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January 2, 2012

A word of thanks from Cage Titans President Mike Polvere

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     With 2011 in the books, Cage Titans would like to take a minute to thank all of their fans and fighters for making it a huge success. The year saw 4 Cage Titans cards, Mayhem on January 28th at Lombardo’s, Vengeance on April 1st at the Local 103 Union Hall, Vendetta on June 25th again at the Union Hall and finished up with United on September 10th at Plymouth Memorial Hall. At this point we would like to reflect quickly on each of those events and relive some of the exciting moments.



Mayhem – January 28th at Lombardo’s
There was a ton of hype surrounding this show as Cage Titans announced that they would be introducing amateur championships for the first time. This garnered a ton of attention especially due to the fact that they were pairing the #1 and #2 fighters against each other in both the 145lb and 185lb amateur divisions and helped pushed attendance to the max as the show sold-out. First up was #1 ranked ‘Sloppy’ Joe Lamoureaux verse #2 ranked ‘Soultaker’ Joe Palazio. In this battle, Sloppy’s power and aggressive style was too much for Palazio to overcome as Sloppy was able to ground and pound his way to a stop from mount in the second round to capture the 185lb belt. Next up was a classic match-up of a top level striker, #1 ranked Andre Soukhamthath taking on a top level wrestler, #2 ranked Frank Sforza for the 145lb title. When it was all said and done the story of this fight was just how good Sforza’s wrestling was as he was able to take down Andre at will all 5 rounds of the fight on his way to a decision victory.
Other notable tidbits from the event…
We saw the debut of ‘The Paperboy’ Matt Tullos just a month after his 18th birthday, who picked up his first win of his career. (Went on to win 2 more in 2011, going 3-0) Rico DiScuillo continued his KO ways as he made quick work of his opponent knocking him out in just 9 seconds and improving his record to 3-0. Nick Newell made his Cage Titans debut tapping out his opponent via armbar at 1:24 of the first round. And in the fight of the night, Shaun Marmas was on his way to capturing a huge upset decision victory over top 10 ranked Ruben Rey when Ruben mustered up all he had left in him, throwing a Hail Mary right hand late in the third round KOing Marmas.

Vengeance – April 1st at Local 103 Union Hall
For this event, Cage Titans expanded on the success of their previous show with the amateur titles and awarded three more belts as well as crown their first ever 135lb pro champion. Outside of the cage they got involved in a greater cause and used the event to help raise awareness and funds for Pancreatic Cancer. The first amateur title fight of the night pitted Rockstar’s Joe Pingitore against undefeated Will Chan from South Shore Sportfighting. Both fighters were well known for their heavy hands and this fight did not disappoint as it saw both fighters rocking one another. In the end it was Pingitore who got the belt around his waist as he stopped Chan with 10 seconds left in the second round. Next up was Knock-Out artist Rico DiScuillo from Sityodtong taking on tough veteran Anthony ‘Sqwirl’ Carmenatty. Rico in his 3 fights so far had yet to be out of the first round and had less than 3 minutes in the cage, and Sqwirl had over 10 fights to his resume. Rico came out swinging for the fences and at one point Sqwirl taunted him by dropping his hands and taking 3-4 shots directly to the head. In the end though Rico showed he was more than just a stand-up fighter as he won via rear naked choke. The final ammy title fight of the night ended as quickly as it started as #1 ranked Ricardo Georges took down his opponent Keegan Hornstra immediately after the first exchange. The striker, Ricardo, showed he was no slouch on the ground as he transitioned nicely and tapped Keegan via rear naked choke in less than a minute.  The Main Event featured Tateki Matsuda verse Barrington ‘Rude Boy’ Douse battling for the vacant 135lb pro belt. Just a couple weeks after a devastating tsunami hit Tateki’s home country of Japan he was able to pick up the unanimous decision victory as he dominated Barrington for all 5 rounds both on his feet and on the ground.
Other tidbits from the event…
This event saw Cage Titans’ first venture into fundraising. Eddie Lee, who fought on the card, lost his uncle to Pancreatic Cancer earlier in the year and wanted to come up with a way to help raise funds and awareness. Eddie was donating all of his ticket sales to the fund, with a Cage Titans match, and there was also a raffle for a prize package, full of donated goods from many of the local MMA companies, where all the money raised was donated as well. By the end of the event, over $3,000 was raised for the Boston Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Eddie’s fight that night went the distance and he picked up a close split decision over opponent Stephen ‘The Joker’ Langlais. This was the first event held at the Local 103 Union hall as all of Cage Titans’ other shows were held at Lombardo’s in Randolph.

