HeatXC 6: “Bragging Rights”
Dannita Goulet
HeatXC has yet again graced the city of Edmonton with an amazing night of Mixed Martial Arts.
Despite a few backouts & fighters not making weight, it was because of a few brave newcomers and a few minor adjustments in the card that the night ended up being action packed with sick blow for blow stand-up, one submission, and gruesome knockouts. The successful debuts of two time World Muay Thai Champion Shane “Shaolin” Campbell and this years winner of “Kamloops’ Strongman Competition, Super Lightweight Division” Jordan Beercroft ensure that these two men will definatley make a mark in the world of MMA. Another job well done by Pavelich Sports Inc. and the event sponsor ERA Fightwear who had a good majority of the crowd looking great in an assortment of their gear.
Here’s how the nights event took place:
Light Heavyweight
Jordan Beercroft vs. Jared McComb
To kick off the night and his MMA career representing Dungeon MMA in Terrace, B.C. it was LHW Jordan Beercroft to walk out first and he did so with a combined look of readiness, focus, and a whole lot of agression on his face. As Jordan paced eagerly in his corner, out came his opponent Jared (also making his professional debut) who did not appear confident but rather nervous & intimidated. When the bell sounds Jordan with obvious tunnel vision looks hungry, he throws and lands a left jab followed by a double jab with his right, he then throws another quick left but is unable to connect. Jared finally deciding to take part in the fight swings hard connecting with Jordan who looked more like he’d been but by a bug than a punch as he answers back with a hard left of his own clearly rattling his opponent. Seeing the effectiveness of the punch Jordan doesn’t waste anytime and again lands a hard shot that drops the shook but still conscious Jared and as if to have Jared falling in slow motion, Jordan has time to connect with a few more quick hard jabs one of which knocks Jared right out. Oblivious he had knocked out his opponent he throws and luckily misses a thrown knee but immediately connects with a few more heavy handed punches on the unconscious Jared until Referee Andy Social finally puts and end to Jareds misery calling the fight. At this point it’s normal for the winner to be celebrating a victory with their corner and to in the event of a K.O. have the unconscious fighters corner enter the ring to check on their fighter. However, Jareds corner looks on from ringside as he regains consciousness and attempts to stand on his own. A couple of seconds, a couple failed attempts and a little helping hand from Ref. Andy Social, Jared stands alone & wobbly with his cornermen still not in the ring. It wouldn’t be until the crowd displayed audible concern for the still dazed & swaying athelete that Jareds corner had finally decided to join him in the ring. A rundown of what happenened from one his cornermen and an inspection by the Doctor then Jared is finally able to exit the ring. This clear display of hunger & athleticism would surely have Jordan deserving of knockout of the night.
Jordan Beercroft def. Jared McComb via KO at 0:13 in Round 1.
Catchweight (160 lbs.)
Justin Bloomer vs. Brent Haley
With the crowd amped, the second fight of the night would have Justin Bloomer backed by homegrown MMA superstar Ryan Ford & Marty Melnychuck who himself made his debut at HeatXC 5. The bell sounds, gloves touch up and Justin throws two quick left jabs which clearly were not meant to connect but to measure the distance between the two. Now having Brent within a comfortable distance Justin lands a big leg kick, throws a quick left jab to set up a superman punch followed by more leg kicks. Brent manages to get a minor left punch in before hitting Justin’s legs low & hard with a snapping right kick. Justin shuffles right and Brent tries going after him swinging but stumbles and steps on the calf of Justin. Once footing is regained for both men Justin has no problems landing a combo of punches, a huge body kick, a couple of unchecked lower leg kicks, then a massive right hand hammers down on Brent dropping him to the mat. Justin quickly hops on to side mount Brent who gives up his back almost immediately, then aims for a rear naked but fails when Brent wisely keeps his chin close to his chest not allowing Justin to sink in the submission. Justin lands seven hard unanswered rights while hoping to find his “in” under the chin of Brent but is unsuccessful. Brent still trying to defend himself from the blows again gives up his back and eats three more right punches. A quick pause from Justin before he rains down with seven more hard rights, the two men still stuck together flip over which gives Justin the opportunity to ever so swiftly get hold of Brents arm. Justin secures the arm up to his body, positions his legs and reefs hard as Brent whos face suggests the plea “make it stop!” is forced to tap out giving Justin the “W”.
