MartialArtsNomad.com made its way from the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu seminar in Port Alberni to Summer Slugfest IV in Victoria BC. Summer Slugfest is an outdoor fight event organized by Peteric’s Gym, hosted this year on the grounds of Velox Rugby Club. We BJJ students had to blast down to Slugfest IV directly from Port Alberni to meet up with our team, which included two fighters on the card. The blue sky held, the weather was warm enough, the crowd was at capacity to enjoy the 14 fights on the card.

Highlights Reel

I have put together a highlights reel of what I shot with my video cam during the night, with shots from around the grounds, fighters warming up, card girls, and of course some action from some of the fights.

Over the course of the night, I shot 321 pics during the event and recorded fights for Moghaddam vs Downey (mt), McCurdy vs Bergen (kb), Ladki vs Aquino (kb), and Sharma vs Valiquett (mma).

Chase Ingalls

Other fights on the card worth noting was an appearance by Chase Ingalls against Robert Durkenson. Chase Ingalls is looking more and more like a fighter with a promising future after his unanimous win in the ring at Slugfest IV.

Chase Ingalls vs Robert Duerkenson

Sanjeev Sharma vs Andrew Valiquett

Sanjeev Sharma and Andrew Valiquett got together for a 3 round MMA battle. Round 1 went to the ground and Valiquett controlled from the top position. The fighters stayed on their feet during the next two rounds while they clinched, kneed, and boxed each other in a battle of attrition. The split decision went to Sharma.

Derek Mrak vs Nigel Yarjau

The MMA battle between 190 pounders Derek Mrak of Canada’s Best Karate and Nigel Yarjau of Pure Self Defence was in many ways the most impressive fight of the night. Yarjau is a fit and experienced fighter. Mrak didn’t look like your typical fighter, with longish hair and handlebar moustache, a guy you wouldn’t tussle with nevertheless. Mrak took a real beating from Yarjau, complete with lumps, blood, eye pokes, and the most brutal and hideous armbar I have ever seen. Mrak did everything he could to give payback, including dumping Yarjau out through the ropes and on to the judges table at one point. Fight fans watched in horror as Yarjau cranked Mrak’s arm from 3:00 to 9:00. Mrak didn’t tap. I kept snapping photos. People were screaming. The medic beside me said he thought he heard his shoulder pop. Most sane, and insane people would have tapped. Mrak is a stalky tough guy, and managed to slip out of it eventually and almost get full side control. His corner was calling for hammer fist but he didn’t have much of a left arm left. From a technical point of view, Mrak didn’t look, or move like a typical fighter, it didn’t appear he was able to listen to his corner as much as other fighters, and he missed opportunities that could have changed the tally. But such is ring fighting. At the end, Yarjau won unanimously, but the fans were on their feet cheering and applauding Derek Mrak for his exceptional grit and guts he showed against a superior opponent. Osu!

Moghaddam vs Downey

The co-main event of the evening was a rematch and at the same time an ‘ante upping’ between Kiarash ‘The Beast’ Moghaddam and Mike ‘knock ‘em Down’ Downey. These two cruiserweights battled it out in April for the Amateur Western Canadian Muay Thai title. It was a hard fought, intense battle that called for an additional round to determine the winner. The belt was given to Moghaddam. At Slugfest IV they got back together for the open IKF Canadian title in this division. The fight was again a closely called match, but Downey got the upper hand eventually with knockdowns, despite consistent and aggressive volleys from Moghaddam. Fight judging is not a perfect thing, and fighters know they must not leave it up to the judges. Fight fans can expect these two exciting fighters to step back in the ring when Downey has to defend his title.

Links:

Summer Slugfest IV Results

Youtube Videos

Flickr.com Photos

Summer Slugfest IV Victoria

August 21 – Velox Rugby Club

Results from : http://www.peterecskickboxing.com/events/

Kalib Starnes is back in a Submission Grappling fight, using Abu Dhabi rules at Battlefield at River Rock Casino on August 21.

Starnes has been active this year, already having had 3 MMA fights – two in Victoria (wins), and one in Hawaii (loss). A sub grap contest is a good a place as any for him to start with getting back some local fan base. His exit from the UFC cage is pretty much historic now and little more need to be said. I bet he knows he paid a heavy price for his exit.

Win a pair of first row, cage side seats, for our upcoming event. There will be daily ticket giveaways! -  Follow Battlefield on Twitter @BattlefiledFL – http://twitter.com/battlefieldfl

A short post from the fight blog: Ontario announces plans to approve MMA. Ontario has been a coveted market for UFC and now they are going to finally have it. The sport has been taking lots of flak from those who dont understand it – its the evolution of martial arts. Lets hope this all goes well for UFC and Ontario.

Article on CBC.ca: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2010/08/14/sp-mma-ontario.html?ref=rss

Battlefield Fight League presents a preview of two local welterweight fighter, Nicolas Austin from Team Denarius and Shaw Zubor from Carlson Gracie. The mma fight night will be held August 21 2010 at River Rock Casino, in Richmond, BC.

