Will Noland connects in the Fight of the Night with Leo Bercier

On Feb 13th, the King of the Cage made their return to the Coeur d'Alene Casino and held 6 pro & 2 amateur MMA bouts in front of a packed house. In the main event, two Las Vegas-based lightweight fighters were matched up, both with NW connections. Spokane native Mike "Hollywood" Hanks, who now trains in Vegas with Syndicate MMA, was fighting at the CDA Casino for a third time, going 2 for 2 in 2013. His opponent, Dave "The Pain Train" Mazany, also trains in Vegas, started his career in Alaska, and is brother to Seattle-based pro fighter Gina "Danger" Mazany. When the fight got underway, Mazany came out aggressive, moving forward and beating Hanks to the punch. Hanks tried to answer but was never really able to get going against the quicker Mazany. Midway through the round, Mazany took Hanks to the mat and began throwing strikes, breaking down Hanks' defense, until eventually referee Herb Dean had seen enough punishment and called an end to the bout at 3:41 of the first. Mazany moves to 11-4, 1 NC with the win, while Hanks suffers just his 3rd loss against 9 victories.

In the Co-Main Event, Bellator veteran Lloyd "Cupcake" Woodard of the DogPound Fight Team took on Spokane's Jerome Jones in a welterweight fight. The first round was all Woodard who got the early takedown and then utilized effective ground and pound until the bell. In the 2nd, Woodard came out striking, getting Jones against the cage and then taking him down with a double leg. He worked in some elbows before Jones was able to get it back to the feet again. After a couple exchanges in the middle, Woodard got Jones in a squatting position against the cage and blasted him with a big knee to the head, effectively ending the fight minus a couple follow up shots on the ground. The Jones' corner protested that it was an illegal shot but visual evidence showed it to be clean. The TKO came at 2:28 Rd 2.

The Fight of the Night was the brawl between AKA's Will Noland and DogPound Fight Team's Leo Bercier who battled it out in a 193 lb catchweight bout. Both fighters came out slinging leather and it was Noland catching Bercier first dropping him. But the Montana fighter survived, got back to his feet, and went back to throwing hard punches. Noland was more effective with kicks and knees in the first round, but Bercier still managed to find his way through with his shots. Both Noland and Bercier were all smiles after getting hit in the face at different points, clearly enjoying themselves in the slugfest. The 2nd round started where the first left off with more action on the feet. Noland then took it to the ground where he got Bercier in a bad position, threw down strikes, and sunk the rear naked choke at 2:24 of the round.

AKA's Daniel Swain rebounded from a tough loss last December by putting in a superior performance and getting the victory against Roy Bradshaw by Rear Naked Choke at 3:04 of the first round. Swain moves to 11-3 with the win.

Spokane's Adam "Smash" Smith picked up another pro win with a 1st round armbar submission of late replacement Adam Walkemeyer. After an initial exchange, Smith got the takedown and worked his ground game, mixing in strikes in between going for the RNC, and eventually switching to an armbar when Walkemeyer tried to escape. Walkemeyer rolled a couple times but Smith locked it in for the tap at 4:28 of the first.

Dustin Winter moves to 2-0 as a pro with an efficient submission via Rear Naked Choke of Skyler Bonner at 52 seconds of the first round in their featherweight matchup.

King of the Cage is returning to the CDA Casino on May 22nd for another exciting night of Pro/Am MMA action. Visit kingofthecage.com for more info.