Kelton meets Rose in kickboxing title tiff

Tomorrow night, May 18, Mountain Force Kickboxing will be at the Legacy Events Center in Farmington. Main bout has promotional champ Jarrett Kelton defending his 170 pound belt against Cole Rose. It's an intriguing match. More information on card is at the promotion's Facebook page. ... In other kickboxing news, Kaecy Raddon, who is a Mountain Force champ, announced that he has been selected as a member of WAKO Team USA Kickboxing and will represent our nation at the World Championships in October at Saravejo, Bosna Herzegovina.

Last Friday night LFA 66 MMA card was at West Valley. Jon Neal met former UFC TUF fighter Tyler Diamond in the main bout. It was very competitive with Diamond earning a hard-fought decision. Neal started strong early but was stunned midway through round one and had to focus on defense to recover. Round two was more even with Diamond's ground game giving him an edge. Utah Fight Game scored round three for Neal, who rallied the final third of the round as Diamond seemed to be tiring. The decision for Diamond was unanimous. In the c-main Josh Burkman announced his retirement after losing a split decision to William Macario. Other bouts included Joe Rodriguez dropping a hard-fought decision to undefeated Trevino, and LJ Schulz being decisioned by undefeated Hunter Azure. The entire card results are here.

On that same night in Las Vegas, Top of Utah Fighters Hayden Brown and Tyson Craig earned TuffNUff amateur titles, Hayden at 185 pounds and Tyson at 155 pounds.The card results are here.

IN BOXING NEWS ... Utah professionals Larry Gomez and Christian Aguirre, who fought a memorable fight last year, won by Gomez via decision, have signed for a rematch June 15 in Wendover. And this weekend there is Junior Olympics state tournament amateur boxing at Foley's gym in Ogden. Bouts start at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Interview with MMA pro Joe Rodriguez, LFA MMA card Friday

It's a big night tomorrow for Utah MMA. Legacy Fighting Alliance is in West Valley City at The Maverik Center. The AXS TV card headlines Jon Neal, of Ogden, against Tyler Diamond. Also fighting in bouts are Josh Burkman, LJ Schulz, Westin Wilson, Kaytlin Neil, Zac Cavender, and Marco Sanchez. Also, Bobby King meets Fabio Serrao.

Also on the card is veteran 185 pounder Joe Rodriguez, who trains out of One Hit MMA and University of Grappling. He meets Emilio Trevino. We've followed Joe's successful career for years and appreciate him granting Utah Fight Game a pre-fight interview.

What does it mean for you to return to an LFA fight card, particularly one in Northern Utah?

Rodriguez:  I wasn't expecting to fight on a big show. After Glory kickboxing, an injury put me out for a year then I couldn't find any fights a year later for 185 lbs. (After) two years of not fighting I was about to call it quits. Beginning of 2018 I moved up to 205 lbs to fight a guy from Colorado, then I had another one after that and now LFA will be my 3rd fight at 205. I'm honored to fight for LFA given the fact that I am 41 years of age so maybe I do have some fight left in me.

What do you know about your opponent?

Rodriguez: I know my opponent has a karate background, fights southpaw and orthodox. Doesn't matter to me, I've trained with the best southpaw in Utah (Jordan Smith) for years. He hasn't fought the level of guys I have fought so I'm sure I'll be a challenge for him but I will not underestimate him.

How has training gone? It's at One Hit MMA and University of Grappling.

Rodriguez: Training has been good, One Hit MMA (Aldo Oreggia) and University Of Grappling (Marc Brewer). I train and spar with all my guys, big and small with experience from both gyms. It's good to have a variety of styles and people always making the movement different.

Where do you hope to be in your career a year from now?

Rodriguez: I am 41 years old. I didn't imagine fighting this long so where I'll be in a year, I really can't say. I've accomplished something that I never would have imagined doing, Fighting Bellator twice, RFA, Glory Kickboxing and now LFA. Not many people can say they've done what I have starting at 34 years old with absolutely no fight experience, not knowing a thing about MMA.

Good luck Joe, tomorrow night, as well as the others on the card. 

