EVENTS - 2008
Local competitors get fighting chance
Mixed martial artists work out in Shawnee.
GateHouse News Service Posted Jul 17, 2008 @ 11:46 PM
Shawnee —
Chance Fine walks from the mat, wipes the sweat from his brow, and takes a small sip of water. The remainder of the young men on the wrestling mat continue with their Spartan calisthenics routine. The lean young man does not bother to sit down. Instead, Mr. Fine watches the action from the sidelines, hands on hips, studying each fighter’s moves with the vigilance of a drill instructor.
Chance Fine is the owner and head instructor of Dragon Martial Arts of Shawnee. In addition to his duties as martial arts trainer, Mr. Fine is also an ordained minister. This sixteen-year veteran of the martial arts also teaches defensive tactics to the Shawnee Police Department.“This is the first pro fight for all of my fighters.” Chance Fine says. “It’s fantastic being on the under card of a world title event. And a world title event in our own backyard, it really is a blessing. I really appreciate what Sac & Fox Casinos is doing for the local mixed martial arts community.” A young man shouts out “100”. The group lets out a sigh of relief. “This is their fourth set of crunches. We do almost an hour of conditioning before we begin fight training.” Mr. Fine says.
After a one-minute rest period, the men pair up. Each pair grabs a set of pads from the corner of the room. The protective gear, called Muay Thai pads, are similar to boxing focus mitts. However, unlike the focus mitts familiar to fans of the sweet science, these mitts run the length of the forearm and are as thick as an Oklahoma City phonebook. A timer on the wall sounds, the round begins. “We do four rounds of mitt training, six minutes a round. Then we move on to sparring and bag work. Those are also four round sets, six minutes each.” Mr. Fine says. A young man throws a kick that lands with the force of a baseball bat. A whip like crack emanates from the leather Thai pad. Chance Fine cracks a slight smile.
“That’s Brannon Creel.” Mr. Fine says.Brannon Creel, 31, throws another kick followed by a series of furious punches.
“He’s a Navy veteran. A family man with four children.” Chance says. “All of my fighters have full time jobs, but they make time four nights a week to train. Plus they do roadwork and other conditioning on their own time. It’s quite a life.”
Other local fighters on tap from Dragon Martial Arts include Charles Anderson, 29, Bryan Grennell, 20, Brando Mansur, 20, and Danny Coronado, 23.
In the scheduled title bout, John Wolf will face off against seasoned cage fighter Redcloud Anquoe for the World Native American Muay Chao Chrek Heavyweight belt. “Muay Chao Chrek is the Native American Muay Thai Associations answer to Ultimate Fighting,” says veteran fighter and promoter John Wolf. “Same rules as cage fighting, but our bouts are sanctioned by NAMTA and the U.S. Muay Thai Association.”
Wolf, 37, holds four championship belts, including the World Muay Thai Heavyweight Title. His opponent Redcloud Anquoe,28, is a veteran cage fighter and a student of internationally known trainer and former UFC competitor Bas Ruttan.The event is scheduled for July 19 at the Heartland Amphitheater.
“I am glad to see local competitors getting this opportunity. What better way to inaugurate our new casino than with a world championship fight?” “This is just the beginning. We plan to hold a cage fight each month. We are also looking into boxing venues in the near future.” Said, Glen Coleman CEO of Sac & Fox Nation CasinosLarge crowd witnesses inaugural event
By Jack Tatum Contributing Writer Posted Jul 24, 2008 @ 10:48 PM
SHAWNEE, Okla. —
Over eighteen hundred spectators, managers and fighters gathered last Saturday night for Sac & Fox Casino’s inaugural cage fighting event. The action packed card featured a talented group of local fighters pitted against some of the region’s best mixed-martial arts talent. As the sun went down, the action in the cage quickly heated up. In the main event, John “Wolfman” Wolf faced off against Redcloud Anquoe for the Native American Muay Thai Associations “World Native American Muay Chao Cherk Heavyweight” title. However, the moon-filled sky was no help for the Wolfman who found himself in a hold he couldn’t get out of and tapped out early in the second round.
In an upset to the local Dragon Martial Arts MMA team, Brannon Creel suffered a loss in his début bout to Wichita, Kansas native Cody Bittler. The bout brought the crowd to its feet as the two competitors duked it out on the edges of cage and spiraled to the ground in flurry of blows. Although Creel seemed well condition and ready for the fight, he found himself succumbing to a choke in the second round of the bout.However, Creel’s loss was bookended by victories from all four of his Dragon Martial Arts teammates. In the earlier bouts, Brian Grinnell made quick work of his opponent, submitting James Schwind in the first round with a bone crunching armbar while Brandon Mansur sunk his heels in and earned a victory over Justin Hensley with a rear-naked choke.
Following Creel’s upset, Charles Anderson earned a victory by decision over Jorge Granados of Dumas, Texas during one of the evenings four featured kickboxing matches. Anderson showed kicking ability mixed with coarse, but effective, boxing skills dispatching his opponent with a series of hard punches.
In perhaps the best bout of evening, Daniel Coronado faced off against Richard Hall. The competitors wildly traded blows during the crowd-pleasing brawl and gamely taunted one another during the brief lulls in furious bout. Coronado showed promising punching power using a solid overhand right to backup his opponent. He went onto demonstrate strong grappling skills by submitting Hall with a choke thus earning a fourth victory for five man team from Dragon Martial Arts Gym.Local spectator Rick Evans had this to say, “This is my first time to come to a cage fight, but it won’t be my last.” Rounding out the card: Luis Olivia defeated Jess Carlson, James Fullbrite defeated Ed Ellis, and Carmen Harris defeated Kendra Baker. In the Sub Event bout of the evening, Chuck Carr defeated James Pruitt by TKO.In an announcement that brought cheers from the spectators, Sac & Fox Nation Casino CEO Glen Coleman announced the Heartland Ground “N” Pound Showdown.
