FFC MMA card features fighters with win streaks

 

Two MMA pros with win streaks headline the next Fierce Fighting Championship card Saturday, Aug. 15 in Farmington, Utah, at the Western Sports Park, in Farmington, Utah, 25 N Sports Park Way 84025.

Doors open at 4 p.m., fights begin at 5 p.m. 

Roy Utah's Teague Vigil, 5-4, fights Colorado's Miguel Barrientes, 5-2, for the FFC pro featherweight bout. Vigil has won his last five bouts.

Ammon Garcia, 4-1-1, of Layton, Utah, on a four-fight win streak, meets Davon Duncan, of Las Vegas, in a professional 160-pound catch weight fight.

In other pro bouts, George Lo, of North Carolina, fights Avtandil Khimshiashvili, of Las Vegas, welterweights; in a pro cruiserweight bout, Tracy Hardy, of Layton, fights Thomas Boyer, of Idaho Falls, Idaho; in a pro welterweight bout, Kamuela Mamone, Hawaii, fights North Carolina's Gabriel Muscat; pro flyweight David Kim, a hometown fighter from Farmington, fights New York's Haseeb Khetab; in a heavyweight bout, North Carolina's Michael Delozier fights Montana's Braden Peterson; and flyweight Dietrick Jessop, of Layton, meets Las Vegas fighter Alex Castenada. There's even two more bouts in the professional ranks, with Spanish Fork, Utah's Tyler Call fights Sandy Utah's Justin Vialpando. The other matches light heavyweight Sam Van Wynen, of Kaysville, versus Cody Beierle, of Montana.

The top amateur bout is for the FCC light heavyweight belt. Mike Gillion of Syracuse, Utah, fights Ethan Ojukwu, of Florida. Also, the FCC amateur belt is being contested with Aiden Egler, of Saratoga Springs, Utah, meeting Braeten Jorgensen, of Las Vegas. 

Other amateur bouts include Layton's Bryon Sneed meeting Arizona's Pike Jones, heavyweights; Hannah Silva, Las Vegas, fighting Layton's Ashley Zolnik, featherweights; and amateur strawweights Katerina McDermott, of Russia, fighting Samaira Wisner, of Texas.

For tickets, contact the fighters or the FFC website. For PPV info go to the FCC website.

Amateur boxing results: Foley's gym, May 23, 2026

 

On Saturday, May 24th, at Foley's gym in Ogden, a large crowd enjoyed 20 amateur boxing matches. 

(The photos above, from Top to down, show Foley's Luciano Salazar pressuring Fight City's Edmundo Rodriguez into the corner of their 168-pound bout, won by Salazar. Next shows Foley's Evan Dominguez forcing Fight City's Luis Torres into the ropes in their 172-pound bout, won by Dominguez. Next Foley's Achilles Salazar (left) boxes Reyes' Armando Aquero in a 145-pound bout won by Aquero. And Foley's Rachel Siniscalchi (left) boxes Jordan Landing's Heather Kingston in a 112-pound bout won by Kingston.)

Here are the results of the bouts on the card:

57 lbs - Miliano Hernandez, BoxFit decisioned Isaac Diaz, Mi Familia

110 lbs - Emanuel Soria, Palafox, decisioned Ramon Vaca, Reyez

75 lbs - Jayden Cuenca, Mi Familia, decisioned Legion Afeaki, Boxing Roots

112 lbs - Kingston (see above) decisioned Siniscalchi (see above)

172 lbs - Dominguez (see above) decisioned Torres (see above)

90 lbs - Angel Mendoza, Tafoya's, decisioned Julian Cendejas, Munecos

105 lbs - Julian Garcia, Boxfit, decisioned Lehi Perez, Reyez

195 lbs - Rogelio Aguirre, Munecos, decisioned Garrett Schoss, Foley's

112 lbs - Bryon Sanchez, Rick's, decisioned Francisco Rodriguez, Fight City

125 lbs - Christian Sanchez, Boxfit, decisioned Damien Murdock, Foley's

125 lbs - Josh Mangrum, Factum, decisioned Johnny Gonzalez, Foley's

150 lbs - Kohel Robinson, Pouha, decisioned Arturo Espinoza, Rick's

147 lbs - Andrus Antunez, Dave's Boxing Academy, decisioned Ben Gill, Foley's

145 lbs - Aquero (see above) decisioned A Salazar (see above)

