BATTLEQUEST 7: RESSURECTION RESULTS
Posted on | February 27, 2008 | No Comments
Story By Ann Dain, www.coloradofightevents.com
Photo credit: Robert Terry, www.rofmma.com
(Brett Roller tries desperately to shake Tyler Toner from his back during the main event at Battlequest 7)
Friday night, February 22nd, Softball Country Sports Pavilion was transformed from an indoor industrial practice space into a professional arena with drama-smoke, rap music, stadium seating and swirling spotlights among the roof trusses.
The entire place was spanking clean (including the Ladies’ Room which somehow even stayed that way throughout the evening)! In spite of a busy bar scene, enthusiasm was allowed to express itself but I didn’t observe anyone being unruly. Perhaps that was “helped” by the very visible presence of Security Personnel but even Sven Bean and his wife Lisa seemed to be able to relax and enjoy themselves with their guests and sponsored fighters.
The evening started with two Kick Boxing matches. The first was in the 165 lb. weight class between Sean Johnson and T. J. Miner. Although Johnson’s style was more classical with artful kicks, Miner seemed to take the advantage in Round 1 with some staggering punches to the head. In Round 2, Miner delivered a seemingly inadvertent illegal knee to the head for which Referee Thrasher gave him a warning before restarting the bout. Both fighters gave it their “all” in the 3rd Round before the decision was turned over to the judges who voted: 29 – 28 (Miner) 28 – 28 and 28 – 28 resulting in a majority “Araw”.
The next fight was again at 165 lbs. between Ben De Anda and Akil Shareef. This was De Anda’s ring debut but his High Altitude support team was extremely strong with both Nate Marquardt and Brandon Thatch in his corner. The first round consisted mostly of the fighters checking each other out but the second round saw an increase in intensity from both fighters as knee strikes were traded fairly equally. As the bell sounded the beginning of Round 3, Shareef came out in a flurry, knocking De Anda to the mat. After a short consciousness check, the fight was restarted. The win decision was again made by the judges who voted: 30 – 27 (Shereef) 29 – 28 (De Anda) 29 – 28 (Shereef) making the winner by split decision, Akil Shareef.
The first MMA fight of the evening was between John Bryant of Wichita, KS and Sundar Mims of Glenwood Springs. This was Mims’ debut and he immediately engaged as the bell announced the beginning of Round 1, coming out aggressively to take dominance early. However Bryant’s experience paid off when 1:26 into Round 1, he forced a submission tap-out when he caught Mims in a heel hook.