“This isn’t your grandpa’s tough man contest.” Coleman said. “The event is open to any competitor, regardless of gym affiliation. All you have to do is be in physical shape. There will be two weight classes Welterweight (155lbs – 170lbs) and Light Heavyweight (185lbs – 205lbs).” “For all the men that say they have what it takes lets see it?” stated Coleman. The Heartland Ground “N” Pound Showdown will begin August 1st with the Welterweight Division followed by the Light Heavyweight on August 2nd, located at the Heartland Amphitheater in Shawnee. For more information on the Heartland Ground “N” Pound Showdown or ticket information contact 405.275.4700, for fighters wanting to participate email your information to okfights@yahoo.com.
RESULTS OF THE SAC FOX CASINO EVENT
Written by Kru Ric Sniffen (Blackfeet Nation)
National Director Native American League of the United States Muay Thai Association
On Saturday July 19th, 2008 at the Sac Fox Casino Heartland Amphitheater off Exit #186 on Interstate 40 in Shawnee, Oklahoma the Sac Fox Casino held its first Pro/Am Muay Thai and Muay Chao Cherk Event before a crowd of more then 1800 excited spectators.
The Event Card consisted of 10 Action Packed Bouts the first an Amateur Muay Chao Cherk Bout show cased Brian Grinnell 5' 8" 180 lbs with a record of 0 wins 1 loss 0 draws against James Schwind 5' 9" 175 lbs with a record of 0 wins 0 losses 0 draws. This bout ended 1 min 22 seconds in the first round with James Schwind scoring an Armbar and Brian Grinnell tapping out.
The second another Amateur Muay Chao Cherk Event with Brandon Masura 5' 4" 140 lbs with a record of 0 wins 0 losses 0 draws against Justin Henstin 5' 6" 140 lbs with a record of 0 wins 0 losses and 0 draws. The fight ended in the first round by TKO when Justin Henstin landed a roundkick to the head of Brandon Masura who was unable to continue after the blow.
The third bout was an Amateur Muay Thai fight between Jess Carlson 5' 10" 170 lbs with a record of 0 wins 1 loss 0 draws against Lois Oliva 5' 8" 171 lbs with a record of 0 wins 0 losses 0 draws. This bout ended in the first round with a Referee Stoppage to protect Jess Carlson from any further injury.
The fourth bout was another Amateur Muay Thai Bout with Charles Anderson 6' 0" 130 lbs with a record of 0 wins 0 losses 0 draws against Jorge Granados 6' 1" 132 lbs with a record of 0 wins 0 losses 0 draws. This fight ended in the first round with Charles Anderson unable to continue after repetative leg kicks by Jorge Granados.
The fifth bout was an Amateur Muay Chao Cherk fight with Brannan Creal 5' 7" 140 lbs with a record of 0 wins 0 losses 0 draws against Cody Swell 5' 6" 140 lbs with a record of 0 wins 0 losses 0 draws. This bout ended in the 2nd round with Brannan Creal tapping out from a rear naked choke hold applied by Cody Swell in 1 min 10 seconds in the 2nd round.
The sixth a Super Heavyweight Submission Grappling Bout between Ed Ellis 6' 4" 294 lbs with a record of 0 wins 1 loss 0 draws against James Fullbrite 6' 3" 267 lbs with a record of 0 wins 0 losses 0 draws. This bout would have to be ranked as the strangest as far as outcomes when Ed Ellis tapped out in the third round at 56 seconds due to his ear becoming trapped in the cage.
The seventh fight was a female Amateur Muay Thai Bout between Kendra Baker 5' 6" 138 lbs with a record of 2 wins 0 losses 0 draws against Carman Harris 5' 5" 135 lbs with a fight record of 0 wins 1 loss 0 draws. This fight was a rematch scheduled after the ladies first fight in Henryette, Oklahoma earlier in 2008 causing Carman Harris her first loss. The fight ended this time in a surprising result as Carman Harris punished Kendra Baker so much in the first round that Kendra Baker could not continue the fight.
The eight fight was an Amateur Muay Chao Cherk bout between Richard " Tank " Hall 6' 3" 255 lbs with a record of 0 wins 0 losses 0 draws against Daniel Corenodo 6' 3" 236 lbs with a record of 0 wins 0 losses 0 draws. This bout ended in the second round with Richard Hall tapping out by armbar to Daniel Corenodo at 1 min 17 seconds.
The ninth fight a Professional Muay Thai Bout was Chuck Carr 6' 1" 192 lbs with a professional record of 0 wins 0 losses 0 draws against James " Thunderfoot " Pruitt 5' 9" 210 lbs with a Professional Record of 25 wins 5 losses 3 draws. James Pruitt was unable to continue the fight after an injury to the knee from continuious hooking throws which were not caught by the referee. It should also be noted that James Pruitt normally a Middleweight fought at a much higher weight class to match up Chuck Carr.
The tenth and final fight was a Professional Muay Chao Cherk Bout against John " Wolfman " Wolf 6' 3" 215 lbs with a professional record of 16 wins 3 losses 2 draws and RedCloud Anqueo 5' 10" 210 lbs with a Professional Record of 8 wins 3 losses 0 draws.
This bout was for the World Native American Muay Chao Cherk Championship which was won by RedCloud Anqueo in 33 seconds of the second round by Ankle Lock.
After the event several of the Sac Fox Personal asked about future events being held at their Casino's.