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Regardless of how much the world of mixed martial arts fighting and combat sports continues to grow, develop, change and infiltrate the mainstream, there are a few things that will never change:
There will always be athletes of varying skill levels — professionals and amateurs, focused and fame-obsessed.
There will always be a diverse fan base — groupies and girlfriends, casual spectators and committed supporters.
And there will always be events that, regardless of the location or nitty gritty details, will be stacked with matchups of will, skill and pure, unadulterated aggression.
On Saturday Oct. 22, fans and fighters alike filled the gymnasium at Mount Hood Community College in Gresham, Ore. for SportFight 30: LIMITLESS, which featured an explosive co-main event war between Ryan Healy and Andrew Chappelle, exciting main event matchup between Aaron Stark and Mario Miranda, and an undercard filled to the brim with technical submissions and first round TKO/KO stoppages.
It was a night of beautiful beatdowns and runaway mouthguards — a night in which I left with blood spattered on my t-shirt, notes and even in my hair.
Call me crazy, but that’s a top night in my book.
So in case you weren’t able to make it and are being lame by not following @Sport_Fight on Twitter (hint, hint), here you have it: a full event recap of all the action.
Ya know, with a bit of a woman’s touch.
And by that I mean general sauciness.
You’re welcome.
Cody Isaacson vs. Zane Behrend
The first fight of the night opens with both fighters moving toward the center of the ring and Behrend starting the action with a leg kick before shooting in and closing the distance.
The fighters meet in a clinch as Isaacson throws a few knees before quickly transitioning to the canvas with Behrend in a dominant top position.
However, this position does not last long, as the men return to standing and Isaacson lands a couple of kicks — including one unfortunate, and what I can only assume was an excruciatingly painful groin shot.
Behrend folds over onto the mats.
You know the saying that “every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings?”
Well, this is similar except: every time there’s a groin shot, Joe Rogan is somewhere preaching about steel Thai cups and Diamond compression shorts.
After taking a few moments to allow Behrend to recover, the referee issues Isaacson a warning and the action re-opens.
After the men touch gloves in a show of sportsmanship, Behrend moves in with a big takedown, slamming Issacson to the mats and gaining back control.
Isaacson, however, is pretty shifty and manages to escape the position and the round comes to an end with the men throwing from sprawled stances.
Round Two
Isaacson opens the action in the second round with a solid body kick.
Behrend returns fire in a similar fashion before the men push forward into a sprawl — and very quickly, Isaacson transitions to a back control position and secures a deep rear naked choke.
Within moments, Behrend is forced to tap.
The fight officially came to an end at 36 seconds in the second round for the winner by tap out due to a rear naked choke, Cody Isaacson.
Jimmy Haman vs. Darren O’Donnell
It is not uncommon to hear fighters, in their pre-fight hype, promise fans an exciting bout by suggesting: “Don’t blink.”
Well, this fight was a perfect example of why, if possible, it is always best to keep your peepers peeped, particularly when watching a heavyweight slugfest.
The first round opened with O’Donnell moving forward quickly, landing a solid jab and rocking his opponent.
With a big overhand followed by a hook, Haman was face down on the canvas and out cold.
The fight officially came to an end after only nine seconds in the very first round, for the winner by knock out, Darren O’Donnell.
Jose Rodriguez vs. Jesse Apodaca
The third amateur matchup of the evening was a middleweight division bout between Jose Rodriguez and Jesse Apodaca.
Both fighters move toward the center of the ring as the action begins, sizing one another up before Apodaca throws the first strike, following shortly thereafter with a lead leg kick.
Rodriguez utilizes some good head movement, pushing forward toward the corner of the ring following a nice 1, 2 combination from Apodaca.
Apodaca positions himself for a guillotine choke before Rodriguez manages a big takedown, escaping from Apodaca’s grasp and transitioning smoothly to side control and then to mount.
From a mounted position, Rodriguez postures up and begins laying on the strikes.
Eating some heavy hands, Apodaca turns to his side before the referee steps in to halt the action.
The referee officially called a stop to this match at 2:45 in the very first round, declaring the winner by TKO, Jose Rodriguez.
William Hill vs. Mike Frear
The final amateur bout of the evening pitted lightweights William Hill and Mike Frear against one another.
Frear opened the action with a kick and Hill returned fire with a body kick of his own.
Using Hill’s momentum, Frear gets a takedown, gaining a top position for a moment before Hill, who displayed an impressive ground game, reverses his position.
Now on top of his opponent, Hill begins throwing several strikes to the mug of Frear and lands a few cringe worthy knees to the ribs.
After some solid ground and pound, the referee stepped in to halt the action.
The referee officially called a stop to the fight at just 58 seconds in the very first round, for the winner by KO, William Hill.
Blaine Macintosh vs. Dustin Praxedes
One of the most unfortunate and memorable moments in recent mixed martial arts history for me was Dennis Hallman’s wearing of a baby blue banana hammock in the UFC Octagon.
