Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

  

A packed card, the diverse range in match-ups, nods to alumni, and Chinook Winds Casino in the house all marked the FCFF's 50th milestone event. Add to the list a sell out crowd, and the energy in the Roseland stands hit an inevitable high. Win or lose, getting this 'up close and personal' to 21 MMA bouts- filled with athletes powering towards their individual bests- was nothing less than electric. Anyone watching could not help getting dusted with a piece of competitive glory.

At Saturday morning's weigh-ins everyone came ready to make weight- everyone had their paperwork in order, and there were few injury cancellations or schedule conflicts. In the end, twenty-one fights kept everyone in their seats right up to the end when Kevin Fox and Larry Munyon's Light Heavyweight battle finished around midnight.

The main card provided a great reason to stay the distance, starting with bout #17 offering the Championship belt for Welterweight. However, defending champ, Ryan Walker could not bring his technical skills to the pitch necessary to overcome Wesley Golden's unstoppable and exciting onslaught, giving Golden the split decision. Then TSN's John Alden defeated Armstrong MMA's Tyler Baley in round one of the Superfight, solidifying Eric Wander's TSN as one of the top fight organizations in the FCFF. John Alden seems to have a fire inside of him hot enough to fuel fast his paced win over his opponent; despite Baley's entertaining intro. Baley surprised and entertained the crowd by forgoing the usual music in favor of a clever trash-talk announcement in the signature, dry voice of Shane Company fame; when a local diamond merchant does a custom voice over for a Rumble fight it is proof positive that Portland's MMA community is connected and supported.

The Alden family had a double header, as John Alden's brother Jeff has also won FCFF's opening bout against Keith Ballentine with a second round choke out. TSN's roster of fighters may not be as deep in numbers as other camps, but their percentage of wins has got to be gratifyingly high.

But as the evening drew to a close the crowd's enthusiasm ratcheted up for the Heavyweight Belt bout between Jason Pittman of 503 West Coast Jiu Jitsu and Impact's Shaun Mirjavadi. The title was recently vacated, after Will Walden's recent win over Mirjavadi, when Walden moved to Pro with Team Quest. So Mirjavadi had something to prove after the devastating knockout delivered to him by Will Walden. Shaun demonstrated his mettle, though, with a swift TKO, due to strikes, over Jason Pittman- and by the sound of the crowd, a too early call- by ref Kelly Whitlock, though Pittman appeared overpowered by the relentless onslaught for just over two minutes in round one. Afterwards, Mirjavadi acknowledged to the crowd that the benefit of a humbling loss could fuel a fighter's determination to reach for the next level. He descended the cage and, lost in the flurry and commotion of the next fight, could be seen pausing by the towering Willie Walden for a 'respect among colleagues' hand shake and an earnest conversation. Still dripping sweat with the belt under his arm, Mirjavadi's words were lost in the boom of the speakers, but the posture between the two fighters was all about the sportsmanship of champions.

The girl's 125-pound Championship bout was a study in determination, of an athlete meeting her match and rising above. Meeting, perhaps, her most skilled challenger to date Glena Avila defended her belt against Maygen Sato from Idaho. Glena had to repeatedly fight her way out of the persistent clinch of an equally aggressive opponent who was clearly here to win. Sato held Avila off with close fighting, and unyielding pressure. But Avila responded with accurate knees and some nice resists and sprawls against the cage. 'Heartless' pulled it out in the end, with a TKO due to strikes, and the crowd enjoyed the uncommon opportunity to see two women with the fighting skills to go far in MMA.

In the last fight of the evening, Touch M Up's Kevin Fox threw Larry Munyon off his striking rhythm time and again with explosive aggression. But Munyon pulled off the unanimous decision win by sustaining control, and neutralizing Fox with enough of his signature flurries of fast and furious striking to seal the deal. Munyon told the crowd he will move on to test his FCFF experience in the Pro arena.

But even though the last fights of the night had been worth the wait, the under card, too, was packed with great contests and exciting moments between some of the best camps in the FCFF. Early in the evening, Universal JJ's Greg Shelby delivered a knee to the face of Team Quest's Dylan Loriaux, who took the full five minutes to recover on the foul. Watching from the back of the tunnel, you weren't sure he could come back until, at about 3 and a half minutes, Loriaux started to brighten and get focused. As if refueled with a will to win, Loriaux came back out with a ferocity that took the bout in a majority decision. Liz Kelly took a flurry of hits from Liz McCarthy that ended with a medical stoppage at the end of round two, her eye swelling visibly as she mingled in the crowd to watch the rest of the card. Bout 11, also, was stopped in round two with a No Contest call when Josh Hitsman got snagged with an unintentional foul to the eye and couldn't focus.

But two fights stood out among all others. Don Kitterman vs. Jesten Arnold, and Justin Mark vs. Aaron Wolf.

Kitterman, a long-time and well-versed JJ expert from Universal Jiu Jitsu, decided to make a last shot at ending his cage-fighting venture with a win- at 50 years of age. He went up against the much younger Jesten Arnold and got clocked a couple times with very accurate hits that went right over his guard. But clearly, Kitterman's legs were dangerous to Arnold and the two circled each other with caution for what seemed to the uninitiated an almost quiet fight. But when it exploded, what action! Almost too fast to see, the two men patiently strategized to the other's opening, delivered a big hit, and then backed-off to circle, again. Kitterman got off a beautifully crafted combo, an airborne, backwards roundhouse and a lightening fast, almost textbook, back handed blow. Arnold saw an opening and took Kitterman in a headlock so fast you almost missed the take down. Kitterman patiently worked the lock, the pair were frozen in place up against the cage, with ref Dave Hagen watching the action closely. Ref Hagen, not one to let a clinch linger without advancing the position, steadily watched, with his intense gaze clueing onlookers that serious action was taking place. It was a frozen few seconds while ref Hagen carefully gauged the mutual skill of the opponents against his ref's tight criteria of strategy. Finally, Hagen separated the pair and Kitterman popped up with a gash over his eye that the doc came to check. Arnold got up to reveal a cape of Kitterman's blood, cascading down his back- from the clinch. The drama had unfolded under Dave Hagen's careful monitoring of two deeply experienced fighters, and only a crowd of maybe thirty- right up against the cage- were close enough to see the intensity of the close action. Ref Hagen has said that the skills of respective opponents count heavily with referees while gauging a call; these two were skilled. But, too, Hagen has said, the position of a cut near the eye can make or break a fighter's career.

