Neal, several other locals, on September LFA card in West Valley

Some quick updates on the Utah Fight Game:

On Sept. 6, in West Valley at The Maverik Center, Ogden's Jon Neal is the co-main event on an LFA card, fighting Idaho's Andrew Cruz. Several area  MMA professionals are on the card, including Samson Phommabout, Westin Wilson, Carson Hardman, Eric Iman, Kaytlin Neil, Trever Bradshaw, and Mike Jones. The entire card is here.

On Oct. 19, at The Union Event Center in Salt Lake City, professionals Rowdy Akers and Gregg McFarland head the SteelFist MMA card.

On Sept. 21, at the Eccles Ice Arena in Logan, professional Dom Gero of Ogden meets debuting Max Riddle in the pro main bout for Mountain Force MMA.

Some recent MMA cards:

SteelFist, Aug. 9: In the main event, former amateur champion Hayden Brown made his pro debut against veteran Nick Martinez, who used his experience to score a win. The entire card is here.

Mountain Force MMA, Aug. 3: Veteran Aaron Sutton, of Idaho, announced his retirement after losing in the main bout to Billy Carothers. Results are here. ... Also Utah's Court McGee will meet Sean Brady in a UFC bout Oct. 18 in Boston.

Fierce Fighting Championships, Aug. 3: Phommabout defeated Randy Rowland in the main bout. On the undercard, Thomas Prestriedge won the 135 pound amateur belt, defeating Simon Prado. Results are here.

Idaho professional MMA pro Kerry Lattimer remained busy, scoring a win in Hawaii and a loss in northern California.

Finally, Utah MMA pro Court McGee is back in the UFC cage on Oct. 18 in Boston. He meets Sean Brady.

BOXING:

On Aug. 31 at the One Event Center in SLC, there is a boxing card. Professional Helaman Olguin will be fighting. Bouts that included featherweight Jose Haro and super middleweight Christian Nava will not be occurring. ... Salt Lake City welterweight pro Christian Aguirre is scheduled to fight on Sept. 6 in northern California.

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.

Neal holds title, Chandler, Garcia among other MMA winners

Jon Neal (10-0), of Ogden (One Hit MMA) successfully defended his SteelFist 145-pounder title Saturday night in Salt Lake City, but it wasn't easily accomplished.

Skyler Frazier (5-2) (Absolute MMA) who Neal eventually stopped in round three via a shoulder choke tap out, came as close as anyone has to defeating Neal. The challenger dominated in the first round, stunning Neal with strikes and outmaneuvering him on the ground.

In the second round, after failing a low-percentage guillotine choke attempt from the ground, Neal (seen advancing at Frazier above) seemed to settle down and take charge on the ground, slowly wearing Frazier down.

But the challenger seized back control early in round three, hurting Neal with strikes, driving him back and throwing a barrage of unanswered punches. Neal was able to pick off most of the follow up shots. When the fight went back to the ground, Neal stepped up the pressure over his tiring opponent, forcing the tap at 2.40 seconds.

As always, Neal showed the heart and talent to recover from tough spots and use his strong ground game to gradually rough up opponents.

It was an exciting fight and Frazier certainly established himself as a top 145 pounder and a likely candidate to fight again for the SteelFist belt if Neal, as many think, eventually gets to prove himself with a major national/international promotion. The champion admitted afterward that he shares the dream of all MMA fighters, which is a call from the UFC.

Certainly among regional fighters who have not moved beyond state promotions, Neal merits a shot with UFC, or Bellator, or WSOF, etc. But Frazier revealed at least one improvement Neal needs to make before taking a step up -- his striking defense.

CHANDLER STOPS LATTIMER

Ogden's Jordan Chandler (One Hit MMA) got back on the winning track stopping the tough Idaho veteran Kerry Lattimer via a tap out at 1:34 of round 2 with a rear naked choke.

After staggering Lattimer with a strike in round one Chandler (seen on top above) took the bout to the ground and dominated most of round one. Lattimer managed to get on top near the very end of the round.

However, Chandler quickly seized control in round two over his Idaho opponent and managed the rear naked choke tap out win at 1:34 of round two. It was a nice win for Chandler after having dropped three decisions and being stopped once.

Afterwards, Chandler plans to fight again in June and, if he begins graduate school, will then announce his retirement.

GARCIA WINS DEBUT

In a professional bout that was a rematch from amateur days, Ogden's AJ Garcia, who trains out of Foley's gym, scored a three round decision over Rowdy Akers (4-3) of One Hit MMA. It was Garcia's pro debut. He had defeated Akers in an amateur bout as well.