Battlefield at the River Rock

Battlefield Fight League will host the biggest MMA event ever held in Richmond B.C. on Saturday August 21st, 2010. Two of Canada’s most explosive and exciting fighters Gary Mangat and Chris Day will clash in the mainevent. Flashy and exciting Capoeira expert Marco “Pezao” Cafiero, top prospect Matt Dwyer, Excite Fights #1 ranked middleweight Levi Alford, fan favourite Sean Zubor and Universal MMA’s Ash Mashreghi are just some of the exciting fighters on this card.
Tickets will go on sale on Monday July 19th at 10 AM. Tickets for this event are $39, $49, $59, $79, $139 including tax, not including any additional ticketmaster fees. Please visit call 604-2804400 or visit www.ticketmaster.ca to purchase tickets.
Become a Battlefield Fight Club member to become eligible to receive 50% off tickets to this event.

MAIN EVENT:

140 pounds
Gary Mangat (Revolution fight team Langley) vs. Chris Day (Team havok Kelowna)

CO-MAIN EVENT:
Welterweight

Jacen Brooks (west coast bjj poco)  vs. Matt Dwyer (Team Havok kelown)

MAIN CARD:

Heavy WeightAdam Santos (Morganti Jiu-Jitsu Richmond) vs. Tristan King (Revolution fight team langley)
welterweight
Nick Austin (team Denarius North Vancouver) vs. Sean Zubor (Raptor MMA/Carlson Gracie team Canada Maple ridge)
Welterweight
Marco Caffiero(Axe Capoiera Victoria) vs. Sonny Sahota (Wuji Systems Vancouver)
190 pounds
Justin Lansing (Carlson Gracie team Canada)vs. Stefan Malyk (Urban MMA Surrey)
175 pounds
Nick Marinos (team denarius North Vancouver) vs. Clay Ayres (Wuji Systems Vancouver)
Welterweight

Ash Mashreghi (universal mma Vancouver) vs. TBA
Middleweight
Randy Tetslaf (Revolution fight team langley) vs. Levi Alford (sik-jitsu spokanne Washington)

UNDERCARD:
Lightweight
Alford Leslie (team Denarius North Vancouver) vs. Tony peak (independant)
lightweight
Garreth Halpin (Gibson MMA port moody) vs. Ryan Ince (west coast bjj poco)
Heavy weight
Neil Menard (team Denarius North Vancouver) vs. BEAUCHAMP (independant)
Bantam Weight Ladies
Olesha Karrington (team Gerry Gionco Burnaby) vs. Colleen Ayres (wuji Systems)
Lightweight
Kirk Tse (universal mma vancouver) vs. Dean Northup (urban mma surrey)

Chase Inglalls vs Karim Pahalloo at the Pinnacle Hotel

Last week the reports came out that the City Council of North Vancouver voted to disband the North Vancouver Athletic commission after a year-long trial. Reports have already been published in blogs elsewhere, that North Vancouver City has disbanded the City’s Athletic Commission. Seems that fans of MMA and Martial Arts everywhere still have a lot of work to do off the mat to gain acceptance by both the public and politicos. Counsellor Pam Bookham has expressed her horror after channel surfing and landing upon UFC, calling it ‘… repugnant… barbaric’. Its a pity she feels that way. Brookham has probably never met and talked to a fighter, or a sensei from any of the martial arts gyms in North Van, in whom parents entrust their children to act as good role models, or for that matter ever attended the Tiger Balm Internationals to see the great depth and diversity there is for martial arts in her community…. the one she was elected to represent.

It is likely that the City’s inability to host a pro fight event was little more than filibustering against something they didn’t ‘get’, and didn’t really want to have in their city in the first place.

The existence of the Athletic Commission was made to sanction professional fights in the City, be it for Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, or MMA. The year long existence of the commission was indeed stillborn, having never sanctioned a single pro fight during its short life. Apparently, the City was too preoccupied with the work of sorting out old rules and creating new ones. It is likely that the City’s inability to host a pro fight event was little more than filibustering against something they didn’t ‘get’, and didn’t really want to have in their city in the first place.

The fracas at the end of the night at the Pinnacle probably had very little to do with the decision to kill the commission. In fact such events, being total amateur cards, will be able to continue since there are no pro fights on the card. And as I suggested in my review of the Pinnacle night, with greater support for the work of referees and administration (with something like an athletic commission), such situations will be mitigated so much more easily in the future.

Actually, its pretty repugnant when a politician makes no effort to understand her community and her world beyond what she sees channel surfing. So it will likely only make it a little bit longer, a little bit more effort working together to teach the general public and government officials that we really want MMA and martial arts fighting in our city and province. Pam Brookham is also completely naive when she says that the fighting is ‘barbaric’. Barbaric is something ring and tournament fights can never be, because between fighters there is no real malice, unlike conflict elsewhere in greater society. No Pam, fighters love what they do. For heaven’s sake, most fighters stay in touch over Facebook, pretty much like anyone else, and martial arts programs makes people fit, strong, and responsible.

