Mike Goodwin really out-did himself when he put on the fourth Caged Aggression event at the QCCA Expo Center in Rock Island, IL. As promised, the night had a Las Vegas MMA style to it. This was the first local ECR event. The whole night was phenomenal, as it included 12 fights (3 titles), a 24 ft. Throwdown Octagon cage, a ton of sponsors, professional event staff, a 20 ft. TV screen and 2 wide screen TVs on the wall, a fantastic light show, state-of-the-art sound system from TJ Productions, impressive video production and graphics from Mind Print Productions, and much, much more. Mike Smith (EKIM’S) was the special guest referee. The show kicked off with Pat Zefo from Music Makers playing our national anthem on the electric guitar. One thing this event did different from all the others is that, a fighter would be announced, his interview would pop up on the TVs, and then he’d do his walk out on the stage. When both fighters were announced, the tale of the tape would be shown on the TVs as well. In between the fights, the sponsors’ commercials were displayed, along with 2 looks into the locker room live showing who was warming up, and whose hands were getting wrapped. The fighters looked great, and the attendance was well over 1000. Our photographer, Greg, said “It just keeps getting better and better!” Awesome show, Mike! Hope to see more in the future!
       Starting off the night was Mike Johnston (140 lbs.) vs. Jason Ramsey (139 lbs.) Round one started off as a total slugfest between both fighters. Ramsey was able to slam Johnston down hard and control the ground, while Johnston tried to fight back and stand it up. While both fighters boxed, Johnston found an opening and knocked Ramsey down, but wasn’t able to finish him off. Later, Ramsey did the same and knocked Johnston down, trying to finish. As the round came to an end, Johnston threw a big knee and fists went flying. Round number two began, and it was more of a stand up game. Johnston took it to the cage and began punishing Ramsey with hard punches. Ramsey was beginning to drop his hands, allowing Johnston to send perfect jabs his way. Johnston did a flip takedown and submitted Ramsey at 1:45 via rear-naked choke. This was named Fight of the Night.
       Fight number two was Andre Avila (123.5 lbs.) from MFS vs. Andrew Bucy (123.5 lbs.) Round one began, and there was an exchange of punches, with Avila in control of the momentum. He showed how fast his striking was to Bucy’s body. Near the end of the round, Avila was able to finally use his wrestling with a single sweep take down. He punished Bucy until the bell rang. In round two, Bucy started off throwing a few unsuccessful jabs until Avila took him down and again, dominated with his wrestling. Avila was able to work the body with mostly side control, almost locking in an arm bar, but Bucy was able to escape and roll over. Round number three, Bucy came out throwing combos and starting to do some damage. Avila rammed Bucy into the cage links, then took it to the ground and remained in control tormenting Bucy with huge body shots and GNP. The fight was over, and Avila took the W via unanimous decision.
       Fight three was Kelly Skeffington (183 lbs.) vs. Ron Imhoff (184 lbs.) The bout was a re-match, with Imhoff looking for revenge. As round one began, Skeffington attempted a high kick, but was too far away and fell. Imhoff attempted to take advantage of this, but Skeffington was too quick. Skeffington picked Imhoff up and slammed him down. Both fighters were throwing shots, but eventually it led to a referee stand up. Skeffington immediately took Imhoff down and got in full mount. At 1:06 in, Skeffington submitted Imhoff via arm triangle.
       Fight number four was Derrick Thiem (198.5 lbs.) from MFS vs. Rich Allendorf (188 lbs.) Round one kicked off with a lot of striking between the fighters. Allendorf ran Theim into the cage, but wasn’t able to hold him long enough. When they got split up, Thiem tagged Allendorf early with wild punches and did some damage. Allendorf landed the opportunity to take Thiem down, but since there wasn’t much action, the ref had to stand it up. Thiem regained control when he aggressively knocked Allendorf down and finished him off with GNP. At 2:40, Thiem was declared the winner via submission due to strikes.
       Fight five was Sean Johnson (147 lbs.) vs. Tyler Roberts (144 lbs.) from DTF. Round one started off with Roberts kicking Johnson, but Johnson caught his attempt and took it to the ground punishing with shots to the face and body. Roberts regained control and got in full mount, but wasn’t able to do much. When stood up, Johnson slammed Roberts down right away. Roberts began wrestling and submitted Johnson fast at 2:28 via triangle choke.