Akers was game but Garcia (seen on top above) managed to get his opponent to the ground and keep him there for most of the bout. Akers rallied early in round three but Garcia regained control by round's end. The decision was unanimous.

In other pro bouts, Carson Gregory (2-0), of X Cite MMA, took a beating for about eight minutes from Absolute MMA's Kade Lindstrom (1-2) before rallying to stop Lindstrom in round three via a tap out (rear naked choke). And showboating Josh Bateman (5-3) Four-7 Training Center "talked the walk" by putting Trevor Cook (5-8) University of Grappling, to sleep via a choke at 1:51 of the first round.

AMATEUR BOUTS

Two SteelFist amateur champs retained their belts. Former University of Utah football star, and NFL player Ben Moa (4-0) One Hit MMA, stopped Curt Liefson (2-2) Factum MMA in 44 seconds to retain his heavyweight belt. Moa was cheered by attendee Ron McBride, former Utes football coach.

Joel Haro (9-1), Absolute MMA, barely retained his 135 pound amateur belt after a spirited 5 round battle from smaller but stronger Austin Strehle (4-1) Tooele MMA. An edge in experience helped Haro to a close split-decision nod.

In other amateur bouts:

125 pounds: Jordan Marshall (3-0), in a see-saw bout, managed to stop Robby Miner (1-3) in round two.

205 pounds: A very tall Zach Cavender (3-0) stopped Thomas Harper (1-4) in round one.

135 pounds: Debuting Joey Revelli won a very competitive fight via decision over Tre McCoy (2-1).

155 pounds: One Hit MMA's Rico Valdez (1-1) stopped Kris Ricks in round one.

170 pounds: Andy Black (0-1) landed the first punch, a jab, against Charles Zimmerman, but Zimmerman (1-0) landed the next several, dropping Black, with the bout halted after 8 seconds.

155 pounds: Bobby Simpson (1-1) outlasted Josh Heath (1-2), stopping him in round two.

125 pounds: Brandon Lemings (2-2) dominated most of round one against Daryl Sullivan (0-2), who was unable to answer the bell for round two due to a foot injury. Winner Lemings announced to the crowd that he's getting married in two weeks.

It was a nice crowd at Riverbend Sports Complex, which has a venue ideal for boxing and MMA. The venue will host the next SteelFist card on June 23. Main event is LJ Schulz (One Hit MMA) against Anthony Miller (Garage MMA). Co-main is Miles Welk (Garage MMA) versus Steve Chan (Victory MMA).

-- Doug Gibson

SteelFist MMA card, amateur boxing on Saturday, April 18

Above are the two events this weekend that Utah Fight Game will be covering on Saturday. We'll have a photographer at Foley's gym in Ogden, 375 31st St., at 7 pm for amateur boxing. Tickets are $12, $6 for younger kids.

At the Riverbend Sports Complex in Salt Lake City, 1085 Winding River Code W, we'll be there at 6 p.m. for the SteelFist card (here). Ticket info is at steelfistfightnight.com or 801-637-7063. The main bout matches 145 pound SteelFist champ Jon Neal (One Hit MMA) of Ogden defending his title against Skyler Frazier (Absolute MMA). Other pro bouts include Ogden's Jordan Chandler (One Hit MMA) meeting Idaho veteran Kerry Lattimer and debut pro, from Foley's gym, AJ Garcia, versus One Hit MMA's Rowdy Akers.

-- Let's start with some boxing results from the amateur card at Legends in Sandy on April 11. They are: Yahir Estrada defeating Javier Gamma; Adriano Benn (All Heart) defeating Mateo Holt; Kai Chiang defeated Gary Bailey; Rene Mendoza defeated Jesus Saldana (All Heart); John Gonzalez defeated Andy Jensen (Foleys); Jesus Garcia defeated Dorian Spencer; Jordan Argyle defeated Alex Treadway (Foleys); and Ramon Lopez defeated Jon Bryant (Lights Out) in a surprise. I watched that bout via FB and Lopez used effective aggression to neutralize Bryant's outside boxing game. After the spring/summer tournament season finishes, this would make a good rematch.

In the pro ranks, Jose Haro is scheduled to fight in Tijuana, Mexico, at the end of the month. If we find out more we'll publish it at the blog. FKP Boxing, which just had a card at Riverbend, plans another pro/am card in May, I've been told.

