ICFA Presents aggression friday feb 6, 2009 @ 8pm
ICFA News:
 With an impressive crowd once again in Columbus, Ohio at Screamin Willies; the fighters didn’t disappoint any of the fans. ICFA 6 once again proved to be the premier cage fighting event in the Midwest on December 19 where fans were lined up at the gate hours in advance to ensure they got the best seat in the house. The night of AGGRESSION we definitely saw that when Dinos the DESTROYER Angelas lost his middleweight title to Zach Woltz for an in-adverted kick to the face after the bell. We saw AGGRESSION in the fight stopping punch Justin Steave had against Zach Daugherty. There were plenty of highlights all night long that you the FAN can see in the FAN ZONE. All pictures and videos of events are available for ICFA Fans by logging on in the Fan Zone.
Speaking of fans; we had plenty of the top fighters in attendance for ICFA 6. The (AUF) American Underground Fighters; Casey Imhoff, Dan Wade and Shane Fobian- Team Precision, Aggression Athletics. We also saw many local pro-mma fighters such as John Kuhner and UFC veterans Sean Salmon and Branden Lee Hinkle, 12 time world kickboxing champ Hector Pena and IFL sensation Josh Souder.
Below are spoilers of the event. Click here to see the official Event Results
- Wayne Lanum vs Jason Smith 205
- This was definitely a great way to start the evening. Two massive 205 lb fighters holding absolutely nothing back from each other including high fives to each other when they got caught with a devastating strike. This fight ended in the second round with Wayne winning by TKO.
- Robert Cole vs Brad Mayes 145
- Cole coming in for his debut fight didn’t get much of an opportunity as Mayes quickly finished the fight with a TKO ground and pound game in 38 seconds.
- Ryan Jervis vs Justin Paul 145
- Both of these guys definitely coming in on the light side of the featherweights put on a great fight. Ryan normally fighting at 155 happened to be lighter due to coming off of a flu and Justin Paul normally competes at the bantam (135) weight class. Meeting half way for the competition Ryan was able to put the pressure on first by nearly sinking in a guillotine on Justin, however Justin’s bull’s-eye was not intended for him to end up beaten so he took advantage of his ground experience and reversed the hold beating Ryan in the hold he nearly sunk in; Justin wins via guillotine in the 1st.
- Skyler Wiggand vs Cory Stuart 170
- Skyler the clear winner on paper came out to a rude awakening from the Newark rookie, Cory Stuart. Within the first round Stuart was able to avoid serious injury and finish of Wiggand via guillotine.
- Harley Butler vs Miles Haynes 185
- Here we go with another set of big wrestlers pounding at each other. You would have never guessed these two were about to fight each other prior to the event starting. Like true professionals they were casually sitting and having conversation with each other prior the start of their fight, but once those cage doors locked this friendship was definitely put on the back burner. Constant slams and punches from both the entire time during the first round, it was hard to tell who would be leading. In the second Harley comes out victorious taking advantage of Haynes conditioning. You will definitely see both of these fighters again as they both did a tremendous job winning over the crowd.
- Rylan Burrie vs Kenny Oiler 125
- Easily the fight of the night from these two flyweights that both weighed in at 116 lbs. 3 full rounds of non-stop action from these two. Rylan a definite ICFA fan favorite is known for being explosive and never backing down, slowing down, or playing it “safe” while in the cage. Rylan did not disappoint with constant attacks towards Kenny Oiler escaping a barrage of submission attempts. Kenny Oiler had his ICFA debut with an impressive 3 round unanimous decision over Rylan Burrie. The 3 rounds appeared to be a jiu-jitsu exhibition as we saw one submission attempt after another. This flyweight has a great future in MMA where his opponents will need to fear his superior submission skills.
