PFL's Collard competes in Salt Lake City MMA bout

 

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Some hooks and jabs involving Utah boxing and MMA: Utahn Clay Collard will be in Utah for the second round of this year's PFL MMA tournament. The Jon Huntsman Center in SLC will host next card June 21. It was also be televised and streamed on ESPN. Collard, in the lightweight division, fights Mads Burnell.

Foley's gym in Ogden will have an amateur boxing card Saturday May 11. The gym is 375 31st St in Ogden. Doors open at 3 pm. Fights start at 4 pm. Cost is $15 for adults, $10 for kids 5 to 12. Undefeated heavyweight Shakeem Barnwell, who is returning after a long layoff, is on the card.

SteelFist MMA has a card scheduled Saturday, June 8, at the Union Event Center. On the card will be pro middleweight Hayden Brown, also resuming his career after a long layoff. In a SteelFist card in SLC on April 27, Justin McDonald defeated Rusty Pearson in a main bout. Entire card results are here.

Fierce Fighting Championships will have an MMA card May 31 at The Maverik Center. On the card will be pros Eric Iman and Joel Haro, and amateur Ammon Garcia. On April 20, in Orem, Mike Jones successfully defended his FFC pro middleweight title, stopping Trent Miller in first round. In a FFC light heavyweight title bout, Hamza Salim took a split decision over Jarome Hatch. Entire card results are here. I heard recently that former FFC amateur champ Hannah Silva is slated for a title bout with the promotion this summer.

The May 25 pro/am boxing match at the Salt Air in Magna is taking shape. The card is here. Pro fighters competing include Francisco Jalel Lopez, Bishop Le'i, Isiah Rodriquez, Joshua Pirela and Armando Heurta. Ticket information is here.

Some results: Jesus Haro, minimum weight, lost a 12-round decision, in a bout in Puerto Rico, to former world title holder Wilfredo Mendez; Northern Utah featherweight pro boxer Brandon Douglas won a decision over Raymond Chacon on April 27. The fight was in Maumelle, Ark.; On April 4 in Costa Mesa, Calif., Provo-based cruiserweight pro boxer Juan Higuera scored a decision over Ricky Frausto; And Utah MMA pro, 135-pounder Thomas Prestreidge lost a decison to undefeated Amari Sengsavanh on April 20 in Phoenix, Ariz; Former national amateur standout boxer Aaron Maximus Garcia Jr., of Payson, will look to go 2-0 as a pro when he boxes June 15 in Tijuana, Mexico.

Collard, Raddon, Garcia score fighting wins, update on future cards, fights

 

Last weekend brought some success to local fighters. In a nationally televised MMA bout on ESPN2, Utah native Clay Collard stalked and wore down Bellator veteran Patricky Pitbull at PFL 2 card in Las Vegas on April 12. The 155-pounders competed in the first round of a yearlong tournament. Pitbull knocked down Collard in the first round but by the end of the round Collard was in control of the bout, frequently cutting off his opponent. The bout ended roughly 90 seconds into round two, with Collard pummelling a near-defenseless Pitbull. Collard recently attended an MMA card in Ogden.

In Atlantic City on the same day, in a bout of 155-pound MMA pros, former local fighter, Kaecy Raddon, who now fights out of Denver, scored a submission early in the third round over Armando Gjetga. A rear naked choke ended the bout. The card was streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

In boxing (also on Friday), standout Payson boxer Aaron Maximus Garcia, who was consistently a top-ranked national amateur, made a successful pro debut in Ensenada, Mexico, stopping Moises Cortez in round 2. 

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Upcoming fight cards in Northern Utah include Fierce Fighting Championship on April 24 at UCC  Center in Orem. Fights start at 5 pm. Headlining in separate bouts are established pros Mike Jones and Jarome Hatch. More information on card, tickets, address, is here.

On April 27 SteelFist Fight Night will have a card at The Union Event Center in Salt Lake City. It's a 7 pm start. Main bout matches 170 pounders Justin McDonald versus Rusty Pearson. More information, including tickets, address, card, is here.

On May 25, 801 Productions is having a pro/amateur boxing card at The Great Salt Air in Magna. It starts at 7 p.m. I learned recently that Ogden featherweight pro boxer Isaiah Rodriguez is scheduled to fight on the card.

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More jabs and hooks: Utah pro 135-pounder MMA Thomas Prestriedge, on a three-bout winning streak, travels to Phoenix, Ariz., this Saturday to fight undefeated Amari Sensavanh. More info on the card is here. ... Jesus Haro, a California/Nevada-based pro boxer who is related to former world-ranked featherweight Jose Haro, travels to Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico to fight Wilfredo Mendez Saturday night for the 105-pound World Boxing Association Gold Title. ... And former Utahn, veteran super middleweight boxer Christian Aguirre, lost a six-round decision to undefeated Justin Figuerora in San Antonio on March 30.

