Cory Vom Baur works his ground game on Jeff Hatton in the main event of CWC 14

On Saturday May 31st, the Pacific Sports and Events Center in Tacoma was the home of Cage Warrior Combat 14 which saw 7 pro and 3 amateur MMA fights take place. The main event was a battle for the CWC Pro 135 pound title between Cory Vom Baur and Jeff Hatton, and this 5 rounder was the only fight that went to the judges. Vom Baur and Hatton looked even on the feet, and spent a lot of time in the clinch. Vom Baur defended most of Hatton's takedowns, sprawling hard and keeping Hatton against the cage. In the first round, Vom Baur's sprawls turned into inverted triangle attempts, but he couldn't get the proper angle to lock down on Hatton's neck. At one point, Vom Baur got over-excited and hit a kneeling Hatton directly in the face with a knee. The referee immediately interceded and checked on Hatton. Hatton took a couple minutes to shake off the effects and jumped right back in to the fight. Vom Baur refused to give up control of the match and continued to stuff Hatton's takedowns and win in the clinch. After 25 minutes, the judges saw the fight unanimously for Vom Baur, making him the new CWC Bantamweight Champion.

The co-main event wouldn't have even happened had Nate Cook not stepped in at the last minute for an absent Josh McPherson. Cook made his pro debut, weighing in at 206 pounds against the 265 pound Matt Kovacs. Kovacs didn't look to overwhelm the debut fighter, but instead kept to a steady pace and worked his stand-up. Cook held up his end of the fight - not at all looking like a debut fighter - moving well on his feet and throwing clean combos. Cook was effective at defending well on the ground and regained his feet quickly. It was in the clinch that Kovacs was able to secure a guillotine and finish the fight standing with the choke at 3:58 of round one.

KO of the Night came in the 125 pound battle between Oregon's Benny Vinson and Alex Corrales. Both very well rounded fighters, Vinson is known for his exceptional wrestling, and Corrales for his lightning-fast combos. Corrales did an impressive job of stuffing Vinson's takedowns, and even got his own takedown. Vinson was holding the center of the cage while Corrales looked to kick out Vinson's legs. Vinson was more aggressive and packs a lot of power for a flyweight. Vinson caught Corrales clean with a punch and dropped him to the canvas. Corrales was stunned and took a few ground and pound blows before wrapping up Vinson and driving him to the cage wall and working his way back to his feet. Vinson never gave up his edge, and got Corrales' back against the fence and set up a very clean knee to the face that dropped Corrales back to the mat. The ref jumped in to prevent more damage, stopping the fight at 2:56 of round one.

Nathan Stolen and Jorge Gaitan took Fight of the Night in their 145 lb amateur bout. Gaitan was circling well, and trying to pick off Stolen with hard body shots, while Stolen stayed aggressive and threw combos. Stolen proved to be very hard to take down, and the majority of the fight was on the feet. Both men landed some good shots, but it was Stolen's continuous pressure that paid off. Once on the ground he kept rolling until he was in a good position to strike and unloaded heavy and well-placed shots until the referee stepped in and called an end to the fight at 2:09 of Rd 2.

Submission of the Night was Andy Paves' rear naked choke against Trent Tyler in a pro 155 lb match up. Tyler came out aggressively, mixing it up well with his hands and take down attempts. Paves stayed calm and used his impressive footwork to keep at an angle on Tyler - allowing him to slip punches and land his own combos. The fight went back and forth on the feet, but it was Paves' on the ground. Paves looked as calm and collected as he did on his feet, slipping in the rear naked choke and holding it until he got the tap at 4:14 of round one.

Ardany Mora continues to be an exciting fighter to watch. He was more than ready for his pro debut against Justin True. Mora always maintains an intense pace and clean technique on his feet and on the ground, and this fight was no different. True had the reach advantage, but couldn't capitalize on it against Mora. Mora quickly worked out how to get in and out on the feet, and was able to force the ref to jump in and stop the fight due to strikes at 2:51 of round one.

Chris Inman showed how wily a 170'er can be in his fight with Mickey Marcinko. Both men looked good in their stand-up, and Marcinko looked like he would take the advantage on the ground, but Inman was just staying safe and waiting for his moment. When Marcinko had Inman on his back and gave a few inches of space to swing some punches at him, Inman slipped out from under and around Marcinko's body to take the back and sink in the choke. Marcinko tried to defend the rear naked, but Inman had it deep and Marcinko was forced to tap at 3:19 of the first round.

Kina Peneueta and Mike DeVose met at 185 lbs for their fight. Peneueta is known for his boxing style, but has obviously been working his ground game. Peneueta translated his boxing speed into his ground and was able to defend DeVose's multiple submission attempts. DeVose threw up triangles and armbars but Peneueta would pull himself out and maintain top position from where he could throw knees to DeVose's body. DeVose executed a beautiful wizzer takedown that Peneueta fought hard against, but managed to roll through on the ground. It was an action-packed first round, but DeVose was unable to answer the bell to start the second round, giving Peneueta the victory.

In an amateur 125 lb bout, John Marc TKO'd Jose Lopez in the first round.

Opening the night, Wyatt Gustason scored at 1st Rd TKO over Jorge Montes at 205 lbs.

Cage Warrior Combat's next event is CWC XV happening July 19th at The Point Casino in Kingston WA. More information at cagewarriorcombat.com.