Heavyweights Juan Figuerva and James Hood throwdown at Battle @ the Bay IX

The 9th rendition of Combat Games MMA's Battle @ the Bay went down November 8th inside a sold-out Wa-Walton Event Center at the Swinomish Casino in Anacortes WA. The fight fans on hand - as well as those around the world watching the live stream - witnessed a fantastic night of combat action that had 5 pro and 6 amateur mixed martial arts contests. The main event was a pro lightweight matchup between Jeff "The Candy Man" Sweeney out of the Arlington Kickboxing Academy and Colt "45" Hausauer of Orcas Island Fight Camp. The fight started out with Sweeney moving forward and landing some big looping kicks to Hausauer's lower legs. Hausauer decided he had enough of this and drove Sweeney against the cage, looking for a takedown. Sweeney defended well and as Hausauer was attacking his legs, Sweeney connected with a big knee that visibly stunned Hausauer. Soon after it was Sweeney riding Hausauer to the canvas where he eventually took his back and put him to sleep with a rear naked choke at 2:09 of the first.

In the co-main event, two experienced NW pros met in a middleweight showdown as Team Wise's Robert "Mouthpiece" Malphrus took on Gorilla Taktics' "Infamous" Jay Grimsley of Boise ID. Early in the fight, Grimsley got Malphrus against the cage and took him to the mat where he landed a few shots. Malphrus, known for his great ground game, quickly was able to tie up Grimsley and in a rolling scramble went for a heel hook submission. He worked for the finish for a couple of minutes but Grimsley eventually rolled out of it and wound up in top position where he connected with some punches and then went for an armbar. Malphrus pulled himself free and quickly turned the tables on Grimsley, taking his back and locking in a tight rear naked choke, getting a tap from Grimsley at 4:33 of the first round. With the win, Malphrus moves to 7-3 as a pro, while Grimsley falls to 8-5.

Vancouver BC's Gary "St Lion" Mangat, now training at the famous Tristar Academy in Montreal, had his first three amateur fights in Washington and 6 years later returned to the state for his first pro fight on US soil following a 5-1 run up in Canada. Mangat, cornered by current One-FC Bantamweight Champion Bibiano Fernandes, faced Bellingham fighter Anthony Zender out of Team Rock Solid. While Zender may be winless as a pro, he is no slouch with a strong wrestling pedigree and he is always prepared for a good scrap, which is exactly what he gave Mangat. At the opening bell, Mangat came in with a big knee followed by a couple high kicks. Zender was able to drive in and get a takedown, but Mangat was able to work his way free, throwing another high kick and following with a takedown of his own. He had a hard time keeping Zender down though and worked hard for a couple more takedowns in the round as Zender got it back to the feet again. When he was on the ground, Zender was active, looking for submissions in defense or to escape. The round ended with Mangat on top, landing a couple big bombs to a prone Zender. In the 2nd, Zender shot in and got another takedown. Mangat worked his way up along the cage and as both fighters stood up, Mangat grabbed Zender's neck, rode him back to the canvas and sunk the rear naked choke at 1:32 of the 2nd. An impressive submission to be sure.

In a pro 170 lb contest, American Combat Academy's Zach "The Beast" Conn picked up a first round victory over Dustin "The Hurricane" Praxedes. From the opening bell, the pair circled and exchanged before Praxedes shot forward and put Conn on the mat. While Conn was on the ground and Praxedes still standing, Conn threw his legs up in defense and Praxedes went for an ankle lock. He wasn't able to secure it though and the fight soon went to the feet again. There Conn utilized his height advantage - Conn at 6'4" vs 5'9" for Praxedes - throwing forward some straight push kicks with his long legs. One landed square to Praxedes liver, causing him to recoil from the pain and eventually verbally submit, ending the contest at 3:25 of the first.

In the middleweight division, Cory Hendricks, who fights out of Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, returned to his home state to take on Thomas Hoeper of the Arlington Kickboxing Academy, both making their pro debuts. The bout turned into an entertaining grappling-style MMA fight, with both taking turns in going for submissions or landing strikes on the ground. In the 2nd round, Hoeper caught a Hendricks kick and took him to the mat. He got in a few good shots before Hendricks tied him up and reversed position, doing some damage of his own. Hoeper was able to push it back to the feet and against the cage, where the pair battled for position. There, Hendricks saw his opportunity, locked onto Hoeper's neck, took it to the ground and sunk a choke to end the fight at 3:16 of round 2.

