Earlier in the evening when Dan and I picked up our Press Passes, Steve let us know on the QT thatfighter Pete Vandervortwould be retiring and fighting his last fight that evening and was going to be the first inducted member of the Kick Down Hall of Fame. Also at the ticket booth were Steve's wife and two children. A common theme among promoters is their great regard and respect for the families who support their hobby/career.

The first fight of the evening promised to be exciting as the only Kick Boxing Girl Fight of the night between 17 year old Lavita Divan and 40 year old Melissa Secrease weighing in at 130 and 133 lbs. respectively. I had a chance to interview Lavita briefly before the match began but missed Melissa. Lavita is a very pretty young lady who works at Claire's Boutique when she isn't training. Her feminine side was evident with her carefully braided hair and glittery brow just in front of her hair line. This was only Lavita's 2 nd fight - her first fight she had lost as she was recovering from pneumonia at the time and had experienced a problem with her asthma. She anticipated a much different outcome Friday night.

This fight appeared fairly evenly matched through Rounds 1 and 2. As Round 3 began, both fighters started out aggressively but only 59 seconds into the third round, Lavita retreated to her corner and waved off the referee in a gesture of forfeiture due to an asthma attack. She left the ring before the TKO could officially be awarded to Melissa Secrease.

The second fight of the night was another Kick Boxing event between David Martinez and Brian Montoya. During the first Round, the kicks and blows were so consistently even that it was very hard to call a victor. However, as the second round began,Martinez took a punch that dropped him to the mat. Although he came back with intensity, he was driven to the ground a second time and never seemed to get his legs under him solidly again. A third trip to the mat and subsequent examination by the referee ended the bout 1 minute 30 seconds into Round 2 giving the win by TKO to Brian Montoya in his kick boxing debut.

Next on the fight card was the 145 lb. weight class MMA bout between Joe Salley and Vernon Garner. There were fans in the aisle next to me yelling at Joe Salley to "stay focused" "go Joey" "let's do it Joey".

After a series of intense punches, Garner pulls Salley on the mat and connects repeated punches to Salley's head. The referee ended the fight and awarded the win by Knock Out to Garner a short 9 seconds into Round 1.

The next set of fighters, Lawrence Gayton vs. Joe Valerdi were scheduled for three 3-minute MMA rounds although this too is a short but intense bout where the win by Knock Out is awarded to Valerdi 1 minute 39 seconds into the first Round. In the post-fight interview, Valerdi, who is now 2 - 0, thanks his wife and acknowledges that he loves the "whole atmosphere" of this sport.

The contest that followed was for the Featherweight Kick Down Men's MMA title where undefeated 7 - 0 Jason Brenton of Grand Junction was defending his belt against 1 - 0 Willy Baisley of Boulder, Co.

Brenton struck first with a fist and a knee. Baisley defended himself with fewer strikes but plenty of power. Brenton took Baisley to the ground and tried to hang onto a guillotine but Baisley escaped. The crowd absolutely got into this fight as the volume in the room swelled as patrons jumped to their feet to cheer on their favored combatant. At the end of the first round, Baisley was treated for a cut over his left eye.

In Round 2, Brenton took Baisley to the mat early by lifting him and then dropping him hard! Baisely defended himself against the onslaught of punches until the barrage becomes too great and the referee stopped the fight, awarding the win by TKO to Brenton leaving him with an undefeated record at 1 minute 4 seconds in the second round.

Brenton gives kudos to Baisley for putting up a good fight. He stated that he was glad to have won although he wished he could have had a submission. Brenton proudly reclaimed ownership of the championship belt.

During the intermission, I had the occasion to speak with three veterans of the sports - faces that I have seen at repeated venues: Clarence Thatch, the Trainer, Sensei and perceived Zen-Master who I admire more every time we meet, Curtis Thrasher - a referee with an incredibly appropriate last name (!) and Ralph Dabney, a voting member of the elite group of five voting members on the Colorado Boxing Commission - another fascinating man.

The return from intermission brought us the bout between 26 year old Jacob Thompson and 37 year old Steven Crosby in the 185 lb. weight class. As opposed to most fighters who have very little or no hair due to shaving their scalps, Crosby was notable with his long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. In spite of Thompson having two inches on Crosby, the first strike came from Crosby in the form of an audibly solid kick. The fighters took the battle to the mat where Thompson proceeded to connect with blows to Crosby's head. Crosby held him off until the referee stood up both fighters. Crosby dodged beneath a Thompson swing as both fighters strained the ropes over the table of photographers. Crosby ultimately prevailed over Thompson with a win by guillotine choke 2 minutes and 8 seconds into Round 1.

The next event was the Kick Down Lightweight MMA Title against two undefeated combatants: Nick Waters and Nathan "The Hammer" Gates. The crowd went nuts as Gates entered the room. He was accompanied by a huge entourage including a bad-looking fellow with a wickedly stiff and dramatic Mohawk.

Gates struck first with a kick but Waters reciprocated with connecting punches. The fighters clinched in a corner making the effort to get enough space between their bodies for a powerful knee to find a weakened spot in their opponent. Gates took Waters to the mat where Waters exposed his back and Gates proceeded to try to get under Waters' arms for uppercuts that just couldn't connect. Then, a mere 1 minute and 45 seconds into the first round, Gates takes the win with a rear naked choke. Gates is now undefeated at 3 - 0. As Gates leaves the auditorium, I see that the toddler with the Mohawk is part of his entourage. Son? Nephew? Son of a friend? I may never know but he seemed like an appropriate chaperone!

