John Ortolani (7-7) to fill the recently vacated Maine State Lightweight Championship. For more information on this and past events, please visit the promotion's website at www.NewEnglandFights.com. In addition, you can watch NEF videos at www.youtube.com/NEFMMA, follow them on Twitter @nefights and join the official Facebook group “New England Fights.”