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Conquest of the Cage - May 30th, 2014

Northern Quest Casino - Airway Heights, Washington

Photos by Dennis Merritt / Big Guy Photography


Elizabeth Phillips thows a punch in her Co-main Event bout with Katie Howard

 

Rick Little's Excitefight promotion held the latest Conquest of the Cage at the Northern Quest Casino on May 30th to a sold-out house of Northwest fight fans. A total of 8 professional & 4 amateur MMA bouts were presented, with fighters repping top fight squads from around Washington, Oregon, & Idaho. One of Spokane's many successful MMA stars, Sikjitsu's Sam Sicilia, spoke to the crowd about his latest win over Aaron Phillips at UFC 173 the week before. TUF winner Julianna Pena, currently recovering from knee surgery, was also on hand to help corner her Sikjitsu teammates.

Sam Sicilia

 

The main event featured a high-paced battle between one of the NW's best unsigned fighters in Spokane fan favorite "Insane" Dave Courchaine and up-and-coming undefeated Desert Dog fighter Abe Jacobs. Courchaine's last few fights in the NW have all ended with quick first round finishes, and many in the crowd were expecting more of the same from the explosive Courchaine. However, Jacobs had different ideas and gave Courchaine a real test. From the opening bell, Jacobs pushed the pace landing a leg kick and then moving in with some big shots. After breaking from a clinch, Jacobs threw a rapid series of punches that had Courchaine moving back. Courchaine was able to answer with a couple hard kicks before Jacobs dropped levels and got hold of Courchaine's leg, getting the takedown. Althought Courchaine got it back quickly to the feet again, Jacobs was doing a good job of moving forward and pressing Courchaine against the cage where he'd fire away with punches. Jacobs scored numerous takedowns and as soon as Courchaine would stand up, Jacobs was on him throwing. Jacobs got a final takedown and tried to get Courchaine's back again but Courchaine was able to struggle back up again. The pair briefly separated and when Jacobs moved in again to throw a punch, Courchaine beat him to it and landed a big right on Jacobs' chin that dropped him to the canvas. Courchaine followed him down, immediately took his back, and sunk a deep choke for the tap at 3:44 of the first round. Wild finish to a great main event! With the win, Courchaine moves to 21-6 as a pro, while Jacobs falls to 6-1.






 

The Co-main was a 125 lb matchup between two tough-as-nails fighters in Sikjitsu's Elizabeth Phillips and GIRLS Gym's Katie Howard. Phillips, who's fought in the 135 lb division, had the size advantage over Howard who usually matches up down at 115 lbs. Howard though was certainly not a pushover and Phillips had to work hard throughout to score points. The first round saw Howard firing off leg kicks and Phillips countering with jabs and straight punches. Howard just missed with a couple spinning back fists. On the 2nd of these, Phillips moved in, clinched up, and tossed Howard for the takedown. Howard went for an armbar but Phillips slammed her way out. In Howard's guard, Phillips went to work landing the occasional elbow as Howard defended well. In the 2nd round, the fighters engaged in the center, both scoring with jabs, Phillips landing a nice knee. Midway through the round, Phillips moved forward with a flurry of punches and clinched up against the cage, getting the eventual takedown. Howard tried to hit another submission but Phillips was too strong and got out of it. Phillips did a bit more damage on the ground, closing out the round controlling Howard and throwing hard punches. The third round was Howard's most effective round as she moved in and out of range with punches and combos as Phillips held to the center of the cage. Phillips countered with a couple nice kicks to Howard's midsection before clinching up against the cage. Phillips worked hard for another takedown but Howard resisted until the final bell. After the three rounds, all 3 judges scored it 30-27 for Phillips who moves to 4-1 as a pro, with 4 straight wins.


 

The remaining 6 pro fights all had first round endings, the quickest of these coming from Stevie VanAssche in her fight against Kristen Stenzel. VanAssche started deliberate with leg kicks and straight jabs. Stenzel tried to get inside with her strikes but VanAssche kept Stenezel at bay with her reach advantage. VanAssche turned up the heat, connecting with a number of punches as well as some kicks to the midsection. A final kick against the cage was all referee Anthony Hamlett needed to see before stepping in for the merciful ending at 42 seconds into the bout.




 

Team Execution's Austin Arnett was too much for Donald Gouge, gaining mount early and raining down punches and the occasional elbow to garner the TKO Ref Stoppage at 1:38 of the first.



 

Two very similar armbar endings happened on this night, one from Jason Lambert and the other from Chris Ensley. In the fight between Jason Lambert and Dale Hill, Lambert planted a nice front kick on Hill and then got him against the cage in a clinch, eventually getting a good takedown. On the ground, Lambert went to work grabbing Hill's neck and landing knees to the body. Hill tried defending the choke and Lambert pushed him up against the cage. There, Lambert was able to trap Hill's arm in between his legs and apply the necessary pressure on it to get Hill to tap at 2:56 of the first round.