Now, while I am eternally grateful that there was no such shocking wardrobe choice at the SportFight event last night, I have to say that Dustin Praxedes’s bright blue booty shorts were pretty must just as distracting in the first professional matchup of the evening against Blaine Macintosh.
But, alas, I digress.
Praxedes opened the action with a leg kick and two lightning-fast jabs before pushing Macintosh forward and against the ropes, and eventually propelling himself forward to the point where he actually fell through the ropes and onto the judges’ table.
So … Praxedes spilled out of the ring just like he looked like he was going to spill out of those shorts.
Just sayin’.
After a brief pause in action, allowing Praxedes to regroup after nearly body slamming an entire row of on-lookers, the round restarted with another kick from Praxedes.
Following the kick, the men meet in a clinch and the fight transitions to the canvas with Macintosh in a bottom position.
While eating a few strikes from his opponent, Macintosh manages to gain wrist control and position himself for a triangle choke.
Macintosh tightens the choke and within seconds, Praxedes is forced to tap.
The fight is officially called to a stop at 1:24 in the very first round for the winner by tap out due to a triangle choke, Blaine Macintosh.
Tyler Moug vs. Derek Jones
The middleweight professional matchup between Tyler Moug and Derek Jones followed a similar pattern to many of the previous fights.
By that, I mean it was awesome … and super quick.
After touching gloves, Jones moves forward with a jab, but Moug means to take the fight to the mats, and the sooner the better.
Pushing through his opponent, Moug gets the takedown, landing in half guard and controlling the head of Jones.
Moug continues to throw and land a series of heavy elbows while also passing from half guard into a full mount where he postures up and lands several big shots, including two devastating elbows before the match is called to a stop.
The referee officially called a stop to this fight at 2:20 in the very first round, declaring the winner by TKO, Tyler Moug.
Damon Wood vs. Jeff Hatton
I’m sure we’ve all heard the old adage that “big things come in small packages.”
Well, these fun-size fighters definitely showed up in a big way for this fast-paced and quickly ended matchup.
The first round begins with Hatton opening with a leg kick and a quick double leg takedown.
Hatton quickly passes to side control and pins the arm of Wood with one knee.
Somewhere in the mix there were a couple sharp strikes that cut Wood’s head open, as he began bleeding pretty nicely from the top of his noggin.
From Hatton’s dominant position he transitioned to the back of his opponent and sunk in a deep rear naked choke, flattening Wood’s body out face down on the canvas.
Now, when you’re stuck in a deep choke there are really only two things to do: you can tap or you can nap.
In this fight, Wood chose sweet dreams over bitter defeat and the fight was called to an end.
The referee officially called a stop to the action after 49 seconds in the very first round, declaring the winner by rear naked choke, Jeff Hatton.
Chris Folsom vs. Kip Ramos
Chris Folsom and Kip Ramos met for a light heavyweight matchup that turned out to be a bit of a disappointment — not because of either fighter’s performance, but because of an arguably early referee stoppage.
As the round began both men moved toward the center of the ring with Ramos throwing a clean 1, 2 combination followed by a big leg kick.
Folsom immediately responds with a beautiful catch and counter strike before the men get tied up against the ropes.
With his back in the corner, Folsom eats a few solid blows, turns his body and begins to lift his hand to defend — but the referee jumps in before he has a chance to respond.
The referee officially called a stop to this fight at just 46 seconds in the very first round, citing too many unanswered strikes as the culprit, and declaring the winner, Kip Ramos.
The crowd clearly disagreed, booing the referee’s decision to jump in.
Folsom later tweeted his desire for a rematch, and hopefully we’ll get to see one at some point.
Tommy Leisman vs. Carlos Rodriguez
Lightweight professionals Tommy Leisman and Carlos Rodriguez met for one of the most exciting and explosive matches of the evening.
After touching gloves, both fighters immediately pressed forward and had a nice exchange of strikes before meeting in a clinch.
More strikes were thrown, including a nice uppercut by Rodriguez, before the men separated.
Rodriguez lands a solid body kick and a big right hook as Leisman pushes forward and lands a series of knees from the clinch.
Leisman sprawls widely as Rodriguez tries to go to the ground, spinning out of the sprawl and into a flawless arm bar, forcing Rodriguez to tap.
The referee officially called a stop to this fight at 1:33 in the very first round, declaring the winner by tap out due to an arm bar, Tommy Leisman.
Following the conclusion of the match, Leisman and Rodriguez exchanged congratulations in which Leisman was heard asking if Rodriguez’s arm was alright.
THIS is what MMA is about, people — will, skill and respect.
Take note.
Ryan Healy vs. Andrew Chappelle
While this co-main event may have been a last minute, late notice fight, with Andrew Chappelle taking the bout on only 48 hours notice following visa complications that forced Ryan Healy’s original opponent, Paul Kelly, to drop out, it was nothing short of all out war.
