On December 3rd, 2011, Chad Bergmeier and Tyrone “Native Warrior” Roberts put on the 24th WarParty Cage Fighting event at the Midnight Ballrooom in Marshalltown, IA. Chad was the promoter of the event, and Tyrone was the matchmaker as well as the guest referee. Tyrone is most known for fighting on the UFC 26: Ultimate Field of Dreams card in 2000. The night consisted of 10 exciting and fast-paced fights, with none of them going into the 3rd round. It was awesome that the event had TUF 14 finale playing on the big screen, but sadly, they turned it off half way through and put on HBO boxing. Overall, the turnout was great, and the crowd was very supportive of every fight. They definitely got their money’s worth of entertainment.
    Kicking off the first fight of the night was in the Bantamweight division. Daniel DeCamp (135 lbs.) from the DTF team, took on Will Crawford (130 lbs.) of Marshalltown, IA. Round one began and DeCamp came out with big kicks to Crawford before taking him down and dominating. DeCamp was able to get a full mount on Crawford, but decided side control was the better route to control the fight. He began punishing Crawford with serious GNP to his face. The ref stopped the fight at 2:22 declaring DeCamp the winner.
    Fight number two was in the Featherweight division between Mike Werning (146 lbs.) and Davis Landis (146 lbs.) of Marshalltown, IA. Starting off the first round, Werning tagged Landis early. Landis was able to catch Werning and slam him to the ground. Also, he listened to his corner very well. Werning was able to get Landis off of him and get a huge kick in from the ground that knocked Landis down across the cage. Werning took advantage of the situation and came in with huge GNP, making the ref interfere. Werning won via stoppage 1:51 into the round.
    The third fight was a Bantamweight bout. Jeff DeCamp (133 lbs.) from the DTF team fought Shay Legg (132 lbs.) from Marshalltown, IA. Round one started off with both fighters exchanging punches until Legg had a big takedown. However, DeCamp was too fast with his BJJ and got in position for a triangle choke. Legg tried fighting it by picking DeCamp up off his back, but that backfired, and DeCamp was able to lock in the submission forcing Legg to tap at 1:16.
    Fight four was in the Lightweight division between Eric Cirpiani (160 lbs.) of Marshalltown, IA and Prentiss Wolf (154 lbs.) Beginning the first round, Cirpiani came out aggressive taking the fight to the ground early. Wolf gave up his back allowing Cirpiani to try for a submission and GNP, but he was able to reverse the control and stand up, landing huge shots and torturous kicks to Cirpiani whom was on the ground. Round two began, and Cirpiani already had a black eye. Both fighters displayed their wrestling game until Wolf was able to get on top and throw some nasty punches to Cirpiani’s ribs, along with vicious hammerfists. Wolf was able to gain the win via stoppage at 2:09.
    Fight number five was in the Light Heavyweight division. Josh Bundy (210 lbs.) fought Jeremy Gartin (211 lbs.) from Marshalltown, IA. Gartin showed a great amount of respect before the first round began. When the fight started, Gartin came out with big knees to Bundy, and took the fight to the ground. Right away, Gartin locked in a deep guillotine choke ending the fight. Gartin won the bout in 0:36.
    The sixth fight was in the Heavyweight division between Nick Capers (212 lbs.) and Jack Edwards (250 lbs.) from Marshalltown, IA. The first round started and Edwards clocked Capers in the jaw and straight knocked him out. Edwards won at an impressive 0:14.
    Fight seven took place in the Middleweight division. Mark Clubb (183 lbs.) fo the DTF team took on Jeremy Fisher (187 lbs.) of Marshalltown, IA. There was a lot of animosity during the stare down. As round one began, Clubb went out swinging and connecting. He took the fight to the cage, throwing knees from the clinch. Clubb was able to take Fisher down and brutalize him with his GNP. Clubb got the victory via stoppage in 0:34
    Fight number eight was in the Middleweight division with Mike Van Gerpen (193 lbs.) of the DTF team, taking on Andrew Potter (198 lbs.) Round one, Potter came out like an animal, attacking Van Gerpen with a high kick that seemed to do some damage, and made it an absolute slugfest. Van Gerpen was swinging purely on instinct, but it wasn’t enough. Potter caught him with a punch and knocked him out 0:10 into the round. This was the fastest fight of the night.
    The ninth fight was the co-main event in the Featherweight division. Willy Wonick (143 lbs.) took on Matt Schwebach (153 lbs.) In the first round, Schwebach ran it to the cage and tried putting Wonick into a guillotine, but luckily, Wonick was able to escape and throw some shots on the ground to Schwebach. The control was taken away from Wonick when Schwebach reversed it and gave Wonick a dose of his GNP. The second round began, and Wonick came out with a high kick that didn’t do any damage to Schwebach. Schwebach charged and did a punishing kick to Wonick’s chest that sounded awful. However, when the fight was taken to the ground, Wonick hurt Schwebach’s ribs with his hard punches, and was able to find the opportunity to submit him 0:47 via guillotine.
    Fight number ten was the final fight and main event in the Lightweight division. The winner of this fight was going to be the number one contender for the title fight in February. Derek Loffer (159 lbs.) of the DTF team, fought Nick Otten (161 lbs.) from Marshalltown, IA. Round one began and there was an exchange of kicks from both fighters. Loffer had a huge kick to Otten’s leg, and then to his head. Loffer clipped Otten in the face before he took Otten down. Loffer was able to gain side control and deliver hard knees to Otten’s body. Then, he dominated with some great wrestling. He allowed the fight to become a stand up, and he struck Otten in the face a few times. Otten had gone in for a tackle, but Loffer dodged it and took him down and threw solid hammerfists until the ref interfered and stopped it at 2:25. –Alaynna Roby_