NAAFS Caged Fury 9 Lives Up to the Hype
New Champions Crowned; Miocic Makes a Triumphant Return
Written by Jake Digman
Photos by Ryan Heckert
(02/22/10 – Cleveland, OH) – The North American Allied Fight Series once again took over the Gray’s Armory in Cleveland, OH for Caged Fury 9, kicking off the road to Fight Nite in the Flats VI in grand style. The NAAFS Nation was treated to a night the featured two title changes, a Fight of the Year candidate, a Knockout of the Year candidate, and much more.
A new NAAFS Pro Series Heavyweight Champion was crowned when “Big” John Hawk (10-0-1) became only the second fighter in the promotions history to capture both amateur and professional gold after defeating former Pro Series Champion “Cujo” Joe McCall (8-2) by Split Decision.
Although both fighters are notorious for their ground and pound skills, the majority of this fight was a stand up chess battle.
It was one of the closest NAAFS fights in a long time, but it was Hawk who pushed the pace and racked up points on the scorecards.
McCall looked to have Hawk in trouble in the later rounds, but the Strong Style fighter regained composure and in the end it was the judge’s scorecards who declared Hawk the victor and new Pro Series Heavyweight Champion.
Afterwards, an overjoyed new champion made his intentions known that he is planning on going for the Pro Series Light Heavyweight title as well.
Pro Series Champion interim champion Frank Caraballo (12-5) was unable to successfully defend his championship when Daniel Straus (14-4-1) defeated “The Tank” by tapout from Strikes to at 3:57 of Round 5 to become the new Interim Pro Series LW Champion.
Straus showed just how versatile of a fighter he truly is, entering this fight with a completely different game plan than in his previous fight with Joe Heiland.
He controlled the overall majority of the fight and in turn picked up the victory.
With the win, Straus now heads to Fight Nite in the Flats VI where he will face off with Pro Series Lightweight Champion and UFC veteran Jason “Dynamite” Dent in a title unification bout.
The Pro Series Featherweight title fight is also set for Fight Nite in the Flats VI and it will be Donny “Eagle Eye” Walker (11-6) taking on 2006 National Amateur Lightweight Champion Mike Nesto (13-6) for the vacant championship after their respective wins at Caged Fury 9.
Walker defeated Dustin Kempf (13-6) in what was considered by many to not only be the Fight of the Night, but an early contender for Fight of the Year!
The entire Gray’s Armory was on their feet as these two modern day gladiators exchanged knee for knee and punch for. At one point in the fight, Walker connected with two knees to Kempf’s head and Kempf quickly rebounded with an overhand shot to Walker that rocked him.
In the end, Donny Walker picked up the win by TKO at 4:55 of the second round to advance to the finals.
In the other half of the bracket, Mike Nesto silenced the critics with a Rear Naked Choke submission victory over Nick Sorg (7-7) at 1:56 of the first round.
Nesto has quietly worked his way up the rankings and now finds himself poised for a title opportunity at Fight Nite in the Flats VI against Donny Walker.
A new force has been added to the Pro Series Heavyweight division and his name is Stipe Miocic (6-0), who had an impressive pro debut win over Corey Mullis (4-3) by TKO at just :17 of the very first round.
Mullis brought it to Miocic as soon as the bell rang, but the Croatian sensation was able to avoid his advances then turn and connect with a shot right down the pike that immediately dropped Mullis, thus giving Miocic his first professional victory. This is the sixth overall fight in Miocic’s MMA career and it marks the sixth time that he has finished his opponent by TKO/KO in the first round.
Stipe was later awarded with the Tim Lally Chevrolet Finish of the Night award for his impressive outing.
The Pro Series Welterweight division also added some new blood as 2006 National Amateur Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Ellison (9-3) made a successful pro debut against Greg Caryer (5-4), picking up the TKO victory at 1:54 of the first round.
Ellison was poised and very comfortable at 170, displaying once again the skills that made him one of the top fighters in the National Amateur Series. As a pro, he has a chance to be a similar force in the Pro Series Welterweight division.
The featured National Amateur Series bout saw 2009 National Amateur Co-Welterweight Champion Reggie Parks (8-2) picking up the win over the previously unbeaten Travis Soto (5-1) by Unanimous Decision.