BACK TO MMA

In previous posts, I have interviewed four fighters, Chandler, Lattimer, Garcia and Akers. We made an effort to get interviews with Neal and Frazier but it just didn't happen. My two cents on the main event is that Neal certainly merits being the favorite. He's yet to lose and he's passed his three toughest tests, wins over Scottie Casey, Jordan Clements and Tanner Cowan, well. Since after his pro debut, a decision win, no one has taken Neal into round three.

Having said that, I'm impressed with Frazier's talents as well, particularly his recuperative powers during fights, finding that second or third wind when necessary. Also, he learns from mistakes and despite some losses has returned a better fighter. As mentioned, Neal is my tabbed favorite but if Frazier can take this past round two and into areas that Neal is not familiar with, it may get more interesting. In any event, can't wait for this bout as well as the whole card. Despite peripheral neuropathy which keeps me home too often, I'm trekking to this card.

SOME MORE MMA NEWS: Davis County professional MMA fighter Sean Powers has signed a contract with Toronto-based Mickey Meyer Management Group. ... Friday, April 21, is a FITCON MMA card in SLC. On April 22 there's a kickboxing card scheduled. We did an interview with MMA amateur Eric Munoz, of Foley's gym recently, who will fight on April 21. Also scheduled to fight is undefeated female amateur Jessica Kruger. More info and the entire card is here. ... Buffy Ogden, a female MMA amateur who has been off a couple of years, announced on social media she may be back in the cage soon. Details will be announced after contracts are set. ... Also on social media, local amateur Brandon Rease (The Garage) said he may fight in Nevada soon.

Just remembered, go to the Utah Fighter MMA podcast of April 9 and hosts Eric Tillotson and Reed Romney analyze all three MMA cards, SteelFist, FitCon and South Valley Slam.

ONE MORE THING: We recently interviewed 46 year old MMA pro John Valentine, who is fighting on the May 13 South Valley Slam card in Hurricane, Utah. John's opponent has switched; he'll be fighting 170-pounder Michael Dillard. John generally fights at a lighter weight. Dillard has a win over Koji Lehman and a loss to Ogden MMA pro Justin Roberts among his bouts.

I chatted with John about the opponent change: "Hey Doug it's interesting I'm fighting a really big guy Mike Dillard. He's been around for a while; his record's about mixed but he's extremely big. I think he's 6 foot 1 inch, walks at 193 pounds it's gonna make for an interesting fight because I know he's going to lose some weight to get down to 170. I walk at 155 roughly but on fight night he's probably gonna have me by 30 pounds so I have to be very tight on my game strategy. I think I got this ... it's gonna be an exciting match up and probably will make for an exciting fight. There's already a lot of buzz and I sold a lot of tickets. People are more curious on whether not a little person can be the big person."

As the South Valley Slams draws nearer Utah Fight Game blog will have interviews with MMA pros Daniel Stratton and James Russell Francis, who are fighting each other on the card, and amateur Bryce Edminister, who will be meeting Nick Estrada on the card. ... Our periodic look a the state athletic commission upcoming fight events.

Boxer Jesse West has important bout Saturday in Washington

Davis County cruiserweight boxer Jesse West has what is arguably his most important fight as a professional when he travels to Lacey Wash. Saturday to meet Marquice Weston. PNW Professional Boxing is the promoter.

While interest in the main event bout is still contained to the western United States both fighters are considered top prospects and the winner will be in a position to entertain more lucrative bouts. West, 8-1, is on a several-bout win streak after losing a split decision in California to a heavyweight a few years ago. He has since decided to fight as a cruiserweight.

Weston, 7-1-1, suffered a majority decision loss in his last bout when he also traveled away from home base to the eastern United States. West will have the task of taking a win in an opponent's home base.

I chatted with West briefly earlier this week. "Day four of the training camp has been OK. Yes, I mean day four," he said laughing. "They gave us a 10-day notice," which is tough, he added. (Here's a photo of West stopping Nick Rossborough in a recent bout, courtesy of Justin Hughes)

Both West and Weston have a common opponent, Price, Utah's David Sanchez (4-2). West stopped Sanchez in Utah, Weston decisioned Sanchez in Washington. Weston also recently stopped Utah boxer/MMA professional Mike Crisman. West and Weston had successful amateur careers. West, fighting as a heavyweight, was the Rocky Mountain Golden Gloves champion.

Earlier in his career, West had relied on his punching power to win bouts. In his most recent bout against previously undefeated Anthony Johnson, he showed strong boxing and defensive skills in earning a decision.

