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CageSport XXVIII - December 7th, 2013

Emerald Queen Casino - Tacoma, Washington

Review & Photos by Hadley Griffith


CageSport 185 lb Champ Brent Knopp & Cory Devela engage in the main event


Halquist Productions' CageSport XXVIII - their final event of a very successful 2013 - took place December 7th at the I-5 Showroom inside the Emerald Queen Casino and featured a full night of hard hitting MMA action. The main event for the CageSport 185 lb Title was fittingly the Fight of the Night with Champion Brent Knopp and challenger Cory Devela putting the crowd into 12th Man mode. Knopp stayed with his usual gameplan against the skilled Devela: staying close and heavy on Devela during the first round to wear his opponent out. Devela came out swinging and Knopp avoided the danger, rolled with the heavy shots Devela threw, and defended all the chokes that Devela went for on the ground. With less than 30 seconds left in the first round, Knopp fought back to his feet and loosened his heavy hands, catching Devela and dropping him to the canvas. Knopp rushed in to finish, but the bell sounded just as the follow-up punch landed.



Round two showed more action on the feet and in the clinch, Devela and Knopp both throwing solid knees. Devela opened the round with a takedown and more submission attempts, along with some ground and pound. Knopp defended well - especially against a deep rear naked choke that had the crowd thinking he was in trouble. Knopp worked his way back to his feet and started pushing the pace on Devela. Devela secured another takedown, but Knopp popped back up immediately. Knopp began moving forward and Devela settled in to using his footwork to maintain range and outside cage position. In rounds three and four, Knopp showed his conditioning - always moving forward, hands up, swinging heavy. Devela worked his counters and inside game when Knopp would close the distance and put him on the cage. When Devela put Knopp's back on the cage, Knopp fired off a series of vicious knees. Both men were landing heavy strikes, but Knopp never seemed fazed and never stopped his relentless attack. The end came in the fourth round after a takedown attempt from Devela that Knopp was able to stuff and shove Devela to the mat and take the dominant position. From there Knopp kept Devela pinned and swung away with battering right hands until the ref stepped in and stopped the fight at the 2:39 mark.




In a 122 lb featured bout, Amy Cadwell continued her winning streak against Jessica Doerner who filled in when Cadwell's original opponent got injured. Despite being made to change fight clothes at cageside due to an obscure rule not enforced in other fights, Cadwell kept her composure and didn't stray from her gameplan of moving forward and getting the takedown. Doerner fired off a few shots before being pulled to the canvas, and worked to prevent Cadwell from moving to a dominant position. Cadwell though is like lava: stays low to the ground, flows slowly, and can't be stopped. She worked into side control and began her ground and pound on Doerner. When Doerner rolled to her side, Cadwell went for an armbar, but immediately released it when Doerner defended and Cadwell kept her position. Cadwell continued to strike Doerner until Doerner rolled to her stomach and Cadwell took her back and slipped in the rear naked choke. Doerner tapped at 4:50 of round one.





In a controversial bout, Jeff Hatton had his hand raised in his 145 lb matchup against Eduardo Torres. Hatton came out like a whirlwind - battering at Torres and climbing all over him. Torres withstood the onslaught, defending on the ground and answering with punches. A couple of the punches that Torres threw on the ground landed on the back of Hatton's head, but were obviously unintentional and a result of body positioning and explosive movement. When the two ended up on the ground again, Torres again glanced a blow that caught part of the back of the head as Hatton was moving it. The ref jumped in and pulled Torres to his feet to warn him about the illegal shot. Hatton stood for a moment, than went down to all fours and began to hold his head. The ref sent Torres to a neutral corner and called in the doctor. After speaking with Hatton, the fight was stopped and Torres was disqualified.




Santa showed up early this year - throwing out some fight shirts with the help of his teammates as he made his way down the ramp. Dex Montenegro had to shed his santa suit before climbing into the cage against Soloman Jones in a 135lb bout. Jones led the way on the feet and secured a takedown, landing on top. Montenegro worked Jones into guard and controlled the ground battle from his back. Jones tried to post up, looking for a way to take advantage of his position, but couldn't find one before Montenegro was able to sink in a guillotine at 3:51 of the first round.




JJ Lopez decided to destroy Alex Eastman's ribs in their 145 lb fight. Lopez kept firing off body hooks and kicks to the midsection of Eastman. Eastman was throwing punches and kicks of his own throughout the fight, but Lopez's range control had them missing or barely landing. Lopez's strikes would continue to make Eastman stumble back, and the fight ended at 3:54 of round two when a vicious straight left to the body dropped Eastman and had him waving off Lopez and conceding the fight.




Steve Simpson was able to put away an aggressive Nick Coughran in a 180 lb fight. Coughran came out swinging, got the takedown, had top position and was defending Simpson's jiu-jitsu. When Coughran went to take side control, Simpson recaptured guard, isolated an arm and swung his leg over for the armbar. Coughran defended as best he could, but Simpson had full control of the arm and got the tap at 2:37 of round one.




