Chris Mickle & Will Shutt

By Randy Thomas

Former Champions Collide in Non-Title Bout
 
At MCC 23 “Thanksgiving Throwdown,” two former champions have agreed to face each other in a bout that is expected to be one of the most fast paced of the evening.  Following a side-lining shoulder injury due to an automobile accident, Will “The Real Deal” Shutt will step back in the cage to take on Chris “Mad Dog” Mickle.  Prior to moving back up to his natural weight class, Mickle lost his featherweight belt to current champion, Eric Marriott,  who is set to defend his title at MCC 23.  Will Shutt, who has been on the hunt for the featherweight crown since losing the strap in 2007, will come up to the lightweight division in hopes to make a statement.  A win against Mickle could possibly set him up for another title shot down the road.
 
Any fight fan would agree, that Shutt vs Mickle is a very interesting match up.  Mickle’s last two fights have been five round title bouts where he battled until the final bell.  Both fights were main events along with the added pressure to perform since he had just competed in the WEC in front of millions.  With this contest only scheduled for three rounds, we should see the best Chris Mickle.   We caught up with the frustrated former champion, who stated, “I’m down three fights, and I won’t be at ease until I’m up more then three consecutive fights.”  He added, “I’m mad, and it just sucks for Will Shutt, because he will just be my first victim.”
 
  His opponent, Will Shutt answered, ”I feel we are tailor made for each other, and we’ll both be fighting with the same exact styles.”   The always exciting Shutt, and his go for broke fighting style makes this bout very much anticipated. He promised, “I’m coming out to knock Chris Mickles’ head off!  I’m looking for the big KO, as I know Mickle will be looking to do the same. Anything can happen though. If I don’t get it, I plan to earn my victory one way or another, even if it takes all three rounds.”  
 
Although he has been out of the cage for some time, Shutt says the break was a blessing in disguise, and it gave him the much needed time to re-charge. Not to mention, sitting back and watching the success of his training partners Jake Brown and Josh Henry, has done nothing but light a fire and help him improve.
 
Shutt concluded with, “Come Wednesday, November 25th at Vets, this will be the most excited I will ever be to get in the cage. And, I couldn’t be more excited to do it against such a veteran of the sport.”
 
MCC 23 “Thanksgiving Throwdown”, Wednesday, November 25 at Vets Auditorium features three title bouts.  Tickets are available on-line at MidwestCageChampionship.com, or by phone at 515-229-8566.  To see the full card, visit the MCC web site.

Jesse Lund

My name is Jesse Lund, MCC Light Heavyweight contender, who will be fighting Derrick Mehman for the Interim Light Heavyweight Championship, on Wednesday, November 25th at Vets Auditorium. Each Wednesday, I’ll have a weekly blog posted on the MCC website, leading up to fight my fight. I would love to jump right in from the first fight to the one coming up, but for those who don’t know me, here it is.

I was born in North Carolina way back in 1977. I currently live in Greenfield, IA., where I grew up. I have always been competitive in any sport that I participated in, and wanted to be the best at what I was competing in. It started somewhere around 4th grade when I jumped into wrestling. I started varsity my freshman year winning only 3 matches (2 against the same kid). I had second thoughts after that wonderful year, but stuck it out and made it to state my senior year, following in the footsteps of my older brother. I also participated in football where I played middle linebacker and halfback.

After high school I bailed on college and decided to get a job and start my family. I married Teresa in 2001 and we added the first addition to our family, Baylie.  I then picked up stock car racing to fuel my need to compete. I raced hobby stocks for several years in Boone, Jefferson, Stuart, and Corning. I racked up a few wins over the years along with a lot of fun. The birth of our second child Blake, and soon the expensive sport became too much, so in 2005 I gave it up.

During my year off of sports I picked up beer drinking and pizza eating and went from 200lbs to 265ish. After looking at my wedding pictures, I decided that, well, I was FAT! One of the guys that I worked with was just starting to train in MMA, and I figured, why not? I have a few pounds to lose. We trained in the basement of this guy’s house in DeSoto.  Lance Hood, who started training with John Halverson, Danny Anderson, and Ronnie Britt, was now whooping my butt twice a week. At first it was fun. We started off pretty slow with a handful of guys, Jake Brown, Nathan Woosley, Jim & Joe Beason, Jason Hass, Josh “Bull” Christenson, and few of in and out guys. I remember my first sparring session very well. With my wresting background and watching some UFC fights, I thought this wouldn’t be too bad. Ha! Boy was I wrong! I went home with a black eye, broken nose and no desire to ever go back. Once my pride healed, and the nose, I was hooked.

I trained for a year and was slowly getting back into shape. After attending a few fights I really wanted to step in the cage. Teresa didn’t like that idea at all. I took her to a fight in Winterset, which was mainly an amateur card with the main event as a pro fight. I wanted to show her that this was not just a bar brawl and that it was a safe sport. The fights were ok and no one was bleeding all over or gimping around with broken bones, so I was in.

Somehow I ended up with Ryan Hass’s number and called him about getting a fight. I was still around 230, so the first fight would be at heavyweight. About 2 weeks from the fight, Jake “Dirty Bird” Brown and I were training and I kicked him in the shin, breaking my big toe. So my first fight had to be put off until I was healed.

Next week I will continue on with the first fights, and hope that I am not boring the living heck out of everyone!
Jesse Lund

“Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.” – Muhammad Ali