MORE AMATEURS FIGHTING IN BRIGHAM CITY

I talked to a couple of Northern Utah gyms who provided me the names of fighters who will be competing in Brigham City on Saturday:

"Jon Bryant, 152 pounds,  is fighting for a belt. John Daniels, 170 pounds, is fighting his first bout. (Also fighting are) Preston Tiffany, 90 pounds, Chris France, 135 pounds, and Ozmanny Sanchez, 70 pounds," Julian Stevens, of Lights Out gym in Clearfield, said.

"(We) have McKayla Gabaldan, 145 pounds, Kamryn Santiago, 141 pounds, and Santana DeCarlo, 125 pounds, fighting this weekend in Brigham City," Jason DeCarlo of All Heart Boxing in Ogden said.

SOME MMA NEWS

SteelFist's next MMA card is set for April 15. There are three pro bouts that I consider must-see for MMA fans. They are Jon Neal defending his 145-pound pro belt against Skyler Frazier, 155-pounder Jordan Chandler and Kerry Lattimer tussling, and 145-pounders AJ Garcia and Rowdy Akers meeting in a rematch from their amateur days.

We'll be trying to get interviews will all six of these fighters in the weeks ahead.

MMA winners include Whitmore, Guymon, Carlson at SteelFist card

We have the results of Saturday's SteelFist MMA card in Farmington. They are courtesy of the Fighting Out of Utah MMA News Facebook page. Any comments next to results are courtesy of Jeffrey Dutcher, who runs the page. We appreciate his regular updates:

205lbs pro: Trever Carlson def Eric Wallin via 1st round verbal tap to strikes. "Carlson was taking a beating and then turned it around at the very end of the round."

185lbs Pro Belt: Ed Whitmore defeated Carl Dieckmann via 2nd round TKO. "Whitmore timed an amazing kick when Carl went for a takedown."

135lbs Pro Belt: Anthony Miller def Jeremiah Guzman via 2nd round TKO.

145lbs ammy: Ben Guymon (seen below) def Kyle Frazier via 1st round RNC. "Frazier was landing hard shots, Guymon was able to persevere and end up taking Frazier's back finishing the fight with only seconds left."

130lbs ammy: Jordan Marshall def Ahmed Alkhafji via 1st round guillotine. "Alkhafji didn't tap and went to sleep. Both of these guys show promise to be good fighters."

205lbs ammy belt: Cole Shafer def Justin Oswald via unanimous decision. "A HARD fought win. Both fighters overcame being rocked and dropped multiple times. I also believe I heard Oswald say, "you're a tough son of a bitch...keep hitting me...I love it."

170lbs ammy women's: Lyza Hermosillo def Heidi Wollebaek via unanimous decision.

185lbs ammy: Ryan Wilkerson def Jason Horrocks via tap "to what I believe was an injury to his arm?"

170lbs ammy: Mike O'Laskey def Derrick Bates via 1st round RNC. "More of a jaw crusher than choke."

190lbs ammy: Jordan Taylor def Ryan Thaxton via unanimous decision.

150lbs ammy: Nick Birch def Ahmed Kareem via 1st round tap due to strikes.

205lbs ammy: Sean Pollock def Thomas Harper via unanimous decision.

185lbs ammy: Jon Wixom def Jake Memmott via 1st round TKO.

More news: At the fights it was announced that Jon Neal would defend his 145-pound SteelFist belt against Skyler Frazier on April 15 at Riverbend in Salt Lake City. The co-main will match 155 veterans Jordan Chandler and Kerry Lattimer.

Neal defeats Cowan, Herrera over Akers

We have results for the Jan. 7 SteelFist MMA card in Farmington. They are courtesy of Fighting Out of Utah MMA's Jeffrey "Dutch" Dutcher. In the main event, Ogden's Jon Neal remained undefeated stopping Payson's Tanner Cowan in round two via strikes to win the SteelFist 145-pound title. With the win he now has two titles, having previously won the SteelFist 155-pound belt. Cowan is a highly regarded veteran and it's a win that will likely move Neal into a higher-echelon bout.

In fact, Aldo Oreggia, of One Hit MMA, says Jon will probably move into a Legacy Fighting Alliance card soon. Aldo was told that Neal was at the top of the list for 145 pounders at LFA. Oreggia also said Neal will avoid the periods of inactivity that he's had the past few years, and plans to fight regularly as he works to move up the ladder.

