Tyler Nicholson drives Zach Gait to the mat

NANAIMO, B.C., - King of the Cage promoters John Cooper and Ken Kupsch brought MMA back to Vancouver Island giving islanders a rare glimpse at future MMA star Rory McDonald.

Facing off against a new opponent after Andrew Buckland dropped out of the bout, McDonald proved to be too much for the “widowmaker” Elmer Waterhen  pushing his record to a pristine 8-0 with a dominating first-round armbar submission. Establishing his stand up game early with a handful of punches, McDonald seamlessly transitioned to a takedown, and promptly worked for an armbar that eventually came at 1:27 of the first. McDonald, one of the best young prospects in the 170 lbs. division,  made short work of the veteran Waterhen and appears to be ready to make his way into the bigger shows.

Check out a video interview with Rory McDonald following his victory over Elmer Waterhen.

In semi main event action Graham Spencer used superior wrestling and positional dominance to stifle the dynamic Shawn Albrecht for three rounds and earn the unanimous decision victory. The always exciting Albrecht could not keep the fight standing long enough to mount an effective stiking attack, and Spencer used his superior ground control to smother his opponent and secure all three judges cards.

Adam Gabel defeated Aden Nezic via doctor stoppage in between rounds two and three. Nezic was unable to continue due to damage accrued on his face over the duration of two rounds of action. Gabel started strong landing good punches early and defending the takedowns well but his gas tank appeared to betray him as the fight progressed. Nezic came on stronger in the second but was never given the opportunity the chance to fight round three as Gabel took the hard earned victory after two rounds.

Aaron Bruce stopped Joel Liddicoat by trapping the left arm and pounding out his opponent until the referee stepped in to stop the bout early in the first round.

Mike Hackert defeated Ryan Janes in one of the semi-main events on the evening using his strength to keep the fight on his feet when he needed to and controlling the stand up against the iron-chinned Janes.

Janes’ was game from bell to bell but refused to tuck his chin in against the stand up acumen of Hackert, and it would prove to cost him. While Hackert was unable to hurt Janes, he scored regularly and despite a few takedowns, Janes was not able to deliver his ground-and-pound offense when he had his opportunity. Hackert earns the hard-fought three round decision.


John Turnbull used his much larger frame to muscle the fight to the mat, take the mount, and finish with ground and pound over a game but undersized Josh Spong at 2:12 of the first round. 

Tyler Nicholson took a very close decision from Zach Gait in a back-and-forth affair that could have gone to either fighter. Gait was the superior stand up fighter landing deep leg kicks and one-two combinations - but Nicholson’s wrestling proved to be the difference taking Gait down almost at will. The takedowns and ground control swayed the judges enough to secure him the split decision victory after three rounds.