Seun Adedeji connects with a punch against Kevin Elder

Rick Little's ExciteFight returned to the Northern Quest Casino on April 3rd, presenting a 14 bout pro-am Conquest of the Cage to a large contingent of Spokane fight fans. In the main event, crowd-favorite Joel Thomas returned to the cage after nearly 3 years out of competion, taking on long-time veteran of the NW circuit Charon Spain. Early on, Thomas was the first to press forward to engage on the feet, getting Spain backpedalling away from him. Spain fired a kick to Thomas' body but Spain's momentum took him to the canvas and Thomas immediately followed, taking Spain's back. Thomas used his leg to trap Spain's right arm and then sunk a rear naked choke that Spain could not defend, getting a tap at 32 seconds in.

The Co-main event was in the amateur ranks and featured two up-and-coming femaie fighters in Gillian Noll and Lenae Gilbert. The pair came out swinging, both throwing and landing numerous punches in a extended standup exchange. Noll then drove hard for a takedown and on the ground, dished out some good shots. Gilbert caught Noll in an armbar attempt that looked dangerous but she was unable to finish against the fence. In the 2nd, Noll charged out determined, took Gilbert to the canvas and finished with a rear naked choke at 32 seconds into the round.

Sikjitsu's Tyler McGuire, fighting out of Fairchild Air Force Base, won his pro debut over Walla Walla's Chris Dempsey, also making his pro debut. After a touch of the gloves, McGuire connected with a thunderous right hand to Dempsey's chin that sent Dempsey hard to the canvas. McGuire moved in and used his right hand as a battering ram on Dempsey's head. Dempsey twisted away from the cage and the punishment, using his legs to defend. McGuire dropped into side mount where he trapped Dempsey's arm and did damage with more head strikes. Dempsey scrambled out but McGuire was right on him, gaining full mount and letting his fists fly with the occasional elbow, until Dempsey tapped at 2:29 of the first.

Two Coeur d'Alene fighters, both making their pro debuts, went at it and it was Jacob Jokela coming out with the win by 1st round rear naked choke over Austin Hodges. The pair clinched up in the center of the cage and Hodges went for and successfully got a trip takedown. Jokela though immediately reversed and put Hodges against the cage. Working in Hodges' guard, Jokela landed a few ground strikes before Hodges was able to walk himself up the cage. Jokela went for a takedown but Hodges grabbed the cage on the way down and wound up in top position. Referee Anthony Hamlet called a timeout and warned Hodges about the fence grab, restarting the pair standing. Jokela landed a straight left that dropped Hodges and started a strong blood flow from Hodges' nose. Working from a North-south position, Jokela punished Hodges with hard strike before transitioning to Hodges back. Jokela sunk his hooks in, continuously throwing big bombs to Hodge's head, before settling in for the rear naked choke finish at 1:56 of round one.

Team Iron Lion's Joseph Cleveland improved to 2-1 as a pro with a first round submission of Brandon Sly. The pair circled each other early before Cleveland charged forward and got a takedown against the cage. Sly defended from the bottom as Cleveland worked in some ground strikes from the top. Sly looked to escape, but in doing so, left his arm exposed to Cleveland who made no mistake in quickly securing the armbar finish at 2:08 of round 1.

In the evening's first pro fight, debuting Kevin Shaw charged hard at the undefeated Nathan Thompson, but Thompson was ready and executed a big slam. Shaw had hold of Thompson's neck on the ground and once Thompson broke free, the pair scrambled back to standing. Thompson ducked under a Shaw punch and got another big takedown. Shaw tried to escape out from under Thompson and as he turned, Thompson threw down a big elbow that unfortunately landed square to the back of Shaw's head. Ref Anthony Hamlett called a timeout but Shaw was unable to continue. The blow was deemed accidental and the bout declared a no-contest.

Sikjitsu's Dan Bolen won the ExciteFight Amateur 205 lb Title over Pasco WA's Jose Mendoza. Bolen came out aggressive and connected with with numerous punches on the feet that had Mendoza on the defensive. The fight went to the mat and Bolen worked from top position to throw strikes. Mendoza was able to defend for awhile but Bolen eventually was able to get himself in full mount and land hard shots which Mendoza tapped to at 2:27 into the first round.

