A snowy Columbus , Ohio was in for MMA action as Promoter Bo Kimly brought the Xtreme Fighting Challenge to town. Even with a line up of 18 fights, few were sure of what to expect as there were only a few distinguished names on the amateur card. Sometimes that is not a bad thing as the young guns were on hand to display their talents within the steel Octagon in the hopes of making a name for him or herself. The snowy weather could not keep the loyal MMA fans away as a capacity crowd packed themselves into the Promowest Pavilion. The fights and results were as follows.

1 st fight- 18 year old New Jersey fighter Josh Rhodes spoiled the debut of West Virginia fighter Kevin Wagner in the opening fight of the night. Rhodes was able to control the action getting the initial takedown and eventually landed a solid right hand knocking out Wagner within the 1 st minute of the fight.

2 nd fight- Newwark , OH fighter Scott Wolford battled fellow Newark fighter Waylda Inman in the 2 nd fight of the evening. Wolford used his wrestling ability to takedown Inman and eventually worked his way to the mount. Dropping down punch after punch, Inman had no defense and was forced to tap from strikes midway thru round 1.

3 rd fight- Another Newark, OH fighter Chris Curtis took on the “Raging Redneck” Phil Parker in other action. Parker had no reply against the better striker in Curtis and eventually found himself unable to tie up Curtis and ate a right hand that knocked out the “Raging Redneck” early into round 1.

4 th fight- In a bizarre and unfortunate situation, Derek Collins was awarded the win by disqualification over Rob Blanton in what was to be the forth fight of the evening. Blanton seemed to have had too much to drink prior to his fight, thus was ruled unable to fight. This was a first for not only myself to witness, but probably for all of the fans in attendance as well.

5 th fight- Street fighter Jesse Hughes made his explosive debut against Corey Wellman. As the bell sounded, Hughes literally walked across the cage and landed a huge right hand knocking out Wellman at only 15 seconds into the fight.

6 th fight- Local Columbus fighter Cole Furbee made his debut in the Octagon against Lancaster , OH fighter Phillip “Pitbull” Tomblin in the 6 th fight of the evening. Furbee quickly slammed Tomblin onto the mat in round one and mainly worked within the guard, but Tomblin defended well. It was a see-saw battle as Furbee looked for openings to strike, but could not mount any real damage. Round 2 was a different story as Tomblin came out the aggressor, looking to land big strikes. Unfortunately, one of his takedown attempts exposed his neck and Furbee saw his opportunity and sunk in a tight guillotine choke forcing Tomblin to tap midway into round 2.

7 th fight- Ohio fighter Bill Davis battled streetfighter Rich Kast in an exciting fight. Davis looked to strike in the early going, but got picked up by Kast and brutally slammed into the mat. Working off his back, Davis was able to control Kast who was looking for any opportunity to drop some leather onto his opponent. Eventually, both fighters were stood up again, but this time the Kast takedown would be his downfall. After lunging in for the takedown once again, Davis was ready and locked in a guillotine choke and forced Kast to tap late into round 1.

8 th fight- Traveling all the way from Ontario , Canada , Gary Pardon made his way into the octagon to take on Gracie Jiu-jitsu student Mike Williams. Both fighters looked to throw down in the early stages, with Pardon getting the first takedown. Williams was defending well, until Pardon went for a heel hook. At one point it looked like the Gracie student would be able to roll out, but Pardon kept on the pressure and eventually locked in a beautiful heel hook forcing a disgusted Williams to tap early into round 1.

9 th fight- Columbus fighter Charles Lopresti took on Youngstown , OH fighter Mike Hudak in an evenly contested fight. Hudak got the initial takedown and worked in the half guard of Lopresti. Lopresti remained calm and eventually reversed Hudak and landed some effective strikes to the side of Hudaks head. Just when it looked like Hudak was out, he regained himself and made his way back up to his feet and took down Lopresti. At one point going for an ankle lock, Hudak gave that up and went back to striking. From the mount, Hudak dropped bombs and forced the referee to call a stop to the fight midway into round 1.

