CES is back at the Twin River Casino in Rhode Island on December 6th and in a big way. This will be their last mma show of the year and they are planning on closing out the year in a huge way. Pat Sullivan and the rest of the CES crew have packed this card full of the best local talent in New England. Now there are a few fights with the local guys having their opponents flown in whom are not heard of in this area. CES has been doing this for the last few shows and it is sometimes a toss up. The 'outsiders' sometimes live up to their record and sometimes they don't. Why have they been doing this? Well I would say for two reasons. One they have some last minute drop outs and secondly is because the other top fighters in New England are already signed with another fight for another promotion at that time. CES has redeemed themselves on this card and like I said it is stacked top to bottom in this all professional show. Tickets are on sale starting at around $30-40 so get your tickets by visiting here or of course at the box office that day. There are a total of 10 professional fights and here is the breakdown...
Keenan Raymond (1-0, Providence, RI.) vs. Addison O'Neil (0-1, Rocky Hill, CT.)
Keenan Raymond takes on Addison O'Neil in the first pro fight of the evening. Keenan comes into this fight with a 1-0 record and he looked real impressive in his first fight. He won in the second round against Ralph Johnson by a rear naked choke. Now in his first pro fight he fought Ralph whom is one of the deadliest strikers in New England and had 10+ fights going in. Not a bad job for your first professional and he is looking to improve to 2-0. He has another tough fight once again. Addison is from DCNU and has an 0-1 record. Don't let Addison's record fool you. He was 3-0 amatuer and won by knockout, submission and decision in his amateur career. He fought Taylor Trahan, who was 2-0 at the time and won the first round. Taylor powered back and got the submission victory in Round 2 and a great battle at Warrior Nation. This is going to be a good one folks. I think Addison will have the advantage standing and they are even on the ground. I expect this one to be a ground battle and ending on the ground so we will have to wait and see how it ends up with these two young aspiring fighters.
Thomas Evans (2-2, Central Falls, RI.) vs. Ruso Khubejashvili (Pro Debut, Dedham, MA.)
Tom Evans faces off against Ruso Khubejashvili for the second fight of the evening. Tom trains with TriForce/TUML and has a 2-2 record. He won his first two fights of his pro career by tko stoppages to strike and one by triangle. He then lost a split decision to Dom Warr and then a submission loss to Shaun Marmas in Rd 1. Speaking with Tom recently and he let me know that this will probably be his last mma fight of his career. On paper he may be the underdog in this fight but he has 4 professional fights over Ruso so far. Tom will plan to end his pro career with a bang so watch out fight fans!! Ruso is making his pro debut and is from Connor's MMA. Ruso has no problem with a fighter who wants to stand and strike with him. He had an awesome amateur career (5-2 I think) and had some memorable fights including a few knockouts. Good luck to both fighters in this one!
Eric Spicely (2-0, East Providence, RI.) vs. Tyler Rose (1-0, North Branford, CT.)
Next up Eric Spicely squares off against Tyler Rose. Eric is 2-0 and has fought for CES in both of his pro victories. The Dreamcatcher trains out of Tim Burrill's BJJ and has one one by unanimous decision, the other by submission early in the first round. He will be looking to go 3-0 and this is a very tough fight for him. Tyler is from Ultimate MMA in CT and comes into this fight with a 1-0 record. I have seen all of Tyler's fights and he is a beast with not many holes in his mma game. He is able to takedown fighters at will and control the fight. He was the 170lbs Premier FC champ and tournament winner and won his pro debut for Reality Fighting. He looked impressive in his pro debut and won by armbar in Rd 2 and won the first round in my eyes. This is a step up for him and I know he will be ready for the challenge. This fight will be a ground battle and I feel it is going to come down to whether Eric can stuff Tyler's takedowns and get takedowns of his own.
Nate Andrews (5-0, East Providence, RI.) vs. Tyler Combs (13-11, Cincinnati, OH.)
Then Nate Andrews takes on Tyler Combs. Nate fights out of Triforce MMA and has a perfect record of 5-0 with big wins over Leon Davis and Jeff Anderson so far in his pro career. He has finished in all 5 of his pro fights which is most impressive, 3 by submissions and the other 2 by way of striking. His opponent Tyler is coming from Ohio and has a 13-11 record. Tyler is on a five fight losing streak and has lost 7 out of his 11 losses by submission. He has won 8 by ko/tko and 5 by submissions in his wins column. Looking at his record it seems he can take fighters deep into the rounds. I give the edge to Nate Andrews and I see him winning this fight in the first round by submission.
Greg Rebello (15-5, Providence, RI.) vs. Randy Smith (14-13, Courtland, NY.)
Now for the 'Coming out of Retirement' fight between Greg Rebello and Randy Smith. Rebello just a few years ago was a staple fighter of CES MMA and a damn good one at that. He trains with Sityodtong and has a 15-5 record. He has won 8 ko/tko, 1 submission and 6 by decision for his wins. He has fought for Bellator twice also in his career. He has lost 2 by ko/tko, 1 sub and 2 by decision. He announced his retirement at his last fight for CES and was frustrated with a split decision loss to Lewis Rumsey. He focused on his family and thankfully for us mma fans he has returned! His opponent Randy Smith is coming from New York and is always game for a battle. He comes into this fight with a 14-13 record. He is on a four fight loss with one of them including his loss to Tim Sylvia up in Maine. He was the AFO heavyweight champ for a while and in that stretch it included a 5 round war in which he won the decision over Tyler King. I believe he has announced his retirement at least 3 times and as we all know mma is addicting and he just can't stay away. Both fighters know what is at stake and I think this one is going to be a good battle for sure.