- Mike Widmer vs Josh Miller 185
- Here we saw 2 experienced 185 pound mma fighters step in and show us how to compete in the sport. Both came in with over 5 fights each; Josh “MOBSTER” Miller from team AUF and Mike Widmer coming from Toledo. These two had a great amount of respect for each other knowing that either one could be knocked out or submitted at any second. Miller was able to close the distance at will throughout the first round to only place himself in the fire of the submission skills of Widmer. Mike was able to transition from one submission attempt to another finishing the round with a deep triangle choke. Just when we thought Miller was as good as out near the end of the round, we see his thumb go up communicating to referee Mark Matheeny he is ok. As the round ended the cage side Dr. ended the bout as he noticed Widmered had injured his knee during the triangle choke attempt. Miller wins to Dr stoppage.
- Josh Hacket vs Joey Simcoe
- A ground battle was destined to happen with theses two fighters. Hacket coming in with strong jiu-jitsu experience was taking on the wrestling all American Joey Simcoe. Simcoe did what was expected by immediately taking down Hacket to find himself in a dangerous half guard. Not distracted by the guard game, Simcoe continued with his elite ground control skills and was able to finish the fight under one minute of the 1st round with his ground and pound game.
- Marcus Widmer vs Chad Reidmiller
- The last time Marcus was in the ICFA we saw a glimpse of his submission arsenal with a rear naked choke over Julio Rodriguez on July 12th. Reidmiller was seen with a dominant win over Nate Bingham on September 4th and a recent SFL championship win over Ronnie Shoemaker in the 1st round. This match was similar with Reidmiller surprising the ICFA fans not yet familiar with his unorthodox stile where he finished the crowd favorite Widmere in the 1st round via TKO. Chad Reidmiller will definitely have his hands full training until his next match where he is now lined up to fight ICFA featherweight champ Justin Steave for the title. The question is will he surprise the fans again and be the victorious underdog?
- Aaron Hughes vs Jeff Robinson
- Another match deciding who will fight for the ICFA bantam weight title against Josh Robinson on February 6th. Aaron Hughes known as the “PRODIGY” for his submission skills was taking on the “COACH” wrestling sensation in Jeff Robinson. The pace of the first round definitely was dictated by the COACH. Robinson was able to show his dominance in strikes and grappling skills throughout the first round. This was looking like another rematch with the two Robinsons where Jeff lost in the 2nd round to a rear naked choke to Josh on July 12th. @nd round starts up and a victory is sure to come to Robinson when Hughes submissions come in to play and sinks in a fight ending triangle choke launching him to a definite action packed fight against Josh Robinson on February 6th for the unclaimed Bantam weight title.
- Josh Leist vs Joe Melvin
- What was originally set as a lightweight championship bout with ICFA champ JD Daugherty and Joe Melvin was changed once Daugherty had to pull out due to an injury that is keeping him from competing for months. The fight was then changed to see who the top contenders were to compete for the title. Josh Leist and Joe Melvin came in to battle knowing that they were fighting for the most respected amateur title around. Melvin came out the aggressor controlling the tempo and and pressure on the ground for most of the first round. Leist was able to pull out a Houdini trick and get himself out of danger landing powerful punches on the ground to Melvin. Melvin was not able to continue due to strikes. Leist wins what many believed a controversial win because of previous strikes to the back of the head; Leist moves on to fight for the belt his next match in the ICFA.
- Zach Daugherty vs Justin Steave
- Steave defends his ICFA feather weight title for the first time; defending it against the Columbus favorite and dangerous Zach Daugherty. There are no more “easy” fights as the champion and a tough match is exactly what was in store for Steave. Daugherty has over 5 matches in the cage where he is known for his quick strikes and match ending submission skills. With a great amount of respect for each other the beginning of the first round, both fighters kept their distance with out much activity. It appeared that they were both waiting for each other to be the aggressor and play the counter fighter. Steave tarts with a powerful punch that knocks Daugherty to the ground. Daugherty quickly recovers and is able to create his own damage with low leg kicks and sweeps that take Steave out of his game plan. Round two started with the same pace where Daugherty was able to keep the distance with more low leg kicks to Steave. Don’t forget that Justin Steave came in as the champ and did not intend to let the title belt go easily. As the champ he was able to take advantage of an opening on Daugherty and land a powerful fight ending punch that landed on the ear of Zach forcing the end of the fight. Justin Steave is the true ICFA featherweight champ with successfully defending his title against Zach Daugherty. Rest is not in Steave’s future as he will now have to defend it against Summit MMA’s top fighter Chad Reidmiller in March.
