I have attended I few Rage in the Cage events, since about 2002 or so, and it always has been a good local venue to watch guys scrap it out. Last night Rage in the Cage rolled back their prices and delivered a miraculous card full of amateur and professional fighters who kept my eyes glued for over four hours of martial arts excellence. Twenty dollars for four hours of high grade fighting is hard to find especially in such a personal arena like the Celebrity Theater in Arizona. Originally booked for 23 fights, I believe some fighters pulled out with last second injuries or weight cutting issues and the count was closer to sixteen fights. I don’t know how many of our readers have seen local shows, but there always seems to be a large difference in talent between amateur and pro fights, and obvious mismatches. Last night I saw no true mismatches and the level of talent of the amateur fighters were down right unreal. Let me paint a picture; there were incredible suplexes, flying armbar attempts, nasty ground and pound and submissions, and Rampage type slams. There were striker vs. BJJ matches and heavyweight slugfests. I saw everything from great technical boxing, perfect muay Thai leg kicks, and even the occasional superman punch or spinning back fist. I felt like I was feet away from a UFC cage, just with some fighters I did not know of. I even came across one of the Lally brothers from Arizona Combat Sports (who corners in the UFC) and Benson Henderson (WEC lightweight champion). There was even a title fight on the card, between two very professional fighters, and upcoming event and prize giveaways. I have heard people around Arizona have mixed reviews about RITC events, but it seems like Roland Sarria has listened to the fans and greatly improved his promotion over the years. What he brought to the stage last night was an action packed thrill ride that delivered what we fans all love at its best, Great MMA fights.

Below are play by plays and honorable mentions of the night that will stick in my head for a long time to come. (I apologize for spelling of names or if I leave anyone out)

Fight one– Travis Wallace vs. Derek Kenney (145lb) – I believe this was a good fight choice for the first fight of the night. They met in the middle of the ring and scrapped for the whole first round. They were 145’ers and had great hand speed and technical striking. I wouldn’t want to judge that first round, due to the amount of strikes and how fast paced this fight was and this was continued in rounds 2-3. By the end of this fight I knew it would be close and Travis edged out Derek in a split Decision win. Very fast paced and exciting fight to pump up the whole crowd!

Fight two– Ricky Felice vs. Steve Mullenex (165lb) – Not to much to say, other than Ricky won by a very dominant Unanimous decision. It showed the importance of attending a MMA school and not fighting freestyle.

Fight three– Nick Rhoads vs. Chris McGraw (155lb) – I started thinking wow this is going to be a long night, can my heart take 15 slugfests that last every round? Well this fight started out fast paced, fighters circling and fighting technically, and I was getting into it.  Then Chris rushed in for a takedown maybe 15 seconds left in the first round, and was quickly wrapped up in a deep guillotine and tapped. Nice submission finish by Nick.

Fight five– Joe Schmitt vs. James Walker (170lb) Another very good fight, back and forth all three rounds, and just when I thought this was going to go to decision, Joe slapped a triangle choke on Jimmy with just 30 seconds left in the fight. Wow, Joe refused to let this fight go to the cards, and did what he needed to do to pull off an impressive choke and win.

Fight six– Nadeem Al-Hasan vs. Jaymes Schulte (160lb) Nadeem really showcased wrestling in MMA, and this fight was full of big slams even Suplexes. Nadeem, rocking the Last Round Best gear pulled out an impressive Unam. Decision

Fight seven– Job Mills vs. Nick Stamas (175lb) I honestly give props to the guys who don’t train at gyms for having the heart to step in the ring. I know it’s a tough economy, the only thing I would suggest is rolling/sparring with guys who do train before your fight or it will show.  Job crack Mills almost instantly tko’ing him and transitioned straight into an anaconda choke for the 24 second fight finish in the first round.

Fight eight– Desmond Squires vs. Brandon Brown (170lb) Brandon came all the way from Cali (Brandon Vera’s Gym) to get a taste of Arizona Mixed Martial arts. Desmond made us proud with first round dominance and a nasty head kick to GnP tko in round 2. I think Brandon’s eye was grazed by a toe in the head kick, and the GnP really had an effect of him. He had a hard time walking out of the cage, but I think he will be back better than ever.