Justin Bloomer def. Brent Haley via Submission (Arm Bar) at 3:18 in Round 1.
Lightweight
Jake Bluhm vs. Jevon Marshall
Jevon enters the ring proudly displaying his readiness by sprinting across the ring. With one of TFC’s current Champions Mitch Clark and fighters Chuck Pelc & Allen Hope behind him Jake enters appearing calm and ready as Jevon scratches his back on the ring post.
The sound of the bell and Jake moves toward Jevon with a one, two punch attempt missing them both. The men now take the time to feel the other out and Jevon Marshall throws a hard right knee but before having a chance to connect, he loses his footing and biffs it hard getting hit by a right punch from Jake during his decent. Jake sees an opportunity and acts on it by jumping landing himself in Jevon’s guard. Jevon seeks a submission with a kimura attempt but Jake doesn’t allow it and defends with a smooth transition, passing guard to get himself the full mount. Jake is generous with his punches and lands a few nice blows as the men inch toward Jakes corner. Jevon manages to sneak in a couple elbows from the bottom which appear ineffective as Jake continues to do work landing four solid punches from the top and four short elbows before posturing up. Smoking Jevon with a heavy handed right, Jake pauses for a deep breath then hammers down a hard right again. Jake then pushes the head of Jevon down to the mat for better positioning to land combos from his right side that consisted of a nice mix of punches & elbows. Jevon pulls Jakes head down towards himself in defense and throws an arm over Jakes head as if to check how much he’d be required to shift his hips up for a guillotine attempt. Jake seems to have spotted the strategy and interrupts with two elbows thrown with his left, then two from his right. Jevon, seeming unbelievably calm tries to inch himself up and with legs still wrapped around Jakes body he quickly throws an arm over Jakes head going for a guillotine. The submission attempt would be weak at best, leaving his opponent looking annoyed, Jake throws seven big right punches down on Jevon who somewhere in the count stopped defending himself forcing referee Tom Colins to step in and end it all. Clearly exstatic that his four fight streak of losses had come to an end Jake shows just how elated he is by busting out his skills in the unrelated artform of breakdancing
Jake Bluhm def. Jevon Marshall via TKO (Unanswered Blows) at 2:54 in Round 1.
Lightweight
Mike Glover vs. Scott Payne
Set for his debut, lightweight Mike Glover makes his entrance and strutts around the ring awaiting his opponent Scott “House of” Payne who has none other than Ryan Ford backing him. Both men awaiting their cues, Mike continues to strut as Scott rocks in pendulum with relaxed arms flapping by his side, then he proceeds to vigorously punches himself in the face a number of times.
The bell sounds and Scott starts aggressively, wide in stance he lands a left kick to the body of Mike followed by a hard right low leg kick. Mike throws a quick one-two combo but is insuccessfull in landing either of the strikes. A mix of blows thrown by both men none of which connecting from either, Mike throws several more punches consisting of hooks and haymakers mainly from his right with the odd left thrown in the mix. Scott unconvincingly fakes a jab/cross and shoots downward for a double leg takedown but is unsuccessful in doing so when Mike is quick to sprawl leaving them to stand clinched. Scotts corner yells to hit with a right knee but Scott appears to have not heard, unlike Mike who then lands a hard right knee to Scotts abdomen.Scott leans over and after another takedown attempt being denied he has hold of Mike’s shorts, not needing to be warned he quickly lets go, a quick exchange of knees before the men again separate. Showing just how persistant he is, Scott fakes a bit more convincingly but Mike wasn’t fooled and is quick to sprawl then throwing an uppercut that surely would cause damage if Scott were unable to avoid it. A momentary pause with some distance between, Mike takes the opportunity to sweep his hair from his eyes. More swings & misses on Mikes part until he switches it up landing a solid leg kick. Scott whips a few leg kicks of his own but Mike isn’t affected provoking Scott to throw a massive right but misses his mark leaving himself wide open for Mike to connect with the right blow that he’s been trying to land throughout. Scott is quick to counter, landing a right followed by a trio of low leg kicks. Mike manages to land a flicking right and Scott responds with a superman punch, missing that he opts for and lands a body kick, then a low leg kick. An exchange of punches with only Scott having the odd one connect despite Mike’s ability to bobb and weave. In the mix of the exchange Mike connects with a right jab that splits the lip of Scott who quickly shakes it off and answers back with a right hook and a hard kick to Mikes lower leg that he’s visibly hurt by. As Mike stands he begins to display signs of tiring with a long string of saliva hung from his mouth. Scott attempts a double leg which is defended with a great sprawl forcing Scott to pick up Mike and slam him down. Finally successfull in obtaining a takedown Scott then moves to side control and lands a solid short elbow as the bell sounds to end the first round.