- Zach Woltz vs Dinos Angelas
- The number 1 ranked amateur fighter Dinos the DESTROYER Angelas came prepared to defend his title for the second time against the powerful wrestler Zach Woltz. Woltz definitely came out to take the belt from the champ as he dictated the pace with multiple shots to take Dinos to the ground. Dinos with his wrestling background was able to stuff all of the shots; eventually near the middle of the round the fight went to the ground where Dinos was in Woltz’s guard; a dangerous place to be since Woltz has won his previous fights via submissions. Both fighters staying active for the rest of the round with Woltz attempting submissions and Dinos ground and pound it is hard to say who is in the lead for the round. Near the end of the round Dinos breaks away from Woltz’s guard and tries to get one last strike to finish the round as the aggressor. A little to much Aggression cam out when the strike (a kick)landed right after the bell and glanced off of Wolt’s chest on to his chin. Head kicks to a downed opponent are illegal for amateurs and professionals…not to mention it landing after the bell. Dinos Angelas was disqualified and the title now lies with Zach Woltz. Zach is now the new ICFA middleweight champ and is looking to really show the ICFA fans what his skills are all about when he defends his belt on March of 2009 in Columbus, Ohio.
ICFA’s Featherweight champion Justin Steave is not taking his fight with Zach Daugherty lightly. First of all earning the title was no easy task in a hard knockdown battle against Derek O’Neil; now that he has the Midwest’s most prestigious MMA belt, there is no way Justin is going to let this prideful title go easily. Zach Daugherty is a well rounded highly skilled fighter with all of the capabilities to take that belt away, so Justin is training with the best coaches in preparation. Justin is known for training with veteran UFC fighters Brandon Lee Hinkle and Mark Coleman. Now he is training in Bas Rutten’s Team Prodigy gym with 12 time world kickboxing champ Hector Pena.
So expect an all out battle from the ICFA Featherweight champ against the top contender Zach Daugherty this Friday.
ICFAs Middleweight Champ is ready to defend his title once again on December 19th in Columbus Ohio. Dinos Angelas better know to his fans as the DESTROYER will be defending his title against undefeated Zach Woltz coming out of Lancaster Ohio’s Higher Power. Dinos is preparing in his usual fashion; he recently ran a 10K, wrestling with team mates JD and Zach Daugherty, and the daily lifting since he works as a personal training manager. Knowing how to condition is never an issue with this athlete since most of his day he spends it training his fitness staff on developing sport specific and weight management fitness routines. Look for Dinos to start the fight at a high intensity pace and keep it going as long as it takes. Dinos comes in with 5 victories and 1 loss in his MMA career; he was also a high level college wrestler out of Finley University. Learn more about Dinos at www.AUFMMA.com home of the American Underground Fighters.
 Do to an unfortunate injury JD Daugherty (www.aggressiveathleticsonline.com) will not be able to defend his belt in the ICFA before he turns professional. That leaves the ICFA lightweight belt open to the top contenders; that being Joe Melvin out of Silent Dragons MMA and Josh Leist out of Higher Power MMA. (www.higherpower4life.com)
 If you looked up MMA fighter or intimidation in the dictionary you would find a picture of Joe Melvin. Joe is no stranger to the ICFA with his 3 round victory against Russ Hoffman in July of 2008. That fight won him the opportunity to fight JD for the belt. Joe will come in with a tremendous amount of punching power and wrestling background. His game plan is to close the distance on Josh and pumble him in to submission.
