Kickdown Classic 8 Recap

January 17, 2004

 Denver, Colorado

This is Jason Martinez bringing you, the fans of the greatest sport in the world, another Ringside Report. I

returned to Denver to watch Steve Alley's eighth edition of Kickdown Classic. Steve is the host of

martialartsradio.com for those of you who do not know and is also Colorado's voice of MMA/NHB. We

venture into the Professional realm of MMA/NHB with a solid card of five amateur and six Pro fights; The

same mixture of MMA/NHB and Modified Muay Thai.

In attendance, Matt Lindland with his fighter's from Team Quest and Trevor Prangley with a newly

established Lion's Den/Team Idaho. Also, UFC veteran Pat Smith. Mike Van Arsdale and Keith Wilson -

both from AKA (Frank Shamrock/Bob Cook) and avid supporters of Bloodline Fight Team based out

of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Will and Billy Hendricks from Colorado Stars. Keith Schmelzer and Vic

Brabo from Team Freedom Fighters. Jerome Locke was our third man in the ring for several of the

MMA/NHB, as well as Matt and Billy, from above. For all stand-up matches, Keith was our referee. 

Without further ado, let's get to the action!!!

Fight 1

O.J. Martinez (May-Tec, Denver) was first up to defend his Kickdown Classic (KDC) NHB lightweight title

against Jose Luis Murillo (Bushido, C/S, CO). The bell rang and these two were trading punches. Into a

clinch, O.J. lands good knees as Murillo is looking for the take down. Murillo attempts a sweep, O.J.

transitions to land in a side guard position and looks to take the back. Murillo does a wonderful job of not

giving up top position while getting O.J. back under him. Now in O.J.'s guard, Murillo lands some pounding

punches, but the fight is eventually stood-up due to lack of action. O.J., still game, lands the better

punches  which have Murillo attempting a hip toss. Back in guard, there is another stand-up by the referee.

While in a exchange, O.J. steps behind Murillo. What I thought was to be an O.J. throw ends up being

Murillo dropping down for a knee bar. At 2:14 of the first round, that is exactly how Murillo defeated O.J. to

become our new lightweight NHB title holder.

Fight 2

Matt DeWolf (Dynamic Martial Arts, SD.) was our next belt holder, with his first defense of his middleweight

title against Rob Graff (The Defense Institute, C/S, CO). Again, as in the first fight, these two waste no time

as Rob flicks the right punch out. Matt, in for the clinch, has Rob pull guard. There is a stand-up from the

referee and we go back at it. Rob throwing strikes, clips Matt's nose with a solid right punch, then catches

him in a guillotine. Standing in the choke for at least 20 seconds, Matt finally slams Rob into guard. Matt

stands and slams Rob again into guard getting enough room to clear his chin from the choke. With 10

seconds left, Matt mounts Rob but is unable to finish Rob. This match is stopped by the doctor due to a

fractured nose. Rob was awarded the belt and the battle was over... the war although, has just begun! Look

to see these two to fight again in 2004!!!

Fight 3

Next, the third fight and the third title bout of the evening.  Fino Soltero (May-Tec, Denver) holds the men’s

heavyweight kickboxing belt and would put it up for grabs against Corey Terry (3-D,Denver). Corey works

his left jab while Fino starts in with right low kicks to the thigh. Corey finds his right thigh kick as well, Fino

Counters with a stiff left jab. Fino has strong knee's in the clinch, Corey striking upstairs, but a break by the

referee. Fino lands a left, right punch combo, for an eight count. Fino finishes strong with a kick to the head

of Corey. Second Round - Fino has a mouse under his eye and a trickle of blood from the nose. Corey has

put together his punches and kicks well and counters a few glancing blows as Fino comes in for the clinch.

At this time, there is an unintentional groin shot and Fino receives time to recover. Round ends. Third

Round - Fino steps up with a left punch counter of his own that floors Corey for another eight count. Fino

comes in, firing off the left/right/left punch combo and an exchange of right punches before the bell. It goes

to a decision which is unanimous for Fino.

Fight 4

We go back to MMA/NHB for Randy Mitchell (May-Tec, Denver) against Tom Johnson (Innovative Martial

Arts, Aurora, CO.). Randy is May Tec's up-and-coming warrior (3-1 NHB, 3-0 Stand-up), who was willing to

take on a master of some arts and practitioner of others. Tom owns his own school but has not actually

been in the ring for four years. This fight started with some trading on the feet and soon went to the ground.

Tom attempts a triangle, Randy escapes and calls Tom back to his feet. Randy lands good combos which

has Tom clinching. Randy, out working Tom in the clinch, has Tom pull guard with a guillotine attempt.

Randy attains side mount but there is a stand-up for no action. Randy again combos with a left, right punch

followed with a right kick to the sternum. The round ends with Tom landing a kick to the head. Round Two -

Randy is still dominate on the feet as he lets fly a few more combos before he walks into/slips into a short

left punch which is followed up with multiple strikes. The Referee steps in at 48 seconds of the second

round. Whatever happened, these two gentlemen showed true Championship heart, as each good shot was

acknowledged by each other. Here is another rematch in the making!!!

Fight 5

Mark Korzeniowski (Kongo Do, C/S, CO.) would put his middleweight kickboxing belt up against Colorado

Springs rival Shale LaPage (The Defense Institute). Shale was the aggressor as he came flying across the

ring with a few combos. Mark used his height advantage to land kicks to the head at will. Aside from the

head kicks, Mark began to follow them up with accurate combos himself.  Second Round - Mark again

starts with high kicks to the head of Shale followed with punches. A standing eight as a high kick  floors

Shale who just seems not able to find his reach. Shale lands a right hook followed by some good clinch

work that puts Mark on the defensive as he starts to chop at the left outer thigh of Shale. Two consecutive

outer thigh shots have Shale down once more before the bell. Third Round - Mark continues to chop the

leg, which has Shale taking a knee most times he is kicked there. Mark follows or leads with a jab to

assure a unanimous victory which keeps the title at Kongo Do!