Tyson Cunningham and Zach Conn put on an exciting 170 lb fight - not surprising as both fighters are always exciting to watch. Known for being unbelievably tough and even harder to put away, Conn wasn't able to get into his striking game until the second round. Cunningham took Conn down and kept him there through most of the first round. Conn defended the strikes that Cunningham rained down, and came out in the second landing some good strikes. Cunningham was again able to get the takedown and let loose a ferocious barrage of punches and elbows that opened a huge gash on Conn's forehead. When enough blood had covered the fighters and the canvas, the ref stopped the action long enough for the doctor to get a good look at the cut and call the fight. Conn wanted to keep going, but still had a smile and hug for Cunningham, congratulating him on his victory.






In the upset of the night, Lupe Hudgens proved why he is known as a solid fighter when he was able to survive a full blitz by Rob Cann. Cann came out like a nightmare - firing off punch after heavy punch. Once Cann had Hudgens on the ground, it looked like his gameplan was to punch a hole through the cage floor, and Hudgens' face just happened to be in the way. The crowd was overwhelmed by the heavy shots, and then even more surprised when Hudgens didn't fall apart, shell up, or tap. Instead Hudgens kept moving until he was able to grab ahold of one of Cann's arms and swept Cann to his back. Cann was forced to tap to the armbar, stunning the crowd with how quickly MMA fights can change direction on the ground. Hudgens not only won the fight, but Submission of the Night.




Taki Uluilakepa made his pro debut against Trent Tyler at 170 lbs, and also debuted his increased skills in his ground game. Known for being a very technical striker, it was a surprise to see Uluilakepa shoot on Tyler who is known to be a ground guy. With Marcelo Alonso in his corner coaching him through, Uluilakepa was able to hold the dominate position on Tyler. When Tyler captured an arm, Uluilakepa had to work hard to keep him from finishing it - spending a good portion of the third round on not giving in to Tyler. A very good fight from both men, the judges saw it unanimously two rounds to one for Uluilakepa




In a 135 lb match between Dylan Atkinson and Trevor Sojot, it was Atkinson's takedowns and domination on the ground that stood out. Keeping Sojot on his back and on the defensive the first round, Atkinson continued to control Sojot through the second round until Sojot gave up his back and Atkinson finished him with a rear naked choke at 1:26.




Halquist Productions have a busy 2014 ahead with 5 CageSport MMA events and 5 Battle at the Boat boxing events scheduled at the Emerald Queen Casino. They kick off the year with Battle at the Boat 94 which will be held Friday January 10th and be broadcast live across the country on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights show. CageSport XXIX will go down Saturday February 8th and will feature CageSport 145 lb Champ Drew "The Eternal Fire" Brokenshire making his next title defense against an opponent yet to named. Learn more at HalquistProductions.com.


Bout 1 - 135 lb MMA

Dylan "The Bull" Atkinson (Gresham, OR) def Trevor Sojot (Victory Athletics)
by Rear Naked Choke @ 1:26 Rd 2


Bout 2 - 170 lb MMA

Taki Uluilakepa (MABJJ/Jones Jr. Muay Thai) def Trent Tyler (Brian Johnson Fight Team) by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)



Bout 3 - 145 lb MMA

Lupe "Bam Bam" Hudgens (Underground Fight Club) def Rob "Ironman" Cann (NW Elite) by Armbar @ 1:35 Rd 1


Bout 4 - 170 lb MMA

Tyson "Supertrooper" Cunningham (Combat Sport and Fitness) def Zach "The Beast" Conn (American Combat Academy) by TKO (Doctor Stoppage - Cut) @ 2:59 Rd 2


Bout 5 - 180 lb MMA

Steve Simpson (BJJ Tacoma) def Nick "Pop the Cork" Coughran (NW Elite)
by Armbar @ 2:37 Rd 1


Bout 6 - 145 lb MMA

JJ "Killian" Lopez (Arlington Kickboxing Academy) def Alex "Beastman" Eastman (American Combat Academy) by Verbal Submission (Body Punch) @ 3:54 Rd 2


Bout 7 - 135 lb MMA

Dex "Flashy" Montenegro (White Buffalo Warriors) def Soloman "Devil Dog" Jones (Spokane BJJ) by Guillotine Choke @ 3:51 Rd 1


Bout 8 - 145 lb MMA

Jeff Hatton (Bad Company MMA) def Eduardo Torres (Yakima MMA)
by Disqualification (illegal strike) @ 3:36 Rd 1


Semi-Main Event - 122 lb MMA

Amy "The Resurrection" Cadwell (White Buffalo Warriors) def Jessica Doerner (North Dakota) by Rear Naked Choke @ 4:50 Rd 1


Main Event - CageSport 185 lb MMA Title

Brent "Mankill" Knopp (AMC) def Cory "The One" Devela (Victory Athletics)
by TKO @ 2:39 Rd 4


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