Kitterman's wound was a bleeder, but not a 'stopper', and the two fighters met back at the center of the ring with almost glee- it became clear to the house that both fighters were loving this! They were both laughing- deadly serious- and having such a great time that the whole arena might have been empty to them. It was a great sight to see- with Kitterman taking a win that was NOT given up easily by Arnold. The crowed went wild. The fighters almost celebrated each other's combat, and Kevin Keeney asked how many in the crowd wanted to be like Kitterman at 50! And the crowd went wild again, ending with a well-deserved standing ovation for Kitterman's incredible finale in the FCFF's Slammer.

But the most talked about fight of the night had to be Justin Mark's (LA Boxing), against Aaron Wolf (Powell Butte). Justin came off a yearlong break from a minor, but persistent injury that kept him at a low pace of training. But like a true warrior who is born to fight, he came back- ready to win, any way, any how. His MMA tool chest was packed, and he pulled out a quite a few of them, executing his skills with excitement and aggression that didn't stop from the second the bout started, till it's end. You could hardly see the progression of moves for the speed; strike, grapple, take-down. Until suddenly, Wolf presented his back and Mark leaped high on Wolf's shoulders, sinking a standing choke-out position that you were sure would take out Wolf on his feet. Then both fighters flung backwards, hard, with a slam that shook the seats, but Mark retained the choke despite the deafening impact. Wolf escaped, somehow, and what flowed was a series of seamless, tangling skills and escapes; headlock, triangle, leg lock- all you knew for sure was that it was a spectacular show. Justin Mark would not be denied the win and quickly sunk another choke out for the call at 1:24 in the first round. Afterwards, Mark could be seen exiting the Roseland calmly- relaxed and cool headed- as if he'd just stopped for a beer; but the aura 'winner' trailed his passing.

And finally, if all that were not enough, to mark FCFF's 50^th event Rumble at the Roseland was pleased acknowledge a small, representative cadre of Alumni guests from past and recent fight events. Corey Roska was present with Nemesis owner Eric Hemphill, formerly of SBG, and with Chris Haueter of Combat Base and Machado USA Coach/competitor, US Open Champion, one of Rorian Gracie's early students. Trent Standing was in the house, a veteran Pro, and trainer of many FCFF athletes, as well as, Scott Trayhorn, long time FCFF favorite and talented trainer. Nick Braker, of former FCFF Heavyweight fame, routed past Will Walden of recent FCFF Heavyweight fame- both were slated to fight each other at the March Sportfight. Kevin Keeney stepped down from the cage to solicit Will's game plan for the fight, but Will could not be tempted to share, citing his opponent's presence nearby; Braker was cornering the Heavyweight bout for his fellow teammate from 503 West Coast, Jason Pittman. Experienced Coach and FCFF competitor, Greg Thompson represented Next Level, home of former FCFF Champion and UFC great, Nate Quarry- the FCFF was pleased Greg could participate. Dave Jansen arrived a little late as he was watching a potential opponent's bout televised on Versus's WEC; Jansen has had an incredible run in the WEC after his FCFF tenure and stayed the evening to hang around with the Team Quest crew, including Josh Bennett, Clayton Hires, and others. Keeney's quick interview with Bennett reminded us of Josh's over 25 fights in the Slammer (Isn't that an FCFF record?) and why he is an eternal favorite at the FCFF; Jay Schaeffer of Touch M Up has been here from the beginning of the FCFF, and Ed Herman was a welcome site, too. Herman, who must be the 'fighting-est' FCFF alumni, so far, has almost 10 UFC appearances, and over 20 Pro fights in major organizations. All of these alumni came out with almost no notice to help FCFF mark the event, and were representative of so many others, some whom were also in attendance at Rumble 50, and all of whom have made the FCFF what it is today.

And finally, after acknowledging his introduction into the Slammer, by  Kevin Keeney, as  #1 contender for UFC's Middleweight Championship (and 4^th World Ranked)  the, FCFF co-owner stepped into the Slammer. To a cheering crowd, Chael Sonnen announced the great news about Chinook Winds Casino's new FCFF relationship for 'Caged on the Coast', May 1^st, 2010. Check the FCFF home page for the fight card.

So, not long after midnight, with Cage Master Mike Madlem quietly snipping cage-door cable ties for the tear down, FCFF co-owner Kevin Keeney wrapped up the belt formalities with Larry Munson, having kept control of and managed, a grueling pace for a 21 fight card, with a full house of high energy patrons and athletes. It was another unforgettable night for Rumble at the Roseland 50. If you missed it you can catch the recent postings of pre-fight PR media trails in the Rumble Press Room, or you can buy the video at the FCFF on-line store.  And, if you were there, you'll probably want to replay of some moments that went almost too fast to digest, in a fight night fully worthy of it's anniversary milestone.

Featured Video

Caged on the Coast 3
McLeod vs. Whitmire