Olguin, Douglas, Jesus Haro score boxing wins; Siler versus King MMA headliner

 

Some boxing news: On Jan. 30 of this year in Tooele, Utah, northern Utah professional boxers Helaman Olguin, heavyweight, Brandon Douglas, featherweight, and Eric Wahlen, heavyweight, all scored KO wins. Olguin, of West Jordan, 9-3, ended the bout in round one against Carlos Reyes, 7-13-2. Olguin has won his last 8 bouts. Douglas, 10-1, stopped Rondarius Hunter, 4-8-2, in round one. And Wahlen, 6-0, defeated Joshua Brown, 1-3, in round two. (The photo above shows Douglas, at right, measuring his opponent. It is a photo posted on Facebook.)

Winners in other pro bouts were Danielle Bennett, Deborah Willies, Juan Higuera and Cody Woslager. To see all the fighters' names and amateur muy thay fighting results, go here.

On Oct. 31, in Tijuana, Mexico, Jesus Haro, a light flyweight professional boxing prospect who fights out of Merced, Calif., but has family ties in Northern Utah, won a four-round unanimous decision over Fernando Molina. Jesse Haro, now 4-1, fights in Mexico City on March 5. 

On Nov. 20, in Shelbville, Ky, at the Shelby County Fairgrounds, Idaho boxer/MMA fighter Clay Collard meets undefeated Maidel Sando in a middleweight main bout. Collard won five of six boxing matches in 2020. Livesportscaster.com is supposed to stream the card. ... After this fight he competes in the 2021 PFL MMA tournament beginning April 23. Collard will fight in the lightweight division. ESPN has broadcast rights.

In Utah MMA Mountain Force MMA, Fierce Fighting Championship and SteelFist have cards planned in February and March. The Feb. 27 FFC card at The Maverik Center in West Valley headlines pro featherweights Steven Siler and Bobby King in the main. More on that card, which features many local fighters, is here. Info on the MF MMA card Feb. 13 is here. 

Collard's 2020 boxing run ends with decision loss to LaVallais in a rematch

 

Clay Collard's remarkable boxing year 2020 ended on a slightly down note on Saturday in Las Vegas, in The Bubble, as he lost an 8-round decision to taller New Orleans boxer Quincy LaVaillas, It was a rematch of a 2019 draw between Collard (9-3-3) and LaVallais (10-0-1).

It was a close middleweight fight. Two judges scored it an acceptable 77-75. Another erred in a too-wide 78-74 margin. This blog scored the bout a draw, giving the more aggressive Collard (seen above on the left) rounds 1, 2, 5 and 7. However, there's no doubt that the judges were impressed with repeat right hands that LaVallais landed on Collard's head/ They didn't seem to hurt the Burley, Idaho, boxer, but he rarely could get out of their way.

In the latter half of the fight, LaVallais also had success slipping punches when the more aggressive Collard pinned him in a corner. Collard was often effective, however, when he followed a retreating LaVallais, landing hooks to the head and body. In the final round Collard started strongly but LaVallais excelled in the final moment.

It's been a remarkable two years for Collard, who merits great respect for barnstorming around the nation, taking on local favorites in their home locations and usually pulling out a win or a draw. Things improved even more this year when Top Rank took notice of his talents and fan appeal. He was 5-0 in this Covid-19 year until Saturday's loss.

Collard, who until recently fought out of Utah, is well known as an MMA pro with UFC experience. He will be taking a year off to compete in the Professional Fighter League MMA tournament for 2021 that promises weight class winners a $1 million prize. We wish him the best and thank him for providing us a lot of cheers in the boxing ring.

Gomez decisioned by Ceballo in welterweight title bout

 

(UPDATED WITH CLAY COLLARD OPPONENT FOR DEC. 12) West Jordan, Utah professional boxer Larry Gomez, (shown above at left in a bout earlier in his career), traveled to Los Angeles, Calif., on Dec. 3 for a nationally televised (NBCSports) bout against Brian Ceballo, of New York City.

After 10 rounds, Ceballo, 12-0, won the WBO Intercontinental welterweight championship, with a unanimous decision over Gomez, 10-2. 

Ceballo, started strongly, winning four of the first five rounds, according to this observer. He dictated the pace, with head movement, an effective jab and some strong left hand shots to the body, particularly in round four. Gomez rallied to make the second half of the bout even, scoring with the left hook and right hand more often. I gave him rounds six and seven and the final round.

I scored the bout 96-93 for Ceballo, as did one judge. Gomez was docked a point in the final round for losing his mouthpiece for the fourth of fifth time. Two other judges over-scored the bout for Ceballo, giving him eight and nine rounds. Ceballo earned the win, but a tally giving him six or seven rounds is a more fair assessment.

The fight was a grueling, hard-fought affair, the most competitive one on the card. We hope to see Larry back in the ring soon.

