Danielle Taylor connects with a right against Glena Avila in the main event

On February 12th, the Coeur d'Alene Casino's event center was packed full of NW fight fans 1600+ strong for King of the Cage "Short Fuse". And by the end of the night, all in attendance were blessed to have witnessed a historic and memorable evening of MMA action. Four amateur bouts warmed up the crowd, with all four ending in finishes. But it was the 7 professional fights, starting with the war between Mark Coates and Zane Douglass that was declared the fight of the night, and ending with the war that crowned Danielle Taylor the KOTC Strawweight Champion over Glena Avila, that had the crowd buzzing long after the show was over.

The vacant King of the Cage Women's World 115 lb Title was on the line in the main event which pitted SoCal Fight Factory's Danielle Taylor of Palmdale CA against Rose City FC's Glena Avila of Portland OR. And both of these warriors left every last ounce of fight inside the cage in their 5-round, 25-minute battle. Avila spent much of the contest aggressively stalking Taylor around the cage, wading through Taylor's right hand to throw a flurry of her own punches. On the ground, Avila had the edge, doing more damage when she was in control there than Taylor. But it was Taylor's accuracy with her wicked right that accumulated around Avila's soon-swollen left eye that may have swayed two of the judges who scored it 49-46, 48-47 for Taylor, while the third had it 48-47 for Avila, giving Taylor the split decision win, and the belt. One great fight! With the win, Taylor moves to 5-0 as a pro.

Just a couple of days before the co-main event, Spokane-bred Las Vegas-based Mike Hanks announced that his lightweight fight with Jason Novelli would be his last, choosing to end his fight career of 10+ years in front of family and friends at the CDA Casino. Unfortunately for Hanks, he ran into undefeated prospect Novelli who trains out of Rose City FC in Portland. The first round was a standup affair with Novelli landing kicks from all angles and being quicker on the punch. In the 2nd, the pair clinched up early and it went to the mat and although Hanks defended will, Novelli attacked every opening that Hanks gave him, eventually wearing him down and finishing the fight with a TKO ref stop at 2:21 of the 2nd. With the win, Novelli moves to 7-0. Afterwards, Hanks thanked his supporters and said he looked forward to giving back to the MMA community, sharing his knowledge through coaching. Hanks finishes his pro career at 9-4.

In a pro Heavyweight rematch, Josh Queen of Trevor Prangley's AKA avenged a 2009 1st Rd KO loss to White Buffalo Warrior's Mike Hayes, getting a unanimous decision at King of the Cage "Short Fuse". Queen won the first two rounds via takedowns and top control, while Hayes came back strong on the feet in the third. After 3 rounds of action, the judges all saw it 29-28 for Queen.

Portland-based Darrio Mobley returned to the cage after more than a year and a half away, and looked impressive in his win over Spokane's Jacob Harkness, getting the decision 30-27 on all 3 judges scorecards. The fight was to be at 170 lbs, but Mobley - making his first attempt in the weight class after 8 pro fights at middleweight - came in at 6 pounds over, giving 20% of his purse to Harkness. Some small consolation to Harkness perhaps who falls to 7-4 as a pro, while Mobley moves to 4-5.

The official Fight of the Night went to debuting pros Mark Coates of Team Execution and Zane Douglass of Trevor Prangley's AKA, both who threw down for 6+ minutes in a thrilling 125 lb contest, before Coates locked on a slick reverse guillotine choke to end the fight at 1:46 of the 2nd round.

White Buffalo Warrior's Dustin Winter moves to 3-0 as a pro with a 1st round rear naked choke of Travis Smith in a 155 lb matchup.

In a pro 160 lb catchweight bout, SoCal Fight Factory's Saad Ul-Hasan gets his first pro win with a TKO of Jeff Pool at 55 seconds into their contest.

On the amateur side of the card, Justin Rodriguez submitted opponent Matt Hopkins via armbar at 33 seconds of round 2 in a 205 lb fight.

Preston O'Neil finished his opponent Brandon Campbell with a Rear Naked Choke submission at 2:46 of the first in an amateur 135 lb contest.

Tyson Hendricks scored a TKO win over Jake Tiffany at 2:38 of round one in the amateur 125 lb weight class.

Opening the night in the amateur heavyweight division, Paul Loutzenhiser took Nick Masonholder to the ground and finished with strikes for the TKO win at 27 sec Rd 1.

King of the Cage's next stop in the Pacific Northwest is March 21st in Lincoln City OR, with the promotion's first ever event at the Chinook Winds Casino. KOTC will return to the Coeur d'Alene Casino on June 4th. More information at www.kingofthecage.com.