Fight 6

Now for the first time ever, we witness six pro fights at a KDC!!! Jeff Barney (High Desert Martial Arts), who

holds an amateur kickboxing belt with KDC, stepped in with a 1-1 record in pro MMA. On the opposite side

of the ring stood Paul Weseman (Team Idaho/Lions Den). Paul struck first with a solid left punch, then

both go into a clinch. Trading in the guard, Paul hip tosses Jeff who quickly gains guard. Jeff, trading from

his guard, finally gets stunned and swiftly catches an arm for an arm bar. Paul able to escape, lands back

in guard and Jeff attempts another arm bar before the bell. Second Round - Jeff catches Paul with a (God

Bless Lisa Dergan) knee kick. Paul went for the shoot at the same time Jeff threw a left kick. Because of

Paul's position, Jeff's knee connected and staggered Paul! To Paul's credit, he recovered quickly but it was

one of the fiercest strikes I have seen (although it was unintentional). They clinch, exchange, and finally are

back in Jeff’s guard. Paul gains the mount by finally listening to his corner who were screaming, "POP AND

PASS, POP AND PASS!!!" from the first round. I mention this because your corner is very important to

listen to while in the heat of battle! There is a restart due to an unintentional point of elbow strike. Paul hip

tosses into side mount, into mount, with Jeff's arm covering his own face, until the referee stops it at 2:10 of

the second.

Fight 7

After a short intermission, the action continued with modified Muay Thai between Drew Lawrence

(Bloodline Fight Team, C/S CO.) and Victor Hernandez (DeLuca Academy, NM). Drew landed a right kick

to the body and then to the head before Victor came in for a clinch where both worked knees to the body. A

low knee landed, Victor given the warning, Drew getting the rest. Drew comes out with more kicks but is

again kicked in the groin on accident. Victor receives a second warning and Drew another rest. Round Two

- Drew continues scoring with head and body shots while Victor begins to string a few combo's together.

While clinched, both are still landing knee's. Victor does catch a good left jab, right hook before the bell.

Third Round - Drew lands a solid right punch that puts Victor down for an eight count. Drew starts to work

knees to the head while clinched. Victor not liking the treatment, breaks the clinch several times throughout

the round. Victor ends with another combo. Final Round - Drew is getting the better of Victor with knee's to

the body and head. There is a final low blow which cost Victor a point. Drew is awarded the judges decision.

Fight 8

Trevor Prangley (Lions Den/Team Idaho) was next to face Shane Schartzer (DeLuca Academy, NM). I

returned to my seat to see Trevor taking Shane's back. At 1:31, Matt Lindland [referee] stopped the bout

due to a tap out. There were talks of Trevor having a rematch against Brett Shafer, who lost to Prangley in

Mexico last year. Brett is on a three win streak, with his last fight being at King Of The Rockies NHB

Championships that took place in Colorado on January 3rd. "The Wrecking Ball" [Shafer] was in attendance

and Trevor did agree to a rematch in the near future. Brett is possibly looking to fight at Trevor's

up-and-coming show in Idaho. It is highly doubtful that it would be against Prangley however.

Fight 9

The ninth fight was Hank Weiss (The Defense Institute) against Team Quest's hot gun Ryan Schultz. Ryan

was quick to get the take down and land in Hank's guard. Not finding a decent position, Ryan stands back

up. Wasting no time, Ryan explodes with strong right punches that have our referee breaking the action at

2:17 of the first round.

Fight 10

Tony Mendoza (Dynamic Martial Arts) and Brandon Mihajcic (Team Quest) was the final stand-up bout

on the card. Tony showed good left punches with nice clinch work. Brandon had a good left kick- right

punch. The problem was that every time Tony landed his left, Brandon would turn his back. Keith (our ref)

finally gave Brandon a standing 10 count followed by a warning that the fight would be stopped if he kept

turning. Second Round - Tony caught Brandon in the corner and began to punish him with flurries of

punches. Brandon took all he could before the referee stepped in to stop the fight. I did not get an exact

time for this fight.

Our main event!!! 

Fight 11

The rematch of John Cronk (Warrior Dojo, Denver) against Eric Heinz (Gold's Gym, Denver) from the main

event at the Third Ultimate Athlete show in Denver - August of 2002. Cronk starts with a kick to the head,

then clinching. Eric starts some leg work in the clinch and finally slams Cronk, landing in side mount. Cronk

doesn't take long to get into guard but Eric lands some heavy leather while they transition. Eric, wanting to

go back to the feet, stands-up. Cronk, still on the ground, does a cover girl pose which I would love to have a

picture of!!! Round Two - Eric delivers a few knee's before Cronk is able to catch an arm. Looking for the

kimura, Cronk drags Eric to the ground. Cronk is in a turtle position, still working for the submission. Eric is

able to escape which has the action back on the feet. Cronk lands another kick to the head, then takes

Eric's back. At 2:32 of the second round, Cronk again secures victory, this time via rear naked choke.

Look for KDC 9 in February, where we will return to the best amateur show in Colorado!!! Questions,

comments, or corrections, please email me at... jason4mma@yahoo.com.

From - Jason Martinez (with a little editing from us - Highlights, etc...)

TheFightGame.tv would like to thank Jason Martinez for his great work!

(1/19/04)