Fisticuffs Gym held their second edition of Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and Tag Team Grappling on March 24th and with 11 bouts it was a jammed packed night of exciting competition. FAMMA II had numerous teams from the PAC NW that came to participate, and even some high level fans like UFC fighter George Sotiropoulos who trains at the gym. The night's main event saw Impact Jiu Jitsu's Journey Newsome move to 4-0-1 after a grinding out a win over Intrepid Fight Team member Anthony Marks. Marks started off with a decent stand up game, attempting to keep Newsome at bay with kicks and reach. But Newsome kept getting Marks down and holding him there, advancing to great positions, scoring points and causing damage. In the end, Newsome got the unanimous decision and became FAMMMA's new 135lb champ.

When I heard that a 11 year old and a 13 year old were going to fight, I at first thought this was going to be something I might not want to watch... but then I saw their skill. Watching Fisticuffs fighter Chris Cabe warming up before the fight, I thought to myself 'Wow! This kid looks talented!' And I was right. Both he, and his opponent Aidan Mallory (also out of Fisticuffs), displayed more skills than some of the amateur fighters twice their age that I see fighting on the local circuit. Cabe came out striking with clean combos and Mallory was getting hit but not giving up. He went to the ground game where he had an advantage and almost finished Cabe a couple times. Unfortunately for Mallory, Cabe came out in round two on fire and sunk a guillotine at 19 seconds in to get his first MMA win. In a post fight interview with NWFS, Cabe said he wanted to fight till he couldn't any more... that he would be happy if he was still fighting at 65! I have met a lot of fighters in my career, but this one has the most enthusiasm!

My pick for KO of the night came from a boxing match that had go to sleep written all over it! Tualatin Team Quest's Zane Behrend took on Fisticuffs Andrew Olendick in a CageBoxing version of Boxing. This is basically the same thing but with the guys coming out and kicking each other first so its not a "real" boxing match, but after the kick it was all business and these boys were swinging for the fences. Behrend had a bit of an open stance, but his punches were lethal and it was only a matter of time till he did some damage. And damage he did when he put Olendick down with a mean left and put him to sleep completely at 2:23 of the very first round!

Overall, FAMMA II was a great show to be at. I enjoyed the tag team grappling a lot. This allows rival teams to compete while having fun. Teams 10th Planet vs Gladiator MMA went first, then Team Quest Gresham vs Alive MMA went next and the crowd loved it. The show was a lot of fun and enjoyable for all ages. For more info on this and future FAMMA shows, go to fisticuffsgym.com.

Full Results:

135 lb MMA Championship
Journey Newsome def Anthony Marks by Unanimous Decision

MMA
Brian Tsutsumi def Dillion Blakesley by Unanimous Decision

MMA
Brian Sanchez def Gunner Metzger by Unanimous Decision

MMA
Darby Brooks def Tyson Nation by Tap to Strikes @ 0:35 Rd 1

MMA
Russell Tunes def David DeCorte by TKO @ 0:18 Rd 1

Tag Team Grappling
Team Quest Gresham def Alive MMA 1-0

2-B Class Youth MMA
Chris Cabe def Aidan Mallory by Guillotine Choke @ 0:19 Rd 2

Boxing
Zane Behrend def Andrew Olendick by KO @ 2:23 Rd 1

Tag Team Grappling
Gladiator MMA def 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu by Default

(due to injury - 10th PJJ was up 1-0)

MMA
Laramie Lexow def Josh Cadwell by KO @ 1:06 Rd 1

MMA
Patrick Ryan def Stephone Taylor by TKO @ 1:27 Rd 3