Corry Wells executed a nice takedown of Cody Simpkins early in their amateur fight, but it was Simpkins who was impressive in scrambling into a position to take hold of Wells' neck, and then working for and getting the guillotine choke finish at just 44 seconds in.

In an amateur contest, Spokane's Nate Powell caught a Matt Main kick and executed a crowd-pleasing takedown. Main worked hard to escape out from under Powell, but Powell trapped Main against the cage and was deadly accurate with some powerful shots to Main's face. Main tapped to the strikes at 42 seconds in.

Spokane's Marcos Lopez defeated Spokane Valley's Jesse Jacobsen via 1st round TKO in an amateur fight. Jacobsen scored first with some good high kicks as well connecting with a couple punches in an exchange. Lopez caught a Jacobsen kick and took him down. Jacobsen was defending from the bottom with submission attempts so Lopez disengaged and started to rain big bombs down. Jacobsen scrambled to his feet but Lopez was right on top of him where he connected flush with a big right hand that dropped Jacobsen. Lopez swarmed in with punches and got the ref stoppage at 1:19 of the first.

Seun Adedeji, hailing from the Chicago area, won his amateur MMA debut via TKO over Cheney WA's Kevin Elder. Adedeji got a big slam early and then scored with some damaging punches on the ground before Elder was able to scramble back to the feet. Elder kept his distance and Adedeji stayed patient for much of the rest of the round to the point where referee Anthony Hamlett threatened point deductions unless they started to engage. And that they did with Elder landing some big kicks to Adedeji's mid-section, and Adedeji answering with a big right that landed square to end the round. In the 2nd, Elder came out scoring with some big high kicks but it was Adedeji again connecting with big power punches that soon had Elder retreating. Adedeji pursued and took Elder down to the mat, got top position and punished Elder with hard punches until the end of the round. Elder was unable to answer the bell for round three giving Adedeji the TKO victory.

In the battle of the big men, amateurs Andrew Richart of Spokane and Mario Marena of Athens Greece fought for 8 1/2 minutes before Richart emerged the winner by submission. In the first round, Marena scored early with some hard kicks to Richarts left leg. The pair clinched up against the cage where Richart eventually got the takedown. On the mat, Richart scored with a few big knees to the body and it went to the end of the round with Richart maintaining side control. In the 2nd, Marena again found success utilizing his kicks before Richart clinched up and looked for the takedown. Marena though fought it off and won the round by dint of his offensive output. In the final frame, it was Marena charging and pushing Richart into a clinch agains the cage. Marena had hold of Richarts neck and snuck in a couple of short shots before Richart turned him against the cage and got a double leg takedown. As Richart went to pass from side control, Marena turned and exposed his back which Richart gladly took. Marena defended the choke for awhile but Richart would not be denied and finally got the tap from Marena at 2:32 of the round 3.

Two amateur Spokane fighters threw down in Nate Petersen and Kenny Jenks. The fight immediately went to the canvas with Jenks getting side control and trapping Petersen's arm, spending a good portion of the round peppering Petersen's face with short punches. Petersen eventually used the cage to reverse and take Jenks back, and then transition to an armbar. Jenks escaped and finished the round on top throwing down a couple shots before the bell. In the 2nd, Petersen scored with a nice 1-2 combo that forced Jenks to drop levels and go for a takedown. It went to the canvas with the pair scrambling for position. Petersen grabbed Jenks leg going briefly for a submission before sitting up and forcing Jenks into a bad spot against the cage. Petersen proceeded to fire down a series of unanswered punches that forced the ref to step in and end it at 1:56 of the round.

Opening the evening of fights, CDA's Dakota Schnall scored a quick TKO victory over Gavin Bacon. Schnall connected with a big right hand early that staggered Bacon, and soon after swarmed Bacon against the cage, landing a series of hard rights that forced the ref stoppage at 28 seconds in.

ExciteFight will be back in action later this summer with shows at the Northern Quest Casino and the Tulalip Casino. Learn more about the promotion at excitefight.com.