Hughes, Raddon, Edminister have fights scheduled

A quick Utah Fight News report this week.

-- Proving Grounds Invitational 5 was held this past weekend in SLC. I don't have results but its FB pages is here and website here.

--- Mountain Force MMA unfortunately had to cancel its card in Logan last week due to just plain bad luck of fights falling out the last week. Here's a press release. Mountain Force does plan another MMA card in Utah, in Logan on March 30.

Factum gym in Sandy had an amateur card last weekend. Photos and more are at the gym's Facebook page here. Winners included Jon Bryant and Jay Wright. ... There is another amateur card Jan. 26 in Pocatello where many locals will box. Former MMA fighter Brad Davidson will make his amateur boxing debut.

-- Thomas Hughes, MMA professional (above), will be fighting March 2 in SLC in a Fierce Fighting Championships card. He's training at One Hit Gym with Kaecy Raddon, who has a scheduled kickboxing bout with Mountain Force Kickboxing Feb. 23 in Farmington. Both Hughes and Raddon have international kickboxing experience, as well as being MMA fighters.

-- Bryce Edminister has a professional MMA bout in Boise on Feb. 1. Edminister trains at KOA Kingdom gym and has been training there with Raddon as well.

-- Madie Meacham, of One Hit, fought on a televised card with LFA promotions last weekend. She did well but was stopped due to a permanent retainer inside her mouth that broke and caused a cut.

--- Remember, Feb. 16, in SLC, Carson Gregory versus Craig Grove headlines the next SteelFist MMA card.

-- And there is a PFK pro/amateur boxing card scheduled for March 8 in SLC at the 801 Event Center. ... You can see a complete list of fights cards on the Utah athletics site here.

Interview with boxer Justin Morales; more news

Above (at right) is undefeated pro welterweight Justin Morales, who stopped opponent Anthony Ayala in round 1 in a May bout in Layton. Saturday night in Columbia, S.C., Morales, a Northridge High graduate who lives in Clinton, fights Kelton Davis. We  chatted with Morales a few days before his bout.

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Before we get to the interview I want to mention that Friday in Boise, Idaho there's a Bellator card and three local fighters will be tussling in the preliminary card, which will be streamed at Bellator.com and various other sites. In a fight that's getting a lot of ink, heavyweight Ben Moa, 4-0, of One Hit MMA, will meet another undefeated prospect, Steve Mowry, 4-0. Also, Sean Powers, Fruit Heights, of Power MMA, 9-6,will be in the Bellator cage for the fourth time, and fights 3-0 Jared Trice, 190 pounds. And Bryce Edminister, Layton, who trains at KOA Kingdom, (1-1) meets debuting Leon Taylor, 145 pounds. And Andrew Cruz, who fights out of Idaho and has fought in Utah, is also on the card. Here is the entire Bellator 205 card; main bouts will be televised at 7 on Paramount Network.

Some quick notes: Mountain Force MMA has an MMA card Saturday, Sept. 30 in Logan; Undefeated pro boxer Ignacio Chairez plans to fight Oct. 6 in Wendover; Amateur fighter Kaecy Raddon, who usually fights as a kickboxer and mixed martial artist, has a boxing match in Colorado Saturday at a Sparta Combat League promotion; Both Raddon and Jarrett Kelton plan to compete in international amateur kickboxing competition in October; Ed Whitmore, an MMA professional, has a pro boxing match scheduled Saturday. He fights Joseph Carriker. It's in Joplin, Mo.; MMA pro Thomas Hughes will return to the cage on Dec. 1, I have heard, on a Sparta Combat League card; MMA pro Steven Siler's next bout in the televised PFL 145-pound tourney is Oct. 5. He meets Nazareno Malegerie.

NOW, ON TO THE INTERVIEW WITH JUSTIN MORALES:

Utah Fight Game: Justin, how did the September bout come about? How is training going, where, who is trainer, who are you sparring with?

