CageSport XXV went down July 6th at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma WA with 9 professional MMA contests. In the Main Event, Drew "The Eternal Fire" Brokenshire retained his CageSport Featherweight Title by submitting Shorty "Pitbull" Weikel with a rear naked choke late in the 2nd round. This was an excellent fight to watch, spent mostly on the ground with good scrambles and submission attempts from both fighters. Weikel was relentless and able to get Brokenshire into bad positions on the mat numerous times, but Brokenshire on his part stayed calm and focused and eventually took Weikel's back late in the 2nd round and sunk the choke. With the win, Brokenshire moves to 7-1 as a pro and has now 2 successful title defenses to his credit. Next up for Brokenshire is a rematch with the fighter who handed him his sole loss on his record, Lee "The American Bulldog" Morrison.

In the Semi-main event which was a 145 lb Title Eliminator fight, Lee Morrison punched his ticket to a future title fight with Drew Brokenshire by way of winning a 3 round unanimous decision over Julian "Juicy J" Erosa. The tone of the fight was sent from the very start when Morrison waded through Erosa punches and got the takedown. From there the fight was spent 90 percent on the ground with Morrison working for and keeping top position while trying to mix in punches or elbow strikes. Erosa on his part battled throughout, avoiding damage on the bottom and working hard to get out of bad positions. Every time he did so however, Morrison's wrestling prowess and quickness put Erosa right back on the bottom. After 15 hard-fought minutes, all three judges saw it 30-27 for Morrison.

Two undefeated fighters met at 185 lbs in NW Elite's Alfonso Gonzales and BJJ Spokane's Josh Hewson. At the opening bell, the pair exchanged in the middle and then Hewson caught a Gonzales kick and took him to the canvas. Hewson standing over Gonzales went for position, before grabbing Gonzales foot and falling backwards to the canvas in search of a heel hook or ankle lock submission. Gonzales got out of it with ease and then got Hewson up against the cage where he took his back and finished it quick with some powerful strikes at 1:55 of the round. After the bout, CageSport 185 lb champ Brent Knopp was brought into the cage and it appears a title fight between Knopp and Gonzales is in the cards for a future CageSport.

BJJ Spokane's Josh Rettinghouse got KO of the Night in a 140 lb catchweight bout with Victory Athletics' Zach Skinner. Rettinghouse kept the fight on the feet and started finding range, connecting with wicked body shots before going up high with a punch that put Skinner to sleep at 3:26 of the first round.

Tacoma's own Hadley Griffith, fighting out of the Academy of Brian Johnson, made her pro debut against Elisha Helsper in a 125 lb contest. This fight was spent completely on the feet with Hadley methodically firing off kicks and punches throughout, while Helsper was content to counter and on occasion drive towards Griffith with a flurry a punches. Griffith survived the rushes, showed resilience and patience, and notched her first pro win with a well-deserved unanimous decision, all 3 judges calling it 29-28.

Yakima MMA's Gustavo Lopez looked impressive in his 135 lb TKO stoppage win over Alive MMA's Dylan Atkinson. Early in the 2nd, Lopez clipped Atkinson and then swarmed in as Atkinson looked to get back to the feet. Lopez continued to land strikes from mount and then from the back as Atkinson turned, forcing a ref stoppage at 1:12 of the round.

Tacoma's Arjay Murphy beat late replacement Montrez Tinson with a triangle choke submission in the first round. Tinson got an early takedown, but Murphy worked his way up to the feet again. Tinson landed a 2nd takedown moments later but this time Murphy secured a tight triangle from the bottom and got the tap at 1:24 of the round.

ACA's Gary Winslow and Team Damage's Jacob Solis faced each other in the amateur ranks once before with Winslow coming out on top. In this pro rematch at 155 lbs, again it was Winslow who took home the win by connecting with a solid punch to the head that dropped Solis, and a quick finish on the ground for the ref stoppage at 1:27 of round one.

ACA's Zach Conn opened the night with a TKO win over Trent Tyler. Conn's punching power proved the difference as he started connecting with hard shots as the first round progressed that hurt Tyler. In the 2nd, Conn took Tyler to the mat and finished with strikes on the ground for his pro debut win at 19 seconds of the round.

CageSport XXVI is scheduled for August 24th at the Emerald Queen Casino. Learn more about CageSport and Halquist Productions at HalquistProductions.com.