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 Kennesaw, March 15, 2008
Cowboy's Up!
By Jim Terwoord
On Friday March 14th, Cowboy's in Kennesaw was the scene of "Showdown" a night of frantic action and fistic fury that had something for everyone in the crowd of 2,500 rabid MMA fans in attendance. In a red, brightly lit cage under an aging, dusty disco ball, eighteen warriors got a chance to "cowboy up" - ala the 2003 Red Sox and claim the victor's bragging rights - or vanish like "ghost fighters in the sky." And the cowpoke evening wouldn't have been complete without a few dudes from "Outlaw MMA" in Rome, GA. But any way you say it, promoter Tony Metcalf's latest MMA mashup, sponsored by Bullett Fight Gear, was a resounding "mmartistic" success.
The first treat of the night was a cage - an honest to God steel cage! Is there any doubt left in anyone's mind that this is where MMA fights belong? Spare me the wrangling, slipping and sliding along and under ring ropes. There's no retreat in a cage. Unfortunately on this night, there was no big screen either, which highlighted the major drawback of a cage - clean viewing lines. But the small venue seemed to negate any serious issues and the crowd loved every minute of action.
Glen Elkins, a South Carolina fighter, took on the first of a parade of Knuckle Up fighters, Joe Negron, in the opening curtain slug fest. Don't ask me what they weighed because we weren't told - but these were big boys. Negron looked ripped and ready, while Elkins was a tad beefy - which of course tells you absolutely nothing. The plodding Elkins marched gamely into a blaze of fist, feet and takedowns by Negron, escaping twice and showing a steel jaw. Elkins stunned Negron with a shot of his own near the end of the first. Thirty three seconds into the second Elkins caught Negron in a standing G-choke and it was over - but these guys came to fight. And the festivities were just beginning.
The main event featured Rhomez Brower of Fayetteville, NC against Brent Weedman of Louisville, KY. Turns out both can fight - and well. The slender Weedman tied up Brower along the fence for most of the first round, throwing nasty knee strikes to Brower's mid section early and often. I had Weedman winning after the first. Brower had other plans for the rest of the fight. He quickly took down Weedman in the second, but Weedman escaped and returned the favor, taking Brower down - but I gave the round to Brower, who settled the issue in the third. Brower dominated the final round with numerous rights and kicks that scored, finishing with a takedown that clinched his win by majority decision (one judge had it a draw).
Blood fest of the night came in the form of Mendan McKeehan vs. Ethan Garrison in the closing battle of the evening. Both fighters entered the ring undefeated. Garrison, from Knuckle Up, got the "six pack" award for best belly, while McKeehan looked a little pudgy - and with a red Mohawk, he was also having an extreme "bad hair" day. This time "ripped and ready" won out - with Garrison quickly taking down McKeehan and providing a ground and pound tutorial that caused a referee stoppage at 1:08 of the first round. Bleeding badly, McKeehan attempted to get up after the stoppage and collapsed on his face, needing medical assistance to steady himself and exit the cage. We sure hope he likes his work!
The second match of the night had William "Bubby" Hallman facing off against another Knuckle Up fighter, Elliot Tieman. "Bubby" started strongly, taking Tieman down twice and looking impressive. In the second, Hallman appeared to take an unintentional head butt to the nose and was never right after the damage. He also took a knee shot to the ribs that appeared to hurt him badly, causing the referee to stop the action and declare a TKO at 1:02 of the second round.
Corey Ranie of Cartersville, GA won a unanimous decision over KnuckleUpper Chris Dellerba in the first fight of the night to go to a decision. This one was another slugfest that featured several excellent exchanges and no "back off" by either warrior. In the end, the edge went to Ranie by unanimous decision for better shots and several aggressive submission attempts.
Ian Murray squared off against Johnny Queiroz in a classic tall guy - short guy match up. The taller Murray had a considerable reach advantage but simply could not defend Queiroz's takedown attempts. The fight showcased several good punch/kick exchanges, but in the end Quieroz won a split decision, the result of better grappling skills.
Local favorite Clay Harvison, Kennesaw State student and Knuckle Up fighter, took on Jeremy Germines of Chattanooga, TN in the next battle. To the chagrin of the crowd, Germines easily took down Harvison two or three times in the first round and attempted several submissions from his back. Determined to change things in the second, Harvison came out with guns blazing, nailing Germines with a flurry of punches and kicks. Then he got sloppy. Backing away from a downed Germines, he let his opponent grab his ankle, pull him down and sink in a deep rear naked choke that won the contest for him at 1:17 of the second round. Ya gotta be careful out there!
The outlaws showed up late in the evening. Randy Thompson, fighting out of Outlaw MMA in Rome, GA got nasty with Marvin Freeman, his opponent from Woodstock, GA in a battle of big boys - I'm guessing 205 at least. The first round had both guys swinging for the fences - and both scoring knockdowns. In the second, Thompson got docked a point for an illegal strike after knocking Freeman down, but Freeman was unable to answer the bell for the third, causing the referee to declare a TKO for Thompson.
Another crowd favorite was up next in the form of Robi Ramey, who took on David Curby in another battle of ripped and ready (Ramey) against the "full figured" Curby. The ring announcer mentioned Ramey damaging the cage at a previous event and the crowd was ready for Rambo reincarnate. Unfortunately for Ramey, Curby had other plans. Leveraging his bulk with surprising speed, agility and balance, Curby threw Ramey around with little problem. In the second, to the crowd chanting of "Robi-Robi-Robi," Ramey was able to gain a takedown that Curby quickly scrambled out of, gaining full mount on Ramey and firing off several ground and pound shots in time to the beat. Curby finished Ramey off at 1:02 of the third by referee stoppage - a good thing for Ramey and proving yet again that "ripped" don't mean nothin'. The announcer called Curby a "very bad man" - we agree.
Tapout magazine cover guys "BJ" Santiago and John Hatton of the AFL were ringside for the evening's festivities, along with their rising lightweight star, Junior Assuncao. Santiago announced plans for an Atlanta fight later this year at a larger venue with the site and card to be announced. They'll need their "A game" to top their friends at Cowboy's. Watch GeorgiaMMA.com for further details.
Jim Terwoord for GeorgiaMMA.com |
