Halquist Productions and the Emerald Queen Casino presented CageSport XX on July 14th and once again a night of full-on professional MMA action ensued with the 10 bouts providing plenty of thrills, spills and chills for the rabid crowd. A number of NW MMA celebs were in the house, including Strikeforce fighter and former Champion Miesha Tate, current UFC Fighters Dennis Hallman, Tim Boetsch, Bryan Caraway, Jeff Hougland, and John Albert, & former UFC fighter Mario Miranda.
The main event at 155 lbs was between Strikeforce veteran Sterling Ford taking on a tough James Marohl. Marohl came out strong, throwing wild punches, while Ford was content to hang back and counter with shots of his own. Early in the 2nd, Marohl caught Ford against the cage with a punch that dropped him, but Ford recoverd quickly and was able to get it back to the feet. As the fight wore on, Ford became even more accurate with his strikes, finally finishing with a knee and flurry against the fence, with the ref stepping in and stopping the conetst at 3:24 of the 2nd. Good main event performance from both fighters. Be on the lookout for Ford, training at Victory Athletics with Dennis Hallman and John Albert, to be returning to the national stage at some point.
The Co-event was a 115 lb female matchup between a seasoned "Slick" Sally Krumdiack out of Everett WA's C3 camp, and rising star Patricia Vidonic, originally from Oregon and now fighting out of Billings Montana. Krumdiack has the crowd support and did well on the feet in connecting with some hard combos, but Vidonic was able to get the takedowns and use elbow strikes and a GnP attack to bloody Krumdiack. In this fight of the night that had the crowd in a frenzy, Vidonic walked away with the victory via unanimous judges decision, all 3 scoring it 29-28.
AMC's Brent Knopp, cornered by the legendary Matt Hume and former UFC fighter Mario Miranda, remains undefeated as a pro with a 2nd round TKO of Darrio Mobley in a Middleweight contest. After overcoming an early cut in the first round, Knopp came out in the 2nd and took over the fight with a smothering attack, eventually finishing Mobley via Strikes on the ground at 3:03 in.
In other action, Byron Sutton got the judges nod, 29-28, in a hotly contested 175 lb catchweight fight with Jerome Jones.
Shaine Jaime secured a 2nd rd Guillotine of Omar Cruz in his pro debut at 135 lbs.
Benny Vinson dropped down to 125 lbs and beat Chris Wheaton with a RNC at 3:06 of the first.
Justin Harrington remains unbeaten as a pro with a 3rd Rd TKO of Levi Peaslee in a lightweight matchup.
Beau Hamilton made his pro debut and ground out a decision win over a much taller Calvin Horton in a 170 lb bout.
Trevor Sojot beat Cory Vom Baur via 1st round Guillotine Choke in Sojot's retirement fight.
And in the evening's first fight, Gustavo Lopez won his pro debut with a first round TKO of Jorey Taylor.
Halquist Production's next CageSport show is scheduled for Saturday, September 29th. On August 18th, Pro Boxing is on tap with Halquist Production's Battle at the Boat 88. And don't miss the annual Guns N' Hoses amateur boxing event on September 15th as firefighters and police officers from around the NW duke it out for charity. All three of these events will be held inside the I-5 Showroom at the Emerald Queen Casino. For more information, visit HalquistProductions.com.
Bout 1 - 140 lbs
Gustavo Lopez (Pro Debut) def Jorey Taylor (1-5) by TKO (Strikes) @ 1:47 Rd 1
Bout 2 - 145 lbs
Trevor Sojot (2-8) def Cory Vom Baur (2-0) by Guillotine Choke @ 0:54 Rd 1
Bout 3 - 170 lbs
Beau Hamilton (Pro Debut) def Calvin Horton (3-2) by Unanimous Decision
Bout 4 - 155 lbs
Justin Harrington (1-0, 1 NC) def Levi Peaslee (1-0) by TKO @ 0:21 Rd 3
Bout 5 - 125 lbs
Benny Vinson (3-1) def Chris Wheaton (1-0) by Rear Naked Choke @ 3:06 Rd 1