Swinomish Casino & FightNightEntertainment (FNE) presented Fight Night "Round XI" Combat At The Cabaret on Oct 8th with a total of 9 fights, 4 pro & 5 amateur, taking place inside the FNE Cage. Once again FNE brought in a big name MMA star with UFC Heavyweight fighter Roy "Big Country" Nelson in the house doing commentary for the MMA Sports Network. Before the last fight, Nelson came into the cage and took a couple minutes to thank the crowd and mentioned how impressed he was with the fights taking place, making special mention of the high caliber of the amateur fighters. Credit there has to go to matchmaker Cody Houston who once again did a stellar job in creating an evenly matched card top to bottom.

Roy "Big Country" Nelson

In the main event for the FNE Pro 135 lb belt, Champion Omar Avelar made his first successful title defense by finishing Chuck Jordan late in Rd 4 via a tap to strikes. Avelar used takedowns throughout to neutralize Jordan's standup and height advantage, and the majority of the fight took place on the mat with Avelar patiently working from top while Jordan defended well from his guard while simultaneously going for various submissions. Jordan had a tight ankle lock in the first round but Avelar was able to scramble out of the hold and was never in serious danger of getting tapped after that. 

For 19 minutes, Avelar bided his time scoring with an occasional elbow or strike from mount in between the fight getting stood up by ref Steve Newport where upon Avelar would quickly get Jordan down again. The opening finally came for Avelar who exploded with thunderous body blows and strikes, forcing Jordan to tap with just 30 seconds left in round 4.

Avelar, training under Able Guzman (Team Blackout) & Brian Johnson (Academy of Brian Johnson), moves to 5-1 as a pro. Avelar spoke to NWFS post-fight...

NW Fightscene: Tell us your thoughts about the fight and how it went for you?
Avelar: I knew coming in that he was a Muay Thai fighter so that he'd stand straight up. I knew if I stood up with him I'd run the risk of getting kneed or elbows with his Muay Thai. So I just went back to my wrestling & I did my thing on the ground.

NWFS: He had a good ground defense and you had some difficulty throughout the fight trying to get through to score on him. How were you feeling between rounds?
Avelar: I wasn't really tired. I knew when I took him down that he had some jiu-jitsu on him, so I just tried to stay calm and look for an opening so I could capitalize on it and that's when I got him with that body shot.

NWFS: Tell me about who you're training with?
Avelar: I've got the greatest coaches in the world. They love me, they give me support. I'm training with Brian Johnson of Brian Johnson's Kickboxing Academy, the greatest boxing coach in the nation. And I got my manager Able Guzman with Team Blackout, training with him too. And I know that whenever I need training, they're always there for me. 

NWFS: What's next for you?
Avelar: Wherever the sport takes me, I'll take on whatever they give me next.

NWFS: Who do you want to thank?
Avelar: I want to thank my coaches, Brian Johnson and Able Guzman. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here today. I want to thank everybody at Brian Johnson's Kickboxing Academy and want to thank Team Blackout. Love you guys, thanks.

Able Guzman, Omar Avelar, Brian Johnson

More info on FNE can be found at www.fightnightentertainment.com.