Parks’ teammate at GriffonRawl and fellow 2009 National Amateur Welterweight Champion Bryon McCroskey (7-3) was impressive as well with his TKO victory over Zach Sutek (5-4) at :35 of the first round in their National Amateur Lightweight division fight.
The first three bouts on the card all went to the judge’s scorecards, giving the fans in attendance and the thousands watching live on USTREAM just how competitive of a night it was going to be.
In National Amateur Lightweight division action, Kenny “The Black Spartan” Jackson (5-1) of Strong Style Fight Team defeated Marcus Daniels (3-1) by Unanimous Decision.
RJ Buck of Ohio BJJC improved to 6-1 with his Split Decision victory over a very game Mike Ludwig (3-2) of Five Star Fight Team in their National Amateur Featherweight division fight.
The opening fight on the card was in the National Amateur Middleweight division and saw Cory Bresson (3-1) of Kombat MMA pick up the Unanimous Decision victory over Jesus Santiago (3-2).
The NAAFS would like to thank all of the fans who attended Caged Fury 9 live in Cleveland, OH as well as everyone who tuned in on USTREAM to watch the event live online. In addition the NAAFS would also like to thank the US Army, Tim Lally Chevrolet, Dillards Department Stores, TapOut, Bud Light, BetonFighting.com, The Clevelander, Mr. John P. Lennon, Bloody Buddy Fight Gear, Cop Out the Movie and Sports Time Ohio for their support of Caged Fury 9!
BONUS PHOTOS
NAAFS Caged Fury 9 Quick Results
National Amateur Series Bouts
185 lbs – Cory Bresson 3-1 (Kombat MMA) over Jesus Santiago 3-3 (Cleveland, OH) by Unanimous Decision
145 lbs - RJ Buck 6-1 (Ohio BJJC) over Mike Ludwig 3-2 (Five Star Fight Team) by Split Decision
155 lbs - Kenny “The Black Spartan” Jackson 5-1 (Strong Style Fight Team) over Marcus Daniels 3-1 (Pain Headquarters) by Unanimous Decision
155 lbs - Bryon McCroskey 7-3 (Team GriffonRawl) over Zach Sutek 5-4 (Team Instigator) by TKO @ :35 of Rd 1
170 lbs – Reggie Parks 8-2 (Team GriffonRawl) over Travis Soto 5-1 (Team Vander) by Unanimous Decision
Featured Pro Series Bouts
170 lbs - Chuck Ellison 9-3 (Instigator Fight Team) over Greg Caryer 5-4 (Hill Martial Arts) by TKO @ 1:24 of Rd 1
265 lbs - Stipe Miocic 6-0 (Strong Style Fight Team) over Corey Mullis 4-3 (Rozanno MMA) by TKO @ :17 of Rd 1
145 lbs - Mike Nesto 13-6 (Shrader's MMA) over Nick Sorg 7-7 (Team Predator) by Rear Naked Choke @ 1:56 of Rd 1
145 lbs - Donny "Eagle Eye" Walker 11-6 (Team GriffonRawl) over Dustin "The Reaper" Kempf 13-6 (Instigator Fight Team) by TKO @ 4:55 of Rd 2
155 lbs TITLE - Daniel Straus 14-4-1 (Vision MMA) over Frank "The Tank" Caraballo 12-5 (Strong Style Fight Team) by Tapout From Strikes @ 3:57 of Rd 5
265 lbs TITLE - "Big" John Hawk 10-0-1 (Strong Style Fight Team) over "Cujo" Joe McCall 8-2 (The Hit Squad) by Split Decision
About the NAAFS
The NAAFS is the fastest growing mixed martial arts organization in the sport; featuring top level amateur and professional prospects as well as established stars including Jason Dent, Forrest Petz, Josh Hendricks, Matt Brown, Ben Rothwell, Ryan Madigan, Paul Bradley, Noah Inhofer, Jeff Cox, and Phil Davis, among many others. The television program “NAAFS Cage Fighting” can be seen domestically Sunday nights on the television home of the Cleveland Indians SportsTime Ohio, nationally via DirecTV and Dish Network, internationally via G-TV, and globally via internet broadcasting leader Ustream.tv.