Brett Oteri (11-5, Dedham, MA.) vs. Dennis Olson (12-6, Billerica, MA.)
Brett Oteri returns to the CES cage against Dennis Olson. Brett comes into this fight with an 11-5 record. Brett is from Connor's MMA and he also has retired once in his career. I for one am happy to see him back. CES fans will remember his in his loss against Shederick Goodridge in which it was a weird finish by guillotine and fans, including I were confused. I remember Shederick let go and then the ref didn't stop the fight and then dove back in and finished him off with a TKO. Brett was in rare form and stated his body just shut down. He won't let that happen again, but he has a very tough fight once again. Dennis came back last year for CES and fought Todd Chattelle. He weathered the storm and was able to get the submission victory in Round 1 which improved his record to 12-6. He has won the majority of his fights by submission and has proven he can go the distance if needed. Both fighters are more comfortable on the ground and I see this fight being an exciting ground battle. The matchup is razor close and really could go either way. Fight of the night candidate for sure.
Luis Felix (9-7, Providence, RI.) vs. Lucas Cruz (6-1, Somerville, MA.)
Rockstar Luis Felix takes on Lucas Cruz for a 155lb showdown. Felix is 9-7 and trains out of NE Combat. He comes into this fight with a 9-7 record in which he has 3 ko/tko and 5 submission victories and one decision. His losses were spread out evenly with 2 ko/tko, 2 submissions, 2 decisions and 1 DQ. He has wins over Joe Proctor, Marc Stevens and Jeremy Ross. In his last fight he went up to Canada to fight and ended up losing a decision to Alex Ricci. Lucas comes into this fight with a 6-1 record and trains out of Nova Unaio in Boston. He won 2 KO/TKO, 3 submissions and 1 by decision. He has fought tough fighters in his whole career and his only loss came to Rob Font by decision. A win over Rockstar Felix would be huge for his career. Lucas is very well rounded like Luis and can keep the fight standing and be just as dominating on the ground. This fight has fight of the night written all over it and I see it being a real close battle.
Charles Rosa (5-0, Peabody, MA.) vs. Ralph Johnson (6-7, Worcester, MA.)
Charles Rosa will face off against Ralph Johnson in the CES cage. Charles is a Massachusetts native and came back to MA from Florida to fight in New England. He comes into this fight with a 5-0 record and is quickly becoming a big name in New England. He has won four fights in 2013 and is looking to make it 5 to close out the year. He has 2 KO/TKO and 3 by Submissions so far in his career. He is tough as nails and is a former hockey player. His opponent Ralph Johnson comes into this fight with a 6-7 record and is an independent fighter. He has won all 6 of his pro wins by knockout including his last fight against Jason Ward for Reality Fighting. His only hole in his mma game is that he lost 6 out of 7 fights by submissions. No doubt Charles knows this and will be looking to get this fight to the ground to get that submission. Ralph has been working on his ground game and will be looking to keep this standing and to get the knockout victory in which he has proven he has that power.
Andre Soukhamthath (6-1, Providence,RI.) vs. Corey Simmons (5-5, Defiance, OH.)
Andre Soukhamthath returns to the cage against Corey Simmons. Andre has a 6-1 record and trains out of Triforce MMA. In his pro career he has 3 ko/tko, 2 submissions and one victory by decision so far in his career. The Asian Sensation's only loss as a pro came back in 2011 against Robbie Slade in which he lost a majority decision. He will be the crowd favorite in this fight and he always is an exciting fighter. His opponent Corey is coming from Ohio and has a 5-5 record. He has won the majority of his fights by submission and lost the majority of his fights by decision. He will have his hands full with Dre in this one and I will be rooting for Dre to get the win. I see him winning this fight by submission in round 2.
Rob Font (7-1, CES Champion) vs. Matt DiMarcantonio (4-3, Canada)
The CES champ is back and defending his title against Matt DiMarcantonio. Rob Font comes into this fight with a 7-1 record and trains out of Sityodtong. He is riding a 6 fight win streak and let me tell you he has been fighting very tough fights each time. He has been winning by decision lately except for his last fight in which he won against Chris Foster by tko to strikes in another impressive victory. His only loss came by decision to Dez Green from Bombsquad who has been fighting for Bellator in his last two fights. His opponent Matt is coming down from Canada and has a 4-3 record. He has won 2 by submission and 2 by decision so far in his pro career. He has lost 3 fights by decision including one to Dez Green at a previous Gladius so they have that common opponent. Now on paper Rob looks to be the better fighter and statistics show us that he is most apt to win it by decision. Who am I to go against statistics but I would love to see Rob finish this fight with a ko/tko or a submission!
There you have the full breakdown of the CES fight card. Like I stated in the introduction it is another stacked CES card and they are several good match ups on this one. The Boss Jeremy Reipold and Blaze Robinson will be covering this show for us as Warchild and I will be at Coliseum to the Cage in New Hampshire. Crossface Productions and the Boss will be taking photos and keeping me informed so there will be a live results of the event for the fight fans that can't make it. These are the last two shows of the year for local MMA on our calendar that I know of so come on out for a good time! Thanks to CES for keeping us in the loop on the fight card and to all the fighters good luck!