Friday, September 18, 2009

By Isaac Kuhlman

  Tuff-N-Uff's Amateur Fighting Championship hosted a dual title fight promotion on Friday Night, and fighters Chris Holdsworth and Jerry Shapiro proved why they are deserving of the belts. In other action of the night, Jason Walraven of Cobra Kai (Victorville) won a knock-down-drag-out war against Xtreme Couture's Patrick Begin, and local fighters Gor Mnatsakanyan (Filipino MMA) and Rob Anderson (Warrior Training Center) put their stamp on their opponents in action-packed 3-round decisions. Brandon Sheard of Alliance Training Center (Chula Vista) came back in a heavier weight class than his last fight, and ground-and-pounded his way to a TKO victory.

  Chris Holdsworth has made his mark in the Amateur ranks as a BJJ black belt out of Cobra Kai Las Vegas, and tonight was no different.  After a triangle choke that defeated his last opponent and a reputation as a grappler, Holdsworth looked to prove that he is no one-trick pony. He stunned his opponent Cameron Ramirez with a quick 1-2 combo, and quickly jumped on his fallen opponent and didn't stop punching until the referee jumped in to stop the fight. The fight was called at 1:31 of round 1, and Holdsworth looks to be the true champion of the 145-lbs. division.

Monday, September 14, 2009

By Isaac Kuhlman

  After UNLV's fourth-quarter-field-goal loss to Oregon State, I began to wonder if the Beavers were overrated or the Rebels were underestimated. Obviously, in college football the home field is really a big advantage, but when looking at the game, it was hard to justify a cheering section being the difference in the game. In fact, if it wasn't for two guys with the last name Rodgers, UNLV would've been the better overall team. Another question that arises, however, is who should take the reins at quarterback?

  In all fairness to his hard work, Omar Clayton may deserve the spot, and considering that he is such a talent it is hard to replace him. On the other hand, it's hard to ignore the success that Mike Clausen had in the fourth quarter of the game--throwing 2 touchdowns and two impressive late drives under pressure. Clausen also managed to evade tacklers and keep the ball in his own teams' hands. Even if Clayton gets the nod the rest of the year, the bright spot is that Clausen now has this experience and can use it in the future. It could be an interesting season and a VERY interesting off season at this position.

Friday, September 4, 2009

By Isaac Kuhlman

  Amateur mixed-martial arts came to the Sante Fe Station Hotel and Casino on Friday night courtesy of Las Vegas MMA and promotor Robert Johnston. The card was 17 fights long, and had some interesting matchups between very diverse gyms. Some "up and comers" had the opportunity to shine, and some solid veterans of the Las Vegas MMA scene had to suffer defeat. The card was electric though as there was only one fight that made it to a decision, and the Northwest Las Vegas crowd loved every minute of the night. At it's end, a few fighters stood above the rest. Howard Schmitz, Alex Cetina, and Josh Beaty showed their unique and well-tuned skills on their opponents in devastating fashion.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

By Isaac Kuhlman

  Tonight's Muay Thai fightcard at the Hilton Showroom--presented by Dennis Warner's In Sync Productions in association with Henan TV of China--was an exciting showcase of extraordinary striking and international pride as a group of Chinese fighter's headed by Hung Xiang Wang (28-0 and WBC National Champion of China) and Kang En (International WBC Super Lightweight Muay Thai Champion) took on some of America's and Las Vegas' best including fighters Kevin Ross and Shawn Yarborough. The fight was broadcast live to 10 million Chinese viewers at home which made this one of America's biggest opportunities to show of their Muay Thai prowess to an international audience. Ross looked to take the title away from Kang En as the two fought for the belt earlier this year, but a language miscommunication caused the referee to deduct 1 point from Ross as he lost by unanimous decision. Ross would not let that happen again. 

  Even before the fight started fans could tell that Ross still carried the animosity of the previous fight with him. After the referee gave his instruction Ross pushed Kang En back to his corner--to the surprise of Kang En. Though, it's not exactly a sportsman thing to do, it got the fans into the fight even more than they already were. The first round continued that built up anger as it was action packed. Both fighters landed a significant amount of strikes in the round, but Kang En may have had the cleaner and more accurate strikes. It was a close round.