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Conquest of the Cage - February 28th, 2014

Northern Quest Casino - Airway Heights, Washington

Photos by Dennis Merritt / Big Guy Photography



Elizabeth Phillips connects with a right to Rachael Swatez' face in the main event


ExciteFight, in conjunction with Sikjitsu Fighting Systems, presented Conquest of the Cage on February 28th in front of a capacity crowd inside the Northern Quest Resort & Casino's event center. 10 MMA bouts were contested, including an amateur title fight and 2 pro fights. There was a very special guest in the house in none other than The Ultimate Fighter's most recent winner: Julianna "The Venezuelan Vixen" Pena. The Spokane-based Sikjitsu fighter recently had major knee surgery after a nasty training accident and so entered the cage on crutches during intermission. Speaking to the crowd, Pena vowed to not only make a full recovery but that when she got back in the Octagon that she would not be taking prisoners. Two other UFC fighters were also on hand in Sikjitsu's Mike Chiesa and Sam Sicilia, both of whom were recently booked for undercard fights at May 24th's UFC 173 event in Las Vegas.

TUF Season 18 Champion Julianna Pena speaks to the crowd

The main event featured a pro 135 lb matchup between Sikjitsu's Elizabeth Phillips and Vancouver Island fighter Rachael Swatez out of Impact MMA Nanaimo. This was a great fight to end the night seeing a lot of standup action and big shots, mostly coming from Phillips who connected time and time again with her punches and kicks. Swatez took the punishment and stayed in the fight, looking to keep it competitive, but Phillips' striking definitely wore her down. In the third round, Phillips picked up the pace, flurrying with punches as Swatez covered against the cage, until Swatez' corner had seen enough and threw in the towel to protect their fighter. The ending came at the 1:20 mark of the third round. Phillips moves to 3-1 as a pro with three straight wins, while Swatez falls to 5-4.






In the Co-Main Event, "Insane" Dave Courchaine demonstrated why he may be the scariest fighter right now in the NW, scoring the Knockout of the Night in his pro 160 lb fight with "Precious" Roy Bradshaw. When the fight got underway, Bradshaw almost immediately drove Courchaine against the cage looking for the takedown but Courchaine quickly reversed and broke free, preferring the fight to remain standing. The pair exchanged in the middle a couple of times with Courchaine throwing a high kick and then squarely landing with a kick to the thigh, followed up by Bradshaw throwing a flurry of punches that Courchaine blocked. Courchaine then connected with straight jab that put Bradshaw on wobbly legs. Bradshaw shot in again looking to take it to the ground and this time Courchaine perfectly timed a big knee as he was backing up which knocked Bradshaw out cold at 59 seconds into the fight. Courchaine has won 10 of 11 fights since 2012 and looks absolutely primed for the big time.





Sikjitsu's Jack Farrell and Team Execution's Chris Katus matched up with the ExciteFight Amateur 170 lb Title on the line. Katus executed a slick takedown early, getting on top and looking to land strikes while Farrell defended well and looked for the submission. The fight eventually went back to the feet whereupon Farrell threw Katus against the cage, grabbed his neck and dropped to the canvas for the guillotine. Almost immediately Farrell transitioned to a triangle choke and got hold of Katus' left arm. Katus tried to slam his way out, but Farrell stayed with it and got the tap from Katus at 2:15 of the first.





Team Cannibull's Jon Weber and Sikjitsu's Chris Gardner engaged in a war in the 170 lb amateur weight class. Gardner came out swinging, connecting with punches and then landing with a solid kick to the face of Weber that dropped him. As Weber got up, Gardner sunk a standing guillotine but Weber picked him and slammed him, eventually popping free from the choke and doing some damage with his ground and pound. Weber nearly sunk a rear naked choke but Gardner escaped. A timeout was called to check the cut over Weber's eye that nearly stopped the fight but it was allowed to continue. On the restart, the pair exchanged with Gardner landing some good body kicks and Weber getting the takedown just before the bell. The 2nd and 3rd rounds played out similarly, opening with some furious standup action, as both fighters landed some good punches and kicks to the body. Weber then got the takedown and went to work throwing strikes and keeping top position to the bell. In the end, all three judges saw it unanimously for Weber.




In an amateur 205 lb matchup, Igor Karamehic got early takedowns and controlled Justin Rodriguez on the ground in all 3 rounds to garner a unanimous decision win.


In an amateur middleweight bout, Daniel Varavin landed a big punch that dropped Ed Pink, then followed up with a few more before referee Joe DeRobbio stepped in at the 1:24 mark of the first round.



Chance Haskins scored a TKO win over Nick Miller via ground strikes at the 2:03 mark of round 2.


Amateur lightweight Jesse Hardenbrook armbarred Kevin Shaw at 1:06 of Rd 1.


The amateur 135 lb contest between Diego Valverde and Jesse Simpson ended quickly with Valverde picking up Simpson for the slam and Simpson instinctively putting his arm out to brace his fall. Unfortunately, the force of the slam dislocated his elbow, ending the fight. The ringside doctor was able to pop it back in place and Simpson will recover.


Sam Hyslop and Brent McNeil opened the night engaging in an excellent amateur 145 lb scrap. Hyslop came away with the win after locking on a tight triangle choke and riding out a couple of McNeil slams before getting the tap out at 1:46 of the third.




The next Conqeust of the Cage is scheduled for Friday May 30th. Learn more about ExciteFight and Sik-Jitsu Fighting Systems at
facebook.com/sikjitsu


Bout 1 - Amateur 145 lbs
Sam Hyslop def Brent McNeil by Triangle Choke @ 1:46 Rd 3


Bout 2 - Amateur 135 lbs
Diego Valverde def Jesse Simpson by TKO (elbow dislocation to slam) @ 0:17 Rd 1


Bout 3 - Amateur 155 lbs
Jesse Hardenbrook def Kevin Shaw by Armbar @ 1:06 Rd 1


Bout 4 - Amateur 205 lbs
Chance Haskins def Nick Miller by TKO (Ref Stop - Strikes) @ 2:03 Rd 2


Bout 5 - Amateur 185 lbs
Daniel Varavin def Ed Pink by TKO (Ref Stop - Strikes) @ 1:24 Rd 1


Bout 6 - Amateur 205 lbs
Igor Karamehic def Justin Rodriguez by Unanimous Decision


Bout 7 - Amateur 170 lbs
Jon Weber def Chris Gardner by Unanimous Decision


Bout 8 - Amateur 170 lb Championship
Jack Farrell def Chris Katus by Triangle Choke @ 2:15 Rd 1


Co-Main Event - Pro 160 lbs
Dave Courchaine def Roy Bradshaw by KO (Knee) @ 0:59 Rd 1


Main Event - Pro 135 lbs
Elizabeth Phillips def Rachael Swatez by TKO (Corner Stoppage) @ 1:20 Rd 3



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