On May 29th, the Northern Kentucky Reality Fighting Championships stampeded its way into Holmes high School in Covington, KY. The show, was put together by promoter Adam Brown and matchmaker Dustin Ware, consisted of 11 evenly matched bouts. With much anticipation, the fights got under way and I was there, to bring to the readers a review of one of the better amateur shows that I have seen.

The opening bout of the night pitted Dustin Hazlett, representing Ground Zero and Jorge Grugel by way of Lawrence County, KY against Edwin Levine out of Covington, KY. Both fighters looked evenly built, each weighing around 155 lbs., but the experience factor played a huge role in this fight. Both fighters looked to stand early on when Levine was able to get the initial takedown on Hazlett. Hazlett, who seemed very comfortable on the ground, immediately sunk in a perfect armbar, from which there seemed to be no escape. Thinking that Levine had tapped, Hazlett let go of the hold and assumed he was the winner. The referee, who seemed to be new at officiating, was unsure if Levine really tapped which caused a bit of controversy. The crowd chanted to keep the fight going, which was good for Hazlett and very bad for Levine. Once the fight resumed, Hazlett immediately landed a vicious kick followed by a right hand that sent Levine crumbling to the mat. Not taking the chance of what happened last time, Hazlett immediately followed up with two to three more punches to the downed Levine and the referee had no choice but to call a halt to the fight in the 1st round.

The second fight of the night pitted Jeremy Linville from Hurricane, WV against Adam Rivera from WV by way of the Tigers Lair Fight Team. The first round began with both fighters looking for the knockout punch. Both traded bombs with each other until Linville went in for the initial takedown, landing into the guard of Rivera and proceeded to deliver some ground and pound in the corner. Rivera was able to fend off the attack and eventually made his way back up to his feet. Both fighters worked the clinch, delivering knees up close to the body. Rivera then gets his hooks in and delivered a huge throw on Linville landing in the full mount. From there, Linville did his best not to allow any punches to land and eventually got back up to his feet as the bell sounded for the end of round 1.

Both fighters looked to be gassing out as the bell for round 2 sounded, as each sized up their opponent looking for the KO punch. After a heated exchange, where Rivera even landed a spinning back fist to face of Linville, both fighters fell and Rivera found himself in side control. Rivera looked for the submission, attempting a kimura, finally deciding for the rear naked choke Both fighters almost found themselves outside of the ring, where the referee was forced to move them back into the middle. But alas, the damage was already done, and Rivera was able to sink in the rear naked choke and a very game Linville had no other option but to tap mid way into round 2

Tom Brown, traveling from York PA, took on a Mohawk sporting Mike Johns from Cincinnati, OH fighting out of Cincinnati MMA. Both fighters seemed eager to get the fight going and as round 1 began, it looked clear that it would not go the distance. Both fighters came out swinging, with Johns landing the much bigger shots to the face of Bacon. Bacon seemed stunned from one of the punches and immediately wanted no more of the striking and shot in for the takedown. Bacon worked within the tight guard of Johns he was unable to mount much of an attack and Johns bridged perfectly and reversed Bacon landing in the full mount. Johns threw numerous punches from the top but was unable to land anything significant as the bell sounded. Round 2 began with Bacon looking stunned from the shots from the previous round and it was only a matter of time before Johns would end it. Smelling blood, Johns landed a huge right hand that sent Bacon to the ground. Johns was declared the winner by KO over a very spirited Bacon.

The last fight before the first intermission pitted Tierre Hall from the Black Dragon School in Cleveland, OH taking on Mike Wells from South Shore, KY representing Ground Zero. The preflight entrances of each fighter lasted longer than the fight itself. Both traded strikes early in the round when Hall makes a crucial mistake in ducking his head and Wells sunk in a guillotine choke. It was only a matter of time before Hall was unable to continue and was forced to tap early into round 1.

Hoping to bring a victory back to Cleveland, fellow Black Dragon member DeAngelo Nichols took on Jason Dent from Toledo, OH in the 5th fight of the night. This fight did not last long as after a quick exchange, Dent got the takedown and Nichols was unable to defend. Dent worked his way into the full mount where he began landing thunderous punches. Nichols seemed hurt and began to curl up to defend. From there, Dent had open hunting season and dropped a huge knee to the body followed by a right hand that forced Nichols to tap from strikes midway through the first round.

The 6th fight of the night pitted striker versus ground specialist. Bill Dexter from Charleston, WV and Advanced BKJ took on Tim “C4” Norman who was fighting out of Akron, OH and representing the US National Tae Kwon Doe team. It was evident from the start what each fighter wanted to do, the real question was who was going to impose their will in this fight. Round 1 began with Norman looking to land big strikes with Dexter attempting to get close enough to possibly take the fight to the ground. As both fighters looked for their opening, Dexter was able to avoid a flurry of punches and grabbed a hold of Norman and executed a perfect judo like throw taking Norman to the ground. From there, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before Dexter would sink in a submission, but Norman had other plans in mind. Norman fought valiantly as Dexter attempted and almost locked in a rear naked choke, but Norman preserved and eventually the referee stood back up the fighters due to inactivity. Form there, Norman looked for a knockout blow and eventually executed his own throw, which landed him in the guard of Dexter. Wanting no part of the ground game, Norman was content with just waiting it out, hoping to get stood up. Dexter, on the other hand, looked for various submissions, but was unsuccessful as the bell sounded to end round 1.

