Proof is in the Punching at ‘Proving Grounds’ in Pasadena
The trend of debuting amateur MMA shows continued this week at John Bostick and Savant Young’s Fight Academy in Pasadena. The event featured nine highly competitive cage matches which made for an exciting, competitive night of fights and an official sellout attendance.
“There was strong support. Teams were coming in groups of 10 and 20, so it made it easy to fill the house up. It was a good night. Everybody enjoyed themselves . . . it had that real feel of how a show should feel inside of a gym.” said matchmaker and Fight Academy head instructor Savant Young.
Young, a veteran of Affliction, WEC, Shooto, and the IFL, opened up the Pasadena branch of David Dunn’s Santa Clarita school in August 2009. When the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) delegated amateur MMA regulation to CAMO, hosting events at the new gym was a logical next move.
“We’ve created our niche in Pasadena, as far as where people come to train and potentially do amateur fighting . . . I wanted to be the first one that spearheads the whole legal thing in Pasadena, and we were definitely successful at that last night,” Young explained.
Match results from “Fight Academy: Proving Grounds” are as follows:
150 lbs. (catchweight) – Reshan Sabaratnam def. Jonathan Clegg via TKO, R2, 1:35.
155 lbs. – Frank Miller def. Clinton Cornelison via TKO, R1, 0:55.
160 lbs. (catchweight) – Derek Johnson def. Kyle Sereg via TKO, R1, 1:35.
135 lbs. – Oscar Torres def. Eddie Briseno via TKO, R2, 0:58.
145 lbs. – Matt Reis def. Sharif Elassiouti via unanimous decision.
127 lbs. (catchweight) – Kelvin Martell def. Louis Reyes via unanimous decision.
178 lbs. (catchweight) – Dorien Tharps def. Ryan Escobedo via TKO, R3, 0:43.
205 lbs. – Waldo Nava def. Wolfgang Steinbeck via submission, R2, 0:26.
170 lbs. – Nick Huizar def. Anthony Olivas via unanimous decision.
As for highlights of the night, Young commented “there were a couple, actually. I don’t want to take anything away from any of the kids. . .The main event had one of my guys, Nick Huizar, [against Anthony Olivas]; they stole the show. . . [We had] one guy from California Kickboxing. The other guy was from PKG, out with Ian Harris. They did real well.”
By Jay Tan