Herrera victorious

In the co-main event, Kyle Herrera scored a nice win, defeating tough Rowdy Akers via a heel hook in round one. In the 160-pound pro bout Herrera floored Akers with a left hook. The game Akers fought off the knockdown but was later caught in the hook, forcing a tap.

In an 125-pound amateur rematch, Steve Chan won a unanimous three-round decision over Brandon Rease. Chan had stopped Rease a couple of years ago. In two pro bouts, Justin Van Horn stopped Ed Moroney in two, 205 pounds, and Carson Gregory stopped Josh Bateman in round one, 170 pounds.

In more amateur bouts, Kaden Weston stopped Brian Gates in round one, 145, Luke Smith stopped Elias Landau in round one, 185, Brandon Know stopped Daryl Sullivan in round 2, 135, Cory Rose defeated Ian Kahng in round two, 155, and Gavin Weston stopped Nick Lund in the second round, 145.

In what Dutcher described as a "great fight," 175-pound amateur Joshua Ferrera defeated Kelleck Diamond via unanimous three-round decision. "Both guys came out swinging. Both showed great heart and some rock-solid chins," Dutcher said.

Cowan, Neal, Akers and Herrera headline SteelFist card

Welcome to the Utah MMA and boxing blog. It's a work in progress so readers will see design improvements as time goes on. My name is Doug Gibson and I'm a former journalist. The fight game is one of my passions and I'd like to do what I can to promote it, particularly in Northern Utah.

We'll have fight card advances, results, photos, long features and short features on fighters, trainers and others. A key goal I have is to let the fighters talk, so a lot of the posts will be interviews that feature them talking about the sport, rather than the reporter's voice dominating.

We'd like to thank Justin Hughes for providing boxing photos. Hopefully his work will be a fixture on the blog. If at any time the blog publishes a photo that is copyrighted, let us know and we'll take it down. This is a labor of love, not of money, and we want to respect original work.

To get going, this Saturday night SteelFist promotions will be in Farmington at the Legacy Events Center with "High Intensity," a card featuring some intriguing battles. (The card is here) The main event is a great matchup with two veterans, undefeated Jon Neal of One Hit MMA facing Tanner Cowan of Team Unbreakable It's for the SteelFist featherweight title.

Neal's career has included some long stretches of inactivity, but his wins have been solid, including a first round stoppage of Scottie Casey. Cowan followed a long, successful amateur career with success in the pros. He recently defeated Jordan Chandler via decision. We reached out to both fighters. We didn't get a response from Neal by press time but here's what Cowan had to say: (NOTE: I have not included my questions in the interviews.)

Cowan: What motivated me to compete in MMA was my coach. I had a friend that trained with team Unbreakable that told me about the coach and how to get a hold of him. Honestly I just wanted to teach my wrestling to the fighters and train for free. I wasn't interested in fighting but my coach was putting on his own show one month after I started, he told me I had a fight, and to get ready for it so I did. 

I train with team Unbreakable, we have some great fighters like Jeremiah Guzman, McKinley Smith, Ed Whitmore, Justin Van Horn, Justin Oswald, Trevor Carlson, and many other great fighters. My coach and manager is Aaron Garcia. I teach a majority of the wrestling and grappling at the gym.

This is a pro title fight so everything I do consist of five five minute rounds. I work a full time job so I only get to train once a day, six days a week. This is my first time fighting at featherweight so my diet and weight cut have been implemented far more for this fight. 

My opponent is Jon Neal. He is ranked 3rd in the state among the lightweights. He is undefeated at 9-0. I know he has wrestled before but doesn't mind to stand and strike. He is a southpaw and seems like he fights a lot like myself. 

Like everyone else I want to be in the UFC and I think I have what it takes to get there. My wife, child, and family inspire me to train hard and be the best I can be. I live in Nephi and train in Payson. My wife packs up my little girl and we make the drive to the gym about every night. 

I have been told I have the mannerism of Carlos Condit. I felt that was a great compliment because he is humble and kind to others with a fire that he possesses in the cage.

This will be a great bout and we wish both Neal and Cowan the best of luck.

AKERS MEETS HERRERA IN CO-MAIN

The co-main matches One Hit MMA's Rowdy Akers against Victory's Kyle Herrera. Akers is a good prospect and Herrera a solid vet. They're well matched at featherweight and the winner likely moves to a promotional title fight. We talked to both fighters and here's a couple of photos as well. (Akers above second from left, and Herrera below, at left)

Let's hear from both of them:

AKERS: I started in MMA in Boise. I was running up and getting myself in a lot of trouble and I needed an outlet and it was provided through a friend, Brandon at Teen Hardcore, who asked me to come in and channel that.

