Akers wins at Steelfist; Olquin wins boxing belt

In an 150-pound pro bout, Rowdy Akers stopped Gregg McFarland in the main event at the SteelFist MMA card in Salt Lake City on Oct. 19. Results of all bouts on the card are available at the Fighting Out of Utah MMA News Facebook page.

Also on Oct. 19, at a UFC MMA card in Boston, Utahn Court McGee dropped a three-round decision to undefeated Sean Brady.

Speaking of Akers, he was scheduled to fight in a submission-only limited-rules 7-minute bout in Las Vegas Nov. 9 at Sam's Town against John Valentine. The pair fought a memorable MMA bout a couple of years ago that Akers won. However, this past week Valentine announced on social media that Arron Carson will be replacing Akers. It will be the second bout between the pair. Valentine won the first match.

SteelFist's next card is Nov. 22 in Salt Lake City at the Union Event Center. Bouts include professional fighters Hayden Brown and Joe Maama fighting at 175 pounds. Also, Lehi Dominguez will fight Jordan Marriott in a lightweight pro bout.

BOXING

In Salt Lake City on Oct. 11, heavyweight Helaman Olquin won the FKF promotional state pro heavyweight title with a majority decision over Joseph Jones. In two other pro boxing bouts, both super-lightweight, undefeated Ignacio Chairez scored a decision over Anthony Curtiss and Joey Borrero decisioned Edison Charley.

According to state athletic commission website, DiBella Entertainment is planning a pro boxing card on Nov. 15 at the Salt Palace Convention Center. I have heard no information on that card as of yet.

KICKBOXING -- This week professional kickboxer Kaecy Raddon, who now lives in Colorado, is competing in Sarajevo in the 22nd WAKO Masters World Championships. Raddon is Mountain Force Kickboxing promotional pro champion. On Wednesday Raddon was defeated in the tourney by Marzaq Soufiane of Morroco. Mountain Force Kickboxing plans a kick boxing card in Ogden on Nov. 16.

Larry Gomez to box, Court McGee tabbed for MMA bout, more

Lots of nuggets of fight news in Utah right now. Let's start with the earliest:

On Friday, Oct. 11, at the 801 Event Center in Salt Lake City, there will be a pro boxing card, with also some amateur kickboxing. In the main bout, for the FKF promotion state pro heavyweight championship, Helaman Olguin (above middle) fights Joseph Jones. In another pro bout, undefeated Utahn Ignacio Chairez, fights Anthony Curtiss. In a third pro bout, Joey Borrero meets Edison Charley. The card is near the bottom of this page (link).

Also, northern Utah pro boxer Larry Gomez (9-1) has a major bout on Nov. 30 in Las Vegas against undefeated Brian Mendoza, 18-0. Scroll down this link to see the entire ESPN-Plus streamed card, which includes work-class boxers Oscar Valdez, Arnold Barboza Jr., and Carl Frampton in bouts.

Finally, Jon Bryant, who took the Bronze in the national open Golden Gloves, is competing in the Eastern Qualifiers over the next few days. He is seeded fifth in his category and won his first bout last night. He has several more bouts. Jon is seeking an opportunity to earn a qualifying spot in the Olympics trials.

MMA

On October 18, on the card UFC on ESPN 6, veteran Utah MMA pro Court McGee, 19-8, fights undefeated Sean Brady, 10-0. The entire card is here. It's a preliminary so bout will likely be streamed via ESPN.

Oct. 19, in Salt Lake City at The Union Event Center, is the next SteelFist pro/am MMA card. The main bout pits veteran pros Rowdy Akers and Gregg McFarland. Matt Oyler of Undefeated by Choice has interviewed McFarland here and I imagine Akers will be interviewed as well. The entire card is here.

On Oct. 4, on the Front Street Fights card in Boise, Idaho, pro MMA fighter Kerry Lattimer, of Idaho, who fights often in Utah, was defeated by Darrell Flores in the co-main event.

Finally, on Nov. 9 in Colorado Springs, Colo., Ogden area MMA pro Eric Munoz, who is undefeated, takes on Josh Watson on the card No Mercy 68, Also on the card will by Northern Utah MMA amateur Brittany Guillemin.