A couple of extra notes. As we mentioned last week, Utah MMA amateur Hayden Brown fights for a Tuff-N-Uff title Saturday in Las Vegas. Also, last week, MMA fighter Rowdy Akers scored a first round stoppage in his debut as a professional kickboxer, winning a Bare Knuckle Combat League title. And last weekend in Georgia, Kaecy Raddon, formerly of Utah now living in Colorado, who is a Mountain Force Kickboxing champion, scored a kickboxing win over Mexico's Luis Espinosa in international competition sanctioned by the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (WAKO).

Lattimer, Munoz among SteelFist winners, LFA card nears

(The poster above advertises one of the pro bouts from LFA on Friday May 10, at The Maverik Center in West Valley. Ogden's LJ Schulz fights Hunter Azure in a bantamweight bout. This card is, to use a cliche, stacked. Ogden's Jon Neal meets Tyler Diamond in the main event. Here is the card on Tapology. Fighting against various tough opponents are Josh Burkman, Joe Rodriguez, Westin Wilson, Katlyn Neil, and two others, Bobby King and Fabio Serrao, meet in a highly anticipated bout. Although Tapology does not include, undefeated pro Zac Cavender is also on the card. His bout shows on MixedMartialArts page. The card will be televised on AXS, which is carried by Dish and DirectTV.

-- Last weekend SteelFist results -- Two of our better 155 pound regional vets, Kerry Lattimer and Troy Dennison, headlined. It was Lattimer's night, winning via submission in round one. In another pro bout, middleweight Eric Munoz went to 2-0 with a first round stoppage of Nick Martinez. And Munoz's son, Jordan, won his amateur debut in a competitive bout with Jayden Marshall, via third round stoppage. In two amateur title bouts, Michael Eastwood stopped Jordan Marshall in round one (115 pounds) and in a brutal bout, Tanner Hinds stopped Cole Shafer in round 2, 165 pounds. The entire card results are here. Also, you can watch the card here via YouTube. The next SteelFist card is May 31 in SLC. Tracy Hardy fights Mike Jones in the main bout. Also fighting is professional Thomas Hughes. Card is here.

Layton amateur middleweight MMA fighter Hayden Brown travels to Las Vegas travels to Las Vegas on May 10 to fight Theo Greenidge for the Tuff-N-Uff belt.

... In what was an extremely close professional boxing match in Las Vegas recently, Midvale's Larry Gomez, 8-1, dropped a split decision to 7-1 Kevin Johnson. You can see excerpts from the bout, courtesy of the promoter, Final Fight Championship, on Larry's Facebook page here. On that same card, in an MMA bout, Utah professional Clay Collard also won. Some local pro fighters, Christian Aguirre, Gary Cobia, Gabriel Chairez, and Bladimer Estrada, have recently said they will be back in the ring soon.

Jon Neal to headline LFA card at Maverik Center

Some quick recent takes from the Utah fight game:

On May 10, undefeated MMA featherweight Jon Neal headlines an excellent pro card in West Valley City. Neal meets Tyler Diamond in a bout that will be televised through the AXS network. Also competing on the card in bouts are Joe Rodriguez, LJ Schulz, Westin Wilson and Josh Burkman. Another excellent match on the card (here) is Bobby King versus Fabio Serrao.

On April 27, on a UFC card telecast on ESPN Plus, 170-pound pro Court McGee fights Dhiego Lima.

On April 26 at the Union Event Center in Salt Lake City, veteran 155 pound pro Troy Dennison and Kerry Lattimer headline the SteelFist MMA card. Another pro bout matches Eric Munoz versus Nick Martinez. Card is here.

Here are results from a card in Logan on March 30 from Mountain Force MMA. The promotion's kickboxing unit plans a card May 18 in Farmington that will headline Jarrett Kelton versus Cole Rose.

Results from the Fitcon MMA card April 12 in Salt Lake City included Dustin Clements stopping Eric Iman in a heavyweight pro bout and Mike Chavez taking a split decision over Lehi Dominguez for the promotion's 155 pound amateur title. Professional Mike Jones also logged a win.

Amateur middleweight MMA fighter Hayden Brown will fight for a TuffNUff middleweight title on May 10 in Las Vegas.

