Cage Titans is putting the finishing touches on their 14th event which will be held at Plymouth Memorial Hall in Plymouth Mass, this Saturday. Shelly, Mike Polvere and Brandie have been working on not having any fights drop off but alas it is inevitable and some of them did. The one to mention was the main event between Tateki Matsuda and Robbie Leroux. An injury has occurred and that fight is off but don't let this fool you, the card is stacked. They have four title fights with a total of 18 fights scheduled. As always tickets are available from the fighters and from AceTicket via the link here starting at just $45. The $45 dollar seats provide a great viewing of the fights if any of you were wondering. In fact the entire venue is stadium seating centered around the cage, it reminds me of a coliseum that you would see on the Starz hit Spartacus. Let me break down the card for you...
150lb AM – Dan Dubuque (0-1, DCNU) vs Craig Coombes (1-0, Broadway JJ/Carlson Gracie)
First fight of the evening is between Dan Dubuque and Craig Coombes at 150lbs amatuer. Dan is from DCNU and comes into this fight with a 0-1 record. He fought his first battle for Cage Titans in July of last year and lost a majority decision to Scott Dwyer. He will be hungry for his first amateur victory. Craig comes into this battle with a 1-0 record and trains with Broadway JJ and Carlson Gracie. If I found the right info on Craig he won via rear naked choke in 2008 for his sole amateur fight. This looks like a great way to start off the night.
145lb AM – Charlie Clark (0-1, Independant) vs Ken Bailey (0-0, Florian MMA)
Charlie Clark will take on Ken Bailey at a 145lbs amateur battle. Charlie is an independent fighter with an 0-1 record. Of course if you search Sherdog, MixedMartialArts.com and Tapology you won't find a record of Charlie but if you search our site you will (Shameless Plug). Charlie made his ammy debut for AFO last month and lost to Kevin Rey in 17seconds to ref stoppage to strikes. Ken Bailey trains with Florian MMA and will be making his amateur debut. Charlie faces another tough battle in this fight. We will have to wait and see how it goes!
125lb AM – Shane Decristoforo (2-4, TriForce) vs Jessie Pires (0-2, Team BKJA)
In the second 125lb battle of the night Shane Decristoforo will take on Jessie Pires. Shane comes into this fight with a 2-4 record and trains with Triforce MMA. He won two decisions and has lost some fights to submissions and decisions. He always comes ready to scrap and puts on a show for the crowd. His opponent Jessie trains with BKJA and has a record of 0-2. Jesse has lost to Remo Cardarelli twice via decision and ref stoppage to strikes. Just like Shane, Jessie always comes ready to scrap. First off let me say this fight is a great match up and I predict it will be an awesome stand up battle.
165lb AM – Jose Quinones (1-1, Allaire) vs Rich McLaughlin (0-0, Lauzon MMA)
Next up at 165lbs is Jose Quinones against Rich McLaughlin. Jose comes into this fight with a 1-1 record and trains out of Allaire MMA. Jose lost his first battle at Cage Titans via rnc against Dan Phelps in round 3. He then fought for AFO and won against Barry Lisbon with a close split decision. He has proven he can go the distance in both fights. Rich trains with Lauzon MMA and will be making his amateur debut. Now as you can see Jose has the cage experience and can go the distance but Rich, being from Lauzon MMA I know will be ready for wherever the fight goes.
170lb AM – Jason Carter (0-0, Independant) vs Sean Sparrow (0-0, ProElite)
At 170lbs Jason Carter will be fighting Sean Sparrow. Jason is an independent fighter and will be making his amateur debut. Sean trains with ProElite and will also be making his amateur debut. Now Sean, is the brother of Brian Sparrow and trains under Scotty Rehm's ProElite so I know he will not be ill prepared. I know I say it often but I just love the excitement of two fighters making their amateur debut. You just can't predict what will happen and you don't know as a fan what skills each fighter possesses. Who will be more nervous?? Who will have the cardio?? You just don't know but we will all find out this Saturday.
135lb AM – Irving Cortes (1-1, Underdog) vs David Mejia-Giraldo (1-0, Broadway JJ/Carlson Gracie)
Next up is Irving Cortes against David Mejia-Giraldo at 135lbs. Irving or as he likes to be called The Hefty Smurf trains with Underdog BJJ and has a 1-1 record. He lost his first fight to Sam Nadeau at Premier FC 5 and then won his second fight at Warrior Nation via decision against Edwin Rahardjo. David trains with Broadway JJ/Carlson Gracie and comes into this fight with a 1-0 record. Dave won his first fight at Cage Titans 8 against Jordan Smith via unanimous decision. Now I know that Irving has a great takedown and knows how to control the fight on the ground. Both fighters have gone the distance so I predict this fight is going all three rounds.
