KOTC Nanaimo Report with Photos *Updated*

King of the Cage came to Nanaimo for the first time ever and matchmaker and co- promoter John Cooper has much to be happy with. His first venture into the KOTC produced a solid event that showcased new blood into the MMA scene on Vancouver Island and crowned a new KOTC Canadian Light Heavyweight champion.

In the main event Travis Galbraith looked very strong early firing off very stiff leg kicks catching Nick Hinchliffe several times and out muscling his opponent in the clinch. He appeared to be in control at this point but upon separation Hinchliffe timed a perfect overhand shot that landed off a low kick attempt that put “The Gladiator” on the canvas. Hinchliffe pounced on his opponent firing off several more punches en route to an upset referee stoppage victory in the first round. The ecstatic Nanaimo native actually accidentally punched referee Kevin Dornan in the face in the closing exchange cutting his lip in the process! Galbraith who was completely out from the punches, took Dornan down after the fight was over, unaware that the fight had been stopped. In the end Hinchliffe became the new Canadian Light Heavyweight champion of the KOTC at 1:00 of round one.

Controversy struck in the semi main event of the evening when Chris Peak took on Marcus Hicks in rematch that had a much different ending then their first. Peak looked like the much sharper striker in the early goings finding his range and firing off solid shots on Hicks who covered up but ate a volley of leather for his efforts. From there, the fight found it’s way to the mat where Hicks was able to work off the cage and tighten up an armbar. Here is where the controversy entered, as Hicks worked to tighten the armbar he pushed off on Peak’s face poking him in they eye in the process. Peak eventually tapped but immediately reached up to and cover his eye in obvious pain. Clearly upset from the illegal technique Peak complained of the eye gouge but to no avail as the decision was announced and Hicks was declared the victor at 2:20 of the first round.

Revolution fight team member Rob Valek wasted no time rushing in, taking the fight to the mat, and pounding out Aaron Bruce en route to a dominant victory at 2:00 minutes of the first stanza. Valek who came out with Bill Mahood and “Pele” Jose Landi in his corner, was able to get the full mount and maintain balance over a squirmy Bruce who worked valiantly to work his way out of danger. In the end Valek was too much, riding on the back and landing hard shots until the referee had no choice but to dive in and halt the action.

In a strange but entertaining fight Jack Sawel was able to dominate to take a unanimous three round decision over a limber Abdul Majid. Sawel used his strength and takedowns to work Majid to the ground in all three rounds and was able to do everything except stop the slippery Majid. Majid started off the contest working his stand up and looked ok in the early goings but when he was on the mat Sawel had his way with him passing the guard and landing solid punches to the face and working foot locks, chokes, omaplata’s to no avail.

At one point Majid was apparently too slippery for his own shorts as they were half way down his legs at the end of the second round, the referee even helped him put his shorts back on as he walked to his corner after the second round.

Majid was a gamer and may have been a rubber band in a previous life because when he was mounted he was able to do what most feel only human contortionists can do and bring his legs almost parallel to this body and tie up his opponent and come out the back side. He did this several times over to the surprise of Sawel . He used his elastic like flexibility to work his way out of multiple submissions but in the end Sawels control, submission attempts and ground and pound was more then enough to secure the unanimous decision.

Impact MMA fighter Keegan Marshall was able to use his knees to good effect driving them into the head and face of Kelly Le Blanc from the stand up until the referee stepped in at 3:30 of round one.

Jason Mackie was able to take Inderjit Basala to the ground pass guard and pound him until he gave up his back and sunk in the rear naked choke for the finish at 4:40 of rd one.

Sean Albrecht was impressive using his superior stand up game to frustrate Martin Julien, and stuffing the takedown attempts when he needed to. He eventually took the mount and finished the fight off via ref stoppage in round two.

Aaron Ram defeated Rick Le Blanc at 0:36 seconds of round one via rear naked choke in what was the quickest fight of the night.

Victoria fighter Alex Mayer lost to Darcy James via Triangle choke at 4:20 of the first round. Mayer looked good early almost catching James with a triangle choke of his own but he could not finish and it cost him in the end. James via Submission 4:20 rd 1.

In what was probably the fight of the night Kevin Timothy was able to get the armbar victory over the very athletic Anthony Vagay in an entertaining fight that saw both fighters grind it out in a dizzying back and forth affair. In the opening moments of the fight Vagay dominated, knocking Timothy to the mat with a punch two times and simply looked too strong for Timothy in the early goings. Timothy showed heart however and kept coming eventually tiring out his opponent and applying an unorthodox armbar to induce the tapout victory at 3:42 of the second round.

2:17 was all Dan MacIver needed to take Dave Sparling out with ground and pound for a TKO ref stoppage. Sparling started off with a nice takedown but MacIver was able to reverse and land thudding shots before the referee stepped in to halt the bloody contest.

In the first fight of the evening Chris Lesley was able to survive a first round scare and pound his grounded opponent to take the victory over Arron Brevik at 3:55 of the second to kick off the nights fights.