NOTES ... We reported that Utah/Idaho middleweight boxer Clay Collard will be fighting on Dec. 12, presumably in The Bubble in Las Vegas on the Shakur Stevenson title defense card. It's not listed on Collard's boxrec.com page yet. UPDATE: Collard ,9-2-3, will face Quincy LaVallais, 9-0-1. The pair fought a draw in June 2019 when Collard was 1-1-2 and LaVallais 7-0.  ... As we updated in our last blog post, the Grantsville, Utah boxing card planned for Dec. 12, has been postponed due to Covid-19 related issues. ... SteelFist MMA is planning to resume MMA cards after Covid-19 stalled the promotion the final nine months of 2020. Jan. 23 at the Union Event Center is the plan. 

Larry Gomez fights in televised bout; Collard boxes again on Dec. 12

From the pen of the iconic Thornton Wilder, July 29, 1918.

Today's a quick Utah Fight Game with some important subjects. At the end we take a look at some of newspaper clippings of the great Jack Dempsey's fight with Fred Fulton, the No. 1 heavyweight contender in 1918. Dempsey, who once fought in Ogden, Utah, knocked out Fulton in less than a half minute. Nearly a year later he was heavyweight champ, stopping Jess Willard in 1919.

Look at the wonderful 1918 cartoon published two days after the bout. More clips at bottom of post.

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But, on to the most important news.

On Thursday night in Los Angeles, welterweight pro Larry Gomez, of West Jordan, fights on TV (NBCSN network, Channel 34, Xfinity). Gomez is 10-1 and last fought a year ago, scoring a decision win over highly regarded Brian Mendoza, 18-1. On Thursday, Gomez meets Brian Ceballo, 11-0. It's a great match up between two young contenders. The bout is scheduled for 10 rounds. The TV card starts at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Gomez v Ceballo will likely be the first bout.

Utah/Idaho professional boxer Clay Collard, usually a light middleweight to super middleweight, said on social media this week that he will be boxing on Dec. 12. I don't know the opponent but it's probably a Top Rank card at The Bubble in Las Vegas. On that day Shakur Stevenson will be defending his featherweight title and I assume Collard is on the undercard. Google Collard on this blog to read about his remarkable 2020 boxing year.

A boxing card is scheduled on Dec. 12 in Grantsville, Utah. I hope it survives any Covic-19-related postponement or cancellation. Salt Lake City pro heavyweight Helaman Olguin, who recently won on an ESPN-Plus Top Rank card, will be fighting Carlos Reyes. The scheduled card is on this page. 

Young professional boxer Jesus Haro, who has won several bouts this year, recently served as a sparring partner for WBO world mini-flyweight champ Wilfredo Mendez. You can see a picture of the pair here. They were in Las Vegas at The Mayweather gym.

MMA: As we noted in this post, Lehi, Utah, professional MMA welterweight Carson Hardman won his first bout in an XFCwelterweight tournament. Hardman will fight again in the next round of the XFC tourney in early 2021.

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HERE ARE OLD NEWSPAPER CLIPS OF JACK DEMPSEY's KO OVER FRED FULTON 102-plus years ago.

Some thoughts on Teofimo Lopez defeating Vasiliy Lomachenko

 

(Scorecard originally published at FightNews.com) Throw out the bad, ridiculous scoring (even 116-112 was off a round) and give earned respect to Teofimo Lopez. He outgutted Vasiliy Lomachenko in round 12 to take the fight 115-113. It reminded me of an exhausted Larry Holmes taking Round 15, and the win, from Ken Norton 40 plus years ago. Loma only won one of the first seven rounds, but he swept 8, 9, 10 and 11 and was poised to get a draw or a win if he floored Lopez in Round 12. But Lopez rallied to win the final stanza. What great heart and determination.

More about the scoring: The 116-112 score for Lopez was defensible. One can argue he swept the first 7 rounds, lost 4 and then took Round 12. However, a 114-114 draw score, as Andre Ward had it, is also defensible. One can argue that Lomachenko won rounds 2, and 7 through 11. I disagree with both. I gave Lomachenko Round 2 (because he stunned Lopez with a combination) but I thought Lopez narrowly won Round 7.

But the 117-111 call for Lopez was mediocre judging and Julie Lederman’s 119-109 call was “this-clown-should-be-fired” bad judging. WE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL that Lopez showed championship heart and dominated Round 12. Imagine if Lomachenko had dominated Round 12 and even knocked down Lopez? He still would have lost a unanimous decision, with Lederman giving Lopez a 7-point victory edge!!!

Notes: Rowdy Akers competed in bareknuckle boxing last weekend in Kansas. He fought valiantly but was stopped by Loren Hermreck. Clay Collard contacted Covid-19 and missed his bout on the Lopez vs Lomachenko undercard against undefeated Quinton Randall. Randall fought and looked impressive in a win. Hopefully, Clay will be back soon. Mountain Force MMA had a card in Grantsville last night. Results are here courtesy of Fighting Out of Utah MMA News Facebook page.