JD "The Bezerker" Burns, fighting out of Battleground MMA, won the COGA MMA Amateur Lightweight Title by submitting Charlie's Combat Club fighter Jake Furney in the first round. Furney charged early and pushed Burns against the cage where he got a takedown. Burns though is a killer on the ground and having 5 inches on Furney, utilized his long legs to lock on a triangle choke. When that wasn't going to work, Burns threw a couple of strikes, grabbed Furney's arm and secured the armbar finish at 1:19 of the first round. Burns is now 7-1 as an amateur and is looking to turn pro soon.

The most entertaining fight of the night went to the amateur 145 lb war between Orcas Island Fight Camp's Tyler "The Kid" Nigretto and AKA's Matt "Little Monster" Ruiz. From the opening bell to the closing bell, both of these fighters left absolutely everything they had inside the cage, going toe-to-toe for 3 solid rounds. After 9 minutes of action that saw the crowd give the fighters a standing ovation, Nigretto was declared the winner and picks up his first amateur victory via unanimous decision 30-27, 29-28 x2.

Knockout of the Night went to Livewire MMA's Juan Figuerva who was able to drop a tough James Hood of the Gorilla Taktics fight team in Heavyweight action. Figuerva, who was making his amateur debut on just one day's notice, came out throwing big bombs and Hood was answering them. At one point, Figuerva just picked up Hood and threw him to the canvas like yesterday's newspaper and then waited for him to get up again. Later, Hood went down at one point and Figuerva tried to finish him with strikes. Hood though reversed positions and landed a few shots on top before the end of the round. In the 2nd, the two opponents again went around the cage slinging hard leather. This time though, Figuerva was able to connect and stagger Hood with a counter punch, and then he followed with a series of shots that put Hood on the mat, where the referee stepped in and stopped it at 1:07 of the round.

In an amateur 155 lb matchup, Livewire MMA's "Rumble" Joe Rohweder edged Orcas Island FC's Joseph "Skitso" Segault via split decision in a hard fought battle that mostly played out on the ground. Rohweder got a nice leg trip takedown in the first round and worked for a rear naked choke finish that Segault was able to defend for much of the round. The 2nd round saw the fight go to the mat where initially Rohweder had Segualts back, but Segualt reversed and looked to land strikes to the end of the frame. In the final round, Segault got a nice takedown against the cage but had to fight off a triangle submission attempt that Rohweder would not relinquish. In the end, it went to the judges scorecards which read 29-28, 29-27, 28-29 for Rohweder.

Livewire MMA's Devin Gutierrez won his MMA debut in a 165 lb catchweight fight with Sacred Scars MMA's Dillon Curtis. The pair clinched up early against the cage where Gutierrez threw some knees to Curtis' body. Curtis broke away from the clinch in obvious pain, as Guiterrez followed him by punching his face. The referee waved off the fight as Curtis had his back turned and was not defending. There may have been a low blow from one of the knees in the clinch but as the referee didn't see it, there was no timeout called and Curtis needed to keep fighting. As he did not, it goes into the record books as a TKO win for Gutierrez at 41 seconds of the first.

In the night's first bout, two amateurs made their MMA debut at 195 lbs. American Combat Academy's Aaron Heck welcomed Sacred Scars MMA's Eden Duarte with a kick to the midsection to open the bout. The pair scrapped around the cage before it went to the ground where Heck had good position on Duarte to throw down stirkes to his head. Unfortunately, a few caught Duarte in the back of his head which the referee saw and immediately called a timeout. Duarte was unable to continue and the fight was declared a no-contest in the first round.

Combat Games MMA will return to the Swinomish Casino in 2015 for more Battle @ the Bay events, as well as to the Snoqualmie Casino for their Rumble on the Ridge series. Dates to be announced soon. Learn more about the fight promotion at combatgamesmma.com and at facebook.com/CombatGamesMMA.