Weekend results, O'Connell fights on PFL tonight

Above are several photos, courtesy of fight photographer Justin Hughes, of local boxer Christian Aguirre's bout in Glendale, Ariz., Saturday against undefeated Sagadat Rakhmankul. Christian is in the red trunks. The bout was streamed on ESPN Plus. It was a spirited with the more aggressive Aguirre, 7-3, dropping a decision to counterpunching Rakhmankul (3-0).

In Las Vegas, local MMA amateur Joe Flores (4-1), suffered his first loss to Billy Elekana (4-0-1) via RSC Round 2, in a 205-pound Sparta Combat League amateur title bout on Saturday.

And Kaecy Raddon this past weekend scored an amateur kickboxing win in Augusta, Ga., in a WAKO international event. (Pictures of the bout are here). Raddon, along with Ogden's Jarrett Kelton, will be competing in a WAKO even in October in Mexico.

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Tonight Utah MMA pro Sean O'Connell fights on national TV (NBCSports) against Bazigit Ataev in round 2 of the tournament's light heavyweight division. O'Connell has already qualified to move on in the $1 million tourney but can improve his seed with another win.

Utah amateur Brittany Guillemin, of One Hit MMA, will fight on a Tuff N Uff MMA card in Las Vegas on Nov. 16.

Finally, former UFC fighter Clay Collard of Utah, who has recently picked up a couple of SteelFist title belts, has signed with Final Fight Championships. He will fight for a FFC belt in Las Vegas on Oct. 5.

... One more thing: Louie's Boxing gym tells us that  Deserree Shines Jamison, Maryquen V and Stephanie Clausen will be going to California to fight in Beautiful Brawlers tournament. Coach Manuel Soto will be in their corner. The bouts are on Sept. 1 and title belts go to winners.

Moa to fight on Bellator, Aguirre boxes on Top Rank card

Former football player Ben Moa, who trains out of One Hit MMA in Layton and is 4-0 as a pro, including a SteelFist heavyweight title, has received a big break. He fights on Bellator 205 in Boise in a bout that will be streamed.

But it's a tough assignment. Ben will meet another 4-0 heavyweight, Steve Mowry, who is 6 foot 8 inches tall and considered a top prospect. Here's a story. We wish Ben the best success with this opportunity.

Also on the Bellator card is pro Bryce Edminister, who trains at KOA Kingdom in Layton. He fights  Leon Taylot. And Sean Powers of Sunset, owner and head coach at Power MMA, fights Jared Trice. All will be streamed as part of Bellator 205 preliminary card, There's a lot of local fighters to cheer for that night.

AGUIRRE ON TOP RANK BOXING

As we have mentioned, pro boxer Christian Aguirre has a big fight Saturday in Glendale, Arizona. He meets undefeated Sagadat Rakhmankulov in an 8 round bout.

... Also, undefeated amateur MMA heavyweight Joe Flores, of Brigham City, fights in Las Vegas Satutrday for the Sparta Combat League belt. He meets Billy Elekana. Card is here. (Photo of both competitors is shown above)

... And Kaecy Raddon, who is a world-class amateur kickboxer, fights in a WAKO tournament in Augusta, Ga., Saturday against an Australian team. You can purchase a stream of the card here.

Owens, Munoz MMA winners in Ogden

Here's a quick Utah Fight Game update: Last Friday night at the Weber County Fair in Ogden, Jeremy Horn's Elite Fight Night put on its 30th card. (Above see a photo of amateur Eric Munoz getting his hand raised against opponent Graham McMillan, 185 pounds. Photo is courtesy of Ruben Munoz, originally posted on Facebook)

Card results are here. In the main pro bout, Anthony Miller decisioned Casey Beckstead. In the pro co-main, 150 pounds, and  Ha'va Nathan Owens stopped Steve Chan in round 2, 135 pounds. On the Facebook Utah MMA page Fighting Out of Utah MMA News, Jeffrey "Dutch" Dutcher said it was a great bout, adding "I could watch these two fight every weekend. Great show of sportsmanship as well."

Besides Munoz, another amateur bout saw Juan Alcantar stop Jon Sellers in round three, 150 pounds.

One note; a September MMA bout that was to have matched comebacking pros Mike Crisman and Eric Tillotson has been pushed back after Tillotson injured his hamstring while training.

