Enoch Wilson enroute to victory in the main event of Prime Fighting 3

Prime Fighting presented their 3rd Pro/Am MMA show - Prime Fighting III - on March 8th at the Clark County Event Center in Ridgefield WA with 3 amateur and 5 pro bouts that provided plenty of memorable action for the lucky fans on hand. In the main event, Enoch "The Animal" Wilson of Animals MMA won the Prime Fighting 145 lb Title with a 1st round RNC submission of Team Avelar's Omar Avelar. From the opening bell, Wilson was the aggressor, stalking Avelar around the cage and landing numerous body kicks as he moved in and out of range. A Wilson 1-2 combo was followed by a clearly audible kick to Avlear's neck that set the crowd abuzz. Later in the round, Avelar countered in an exchange and back pedaled along the fence, but Wilson was in hot pursuit and caught him with a knee that sent Avelar to the mat. Avelar defended as a standing Wilson had hold of his legs and looked to move past with strikes. Wilson then dropped down and took Avelar by the neck and as the pair stood up, landed a knee to Avelar's head. Avelar dropped again but quickly arose, trying to escape. However, Wilson was on him and dragged Avelar to the canvas. From there, Wilson took Avelar's back, threw a few softening strikes, and sunk the choke, getting the tap at 4:10 of the first round. With the win, Wilson becomes the first ever Prime Fighting Pro Featherweight Champion.

The Fight of the Night came in the Co-main Event between two big heavyweights in Progressive Jiu-jitsu's Chris De La Rocha and Yakima MMA's Richard Foster. The tone was set from the first exchange as the two fighters came out slinging hard leather and neither looking to play it safe. At 6'6" 250 lbs and 6'4" 240 lbs respectively, both Foster and De La Rocha are definitely full-sized heavyweights but both still displayed an amazing amount of agility and quickness for big men. Foster got a takedown midway through the first but it quickly went back to the feet again. Late in the round, Foster rocked De La Rocha with a series of punches including a wicked uppercut that snapped De La Rocha's head back. The bell for the end of the round saved De La Rocha who somehow remained upright as he made his way back to his corner on seriously unsteady legs. The ringside doctor had a close look and nearly called it, but he allowed the fight to continue. In the 2nd round, Foster connected with a solid left and followed up with hard shots that drove De La Rocha across the cage. When De La Rocha bent over to cover up, Foster couldn't resist grabbing his neck and dropping into guard for the guillotine. De La Rocha though was in no danger, pulled his neck free and was in top position to drop a shot or two. Foster scrambled and got hold of De La Rocha for a double leg takedown against the cage. De La Rocha though was able to reverse position and began pounding away from the top with his heavy hands. Foster rolled to escape but De La Rocha took his back and then transitioned to a fight ending armbar at the 3:34 mark. Cue the crowd going crazy! With the come-from-behind win, De La Rocha moves to 2-0 as a pro, while Foster falls to 3-2.

In a pro 205 lb bout, 41 year old Jason "The Hitman" Pittman of 503 West Coast Jiu-jitsu scored a 1st round knockout of Justin Milani of Team Reckless. When the fight got underway, the pair went against the cage and clinched up. Pittman saw the opportunity to take it to the mat and once there, he never gave Milani any daylight, controlling the action on the ground until the finish. Milani looked as if he might escape the Pittman ground assault, standing up and driving Pittman against the cage. Pittman though worked the clinch game to a T, eventually riding Milani to the mat again where he was in perfect position to land power shots that put Milani to sleep at 2:54 of the first round. With the victory, Pittman moves to 2-0 as a pro.

In the lightweight division, Fisticuff Gym's Jason Novelli won his 4th pro bout against zero defeats by finishing debuting fighter Abraham Campos of Solid Base Jiu-jitsu in the 2nd round via TKO. The first half of the first round saw the fighters trade on the feet, with Novelli effective in landing kicks to the body. The pair clinched up against the cage and Novelli landed some nice knees. Campos grabbed a leg and pushed Novelli across the cage, but it was Novelli who executed a super slick takedown and took top position. From there, Novelli switched into overdrive, raining down numerous elbow strikes and punches that nearly finished Campos. But Campos was able to defend well enough to survive to the bell. In the 2nd, again Novelli was the more effective striker on the feet before locking up Campos and tossing him to the canvas. Novelli sensed the end was near and again went into overdrive, furiously pounding Campos with elbows and fists. The ringside doctor had a clear view of the damage being done and stood up to implore the referee to stop the fight which was done at the 1:46 mark. For his effort, Novelli was awarded the Prime Fighitng Knockout of the Night award.

Opening the pro bouts was a 170 lb matchup between debuting fighters Alex Alvarez of Solid Base Jiu-jitsu and Rose City FC's Ryan Walker. Alvarez took the win via decision in a technical standup fight that saw both fighters display their striking skills. While Walker was never out of the fight and showed a tremendous amount of heart, Alvarez was clearly better on the feet, beating Walker to the punch time and again, mixing in combos with the occasional kick to the legs or body. Walker tried taking it to the mat a few times but Alvarez had excellent takedown defense and so it stayed upright. In the end, two judges saw it 30-27 and the third 30-26 for Alvarez.

Gladiator MMA fighter Steve Southern utilized effective takedowns and ground control in his amateur 150 lb catchweight contest against Fisticuff Gym's Ru Kamara, with the three judges awarding Southern the unanimous decision 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.

Abdul Kamara of Fisticuffs Gym took home a unanimous decision win over Colby Grayson of Team Reckless in a amateur 145 lb bout, with all 3 judges seeing it 30-27 in Kamara's favor.

Opening the night in the amateur 145 lb division, Fisticuffs Gym's Carlos Elizondo got a 1st round TKO win over Lucas Regian of Team Reckless by way of ground strikes.

Prime Fighting IV will be back at the Clark County Fairgrounds on May 17th.
Learn more about Prime Fighting at primefighting.com.