COMBAT ZONE 67 LIVE REVIEW 9/21/2018

[Keep refreshing after 7pm]

We arrived at Combat Zone after hitting a few extra minutes of traffic.  We quickly found our way through the hotel and found our seats by the cage.  Combat Zone has the cage and lights all set up and the fight fans are relaxing and getting ready for the fights to start.  Screens are around the room to guarantee no one will miss the action and for replays.  The hotel is really nice if you have never been here and there are bars and restaurants inside to enjoy before and after the fights.  Combat Zone only lost 2 fights so there are 13 fights total.  There are 5 pro fights on the card which and they should all be good ones.  John Vena is the announcer and the judges are Lars Borssen, Shawn Flanagan and Mike Cordeiro.  The refs are Alan Lau, Steve Rita and John English.  The national anthem has been sung and now Combat Zone is showing an awesome highlight reel video made by Scott Millette.  Please follow along while I do my best at keeping up with the action for you all.

TOP BANTAMWEIGHT CONTENDERS TO SQUARE OFF AT NEF 36 IN PORTLAND, MAINE

Henry Clark

[NEF Press Release]

 Portland, Maine (September 17, 2018) – New England Fights (NEF) will hold its final mixed-martial-arts event of 2018, "NEF 36: Battle for the Gold," on Saturday, November 17 at Aura in Portland, Maine. Earlier today, the fight promotion announced the addition of an amateur bantamweight bout to the card.  Henry Clark (4-4) is scheduled to meet Killian Murphy (1-1) in a battle of top contenders to the promotion's 135-pound amateur title.

 Henry Clark is a member of the Choi Institute based in Portland.  After starting his amateur career at 3-1, Clark would lose his next three in a row.  He would bounce back this past June with a first-round submission of Jack Greene (2-6) via D'Arce choke at "NEF 34" in Portland.  It was a return to form as Clark had picked up all three of his previous wins by submission - all various forms of chokeholds.  He previously challenged for the amateur bantamweight title in early 2016 in a losing effort to Johnny Crafts (4-1).

 "I'm hyped about this fight with Killian," said Clark.  "He's as game as they come, but he is nowhere near ready for me. I'll smash him up, and then next I'll take that belt and put it around my waist with my own hands. This is my time to shine."

