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Rise Fighting Championship - July 8th, 2006

The Portland Expo Center - Portland, Oregon

Review by Michael Angelo

Ringside Photography by Omar Santiago

Additional Photography by Mike Renouard


Island Promotions, LLC introduced the inaugural Rise Fighting Championship

to the fight fans of Portland, Oregon by bringing top talent from around

the nation (along with providing health insurance and accommodations

for each of the fighters) to battle it out at the Portland Expo Center.

Being scheduled on the same night as UFC 61, there still was a

decent draw of fans ready to see action LIVE & in person;

and with a very professionally run event and an evenly matched card,

 Rise FC did not disappoint. Ring announcer Amin Mottahed began the evening

introducing the fighters from the Blue Corner, then the Red Corner,

as the fighters all came to the ring in old-fashioned Pride-style.

After meeting our warriors for the evening, we were treated to a great

highlight reel of "The Prodigy", BJ Penn, and then BJ himself came to the ring

for a quick interview where he took the time to express his gratitude towards

the fight fans of the Northwest. Shortly thereafter... it was time to RISE!


RiseFC1-102-copy.jpg (118150 bytes)

 

Bout 1: Welterweight (170 lbs)
Derek Stradler (The Bulls Pen - Waipahu, HI) vs. Michael Groves (Brad Daddis & Lloyd Irvin - Philadelphia, PA) ended in No Contest / Incidental Contact


Stradler started this match with swift takedowns, but both fighters had good submission attempts and defense for each other throughout the First Round. Early in the Second, Groves ate a groin kick that he was unable to answer to within the allotted 5 minute period,

forcing the bout into a No Contest.

 

Bout 2: Heavyweight (205 lbs)
Kelly Gray (Team Mica - Las Vegas, NV) defeated

Kile Beck (Portland Thai Boxing - Portland, OR) by Unanimous Decision


For all three rounds, Kelly Gray & Kile Beck gave us some good grappling, striking, and clinch work, never letting up on the heavy hands. Both fighters showed great conditioning & kept the fight moving at a good pace for heavyweights. Although there were a couple of "incidental contact" issues in the first round, both fighters showed good spirit & put on an entertaining fight. After three rounds the Unanimous Decision went to Gray for dominating the majority of the bout with thunderous slams & knees.


Bout 3: Welterweight (170 lbs)
JD Chatelain (Team Megaton - Eugene, OR) defeated James "Iron Fist"

Apgar (Real Combat Martial Arts - Pittsburgh, PA) by Rear Naked Choke @ 2:29 Rd 1


After a strong take down of James Apgar, JD Chatelain quickly landed a ton of bombs on Apgar from the mount. Apgar was eventually unable to intelligibly defend himself, causing the ref to stop the fight at 2:29 in the 1st round.


Bout 4: Lightweight (155 lbs)
Lorenzo "El Gayo Negro" Moreno (The Bulls Pen) defeated

 Brent Primus (Team Megaton) by Knockout @ 1:32 Rd 1


Moreno dominated the First Round with superior striking & leg kicks until

he dropped Primus with a clean, but brutal knock-out at 1:32 in the First Round.

Lorenzo Moreno was explosive as hell in his first bout in Oregon.


Bout 5: Middleweight Bout (185 lbs)
Blas "The Disciple" Avena (Team Mica) defeated "Friendly" Frank Carotenuto (Federation of Vadha Kempo, Newark, NJ) via Armbar 1:02, Rd 1


Avena blasted Carotenuto with a nasty head kick and vicious strikes

that dropped Frank, allowing Avena to slam downward

to a decisive finishing armbar at 1:02 First Round.


Bout 6: Lightweight (155 lbs)
Josh Long (Straight Blast Gym - Portland, OR) defeated

Tyler Moug (DFCC - Roseburg, OR) via Guillotine Choke 1:11, Rd 1


Tyler Moug & Josh Long banged for most of the duration of this quick fight

until Long aggressively jumped into a guillotine choke, fell to guard

& secured the submission for the "Big V".


Bout 7: PRO BOUT, Lightweight (145 lbs)
Andy Lukesh (Straight Blast Gym) defeated

Khristan "The Sandman" Geraci (Real Combat Martial Arts) by TKO, 1:57, Rd 2


Lukesh dominated the First Round on the ground with strikes & hard knees from the side

mount. Lukesh took Geraci down in the Second Round, passed guard to mount, and

dropped the bombs until the ref stopped the bout at 1:57.


Bout 8: PRO BOUT, Main Event, Lightweight (145 lbs):
Keisuke Andrews (Straight Blast Gym) defeated

Albert "Always Bad" Manners (BJ Penn MMA - Hilo, HI) by Unanimous Decision


Andrews dominated the First Round with 3 takedowns and superior grappling and submission attempts, almost finishing the fight with an ankle lock that had Manners grimacing in pain. The Second Round was a grappling clinic put on by Andrews, displaying smooth position transitioning, guard passing, submission attempts, and strikes. Manners survived one armbar attempt that had his arm resembling Gumby's. The Last Round was the war of the night. Back-and-forth action had Keisuke Andrews' hometown audience on their feet franticly chanting his name. In the end, the Unanimous Decision went to Andrews, but without a question "Bad Manners" brought a battle and delivered the Fight of the Night with Andrews.


Many THANKS to RiseFC's exclusive photographer, Omar Santiago,

for his contribution to NWFS with his fantastic images.

 

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