Morales: My fight Sept 22nd came about because I wanted to stay active fighting and my coach has a good relationship with the promoter of the show so he lined me up. Training has been going great, I can feel myself improving both mentally and physically. I currently live in Las Vegas and train with Hall Of Fame Coach Jesse Reid. If we aren't at our home gym it's likely we are either at Johnny Tacos Boxing or Barry's Boxing sparring with various pros at those gym to get different looks!

Utah Fight Game: When do you think we'll see you in Utah again?

Morales: If all goes well I'd like to fight in Utah before the years end. No later than next summer for sure though.

Utah Fight Game: Where would you like to be a year from now in your pro career?

Morales: In a year from now hopefully my professional career is really starting to take off, I'd like to possibly fight for a Super Lightweight State Title or any opponent that would help boost my ranking!

Good luck this weekend Justin, and thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.

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.

An interview with MMA pro Miles Welk

On March 17 Mountain Force MMA will have its first promotion at the Eccles Ice Arena in Logan. The card is set and you can see matchups at the promotion's Facebook page. One of the pro bouts matches Miles Welk (of KOA gym in Layton) (at left above) with Nick Clem. Both fighters are undefeated. We have observed Welk's career for several years, from a successful amateur who captured regional titles through two successful pro bouts. We took the time to chat with him recently.

Miles, there have been fairly long gaps between your two pro fights. Do you have plans to fight more often?

Welk: Yeah I've struggled to stay in the gym and be consistent in my training. I've rededicated myself and I'm going to see if I can't take my career to the next level so I'm planning to fight at 3 times this year maybe 4 depending on how healthy I stay.

How is training going? You train at KOA. Who are your trainers and other fighters you work out with?

Welk: I do train at KOA. I love it. It's an amazing gym and it has so much to offer to everyone, especially fighters. It's a great fit for me. Training is good. I'm working hard in every aspect. I’m just trying to get better at being a mixed martial artist every day. My head coach is David Castillo, my Jui Jitsui Coach is Anthony Lobato, My strength and conditioning Coach is Bobby King. I have a room full of great partners. Bryce Edminister, Bobby King, Hector Lopez, Edgar Sorto, Brandon Rease, Kelsey Skillman, Bryce Scanlon,Alonzo Salas. We have a pretty stacked team right now.

How do you match strongly against your opponent?

Welk: My opponent is Nick Clem from Colorado. He's a tough guy, had 12 amateur fights, 1-0 as a pro. He has good footwork and lateral movement and I can tell he likes to wrestle and grapple so I feel like I match up well against him. I feel like I can wrestle with anyone in the 125-pound weight class and my striking is getting better every day and so is my jui jitsui . Overall I'm ready for whatever and match up well with him.

You are fighting, and getting some good publicity, from a new promoter. What are your plans beyond this bout. Do you have a schedule, plans to move forward in MMA?

Welk: This is a new promotion Mountain Force MMA. They have been awesome to work with. Juan (Pablo) is the man, and I'm looking forward to fighting and trying to get the W on the very first card. Hopefully they'll have me back. I don't have anything scheduled yet but I have plenty of teammates who do so I'm just going to stay in the gym and stay ready for the next fight and help my teammates get ready.

Thanks Miles for your time and good luck on March 17.

Some extra news: SteelFist has announced a very strong matchup for its Friday the 13th April card. Undefeated Carson Gregory versus former UFC veteran Clay Collard. This will be highly anticipated; either a gate for Gregory to move up early in his career or perhaps a means for Collard to move back into the major promotions. ... Locally, we are intrigued by a Fierce Fighting Championship promotional amateur title fight between Thomas Prestriedge, of American Fork, and Brandon Rease, who fights out of KOA. The pair fought two years ago at at SteelFist card with Rease getting a split decision. It's in Price on March 10, and we'll likely try to interview both soon.

And more ... Kelsey Skillman, amateur at KOA, is set to fight in April for SteelFist, and this weekend, Kaecy Raddon, formerly at One Hit MMA, who now fights out of Colorado, is fighting Roy Sarabia for a Sparta Combat League 155-pound amateur belt.