All praises be to the UG and Fightlinker for unearthing this bit of classic footage, which features none other than co-host of MMA Inside the Cage, Casey Oxendine (a.k.a. Tiki Ghosn’s evil twin brother a.k.a. the most despised man of the CP comments section) one-punch KO’ing a cornerman named Korey Hayes (a.k.a the coach of the Knoxville-based MMA team Cage Killers). The twist here is that Oxendine was not one of the men participating in the fight, but rather the man that was supposed to be keeping order. Given his popularity amongst you Taters, we figured we had to show you this on the off chance that you had yet to see it.
Though neither man has ever truly come forward with what exactly caused the confrontation in the first place, here’s a snippet of what Oxendine posted on the UG back when the incident occurred, detailing the consequences of his actions:
As the referee in this bout, there was alot of controversy as to whether I was justified in striking Mr Hayes during this incident. I wrote an extensive paragraph, stating that it was unlike me to strike another person outside of a combat sports setting. However, I felt as though I was in a dangerous situation and that he would have struck me if I hadn’t acted.
The event would evolve into the centerpiece of the issues concerning the legalization of the sport in [Tennessee]. When I attended the meeting that saw the state athletic commission finally pass sanctioning of amateur MMA, the incident was brought up. They wanted to make sure that if sanctioning were put in place, this sort of thing would not happend again. Everyone involved expressed openly that the incident cast a dark shadow on the sport, and felt we should move forward for the benefit of the sport.
Last night I attended an event at the National Guard Armory of New Tazwell, promoted Warrior Fighting Challenge. Only moments before my arrival, I was informed that ISKA had pulled their sanctioning, due to lack of insurance and security. The promoter insured me that the event would be run by “Sport Jiu-Jitsu” rules. Having attended the meetings of the State Athletic Commission, I was fully aware that all MMA event HAD TO BE SANCTIONED by one of three sanctioning bodies (ISKA, ISCF, and WKA). Realizing my fighters and cornermen could face later repercussions, I pulled them from the event. I arrived at the venue a few minutes later to collect my fighters. I passed the ticket counter and turned to walk down the hallway with Teammate Erick Jordan and my girlfrend. At this point, I noticed Korey Hayes out of the corner of my eye. Considering the nature of our last meeting and in the best interest of the event, I made it a point to avoid all contact. I did not make eye contact and I did not make any move toward Mr. Hayes whatsoever. However, as I turned my back and made my way toward the lockerooms, Mr Hayes struck me with a looping right punch from behind that shoved me into my girlfriend.
We bet you think Oxendine just laid down and let this chump kick his ass in front of his girlfriend, right? Think again, Potato Nation:
He continued forward in an attempt to tackle me to the ground screaming something in the nature of, “you will never hit me again”. I grabbed a single leg and drove myself forward until the onlookers separated us. Mr Hayes then exited the bulding in haste.
When the police arrived a few minutes later, I filed a report. While his best haymaker punch from behind was unable to knock me unconcious, I was left with severe lacerations to my lips that required stitches to close up.
While I am irate at the situation, it is primarily due to the involvent of my girlfriend. I have trained with some of hardest hitters in the sport and getting punched is something I can readily deal with. And although I don’t relish having my mouth split open, I will heal as I always have. When our altercation unfolded in Knoxville 2 months ago, it was handled face to face and without the involvement of any innocent persons. My girlfriend is not a fighter and had no place in that disagreement. I would have never placed his wife, girlfriend, or children in harms way over a personal issue between us. This is truly disgracefull behavior, and was intended to gain revenge for the initial event that was unfortunate and I feel that I had little control over to begin with. While I realize that I made a mistake in turning my back to someone that may have harbored resentment toward me, I truthfully felt that his words as a professional superceded his own egotistical agendas.
Korey Hayes demontrated a vengefull nature that showed in both the meltdowns that followed his fighter’s loss in Knoxville and his unprovoked attack last night. After he had left, I was told by one of his loyal students, that it was “even now, because you hit korey and now he hit you back”. It is disappointing to hear that this instructor’s teachings of ethics consist of, “an eye for an eye”, “set him up to take your best shot when he turns his back”, and “do whatever it takes to get revenge no matter how many innocent people it involves and even if it defaces the integrity of the sport”, display his respect for MMA. I assume he was humiliated by the Youtube fiasco and felt he could even the score by attempting to knock me out and embarass me in return. He was unable to do either. I stand rock steady and continue to move myself, my team, and Tennessee MMA forward.
So to sum things up: say what you want about Mr. Oxendine’s choice of facial hair, but there’s no denying his ability to throw and/or punch. On the other hand, perhaps if he chose a style of facial hair that didn’t make him look like the bad guy from a 1980′s motocross film, he would find himself in far fewer of these situations. On that note, we’d like to congratulate Casey for his induction into the CagePotato First-Punch KO Hall of Fame. Surely this bit of redemption will be all he truly needs to squash this beef.