170lb AM – Addison O’Neil (2-0, DCNU) vs Peter Luciani (1-0, Nexus)
Addison O'Neil will face Peter Luciani at 170lbs. Addison trains out of DCNU and has a 2-0 record. He won his first fight via decision and then his second one knockout in just 13 seconds! His opponent Peter trains with Nexus MMA and has a 1-0 record. He won his first bout via submission against JC Lima in rd 1. This is going to be a very entertaining fight folks. Anything, I mean anything can happen in this one.
145lb AM – Eoghan Lenney (0-1, NSMA) vs Ricky Bekerian (2-0, SSSF)
At 145lbs Eoghan Lenney takes on Ricky Bekerian. Eoghan trains out of NSMA and comes into this fight with a 0-1 record. Eoghan fought Walter Rodriguez at a PFC and lost to a ref stoppage early in the first round. His opponent Ricky trains out of SSSF and comes into this battle with a 2-0 record. Ricky won a decision over Chris Suarez back in November and is looking to improve to 3-0. This is another tough fight for Eoghan and he is gonna have to dig deep to win this one.
155lb AM - Kirk Florian (1-0 Florian MMA) vs Stephen Langlais (1-5, Team BKJA)
Next up is Kirk Florian against Stephen Langlais at 155lbs. Kirk stepped in last minute to fill in for Justin Lozada. Did I mention he is Kenny Florian's brother? He has had one ammy fight where he won in the first round via rear naked choke in Rd 1. Sounds just like Kenny! Stephen trains with BKJA and comes into this fight with a 1-5 record. Don't let Stephen's record fool you he has fought some beasts. He has lost all 5 of his decisions to tough fighters with names such as Brandon Fleming, Eddie Lee, Dan Lopez, Sam Nadeau and John Healy. This is a tough fight for each fighter and should be a great one for the fans.
150lb AM - Kyle Bockniak (1-1, Broadway JJ/Carlson Gracie) vs Jeff Perez (2-0, Nexus MMA)
At a catchweight of 150lbs Kyle Bockniak takes on Jeff Perez. Kyle trains with Broadway JJ/Carlson Gracie and comes into this fight with a 1-1 record. Kyle has fought all his fights for Combat Zone and is looking to get another win here in Mass! He won a ref stoppage to strikes against Kurt Daniels and and then lost a decision to John Santos. His opponent Jeff comes into this fight with a 2-0 record and is from Nexus MMA. He has a decision and a submission victory so far in his career.
185lb AM – Mike Zatek (1-1, ProElite) vs George Abele (3-1, Sityodtong)
Mike Zatek will take on George Abele at 185lbs. Mike trains with ProElite and has a 1-1 record. His only two fights he fought Joe Lamareaux twice where he won a split and then lost tko to strikes in rd 3 which was back in 2010. George trains out of Sityodtong and comes into this fight with a 3-1 record. George has fought for Premier FC all 4 of his fights. He was in the Premier FC tournament for 170lbs and ended up going to the finals but lost to Tyler Rose via a 5 round decision. He has won two decisions and also a ref stoppage to strikes in rd 2 against Myles Reid. This is a nice close match up and I see this one going the distance.
155lb Amateur Title Fight Brian Allard (2-1 Clinch MMA) vs. Dan Lopez (4-3 SSSF)
Now for the first fight of the main card, Brian Allard takes on Dan Lopez at 155lbs. This one is for the 155lb amateur title and its going to be a good one. Brian trains with Clinch MMA and has a record of 2-1. His only loss was to a decision and won one of his fights via key lock submission. Dan trains with SSSF and comes into this fight with a 4-3 record. He has fought some tough fights and all four of his victories has come from decision. He lost two fights to submissions and one with a ref stoppage to punches which was against Peter Barrett. That fight was a controversial one where the ref stepped in the middle of the fight to put in a fighter's mouthpiece which many believe was the turning point in the fight. Like I said above, this is going to be a close one and I can definitely see it going to decision.
145lb Amateur Title Fight Ruso Khubecov (4-0 Connor's) vs. Ricky Proctor (2-0 Lauzon MMA)
Next up is another amateur title fight against Ruso Khubecov and Ricky Proctor for the 145lb ammy title. Ruso trains with Connor's MMA and has a 4-0 record. He has two decision, 1 KO and 1 TKO victories in this career. Ricky trains with Lauzon MMA and has a 2-0 record. He is the cousin of Joe Proctor and has two submission victories in his career for his two wins. I know, I sound like a broken record but this is an excellent match up. I think Ricky will find it very tough to try to get Ruso on the ground and submit him. My gut tells me this is going to be a stand up battle but we shall wait and see.