180 lbs - Alfonso Chavez, Tafoya's decisioned Dom Perez, Factum

Heavyweight - Pule Alo, Pouha, walkover win

147 lbs - Deylan Deboer, Tafoya's decisioned Skylar Stedman, Foley's

168 lbs - L Salazar (see above) decisioned Rodriguez (see above)

147 lbs - Jayden Marquez, Boxing Roots, decisioned Kenneth Anderson, SLC

205 lbs - Ryahn Moore, Foley's, decisioned Esiloni Malafu, Boxfit

152 lbs - Jorge Bustamente, Rolling with the Punches, decisioned Josh Strong, Pouha

-- Utah Fight Game blog

(Names and gyms were taken from the card program. Pat Nielsen handled announcing duties.)

Haro headlines FFC card; Ruiz versus Owens an intriguing MMA co-main

 

NOTE: ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATED: Mixed martial arts fighter Joel Haro, of Herriman, is the headline name for Fierce Fighting Championship 49's Saturday night MMA card at the Maverik Center, in West Valley. Haro, 7-2, who is on a two-bout win streak, takes on Canada's Suileman Bouhata,15-10, in a professional featherweight bout scheduled for three rounds. The Canadian won a modified cage/boxing match last fall in Canada but has not competed in MMA since 2021, when he suffered a defeat.

The co-main three-round bout has intrigued combat sports gyms in Utah. Featherweights Julian Ruiz, 7-2, and Ha'va Nathan Owens, 4-5, are matched. Both are young veterans who have enjoyed recent success. More on these two later in this article.

In another pro MMA bout, lightweight Sergio Mamone Jr., makes his pro debut against Washington's pro debuting Andrew Martinez. Mamone fights in Utah often but lives in Hawaii. He had an impressive MMA amateur career. Mamone also made a successful pro boxing debut recently in Ogden. Martinez is 4-0 as an amateur but has not competed for three years.

UPDATE: The Mamone vs Martinez fight is no longer on card. It has been replaced by a 135-pound pro bout matching David Kim, 0-2, versus Jordan Gonzales, 0-1. Both are from Northern Utah.

The other pro bout matches featherweight Teague Vigil, 4-4 against Nevada's Desmond Manabat, 4-7.

--

Utah Fight Game interviewed both Ruiz, of Salt Lake City, and Owens, of Ogden. Below are their responses. (The photos below, in order, are of Owens and Ruiz.

UTAH FIGHT GAME: What's your typical training day like?

RUIZ: Monday and Friday I train 2-3 times; Thursday I only train in afternoon. I always finish with Saturday morning workout, then take rest of weekend off.

OWENS: My typical training day will have at least two training sessions. The first session will either be a strength, or cardio workout. The second session will either be Jiu Jitsu, boxing or kickboxing; a minimum of four miles roadwork every day as well.

UTAH FIGHT GAME: Who is training you? Who are you sparring with. 

RUIZ: The Pit, (and) Agema Jiu Jitsu and MMA. (And) a few different boxing coaches. My head coach (at gym) is Ramsey Nijem and my other coach is Dayne Aristizabal.

OWENS: My coaches are Eduardo Mori and Ernest Chavez. My sparring partners are a handful of talented competitors, Alex Johnson, Ryder Campo, Van Woods, and many others.

UTAH FIGHT GAME: What do you know about your opponent? Do you have a style of fighting that differs with him?

RUIZ: He's experienced and he's down to scrap. He's well known around here. People talk highly of him, so I know he's a good guy. And (he) works hard. Our styles are similar. I'm just the 2.0 version. He's good with his hands but not on my level. I can't wait to show.

OWENS: What I know about my opponent is that he has power and is dangerous at any moment. My style of fight that I have set for him, however, is a perfect counter to his more power-heavy approach.

UTAH FIGHT GAME: Where do you hope to be a year from now in your career?

RUIZ: A year from now I'd love to be in Contender Series or in talks to fight across seas! (I'm) taking it all the way!

OWENS: I hope to see myself on a larger stage, against higher-caliber opponents, testing myself to my absolute limits to reach the best version of myself.

---

There are several amateur, mostly three, three-minute round contests, a couple for FFC championships They are (updated):

- James Prescott vs Jett Swain, for the FFC Amateur Middleweight belt. (Five rounds)

- Hunter Birdsley vs Parker Abegglen, heavyweights.

