NAAFS News

Donald Harper captures Battle at the Blast 145 lbs title in Main Event

11/15/10 (Carbondale, Ill): With amateur MMA continuing to expand globally,NAAFS fans can expect to see an infusion of new talent entering the league in the coming months. This weekends Battle at the Blast 6 event, held at the Sports Blast multi-purpose facility in Carbondale, Illinois was another step in that direction. Promoter Dirk Borgsmiller and matchmaker Mike Camp, teamed up with the NAAFS and title sponsor Black Diamond Harley Davidson for what would be a memorable night of amateur MMA. Battle at the Blast 6 featured a total of sixteen bouts and hosted fighters from across the Midwest.

In the nights main event, featherweight Donald Harper of Central Illinois Combat Club, improved to 8-4 with an impressive submission victory over Team Prides Jarrod Jennings who dropped to 3-2. Harper wasted little time sinking in the finishing rear naked choke at 1:36 of the opening round. The win will likely place Harper in the top five of the final NAAFS standings for 2010 and will make him a fighter to watch in next seasons NAAFS series.

In perhaps the nights most entertaining fight, Blake Chatham (7-2) of the St. Louis based Red Nose Fight Club, out-slugged Ryan Luna (2-1) of St. Charles MMA in a middleweight battle. Chatham held off a third round rally from Luna to earn a hard fought unanimous decision and announced his presence in the NAAFS middleweight division. A product of UFC veteran Steve Berger, Chatham won the first two rounds with a well rounded attack that seemed to keep Luna off balance. Luna found his timing in the final round and stunned Chatham on several occasions but could not finish the deal leaving the door open for Chatham to win in his NAAFS debut. Look for both fighters to be factors in the 2011 NAAFS national amateur series.

Two of the regions up and coming heavyweight prospects squared off as Tex Trismegistus (4-0) took out Ricky Johnson (1-1) in a back and forth battle. Johnson looked good early on his feet as he pushed the pace and took the fight to his smaller opponent, but the undefeated Trismegistus would not be denied as he turned the table late in the first round and built momentum heading into the second. A quick take down would put Trismegistus in position for the finishing guillotine at 49 seconds of the second round.

The H.I.T. Squads Joe Thompson and Steve Saunders of Central Illinois Combat Club battled to a draw in a very entertaining light-heavyweight bout. Saunders won the opening round with an aggressive attack from his feet, but Thompson was able to get Saunders to the ground and took control of the fight in round two. A point deduction cost Thompson the victory when referee Dave Stone took a point from Thompson in the second round for holding the cage.

Battle at the Blast 6 was sponsored by Black Diamond Harley Davidson, The Bank of Carbondale, Broadway Limo Service, Cedar Court Imaging, Harris Restaurant Equipment, Clearly Cut Lawn Care, Arsenal Martial Arts/Cross Fit Carbondale, Carterville Chiropractic, USI OBGYN, Today’s Technology, Hot Heads, Whiffelboys Pizza, BW3, Simple Spinal Health, Quality Inn, Auffenberg of Carbondale, Silkworm, and the Sports Blast.

Battle at the Blast 7 is currently scheduled for February 5th at the Sports Blast in Carbondale. Look for more info on this event on NAAFS.tv and Sportsblast.net.

Complete Battle at the Blast 6 results:

170 lbs – John Martin 1-0 (Independent) over John Mayberry 0-1 (Independent) by tapout from strikes at 2:36 rd1

145 lbs – Josh Rodriguez 1-0 (Central Ill Combat Club) over Tyler Shovlain 0-4 (Robbins MMA) by ref stoppage (strikes) at 2-55 rd1

185 lbs – Blayze Rodgers 1-0 (Blayze MMA) over Nicholas Barfield 1-2 (St. Michael’s Warriors) by TKO at 0:14 rd2

170 lbs – Johansson Lundstrom 1-0 (HIT Squad) over Justin Rider 0-1 (St. Micheal’s Warriors) by armbar at 2:18 rd1

170 lbs – Russell Cavaness 1-0 (Independent) over Brian Bastian 0-1 (Central Illinois Combat Club) by guillotine at 0:34 rd1

170 lbs – David Harris 3-0 (Central Illinois Combat Club) over Brandon Ditterline 0-1 (Independent) by guillotine at 2:37 rd1

185 lbs – Lucas Wideman 1-0 (HIT Squad) over Jason Harms 0-1 (Harms Way MMA) by tapout from strikes at 1:39 rd1

205 lbs – Joe Thompson 1-0-1 (Central Illinois Combat Club) vs Steve Saunders (HIT Squad) – Draw

185 lbs – Jesse Geringer 8-3 (Red Nose MMA) over Eric Jackson 4-7 (Central Illinois Combat Club) TKO rd 2 (did not answer bell for rd3)

145 lbs – Logan Anderson 1-1 (Central Illinois Combat Club) over Ryan Webb 0-1 (Team Firestorm) by tapout from strikes at 2:35 rd1

185 lbs – Brandon Clark 1-0 (Team Pride) over Haider Quayyum 0-1 (HIT Squad) by Unanimous Decision

125 lbs – Dan O’Conner 2-2 (Red Nose MMA) over Nate Lindsay 3-3 (Nashville MMA) by triangle choke at 2:00 rd1

170 lbs – Marcus Hoehn 1-0 (Team Thoroughbred) over TJ Chumley (St Michael’s Warriors) 0-1 by ref stoppage (strikes) at 1:32 rd1

185 lbs- Blake Chatham 7-2 (Red Nose Fight Team) over Ryan Luna 2-1 (St. Charles MMA) by unanimous decision

265 lbs – Tex Trismegistus 4-0 (Team Pride) over Rick Johnson 1-1 (Central Illinois Combat Club) by guillotine at 0:49 rd2

145 lbs – Donald Harper 8-4 (Central Illinois Combat Club) over Jarrod Jennings 3-2 (Team Pride) by RNC at 1:36 rd1

Share on Facebook