I train now with One Hit MMA in Layton under Aldo Oreggia and Bruno Antunes. My training regimen for this fight is the same as always, extensive cardio Jiu Jitsu wrestling stand up, clench. It's all what I do through every fight I work.

If I win this fight where do I want to be in a year? I'd like to think that I'm already at the top. I'm 42 years old, win or lose I'm blessed to be where I'm at. Regardless I'd like to continue to fight and take smart fights. I'd like to up the game and take the opponents to test my limits.

 I'd like to have five more fights this year in 2017. I'm inspired by my coach Aldo; he pushes me every day to be better, he works with me.

Being old I really look up to all the fighters that come from the past and have been judged by their actions and change their lives for the better I'm inspired to do better and to be better than yesterday because of my wife Toni Akers' hard work. She works hard in the gym and it motivates me to do better and be better.

HERRERA: (Note: Herrera took the fight on short notice.) Nobody likes to take short notice fights for obvious reasons, studying opponent, proper fight preparation, diet etc. The biggest pro I have going into this fight is that I have no training injuries from a fight camp. I've gone into the majority of my fights with some sort of injury that had limited my skill set and or cardio. 

I will be going into this fight 100 percent healthy, and I honestly can't remember the last fight where that has been the case. 

I love to stand and bang. However I believe at this point my skill set is very well rounded. And I honestly could not tell you where I am better at --  whether it's my stand up or ground game. I prefer to stand, but if the fight takes place on the ground I am just as comfortable. I am 100 percent certain I will finish this fight with a KO or a submission. Judges can take this fight off.

I don't know much about Rowdy or his skill set. That being said I'll go in to the fight expecting he is an MMA fighter and is well rounded everywhere. 

I've been training under Jake Paul and the late Paul Sizemore. Along with the many hungry fighters that Victory is putting out. There is no easy training session at this gym. We have more active fighters than any gym in Utah, and that helps the team stay strong as a whole. Iron sharpens iron. 

(NOTE: There will be a fundraiser for Sizemore at the SteelFist card and a moment of silence)

REASE VERSUS CHAN

An amateur fight worthy of notice matches The Garage's Brandon Rease against Steve Chan at 125 pounds. The pair fought at 135 pounds a couple plus years back and Chan was victorious. Both fighters are looking to get above 500 in the bout. We talked with Rease (at right inphoto below) recently.

REASE: I always wanted to be just like one of the characters off of Dragon Ball Z and MMA was the closest thing to being one of those characters, so that's one big reason that motivated me to MMA.

Coaches are Anthony Lobato, David Castillo and Jason Tafoya and I'm training at The Garage MMA. I train three hours every night.

My opponent I know a lot about because I fought him in the past. He's a good fighter. I want to be pro in a year. I really look up to Lobato, Castillo and Tafoya.

BROWN MAKES AMATEUR DEBUT

Hayden Brown, a light heavyweight who trains at The Garage, makes his amateur debut. He's an accomplished BMX rider, with multiple titles in Utah and surrounding states. He rides with Team Extreme. In the cage Brown will fight Dallas Howard. We asked Brown a few questions that he answered:

BROWN: My weight class is light heavyweight. My style is boxing/wrestling. What got me interested in MMA was watching the UFC fights with my dad as a kid. Who's helping me get better? All of my coaches and teammates at The Garage. Daily training: weights in the A.M., technique and sparring in the afternoon. My long-term goals are to fight pro and win a belt. 

The doors open at 5 Saturday at the Legacy Events Center. Fights start at 6. Fourteen bouts and we wish all the fighters the best of luck. Now, on to boxing news, with a couple of Justin Hughes photos.

HARO MAY FIGHT SOON.

Jose Haro, who has been rehabbing his foot the past few months, indicated on social media that the foot is healed, he can spar and run on it. The 13-1-1 featherweight boxer, who holds a regional title belt, may fight in March. Here's a photo of Haro (at left) below.

GOMEZ REMAINS UNDEFEATED

Also, in December at The Complex, West Jordan's Larry Gomez moved to 6-0 with a stoppage win over previously undefeated Donald Griffin, 7-1, of Pine Bluff, Ark. The bout was for the state welterweight title. We'll finish off this blog post with a photo of Utah cruiserweight Jesse West, 8-1, of Fruit Heights, defeating Nick Rossborough last year in Layton. It was Rossborough's first boxing bout although he has a long, successful MMA career.