| Warfare Xtreme: Carnage in Hutchinson |
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| By Mitchell Hargrave | |
| Monday, 30 June 2008 | |
| Last Updated ( Monday, 30 June 2008 ) |
Not your typical Saturday night event in Hutchinson. Not the typical use of the Grand Prairie Convention Center, where I've attended a few classier events. This evening, however, a cage stood in the middle of the room, in which guys from around Kansas could beat the heck out of each other. What's Up, Hutch was fortunate enough to be offered an opportunity to go to Warfare Xtreme Cagefighting for free, and Dave and I were fortunate to be the ones to go and cover it (almost makes me feel like one of them fancy journalists).
Before the show started, I was standing in line for a b - er - tasty non-alcoholic beverage, and I heard through the grapevine that one of the fights planned for the evening wasn't going to happen, due to a fighter dropping out. That fighter could later be seen walking around on crutches, which a more skeptical writer would assume were employed only to keep cold feet from touching the ground. Not me, though. I'm not that kind of skeptic.
When the lights went out, Hutchinson native and Lightweight Champion Joe "the Nose" Wilk came on stage, and informed everyone of another fight which wouldn't happen. It appears that everyone lined up to fight him had come down with a "medical condition," the name of which I can't appropriately mention on this site. Take my word that it sufficiently summed up his lack of competition. He then called out anyone around 155lbs who might want to challenge him.
The majority of the fights that evening were fairly short. Only two of them went to the second round, and the majority of them didn't even make it to three minutes. Hutchinson fighters included Richard Westmoland, who beat Bob McCaleb (also from Hutch) in just over two minutes after some good takedowns and a reversal.
Rigo "Loco" Garcia of Hutchinson took the ring to much audience excitement. His match against Brandon "B-Rad" Bietz (Salina) was the first to go to a second round, though it was fairly one-sided. The crowd exploded with local pride when Rigo won. He then gave a speech which lasted longer than most of the other matches. After the intermission, he also returned to add that he forgot to thank his girlfriend (woops!).
Violence typically inspires violence. I nearly witness an awesome chick fight in the hallway of the Grand Prairie during intermission. There was some squawking at one another and one attempted shove, but nothing else before security broke it up. That's a shame, because I had my phone out and was prepared to take some video. That would have made up for the lack of girl fighters, as were promised in the poster.
Mikey "Left Hook" Glenn brought Hutch fighters to a quick 3-0 record, beating Jon Stevens in a mere 22 seconds. The next round between Gregg Van De Creek of Manahattan and Tyler Cortis was even shorter, as Van De Creek made short work of Cortis by immediately lifting him over his head, then slamming him to the ground, where he hit him several times in the head. I wouldn't have traded spots with Cortis for a brand new Lexus.
The main event was the highly respected pro fighter and Jiu Jitsu Blackbelt Ernest "Thunder" Bell against Ron "Homocide" Jackson of Kansas City. Things looked bleak for Bell early on when Jackson took him to the ground with a devastating slam. That's where Bell stayed the rest of the first round, with the exception of being picked up and dropped again. The loyal crowd chanted encouragement to Bell, which kept him in the fight and brought some near reversals. Ultimately, though, Jackson came back in the second round to throw Bell to the ground again and win the fight.
The fights were followed by Aranda concert, but we weren't able to stay for that, because it was well past my bed time by then. Congratulations to all fighters for having the guts to participate in that event, win or lose. And thank you to everyone that worked to put that together. It's always nice to have a little change of pace in Hutchinson.
Look for a DVD of the previous March even 'Destruction' to be available on July 31st. Warfareextreme.com for more details.
Video from the Show:
The crowd before the show and the ring.
Dave pesters the EMTs before.
!!!!!!BELOW THIS LINE IS SOME FIGHT FOOTAGE, SO PLEASE BE WARNED!!!!!!
Richard Westmoland and Rob McCaleb, both of Hutchinson
Things started looking good for Ernest Bell (red trunks), but only briefly, unfortunately.
Round two didn't go much better.
Didn't your momma teach you to share? Share us.
Users' Comments (4) |
 06-30-2008 19:52, , Guest 07-01-2008 08:52, , Guest  07-01-2008 10:22, , Registered I thought they should have used the projection screens to show the fights, as well. While I think it's cool for the business that comes with the fights to go to the Grand Prairie, I agree that maybe they need somewhere with a little better seating. Especially with so many people standing on their chairs. How cool would it be if this event got big enough that it necessitated the sports arena? Maybe with the right amount of time and support, it'll happen. 07-03-2008 07:31, , Guest Really I getting impression on martial arts training when I saw your video. |
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