Halquist Productions' Cagesport 26 went down Saturday August 24th at the Emerald Queen Casino with Anthony Hamilton and Matt Kovacs squaring off in the main event with Hamilton's CageSport Heavyweight Championship on the line. Anthony "Freight Train" Hamilton had the height on Matt "The Attack" Kovacs in their heavyweight bout. The crowd was excited for this fight, with Kovacs' walkout music a live performance, and Hamilton's choice of music had the crowd on it's feet dancing. This high energy carried into the fight as these two men engaged immediately, swinging hard. Hamilton quickly secured a takedown and after breaking loose of Kovacs' tie-up, was able to take top position, firing off vicious ground and pound that had the referee jumping in at 2:14 of round one.

The co-main event at 135 lbs was also NW Fightscene's Fight of the Night as Josh Rettinghouse and Jeff Hatton battled it out for all three rounds, sending the fight to the judges. The two didn't spend much time on the feet, each just throwing a couple of punches before Hatton would shoot low, taking Rettinghouse down by the ankles. Rettinghouse would maintain top positions, mostly in Hatton's guard, and had to continually fight to break his arms loose of Hatton's legs in order to strike or transition. Rettinghouse landed some heavy kicks in the 2nd before getting taken down where he was able to trap one of Hattons arms in a deep armbar, but Hatton defended extremely well, fighting and transitioning free. The third round went the same as the first two, ending with a last second takedown by Rettinghouse. All 3 judges saw it unanimously for Rettinghouse 30-27.

NW Fightscene's Submission of the Night was an impressive arm triangle from Justin Harrington against Levi Peaslee in a 155 lb match up. It looked like the fight would be over before it begun when seconds in, Harrington was dealing with an accidental scratch or finger in the eye. Peaslee stepped back and the ref gave Harrington a few seconds to wipe his eye clear. When they engaged again, Harrington got a hip toss takedown and slipped in the arm triangle, but was caught in half guard. Without freeing his other leg, Harrington held on and pressured down on Peaslee and got the tap from half guard at 1:36 of round one.

NW Fightscene's Knockout of the Night goes to Harrison "Wolverine" Bevens in his stand up war against Dave Shepherd at 155. These two men - both known for their solid ground skills - stayed standing the whole fight, each landing some solid blows.

Bevens kept a fast pace with his footwork, circling back and out, swinging hard before moving away, then looking for counterstrikes. Shepherd landed some clean jabs and a few heavy rights. Bevens worked Shepherd's lead leg a bit and kept moving. The third round Bevens darted in with a heavy overhand right haymaker that landed. Shepherd folded up and dropped to his knees. Bevens jumped forward with a straight right cross, left jab that finished what the overhand started, and knocked Shepherd out 16 seconds into the 3rd round.

Justin Harrington and Harrison Bevens won not only their fights, but also the opportunity to fight each other for the 155 lb title at Cagesport 27 October 5th in the Main Event.

Hector Lopez and Chris Wheaton started off the evening in a 125 bout that went well into the 3rd round. Wheaton's hands looked good, especially in the first round, but he slowed a bit in the later rounds after having to fight continuously against a bigger opponent who took him down easily. Lopez's double leg were sharp and his wrestling very strong. Lopez was finally able to isolate Wheaton's arm in the third from side control and sat back for the submission. Wheaton defended, so Lopez switched to a triangle and earned the tap at 2:56 of round 3.

At 155 lbs, Josh Solis worked hard to take down aggressive striker Lonya Champion and transitioned into mount where he rained down heavy elbows until the ref stepped in at 1:56 of round 1.

In another 155 lb bout, Gary Winslow took Montrez Tinson down to the mat, defended an armbar attempt before taking side control and striking away. Tinson shelled up and ended up belly down with Winslow on top swinging away until the ref stopped it at 3:26 of the first round.

Another pair of lightweights - Jacob Solis and Jeff Sweeney - had a short fight when Solis switched from his heavy leg kicks and went for a head kick, but slipped and fell to his back right in front of Sweeney. Sweeney dove on top of Solis and unleashed a barrage of elbows. The referee stopped the fight just 30 seconds into the first round.

Eduardo Torres and Alex Eastman met up at 135 lbs for a battle between a striker and a grappler. Eastman had great long punches with a heavy snap at the end - dropping Torres at one point. Torres was at home on the ground and quickly worked elbows and strikes from Eastman's guard. Eastman twisted around trying to improve his position and ended up with Torres on his back. Torres sunk in the rear naked choke and won the tap at 1:22 of round 1.

In an all out effort between Zach Conn and Ian "The Mule" Williams, Williams finally was able to finish Conn late in the third round. Williams was impressive in this mostly ground fight, giving Conn two options: lie on your back and take ground and pound; or go belly down and fight the rear naked choke. Conn had no quit in him, never gave up, and never stopped fighting through 14 minutes. The referee though finally put a stop to the bout at 4:16 of the last round, declaring Williams the winner.

CageSport XXVII is scheduled for October 5th at the Emerald Queen Casino. Learn more about CageSport and Halquist Productions at HalquistProductions.com.