K-4 Fighting is in the books and it was an awesome show. Promotor Keith Forant really did an amazing job match making on this one every fight was really good. It isn’t to often a lot of people tell me an amateur show was better than the pro cards they have been to.
First fight on the card was a grappling match between Dylan Forant (Buma) and Landon Shevlin (Subzero) they started off the match with a bang Landon tried hard with sweeps and looking for triangles, but Dylan was having none of it and counted with a solid passing game. Landon reguard well so it was a very tightly contested draw. They will meet again at the Buffalo Classic so make sure to take it out.
The second fight was Joseph Deu (BUMA) vs Dakota Davis (WNYMMA). Joe started out strong and started to out landed Dakota the longer the fight went on. Dakota got split open and was wearing his blood like a WWE fighter. At no point did he ever quit he keep coming forward the whole fight. It was a unanimous decision win for Joe. He demonstrated strong technique and I can’t wait to see him fight again. Dakota has nothing to hang his head about great performance a lot of the knees he took would have made me quit he proved he has the heart to fight as the skills fill in, he will good.
I was thinking after the first thai fight man its going to be hard to follow that. Austin Bailor (fightsport) and Vishnu Shridhar (Lombard mma) followed it up with a spirited scrap of their own. Both men left it in the ring and Bailor came out with the win. His transition from championship hockey player to fighter started off with a tough win.
Dillion Tharp (WNYMMA) vs Keenan Hinds (Kinetics) was up next. Another solid fight. Tharp started strong with a wilder athletic style Keenan was focused and very disciplined throughout the fight. Keenan was able to land more and started to pull away with the fight by the end as Dillion fatigued. Another great fight
Rob Smith (Southtowns) vs. Kylen Faulkner (Kinetics) was next and the crowd popped when Rob walked out. This was a wild fight with a bearded mad man and a reserved technical fighter. Rob would dart in and throw wild techniques including a jump kick. Kylen would land on the inside and hit Rob whenever he rested. Very exciting fight and I wasn’t sure how they were going to score it, but Rob Smith came out on top. I think it was the beard.
Isaiah Ket (Buma) vs. Skylar Neathery (Energy Fitness) gave us my pick for knockout of the night. First off giant props to Skylar for riding down from the 765 (Richmond Indiana) Skylar told me he was an mma fighter and it showed that he wasn’t as well versed in Muay Thai. Isaiah landed a kick that separated Skylar from the real world for a minute. Isaiah took the win like he had been there before. The Buma folks definitely carry respect and honor into the ring like true Thai fighters. I talked to Skyler after, and he is looking forward to coming back and being able to wrestle and use his grappling skills. His head is okay, and he is back to training.
Next up was Vinay Rajendran (WNYMMA) vs Nick Cenek (Lombard mma) Vinay tried to control the distance with kicks, but Nick changed the fight early with leg kicks that Vinay had no answer for. With his stance compromised Nick was able to get the TKO. Impressive performance from the man that was made to be on a poster.
The next fight had a lot more back and forth in it. Josh Maston (Southtowns mma) vs Malik Abdus-Sabr was an old fashion fight. Both these guys came to win, and it showed. After a back and forth first round Malik started landing more combinations and pushed his pace on Josh. After three hard rounds of fighting the decision was earned by Malik.
The last Thai fight of the evening was Trevor Ransom (Buma) against Tyler Gates (3 elements BJJ and MMA). I haven’t seen to many people make Trevor look small, but Tyler was gigantic. He really stressed how well people should treat their body and it really showed. He dominated the hometown fighter physically by pushing the pace and literally pushing him on the ground a few times. He took the Unanimous decision easily and, in our interview, I had a scare when I called him the wrong name. I promise I will never call him Taylor again!
The mma portion of the night started out with what I thought could be the sleeper fight of the night but turned into a pretty one-sided contest. Cedric Ortiz (Southtowns MMA) took on Bret Huffman. (3 elements BJJ & MMA) Huffman grounded and dominated Ortiz for all three rounds. Huffman made his Alma mater Gannon proud by easily taking Cedric down and shutting down all his escapes. Bret will be one to watch for in the future. He reminds me of Mike Bernard, and I can’t wait to see more of him. I hope Cedric gets some work on reguarding and getting up because he is a very exciting fighter for K-4 and has a great personality (hopefully we can get him on the podcast)
Grant Armstrong (BUMA) against Brandon Hunt (Southtowns mma) gave us what I think was fight of the night. These two had a back and forth up and down battle. Both guys had the crowd behind them, and it was the loudest fight of the night. Hunt returned to the cage for the first time since 2014. It looked like he didn’t miss a beat. There was the give and take of a pro fight throughout this whole fight. It is hard to describe how into the fight the crowd was. Grant was able to land a little more and stopped a good number of Hunt’s takedown attempts. His cardio and heart carried him to the win. Both guys had great performances I hope to see them on future cards.
The next fight was between two of the very best 135’rs in the area. Joe Nelson (Broome County MMA) took on Ligrit Sadiku (Niagara Top Team) in a very exciting scrap these two exchanged right hands and scrambles until Ligrit’s strikes brought in the ref to stop the fight. Both of these guys are top of the food chain ammy’s, and I can’t wait to see either of them fight again. Both are worth the price of a ticket. Ligrit might be the biggest 135’r I have seen besides the Bellator vet Patchy Mix (who was in attendance corning in the main event) His back looks like a 170 pounder. Joe Nelson came up short, but he wasn’t happy with the stoppage, and he will be back. Please Keith lets get these guys into title fights!
The Co-Main Event was Josh Reichardt (Buma) v Tom Traxler (Lombard MMA). This fight was fast. Traxler came out secured a quick takedown, secured a dominate position took the back and choked out Reichardt in 1:46. Without a doubt submission of the night. Traxler looks so impressive against guys his size I can’t wait to see him on the next show. Josh Reichardt laid down his gloves in the ring and retired on the spot. I always feel bad when I have to interview a guy retiring. Hopefully he is like old man Mark Murry and makes a comeback.
The main event was a tale of two round between Ali Rexhepi (WNYMMA) and Dillion Yarka (5th Round Fitness). Ali came out of the gate with no ring rust from the layoff. Great head movement great shot selection. Ali got a triangle in a scramble early in the first round and threatened it for the entire round finishing with some strikes on the ground. Impressive first round from the unbeaten fighter. Yarka took it all in stride landing when he could survive the triangle and escaping the round without too much damage. He came out in the second round like the veteran he is and took advantage of Ali being a touch slower from burning out his legs in the triangle. He caught Ali and dropped him with a strike out of nowhere. He continued the assault on the ground and the ref jumped in and stopped the fight. That left the evil villion mustached Dillion Yarka K-4’s first 145-pound champ
Thank you for a great night of fights Keith Forant congrats to Dillion Yarka for being K-4’s first champion and if you read this far please subscribe to the Facebook page and the YouTube.