- London Van Camp vs Chris Vandermyle, lightweights

- Pouya Bahamin vs Eric Lazo, lightweights

- Nicole Fuga vs Ashley Green, 150 pounds

- Morgun Colledge vs Chris Ventura, 150 pounds

- Brady Gourson vs Joseph Marshall, 155 pounds

- Lance Lavoie vs. Edgar Mixan

- Raven Janis vs Traie Buhler

- and for the FFC Amateur Featherweight belt, Taylor Carvalho vs Rey Lee (Five rounds)

Tickets are available online from the promoter FFC and the Maverik Center website. The Maverik Center address is 3200 South Decker Lake Drive in West Valley. The gates open Saturday at 4 p.m. Bouts begin about 5 p.m. Fierce Fighting Championships has a Facebook page but make sure it's legitimate because spoofers try to clone it.

- Doug Gibson 

Top of Utah heavyweight Gary Cobia to fight former world champ Oliver McCall

 

Despite turning 51, Top of Utah heavyweight boxer Gary Cobia has stayed fit. He's 6 foor 4 inches tall and weights 260 pounds. His last professional fight was in 2015; that same year he scored a win on the undercard of the Mitt Romney versus Evander Holyfield exhibition "boxing match." 

Gary earned a decision win that night, knocking his durable opponent, Fred Spitzenberg, down. After his next fight, a loss to fellow Utahn Jesse West, Cobia retired. He'd enjoyed an extended amateur and pro career. But the fight game never left him and, as mentioned, he was looking for another chance.

And got an extraordinary opportunity. On Tuesday, February 4, in Nashville, Tenn, at the Texas Troubadour Theater, Cobia, who lives in Clearfield, meets former world heavyweight champion Oliver McCall. Thirty years ago, McCall shocked the world by scoring a second-round TKO over Lennox Lewis. He defended the title once before losing it to Frank Bruno. McCall stayed in the heavyweight picture for a couple of decades before retiring. Now, at the age of 59, he is attempting his own comeback. A few months ago he stopped veteran heavyweight Stacy Frazier.

I recently interviewed Cobia, (Seen above, at left, with his trainer, Denys Chernei, a former Ukrainian amateur boxer.) We talked about about his upcoming bout with McCall.  

---

How did this opportunity to fight Oliver McCall come about?

Cobia: The opportunity came up when I reached out to his manager, Jimmy Adams, to see if Oliver had opponents. I watched his last fight with Stacy Frazier and after the fight Oliver stated he was going to fight regularly.

When did you start thinking, I'd like to start boxing again?

Cobia: I went through a rough divorce and was dealing with raising my children and I always wanted to redeem myself from my last fight in Wendover. My children are older and in a better place, so that provided a better opportunity now!

Tell  us about your training, and your trainer? Where are you training? 

Cobia: My training consists of alternating days endurance and strength, and then boxing techniques and boxing stamina! A lot of times we just train at VASA in the aerobics room or ar my house in the garage! (I have seen live footage of Gary training with Denys, and the photo above was taken at another gym, Junction City Boxing, in Riverdale.)

Do you have a particular strategy against McCall?

Cobia: Yes, we do have a strategy for McCall. It's' to let him be the aggressor in the first three rounds, I need to move and counter off his punches and just win by (scoring) more points. We're hoping him being (near) 60 years old, after three rounds he may start to tire and then start making mistakes. I'm hoping to capitalize on those mistakes. But, at the end of the day, anything can happen. (The bout is scheduled for six rounds)

---

Despite being the younger fighter in the upcoming bout, Cobia acknowledges 51 is a late age for boxing. But the LDS Church Sunday School teacher is in shape, and boasts an impressive physical appearance.

"But I look like I'm 30 because I keep the Word of Wisdom," he said with a smile.

Willard Bean, Mormonism's 'Fighting Preacher,' attracted the attention of the curious press

 

Above is an 1899 news clipping from The Boston Globe. I apologize the text is mostly unreadable. It's a feature, however, on a "preacher," Mormon no less, named Willard Bean. He was a very good prizefighter out of Utah 100 years plus a generation ago. I first blogged about Bean several years ago. Here's a  link. And below is Cal Grondahl's fantastic cartoon that accompanied the blog post.