Vendetta – June 25th at Local 103 Union Hall
This packed fight card and second show being held at the Union Hall featured 18 fights. Overall this event was about good match making and the fighters leaving it all in the cage. Out of all the fights, an amazing 9 went the distance and in one review a writer had 5 fights listed as Fight of the Night candidates. One of the most exciting fights was a pro battle between Shaun Marmas and Antwann Penn. This fight was a back and forth all-out war and though initially being announced as a win for Marams, it was later announced as a draw when a scoring error was brought to the commission’s attention. In the most anticipate fight of the night Nick Newell took on his by far biggest test to date in Anthony Kaponis. Nick passed the test though with flying colors as he quickly tapped out his opponent at 1:01 of the first round via armbar. (This would be the last local fight for Newell as this win catapulted his career further and he would sign with a national organization) In the only title fight of the night, Joe Pingitore put up his 155lb ammy title against Sityodtong’s Rob Font. Font showed more technical striking and a superior game plan in this fight, on his way to capturing the belt from Pingitore via unanimous decision.
Other tidbits from the event…
Cage Titans continued with its fundraising efforts and for this event it was for the Travis Roy Foundation, an organization that assists spinal cord injury survivors. One of the most feared 0-0 fighters, Jimmy Quinlan, finally made his pro debut and picked up a victory via tapout in just 2 minutes.  Lakeville MMA made a statement going 3-0 on the night and in his first and only fight outside the AFO, Kin Moy picked up a victory over Matt Doherty.

United – September 10th at Plymouth Memorial Hall
The first Cage Titans’ event at historic Plymouth Memorial Hall was a night that had the MMA community buzzing. Memorial Hall is by far the best local venue in New England but had not had any MMA action in over 2 years due to two other promotions setting up shop there but failing to fill the place, leaving after only one show a piece. This card was filled with ranked talent from top to bottom and the fans showed up in support, packing the venue nicely which was nice to see at this great location. Fighting for Cage Titans in his third fight of the year, Joe Pingitore made his debut at the 145lb weight class against number #2 ranked and undefeated Brandon Fleming. Fleming was a state champion level wrestler and going in to the fight many expected that he would try to get the fight to the ground right away against the feared striker, Pingitore. Well that wasn’t the case as Fleming decided to stand and out strike Pingitore, picking up a unanimous decision win. Also in the amateur 145lb division two undefeated fighters squared off when South Shore Sportfighting’s Cory Pickering took on Sityodtong’s Eddie Lee for the vacant 145lb ammy title. (Frank Sforza vacated the title when he went pro earlier in the year and coincidentally was fighting this same night for the 145lb pro title against Bill Jones) The crowd for this fight was at its loudest and saw Cory come out, rock Eddie early and follow up with punches in bunches until the ref was forced to step in and stop the fight. In the 145lb pro division, as mentioned above, Frank Sforza challenged champion Bill Jones and showed his superior wrestling, beating Jones via rear naked choke in the 3rd round. Amazing year for the new champion Sforza as he started out winning the Cage Titans amateur championship, went pro and then won a pro belt with another organization and finished the year winning the Cage Titans’ pro belt.
Other tidbits from the event…
Jimmy Davidson stopped Joe Dechaves via a well-placed knee to the midsection securing him a shot at the 155lb pro championship. Sloppy Joe made quick work of opponent Josh Mellen after roughly 50 hammerfists on the ground before the ref jumped in. In easily the most exciting fight of the night, Lauzon MMA’s Robby Slade battled back from the brink of defeat to beat Andre Soukamthath via split decision. This was the tale of two fights within one, as Andre put on a striking clinic during the entire first round and half of the second round before Slade rallied back taking Andre to the ground for the rest of the fight and threatening with submissions and punches from mount. Shannon Soares scored a 4 second head-kick KO, Matt Tullos improved to 3-0 and Sam Nadeau picked up a win, securing him as the #3 ranked 145lb ammy behind Pickering and Fleming.

Overall it was an amazing year and we look forward to seeing what Cage Titans’ has in store for 2012. Luckily we will not have to wait long as their first show of the year is scheduled for January 28th at Plymouth Memorial Hall.

Thanks to RichO for taking some amazing photos in 2011



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