 

In the fight between Chris Ensley and Jake Asher, Ensley stunned Asher with a solid right in an early exchange. Asher went into a defensive clinch and pushed Ensley against the cage. Asher worked his positioning and went for a suplex throw of Ensley. Unfortunately for Asher, the throw didn't quite come off with Ensley winding up on top in side control. From there, Ensley utilized his jiujitsu game and eventually capitalized by trapping Asher's right arm with his legs and rolling back with his hips to apply the torque to end the fight with a slick armlock at 1:24 of Rd 1.




 

Joseph Cleveland and Brett Boksa met once before in 2010 as amateurs with Cleveland coming out on top via hard-fought decision. In the pro rematch at Conquest of the of the Cage, Cleveland shot early on Boksa for the takedown against the cage, and from there he went to work mixing in punches and elbows as Boksa tried to defend. Boksa looked for a moment like he turned the tables by catching Cleveland in a triangle but Cleveland escaped and redoubled his efforts, throwing more hard strikes which elicited a tap from Boksa at 3:41 of the first round.



 

In the night's first pro bout, Ethan Rhodes backed Jeff Coleman into the cage with a couple high kicks and then went to work with his hands, throwing numerous punches and hammer fists on the ground as Coleman turtled to protect himself. Rhodes eventually got his arms around Coleman's neck, rolled him over and got the rear choke while kneeling at 1:32 of the first.



 

Team Execution's Taylor Grove took home a decision win over Diego Valverde in an amateur contest. Grove took Valverde down early in the first and the round was spent mostly in a grappling contest with Grove on top, looking to damage while Valverde moved to escape or to attempt a submission. In the 2nd, it was Valverde who got an early takedown but Grove was able to reverse on the ground and was able to do a bit more damage there. In the third round, Valverde threw a wild kick that succeeded in him landing on his can. Grove moved in quickly, took Valverde's back and sunk in his hooks. He then proceeded to punish Valverde with strikes to the head until the final bell. After the 9 minutes of fighting, Grove got the nod 30-27 on all the cards.



 

In an amateur battle between two big men, Chris Schell got a 2nd Round TKO win over Chance Haskins. In the first, Haskins threw a high kick that clipped Schell but Haskins lost his footing and Schell moved in for the attack. The fight got bloody with Schell bleeding from his nose as he went for a guillotine submission. Haskins escaped and reversed for a short time, but Schell regained control on the ground to end the round. In the 2nd, Schell came out swinging, overwhelming Haskins' defenses, until referee Anthony Hamlett stepped in to stop it at the 1:43 mark.



 

Victor Almaguer utilized early takedowns every round, plus ground control, against Sam Hyslop to garner a unanimous decision. Hyslop worked hard in defense from the bottom, landing a nice up kick in the 2nd that hurt Almaguer, but in the end the three ringside judges called it 30-27 for Almaguer.


 

In the evening's opening fight, Omak's Jon Weber connected with some well placed kicks to Dale Thompson's midsection, followed up by strikes against the cage as Thompson turtled up, for the TKO stoppage at 1:54 of the first.



 

ExciteFight will hold their first event in Western Washington on Friday August 22nd with an outdoor pro/am show at the Tulalip Casino just north of Everett. Learn more about the promotion at facebook.com/sikjitsu.


CONQUEST OF THE CAGE RESULTS
AMATEUR FIGHTS
Bout 1
Jon Weber def Dale Thompson by TKO (Ref Stoppage - Strikes) @ 1:54 Rd 1

 

Bout 2
Victor Almaguer def Sam Hyslop by Unanimous Decision (All judges 30-27)

 

Bout 3
Chris Schell def Chance Haskins by TKO (Ref Stoppage - Strikes) @ 1:43 Rd 2

 

Bout 4
Taylor Grove def Diego Valverde by Unanimous Decision (All judges 30-27)

 

PROFESSIONAL FIGHTS
Bout 5
Ethan Rhodes def Jeff Coleman by Rear Naked Choke @ 1:32 Rd 1

 

Bout 6
Chris Ensley def Jake Asher by Armbar @ 1:24 Rd 1

 

Bout 7
Austin Arnett def Donald Gouge by TKO (Ref Stoppage - Strikes) @ 1:38 Rd 1

 

Bout 8
Joseph Cleveland def Brett Boksa by Tap to Strikes @ 3:41 Rd 1

 

Bout 9
Stevie VanAssche def Kristen Stenzel by TKO (Ref Stoppage - Strikes/Kicks) @ 0:42 Rd 1

 

Bout 10
Jason Lambert def Dale Hill by Armbar @ 2:56 Rd 1

 

Bout 11 - Co-main Event
Elizabeth Phillips def Katie Howard by Unanimous Decision (All judges 30-27)

 

Bout 12 - Main Event
Dave Courchaine def Abe Jacobs by Rear Naked Choke @ 3:44 Rd 1



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