MMA WEEKEND--Bellator 205 | UFC Fight Night 137

Bellator 205: McKee vs. Macapá

Friday 09.21.2018 at 09:00 PM ET

U.S. Broadcast: Paramount Network

AJ McKee Jr.  vs.  John Macapá 145 lbs

Rafael Lovato Jr.  vs.  John Salter 185 lbs

Veta Arteaga  vs.  Denise Kielholtz 125 lbs

Patricky Freire  vs.  Roger Huerta 155 lbs

Kyle Frost  vs.  David Rangel 170 lbs

Joe Aguirre  vs.  Stephen Stirewalt 135 lbs

Vince Morales  vs.  Justin Hugo 135 lbs

Johnny Nuñez  vs.  Josh Wick 155 lbs

Ádám Borics  vs.  Josenaldo Silva 145 lbs

Sua Tuani  vs.  Emillio Trevino 205 lbs

Bryce Edminister  vs.  Leon Taylor 145 lbs

Nathan Stolen  vs.  Andrew Cruz 145 lbs

Steve Mowry  vs.  Ben Moa 265 lbs

Jarod Trice  vs.  Sean Powers 190 lbs

UFC Fight Night 137: Santos vs. Anders

Saturday 09.22.2018 at 10:30 PM ET

U.S. Broadcast: Fox Sports 1 | Prelims: Fox Sports 2

Thiago Santos  vs.  Eryk Anders 205 lbs

Alex Oliveira  vs.  Carlo Pedersoli 170 lbs

Sam Alvey  vs.  A. Nogueira 205 lbs

Renan Barão  vs.  Andre Ewell 135 lbs

Randa Markos  vs.  Marina Rodriguez 115 lbs

Charles Oliveira  vs.  Christos Giagos 155 lbs

Evan Dunham  vs.  F. Trinaldo 155 lbs

Luis Henrique  vs.  Ryan Spann 205 lbs

Chase Sherman  vs.  Augusto Sakai 265 lbs

Ben Saunders  vs.  Sérgio Moraes 170 lbs

Mayra Bueno Silva  vs.  Gillian Robertson 125 lbs

Thales Leites  vs.  Hector Lombard 185 lbs

Elizeu Zaleski  vs.  Luigi Vendramini 170 lbs

Alex Chambers  vs.  L. Souza 115 lbs

COMBAT ZONE 67 TEASER 9/21/2018

Combat Zone returns this Friday evening with a bang with Combat Zone 67.  The event will be at the Double Tree at the Manchester Downtown which I believe is the same place they have been having it.  The doors will be opening at 5:30pm and the first fight is set to start at 7pm.  Warchild and I will be taking the trip so you have no excuse to not show up!  The fight card consists of amateur kickboxing and then amateur and pro mma fights.  As of right now, the fight card has 5 pro fights which is awesome and 1 amateur title mma fight.  For the kickboxing portion they have 5 kickboxing bouts which will be first to kick off the night.  Keep in mind the fight card is always subject to change as they almost always do.  I will be only breaking down the MMA portion but here is the fight order which should be very close to the final card.

LACEY AND JONES TO VIE FOR FEATHERWEIGHT TITLE AT NEF 36

Aaron Lacey

[NEF PRESS RELEASE]

New England Fights (NEF) will hold its final mixed-martial-arts event of 2018, "NEF 36: Battle for the Gold," on Saturday, November 17 at Aura in Portland, Maine. Earlier today, the fight promotion announced the addition of a professional featherweight title fight to the card.  Aaron "Relentless" Lacey (6-2) is scheduled to meet Bill Jones (13-10) for the vacant NEF Professional Featherweight Championship.

 Lacey is coming off one of the biggest wins of his professional career to date.  Last weekend at "NEF 35" before his hometown fans in Bangor, Maine, Lacey submitted Jon Lemke (7-9) just under two minutes into the first round.  It was a rebound win for Lacey who lost a decision to a very tough Da'Mon Blackshear (5-2) earlier this summer in Portland.  At "NEF 36," Lacey will look to capture gold in the promotion for the second time - he won the NEF Amateur Featherweight Title at "NEF 20" in November 2015 in what would be his final amateur fight.  Lacey is a member of Young's MMA based in Bangor.

 "I’m excited to be fighting for this strap," exclaimed Lacey.  "I was NEF’s first amateur 145-pound champion and I look forward to being one of the first people to hold amateur and professional belts for New England Fights! I have a very formidable and experienced opponent, but this belt has been calling my name for a long time and I am going to take what I have worked for all along!”

Bill Jones

Bill Jones is one of the pioneers of the New England MMA scene, having competed in the region since 2007.  He holds wins over some of the top fighters ever to come out of the area such as UFC veteran Tateki Matsuda (13-9) and current UFC competitor Matt Bessette (22-9).  Jones has competed at the national level for the World Series of Fighting (WSOF).  Like Lacey, he also holds a first-round submission of Jon Lemke to his credit.  At "NEF 33" in Portland last spring, Jones was victorious over Matt Denning (5-8) via technical knockout in the second round.  He is currently a member of Nostos MMA in Somersworth, New Hampshire.

SECOND WOMEN'S FIGHT ANNOUNCED FOR NEF 36 IN PORTLAND, MAINE

Chelsea Tucker

[NEF Press Release]

 Portland, Maine (September 12, 2018) – New England Fights (NEF) will hold its final mixed-martial-arts event of 2018, "NEF 36: Battle for the Gold," on Saturday, November 17 at Aura in Portland, Maine. Earlier today, the fight promotion announced the addition of an amateur women's flyweight fight to the card.  B.J. Garceau (1-0) is scheduled to face Chelsea Tucker (0-3) at a fight weight of 125-pounds.

 B.J. Garceau made national headlines earlier this year as she prepared for her in-cage debut with NEF.  Diagnosed with Type-1 juvenile diabetes in 1993, Garceau became an inspiration to those within the diabetic community looking to practice the martial arts.  At "NEF 32" last February, she went the distance with Sarah Ziehm (1-2) in a back-and-forth contest, ultimately picking up the win via split-decision on the judges' scorecards.  Garceau is a member of Young's MMA based in Bangor, Maine.

