CageStar MMA took over Hardtails Bar & Grill in Kelso WA and put on "Live MMA", a new event promising to deliver top NW MMA competition and a great show to match... and they did just that. UFC star, Dennis "Superman" Hallman, & The Ultimate Fighter Season 13 cast member, Len Bentley, were on hand meeting and greeting the fans. Both Bentley & Hallman helped with the workings of the show which had to make these tough amateurs want to fight even harder knowing that these top pros were there.

From the jump the event had tough battles, most of these fights where very evenly matched. Teams from all over the Pacific Northwest came to compete. And by the time we got to the title bouts the entire place was slammed packed and screaming like crazy. Victory Athletics Patrick Benson scored his debut win over Adam Fisher by sick KO in 44 seconds. He took Fisher out in the first and looked very impressive at 155. Gladiator MMA's Colton Miller sunk a tight Rear Naked Choke and finished Travis Napier with only 9 seconds left in the first round. Curtis Crawford's Dale Bryant looked good again taking out veteran amateur Brandon Nunn in just 55 seconds.

Alive MMA's Dylan Atkinson won Live MMA's 135 title by defeating Jake Burns. Burns was extremely tough and pushed Dylan into the second round, but Dylan was able to sink a Rear Naked choke to win the title at 42 seconds of round 2. Corey Wyatt from Midtown MMA acquired another belt to add to his wall by beating his toughest opponent to date in Eric Ramsey. Wyatt stayed composed in the fight and didn't give up much for Ramsey to capitalize on. In the end Wyatt got a D'arce choke and put Ramsey away at 1:53 in RD 2 to win the 205 title.

"Fight of the Night" honors, sponsored by Hedlok Clothing, went to two fighters who gave it their absolute all: Gary Thompson from Oregon Kickboxing Academy & Zack Hector from Arsenal Combat Sports. The bout was everything a fan wants to see in a fight with total back and forth action. Just as it seemed Thompson was winning the fight, Hector would bounce back. In the end, Hector finished Thompson by Armbar late in the 2nd round. When fighters say "leave everything in the cage", this is what they mean. My hat goes off to both Hector and Thompson for one of the best fights I have seen in a long time!