Bean has an "official" 8-5-3 record with one no decision and one no contest on BoxRec between 1897 and 1902 but he likely had more wins unrecorded. He would be tagged a near world-class boxer, in my opinion. The reason I say that is his no decision fight of 10 tough rounds with Joe Choynski in 1899. Choynski is one of the greatest early pugilists; a Hall of Fame boxer. A small clip from a Quincy, Ill. newspaper is below that mentions the bout.

Bean also fought, and went the distance -- 20 rounds -- with the world-class heavyweight title challenger Fireman Jim Flynn, who fought Jack Johnson for the world heavyweight championship. Flynn also knocked out future heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey in one round a few years before Dempsey won the title. Dempsey avenged the loss about a year later with a first-round KO of Flynn. Below is a recap of the decision win by Flynn. 

Below are some long ago clips of recaps of a couple of bouts Bean won by knockout.

Most people know of Bean today due to his enthusiastic missionary skills and temple work later in life. A popular film on Bean and his wife's missionary efforts, "The Fighting Preacher,"' was released a couple of years ago. I reviewed it here. It's available on various streaming services, including Amazon Prime. The next clip exemplifies his missionary spirit. It is from The Salt Lake Tribune in 1899. 

One more picture of the Fighting Preacher, Willard Bean. I do not know the source.

Some quick local MMA notes: Mountain Force MMA had an all amateur card Friday, Jan. 8 in Logan. In the main event, a great fight, Alan Rea stopped Aaron Boothe in Round 3. Fighting Out of Utah MMA has results on its Facebook page. Also, Utah professional welterweight Weston Wilson traveled to Knoxville, Tenn, on Saturday, Jan. 9 and knocked out Christian Sanchez in the first round.

Utah's Lamar Clark went from 44 straight knockouts to being KO'd by Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali)

Ever heard of heavyweight boxer Lamar Clark, of Utah? Probably not, but 60 plus years ago Clark, born in Cedar City, Utah, was briefly a hot commodity in the sport. The heavyweight, who fought mostly in Northern Utah, including Ogden, scored 44 consecutive knockouts, including six in one night! Not all the KOs were sanctioned, although most likely shouldn't have been as Clark, after scoring a decision win in his first bout, fought a long array of novice fighters whom he destroyed. His official record was 43-3 with 42 KOs. He was managed by Marv Jenson, who helmed world middleweight champ, Gene Fullmer, and his brother, contender Don Fullmer. I often wonder why Jenson allowed Clark to fatten his record with nop-hopers, but perhaps Jenson knew Clark was overhyped and wanted to give him a big payday. The great Jack Dempsey is in the above photo with Clark.

Unfortunately, the Clark hype ended at 42-0 at Weber High School, in Ogden, on April 8, 1960. In a nationally televised bout, designed to introduce Clark to the nation, the undefeated was stopped in the ninth round by New York City's Bartoli Soni, 12-2-1, a prospect who had just lost in Madison Square Garden. Clark started well but ran out of gas late. 

A couple of months later Clark, seeking to rebound, invited former Olympics heavyweight champion Pete Rademacher, who had unwisely challenged current heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in his pro debut. The battering Rademacher received affected his entire career, and he faced the 42-1 Clark with a shaky 6-3-1 record. It was a rare easy bout for Rademacher as he battered the way overrated Utah slugger around the ring, flooring him early toying with Clark through the bout before stopping him late in the final round 10. (Photo and article on the fight is below)

At this point, most boxing observers gave up on Clark. To his credit, though, Lamar attempted a comeback, scoring a KO win in Las Vegas in March 1961. In April 1961, Clark traveled to Louisville, Ky., to face Olympics champion turned young pro Cassius Clay, who would later of course change his name to Muhammad Ali, perhaps the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. 

It was a dreadful mismatch, Clay, 5-0, stopped Clark 97 seconds into the second round. YouTube claims to have a partial recording of the bout, but I'm skeptical it is Clay versus Clark. The broadcast claims there is a fourth round. However, that could be a video typo. In the fight, "Clark" seems game but is hopelessly overmatch. In the comments, a Dave C says he knew Clark in the late 80s and describes the retired boxer as "a cheerful, kind man who spoke highly of Ali."

Clark retired after the Ali bout. There was talk of him moving to light heavyweight to compete but that never occurred. He died at at age 72 in 2006 in South Jordan, UT. 

Enjoy this montage of newspaper clippings, courtesy of NewspaperArchives.com, of Clark's career. Three, of course, are placed above. The Utah Fight Game blog hopes to do a series of prominent Utah boxers periodically over the next year. 

 

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.