Bloody Elbow: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Sports blogs for fans, by fans.
Around SBN: Cal RB Jahvid Best Seriously Injured, Carted Off Field

Regardless of the Fate of Elite XC, King of the Cage Survives

Kotc_17th_medium_mediumOne of the worst fall outs from the Elite XC implosion was the negative impact on the mid-sized promotions that had been purchased by the doomed organization.

One of the orgs effected was Terry Trebilcock's King of the Cage. KOTC provided an early stage for stars such as Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans, Diego Sanchez, Keith Jardine, Paul Buentello and Mac Danzig.

I'm happy to see that they're back up and running. Watch Kalib Run has a report from a show a KOTC affiliate ran this weekend in Youngstown, Ohio:

On Saturday night King of the Cage went to Youngstown for six professional bouts and 10 amateur bouts.

The night was a cornucopia of submissions. Five of the six professional fights ended by submissions, all early in the first round. Only one fight made it to the second round and that was stopped due to a cut.

The main event of the evening featured Micah Bender and Mitch Whitesel. This fight went like all the others, with a quick submission victory by Whitesel. The Youngstown crowd was clearly behind Micah Bender, but it was to no avail as the veteran Whitesel handled his twenty three year old opponent easily with guillotine choke at the one minute mark.  

There were two standout professional fighters in Victor O'Donnell and Brandon Ezzo. Both appear to be headed for bigger and brighter things at 185lbs. O'Donnell moved fast in his fight against Jim Bundy, landing several punches before taking the fight to the ground, where he finished Bundy with an armbar. O'Donnell's victory over hometown hero Jim Bundy  moved his undefeated streak to five in a row, O'Donnell has yet to lose a fight.

Regional MMA is the future of the sport. Its where the stars of tomorrow get their start, but more importantly, the broader participation on the part of more athletes, coaches and fans builds the knowledgeable MMA audience which is essential to the growth of the sport.

The KOTC upcoming events page is exciting to see -- like a phoenix they are rising from the ashes -- five events planned in Febuary alone in five different states: TX, MN, CO, FL, and CA. March will take them to NM, NV and GA.  That's what I like to see, regional MMA alive and well at the grassroots level.

0 recs  |  Comment 5 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Around SB Nation

KOTC A Threat To The UFC?

Dec 2008 from MMA For Real - 2 comments

Comments

Display:

KOTC also ran Michigan (Soaring Eagle Casino) last weekend.

by D.Capitated on Jan 19, 2009 3:04 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

I wish I could rec this.

by subo on Jan 19, 2009 4:01 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Nate

KOTC never stopped running.
They have kept on going strong with or without EliteXC.

by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 19, 2009 4:21 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

They had 3 shows in October, 2 in November, and 2 in December.

by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 19, 2009 4:23 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

It was actually a really entertaining show, but I didn’t notice much promotion of EliteXC, except for the posters and some banners. I train at a small gym that is about 40 minutes outside of Youngstown (in Akron/Canton) so I had to head out there.

Overall, KOTC did a nice job and it was good to see the promotion out in this area, which has a lot of gyms and some promising talent in the area — “Smokin” Joe Heiland, for example (155#, 11-0) Don’t be surprised if you see him on TUF or in the UFC eventually….

by FinDiesel on Jan 19, 2009 10:28 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

"All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it." -- H.L. Mencken
Start posting on Bloody Elbow »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Picture_010_small
Fedor beatable, could not win UFC title!
Me_small
Strikeforce and Fedor come off looking good on CBS
Small
CBS/Strikeforce Broadcast Quality Unacceptable
Mikeeaston_small
A Conundrum About Fedor
Nav-logo-hover_small
Dan Henderson: Enormous Benefit To Strikeforce Has Parallels in World of Wrestling

Recent FanPosts

Small
"For this 28 yr old,former project kid from the Cabrini Green..."
Picture_010_small
Breaking News: Antwain Britt to fight Scott Lighty at Strikeforce Evolution
Small
DMX pulls out of boxing match
Nav-logo-hover_small
Cung Le: Smith is a Better Fight For Me
Small
Early numbers for Strikeforce on CBS.
Small
In Praise Of Jake Sheilds
Small
Omnisport Offering Live Online Stream of Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

MMA Rankings

USA Today / SB Nation Consensus MMA Rankings