Haro, Collard and McGee among fighters with upcoming bouts

We have a lot of news since we last posted in the blog.  I hope I remember what I have memory stored of late. The mentions will be pithy. But this is a big fall for boxing and MMA in Utah.
First, some results:
Middleweight boxer Clay Collard, 9-2-3, stopped a badly outmatched Maurice Williams in The Bubble in Las Vegas on Aug. 22. Williams, 7-2, was saved by the referee in round 2.
BIG NEWS: Top Rank announced that Collard will fight on Oct. 17 in The Bubble on the Lomachecko versus Lopez supercard. No opponent named yet.
Minimum weight boxer Jesus Haro, of Merced, Calif., and a relation to Utah boxer Jose Haro, moved to 2-1 with a quick TKO on Aug. 29 over Francisco Garcia in Baja California. His Haro Bros' stablemate, Miklo Arnold, 1-1-1, also fought. I never got his opponent's name but it was a draw. I had Arnold winning three of the four rounds. (For some bizarre reason Boxrec.com is not archiving Haro's two wins, nor Arnold's. It appears to be a tiff with the promoter?)
Speaking of Jose Haro, the West Jordan, Utah, boxer resumed his career earlier this year. And, on Sept. 23, on Fox TV, Haro will meet Mark Magsayo for the IBF International Featherweight championship. The bout is in Los Angeles.
There's an excellent feature on Jose Haro at BoxSocial.com.
MMA
Court McGee (seen above) will be fighting Carlos Condit on Oct. 3 on UFC Fight Night at UFC Fight Island.
Eric Munoz, of Ogden, 185 pounds, fights in the pro cage again on Sept. 26 in Logan, Utah for Mountain Force MMA. In the main event, Munoz fights Montel Williams. MFMMA's Facebook page is here.
On that same card in Logan, 135 pound MMA fighter Jessica Poole, who trains at Foley's gym in Ogden, makes her pro debut against Wendy Freeman. (fight photo with both below).

Check out this interesting interview in which Poole, an accomplished body builder, talks about preparing for her MMA career. It's at MyMMANews.
Also, on Oct. 17, on a Mountain Force MMA card, in Grantsville, Utah, middleweight pro Aaron Thomson, of Salt Lake City, will fight Cole Shafer.
Amateur MMA fighter Destiny McCubbin is returning to the cage on Oct. 3 in Tampa, Fla. She will fight Naomie Young for the World Class Fighting League 125-pound title.
Fitcon recently had an all-amateur MMA card in Lehi; results are at Fighting Out of Utah MMA Facebook page.
Idaho-native MMA pro Kerry Lattimer, who has fought in Utah, has a bout this Saturday, Sept. 12, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, against Ben Hollier of Idaho. The card is promoted by Mountain Force MMA.
Finally, Rowdy Akers, a fighter who has fought often in Utah and currently lives in Boise, Idaho, tried out for a spot with the Bare Knuckle FC recently. He did not get the call but by all accounts it seemed a very positive experience, working out with Chris Leben, among others.
Also, Orem MMA pro DeAnna Bennett fights Liz Scarmouche Saturday at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut at Bellator 246.

Collard opponent set in boxing; Westin to headline MMA card

Just a quick few notes: (UPDATE BELOW)

According to ESPN's Steve Kim, MMA/boxer Clay Collard has an opponent for an Aug. 22 boxing card in "The Bubble" MGM Grand in Las Vegas, promoted by Top Rank. Collard (8-2-3), winner of four bouts this year, will face middleweight Maurice Williams (7-1).

The bout will likely be broadcast on ESPN as Collard has gained a following as boxing's most consistent face, and winner, during this pandemic year. Collard is seen above stopping L.T. Nelson in his most recent win.  ... Noted also is that 17-year-old professional boxer Jesus Haro, of Merced, Calif., logged his first win last weekend in Tijuana, Mexico. Haro, a prominent amateur, has family in Utah. Also winning on the card was Miklo Arnold, a 16-year-old professional, of North Plains, Ore.

And in MMA news, Mountain Force MMA is planning a card in Evanston, Wyo., on Aug. 1. Utah professional Westin Wilson, of Orem, will headline the card, meeting Kurt Steinke. The card is here. Mountain Force's Facebook page is here. Its website is here. ... On the weekend of Aug. 21 and Aug. 22, FitCon 2020 is planning to have amateur MMA bouts. Its Facebook page is here. Utah amateur MMA fighter Brittany Guillemin is scheduled to fight on Aug. 21.

ALSO, on Friday, July 31, Utah MMA pro heavyweight, Zac Cavender, (3-1) fights in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Legacy Fighting Alliance 87 card, which is being broadcast on UFC Fight Pass. Cavender meets debuting Zac Pauga. The card starts at 7 p.m. MST.

UPDATE TO WESTIN and CAVENDER MMA bouts: Cavender, 3-2, lost a three-round decision in his streamed bout against Pauga, a highly touted amateur who was making his pro debut. Westin, 8-5, stopped the debuting Steinke in the first round.

