145lb Champion Joaquin Rodriguez

Split Decision Entertainment presented Fight Night X: Homecoming on Oct 16th from Hardtails Bar & Grill in Kelso, WA and by the end of the night, fight fans were left with highlight reel Knockouts, Tapouts, and back and forth battles.

In the main event for the 145 lb Title, 503 West Coast Jiu Jitsu fighter Joaquin Rodriguez stepped in and took on Arsenal Combat's Jerry Allen, after NW Warrior Levi Weikel was sidelined due to an injury. Rodriguez was taken down by Allen in the second round but got back to his feet and got a takedown of his own and progressed to mount, which is where Allen gave up his back and the 503 West Coast fighter quickly transitioned to a Rear Naked Choke and forced Jerry Allen to tap out at 1:02 in the second round to become the new Fight Night 145lb Champion.

I was honored to be chosen by Split Decision Entertainment to pick the night's award winning fights & fighters for KO, Submission and Fight of the Night Honors! In the KO category, it was a hard decision with two huge KO's to contend with. Yet someone has to win and he is Dale Bryant from Curts Ultimate Fitness with his devastating roundhouse KO over Justin Weese @ 1:49 in round one. This was the kick heard round the state and hopefully not felt by Weese's future children... The KO that came in second was Kelly McMillan and a devastating right uppercut that absolutely dropped NW Warrior BJ Garmon in the very first round in 31 seconds. Honorable Mention to Bennet Seybold's KO over Mike Domingaz @ 1:02 in the first round.

Submission of the night was a hard choice as well. In close second came, Jon Kelly from Arsenal Combat with a slick triangle choke over NW Warrior Josh Roebuck @ 1:07 in Rd 1. Another submission victory came by armbar from Kelly's teammate John Heilman over Team Quest submission fighter Rehanna Kerridge in an Intergender Submission match... but I couldn't give an award to a guy who beat a girl! So the award goes to Arsenal Combat fighter Zack Hector for fastest Sub of night in 33 secs as he sunk a Rear Naked Choke over Kajukenbo fighter Armando Cabella. Hector came out and shot quickly to get the fight to the ground, and from there it didn't take Hector long to earn himself another title and become the 170lb Fight Night champion. Honorable Mentions have to go to Truitt's Recruits fighters Rick Sprayberry's Rear Naked choke victory over John Harris in 49 secs, and Mathew Thompkin's Guillotine Choke sunk on Arsenal Combat's Estevan Valdivia @ 1:52 of Rd 1. 

Zack Hector sinking the choke and winning the 170 lb belt

Fight of the Night Honors went to Eduardo Pantoja & Stefan Lemke. At 14 years of age, Eduardo Pantoja from Kajukenbo Fight Team might have trouble getting in an R-rated movie, but he didn't have trouble getting into the cage as he took on 503 West Coast Jiu Jitsu fighter Stefan Lemke. These guys came out fast and swung for the fences for almost the entire first round. Pantoja actually tired Lemke out by not submitting. Every time Lemke had Pantoja In a bad situation, Pontoja would hold on somehow and escape to the crowds roar of approval, pushing Lemke to find another way to try and finish the kid that just wouldn't quit. In the end, referee Christopher Cope stepped in and stopped the fight in the 2nd Rd, after Lemke turned up the striking and started to land punches with pin point accuracy.

Arsenal Combat's Olin Howlett only needed 2:06 to get the ref to stop his Heavyweight Title bout with Damien Strength and name him Fight Night Heavyweight Champion. Another heavyweight belt was awarded to 503 West Coast JJ's Rico Martinez in a Superfight bout that saw Rico defeat Josh McPherson from Arsenal Combat by unanimous decision and possibly put him into title contention with Howlette. After his win Howlette spoke about meeting Rico and defending his title.

             Heavyweight Champ Olin Howlette               Heavyweight Superfight Champ Rico Martinez

Split Decision Entertainment has three more shows lined up for 2010: they will present Fight Night XI on Sat, Nov 13th at Club Zoo in Vancouver, WA,  Fight Night XII will happen on Dec 4th back in Kelso at Hardtails, & Fight Night XIII will go down a week later, Dec 13th at Club Zoo.

Photos of all the fights plus more video interviews below...