10 th fight- Joseph Whitt battled St. Louisville , OH fighter Tommy Bolton in the 10 th fight of the evening. Whitt controlled the fight, getting the first takedown and forcing Bolton up against the fence. From there, he landed numerous strikes to Bolton who defended well. Round 2 had Bolton looking to keep the fight on the feet, but was again unable to stop the Whitt takedown. This time, Whitt landed some solid shots from the mount. One finally stunned Bolton and after a few strikes for good measure, Bolton was forced to tap in round 2.

11 th fight- Two Columbus fighters, Jimmy Rommel and Nanthan Burgoon, battled it out for bragging rights in the 11 th fight. Burgoon looked to land the one big punch, but as he got within range, Rommel grabbed the back of Burgoon’s head a la V. Silva, and landed a huge knee that knocked out Burgoon. A golf ball size lump formed on the side of Burgoon’s head and he was quickly transported to the local hospital for observation.

12 th fight- Wrestler Joey Enright made his big splash into MMA with a solid performance against Amanda , OH fighter Justin Reeves. Enright basically went head hunting, throwing bomb after bomb, and landing most of them against Reeves. Eventually, Reeves dropped to all fours and Enright landed punch after punch. Unable to take anymore punishment, Reeves was forced to tap from strikes early into round 1.

13 th fight- Luis Rodriguez battled mohawk sporting Derek Collins in the 13 th fight. Collins was game, taking some of Rodriguez’s best shots and coming back for more. Rodriguez controlled the fight mainly on the ground, but Collins defended well and did seem to get the better of the strikes on the feet. Then suddenly something that I have not seen since Murilo Bustamante fought Jerry Bohlander took place, Rodriguez was on his back with Collins coming in and Collins ate a perfectly timed up kick that briefly knocked him out. Rodriguez was declared the winner by KO midway through round 2.

14 th fight- Once was not enough for Philip “Pitbull” Tomblin, as he fought for the 2 nd time in the night as he took on MMA veteran Matt” Horndog” Horning. Both fighters traded big bombs early on with Horning getting the big slam takedown. Unfortunately, a huge cut was opened on the left brow of Horning. Unable to control the bleeding and unsure if it was caused by a headbutt or punch, the fight was stopped by the ring side physician and the fight was declared a no contest.

15 th fight- Reynoldsburg , OH fighter Jason Shute had a bizarre fight against Michael Janey out of Galloway , OH . Janey seemed to control the beginning portion of the fight, looking for the takedown and avoiding the heavy punches of Shute. Just as it seemed that Janey was going to get another takedown, he suddenly tapped from what looked to be from my angle an apparent knee to the stomach. Janey was unable to continue and Shute was declared the winner.

16 th fight- For the Lightweight Championship title, defending champion Primo Luciano from Buffalo , NY took on Hammer house fighter Luke “The Apostle” Spencer. In what was a very entertaining fight, both fighters gave it their all to the delight of the crowd. Luciano looked to take the fight to the ground on numerous occasions, but the crafty veteran Spencer, avoided most takedown attempts and clearly won the stand up battle. In the end, Spencer did more damage on the feet and avoided most of the Primo takedown attempts and easily scored a unanimous decision victory snatching the Lightweight title away from a very game Luciano.

17 th fight- Youngstown , OH fighter Todd Seyler battled Aaron Growel out of Lancaster , OH in the 17 th fight of the evening. Both fighters fought a back and forth battle with each fighter getting various chances to take control of the fight. In the end, it was Seyler who received the technical decision victory due to his numerous slams and takedowns.

18 th fight- In the final fight of the evening, the Heavyweights closed the show. Police Officer Kenneth Wardenbee out of Newark , OH took on Delaware , OH fighter Kevin Hummel. With a significant weight and size advantage, Wardenbee looked to take the fight to the ground and pound out the much smaller Hummel, but Hummel was not having any part of that. Hummel did an excellent job staying on his feet as Wardenbee worked for the takedown and just could not get it. Both fighters traded knees from within the clinch, working their muay thai skills but Wardenbee looked to be tiring. With Wardenbee unable to get the takedown, Hummel finally saw his opportunity. He landed some big shots to the head of Wardenbee and a big right hand knocked the giant down. From there, Hummel pounded away on the downed Wardenbee and the referee had no choice but to stop the fight late into round 1.