       The sixth fight was Anthony Angel (165 lbs.) vs. Toddre Owens (170 lbs.) Round one started with Angel swinging wild, until Owens caught him and took him down. Both fighters were great grapplers because neither could hold on to the other for very long, causing a lot of reversals. Angel gave up his back though, and Owens destroyed Angel’s ribs with shots. Angel gained control though at the very end of the round. Round number two began, and Owens came out the aggressor tagging Angel’s chin early. He dominated with a takedown and got in full mount and brutalized Angel’s ribs, back, and sides of his head. Owens was warned a few times about watching his punches to the back of the head and spine. Angel couldn’t hold on much longer, and at 2:59 of the round, the fight was stopped and Owens got the W via submission due to strikes.
       The last fight before intermission was Kele Jones (150 lbs.) from MFS vs. Justin Reed (151 lbs.) As round one started, Jones connected with a few kicks. Soon, there was an attack from both fighters, battling it out to see whose punches did more damage. Both worked combos with extremely fast and hard knocks. Reed had a good take down, but Jones was able to get on top and pound away at Reed. Reed regained control with a major reversal and submitted Jones at 1:41 via arm bar. Reed was given the Submission of the Night title.
       Fight number eight was Ryan Grage (202 lbs.) from MFS vs. Jeremy Nelson (202 lbs.) Grage had former UFC champ, Tim Sylvia, in his corner. Round one began, and Grage ran Nelson into the cage, and started kneeing him to the body, with one especially damaging Nelson. Grage knocked him down and destroyed with vicious GNP. At 1:18, the fight was stopped via knock out. This win was huge comeback for Grage, since he had a fatal accident at his job six months ago. There was an explosion, and nearly 15% of him was burned. Grage proved to everyone how much of a fighter he really is, and we all hope to see a lot more of him. Kudos, kid.
       The ninth fight was hometown favourite, Anthony Nache (156 lbs.) vs. Jonathon Thomson (156 lbs.) This bout seemed to be the most anticipated one. Nache had a giant walkout crew, which was awesome. As the first round began, Thomson came out with kicks, but didn’t do much damage. Nache waited for his moment to attack, and lined Thomson up right where he wanted. Nache and Thomson brawled, each showing their skill in boxing, until the fight was taken to the cage. Thomson tried working some moves to take Nache down but wasn’t able to. He then tried to damage Nache with leg kicks, but Nache was able to counter then with knees and heavy punches. Round two started, and again, there was a huge exchange of strikes. Thomson seemed more aggressive and successfully took Nache to the ground and used his game. Nache reversed it, and regained control with stand up. He had some great knees to Thomson before the round ended. Going into the third round, both fighters were extremely cautious. Both knew how hard the other hit and respected each other too much to risk it. You could hear and see how hard Nache’s inner leg kicks were and Thomson’s legs were bright red on either side. Not much action went on in the round. The fight ended and it went to the judges’ decision. Nache was declared the victor via unanimous decision.
       The tenth fight was Ryan Gustavis (259 lbs.) from MFS vs. Blue Peterson (259 lbs.) for the ECR Heavyweight title. Round one began, and Gustavis had a serious reach advantage. Peterson was unsuccessful with his kicks, but Gustavis had so much power when he push kicked Peterson across the cage. Gustavis was simply too big to take down. The rest of the round was cage clinching. Gustavis absolutely brutalized Peterson’s rib cage with hammerfists, though. Peterson had a lot of strength to get up from that. Round two, Peterson attempted to shoot for Gustavis’ legs, but was too far away. Gustavis was able to wrestle a big until Peterson gave up his back. Gustavis damaged Peterson’s body, and Peterson’s sides just got purpler after every hit. Gustavis destroyed some more with GNP and the fight was stopped at 1:06, declaring Gustavis the new ECR champion via submission due to strikes. He was so happy that he even did a cartwheel at the end.
       The co-main event was Andrew DeWulf (156 lbs.) vs. David Harris, (156 lbs.) the reigning ECR Lightweight champion. Round one started, and DeWulf attacked by picking Harris up high and slamming him to the canvas. DeWulf was landing vicious body shots, and executed his grappling. DeWulf threw big hammerfists so hard that Harris’ side was red. Harris kept his cool though, and was able to reverse the game and lock in an arm bar. The fight was stopped at 2:26, and Harris remained the ECR champion.
       The main event was Nate Rodriguez (203.5 lbs.) from MFS vs. Jake Pospisil (203.5 lbs.) for the ECR Lightweight title. Round one began, and Pospisil came out with heavy strikes, but Rodriguez countered them and threw even harder ones. Rodriguez slipped in a giant right and cut Pospisil bad on the eyebrow. Pospisil dropped, and Rodriguez jumped on him pounding away. At 0:39, the fight was stopped via technical knockout, and Rodriguez became the new ECR champion. –Alaynna Roby