The second round would have Scott breathing deeply and smirking Mike to land a hard right. Feeling & looking more confident, Mike fakes a punch then connects with a hard right inside leg kick on Scott who answers back with a big right, right, left combo backing Mike into his own corner. Scott unleashes a vicious flurry, landing huge shots missing\par
but only one until Mike keels over. Scott plants his foot and steps back to set up a huge knee that lands square in the face of Mike. At this point Mike has gone from a great defender, to mediocre, weak and then eventually having no creidible defense at all causing referee Andy Social to step in and put a stop to the thrashing but not before Scott is able to quickly sneak in another set of wicked hard blows on Mike.
Scott Payne def. Mike Glover via TKO (Unanswered Blows) at 0:35 in Round 2.
Welterweight
Leo Constant vs. Shane Campbell
Stepping up on short notice a brave Leo appears confident during his walkout as well as upon entry to the ring, he is quickly briefed by Refree Vern Gorman and that confidence begins to visibly be fading from his face. Fast tempo electro track “In the House” would be Muay Thai Champion Shane “Shoalin” Campbell’s choice of music for his MMA debut walkout. Shane is briefed and Leo takes that time to kneel at his own corner and with arms resting on the ropes, he prays before slowly making his way to center ring where Shane would strut to meet him & the referee to listen to the stipulations of the match. The men touch up, Leo returns to the red corner and Shane no longer having swagger in his step calmly walks back to the blue corner before signaling with a thumbs up that’s he is ready to go.
The bell sounds and the fighters meet again at the center for one more touch of gloves. Shane clearly the more aggressive of the two pushes forward as if to stalk Leo with an extended arm to measure the distance inbetween. Shane whips forth a right low leg kick which hadn’t at all been met with an attempt to be check by Leo. Having picked up on the lack of a strong defense Shane hits with authority landing a snapping hard kick again to Leos left which upon connection made the sickest smacking noise that was loud enough to be followed by an echo. Theres a bit of a stumble from Leo putting his head in perfect position for Shane to demonstrate his signature “flying knee” but for some reason Shanes shows mercy when he takes a step back allowing Leo to stand straight again. Leo now deciding to show offense clearly gives his all with a high right axe kick but was unsuccessful in connecting with the agile Muay Thai Champion. Shane looking rather relaxed puts together a quick combo which had the strength to be of at most to only a half of his ability. Successful in landing each of the low caliber strikes, Leo then realises he may be in over his head as he voluntarily drops to the mat, curls up and remains in fetal position with hands over his head. It’s evident to all that Leo has given up before starting up and isn’t wanting to remain the pre to be stalked by this particular animal. Ref. Vern Gorman showing remourse does Leo a favor by ending the fight before it had ever really begun. Shane clearly not happy at the stoppage returns to his corner with a look of dissappointment that he didn’t get to give the show he’d hoped for in his debut. He raises his arms to signify that although the bout lacked the action he craved he is surely still greatful for the “W”. \par
Shane Campbell def. Leo Constant via TKO (Unanswered Blows) at 0:34 in Round 1.
Catchweight (180 lbs.)
Billy Torrence vs. Mike Froese
With a strong team consisting of Mitch Clarke, Ryan Jimmo & Roger Alves backing him, Mike emits confidence as he aggressively hits Billy with two fast, hard right jabs. Already comfortable in the ring Mike fakes a right jab to set up a single leg take down, in defense Billy grabs hold of Mike’s shorts and is quick to be reminded that is against the rules and told to release the garment. Unaffected, Mike continues to push forward succussfully completing the takedown resulting in him being in Billy’s half guard. Mike is quick to pass the half guard and position himself comfortably in side control, Billy has hold of Mike’s head and tries to keep it close to defend against more of Mikes short elbows as he has already been hit with two of them upon Mike’s passing into side control. With Billy still trying to keep Mike’s head close to his chest Mike begins to peel the hand of Billy off of him seeking submission with an attemp at a Kimura which is easily defended forcing Mike to switch up his strategy and he then smoothly passes to fully mount Billy. As if to have hit a turbo button Mike displays pure power & teqnique when hitting Billy hard with a torque filled ten strike combo. Appearing bored with punches, Mike switches it up and lands three big elbows as Billy in defense rolls to his side. Mike doesn’t miss a beat as he in full gear continues with four more connecting blows before referee Andy Social thinks Billy has had more than enough and puts an end to the match.