This time as the favorite, Clay Collard scores a TKO win on ESPN

On a Top Rank card on ESPN on Tuesday, July 14, middleweight boxer Clay Collard (8-2-3) (seen above winning an earlier bout) continued his winning streak with a second round TKO over Lorawnt T. Nelson (5-4). It's Collard's fourth win of the year. His activity in this pandemic-plagued year has boosted the Utah/Idaho boxer to a near cult status in the boxing world.

His win over Nelson in Las Vegas, and on ESPN, was the semi-main bout of the card. It was also the first fight in a long while where Collard was the favorite going in. Nelson, a South African living in Colorado, like Collard, is a professional MMA fighter, with Bellator experience. He also has fought professionally as a kick boxer, with success on Glory promotions.

As a boxer Nelson had won three of his previous four bouts prior to July 14. His three losses in the sport had come against boxers with a combined record of 26-1. Nevertheless he was no match for Collard, who has won 7 of his last 8 bouts.

After 90 seconds of a feeling-out period, Collard walked right through his overmatched, one-dimensional opponent, flooring Nelson once in round one and hurting him just before the bell. In round two, Collard floored Nelson with a right hand punch, and then Nelson hit the canvas again from a counter left hook from Collard. With Nelson groggy and bleeding, the referee stopped the fight at 1:57 of round two.

Afterwards, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum announced Collard would be fighting again on a Top Rank card in August. The former UFC MMA fighter, unorthodox but effective as a boxer (with strong ring generalship), has gained quite a following. Nine months ago only this blog was noting Collard's success barnstorming the nation, defeating or drawing with opponents in their home towns or "home" promotions. But after his success on TV this year, Collard is a welcome fan favorite. Here's an ESPN feature by Steve Kim and a Sports Illustrated feature, both published very recently. Let's' give a nod to Collard's trainer, Ryan Ault, for his great work of late guiding his career.

Utah boxer Clay Collard scores, you guessed it, another upset win

Cache Valley professional boxer Clay Collard did Thursday night what he's been doing so well the past 13 months -- going into an opponent's hometown- or promotional-ring and usually coming out with a win.

Middleweight Collard (at left in photo above) (7-2-3) dominated very game super-prospect David Kaminsky (6-1), originally from Israel but living in Tarzana, Calif., over six rounds in a nationally televised (ESPN) bout in Las Vegas. (The entire card is here). It is the second win in a row for Collard over a prospect deemed valuable enough to be signed by a major promotion. Earlier this year Collard upset Ray Guajardo, stopping him in round 2.

In the past 13 months, Collard has fought 11 times against boxers with a combined record of 65 wins and three losses. He and manager Ryan Ault have barnstormed the nation taking tough fights. This boxing experience seems ideal for a feature write up by a major sports or boxing magazine.

Collard, a professional MMA fighter, has fought with the UFC and was scheduled to spend 2020 with the Professional Fighting League MMA tourney.  Covid-19 ended his MMA plans for now so it was back to the ring.

Against Kaminsky, Collard dominated the first two rounds, cutting his opponent near the left eye with a right hand early. Kaminsky seemed confused by Collard's unorthodox aggressiveness, which includes throwing punches while charge-chasing his opponent across the ring to the ropes.

Rounds three to five were more competitive, with Kaminsky countering well at times and going to the body, once seeming to hurt Collard in Round 5 with a couple of shots to the body. However, Collard only slowed down, and didn't show any physical reaction to the punches. During the competitive middle rounds, Collard was still more active. Over the six rounds, Collard threw more punches and landed 158 shots to Kaminsky's 102.

The Utah boxer punctuated the win by wearing down Kaminsky in the final couple minutes of the sixth round. Kaminsky never stopped trying as hard as he could, but took such a beating that he was taken to an area hospital after the bout. Fortunately, it seems only precautionary and he is all right.

I scored the bout 59-54, giving Kaminsky only round five. Two judges appropriately scored the bout 58-56 for Collard. One judge, Patricia Morse Jarmen, scored it 58-56 for Kaminsky; a tally that both insulted Collard's aggressive winning effort and Kaminsky's courageous losing effort.

Also on the card was super-lightweight Justin Horsley, a stablemate of Collard's and trained by Ault. Horsley is from Las Vegas but has Utah professional MMA experience. He lost a four-round decision to Top Rank prospect Victor Rodriguez, 3-0, of Anaheim, Calif. Horsley was aggressive and occasionally landed a fast, unorthodox overhand right, but was stymied by his opponent's footwork and ring generalship. Horsley is 0-2 in his young career (both decision losses) but has fought two undefeated fighters so far.

-- Doug Gibson.

