Top-ranked Nelson Gets Caught, Jury Shines at KOTC: “Strike Point”

Written by Brad Schjoth

Tuesday, 13 October 2009 03:04

The national promotion that helped propel the careers of names such as “Rampage” Jackson, Urijah Faber and Diego Sanchez, treaded on familiar ground at the Lake of the Torches Casino on Saturday. And what did King of the Cage bring to the center stage? Wisconsin’s number-one light heavyweight, Caleb Nelson, met Michigan’s Ray Lopez, and the always-impressive Myles Jury battled Garrett Olsen to heat up the chilly Lac du Flambeau atmosphere.

After rattling off a five-fight win streak, including a victory over tough 205-er Sam Alvey and a powerful dismantling of Lucas Bower, Hayward’s Caleb Nelson has found himself backpedaling in the wake of mean competition. Following his only previous defeat against now-retired Rob Smith, Nelson (7-2) returned to his customary waiting period between fights before taking on the experienced Ray Lopez (15-6). With the Northwoods crowd cheering in its full-fledged support, Nelson looked to return to his winning ways.

The opening round began in signature Caleb Nelson style – a double-leg lift and slam. Nelson worked to side control, though Lopez was able to stave off strikes and scramble back to his fight, engaging in a long clinch up against the cage wall. Both fighters grappled and looked for opportunities to take the decisive advantage, but neither gave in until Lopez was finally able to drag Nelson to the mat, only to find himself in the clutch of a guillotine choke attempt. Unable to lock the submission down, Nelson nicely reversed the position, putting himself on top in Lopez’s full guard as the round ended.

Lopez came out into the second frame and displayed a different attack, throwing kicks with regularity. Stepping in to throw a strike of his own, Nelson caught one of Lopez’s flush in his left ribs, and was sent reeling back into his corner, looking momentarily stunned by the shot. Lopez rushed forward to push the action, but Nelson was able to gain time to recover by engaging in a clinch and using his body to keep Lopez at bay. However, Nelson ducked in a little too closely, and Lopez emphatically snatched in the head for a cinched guillotine choke, and dropping onto his back to remove Nelson’s legs from the equation, was able to force a tap at 46 seconds of the round. The back-and-forth scrap was enough to also pick up Wisconsin Combat Sports Fight of the Night honors.

Two Michiganders needed just over a minute to sort things out in the cage. Unbeaten Myles “Fury” Jury opened the action against Garrett “The Boss” Olsen” (3-2) with a showing of solid leg kicks, to which Olsen responded by moving in an getting to a clinch. Able to work a takedown, Olsen rotated and passed from full guard to north-sound position, as both fighters were pressed up against the fence. Posturing up to reign down strikes, Olsen failed to control the body posture of Jury, who arched up against the wall, threw his legs around the neck and shoulder of Olsen, isolated an arm, and wrenched it back for a locked armbar. Olsen almost immediately was compelled to tap at 1:09. Jury, who was cornered in part by UFC veteran and former WEC Lightweight Champion Hermes Franca, kept his perfect record intact, as well as earning the Wisconsin Combat Sports Submission of the Night.

A controversial and unfortunate ending was delivered in the bout between Mash Fight Team’s Eric Moon and Grand Rapids’ Wes “The Sandman” Ronchi. Moon burst from his corner to open round one with a flurry of punches, forcing Ronchi to duck underneath for a takedown attempt. Ronchi, however, fell back on his heels, and Moon came down on top in full guard. Unable to work much of an attack from the ground, Moon stood up, backing away from the downed Ronchi, in an effort to induce him to stand up. In the process, Moon delivered by a huge downward axe kick, that appeared to glance off Ronchi’s left collarbone and up into his jaw, leaving him visibly injured, and drawing Harley Wallen to render the action dead. Just moments later, after seeing the pain was noticeably experiencing, Ronchi’s corner threw in the towel. However, Wallen’s judgment was that the axe kick landed illegally to the head of a downed opponent, and the bout would be considered a no contest.