The ICFA has had their eye on Josh “The Jack Hammer” for a long time waiting for the right opportunity to have him showcase his skills. Outside the cage Josh is a fun loving guy that loves nothing better than sunny day where he is out on the lake fishing. Mr. Fun and Loving is everything but in the cage where he yields a record of 4 wins and 4 losses. Josh has a well rounded game where he has won fights via KO, submission, and verbal tap. Look for him to come out fast and keep Joe Melvin on his feet where they will be forced to trade blows. I don’t know who will come out victorious as the new ICFA lightweight champ…but I know that these two are coming out prepared for the toughest fight in their career.
Many of you know that the ICFA’s fan favorite Cage Kitten Champ is Rachel Blankenship since most of you voted for her as your all time favorite. But there are a few things about Rachel you might not know…don’t worry I’m here to spill the beans.
Rachel was chosen to model in Playboy for their 50th anniversary playmate search in 2003. And guess who called again in 2008 for their 55th anniversary playmate search? They sure did; Playboy called again featuring Rachel in the “Search for the Perfect Girlfriend". You can see Rachel as the perfect girlfriend featured on Playboy TV where the feature will air in February.
As you can imagine being a model of this caliber…ICFA Cage Kitten that is…ok Playboy is not bad either, Rachel must have a pretty decent modeling background. That she does and she shares the experience she has learned as a modeling instructor for the Academy of Cinema and Television (ACT) based out of Phoenix. She teaches in Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati for kids ages 5-17.
But wait! That’s not ALL! Yes this bombshell beauty also has a BRAIN. Rachel will be receiving her PhD in Criminal Justice from Walden University. She recently completed her dissertation and is awaiting the formalities before all of you will call her “Dr” Rachel. Make sure to say hey to your favorite Cage Kitten and get a picture with Rachel on December 19 in Columbus Ohio.
 Friday December 19th Sean Salmon will make an appearance at the ICFA “Aggression”. Salmon was a state high school wrestling champion at Worthington (Ohio) Kilbourne High School during his senior year and amassed a 44-1 record. Salmon wrestled for two years at Ohio State University and ranked as high as 10th in the nation in the 167-pound division. He quit competing for the university after two seasons but assisted the program as a volunteer coach. Salmon continued to compete in amateur wrestling, though, and later became a qualifier for the Olympic Trials. He was also a frequent competitor on the Ohio International Wrestling Club freestyle circuit.
Salmon and his training partner (and fellow UFC fighter), Rex Holman, eventually began competing in mixed-martial arts in 2005. Prior to signing a three-fight deal with the UFC in December 2006, Salmon amassed a 9-1 record fighting for smaller organizations, including the Legends of Fighting Championships and King of the Cage organizations.
Salmon made his UFC debut in the main event of UFC Fight Night 8 on January 25, 2007 in a nationally televised fight against Rashad Evans.
Sean Salmon has brought his years of wrestling and MMA expertise to the Columbus area where he will be opening a Mixed Martial Arts performance Academy. This will be a place where amateur and professional athletes will be able to train and prepare themselves for the combat in the cage. Sean will also have training for the everyday working person where they can come in and de-stress while learning the aspects of a cage fighter. Don’t forget about the kids; with the growing popularity of the MMA sport there will also be kids’ classes available. Make sure to meet this MMA champion while at the event on December 19th.
 Not only do we get to see Justin Steave defend his ICFA featherweight title but we get to see the next fighter that will get a shot for that belt. On December 19 we will see the return of the ICFA’s top featherweight contenders; Marcus Widmer and Chad Reidmiller. The winner of these two will have an opportunity to fight the ICFA champ for a shot at the featherweight title.
