MCC 28

Burns Turns up the Heat, Williams Edges Out Giboo, and The King remains Royalty

Slams, slick submissions and surprise ending could have easily been the replacement title for MCC 28: “Impact”. The fight fans were able to see a little bit of everything as Veterans Auditorium hosted another exciting night of mixed martial arts action.

The evening started off with a four-man tournament in the featherweight division. Jordan “Boobie” Webb and Joe Agan made their MCC debuts, but it was Webb who wasted no time in making a statement as he quickly took the fight to the ground and waited for his opportunity to explode. That chance cam at just :42 seconds of the very first round as Agan fell victim to a huge slam that rendered him unconscious. Webb advanced to the finals.

Next up in the tournament, MCC veterans Matt “The Punisher” Young returned after a two year hiatus to face, Mitch “The Convict” Parker. Like the first bout, this one hit the mat quickly with both combatants exchanging strikes and superior positions. But at the one minute mark, Young displayed his Jiu Jitsu prowess as he locked up an incredibly tight triangle choke forcing the tap from Parker and advancing himself into the finals.

When Webb and Young finally met, the pace was furious but the ending was sudden. Just as Webb put Young on his back to inflict some serious ground and pound, Young slapped on another triangle choke. Webb rolled to relieve the pressure but wound up underneath and on the wrong end of a barrage of brutal punches. With nowhere to go, Webb had no other choice but to tap out or go out! Young was crowned the tournament winner.

In other action, MCC fan favorite Josh “Bull” Christensen got back into the winning column as he bested undefeated light heavyweight prospect, Travis Branson in the opening frame. One who favors the ground and pound game, no one, especially Branson, expected “The Bull” to use his submission skills to sneak in a triangle choke. Although it was tough to see that the choke was locked up so tight, Christensen was able to put his opponent to sleep as Branson refused to tap out. Immediately following the fight, Christensen asked MCC for a rematch with “Mean” Dean Bradley.

UFC veteran James Giboo returned to MCC to face up and comer Cole “The Edge” Williams. With both fighters having excellent wrestling pedigrees, most thought the fight would be won with striking. However, it was Williams who was able to get the fight to the ground first. As Giboo searched for a submission from the bottom, he suffered a knee injury which Williams quickly capitalized on as he battered Giboo forcing the tap from strikes. Tough break for Giboo, but a huge win for Williams who immediately shot himself to the top of the MCC food chain.

In the co-main event of the evening, MCC’s fastest rising start, Miguel “El Rey” Rios Jr. returned to the cage to face former training partner and friend, dangerous knock out artist, Ben Crowder. Although there was no bad blood leading up to the contest, feelings became a little more tense when Crowder missed the welterweight limit by ten pounds at Thursday’s weigh in. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Rios used that as a motivating factor in the cage. From the opening bell, Crowder was on the hunt looking to destroy Rios with every punch thrown. He showed his strength advantage on the ground as be rolled and punched Rios at a feverish rate. However, in true “El Rey” style, Rios locked up an uber-tight armbar almost out of nowhere. Crowder quickly tapped to avoid a broken arm. Rios remains undefeated and moves one step closer to a title shot.

To cap out the nights events, MCC newcomer, Kalel Robinson, made the trek across the Midwest to take on five-time UFC alum, Kevin “The Fire” Burns. Burns, who had an amazing training camp, put all of his skills on display as he bested the feared striker in every position in the game. Burns landed brutal punches and knees from the feet. He took the fight to the ground when he was ready, and when he decided to go for the kill he quickly pulled the trigger. Burns dominated the fight from start to finish and showed the world that he is ready to get back to the big show for another run.

With another successful night in the books, MCC gears up for the next event which take place in just one month, at the Guthrie County Fair- September 4th. Check out www.MidwestCageChampionship.com for all of the latest news, fighter interviews and more.