Mike Froese def. Billy Torrence via TKO (Unanswered Blows) at 1:12 in Round 1.
Catchweight (195 lbs.)
Elliot Duff vs. Cody Krahn
Cody starts the match aggressive & confident when he immediately hammers Elliot with a massive combo who in response seeks to take Cody to ground but isn’t able to get past the strong defense of Cody. Seeing how perfectly the combo at the start was executed Cody again hits Elliot with a big combo, like deja vu, Elliot again aims to take Cody down but isn’t able to successfull do so forcing him to remain standing up against Cody. Elliot winds up and swings hard with his right which fails to connect as with impecible timing Cody ducks under and in the same movement is able to take the back of Elliot. Cody forces Elliot to the ground but doesn’t remain there for long as Elliot manages to scramble and hop back up to a standing position. Cody, hugely successful in landing all strikes in a beautiful combo looks as if he’d been caught off guard when Elliot wasn’t all that phased and in response as if to mock Cody, was able to connect with a fancy combo containing a perfect blow that hits Cody right on the button breaking Codys nose on impact. Cody not caring about the blood only appears to be fueled by the hits taken as he tauntingly gestures to suggest that Elliot go ahead and try that again. With Elliot now up against the ropes Cody takes his time to effectively pump his heavy hands on Elliot who manages to escape the force of Cody and with obvious relief strutts around the ring with hands to his hips. Cody won’t be letting Elliot off the hook that easy and makes that quite clear when landing a massive right that buckles Elliot, leaving him open for Cody to secure him in full mount before his attempts to get an arm triangle positioned. With Elliot still mounted Cody persists to working the arm triangle in search of a submission over Elliot. With a nose that seeps blood Cody has a change of heart and strategy and forgets trying for submission and comes large with a flurry of mid section blows on Elliot before landing a nice elbow then posturing up. Again spotting effectiveness he choses to try coming in hard and heavy with another flurry followed by a that same sweet elbow. As he had earlier Elliot scrambles to escape and succeeds in doing so before hopping up to his feet. With both aware the rounds end is near, the two men circle the ring as if to throw down in a Capoeira battle until the bell sounds signaling the end of Round 1.
The second starts with a still bloody Cody connecting with two hard leg kicks and throwing in a huge right hand making it a sick combo. The two men just shy of 200 lbs. stand face to face & toe to toe as their love for the arts has them displaying excellent hand to hand combat abilities from both when they go blow for blow until Cody decides to mix it up and lands a fierce leg kick topped with a right to hammer Elliot hard but not hard enough as he’s able answer back with a mocking right of his own, but one ups Cody when his hard right is preceeded by a huge shot to Cody’s body that instantly drops Cody on the mat. Showing that he wouldn’t be a “dirty fighter” he doesn’t charge Cody to ensure his win but chooses to instead retreat to let the referee put an end to the match.
Elliot Duff def. Cody Krahn via TKO (Body Shot) at 1:22 in Round 2.
MAIN EVENT:
Welterweight
Jason High vs. Keto Allen
Jason comes out to start the first with aggression as he lands a hard jab then almost immediately slaps Keto with a lower leg kick. Not showing any sign of slowing down, Jason ups his power and hits hard with a heavy handed jab cross combo. Clearly on a roll Jason continues by whipping out a viscious kick to the legs of Keto and without a pause, a huge right. No longer wanting to take blows dry, Keto counters Jasons right with a big right making that his first sign of getting in on the action. After finding out what an offensive approach tastes like, Keto swings his tree trunk of a leg hard connecting with Jason. Only a sample of offense would be all that Jason allows Keto as he goes in hard raining down with multiple strikes thats put Keto on the mat and Jason doesn’t quit there taking the opportunity to pounce on Keto and continue with the flurry of strikes until ref. Vern Gorman puts a halt to the fury Jason had unleashed on the undefeated Keto. Jason would then be the man responsible for dirtying Keto’s squeeky clean 5-0 record.
Jason High def. Keto Allen via TKO (Unanswered Blows) at 2:08 in Round 1.