MMA in Minnesota was on display Friday night, Jan. 6 as Driller Promotions and the Sterling Entertainment Group teamed up to promote Downtown Showdown 2 from the Hyatt Regency in downtown Minneapolis.
A great night of undercard fights had the crowd hot for the headliner between two of the better female fighters in the sport as Canada’s Anna Barone traveled to the states to challenge hometown favorite Kaitlin Young.
These two warriors slugged it out in the cage for 10 minutes, with Young finally being announced as the winner after a doctor’s stoppage due to a cut above Barone’s right eye. The victory brought Young’s record to 6-5 while Barone fell to 2-3.
After an entertaining bout like it was, it’s almost easy to forget that the fight almost never happened.
A difficult situation at the weigh-ins on Friday afternoon had the bout in question as Barone weighed in 4.5 pounds over the 143-pound weight limit that the fighters had agreed to just weeks ago.
The bout was originally set to take place at a catchweight of 140 pounds, but an illness requiring antibiotics hurt Barone’s opportunity to cut as much water weight as she otherwise would have. As such, she and Young agreed to the 143-pound catchweight.
So when an exhausted and visibly dehydrated Barone stepped on the scale at 147.5 pounds, it began to look like there was a possibility the fight would not even happen.
Thankfully the two women came to an agreement behind closed doors and the fight was on.
It’s hard to know for sure how much the weight cut hurt Barone in the cage, but she did not quite look to be “on” as Kaitlin Young really punished her, particularly in Round 1.
Young came in with a game plan and stuck to it as she absolutely punished Barone’s midsection with countless body kicks. She then used the clinch to throw a few vicious knees, adding even more damage to the Canadian’s already punished body.
The punishment she inflicted to Barone’s body left the opportunity for some open strikes to the face. Young obliged by landing some punching combinations and even a few elbows, opening up a cut on Barone’s right eyebrow.
Between rounds, the cage-side doctor took a look at the cut. He could be telling the referee, “I’m looking at this cut and I’m not liking what I’m seeing.”
Barone’s corner was upset as the cut did not appear to be much worse than some of the cuts other fighters had sustained earlier in the night. The doctor told Barone and her corner, “I’m going to let it go one more round” as he walked out of the cage.
Round 2 saw much of the same action as a very well-conditioned Kaitlin Young picked apart her opponent from the North, smashing her with body more kicks.
It was in the second round that Young began to really pull away, utilizing countless kicks to Barone’s lead left leg in an effort to chop her down.
A battered Barone continued to press forward, likely knowing that this was her last opportunity to win the fight. She nearly crumbled numerous times as Young continued to hack away at her leg, but fought through it, tagging Young a few times along the way.
Still, the round was clearly Young’s as Barone had fallen behind 20-18 on the scorecards as the doctor stepped into the cage to look at the cut once again.
Much to the dismay of Barone and her corner, the fight was called between rounds due to the cut, giving Young the victory in a very one-sided contest.
Young thanked her teammates at The Academy and announced that she would likely be looking to take a bit of time off between now and her next fight. The hometown fighter really seemed to be on another level and some time off is well deserved.
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