Cage Titans 40 Perrin v. Campbell Preview
Travis Lizotte
Once again the Cage Titans’ cage lands smack dab in the center of Plymouth Memorial Hall in Plymouth, Massachusetts as Promoter; Michael Polvere has stacked the fight card tip to toe; with Five, count ‘em; Five titles on the line as Cage Titans 40 settles back on Plymouth Rock. Fifteen fights are scheduled; nine amateur bouts, four amateur title fights (125,145,155 and 170), six professional bouts, two of which take place in the women’s division, all leading up to the main event; a fight which has garnered a ton of publicity, since it was announced in June at Cage Titans 39, especially on the social media waves; Cage Titan’s Professional Bantamweight Champion; Johnny “Cupcakes” Campbell (16-9) will defend his 135 pound strap against crafty veteran and resident trash talker Jay Parrin (6-3). Parrin has often been critical of the resume of current Champion Johnny Campbell and will be looking to give the Champion a fight like he has never seen before. Campbell will be looking to show Parrin, and the rest of New England that he is the man to beat in the New England Bantamweight division; as he looks to build upon what is a current five fight winning streak.
Speaking of selling fights on social media; Amateur Lightweight Champion Chris “The Bearded Dragon” O’Brien (4-0) and Challenger “Machine” Matt Bienia (5-1) ;took to the keyboards, and meme generators to sell their fight for O’Brien’s Cage Titans Amateur Lightweight Title. O’Brien will be defending his title for the first time since capturing the belt at Cage Titans 37 in January and Bienia looks to be the toughest draw in the career of the fan favorite O’Brien. Bienia native of Western Massachusetts will be going into enemy territory when he meets South Shore’s own Chris O’Brien; in the Champion’s back yard. This fight has all the makings of what could be fight of the night as these two brawlers will have the Memorial Hall on its feet when the bell rings on their bout for the Lightweight crown.
Plymouth native and Women’s Flyweight standout Kylie O’Hearn has finally found a dancing partner as the 3-1 Amateur will be making her professional debut against tough competition when she meets American Top Team’s Trisha Cicero (1-2). O’Hearn and her camp; lead by Coach Lee Gresh, decided when her bout with Taylor Thompson at Cage Titans 39 fell through, that their team was confident to test the professional waters when Kylie returned to the cage again. O’Hearn, who is always looking for a tough test, has been a tough fighter to find a matchup over her current 15 months layoff from the cage. With her last three bouts cancelled before fight night, Kylie has been in and out of fight camp several times during her time away from the cage and has stayed ready to scrap. New England will finally get a taste of when it has been missing when the cage door locks on the long awaited professional debut of Kylie O’Hearn!
Sticking in the Women’s ranks another fan favorite from South Shore Sportfighting; Danielle “The Dark Horse” Hindley (2-0) will look to remain amongst the ranks of the undefeated when she jumps up to a Catchweight of 120 pounds and draws Pensacola Florida’s Vanessa Maria Grimes (1-2). Grimes has ended up on the wrong side of her last two bouts, having been finished in both fights, and the road doesn’t get any easier, as her quest for her second professional victory puts her on Danielle Hindley’s home turf in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Also defending home turf; Werham’s Jeff Perez (3-0) will face his most experienced challenger to date when he finds himself across the cage from an always “game” Seth Basler (3-8). New England fans will remember the name; Basler, as the man who has been put through the New England Bantamweight buzzsaw; having lost his last three fights to Rico Disciullo, Manny Bermudez and Johnny Campbell. That buzzsaw will still be spinning when Florida’s Basler looks to pull the upset against the undefeated Sityodtong product; Jeff Perez.