Marcus who has 4 wins and 1 loss, last fought in the ICFA on July 12th where he defeated Julio Rodriguez via a rear naked choke. Marcus has been sharpening his MMA skills in Toledo at the 360 MMA school where he trains with the likes of Josh Robinson and brother Mike Widmer. Marcus will bring his ground skills to try and submit karate champ Chad Reidmiller. Chad currently trains out of Summit MMA (www.summitmartialarts.com) where he has been able to hone his old karate skills mixed in with the mew MMA skills making him undefeated at 4 wins and 0 loses. Chad last fought in the ICFA 5 show on September 4th where he defeated Nate Bingham via TKO. Since then Chad has also been able to defeat top contender and former SFL champ Ronnie Shoemaker within the 1st minute of the 1st round. You will see Chad use an unorthodox standup against Marcus trying to keep his winning streak and earn his opportunity for the ICFA belt.
 Josh “SHORT STACK” Robinson is arguably the best amateur bantam MMA fighter anywhere. Fighting out of Toledo’s 360 MMA where he currently holds the Ohio Cage Combat 135 and 145 titles and an impressive record of 10 wins with 2 losses. One of the losses came from former ICFA featherweight champ MONEY Mike Roberts. One of Short Stack’s goals is to make ICFA history and be the first bantam champion in the ICFA prior to him becoming a professional MMA fighter. Well Short Stack has definitely earned the opportunity to fight for that title and bragging right, but against whom?
Well we will find out who will get a shot at proving they are the best this coming Friday at the ICFA Aggression show. Jeff Robinson “COACH” and Aaron Hughes will battle it out to see who will fight Josh SHORT STACK Robinson for the ICFA title. Jeff Robinson (no relationship to Josh Robinson) with an impressive wrestling background has already fallen “short” against SHORT STACK in ICFA 4 where he lost to a triangle choke in the second round. Jeff is looking to beat Aaron to get another shot at Josh to redeem himself. Many, including Jeff felt he had a great opportunity in beating Short Stack, where in the first round of their fight he clearly dominated and was ahead in points. Before Jeff can think of the title shot he has to get past 2-2 Aaron Hughes who plans on teaching the COACH a few lessons. Aaron at only 19 comes with a lot of skill both in stand up and submissions. Known as the “Protégé” in Summit MMA where he trains with Chad Reidmiller, Aaron plans on using his complete arsenal against the wrestling juggernaut Jeff Robinson.
Whether it is the COACH or PROTÉGÉ that reigns victorious; these bantam weights are planning on leaving all in the cage Friday night when they fight not just for a victory but for a chance to make ICFA history in an opportunity to be recognized as the BEST in their weight class as the ICFA champ.
When you see “All American” you can’t help but think of the all American wrestling “freak” out of Finley University, no not the Destroyer but a class mate of his; Joey Simcoe. Joey impressed us all when he came out in ICFA 4 against Shawn Adams and was able to beat him via rear naked choke in less than 30 seconds. We were planning on seeing Joey’s wrestling skills tested against OU’s Cody Fitch. Fitch is not able to fight Simcoe and in his place is Columbus native Ryan Jervis.
Simcoe will have his hands full against Jervis who comes in towering at 6 feet tall. Jervis know for his lighting quick strikes will make Simcoe work hard for his takedown. With the length and speed of Jervis, Simcoe is in real danger of getting KO as he tries to close the gap, and if he tries to stand up and exchange the reach advantage from Jervis will keep Simcoe to far from posing any real danger. If Simcoe is able to close the gap on Jervis or anyone for that matter, they won’t stand a chance on the ground. The match will then be reminiscent of Randy Coture versus Tim Silvia.
Does Jervis knock out Simcoe or does Simcoe slam and submit Jervis; either finish is exciting and that’s why you can always expect to see the best fighters in the Midwest fight in the ICFA.
Precision MMA represents this full contact sport well by returning one of their champs Roger Moran. Knowing Roger by day you would never guess that he is a full contact athlete since he is putting in over time hours as a construction worker. But building and repairing the urban metro areas of Columbus just did not satisfy Roger’s appetite as he felt compelled to do a little demolition of his own. Since the state of Ohio won’t let him use the wrecker or crane to knock down the outlying skyscrapers, he did the next best thing and decided to get in the cage to knock down opponents. And that’s just what he did in last MMA fight with an impressive 1st round win. Roger plans to bring his professional demolition experience in to the cage again with another 1st round victory on December 19.
