A crowd of about 5,000 fans survived sub-zero temperatures and a late night to be rewarded with an exciting night of fights when King of the Cage visited The Mark of the Quad Cities in Moline, Illinois. The event, billed as “Redemption on the River,” which is being offered on Pay Per View beginning March 10, featured several UFC veterans and was headlined by Shonie Carter taking on the undefeated Jason Black.

Both Carter and Black have reputations that precede themselves in the MMA community: Carter as the aging veteran of nearly every promotion in the sport, and Black as the undefeated, Miletich welterweight biding his time for an opportunity at one of the big shows (which had, ironically enough, occurred just days before the event when Black signed with PRIDE).

Despite the 1:15 a.m. start, pre-taped videos played for both fighters on the arena’s monitor and whipped the crowd to attention. Carter walked to the cage to an orchestra of boos while Black, the hometown favorite, was cheered while he sought to continue his undefeated streak. But no one could have predicted the outcome of this seemingly sewn-up match. Of the all the potential fight-ending scenarios, a fan-propelled- parachutist landing in the cage seemed more probable than what was about to happen.

The fighters spent a short time feeling one another out, tied up in a clinch and went to the ground.  Somewhere during the tussle, Black’s elbow was dislocated. Fans that faced Black could see his face while he pointed to the dislocation. Fans that could see only Black’s back just saw Carter slam him to the ground. Referee Herb Dean stepped in after the slam and stopped the fight because of the injury.

An elated Carter had some selective gestures for fans vocalizing their displeasure. Black remained on the mat for some time in a serious amount of pain, but he did make his way up in time for Dean to raise Carter’s hand in victory. At that point, Black’s discomfort seemed to be more of an emotional pain than a physical one. Carter didn’t hold anything in, and let all the emotion pour out up until, and after, King of the Cage owner Terry Trebilcock put the belt around his waist.

In other action, Pride and KOTC vet Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett faced UFC vet Jeff Curran, who was riding a two-year undefeated streak. The round began with some of the usual “Krazy Horse” antics, which included
Bennett climbing to the top of the cage to pose for all the fans.

After Bennett made his way down, Curran pressed the action and managed a big takedown that Bennett easily escaped. But when Bennett tried to return the favor, Curran landed in a position that left Bennett’s arm vulnerable. Curran jumped on the opportunity and tapped out “Krazy Horse” via armbar.

Before the main events started, Tim Sylvia and Andre Arlovski stepped into the cage to promote their upcoming rematch on April 15 at UFC 59.  They stood, toe-to-toe, in the cage until KOTC owner Terry Trebilcock mockingly split them up before trouble started.  The fighters smiled and shook hands wishing each other luck.

Another UFC vet, Terry Martin, finished off a very game Trevor Garrett just a minute and a half into the first round. The fighters, both big 185ers, were swinging to end the night as quickly as possible. But Martin was a little more capable and used a flurry of knees to Garrett’s head and body to earn the KO.

Gideon Ray, another UFC vet, was on his back for most of the first round, staying cool under fire from Brendan Seguin’s attack and in the waning seconds of the first round, he submitted Seguin via heel hook.

Laverne Clark and Victor Moreno battled for three rounds. Moreno survived a very low blow and, if he’d had a little more behind the shots, could have finished Clark standing up. But Clark was the stronger fighter and earned himself a unanimous-decision victory.

Joey Clark also won a unanimous decision against Brian Gassaway, another UFC vet on the card. Clark was in better condition and was the one pushing the action, easily winning the first two rounds. Gassaway
attempted some submissions in the last round, but Clark stayed out of trouble and walked out with the win.

Joe Jordan and John Strawn fought the most exciting fight of the night. Both took the fight straight to the other, standing or on the ground. By the third round, Jordan was furiously encouraged by his corner to keep the fight standing and he listened. Jordan opened up and used some feints to throw some elbows inside and eventually set up for a big right hand that finished the night for Strawn.

In the upset of the night, Tristen Yunker earned his first victory in only his second fight over a much more experienced Clay Guida, who has victories over three other fighters on the same card. Guida was,  presumably, taken off guard by Yunker’s speed and tapped out from a rear naked choke. Guida took the microphone after the loss to pay tribute to a friend who recently had passed away, but was unfortunately booed throughout the speech.

Jason Reinhardt answered a guillotine attempt by Mike Lindquist with a shot to Lindquist’s groin that was hard enough to stop the fight for a few minutes. Reinhardt rallied the crowd to encourage Lindquist to continue, and when they did restart, Reinhardt landed a right handed thank-you. Eventually, Reinhardt took Lindquist’s back and earned the victory with a rear naked choke.

Jerry Spiegel shouted at a ringsider, “Now get me my beer!” seconds after earning a victory over Neal Rowe. A minute and a half into the round Spiegel secured Rowe’s foot for a heel-hook submission.

Wayne Weems turned Bart Palaszewski’s nose into a bloody fountain with a right hook to start the first round. Perhaps motivated by the sight of his own blood, Palaszewski took Weems down and pounded the side of
Weems’ head until Dean stopped the fight.

In the opening five fights of the night:

Justin Robbins defeated Matt Jaggers via triangle in the first round.

Sean Salmon earned a TKO victory over Bryan Zanders.

Billy Ayash survived a quick takedown and flurry by a smaller Dennis
Reed to win by TKO in round 1.

Dan Loman earned a unanimous decision by winning the first two rounds
against Adam Mohr.

And in the first fight of the night, Mike Stumph targeted Robert Young’s
right eye for some ground-and-pound until it was so swollen that Herb
Dean had to stop the fight.