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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.
Schmitz of Excel Defense Studion here in Las Veags took on Millage Peaks from Team Davis in Idaho Falls, ID. Both fighters looked to be in great physical shape, and may have been the most athletic fighters of the entire night. However, only one could win, and that honor would belong to Schmitz on this night. The fight was very quick, as most of the fights were. After a brief exchange on the feet, Peaks look to shoot for the takedown. Schmitz was there to catch Peaks in an arm-triangle choke. Schmitz sqeezed it tighter and tighter until both fighters were laying on the ground where Schmitz turned the choke from an arm triangle into the furiously tight Anaconda choke. Ninety degrees of turning later, Peaks tapped out, and Schmitz won via 1st-round TKO. This was Schmitz's second career fight, and he now posts a 2-0 record. Schmitz is a member of the Air Force and is stationed at Fort Creech, and he says he got into MMA about a year ago when he came to Las Vegas and got in with an MMA crowd. Schmitz was scheduled to fight on another fight card in town, but when the promotion got postponed, he took the fight with Peaks at the Santa Fe. Was he prepared to fight Peaks? Schmitz said, "I didn't know his name until today." Schmitz has a background in boxing from training while in Alaska, but he seems to be picking up the game of Jiu-Jitsu very well as his other win which was only a few months ago came due to guillotine choke after only 38 seconds. In total his 2 fights have lasted less than 1 round. When I asked Schmitz about his career plans with MMA, Schmitz said, "The sky's the limit." In the co-main event, Junior Gomez took on Josh Beaty in a bantamweight clash. Gomez is well known in fighting circles around town for being one of the toughest fighters who weigh less than 135lbs. Beaty didn't have that familiarity with Gomez as he hails from Longview, TX. 
Beaty got caught several times in the stand up game over the 3-round brawl, but Gomez was neutralized by the strong wrestling skills of Beaty throughout the fight. Every time Gomez started getting something going on the feet, Beaty would take him down and wear him out. Eventually, Beaty caught Gomez in an armbar that ended the fight in the third round, but it was actually set up by the body punches that connected on Gomez dropping him to the ground. Beaty and his fight team (Team 515) celebrated this victory in conjunction with the several other wins they took back to Texas with them. 
In the main event of the evening, Alex Cetina of Team Mica squared off with Daniel Tutt of Team Davis. The crowd erupted as Cetina made his way to the ring as there was a large contingency of fighters from Team Mica in the event and a big following for the gym in the seats. Cetina didn't disappoint. After about 2 minutes of a North-South choke in round 1, Cetina decided to try a new approach in round 2 after the bell ended his submission attempt. 
Round 2 started out in the wrong direction for Cetina, however. Tutt had a tight guillotine choke on Cetina briefly before he wiggled his head free and took the back of Tutt. Mere seconds later, Cetina was in a dominant back position and laced a rear-naked choke around Tutt's neck upon which Tutt tapped out. Las Vegas MMA has signed on for many more fights with Station Casinos, so keep an eye out for their next promotion when it becomes available. Fight Results: Fight 1: Chris Engle vs. Pat Garrett --Engle wins by TKO (Guillotine) in Rd. 2
Fight 2: Mike Deas vs. Decee Simpson --Deas wins by TKO (Rear-naked choke) in Rd. 1
Fight 3: Diego Melendez vs. Gabe Gonzales --Melendez wins by TKO (armbar) in Rd. 1
Fight 4: Ray Buckner vs. Benjamin Martin --Martin wins by KO (upkick) in Rd. 2
Fight 5: Joe Struzik vs. Buck Stetler --Stetler wins by KO (punch) in Rd. 1
Fight 6: Ray Orasco vs. Randy Albright --Albright wins by TKO (Triangle) in Rd. 1
Fight 7: Shane Larsen vs. MIke Hillcoat --Hillcoat wins by TKO (strikes) in Rd. 3
Fight 8: Glen Swenson vs. Javier Vega --Vega wins by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) in Rd. 1
Fight 9: Taylor Ericson vs. Brandon Norris --Ericson wins by TKO (Rear-naked choke) in Rd. 1
Fight 10: Ryan Barlow vs. Cameron Wells --Barlow wins by TKO (strikes) in Rd. 3
Fight 11: Bob McKinnis vs. Trevor Crowther --Crowther wins by Unanimous Decision
Fight 12: Howard Schmitz vs. Millage Peaks --Schmitz wins by TKO (Anaconda) in Rd. 1
Fight 13: Mike Florio vs. Jesse Villareal --Florio wins by TKO (strikes) in Rd. 1
Fight 14: Matt Church vs. Matt Carpenter --Church wins by TKO (Guillotine) in Rd. 1
Fight 15: Junior Gomez vs. Josh Beaty --Beaty wins by TKO (armbar) in Rd. 3
Fight 16: Josh Brown vs. Kort Spencer --Spencer wins by TKO (Rear-naked choke) in Rd. 1
Fight 17: Alex Cetina vs. Daniel Tutt --Cetina wins by TKO (Rear-naked choke) in Rd. 2 |