(Photo above is credited to ESPN/Top Rank)

Collard scores electrifying boxing upset on national television

Readers of this blog may have noticed that we have been charting UFC MMA fighter-turned professional boxer, Clay Collard's career. In the past several months, the Northern Utah boxer has fought 10 times, in his opponent's hometown or his promotional banner. Remarkably, the journeyman Collard has won five of those bouts, scored draws in three, and lost twice.

Last night he fought one of the top 160-pound prospects in the world, Raymond Guajardo, (5-0) of El Paso, Texas. Collard (6-2-3) was brought in, like many journeymen boxers, with the expectation that he would pad the prospect's record, or in other words, lose. I had noted in past blogs that one reason Collard was scoring upsets over undefeated boxers is the level of competition he is facing. In his last 10 fights, Collard has met opponents with a combined record of 59 wins and two losses. Prior to last night's bout, Guajardo had met opponents with a combined record of 4-6.

The photo above is a TV grab from last night's bout on Fox Sports 1. Collard is standing over Guajardo. You can watch the fight here.

Over the course of 4 minutes and 42 seconds, Collard floored Guajardo twice and severely battered the young prospect around the ring before it was stopped. The game Guajardo managed to floor Collard once during the wild bout, that is already being touted as an early candidate for fight of the year. Certainly the first round may remain round of the year.

Guajardo might become a great fighter but in Collard he was essentially facing a veteran, a fighter who fought the toughest UFC fighters, including Max Holloway, and had been boxing tough competition on more or less a monthly basis. No one vocally noted this on the PBC fight card. But it was out there had the promotion, and perhaps Guajardo's braintrust, done some due diligence.

So congrats on a great win for Collard. In an interesting twist, this may be it for him for a long while regarding boxing. He has an opportunity to compete in the Professional Fighters League annual MMA tournament. The winners earn $1 million. However, he's now a hotter boxing commodity after the drama of last night's bout. Major promoter Lou DiBella wants him on an upcoming Utah boxing card, and I'm sure other large promotions have tucked Collard into their proverbial "Rolodex."

Utah MMA cards, Larry Gomez set to fight, Collard wins in boxing again

Some MMA news first. Here is an update on the Fierce Fighting Championship card set for Feb. 15 at the Maverik Center in West Valley, Utah.

The main bout matches Samson Phommabout against Bobby King. The rest of the card features similarly well-matched bouts. They include:

Fabio Serrao versus Mike Hamel; Mike Jones versus Kyle Stewart; Carson Hardman versus Nate Kearsley; Eric Munoz versus Tracy Hardy; Aaron Thomson versus Josh Quinlan; Trever Bradshaw versus Randy Rowland; Thomas Hughes versus Brian Mitchell; and Nathan Owens versus Justin Horsley; with more bouts. A complete scheduled card is here. More info at FFC's Facebook page. This is a damned good card.

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Speaking of good MMA cards, SteelFist has another card six days later, Feb. 21, at the Union Event Center. The main bout matches Nick Martinez versus Cole Shafer. The co-main matches Hayden Brown against Craig Grove. And undefeated Lehi Dominguez against Jeff Carson, and another pro bout. Ryan Thaxton and Zack Partridge meet in an amateur promotional title bout. Another amateur bout matches Jordan Munoz against Austin Atkinson. Jordan Munoz is the son of professional Eric Munoz, who, as mentioned, fights on the FFC card six days earlier. The scheduled card is here. For more information, go to SteelFist's website.

BOXING

Utah's Clay Collard, a UFC-quality mixed martial artist, continued his remarkable barnstorming-around-the-nation boxing career by scoring another solid win over a previously undefeated professional boxer ... usually in their home towns. On Jan. 1, in Cincinnati, Collard defeated Quashawn Toler, who is now 9-1. Collard is now 5-2-3. In the past seven months, Collard has fought nine times against opponents with a combined record of, I believe, now, 51 wins and three losses. He has won four of those fights, lost one by decision and drawn three times. His only stoppage loss was against a "super-prospect," Bektemir Melikuziev, on the undercard of the Canelo Alavarez victory over Sergey Kovalev.

And .... Collard is readying to fight another undefeated prospect on Feb. 1. In Biloxi, Miss., he will fight on the undercard of a Fox Sports TV fight card, meeting Raymond Guajardo. Guajardo is only 19 and he has looked great in his brief career. However, he has met no fighter as remotely experienced or talented as Collard.

Larry Gomez, who defeated Brian Mendoza on a Top Rank boxing card late last year, will be back in the ring in Salt Lake City on Feb. 7 at the Union Event Center. His opponent has yet to be announced. Also scheduled to fight on the card is undefeated heavyweight Eric Wahlen, undefeated featherweight Brandon Douglas, heavyweight Helaman Olguin, superlightweight Francisco Jalel Lopez, and undefeated lightweight Gabriel Chairez. The scheduled, still sketchy for opponents at this date, is at the bottom of this webpage.

ALSO, Mountain Force MMA and Cache Valley Boxing are hosting an amateur boxing card on Jan. 25 in Logan at the Cache County Event Center.