With MMA being the fastest growing sport in history…yup in history, you need to make sure that your apparel, fashion, decor are in style with the trendy sport. Not to worry, when you come to the show on Friday we will have the top MMA fashions there. In attendance you will have “Across The Cage” www.acrossthecageonline.com with the sports most popular Tap Out, Hit Man Gear, Hostility, Premier Fighter, and Punishment. Across the Cage is local to the Columbus area, so if you need your apparel in a hurry and can’t wait for an ICFA event just log on to their site and get what you need.
In attendance you will also see Cage Fighter apparel and various other styles.
Don’t forget our main event fighter Dinos the Destroyer’s sponsor, American Underground Fighter and Guard Fight Gear. What better gift for Christmas than a cool MMA shirt at an ICFA event, bring your credit cards. Stay tuned for a new announcement by Guard Fight Gear where they are doing a search to sponsor the top amateurs turning pro in each weight class.
Smile Savers will be in attendance Friday night helping fighters protect their pretty teeth when they compete. Smile Savers is a custom created mouth guard that fits in a snug fashion to the teeth allowing plenty of air passage for breathing. This type of mouth guard is used by the top combat athletes in boxing, kick boxing and mma. If you have any questions or are interested in a custom fit mouth guard make sure to as Smile Savers Friday night.
Rylan Burrie is very familiar with Ohio’s rural country. Spending the better of 14 hours a day working on a farm east of Columbus Rylan doesn’t always have time to train in his favorite sport…fighting. Outside of finding time for technical training; strength is not an issue for this 5’ 1” farm boy. Farm Strong is more than a stereotype for this Newark native as we have previously seen with his fights and his impressive physique. Rylan will need more than his super strength on his next fight when he faces Team Titans Keny Oiler. Kenny comes in with an impressive amateur record of 3 wins and 1 loss. Now that the harvest is in Rylan is looking take advantage of his extra training time and ensure the harvest keeps coming in the cage with a victory over Oiler On the ICFA Aggression card.
Veteran wrestler Joey Simcoe makes his return in the ICFA December 19th against undefeated Cody Fitch. Similar to Cody, Simcoe comes with a wrestling background. Where Simcoe finds training time to compete against the young college student and athlete in Fitch is a mystery to all. Simcoe has a full time job, wife, and children yet he seems to have trouble letting go of his high school and college competitive side. Simcoe was a 3 time All-American wrestler in college with over 100 career wins. He will definitely tap in to this background to find a win on November 21st. His experience definitely came in to play with his 26 second win in his debut MMA fight on July 12th. We will see if experience prevails over youth Friday night in Columbus Ohio.
Justin Steave returns to the cage for the first time as a defending champ. Justin comes with a lot of experience training with UFC veterans Mark Coleman and Brandon Lee Hinkle. Steave no rookie to the fans here in the ICFA has battled against former featherweight champion Mike Roberts and Derek O’Neil both of which train with UFC champion Dan Severn. Pressure from the fans or fighters is not new for this ICFA champ.
A new challenge will be fighting the home town favorite; as will be the case December 19th. Justin Steave will be defending his title against Columbus favorite Zach Daugherty. Zach has a similar fighting style to Justin. This will be a battle of wits and conditioning. Both have a resume where they have won fights with impressive submissions, KOs, and have also gone the distance to win via decision. This is a case where neither fighter will take each other lightly as they both openly have respect to their opponent’s skills.
The ICFA champ Justin Steave comes in with experience from former UFC champs where the challenger Zach Daugherty comes in with his brother and current undisputed ICFA, SFL, and OC lightweight champ in his corner. This will definitely be the toughest battle for both of these fighters as we will definitely not see either one sitting idle for any of the rounds knowing the other will take advantage and try to secure either a KO or submission. |