Round 2 began with Norman looking to land a big punch, but it was Dexter that landed the better of the strikes and ended it with a big throw where he landed in Normans guard. Dexter then worked his way into the full mount, where Norman held on trying to avoid any strikes to the face. Suddenly, as Norman made his move to get back up, Dexter sinks in a vicious arm bar from the bottom. Norman winced in pain and tapped a few seconds too late as his arm looked to be hyper extended at the elbow. Dexter won this battle of wills with a submission via armbar in round 2 in the exciting fight of the night.

In what would be the only fight to go the distance in the evening, Lance Frimouth from Bellevue, KY took on Jamie Tony representing Ground Zero out of Huntington, WV Tony decided to dictate the pace of this fight by getting the initial takedown in the first round. Tony, unable to mount any type of attack, worked in the guard but Frimouth was able to make his way back to his feet. Frimouth made up for his lack of experience with his brute strength and displayed this strength towards the end of round 1. Frimouth was able to take Tony down, but Tony being the jiu-jitsu specialist was happy to oblige. From his back, Tony attempted numerous submission attempts, almost locking in a triangle choke. Frimouth proceeded to pick up Tony and slam him onto the mat in order to break the hold, which set the tone for the rest of the fight as round 1 came to a close.

Round 2 began with Tony wanting to go back to the ground and basically leaped into the guard to bring Frimouth down to the ground. From there, Tony attempted a guillotine choke, but Frimouth was just too determined and was able to escape that submission attempt as well. Frimouth attempted to ground and pound, but Tony seemed to be waiting with a new submission attempt each time a punch was thrown. Tony transitioned from triangle to armbar, always keeping Frimouth thinking about what was coming next. But each time Tony almost sank in a submission, Frimouth would use his strength to power out, and round 2 ended with Frimouth slamming Tony to the mat to break out of an armbar attempt once again.

The final round had Tony and Frimouth trading strikes in the early stages of the round. Tony goes back to his bread and butter and jumped to guard attempting another guillotine choke, but to no avail. Frimouth once again, powered out and worked within the guard of Tony. Frimouth basically grounded and pounded Tony, who defended nicely, until the end of the round. Although Frimouth showed a lot of heart in fighting off the submissions, it was Tony who dictated the fight and went for the submissions. The judges tallied the scores and Tony was granted the unanimous decision victory.

One of the headlining fights of the evening pitted Josh Cooper from Charleston, WV against Chris Levine from Covington, KY. The pace of this fight was fast and furious as Cooper came out throwing bombs, with Levine looking to take the fight to the ground. The pace was quick as Levine attempted a leg lock, but was unable to successfully lock it in. Both fighters made their way back to their feet where eventually Cooper got a good throw on Levine and landed in the full mount. Cooper then proceeds to land some punishing blows from the top and Levine had nowhere to go. After about 5 unanswered punches, the referee had no option but to call a stop to the fight due to strikes and awarded the upset victory to a very impressive Josh Cooper.

The 9th fight of the evening headlined a very compact, muscular 185 lb. fighter in Chris Wells from Middletown, OH taking on Steve Neal from Fayetteville, WV. This fight looked to be a good match up, but Wells strength proved to be the deciding factor in this fight. Once the bell rung, Wells was able to body lock Neal and executed a flawless trip to take Neal to the ground. From there, it was a matter of time before the fight would end. Wells moved from full mount to side control, looking for a submission attempt. Wells proved to be too strong as he landed numerous blows to the helpless Neal who did everything he could to keep the big man off of him. Suddenly, Wells secured an armlock and began to crank, but Neal was not going to submit. Knowing the submission was not going to work, Wells landed a vicious elbow to the eye of Neal, which immediately opened a cut. The impact of the elbow echoed through the gym as bone on bone slammed together. Neal could not take anymore and was forced to tap from strikes midway into round 1. Wells had a very impressive performance, look for him to be on bigger and better cards in the future.

The 10th fight of the night and main event of the evening, had rising young gun Josh Souder from Middleton, OH and Jorge Grugel’s Ground Zero Team taking on Mike Russo from Toledo, OH. Souder, being the jiu-jitsu specialist, looked to take the fight immediately to the ground, he threw a quick punch and rushed in for the successful takedown. Souder was able to get side control and worked his way into the full mount attempting to rain down punches onto Russo. But as Souder was throwing punches, Russo was able to buck Souder off and get himself into Souders guard. From his guard, Souder avoided some short punches and eventually caught Russo with a perfect armbar in which Russo had to tap or suffer a broken arm. Needless to say, Russo tapped and Souders was awarded the victory towards the end of round 1.

Looking back, the Northern Kentucky Fighting Championships was a success, with only one fight going to the judges. Dustin Ware’s matchmaking was excellent, pitting equally skilled opponents against each other in the ring. With a solid attendance and a DVD being created for the show, the Northern Kentucky Fighting Championships looks to have a bright future.

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