ACF(sm) EXODUS: KERR FIGHT CANCELLED, CRONK WINS AGAIN
DENVER, COLORADO – For weeks, fans have been looking forward to the return of Mark Kerr. That return was slated to take place against Wes Sims at American Championship Fighting’s Exodus this past Saturday night. Unfortunately for everyone involved, and especially the many fans in attendance, that fight did not take place. Kerr hurt his hand during trainingearlier in the week, made it to the Denver Coliseum on fight night, but in the end did not make it to theOcho(sm) for the bout.
Due to the cancellation of the Kerr versus Wes Simsbout, which was obviously to be the main event of thefight card, American Championship Fighting(sm) CEORico Vecc announced at the show that anyone thatpurchased cageside seats (rows 1-4 immediatelysurrounding the cage) would receive 50% off if theywanted to purchase tickets to the ACF’s July 15th showand everyone else would receive 20% off of a Julypurchase. Questioned following the show, Mr. Vecc wasdefinitive in saying, “We will absolutely NOT raiseticket prices for the July show.”
In the new main event, which saw it’s fair share ofchange leading up to the show, ACF(sm) welterweightchampion John Cronk defeated a very impressive BenCall by a controversial split decision in a non-titlebout. Cronk was originally slated to face risingtalent Joey Clark, but due to an injury just four daysbefore the fight he was unable to compete and the long dormant Call stepped up to the challenge. The last time that Call fought, Wanderlei Silva had yet to set foot in a Pride ring, but you’d never have known it by his performance.
The first round saw Cronk stun Call, but Call workedhard to finish out the round. Then in the second, itwas Call that dropped Cronk and then nearly securedfirst an arm bar and a triangle choke before the roundended. Both fighters had their moments in the closinground with each nearly securing submissions. Followingthree rounds of what could only be called the fight ofthe night, it was John Cronk who won, at leastaccording to the crowd’s boos, a controversial splitdecision.
Popular Colorado fighter Donnie Liles was taken downto the mat early in his bout with Greg Jackson-trainedfighter Chris Avila. After fighting off a submissionattempt and reversing out of Avila’s back control,Liles worked the fight up to standing. He then tookAvila down and quickly secured a Kimura shoulder lock.
Although Cronk did injure his hand in his fight withCall, with he and Liles both victorious, it appearsthat Cronk will now defend his ACF(sm) welterweightbelt against Liles on July 15th, as long as his handheals up in time.
In light heavyweight action, three time defendingnational champion University of Nebraska at Omahaassistant wrestling coach Jason Brilz stepped into theOcho(sm) with professional bull rider turnedprofessional fighter Rob Wince. Brilz was able tosecure a takedown early on and that was all he needed. He transitioned to the full mount, causing Wince to turn face down in defense, and finished the fight with a punishing ground and pound assault that caused the Hammer House fighter to tap out.
Chilo Gonzalez and Brett Shafer squared off in ahighly anticipated rematch. In their first bout, twoyears ago, it was Shafer that finished off Gonzalez bystrikes. At Exodus, Gonzalez would have none of that.In little more than a minute and a half, he tookShafer down, worked for an arm triangle choke, andthen transitioned into an arm bar to get the win bysubmission.
The first three bouts of the professional portion ofthe show were all lightweight bouts. In the final ofthose three, Dennis Davis made it a quick night whenhe rocked Daniel Betzold, who took the fight on shortnotice, with a big left hook, took him down andproceeded to hammer him with forearms. Betzold tapped out and Davis stopped. Although the referee did not see the tap, Betzold honorably admitted to it and the fight was stopped just shy of the 30 second mark.
What was expected to be one of the most competitivebouts on the card ended in surprisingly quick fashion.Keith Wilson, a former Olympic alternate in wrestlingand coach of the national women’s team, and RafaelDias, a Brazilian Jiujitsu Black Belt from AmericanTop Team, were expected to put on a spectacular ground display. But like so many other surprises on thenight, they engaged immediately with Dias throwing aflurry of punches that dropped Wilson. With hisopponent on the mat, Dias continued to hammer Wilson with punches to the head until referee Cecil Peoples stopped the bout. There was some argument from Wilson and his corner that the fight was stopped too soon and that he was going after Dias’ leg to secure a defense, but that did not change the fact that Dias was awarded the TKO stoppage.
The professional bouts kicked off with a battlebetween two Colorado favorites in the lightweightdivision, Cruz Chacon and Noah Thomas. The fight went to the ground early when Chacon pulled guard and then secured an oma plata shoulder lock that Thomas deftly defended even though it appeared to be fairly secure. Thomas then attempted to mount a ground and pound attack from Chacon’s guard, but the lanky fighter worked his way to a tight triangle choke that Thomas could not counter. This was a big win for Chacon, who was on a losing skid as of late.
There were also two exciting amateur bouts thatstarted the evening’s fight card. Although ChrisCisneros showed a lot of heart in his battle withCameron Dollar, the Nate Marquardt-trained fightercouldn’t seem to find an answer for Dollar’s striking,whether it was on the feet or the ground. After threerounds of action, the judges scored unanimously inDollar’s favor.
The very first bout of the evening was a heavyweightcontest between Noah Thomas’ training partner ReedO’Malley and Rocky Hoffschneider, who happens to train with the same team as Cruz Chacon. After a back and forth battle on the ground, O’Malley secured atriangle choke early in the second round to claim thewin.
American Championship Fighting(sm)ACF(sm) ExodusDenver ColiseumDenver, ColoradoMay 6, 2006
Main Event:John Cronk def. Ben Call by Split Decision, 3 Rounds
Feature Bouts:Donnie Liles def. Chris Avila by Kimura, 3:04 of Round1
Jason Brilz def. Rob Wince by Submission to Strikes,2:37 of Round 1
Chilo Gonzalez def. Brett Shafer by Arm Bar, 1:34 ofRound 1
Dennis Davis def. Daniel Betzold by Submission toStrikes, 0:28 of Round 1
Rafael Dias def. Keith Wilson by TKO, 0:15 of Round 1
Cruz Chacon def. Noah Thomas by Triangle Choke, 2:41 of Round 1
Undercard (Amateur Bouts)
Cameron Dollar def. Chris Cisneros by UnanimousDecision, 3 Rounds
Reed O’Malley def. Rocky Hoffschneider by TriangleChoke, 1:41 of Round 2
©American Championship Fighting, LLC 2006 – All rightsreserved.—–About American Championship Fighting, LLCAmerican Championship Fighting, LLC (ACF) is a premier mixed martial arts promotion. Under the ownership of Rico Vecc Promotions(sm), the ACF(sm) provides a combination of the preeminent mixed martial arts fighters in the world in a highly entertaining atmosphere. For more information, go towww.theACF.net or www.sorealithurts.com.
Rico Vecc Promotions(sm), owner of the ACF(sm), isoperated by successful entrepreneur and the CEO ofthe ACF(sm) Rico Vecc. A self- made millionaire, Veccbuilt his fortune in real estate investing and hascommitted to helping others through his NationalWealth Institute (www.NationalWealthInstitute.com)and his book “How to Become a Millionaire in YourJeans and a T-Shirt Through Real Estate.”
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Ken Pishna Director of MMA Relations American Championship Fighting(sm) Phone: 303-916-6091 Fax: 720-283-3153 E-mail: Ken@sorealithurts.com