BJ Garceau

 "When Coach (Chris) Young asked me if I was free November 17th, I thought he wanted me to be the water girl for the guys on the card," Garceau quipped. "I say this jokingly, but we’ve had some struggles finding match ups for the Young's WMMA (women's mixed-martial-arts) team in the past. Me and my girls are hungry to fight. So when he asked if I’d fight Chelsea, who is a warrior that doesn’t back down from anything, of course my answer was 'yes.' I adore Chelsea and am ready to put on a hell of a show for the fans, my team and the beautiful city of Portland, Maine this November."

 The casual observer should not let Chelsea Tucker's record fool them.  Scrappy, talented and full of heart, Tucker has come to fight each time she has stepped in the cage.  She has appeared four times in the NEF cage, including a non-sanctioned grappling match with Carol Linn Powell that went to a draw last April in Portland.  Tucker proudly serves her country as a culinary specialist with the United States Coast Guard stationed in Boothbay, Maine.  She trains with First Class MMA in Brunswick, Maine.

COMBAT ZONE MMA FIGHT VIDEOS: Taylor Mears vs. Ozzie Diaz | Nick Fiore vs. Nate Ghareeb

COMBAT ZONE FIGHT VIDEOS: Brian Cosco vs. Tim Scouten | Floran Kacaku vs. Matt Gordon

MMA WEEKEND--UFC Fight Night 136

UFC Fight Night 136: Hunt vs. Oleinik

Saturday 09.15.2018 at 10:30 AM ET

U.S. Broadcast: UFC Fight Pass

Mark Hunt  vs.  Alexey Oleinik 265 lbs

Nikita Krylov  vs.  Jan Błachowicz 205 lbs

Andrei Arlovski  vs.  S. Abdurakhimov 265 lbs

Thiago Alves  vs.  Alexey Kunchenko 170 lbs

C.B. Dollaway  vs.  K. Murtazaliev 185 lbs

Petr Yan  vs.  Jin Soo Son 135 lbs

Rustam Khabilov  vs.  Kajan Johnson 155 lbs

Mairbek Taisumov  vs.  Des Green 155 lbs

Magomed Ankalaev  vs.  Marcin Prachnio 205 lbs

Adam Yandiev  vs.  Jordan Johnson 185 lbs

Ramazan Emeev  vs.  Stefan Sekulić 170 lbs

Merab Dvalishvili  vs.  Terrion Ware 135 lbs

WOMEN'S FIGHT IS FIRST ANNOUNCED FOR NEF 36 IN PORTLAND, MAINE

[NEF Press Release]

Portland, Maine (September 10, 2018) – New England Fights (NEF) will hold its final mixed-martial-arts event of 2018, "NEF 36: Battle for the Gold," on Saturday, November 17 at Aura in Portland, Maine. Earlier today, the fight promotion announced the first fight scheduled for the event.  Catie Denning (1-0) will take on Taylor Thompson (2-0) in an amateur women's bantamweight contest.

Catie Denning made her amateur MMA debut last February at "NEF 32" in Lewiston, Maine.  She dominated Chelsea Tucker (0-3) for three rounds on her way to a unanimous decision victory on the judges' scorecards.  Denning is a member of Young's MMA based in Bangor, Maine where she will once again train for her sophomore cage bout.

"I’m excited to step back into the cage," said Denning.  "It’s been far too long and I’m hungrier than ever. I fully understand I’m stepping up to take on a tough opponent, but I’m up for the challenge and hope I can showcase all of my hard work since my amateur debut back in February."

Denning's opponent, Taylor Thompson, will be making her NEF debut on November 17, but she is no stranger to the New England MMA scene.  Thompson is undefeated with two fights under her belt in Massachusetts.  Both wins came by way of stoppage, including a first-round submission of Tiffany McCoy (2-2) last January.  Thompson trains with BST MMA & Fitness based in Mendon, Massachusetts.