Links to articles:

CagePotato.com: City of North Vancouver Disbands Athletic Commission, Effectively Blocking MMA Sanctioning by the City.

North Shore News: City of North Vancouver KO’s athletic commission.

Got some fight news for martialartsnomad.com. Fight night is coming soon to Victoria BC. Summer Slugfest is back for its fourth year of fights on August 21.

Summer Slugfest IV Victoria

August 21 – Velox Rugby Club
3957 Gordon Head Rd, V8N3X2
Victoria, BC, Canada.
Google Maps Link

Facebook Event Page

Please note, last year, the event was held at Western Speedway, this year, the Velox Rugby Club, near University of Victoria.

Tickets Available at:

Club Phoenix - 2122A Government Street (250) 920-0300
Sports Traders – 508 Discovery Street, (250) 383-6443
Canada’s Best Karate – 777 Goldstream Ave (250) 590-6019
Peterec’s Gym – 831 Fisgard St, (250) 389-6166

Fighters interested in participating on this card, please contact Stan Peterec at (250) 389-6166.

Wanna be a CARD GIRL? Slugfest is Hiring (Link).

Here is a video of highlights from last year:

Fight fans and fight bloggers alike enjoyed a truncated fight card for MMA at the Rock 2 at River Rock Casino on July 9 2010.

Cam Delorme of RDC Jiu Jitsu Kelowna went against Cole Tilbury of Independent in Richmond for an MMA featherweight fight. Delorme won by rear naked choke and tapout at 1:22 of the 1^st round. Delorme dominated, had Tilbury early with a body slam. To his credit, Tilbury put up a good resistance but was in the weaker position. Delorme got the choke in tight after a couple tries and got the tap.

The second fight was a middleweight Muay Thai fight in the MMA cage, with Bronson Petterson of Comox Valley Boxing Club against Shawn Hunt of Team Havok in Kelowna. Petterson was hot from beginning to end and showed as a hard hitting, accurate fighter. Shawn Hunt did not recover from second knock down at the end of round 2 and was beaten by Petersen’s accurate, hard strikes. Talking with Bronson after the fight, he told me he was mostly a wrestler and took the fight only a couple of days prior to the fight.

Tricky Nick Marinos from Team Denarius of North Van won his fight against James Lepage of Tong Moo Doo in Richmond with an imperfect but harsh arm crank at about 1:30 of the 1st round. Marinos was first to shoot, kept control of Lepage despite slipping in and out of guard and half guard, kept passing and pushed back until the pass stuck.

Lindsay Ball of Peteric’s in Victoria ran the pace of the first round against Heidi Otterbein of Revolution in Port Moody in their featherweight Muay Thai fight, getting an initial knockdown by leg trap. Otterbein must have listened to something her coach said to her in the corner after round 1, because she came out aggressive and focused and was a far better opponent in round 2. Otterbein went on to get two leg trap knockdowns, laid in knees, and faced down Lindsay Ball through the round. Otterbein got two more knockdowns in round three and clinched the judges decision in her favor.

Jason Keller of Karma Fight Team in Surrey got the upper position after the standup clinch struggle in the first round of the welterweight MMA match against Chad Gerow. Gerow defended well from guard. Round 2 was looser and a stand up striking game until Keller could clinch and use knees, Keller again clinched and took Gerow down but Gerow defended even better against Keller than he did in the first round. Despite being on top, Keller looked gassed. The referee would eventually stand them up to keep the action going. The second round ended with Gerow in guard as it did in the first. In the third round, Chad Gerow dealt with Keller’s takedowns, slipping out of an arm triangle attempt, and managed to reverse his ground position and pounded him out with a mount triangle until referee stoppage. A considerable win since Jason Keller had dominated the first two rounds decisively.

For the main event of the evening, Cheryl Chan of Mendoza Martial Arts in Surrey looked like serious competition for Sarah Mcleod of Team Denarius. Chan displayed wicked spinning back kicks and hook kicks in standup game and used that to her advantage in the fight. Sarah Mcleod managed to reverse Chan’s takedown attempt to be on top at the end of the first. After more boxing and kicking in round 2, Chan delivered a side kick in that put Sarah down for a moment and forced another ground match. More standup action and kicks by Chan in the third was followed by ground fighting and defending from guard by Chan who took a beating and after several valiant attempts fought her way back up from the ground the hard way. The match was called by the referee when Cheryl Chan was able to reverse the struggle on the ground to her favor and then held Marshall in a fully extended arm bar from which she didnt want to tap. Frustrated with the loss, team Denarius did not stay in the cage for the final decision.

Update on Lance's Belly Scar

Cheryl Chan of Mendoza Martial Arts

Full photo set on Flickr.com: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superwebdeveloper/sets/72157624337464419/

I am at River Rock Casino tonight and I have internet. Follow my tweets by going to https://twitter.com/martialartnomad.