Boxer Jose Haro signs with Sheer Sports Management

West Jordan, Utah, professional featherweight boxer Jose Haro is shown above in a promotional poster for a bout he won in 2018, earning the United States Featherweight title. Haro has not fought since the win. However, he recently signed with Sheer Sports Management and plans to resume his career in 2020. Haro is a world-class fight who can compete on an equal level with any featherweight in the world today.

On Dec. 14, in Salt Lake City, there was a boxing card. Among professionals, Francisco Jalel Lopez, Antonio Brown, Brandon Douglas were among winners. The full card results are at boxrec here. I appreciate Utah professional boxer Christian Aguirre keeping the blog up to date on results that night.

UFC MMA fighter Clay Collard, who has scored several wins as a pro boxer, plans to step into the boxing ring again on January 3 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He fights undefeated Quashawn Toler, 9-0. Based on the caliber of opposition both fighters have faced, I'm choosing Collard, 4-2-3, to win.

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Congratulations to professional kickboxer Kaecy Raddon, who holds a Mountain Force Kickboxing belt, for scoring a KO win, and a PanAmerican Kickboxing Confederation belt, in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, on Dec.14.

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SteelFist MMA has a great fight card scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 4 at the Union Event Center in Salt Lake City. the main pro bout matches Eric Iman versus Zac Cavender for the 265-pound belt. Another pro fight matches Rowdy Akers versus Justus Minardi at 135 pounds. Also at 135 pounds, undefeated pros Warren Weingartner and Justin Horsley meet. The card also includes four amateur title belts. More information is here at SteelFist's website.

Another MMA card, from Fierce Fighting Championship, is set for Feb. 15, at the Maverik Center in West Valley City. The main event is a great match -- Bobby King versus Samson Phommabout. More on this card in a later post.

Valentine, Guillemin win bouts, boxing card scheduled

Saturday night, in an MMA card in Colorado Springs, Colo., a couple of Northern Utah fighters participated. Amateur Brittany Guillemin, of Layton, scored a decision win over Brandi Hancock (29-28 on all cards).

In a professional bout, Eric Munoz, of Ogden, suffered his first loss as a pro against veteran Josh Watson. In the second round a punch from Watson broke Munoz' nose, leading to a stoppage.

In Las Vegas, in a no-submission match, John Valentine stopped Arron Carson at around two minutes. Both fighters had their moments before Valentine managed a leg lock to force a tap from Carson. Valentine's win came on a card that raised money to assist our Troops.

MMA fighter turned boxer Clay Collard fought on the Alvarev versus Kovalev super-card at MGM Grand in Las Vegas two weekends ago. Collard had enjoyed success barnstorming the nation, defeating prospects. However, his opponent, Bektemir Melikuziev, of Uzbekistan, is one of the top prospects in the world. The UFC fighter Collard was stopped in this bout.

This Friday in Salt Lake City, DiBella Promotions is putting on a boxing card at the Salt Palace. The main event matches heavyweight contender Junior Fa against former Olympian Devin Vargas. The  card is here, on bottom of page. More information is on the poster above.

Some reminders: Super middleweight boxer Larry Gomez has a big fight on Nov. 30, in Las Vegas, fighting undefeated Brian Mendoza on an ESPN Plus card. And SteelFist is back on Nov. 22 in Salt Lake City, at the Union Event Center. Hayden Brown and Lehi Dominguez are professionals competing in separate bouts.

Gero wins MMA main bout, Collard gets more boxing wins

Last weekend in Logan, Dom Gero, of Ogden, (seen above in a photo from his Facebook page) used strong wrestling skills to defeat pro debuting Max Riddle. Gero is now 2-2 as a pro. Riddle is a former Mountain Force MMA amateur champ. The rest of the card is here.

SteelFist MMA has a fight card planned for Oct. 19 in Salt Lake City. Rowdy Akers versus Gregg Mcfarland is the main pro bout. Card is here.

BOXING:

Utah UFC MMA pro Clay Collard continues what has been a remarkable year in pro boxing, barnstorming across the nation, fighting highly regarded prospects in their home areas, and mostly defeating them. Collards's latest win was Saturday, Sept. 21 over Gerald Sherrell (10-2) via unanimous decision over six rounds at Meadows RaceTrack and Casino, Washington. I watched round one via social media and Collard, using good ring generalship, slowly moved inside his opponent's strong jab, eventually flooring him with a counter shot and nearly ending the bout early. On Dec. 6, Collard (4-1-3) knocked out DuShane Crooks (13-2) in New Orleans.

FKP Promotions plan another pro am boxing card in Salt Lake City on Oct. 11 at 801 Event Center. The card will include a heavyweight pro bout with Helaman Olguin, of West Jordan, 5-3.

Mountain Force MMA, which also has kickboxing, announced on social media that it plans to promote boxing cards in 2020.

Foley's gym in Ogden plans an amateur boxing card at its gym in Ogden on Oct. 19.