Full fight results below:

Jordan Webb Vs. Joe Agan – Webb KO slam inside guard

Mitch Parker Vs. Matt Young- Young triangle choke

Ethan Underwood Vs. Stoney Stuart – Stuart guillotine choke

Leo Villarreal Vs. Brody Jay – Jay TKO

Joe Morris Vs. Mike Miller – Morris Rear Naked Choke

Tony Crowder Vs. Justin Morrison – Crowder by Triangle choke

Ted Worthington Vs. Ryan Bixler  – Bixler by unanimous decision

Travis Branson Vs. Josh Christensen – Christenson by triangle choke

Cole Williams Vs. James Giboo – Williams by Tap out Strikes

Jordan Webb Vs. Matt Young – Young by Tapout strikes

Ben Crowder Vs. Miguel Rios – Rios by armbar

Kalel Robinson Vs. Kevin Burns – Burns by arm triangle

MCC Announces Next Show; Looks for Repeat Performance

Des Moines, IA (USA)- On Friday, August 6, Midwest Cage Championship will return to Veterans Auditorium for the most explosive fight card of 2010.  MCC 28: “Impact” will feature UFC veterans, exciting up and coming stand-outs, and some of the promotions most popular mixed martial artists.  Fresh off the heels of one of the most impressive events in MCC’s history; MCC 27: “Mutapcic vs. Cummings”, the Midwest’s top MMA promotions looks to repeat its performance in delivering a top notch show for the fight fans.

In the main event of the evening, five-time UFC veteran, Kevin “The Fire” Burns continues his quest back to the big show as he faces dangerous striker, Kalel Robinson in a three round, non-title bout.  After a dominating performance by Burns at MCC 25: “Inferno” against Shawn Huffman, “The Fire” looks to continue his win streak as he welcomes Robinson to MCC. Robinson, a Tae Kwon Do black belt who also holds a purple belt in Vale Tudo with eight years of wrestling experience will look to make his own statement against the hometown fighter. This match up has fireworks written all over it.  Will this be Burns ticket back to the glitz and glamour of the UFC, or will Robinson attempt to utilize this opportunity to propel himself into the spotlight?

Fellow UFC veteran, and training partner of Kevin Burns; James Giboo will, once again, step back into the MCC cage to re-establish himself as a force in the welterweight division.  A wrestling standout, Giboo earned his ticket to the UFC following a series of impressive performances while finishing every opponent he faced.  At MCC 28, he will face an equally qualified grappler who is hungry to put himself on the radar.  That person is Cole Williams.  Owner of a 3-1 professional record, which includes wins over MCC veterans Evan “The Mercenary” Marks and Rod “The Mexicutioner” Montoya, as well as a second place finish in the open division of Mission to Submission Grappling Tournament with his sole loss at the hands of Giboo’s Jiu-Jitsu coach, Chris David, Williams will look to seek revenge with a win in his MCC debut.

Other feature bouts include undefeated submission specialist, Miguel “El Rey” Rios, Jr. and hard hitting knock out artists, Ben Crowder, as well as Josh “Bull” Christensen against Travis Branson.  Also, former Lightweight Champion, Ted “Red” Worthington will return in a rematch with Ryan Bixler.

Tickets for MCC 28: “Impact” are available on-line at www.MidwestCageChampionship.com, Iowa Events Center Box Office, by phone at 515-229-8566, and at all Dahl’s ticket outlets.  For more information on MCC 28, as well as fighter bogs, interviews, and up to the minute news, check out the web site.

MCC28 Impact

*more bouts to be announced soon

Featherweight 4 man tournament Round 1
Jordan Webb	VS	Joe Agan
Featherweight 4 man tournament Round 2
Mitch Parker	VS	Matt Young
Featherweight Division
Ethan Underwood	VS	Stoney Stuart
Lightweight Division
Leo Villarreal	VS	Brody Jay
Lightweight Division
Joe Morris	VS	Mike Miller
Featherweight Division
Tony Crowder	VS	Justin Morrison
Lightweight Division
Ted Worthington	VS	Ryan Bixler
Light Heavy Weight Division
Travis Branson	VS	Josh Christensen
Welterweight Division
Cole Williams	VS	James Giboo
Featherweight 4 Man Final
TBD Round 1 winner	VS	TBD Round 2 winner
Welterweight Division
Ben Crowder	VS	Miguel Rios
Welterweight Division
Kalel Robinson	VS	Kevin Burns

Nutrishop Celebrates its Newest Location in Ankeny

 
This Saturday, MCC’s title sponsor, Nutrishop, will celebrate the opening of their third location with celebrity appearances, free supplement samples, door prizes, and MCC ticket giveaways.  The festivities will kick off at12:00 p.m. at Nutrishop, located at 2010 SE Deleware in Ankeny, and last until 4pm.
 
