Lakeside Casino in Osceola, Iowa was the scene of the highly anticipated Extreme Challenge which featured a double main event with 2 titles on the line, and 2 fighters making their long awaited returns to the cage in the 64th edition of the popular Midwestern event.

Jason Black wasted no time returning to winning form after a 14 month layoff from competition. Black found himself pitted against Kyle Jenson (32-9) of Minnesota for the Extreme Challenge Welterweight title.  The undefeated (19-0-1) Miletich trained fighter didn’t seem to skip a beat as the fight went almost immediately to the ground. The aggressive Black went from guard, to side-mount, to his dominant north-south position where he applied a north-south choke which proved to be too much for Jenson who tapped at 1:15 of  Round 1. Following the win Black stated, “The time off really didn’t make a difference, I mean when you look at it two fights ago I had nine months in between and that didn’t really matter, and this time around the time off didn’t really matter.” With the best record in MMA today, it would be a smart move for the big shows to nab this unsigned talent.

 Rich Clementi (24-9) also made his return to fighting after suffering a torn ACL in February of last year and would be fighting a tough Chris Mickle(12-3-2) for the Extreme Challenge Lightweight title.  The fight started off with Mickle being the aggressor and shooting in for the takedown.  Both fighters scrambled back and forth exchanging take downs and punches before Clementi sealed the deal with a huge slam that clearly took the wind out of his opponent.  Clementi followed with a series of explosive punches that forced referee Matt Hughes to call a stop to the fight at 2:51 of the first round.

In an exciting match-up that was rumored to possibly propel the winner into the UFC, Nick Thomspon faced UFC veteran Josh Neer. The crowd was going nuts for Josh “The Dentist” Neer (14-3-1), but that didn’t prove to be a factor for Thompson (20-8-1). Thompson was forced to fight off what appeared to be a tight guillotine attempt by Neer in the 1st, but regained composure and came out in the 2nd round using a balanced attack of striking and solid grappling skills to eventually secure the rear naked choke at 2:19 of round 2. What is next for Nick “The Goat” Thompson?  After the fight he said “Hopefully the UFC, I have won 6 fights at this weight and would love to compete at that level,” Nick said confidently.  And coming off of a FFC welterweight tournament win and this win over Neer, the UFC could be knocking on his door.

Earlier on the card, the crowd saw what was to be the only knockout of the night with Rory Markham of Miletich Fighting Systems taking on Mike “the Mini Van” Van Meer of Des Moines.  The fight started with Van Meer trying to close the distance against the dangerous striker but Markham stuffed several takedown attempts in the beginning of the fight and was getting off his fair share of inside elbows and punch combinations early.  Van Meer eventually did get a takedown off of the cage, but Markham proved to be too quick for Van Meer to do any damage on the ground as he pushed off of the Mini Vans hips and got right back to his feet.  Van Meer threw a leg kick to try to neutralize the overwhelming speed of Markham, and this proved to be a big mistake as he unleashed a nasty right straight that landed squarely on the temple dropping the Mini Van to his side. How did the fight go in Markham’s eyes? “There are always moments for clarity in a fight, that is what makes each individual fight a learning experience.  The moment of clarity I had in this fight was right before he threw the low kick and I was thinking to myself I am going to throw this punch with strength and conviction,” Markham stated. With strength he did throw that punch, and knocked out Van Meer for the first time in his career at 1:48 of the 1st round.  Rory Markham (7-1) has won 6 fights in a row finishing all of his opponents. 

 
Results:

Bradon Anderson def. Nick Brown by TKO 1:05 Rd. 1
Rory Markham def. Mike Van Meer by KO 1:48 Rd 1
John Strawn def. Sean Wilson by Submission (Triangle Choke) 2:08 Rd 1
Sean Huffman def. John Halverson by TKO 2:40 Rd 1
Chad Reiner def. Victor Moreno by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 4:01 Rd 1
Nick Thompson def. Josh Neer by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 2:19 Rd 2
Rich Clementi def. Chris Mickle by TKO 2:51 Rd 1
Jason Black def. Kyle Jenson by Submission (North-South Choke) 1:15 Rd 1