Cage Fighting Comes to Tucson

by Yael Grauer


Former K1 champ Rick Roufus (right) talking smack to Joey Rivera

Closed-fist fighting finally came to Tucson on April 25th, courtesy of Mixed Martial Arts Proving Ground promoter Veon McCarrell. The event, billed Cage Rumble Cage Fighting, featured four amateur kickboxing bouts, six MMA battles and one MMA exhibition match, all taking place at the Tucson Convention Center. Here's our play-by-play:

Kickboxing

Jesse "James" Lane from American Karate Kickboxing School engaged in battle with Josh "Mr. Grin" Bossardet from Fortitude University. Although Bossardet clearly was the better fighter that night, Jesse Lane was very polished and demonstrated some impressive skills. He landed a huge kick to the head at the end of the 3rd round. Bossardet won the bout by unanimous decision.

Fighting out of Roxy Fight Club, Nic Vigil appeared to be completely outclassed by a crisper opponent. Sun Devil Combat Sports' Alec Martinez simply shook off any punishment Vigil handed him while dishing out even more of his own. Martinez won by unanimous decision.

Luis Romero from Ultima engaged in three rounds of battle with Davis Lions from Roxy Fight Club. Although Lions got an early takedown, Romero seemed to have a slight edge and won by split decision.

In the co-main event, Bobby Lane from American Karate-Kickboxing School faced off against Messer Resen from Rosales Kickboxing in Albuquerque. At times looking like a seasoned MMA fighter who could easily transition into smooth throws or takedowns, Lane dished out a steady stream of inside leg kicks and some great head kicks. Arguably the most polished fighter of the night, Lane won the bout by unanimous decision.


Bobby Lane celebrating his decision win over Messer Resen

MMA

Dustin Sanders from Golden Cobra in Camp Verde stepped out to fight Jeff "Raptor" Santos. Santos trains at Southwest MMA, which is Drew Fickett's camp. Sanders ended up on bottom and was the victim of some vicious ground and pound from mount. Santos won by unanimous decision.

Tim Worth, also from Southwest MMA, went toe-to-toe with Nick Smith from Sun Devil Combat Sports. In the first round, Worth got an immediate takedown, passed into half guard and then guard and got mount. He finished the round with another slam after a failed armbar attempt. Smith had a nice guillotine attempt before losing by an
armbar in the second round.

Tim Worth celebrating his submission win over Nick Smith

Andy Perez from Tres Amigos Fight Club competed in a bout against AKS MMA's Rick Nicholas. Perez came out swinging, got some good takedowns and eventually was able to advance to side control, and then mount. Rick escaped from an armbar at the end of the first round. Both fighters again came out swinging wildly in the 2nd round and Nicholas landed a hard slam. Again he got put in an armbar, and spun around with his arm still trapped. Andy Perez took this fight in the 2nd round by armbar.

Manny "Mr. Fresh" Morales (Tres Amigos Fight Club) faced Sabian "the Joker" Curtis (the guy with the Hatchman tattoo). Morales scored a quick takedown and then dished out some not-quite-an-armbar move. Much to Curtis' dismay, the ref stopped the bout at 1 minute and 12 seconds into the first round, claiming that the technique could have led to a dislocated shoulder. The event promoter Veon McCarell told the booing audience that they should sign up to fight.

Jesse "Outlaw" Tucker was set to fight Everett Dorsey from Rosales MMA in Albuquerque. Tucker was armed with two of Tucson's star fighters, George Roop and Ed West, in his corner. He got an early takedown and some shots to the body and survived an omaplata attempt by Dorsey. In the second round, Tucker followed a nice leg kick with an easy takedown and again survived an omaplata attempt, advancing from guard to mount to side mount and sinking in a Darce choke. Jesse Tucker won by submission (Darce choke) in the second round.

Felipe "the Tank" Pablo fought Brock Lesnar lookalike Joey Yager. Yager scored some decent takedowns and dished out some vicious ground and pound from rear mount, and ultimately won by unanimous decision.

And the main event of the evening was an exhibition match, where Joey Rivera from APEX MMA set out to fight Rick Roufus from the Lab in Glendale. Sporting a 15-5 record in MMA (and an extensive boxing and kickboxing record as well), former K1 champ Roufus weighed in at 214 lbs. I give Rivera a lot of props for even taking the fight, since he came in at 179 lbs. Rivera, a 2-0 MMA fighter with a lot of judo under his belt, held his own in the first round and managed to get an early takedown in round number 2. From there he got side control and secured a rear naked choke. Roufus' reaction was unclear and looked like he was attempting some punches in the face and missing, but the referee determined that this was a tap and called a stop to the fight, declaring Joey Rivera the winner by submission (RNC).

Joey "Boom Boom" Rivera, Apex Mixed Martial Arts

The next Cage Rumble Cage Fighting event will take place at the Tucson Expo Center on June 27, 2009. For more information, check out http://www.CageRumbleAZ.com.

(Todd Butkowski also contributed to this article.)