Two more undefeated stars in the making; Zack DiSabatino (4-0) and Randy Costa (1-0) will be making the quick turn around after picking up big wins on the Cage Titans 39 fight card just six short weeks ago. Lightweight; DiSabatino draws the BJJ specialist; Johnny “The Wild Child” Adams (0-2) and Costa will welcome Vermont’s Kenny “Livewire” Lewis (9-15 as amateur) to the professional ranks as they are set to clash in the Bantamweight division. DiSabatino and Costa are both local favorites and always pack the arena full of fans, that will once again be the case in Plymouth on Saturday night, when these two men round out the professional portion of the Cage Titans 40 fight card.
Three more amateur titles will be on the line Saturday night and the first comes in the Flyweight Division when Regiment Training Center’s Mitch Raposo (4-0) will find himself across a familliar foe; William Graustuck (2-2). Raposo and Graustuck went to battle at Cage Titans 37 in a scrap that went the distance and saw Raposo with his hand raised, Raposo now has a title to defend and hopes not to need the judges this time, as he aspires to leave Plymouth Memorial Hall still the Flyweight Champ.
Six foot seven inch, Welterweight; Trevor “Scarecrow” Gudde (5-0) won the Amateur Welterweight title last time out in a five round battle with Marty Navis at Cage Titans 38. The lengthy undefeated Champion will put his belt on the line for the first time as he welcomes New York’s Neil “Beast Mode” Von Flatern (4-1) to the Cage Titans cage for the very first time. Aaron “Short Fuse” Hughes (3-3) made his name known last time out when he jumped up 20 pounds from his normal fight weight (145) to 165 pounds for a catchweight bout with Xavier Cardona at Cage Titans 39, on just 24 hours notice. With virtually no fight camp ,and no time to cut weight, Aaron entered the cage at his walking weight and took just seven seconds to dispatch Cardona , knocking him out cold. The performance brought the Pinz crowd to its feet and was enough, in the eyes of the boss (Michael Polvere) to give the man a title shot. Hughes (3-3) will have a tough task in front of him as he meets striker; Kenny Champion (3-3) for the vacant Cage Titans Amateur Featherweight title to round out the Main Card at Cage Titans 40!
Opening bell for Cage Titans 40 will sound at 6pm from the historic Plymouth Memorial Hall in Plymouth, Massachusetts, for tickets visit cagetitansfc.com.
135 PRO TITLE Jay Perrin (6-3 Sityodtong) vs. Johnny Campbell (16-9 SSSF)
145 PRO Seth Basler (3-8 SI Fight Club) vs. Jeff Perez (3-0 Sityodtong)
120 PRO Vanessa Marie Grimes (1-2 Independent) vs. Danielle Hindley (2-0 SSSF)
125 PRO Trisha Cicero (1-2 ATT) vs. Kylie O'Hearn (0-0 Juniko)
135 PRO Kenny Lewis (0-0, Lewis MMA) vs. Randy Costa (1-0 Lauzon MMA)
155 AM TITLE Matt Bienia (5-1 Zenquest) vs. Chris O'Brien (4-0 SSSF)
125 AM TITLE William Graustuck (2-2 Level Ground) vs. Mitch Raposo (4-0 Regiment)
155 PRO John Adams (0-2 Adams MMA) vs. Zach DiSabatino (4-0 SSSF)
170 AM TITLE Neil Von Flatern (4-1, Zenquest) vs. Trevor Gudde (5-0 Florian BJJ)
145 AM TITLE Kenny Champion (3-3, Golden Falcon) vs. Aaron Hughes (3-3, Regiment)
185 AM Pete Hailer (0-0, Lauzon MMA) vs Pat Crowley (1-1, Florian BJJ)
195 AM Ariel Nunez (0-0, UFC Gym) vs Nick Smith (0-0, Juniko)
Hvy AM Diego Juarez (0-0, TriForce) vs Billy Vey (0-0, SSSF)
135 AM Jaimeir Smith (0-1, BlackHole BJJ) vs Arthur Mpofu (0-0, SBG)
170 AM Billy Goff (4-1, Dexter MMA) vs Sanad Armouti (1-0, Florian BJJ)