Friday night, February 22^nd, Softball Country Sports Center was transformed from an indoor industrial practice space into a professional arena with drama-smoke, rap music, stadium seating and swirling spotlights among the roof trusses.  The entire place was spanking clean (including the Ladies' Room which somehow even stayed that way throughout the evening)!  In spite of a busy bar scene, enthusiasm was allowed to express itself but I didn't observe anyone being unruly.  Perhaps that was "helped" by the very visible presence of Security Personnel but even Sven Bean and his wife Lisa seemed to be able to relax and enjoy themselves with their guests and sponsored fighters.

Sean Johnson vs T.J. LaBaron 

165lbs K-1 Rules Kickboxing

Ended in a Majority Draw 

The evening started with two Kick Boxing matches.  The first was in the 165 lb. weight class between Sean Johnson and T. J. Miner.  Although Johnson's style was more classical with artful kicks, Miner seemed to take the advantage in Round 1 with some staggering punches to the head.  In Round 2, Miner delivered a seemingly inadvertent illegal knee to the head for which Referee Thrasher gave him a warning before restarting the bout.  Both fighters gave it their "all" in the 3^rd Round before the decision was turned over to the judges who voted:  29 - 28 (Miner)  28 - 28 and  28 - 28 resulting in a majority "Araw".

Ben Deanda vs Akil Shareef

165lbs K-1 Rules Kickboxing

Akil wins by Split Decision

 The next fight was again at 165 lbs. between Ben De Anda and Akil Shareef.  This was De Anda's ring debut but his High Altitude support team was extremely strong with both Nate Marquardt and Brandon Thatch in his corner.  The first round consisted mostly of the fighters checking each other out but the second round saw an increase in intensity from both fighters as knee strikes were traded fairly equally.  As the bell sounded the beginning of Round 3, Shareef came out in a flurry, knocking De Anda to the mat.  After a short consciousness check, the fight was restarted.  The win decision was again made by the judges who voted:  30 - 27 (Shereef)  29 - 28 (De Anda)  29 - 28 (Shereef) making the winner by split decision, Akil Shareef.

The first MMA fight of the evening was between John Bryant of Wichita, KS and Sundar Mims of Glenwood Springs.  This was Mims' debut and he immediately engaged as the bell announced the beginning of Round 1, coming out aggressively to take dominance early.  However Bryant's experience paid off when 1:26 into Round 1, he forced a submission tap-out when he caught Mims in a heel hook.

The next bout was again a Kick Boxing match, this time at 132 lbs. between Sean Doherty and Aaron Trujillo - both Ring of Fire veterans.  The fight went all three rounds with what I considered to be a Draw in the first round but Doherty then came out of his corner in the second round after receiving some sound coaching from his corner, Anne Whipple and took control.  The judges voting went:  28 - 28,  28 - 27 (Doherty) and 28 - 27 (Doherty) giving the win by majority decision to Sean Doherty.

I have to hand it to Sven Bean - he knows how to build crowd anticipation.  Just prior to intermission, he had paired two fighters that were sure to fire-up the fans.  First to be introduced was Tyler Rodgers out of Glenwood Springs who was making his MMA debut.  It's hard to believe that the second fighter, Brian "Seraiah" Wood, was only entering the ring for the second time in this chapter of his career.  The audience erupted into wild cheers as at least half of them leapt to their feet to scream their welcome for the popular trainer, former body-builder and owner of Next Level Sports.  Brian calmly stepped into the ring after receiving quiet pearls of strategic wisdom from his Sensei/Corner Stephen Joffe, bowed with sincere respect to his fans and took his position to await the opening bell.  Although in Wood's first fight experience at Sven Bean's Ring of Fire when he submitted his opponent in seconds, this fight went nearly the full three rounds.  From the first round when Wood picked up Rodgers decisively and dropped him onto his back, Wood dominated the match.  There were several times when he would pound on Rodgers, much to the screaming delight of his fans who clearly wanted to see him make mincemeat of his opponent but that isn't the style of "Seraiah", the Yoga Spiritualist as well as MMA contestant.  Ultimately 2:29 seconds into Round 3, Wood forced a tap-out from Tyler Rodgers when he constricted him in a head and arm triangle choke.  Needless to say, the arena erupted as his arm was raised in victory!

Following an intermission where drinks were refreshed, the excitement was clearly becoming electric at anticipation of the 3 remaining bouts and there was no disappointment as they unfolded.

The first event to unfold as the crowd re-found their seats - I don't think anyone left at intermission - was an MMA match-up between Chris Saucedo of Scotts Bluff, Ne and
 local "Sir Kenneth Ivan" Seegrist.  If a fighter is motivated by the amount of crowd recognition he gets, it must be tough on the combatants who come in from out-of-town.  Although there was polite applause when Saucedo entered the arena, Seegrist was obviously a local favorite as again, the cheers built to a crescendo as he got closer to the ring.  At the opening bell, Saucedo moved to take Seegrist to the mat when Seegrist flipped him over and took the dominant position.  It only took "Sir Kenneth Ivan" 1:01 into the first round before he took Saucedo in a firm guillotine choke causing Saucedo to tap-out.  Seegrist had told me in a pre-event interview that when he experienced his first loss that it would be a learning experience that would be valuable to his continuing growth.  That lesson will have to wait for another time as he left the ring to receive the accolades of well-wishers with his new record of 7 - 0.

The only belt event of the evening was the next bout for the vacated BattleQuest Light Heavyweight Championship between Ted von Roll of Oakland, CA and local favorite, Cody Donovan.  This contest could have more accurately been described as a competition for the winner of Street vs. Ring - Training vs. Reaction.  Donovan was cornered by Black Belts, Nate Marquardt and Eliot Marshall - not shabby support!  As the fight began, most of the audience was crouched in their seats tensely waiting to witness the verdict between the popular Donovan and the bad-looking, heavily inked von Roll.  When von Roll tapped out 1:08 into the first round when he was caught in an Arm Bar, the entire crowd came to their feet roaring with approval.  Donovan was awarded the belt as the new BattleQuest Light Heavyweight Champion while acknowledging this just award.  Prior to this event, I had interviewed von Roll and I suspect this loss gives him a new appreciation for the discipline of precise training.  Von Roll is strong, ferocious and he will be very dangerous.  Donovan is skilled and had the crowd buoying his performance every second.  Von Roll will be back and he will be a competitor to be reckoned with.  But . . . he did get what he has come to appreciate in ring fighting vs. his previous street venues and that was the hug and handshake that is exchanged in this environment - win or lose!

The only professional bout of the evening was The Main Event between two local contenders, Brett Roller out of Colorado Springs and Tyler "Thunder" Toner from Aurora, Co.  There were certainly fans for both of these popular fighters but the most noise seemed to be for Tyler (or was it just that the music was louder)?  As the bell introduced the beginning of Round 1, Roller catapulted out of his corner with such speed that it appeared his strategy might be to be too fast to be caught.  However, the energy backfired as Toner caught Roller in a triangle choke causing a tap-out a mere 55 seconds into Round 1.  The fighters exchanged spirited hugs with both of them sporting big grins.

The evening was over but the crowd mingled to share some phone-photos with their favorite fighters who continued to mill with the audience.  As the excitement of the evening had grown, it was easy to forget that most of these bouts had been amateur fights.  The talent observed in some of the earlier bouts will surely be elevated to the more challenging professional circuit.  I plan to be along for the ride to say:  "I knew them when . . . "