The action immediately began in the first round with a clinch and trip by Chappelle who passes from side control to full mount almost immediately.
Healy tries to create hip space, holding onto the body of his opponent to disallow him from posturing up entirely, and manages to sneak out from under the mount of Chappelle.
Now in half guard, Chappelle manages to posture up and lands a few solid blows before eventually trying to attain a back mount position.
Healy, however, manages to reverse his position, folding Chappelle over, and lands a few hard body shots from the top as the round comes to an end.
Round Two
The men move to action, touching gloves before pushing forward into a clinch against the ropes and separating as Healy blocks a nice high kick.
Chappelle eats a leg kick and lands a series of strikes in return — causing Healy’s mouth guard to go flying, seemingly in slow motion, directly into my lap and then onto the floor.
Gross.
Awesome, but still pretty gross.
After rinsing the mouth guard, the fight resumes.
By this point, Chappelle is bleeding from his nose and beginning to breathe from his mouth, but continues to press forward.
Healy lands a solid knee and avoids a sweep from Chappelle, but is tagged with a right hand.
After narrowly missing with a big left, Chappelle eats a left from Healy and the men begin putting on a striking clinic until the round comes to an end.
Round Three
While Chappelle could be overheard telling his corner that he was tired in-between rounds, he sure didn’t look it when he came out with a big left kick to the head in the third round.
Healy responds nicely with two nice leg kicks before eating a tight right hook.
A nice exchange takes place, and Healy is now cut just over his left eye, but continues to push forward with beautiful combinations and well-timed body shots.
Chappelle begins to show signs of fatigue, as his arms begin to hang lower and he moves backward and out of the action rather than pushing forward.
The men tie up in the corner and Healy begins to really let his hands loose, landing a heavy knee and series of strikes that now cause Chappelle’s mouth guard to take a little vacation — fortunately this time not into my lap.
Chappelle misses with a kick, obviously exhausted, as Healy seems to really be settling into a nice rhythm, throwing several body shots.
Chappelle’s mouth guard goes rampant for a second time before the match comes to an end with both men throwing bombs.
After three rounds of action, the bout went to the judges’ scorecards who scored the fight: 29-28, Healy; 29-28, Chappelle; and 30-27 for the winner by split decision, Ryan Healy.
If they hadn’t put on such an amazing fight for all of us in the audience, well, I’d probably force these two to buy me a new t-shirt — but since they went to war for three rounds, I’ll let Chappelle’s blood stains on my shirt slide this time.
Aaron Stark vs. Mario Miranda
The light heavyweight main event between Aaron Stark and Mario Miranda had a lot to live up to following a night stacked with amazing fights — and while the matchup was a bit more methodical than some of the previous, it was in no way disappointing.
As soon as the first round begins, Stark begins moving forward like some sort of predator stalking his prey before the men meet in a clinch.
Stark throws and lands a couple solid knees to the body and Miranda responds with knees to the inside of his opponent’s legs.
The men shift and transition in the clinch, but are eventually separated by the referee.
Miranda throws a kick and Stark catches it, pushing forward into another clinch. With his back against the ropes, Miranda uses heel strikes against the hamstrings of Stark before the referee separates them once again.
Miranda again moves forward, this time with a push kick — and again, the men meet in a clinch.
Stark attempts a sweep, but to no avail, as Miranda begins to transition his position to attain standing back control before the men separate, swinging on the exit and until the end of the first round.
Round Two
Round two opens with Miranda throwing leg kicks and Stark starting to find a bit of a striking rhythm, utilizing head movement to avoid taking any damage and pressing forward with some combinations before the fighters reach a clinch.
Stark drops levels and gets control over Miranda’s right wrist, but Miranda avoids being taken down and moves to the back of Stark who has his knees on the canvas.
The referee stands the men up after a few moments of relative inaction, but Stark immediately seeks to bring the fight back down with a single leg takedown.
Miranda, however, avoids it once again and sits onto the takedown attempt, landing several strikes to the grounded Stark, including a big knee to the body.
Following the heavy knee, Stark turns onto his back and Miranda begins throwing leather until the referee steps in.
The referee officially called a stop to this fight at 2:09 in the second round, declaring the winner by TKO, Mario Miranda.
It was a great night of impressive action, of decisive victories and of respect.
There is nothing quite like getting to be face to face with the foundation of the mixed martial arts community: THE PEOPLE – and promotions such as SportFight give fans and participants that opportunity.
The fact that I got to leave with the memory of being brutally attacked by a flying mouth guard and nicely dusted in a sprinkling of the sweat and blood of a grown man … well, that’s just a bonus.
LON AUSTIN/CENTRAL OREGONIAN
LON AUSTIN/CENTRAL OREGONIAN
LON AUSTIN/CENTRAL OREGONIAN