Fight nine– Clifford Starks vs. Reyez Ortiz (205lb) Lets just say this fight made me mad at the point system in MMA once again. Reyez has some fast and brutal striking, Clifford has great wrestling and timing on his takedowns. Reyes obliterated the leg of Clifford In ever round but was taken down in every round as well. On the ground Clifford did little to nothing (lay and pray) until the 3^rdround where he busted Reyez’s nose. Honestly if the fight was based on damage and dominance I would have gave it to Reyez, but the judges Felt Clifford’s wrestling was enough, and he won the split decision.

Fight ten– John Moraga vs. Evan Morton (135lb) Fight of the night for me! Evan is a tough dude and even though he was beat the whole fight never gave up mentally or physically. John has great boxing and submissions, Evan held on for dear life till the bell in one round. At one point of the fight John had Evan Clinched against the cage, Evan seemed to be working his takedown defense quite well. John grabbed Evan and threw him over in a back flip suplex pretty much on his head. I have never seen this in MMA off the cage, I don’t think I will ever see it again. What an awesome fight this was! John won his Decision Unanimously but seemed frustrated he could not finish.

Fight eleven– Matt Betzold (137lb one leg amputated) vs. Ty Upshur (145lb) I have never seen a fight with a guy who seemed to be in a lose lose situation, but Matt impressed us all. Matt met Ty in the middle of the ring and swung fearlessly at Ty and scored a single leg takedown early in the fight. Matt may weigh 137 pounds but he has the frame and wrestling abilities of a welterweight. All three rounds were full of takedowns and absolutely brutal Ground and Pound by matt. He also was trying sub attempt after sub attempt on Ty, in every round. Ty was no slouch and he almost knocked out Matt late in the third round. Matt won the Unam. Decision and the crowd erupted in cheers. What an inspiration this guy now is to me, and defiantly made our hearts warm last night.

Fight twelve– Christian Grosinsky vs. Dano Moore (190lb) submission of the night fight for sure. They met in the middle and exchanged strikes resulting in a clinch. Christian jumped a guillotine attempt and I thought he was going to get slammed he was very high in the air. Dano bull rushed him into the cage, Both these guys were very powerful. Christian rode out the drive and once it hit the mat executed a beautiful transition to armbar. This fight ended almost as fast as it started, less than 40 seconds into the first round. Christian has a bright future and I think he has potential in making it into the big dogs of MMA (UFC / Strikeforce). Can’t wait to see this guy fight again!

Fight thirteen – Jeremy Larsen vs. Tim Holden (175lb) This was my KO of the night. About one minute into the first round Jeremy tko’d Jeremy in a very fast and exciting fashion.

Fight fourteen– Chris Gruetzmachervs. Eric Regan (165lb) Chris attends the MMA lab here in AZ and had lightweight champ Benson Henderson in his corner. Chris was a mirror image of Ben in his fight With Cerrone. He used his wrestling and body punishment every round and just destroyed the other guy. I swear he threw over 400 body shots in that fight, and impressed the heck out of me.

Fight Fifteen– Alex Garcia vs. Joe Cronin (170lb) Joe is the hometown hero for Rage in the cage (looks like the joker) and this was obvious in the fighter introductions. Alex just seemed to have his card last night. Alex had very good wrestling and brutally effective ground and pound. At times I thought he knocked Joe out with it, but Joe has very fast recovery time. Alex was very impressive and has remarkable cardio, wrestling control, and ground punishment. Alex is the well deserved new champion, I also look forward to seeing him fight again. To watch the video of the fight visit the RITC site.

Everything was great about the night and I will most defiantly make the trip to watch these fights again. The Referee’s were extremely intelligent and on point with their in fight decisions. The judges were relevant, and did great overall, and the fighters were all full of class. The only thing I would change about the whole event, would be the film crew. On the big screen you could not always see what was going on due to only one camera on one side of the cage. I would add one more camera guy across the cage and the ability to film from different angles. On a scale from one to ten based on all of the local MMA shows I have seen in my day, last night was a nine and  half. I am impressed and hope more Arizonans catch on, there is no reason every single show Roland organizes is not sold out, especially with him rolling back the prices for the fans.

Written by: Matthew Wheeler (Staff Writer)