BOXING

On April 12, Rocky Mountain Golden Gloves met to determine who will send fighters to the nationals in Tennessee next month. Locals Jon Bryant, Diego Alvarez and Jay Wright are among those making the trip. A story on the bouts in SLC is here.

Utah professional boxer Christian Aguirre fought on national TV last Saturday against undefeated middleweight Money Powell IV. The bout was scheduled for six round. Early in round 6, Powell floored Aguirre and the fight was stopped.

Undefeated pro boxer Larry Gomez, of Midvale, announced this week he is fighting 6-1 pro Kevin Johnson is Las Vegas Friday, April 19.

Rodriguez wins SteelFist bout; Proving Grounds Invitational

At the SteelFist MMA card in SLC last Saturday night, 205-pound Joe Rodriguez (seen above) won the main event stopping Hank Weiss in the first round. In another pro bout, debuting Eric Munoz stopped veteran heavyweight Andy Witt in the first round. And in a professional 125-pound women's MMA bout, Katlin Neil ended her fight with Andrea Miller in round one. The best amateur bout was a highly competitive match between Augustin Valdez and Thomas Prestriedge for the 135-pound belt. Valdez earned a split decision win. The entire card is here.

The next SteelFist card is Feb. 16 at the Union Event Center in SLC. Bouts include Carson Gregory versus Craig Grove, Eric Iman versus Joshua Brown and Trever Bradshaw versus Jo Maama.

The Proving Grounds Invitational 5 is on Jan. 19 at 370 S 300 East in Salt Lake City. One intriguing superfight matches Sean Powers versus Josh Burkman. Competing again in the grappling competitions is Lucus Montoya, among many other local competitors.

Also, Mountain Force MMA has a card in Logan at the Cache Events Center on Jan. 19. Mike Jones headlines the main event. Card is here.

O'Connell wins PFL tourney final; Steelfist card Saturday

Sean O'Connell, pictured above, retired a happy fighter on Monday by earning a million dollars winning the light-heavyweight year-long tournament from the Professional Fighters League. O'Connell, a heavy underdog in the finals, literally walked through Vinny Magalhaes in the final, taking control after a competitive first round with power punches and sprawling well to avoid his opponent's increasingly weaker takedown attempts. After a third round that involved -- several times -- O'Connell pounding Magalhaes, Magalhaes falling to O'Connell's knees, and O'Connell waiting for Magalhaes to rise, the top seed retired from the bout prior to round 4, with O'Connell, of Utah, being cheered on by his fans.

Another Utah fighter, Steven Siler, (seen above) came up short in his quest for a million-dollar purse, losing to Lance Palmer via a unanimous five round decision in the featherweight final. Siler had a good first round, rallying in the final 90 seconds and stunning Palmer just before the bell. However, Palmer, a former national collegiate wrestling champ, used those skills to sweep the rest of the rounds, using several takedowns and wearing Siler down, keeping him on the floor and trying to avoid punches that landed with more frequency in the final two rounds. The scores were 50-45, 49-46, and a ridiculous 50-43 for Palmer. I have heard, but can't confirm, that runner ups received $200,000.

Here and here are two articles that include complete results and a feature on O'Connell retiring.

SteelFist card on Saturday

Remember that Saturday night at The Union Event Center in Salt Lake City, 235 N. 500 West, SteelFist has a card. Doors open at 6 pm, fights start at 7 p.m., and it's for all ages. Main event matches veterans Joe Rodriguez and Hank Weiss. Entire card is here. Our advance story is here.

And remember ... Mountain Force MMA has a card in Logan on January 26. Main event matches Utah 185-pound pro Mike Jones against Joe Miles. Entire card is here. It's all ages, at the Cache County Event Center. Fights start at 7 pm.

Siler, O'Connell fight for the big money on New Year's Eve

Just a reminder that the Professional Fighters League tournament finals is in New York City, Monday night, New Year's Eve, aired twice on the NBCSports Network (34 Xfinity), live at 5 pm and repeated at 9 p.m. As we have noted, two Utah MMA pro veterans, Steven Siler and Sean O'Connell, are in the finals.  O'Connell fights Vinny Magalhaes in the 205-pound tourney final and Siler fights Lance Palmer in the featherweight (145 pounds) final. The entire card, featuring six finals, is here.