Television reality star and spokesperson for thermogenics, Trista Sutter, whose appearances on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette made her America’s sweetheart, will be on hand to sign autographs and meet fans.  UFC fighters Kevin “The Fire” Burns and Joe “The South Side Strangler” Brammer will also be on hand alongside MCC champion, Elvis “The King” Mutapcic and number on contender, Andy “Danger Zone” Branson, to meet and greet everyone.
 
Nutrishop is the leading high-quality sports nutrition and weight loss superstore with other locations at 640 S. 50th Street in West Des Moines, and 4518 Mortensen in Ames.  Stop in to any location for all of your fitness, supplementation, and diet needs.

At 9pm that night, Twisted Parrot (6500 Hickman rd) will be televising UFC 112: “Invincible” live from Abu Dhabi.  The main event on the card has Lightweight Champion, BJ “The Prodigy” Penn in his highly anticipated match with up and coming New Jersey native, Frankie “The Answer” Edgar.  Reigning Middleweight Champion, Anderson “The Spider” Silva will defend his title against Brazillian jiu jitsu master, Demian Maia, and former Welterweight belt holder, Matt Hughes will take on Renzo Gracie.

It’s almost surreal to think 2 days have passed since competing against Sean and I’m already thinking about my next opponent (Dave Menne). Fight week was a nice blend of insanely comfortable if that makes any sense. Typically during fight week you are dealing with living out of a hotel in a city you probably don’t live in, eating small amounts of nothing large, surely crabby, and all you can think about is fight day! Being at home has all of the same craziness, but at least I can do it in my home town with my family, friends, and teammates. Sleeping in your own bed is amazing as well! As the end of the week approaches the mental part of a training camp really begins as you make your final decent on weigh ins. Speaking for myself I can say mentally enduring the weight cut is more challenging than the fight itself. We train daily to fight in the cage, but cutting weight is something you don’t want to practice unless you’re competing. One of my best experiences at MCC 25 was coming to the weigh ins and not having to wait for all of the festivities to start before you got to “officially weigh.” It should be like that everywhere for the fighter’s sake.  The only thing that wasn’t fun about the weigh ins was my opponent not making weight, but he did take the fight on short notice and he showed a tremendous amount of heart during the fight itself.  Fight day is always full of excitement and mental jitters about the events to come. Being home added to the normal excitement especially with all of my friends and family there. After every fight I like to take a look at what I did good, bad, things I focus on, gaps that need closing, etc. This fight was no different. I thought I did very well standing against him and I was able to take him down with each attempt, but unable to convert once we hit the mat. Definitely something I don’t typically do which is frustrating. I was happy though that I maintained my composure in the cage and didn’t over burn myself out on a flurry or over commit.  Overall I got out of this fight everything I had hoped for and more. I’m jacked about my next fight coming quickly April 24th at the Target Center in MN. Thank you to all of my family, friends, and MMA fans who came out to enjoy the show last Saturday night. Also, I would like to specially thank Nutrishop, Hype Energy Drink, Advocare, Insanity Fightwear, Collins Roofing, Pelican Bar, Twisted Parrot, Renze Chiropractic, and Koch Facial Plastic Surgery. I’m truly grateful and know without each of you it would be impossible for athletes like me to compete in such a great sport. 

Come join me at Twisted Parrot this Sunday as we watch UFC “Vera vs Jones” Live from Denver, starting at 8pm.

Thanks for all your support and check out my website, KevnTheFireBurns.com, as I will update everyone through there!
 
Kevin “The Fire” Burns