Premier Fighting Championship will have their 11th event this Friday and this is a special one. This is the finals of the tournament that many people said couldn't be done with the amount of fighters locally. Karyn Wesch, the promoter and matchmaker has worked double duty again and Friday August 3rd, 2012 will conclude the tournament for the 135, 145 and 170lb weight classes. That means the fans get to see three title fights which will be 5 rounds by 3 minutes because they are amateur. After the third round ends is where the fighters show what they are made of. There are a total of 8 amateur fights for the evening. The event will be taking place again at The Log Cabin in Holyoke MA which is simply gorgeous place to have fights and the view of the mountains outside is insane. Tickets are still available and you can get them from the fighters or by visiting their website here. The ticket prices are the same as last show $30 bux for standing, $40 for a seat and $75 for a seat in the first two rows which includes open bar and free food with servers which of course is CityBoy's favorite! Standing Tickets are on sale for $20 bux this Wednesday only. The first fight starts at 6:30pm. Let's break down the fight card.
First fight is between Walter Rodriguez and Eoghan Lenney in the 145lb division. Walter trains with Lion's Den out of CT I believe and Eoghan trains out of Northshore Melrose. Both fighters will be making their amateur debut. I always enjoy watching fighters make their amateur debut because you never know what to expect. A fighter may come out very well disciplined and well trained and others are very rusty which is totally understandable. Walter we all saw at the last Premier FC where he grappled Joe "The Artist" Leonard and he looked very well versed in jiu jitsu. Great way to start off the evening. Next fight is between Randy Cole and Lance Brown in the flyweight(125lbs) division. Randy trains out of Sityodtong Northshore and has a record of 1-0. His sole victory came against Lorenzo DeLosReyes via ref stoppage to strikes in just 36 seconds. Lance trains with Jiu Jitsu Nation and also is 1-0. He fought Lorenzo's brother Mike DeLosReyes and won unanimously at the last Premier FC. Lance did a great job his last fight in controlling the fight and getting the takedowns. I think Randy will want to keep it standing and use his fists where Lance will look to control the fight with his takedowns so it should be a good battle.
Next they will have Chris Palacios against Chris Caterino at 135lbs. Palacios trains with Sityodtong Northshore and has a record of 0-2. We saw him last fight at PFC 10 against Josh Carrero where he lost via armbar late in the first round. His other loss he lost via submission at a previous CFX. He will be hungry looking for his first win of his amateur career this Friday night. His opponent Caterino trains out of Team Nuri and has a record of 1-2. He has won a majority decision and lost two split decisions. He has the stamina and endurance to go the distance. I predict Palacios will want to keep it standing and this may end up going the distance with a great stand up battle.
Then they have Jonas Benoit against Kemran Lachinov in the 170lb division. Jonas trains with Team Rough House and has a record of 1-0. He has a 7-1 Muay Thai record. His opponent Kemran trains with Team Link now and has a record of 5-2. He trained with AFTGladiator BJJ before and now Link so it is very safe to say Kemran is nasty on the ground. All of his fights aren't online but I know he has won at least one of them via submission over Matt Leddick at a previous PFC. I think this is going to be a striker versus jiu jitsu battle. If Jonas can keep it standing he should have success. If Kemran can take him down and control him then it could be a long night for Jonas. This has fight of the night all over it and it isn't even the three tournament fights!
The last fight before the tournament finals is between Josue Lopez and Marvin Maldonado in the 135lbs division. Josue or Josh I believe he goes by too trains with Gladiator BJJ. I believe he is 3-2 from my research he has had one win at Fury in Fight Town via submission and he lost one via submission and the other loss was a decision to a wicked tough ground guy Billy Giovanella who will be fighting for CES that night. Marvin trains out of Bruno Tostes and comes up all the way from New York to fight! He has a record of 2-3 and has fought for the last two Premier FCs. He had a great battle against Mike DeLosReyes where he won a split decision. He lost at the last Premier FC against Ian McEwen from a unanimous decision. Both fighters are well versed on the ground and I think this fight will come down to who can get the takedowns.
135lb Tournament Finals Title Fight 5x3min
145lb Tournament Title Fight 5x3min
The second title fight of the night is in the 145lb tournament and it is a rematch between Leon Campbell and Soap Am. Leon trains with Sityodtong and has a record of 4-1. He is generally a Muay Thai striker and is having a blast doing mixed martial arts. In the first round he won with a brutal knockout over Dan Walsh in the first round. In the second round he faced Soap Am and was dominated for three rounds. No doubt that left a bad taste in his mouth and he wanted another shot at Soap. Due to injuries and droputs he fought again in the tournament against Jorden Pope where he won a real close battle and won the split decision. He now gets his rematch with Soap Am. Soap Am who just had his first mma battle a few months ago has quickly made a name for himself. He trains out of Team Pradal Serey and is undefeated at 3-0. He won first round of the tournament victory over Mike Wicks where he got the victory at the end of the third round via armbar. He then fought for AFO a few weeks later where he defeated Cory Pickering with a huge knockout. Next he faced Leon Campbell where above I stated he dominated to a unanimous decision. He will be looking to dominate again and many fans think he will. It may very well be but I feel Sityodtong and Leon will have improved from that last fight. One thing is for certain, this is a huge rematch and you won't want to miss it.
170lb Tournament Finals Title Fight 5x3min
This is the last fight of the evening and it is another title fight for the 170lb title. Both fighters have worked hard and have earned this spot. The battle will be between George Abele and Tyler Rose. George trains out of Team Sityodtong and has an undefeated record of 3-0. In the first round he defeated Bret Braxton via unanimous decision. In the second round he beat Myles Reid from ref stoppage to strikes in round 2. He will be looking to keep his undefeated record intact and of course to get the shiny belt! His opponent has looked very impressive in his first two fights of his amateur career. Tyler trains with Ultimate MMA and has a record of 2-0. He has won both of his rounds from submissions and looks very comfortable at controlling and his ground game. Nick Newell has trained with him and told me he was good and we all know Notorious knows his MMA!! I think George will want to keep this standing and see how it goes and if he sees a spot for a takedown then go for it. I am not sure about Tyler's standup but I would think he would want this fight to go to the ground. One way or another we will find out the results this Friday night at the Log Cabin!!There you have it mma fanatics. Premier FC has a great card with 8 solid fights right here in Western Mass at Holyoke MA. The weigh ins will be tomorrow Thursday at 6pm at Maximum Capacity so if anyone is interested it is open to the public to see what goes down. Warchild will be there taking some faceoffs for us and also taking photos for us all. I am sure our buddy Scott Beiler from Full Circle Photography will be there as well taking great photos for us all. Bronze tickets are still on sale today til midnight for just $20 bux by visiting Premier's website here. Hope to see you all there!
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