If Siler and O'Connell win Monday night, they earn a $1 million winner's purse. We salute our two Utahns who have worked to gain this opportunity.

MUNOZ TO MAKE PRO DEBUT

Remember, SteelFist has an MMA card on Saturday, January 5th. Here's an earlier preview. One late addition to the card is Weber County's Eric Munoz, who after an amateir career will be making his pro debut against Andy Witt. It's a heavyweight bout. The main bout features 170 pounders Joe Rodriguez and Hank Weiss. Card is here. It's at the Union Event Center, 235 N. 500 West, in Salt Lake City. Doors open at 6 p.m. Here's our advance story. (Above, Munoz at right seen after a win)

SteelFist kicks off new year with MMA card; pro boxing results

Two veteran professional MMA light-heavyweights will headline SteelFist MMA's first card of 2019 on Saturday, Jan. 25, at The Union Event Center, 235 North, 500 West, in Salt Lake City.

Joe Rodriguez, 7-5, who has logged wins over Damarques Johnson, Eti Palu, and Eric Wahlen, takes on 50-plus fight veteran Hank Weiss, 31-20, who in a long career has notched wins over Jarome Hatch, Sean O'Connell, Mike Crisman, Josh Burkman and Nick Rossborough, among others. Both fighters are 41 years old.

The entire scheduled card is here. A pro women's MMA bout matches Kaytlin Neil versus Andrea Miller and professionals Jared Toothaker and Andy Witt meet as well. Amateur bouts include Thomas Prestriedge and Augustin Valdez competing for a SteelFist title belt and Alonzo Salas meeting Aldyn Ashcraft. Doors open at 6 p.m. in this card for all ages.

Professional boxing results

On Nov. 30 in Salt Lake City local pro boxer Ignacio Chairez remained undefeated with a unanimous decision win over previously undefeated Anthony Curtiss. Chairez is 6-0-1 in his pro career.You can see all results here. Eric Wahlen, also an MMA pro, also won on the card, remaining undefeated as a professional boxer.

On Dec. 6, Salt Lake City professional boxer Christian Aguirre, 8-4 as a pro, traveled to Costa Mesa, Calif. to meet undefeated, former amateur star Andreas Katzourakis. Aguirre was dropped in round one but survived, and fought competitively against his larger opponent through rounds 2 and 3, although Katzourakis kept an edge with strong body shots.

Midway through round, the referee inexplicably stopped the bout, awarding Katzourakis a TKO victory. It deprived the usually resilient Aguirre of an opportunity to rally and perhaps grab a win, something he has done more than once. Results from the entire card can be found here.

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.

Siler fights on TV Thursday, SteelFist card announced

Steelfist announced its next MMA card for August 3. Pro bouts include the return of Joe Rodriguez and AJ Garcia meeting opponents. Fighting as an amateur will be Brandon Rease. The entire card is here. The fights are at the Union Event Center in SLC.

MMA pro Steven Siler continues in the nationally televised Professional Fighters League featherweight MMA tournament (round 2) Thursday night. The card is PFL # 4 and Siler's fight against Alexandre de Almeida is on the NBCSN cable TV network telecast (Xfinity 34), which starts at 7 p.m. MST.

MORE NEWS: MMA/kickboxer Kaecy Raddon, originally out of Utah who now fights out of Colorado, will compete for the Sparta Combat League 165-pound kickboxing title on July 27 in Denver.

Fierce Fighting Championship in Price had an MMA card last Saturday that included the beginning matches of a pro lightweight tournament. Results are here at Jeffrey Dutcher's Fighting Out of Utah MMA news Facebook page.

Finally, MMA professional and enthusiast Eric Tillotson is making a comeback, at age 50, in the cage. He'll be competing Sept. 29 on an MMA card, in Logan, promoted by Mountain Force MMA promotions.

ONE MORE THING -- Good luck to Utah amateur boxers competing this week in Mesquite, Nevada, at the Junior National Golden Gloves.