The next fight of the evening captured the true spirit that I seeoften in respectful competitors. Here we had Joey Welch vs. Pete Vandervort in a rematch from last January where Welch suffered a quick defeat. This was to be the final fight for Vandervort who was retiring from the ring Friday night following this, his 17 th appearance. This was also the 17 th appearance of Kickdown veteran Joey Welch and although he wasn't retiring that night, it was clear that these opponents respected each other greatly.

As Welch took the ring, there was a large contingent of fans rooting loudly for him. He dedicated the fight to his wife Debra who he loves and his son Joseph who is at home with his grandparents. It wasn't that Vandervort didn't have fans but Welchs' were louder and consisted of a whole corner of the auditorium and who were on their feet as he entered to loud rap music.

As the referee started the match, Vandervort took Welch to the ground early, holding his neck with one forearm as he struck the other repeatedly into Welch's ribs. Welch flipped Vandervort over and captured his head in a guillotine choke until Vandervort tapped-out just over a minute into Round 1.

Although Vandervort is defeated, he and Welch embraced, laughed and congratulated each other on a fight well fought. Steve Alley then pulled several local dignitaries into the ring to present Vandervort the first Kickdown Hall of Fame award with a plaque that reflected all the Kickdown contests in which he has participated. Vandervort thanked Steve Alley as well as his former Sensei, Clarence Thatch. He is awarded a Home Depot gift certificate and a lifetime pair of front row Kick Down tickets. Flashbulbs were like strobe lights as Pete collected his accolades.

Tired of my writing yet? Hang on - just two more fights!

This next fight was one of those "don't blink" moments where Daniel Douglas was making his Kick Down Professional Welterweight debut against Mark Korzionowski of the Joint Forces in Colorado Springs. Korzionowski acknowledges that he doesn't know much about his opponent other than the fact that he is dangerous. There might be a reason why Douglas is known as "The Destroyer".

The fight was over almost as it began when Douglas attacked Korzionowski with a whirlwind of punishment. Referee Jerome Watts pulled Douglas off of the bleeding Korzionowski 9 seconds into Round 1 and awarded the win to Douglas based on strikes. During the post fight interview, Douglas thanked Steve Alley for the opportunity and stated that this is "only the beginning".

The last fight of the evening was the much-anticipated Main Event Kick Down Professional Welter Weight MMA title match between Eric Heinz and Bryant Craven.

Eric Heinz entered the auditorium to the country-western song: "Thank God I'm a Country Boy". The crowd went nuts. At least half of the audience were on their feet chanting Er-ic Er-ic. The fans sitting behind me had previously had Eric as their wrestling coach. They did not sit down for the entire match. His opponent was Bryant Craven of Bountiful, Utah who had a record of 7 - 4 against Eric Heinz' of 11 - 6 and no losses in the last two years.

Round 1: Heinz made the first strike with two leg kicks. He took Craven to the ground and delivered several blows to the head as he tried to capture his left arm. Heinz took a full mount until Craven kicked him away. Heinz leapt over Craven's flailing legs and once more took a dominant position. The action suddenly quieted when Craven had flipped the pile and had inflicted several blows to the back of Heinz' head. The referee called a time-out to give Heinz time to recover which, technically, he can take up to 5 minutes. Steve Alley, the Promoter, had to call repeatedly for the audience to take their seats as boos resonated over the illegal strikes inflicted on the crowd favorite.

After nearly the entire 5 minutes had expired, Heinz came to his feet and referee Curtis Thrasher called the fighters back to action. Heinz took a dominant position over Craven on the mat and tipped him up against the ropes with his feet in the air but Craven used this position to capture Heinz' arm in a near arm-bar. Heinz escaped and flipped Cravin into a chokehold that was interrupted by the bell announcing the end of Round 1.

During the break, Craven is treated for a cut over his left eye.

Round 2: Now the chanting of Er-ic Er-ic is getting louder. Again, Heinz took the initial dominant position over Craven but gets trapped in a triangle choke from which Heinz ultimately taps out 1 minute and 4 seconds into this second round.

Craven did a winner's dance around the ring but there were few cheers. He fought a good fight but the fans were in Heinz' corner. If Heinz had not returned to the fight, he would have been awarded the win by the disqualification of Craven. I can only guess that Heinz did not want to get the win in that manner and thus decided to stand up and re-engage.

The Kick Down Professional Welter Weight MMA belt was awarded to Craven by Boxing Commissioner Josef Mason. When Craven was asked in post fight interview what he planned next, his response was: "To defend this, Babe".

As always, Steve Alley's Kick Down was an adrenalin exciting evening. Where else can one get such real competition in a pulsing exciting atmosphere at an overly-modest price? As Dan Magnie of ColoradoFightEvents.com and I left the Red Lion, we were already mapping out our calendar to be sure we didn't miss the next Denver Kick Down scheduled for November 2 nd when the proposed Feature Event will be Tom Johnson defending his title against Cris Cisneros. Can't wait!