Fight Night "Round
XV" Armed Forces - July 9th, 2011
Meydenbauer
Convention Center - Bellevue, Washington
Photos
by Mike Renouard, additional photos courtesy of Mark Hector
FightNightEntertainment
(FNE) presented their 15th MMA event on July 9th from the
Meydenbauer Center in the heart of Bellevue WA. Fight
Night "Round XV" Armed Forces, originally
scheduled as a Pro/Am, was relegated to an all-amateur
event when a late snafu with the state presented itself
and forced the pros to be scrapped just a few days before
the show. But the amateurs came out and delivered a fine
night of action for the crowd on hand and for the fans
watching round the internet on GoFightLive.tv. The
broadcast was handled by the dynamic duo of Ron "The
Yacman" Yacovetti and former UFC Heavyweight Champ
Maurice Smith. The fights were sanctioned by UFC Fighter
Dennis Hallman's USAMMA Sanctioning body, and both Hallman
and TUF 13 alumni Len Bentley were on hand as judges for
the fights.
MMaurice
Smith
Ron Yacovetti interviews a fighter
In
the main event for the FNE 135 lb Amateur Title, United
Fight Team's Sean Villalva came out looking for a takedown
of Arsenal Combat's Jake Burns. Burns showed good defense
and so Villalva changed tactics by standing and taking
shots against the cage and then throwing accurate counters
that got the blood flowing out of Burns' nose by round's
end. In the 2nd, Villalva came out aggressive and locked
on a guillotine choke from the feet that brought Burns to
the canvas and got the tap soon after. Villalva picks up
another title and now is looking to turn pro.
The
fight of the night was a five round war fought for the FNE
Amateur 155 lb title won by Arsenal Combat's Zack Hector
over Victory Athletic's Zack Wheeler. Hector looked good
controlling the better part of the first three rounds on
the ground and the feet, but in the fourth found himself
in trouble and Wheeler was nearly able to put him away
save for the fact Wheeler was on the verge of exhaustion
from the pace of the action. Hector survived and came out
all heart in the fifth with a strong round that sealed the
victory for him in all the judges eyes 49-46.
United
Fight Team's Corey Watson continued his streak of
lightning fast first round finishes by locking on tight guillotine
of tough independent fighter Esteban Salazar and forcing
the tap at just 38 seconds into the fight. With the win,
Watson takes home the FNE 170 lb Amateur Belt.
The
next FNE show, Fight Night "Round XVI" Combat at
the Cabaret, is Sat Aug 13th at the Swinomish Casino in
Anacortes WA. More at FightNightEntertainment.com.
Bout
1 - 170 lbs
Thomas Turner
(Academy of Brian Johnson) def Noah Mosburger (Victory Athletics)
by TKO (Ref Stop - Strikes) @ 0:50 Rd 2
Bout
2 - 145 lbs
Rob Yager (White Buffalo Warriors) def Ryan Blanchard (Team
Hellfire)
by TKO (Ref Stop - Strikes) @ 2:02 Rd 3
Bout 3 - 175 lbs
Justin VanDyke
(C3 / Team Redline) def John Reonal (White Buffalo Warriors)
by Unanimous Decision (All judges 30-27)
Bout 4 - 145 lbs
Skyler Thomas
(Intrepid MMA) def Adam Ungaro
(Team Hellfire)
by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-28)
Bout 5 - 160 lbs
Patrick Benson (Victory Athletics) def Jordan Harrington
(Team Hatton)