Placerville, CA - Upsets and heartbreak was the name of the game at the Red Hawk Casino Saturday December 12th. Gladiator Challenge "Chain Reaction" put two titles on the line, and an array of MMA talent from all over California.

WEC legend Urijah Faber was at the show, promoting his upcoming fight in Sacramento on Jan 10th against Rafael Assuncao at WEC 46. After an amazing vocal performance of the National Anthem from singer Shauna Grande, the crowd was ready for fight night.

Angel De Anda became the new heavyweight champion in a slugfest war with opponent Drew Montgomery. De Anda flurried hard in the final minutes of the bout, landing hooks and eventually dropped Drew with a right hand and pounced to finish the fight. The ref stepped in at 3:05 of the first round to declare a New Gladiator Challenge Heavyweight Champion.

WEC veteran Poppies Martinez came in a heavy favorite in the "Native Title" bout with Daniel Romero, yet it was Romero who walked away with the huge upset win. Romero came in and stayed busy forcing the veteran to defend numerous submission attempts until he finally got the tap out in the first round by armbar.

Sacramento fighter Jaima Jara walked away with a win without even exchanging any blows after his opponent Refael Del Real threw a kick and jumped to the ground grabbing his ankle in pain verbally submitting in ten seconds. Jara just shook his head in disbelief as he was awarded a win.

Shawn Smith, little brother to Strikeforce fighter Scott Smith debuted in devastating fashion completely dominating his opponent Chris Steele. Steele had no answer and was soon saved by the ref in 33 seconds of the first round. Shawn looked strong and in shape, and it will be good to see how his career develops. His big brother Scott fights this weekend against Cung le for Strikeforce in probably one of the biggest fights of his career.

I am now creating a Rollercoaster Award to give to fighters who display sick jiu-jitsu in MMA competition. Fighters Sergio Quinones and Gilardo Villanueva will be my first recipients of this award as they went up and down, back and forth in a battle of two great BJJ fighters. The fight came down to the last second and I mean THE last second. Sergio who was winning on rounds, after a foot battle gets position and forces the ref to stop the fight with one second left.. Official time: 2:59 Round 3.

Crowd favorite Ruben "Warpath" Villarreal earned a huge KO win over slugger Luke Arzola in 1:57 in round one. To his credit Luke was chopping down the much bigger Warpath for a moment until Warpath found his distance and cornered him with dirty boxing, landing hooks and finally dropping him with a big uppercut.

The KO of the night came in ten seconds of the first round by fighter Jack Cummins. He came out and dropped opponent Ty Sousa with a vicious left hand and it was over. Even though mother nature wasn't very nice with this outdoor event, the people at the Red Hawk Casino (redhawkcasino.com) & Gladiator Challenge (gladiatorchallenge.com) put on a great show and after party.

More results
Rich Blake def Larry Mays by TKO (Ref Stop) @ 1:45 of round one
Robert Ballard def Mark Mathews by TKO (ref stop) @ 2:57 of round one
Victor Moreno def Billy Carothers by unanimous decision
Larry Wasson def Steve Alexander by TKO (ref stop) @ 2:57 of round one
Harry Gopaul def Dan Quinn by TKO (ref stop) @ 2:25 of round two
Ivan Gatoloai VS Austin Achorn declared No Contest due to Illegal strike to back of head & Austin couldn't continue
Johnny SanNicholas def Phil Brown by Tap-Out due to RNC @ 1:53 of round one
Bernard Turner def Tony Dominguez by Split Decision
Andre Fili def Anthony Motley by TKO (ref stop) @ 1:01 of round one
Ryan Burton def Kenny Roberts by unanimous decision
John Cardoza def Brad McDonald by split decision
Cory Layton def Chris Brown(not Singer) by Tap-Out (Strikes) @ 1:43
Ivan Pack def Eric Flood TKO (Flood didn't answer second round bell)