Chat with Christian Aguirre, Horn MMA card at fair

Let's start with some boxing. Christian Aguirre, (see above at right) who recently lost a tough fight to Larry Gomez in Layton, has been quite active. In fact, a week after his loss to Gomez, he traveled to Connecticut and lost an eight-round decision at Foxwoods Resort to Jimmy Williams, who holds a national welterweight title. And Aguirre, later this month, will fight on a televised Top Rank card Aug. 25 in Phoenix, meeting undefeated Sagadat Rakhamankulov. Aguirre is training with a boxing legend, Jesse Reid. Utah Fight Game chatted with Christian as he prepared for the fight later this month.

UFG: What do you know about Rakhamankulov? Are you excited to fight with Top Rank?

Aguirre: I don't know much about Sagadat but I know I'm going into the ring ready to fight. Yes, I am excited to fight for Top Rank but even more excited for that bell to ring.

UFG: Tell us what it's like to train with Jesse Reid? Who else are you working with in the gym? Are you spending more time out of state?

Aguirre: Jesse Reid is an honest man that only wants the best for me. I've been training in Las Vegas for this upcoming fight. I live with my sparring partner, Tommy Hartshauer, and boxing is all we focus on.

UFG: What are your goals over the next year?

Aguirre: My goals over the next year are to continue to work in the gym and improve on my skills. I'll most likely fight in Mexico in September and then fight in Utah in October.

We wish Christian the best later this month in Phoenix.

MMA

Tomorrow night is the Horn's Elite card at the Weber County Fair in Ogden. I'm intrigued by one pro bout, debuting Ha'va Nathan Owens versus Steve Chan. Both were good amateurs. Chan, in his second bout, lost his pro debut to the very talented Miles Welk. An amateur bout matches Eeric Munoz against Graham McMillan. The entire card is here.

SteelFist results from last Friday are here and here. In pro fights, AJ Garcia stopped Karl Grace very early and and Leo Plaz stopped Joe Rodriguez in 2. .... Mountain Force MMA had a card in Pocatello last Saturday. Kerry Lattimer scored a win in one of the pro bouts.

Lattimer will be facing Carson Gregory in the next SteelFist card. Also fighting opponents on that card are pro Dominic Gero, amateur Hayden Brown, and amateur Xasha Lopez, who recently dropped a decision in Wyoming. In a pro flyweight promotional title fight, Nicky Barz meets Nicholas Clem. The card is Oct. 12 in Salt Lake City.

SteelFist card Friday, interview with Brandon Rease

Tomorrow night SteelFist MMA has a pro/am card in Salt Lake City at the Union Event Center. Interesting pro main event matches Joe Rodriguez, of One Hit MMA, and University of Grappling,, on a comeback, fighting Leo Pla, 205 pounds. Also fighting in a pro bout is AJ Garcia, of One Hit MMA, who meets (I think Karl Grace). Garcia had an opponent pull out recently so this is a late substitute. He recently had an opponent pull out at the Mountain Force MMA Pat Reeves Fight Night.

An intriguing amateur title bout matches Brandon Rease, (seen above at right in a previous bout) who fights at 125 pounds, against Robby Miner. It will be the second bout for the pair. Rease won the first via a stoppage due to strikes. Card starts at 7 p.m. More info on tickets at the SteelFist website. Next week we'll look at the upcoming MMA card at the Weber County Fairgrounds from Jeremy Horn's Elite Fight Night.

Here's an interview Utah Fight News had with Rease as he prepares for the SteelFist title bout with Miner.

Utah Fight Game: Brandon, you just won an amateur belt. How does it feel to go after another?

Rease: Yes I’m very excited to get a chance to win another belt I never thought I would be able to do that in my Ammy career. Utah Fight Game: How has your game improved recently?

Rease: I’ve change a lot I’ve been working on a lot on my kick boxing and strength and conditioning

Utah Fight Game: Tell us how training is going? Rease: I’ve been training with a lot of (fighters) at KOA Kingdom like Bobby King, Bryce Edminister, Bryce Scanlon, Miles Welk, Edgar Soto, Alonzo Salas and Hector Lopez.

Utah Fight Game: What's up for the future?

Rease: After this fight I plan on defending one of my belts and going pro.

Good luck to Rease, Miner and all the competitors at the card on Friday night. It'll be a great night of fights.

If you are in Pocatello, Idaho, on Saturday night Mountain Force MMA has a card there. One bout matches Kerry Lattimer against Billy Carothers. Here is the promotion's Facebook page.

SOME BOXING

This weekend, Friday and Saturday, there is amateur boxing at South Salt Lake PAL. Here is the Facebook Page for the 2018 Pete Suazo Invitational. ... Both Larry Gomez and Christian Aguirre may have pro bouts soon. Gomez may fight in Washington and Aguirre is slated to fight on a Top Rank card in Arizona. Hopefully both bouts, or others, will develop.