King of the Cage - Mike Low's LOWKICK

TWO NEW CHAMPS CROWNED IN MT. PLEASANT!

When I got the chance to go back to Michigan for the Stand Off show last weekend, I had to jump on it. There were two title fights and two amateur tournaments that night, plus, it is a Pay-Per-View show, so I knew it would be a huge night. I have to say, with 15 fights in one night, I wasn’t disappointed one bit!

The night started off with the 155 lb tournament. We saw Joel Paquette defeat Brian Karmolinski via Tapout in the tournament’s alternate bout. Mike Sixel advanced to the finals with a Unanimous Decision win over Jeremy Joles and Chris Henderson finished Justin Jaynes with a Triangle Choke in the second round and earned his ticket to the finals as well. Jaynes got the huge reaction from the crowd at the end of the fight when he picked up Henderson and slammed him while he was in Henderson’s Triangle.

The 185 lb tournament was up next. The alternate fight had Rodney Sleepers winning over Tyrone Holmes with a Rear Naked Choke in the second round. Ben Lagman won over Jordan Sullivan and Jorge Sarat defeated Tim Farr, with both fighters advancing to the finals by way of Rear Naked Choke in the first rounds.

The non-tournament amateur bouts started with Adam Cunningham finishing Steve Becker at 1:47 of round 1 by way of Rear Naked Choke. John Loyd and Shane Sutherland faced off next and took the fight into the second round where Loyd took Sutherland down and got the mount where he forced Sutherland to tap out due to strikes at the 26 second mark of the round. The final fight before the main card pitted Brandon Bandlow against Corey Grant, seeing Grant get the TKO victory at 1:47 of the opening round.

The first fight on the main card had Josh Barnes facing off against Nick Turco for the Amateur Heavyweight Championship. Barnes did a great job stopping all of Turco’s takedown attempts and keeping the fight a stand up war for the whole match. Barnes showed why he has become the #1 contender in the King Of The Cage Heavyweight division, moving forward the entire fight, despite taking an inadvertent poke to the eye that was not seen by the referee. Barnes also suffered a broken foot when Turco checked one of Barnes’ kicks that connected with his knee. At the end of the fight, it was Josh Barnes that carried the championship belt out of the cage, getting the win from the judges via Unanimous Decision. Josh told me after the fight he wants to call out current KOTC Heavyweight champ, Manny Rodriguez and would like to come to Southern California and call him out in person.

Michigan native, Bryan Harper took on Chad Harrick in the next bout. Harrick started off the first round by attempting to slam Harper, but Harper was able to save himself by landing on his feet. Harper made a pretty good attempt at an armbar, but was picked up by Harrick and dropped, breaking the hold. The second round saw Harrick land several well placed punches, causing Harper to bleed from the nose, while Harper landed a great right kick to the head of Harrick to end the round. The third round opened with both Harrick and Harper exchanging blows, but it was Harper who finished off his opponent by landing a solid knee, knocking Chad Harrick out, and taking the victory over Harrick via KO at :43 of round 3.

Brad Burrick made quick work of Ontario, Canada fighter Jerome Beal, knocking him out with a right hand at 1:43 of the first round.

We now move onto the 155 lb tournament finals with Chris Henderson facing Mike Sixel. Henderson did a good job stuffing Sixel’s shots. Sixel gets the takedown in the second round, however, Henderson ends up on top in the mount and finishes the fight via TKO from punches.

I was very confused with the next fight. It was supposed to be the “Amateur” 185 lb tournament finals, but Ben Lagman and Jorge Sarat sure didn’t look like amateurs to me. These guys put on the fight of the night that ended up going the distance, and they looked like they were seasoned professionals. The first round starts off with Lagman landing a right head kick, and Sarat countering with a left kick to Lagman’s ribs. Sarat throws a spinning back kick that is caught, leading to a suplex by Lagman. Round 2 sees Sarat connecting with a front kick that knocks Lagman back into the cage. But Lagman uses the momentum from the cage to bounce back and tries his own front kick that just barley misses. The round ends with Sarat landing a solid right kick to Lagman’s chest. The third round was more of what we saw in the first and second rounds. They kept the fight on their feet, both landing several punches and kicks, neither fighter backing up, both coming forward the whole fight and taking everything his opponent hit him with. This fight was too close for me to call, but in the end, Sarat had his hand raised and the judges gave him the win via Split Decision. Remember the names Ben Lagman and Jorge Sarat. I have a feeling they will have great MMA careers.

The final fight of the night saw two warriors, Matt Jaggers and Joe Voison, battle for the vacant King Of The Cage Bantamweight Championship Title, in what turned into the controversial fight of the night. Matt Jaggers knocks Voison down in the first with a right hand and ends up in the mount. Jaggers is able to get Voison’s back and get the Rear Naked Choke, but can not hold onto it and Voison escapes. The second round has both fighters go to the ground with Jaggers ending up on top. Jaggers lands an elbow to Voison’s head and turns it into another Rear Naked Choke, which Voison escapes again, turning it around and ending the round in Jaggers’ guard. The third round saw more of the same, with Jaggers getting the edge over Voison. Right at the end of the round, Jaggers got Voison on the ground and took his back, mounting him and landing several blows to Voison’s head. While referee Cecil Peoples was warning Jaggers about punching to the back of the head, Voison tapped out as the round ended.

Jaggers corner ran into the cage to celebrate the win, however, the celebration was short lived as the corner men were ordered out of the cage as the fight was not yet over. The referee was not in a position to see Voison tap out, therefore it was ruled the end of the round, not the end of the fight. While Jaggers seemed upset about that decision (because he saw Voison tap as well), he went right to his corner and stayed relaxed and focused for the rest of the fight. The fourth round started and Jaggers continued to get the best of Voison and did so to the end of the fifth round. In the end, Jaggers is awarded the Unanimous Decision and is crowned the new, King Of The Cage Bantamweight Champion.

Personally, I can not wait until this show debuts on pay-per-view on March 21st! This was a very exiting card from top to bottom, and will be well worth the cost of the show. I have to say thanks to the folks at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort. So, to everyone from Casey at the front desk to the lighting crew in the venue, to the cashiers in the restaurants, thank you! You all make it a pleasure for us to come and put on a show for you all to enjoy, and it’s always an enjoyable experience to visit Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.

Don’t forget to check back soon, as I will be posting my interview I did in Michigan with “The World Famous, Cecil Peoples”.

Until then, Later!
LowKick Mike!