In a welterweight scrap, Detroit’s Daron Cruickshank made his pro debut against Ricky Stettner (1-1), and electrifyingly earned the Wisconsin Combat Sports Knockout of the Night (pictured). After connecting with some early kicks, a quick sprawl and scamper between the two competitors gave Cruickshank the back of Stettner. Unable to put the finishing touches on a rear naked choke, Cruickshank couldn’t work any other maneuvers on the ground, and the action was brought back to even by the referee. Missing on a strike, Cruickshank was facing the opposite direction of Stettner, but wheeled around and centered a spinning backfist to the chin of Stettner, sending him tumbling to the mat. A subsequent punch was academic, as Stettner was clearly out, and referee Harley Wallen rushed in to save him at the 2:23 mark.

The event’s only professional heavyweight battle was between Adam Kope (Sixel’s Fight Club) and Team Ruffdawg’s Luis Ramirez. For the first half of the opening frame, Kope dictated the action, sending it to the ground where he landed short hammerfists and kept himself in primarily dominate positions. But while landing body shots on top of Ramirez, Kope failed to prevent Ramirez from rotating his body and sliding himself into position for an armbar. Securing the arm, Ramirez rolled over to his belly, putting all his weight on the hyper-extending right elbow of Kope, who kicked and bucked from the pain and was obligated to tap out. Ramirez secured the “W” at 2:31 of the first period.

Kicking off the professional fights for the night, Jon Barker (1-1-1) and Team Ruffdawg’s Chris Beck (0-1) set a quick pace at the outset. Working out of the clinch, Barker clasped his hands behind the hamstrings of Beck and put him to his back. Firing back from the bottom, Beck showed good flexibility and tried for an extended leg triangle choke for a majority of the back end of the round, but couldn’t keep Barker from shifting and pulling back to keep himself awake. Similar to the previous round, Barker began the second with a clinch and subsequent takedown. Passing from side control to mount, Barker was able to sink in his hooks and rain down with enough strikes to earn himself the TKO victory at 2:30.

Two amateur bouts found use for the judges’ scorecards, as unanimous decision were handed down to Rocky Delorme (8-2) and Dale Bennett (2-1) in their matchups with Shane Cadotte (4-7) and Charlie Wilczek (0-1), respectively.

A pair of rear naked chokes were utilized as well – one by Brandon Johnson (11-1) in his win over Joe Kruz (7-4), and the other by John Duch (2-0) in his 30-second work over of Josh Johnson (0-2). In step with the trend, a duo of technical knockouts were put together: Chicago’s Tony Christodoulou (3-0) won the battle of unbeatens against Adrian Pierson (4-1), and Andrew Trace (8-0) looked solid in this defeat of Justin Jaynes.

Full Results

Professionals
205 – Ray Lopez (MI) def. Caleb Nelson (WI) R2 :46 – Submission (Guillotine)
170 – Myles Jury (Warrior Way, MI) def. Garrett Olsen (Itasca Fight Club, MI) R1 1:09 – Submission (Armbar)
160 – Eric Moon (Mash Fight Team, MI) vs. Wes Ronchi (Itasca Fight Club, MI) – No Contest (Illegal Axe Kick by Moon)
170 – Daron Cruickshank (Mash Fight Team, MI) def. Ricky Stettner (WI) R1 2:23 – KO (Spinning Backfist)
HWT – Luis Ramirez (Team Ruffdawg, WI) def. Adam Kope (Sixel’s, WI) R1 2:31 – Submission (Armbar)
125 – Jon Barker (Sixel’s, WI) def. Chris Beck (Team Ruffdawg, WI) R2 2:30 – TKO (Strikes)

Amateurs
135 – Rocky Delorme (WI) def. Shane Cadotte (Sixel’s, WI) R3 3:00 – Decision (Unanimous)
170 – Brandon Johnson (MI) def. Joe Kruz (Sixel’s, WI) R1 1:19 – Submission (RNC)
170 – Andrew Trace def. Justin Jaynes (MI) R2 1:38 – TKO (Strikes)
155 – Tony Christodoulou (IL) def. Adrian Pierson (Sixel’s, WI) R3 1:00 – TKO (Strikes)
125 – John Duch (Itasca Fight Club, WI) def. Josh Johnson (The Dungeon, WI) R1 :30 – Submission (RNC)
135 – Dale Bennett (The Dungeon, WI) def. Charlie Wilczek (MN) R3 3:00 – Decision (Unanimous)