135lb Amateur Title Fight George Nassar (3-2 Wai Kru) vs. Manny Bermudez (2-1 SSSF)
Next ammy title fight is between George Nassar and Manny Bermudez at 135lbs. George comes into this fight with a 3-2 record and trains out of Wai Kru. He is fresh off a CFX 135lb title win by armbar against Chris Suarez. In fact he has one other armbar submission in his ammy career. For his two losses he lost a decision and ref stoppage to strikes in rd 3 so he can definitely go the distance. His opponent Manny trains out of SSSF and comes into this fight with a 2-1 record. Manny has two submission victories in his ammy career as well. One was a guillotine over Stephanos Kampouris and the other was a guillotine over Shayne Stephenson. As you can see this is a dead even fight. I think it is going to come down to who has the conditioning to pull out the victory deep in the rounds. Remember this would be a five rounder fight folks if it needs to be. I see this being a ground battle and ending in a submission and it is so dead even it is anyone's fight to win.
160lb Pro Catchweight Richard Bormann (0-0 Greenlight MMA) vs. Bobby Flynn (1-1 ProElite)
Then for a catchweight of 160lbs Cage Titans has Richard Bormann against Bobby Flynn. Bormann took this fight on short notice to fill in for Bobby's original opponent. Thank you for that Richard. This is a pro fight and Richard trains with Greenlight MMA. He will be making his pro debut. His opponent Bobby trains with ProElite and comes into this fight with a 1-1 record. He won his first pro fight against Keegan Hornstra by submission in round 1. He then fought Jay Bakanowski and lost via submission in round 2. Bobby can go the distance and had many submission victories in his amateur career. I am not familiar with Richard Bormann but I gotta give the edge to Bobby in this one due to his pro experience and his good amateur career.
190 lbs Pro Catchweight Hector Sanchez (3-9 Allaire MMA) vs. Justin Burrill (2-2 SSSF)
Hector Sanchez will take on Justin Burrill at 190lbs catchweight. Hector comes into this fight with a 3-9 record and trains out of Allaire MMA. Hector recently won against John Downey but the majority of his losses were all in the first round and were to submission. Justin Burrill trains with SSSF and has a record of 2-2. Justin has 1 KO/TKO and 1 submission victory in his career. For his two losses he lost a split decision and a ref stoppage to strikes. Now watching the prefight video Hector says no one wants to stand with him. I do think Justin will stand with him for a bit. This would be very entertaining for the fans if this happens. If Justin gets in trouble he will take it to the ground and try to get the victory with a sub. I gotta give Justin the edge on this one even if he hasn't been in the cage since 2009.
195lb Pro Catchweight Travis Lerchen (5-9 CCFA) vs. Kevin Haley (pro debut Team Anubis)
Next up is 195lb pro catchweight fight between Travis Lerchen and Kevin Haley. Travis was supposed to fight Mike Zichelle but Zichelle had to pull out and Kevin stepped up to take the fight. Travis trains with CCFA and has a record of 5-9. He has 2 TKO/KO, 2 Subs and 1 DQ victory in his career. For losses he lost 4 KO/TKO 4 SUB and 1 decision. He hasn't fought since 2010 but training out of CCFA I know he will be ready. Kevin will be making his pro debut and has two ammy victories in his career. He trains with Team Anubis. Both of Kevin's fights ended in under two minutes of the first round so don't blink on this fight!
155lb Pro Title Fight Jeremy Ross (6-4 Gladiator BJJ) vs. Jimmy Davidson (5-0 Sityodtong)
Now for the main event of the evening! For the 155lb pro title Jeremy Ross from Western Mass takes on Jimmy Davidson. Jeremy trains out of Gladiator BJJ and comes into this fight with a 6-4 record. He has 1 KO/TKO and 5 Submission victories in his career. Jimmy trains out of Sityodtong and is the current title holder. He has an undefeated record of 5-0. Of his five victories 3 of them were from submissions. His last fight he won in the fifth round so he has proven he can go the distance. This is a tough fight for both fighters and is totally worth the admission for Cage Titans. Do not go home early folks, this is going to be a fight of the night contender for sure. I think this is going to be a very fast paced ground battle and I highly doubt it will go the distance.
Well there you have the Cage Titans breakdown of every fight for the evening. The fight order may not be the same but you still all get the idea. Thanks to Mike Polvere/Shelly and the entire Cage Titans staff for the hard work they do for the mma community and for keeping us in the loop. As if I can't tease you all enough I have a special announcement for you all so pay attention. Cage Titans has put together a program to hand out at the fights. In there is two exclusive featured fighters that we did just for the program. I will do a write up later in the week announcing the fighters and I will leak a few questions/answers for you all. You definitely want to grab a copy of the program and there will also be some articles from Mass-MMA.com Intrigued??? If that isn't enough then check out the Cage Titan Ring Girls page here....