Louie's Boxing Club will have an amateur boxing card at the Northwest Rec Center in Salt Lake City on Oct. 26.

Jose Haro to fight in near future, more news

SOME UPDATES: Plans have changed, and Jose Haro will fight but not in Wendover on Aug. 17.  According to Haro, plans are for a bout in the near future in Salt Lake City. Also, Aaron Thomson has had to withdraw from pro MMA bout against Eric Munoz on Aug. 3 in Price. No news yet of whether there is a replacement to fight Munoz.

It has been a while since Northern Utah boxer Jose Haro (seen above earlier in his career) has been in the ring. In his last bout he won a United States professional championship. On Saturday, Aug. 18, he fights for FKP promotions in Wendover against an opponent to be named. Also on the card will be Northern Utah professional Larry Gomez. Both Haro and Gomez also hold American Boxing Organization titles as well.

Clay Collard is a world class MMA fighter but for two months this year he boxed four times, barnstorming around the nation fighting preliminary bouts against -- I presume -- hometown favorites. He did very well considering the strong opponents and rushed schedule, compiling one win, one loss and three draws. His overall boxing record is now 2-1-3.

The Junior Olympics national championship was held recently. Several local boxers represented the Rocky Mountain states. Payson fighters Aaron Garcia Jr. and Austin Garcia were among those crowned champions.

In the last SteelFist card, Brian Thomas decisioned Carson Hardman in the main bout. Thomas' ground game was the difference. Eric Iman also scored a win. Entire card is here.

An excellent card set this Friday night in Price. Two pro bouts of note are Samson Phommabout versus Randy Rowland and Eric Munoz versus Aaron Thomson. Undercard includes veteran amateurs Thomas Prestriedge and Brandon Rease in separate bouts. Card is here.

Aaron Sutton headlines on Aug. 3 in Idaho Falls, Idaho against Billy Carrothers in a Mountain Force MMA event. Card is here.

Aug. 9, Friday, is the next SteelFist card in SLC at Union Event Center. Amateur middleweight champion Hayden Brown makes his pro debut in the main event. Card and more information is here.

And Utah MMA pro Steven Siler, who was a finalist in the PFL featherweight tournament last, was eliminated last week from this year's tourney in a nationally televised bout.

Bryant gets bronze at Golden Gloves, Rose takes kickboxing bout, more

Some very quick Utah Fight Game notes:

We neglected to mention that Top of Utah amateur boxer Jon Bryant (seen above at left) earned a medal in the recent national Golden Gloves tourney, 132 pounds. Jon will later this year attempt to earn a spot in the U.S. Olympics team qualifying competition.

Both Ignacio and Gabriel Chairez, Northern Utah professional boxers, are slated to fight against separate opponents on June 8 in Salt Lake City. Two other area competitors, professional boxers Larry Gomez and Christian Aguirre, headline a June 15 card in Wendover.

Utah MMA professional Clay Collard had his second professional boxing bout last weekend in Dearborn, Mich. Collard, a former UFC fighter, is now 1-0-1 after holding undefeated Tipton Walker, 6-0-1, to a six-round draw. Given that Walker is from Michigan, achieving a draw speaks well for Collard's effort.

On May 31 and June 1 at The Utah Stair Fairpark, Junior Olympics amateur boxing champs from Utah and three other Rocky Mountain States will be competing for a chance to go to the national tournament in Wisconsin.

Last weekend in Farmington, Cole Rose wrested a regional 170-pound Mountain Force Kickboxing pro title via a five round decision over former titlist Jarrett Kelton. Results of the entire card were posted May 19 on the promotion's Facebook page here.

And, in SLC on May 31, SteelFist has another professional/amateur MMA card. Tracy Hardy and Mike Jones headline the card in a professional bout. Other professionals competing include Thomas Hughes and Trevor Bradshaw. Entire card is here.

And last Thursday, Northern Utah MMA professional Steven Siler was defeated in his first bout in the 2019 PFL Featherweight MMA tournament. Siler, a finalist last year, dropped a decision to Gadzhi Rabadanov. Siler can still move further into this year's tournament with a win in his next bout this summer.

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.

Mountain Force MMA card Saturday in Logan

This Saturday night in Logan at the Cache County Event Center, beginning at 7 p.m., is Mountain Force MMA 9. The main bout matches Tyson Craig against Jeff Carson, 145 pounds, pro. The card, via Tapology, is here. It will be streamed for a price at The Fite app. It's an all-ages event. The promotion's website is here.

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In SteelFist's main event last weekend, Clay Collard stopped Lucus Montoya in round one. A competitive bout changed abruptly when Collard landed a shot to the liver, resulting in a slightly delayed reaction from Montoya, who was badly hurt from the shot. Collard got Montoya to the ground and the fight was stopped.

Results of the entire card in SLC are here. SteelFist's next card is April 26 at the Union Event Center in SLC.