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ARCHIVED STORY SPRING/SUMMER 2012

Oteri wins Welterweight belt from Lamotte during Reality Fighting event;

Bessette disqualified during fight with Jeudi

By Brian Woodman Jr.

A headlining bout in which a Welterweight title changed hands punctuated Reality Fighting’s latest event at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville. The Marlborough-based MMA promotion’s June 2 card also included a women’s lightweight fight in the middle of a card that featured nine bouts.

One of the main events, a featherweight title fight between Erik Lee of Fairfield and John Naples of Uncasville, was cancelled because Naples had a broken foot. A fight between flyweights Mike Flores and Robbie Leroux was also removed from the card.

However, an exciting lightweight fight between apparent favorite Matt Bessette (see related story) and Massachusetts-based fighter Andres Jeudi appeared to win over the audience. The fight ended in a disqualification after Jeudi was hit in the head while on his knees with one of Bessette’s feet while in his guard.

Welterweight Brett Oteri of Massachusetts submitted Nate Lamotte of New Hampshire with a rear naked choke about four minutes into the third round of the main event that followed and earned the division’s belt. Lamotte looked dominant in the first round of their fight but Oteri picked up the pace by the third round and knocked Lamotte down in the third, sparking a brief frenzy of punching that progressed toward a ground fight.

“I know it was not intentional,�? said Jeudi about Bessette after their fight ended. “He is a stand-up guy. I’ve seen him fight.�?

Bessette brought Andres to the ground and achieved a dominant position about four minutes into the second round, but the round ended before he could secure a heel hook. Both fighters exchanged kicks in the third round Bessette was kneed several times before getting Jeudi to the ground. The disqualification occurred about four minutes and forty seconds into the round.

When announcer and promoter Kip Kollar asked both fighters if they were interested in a rematch, they agreed. Kollar added that Bessette could have won the fought by default because Jeudi had come in late for the weigh-ins, but he chose to fight instead.

“He was about two-and-a-half hours late to weigh-ins on Friday and the commission left, said Bessette. “Instead of waiting another 18 hours at 155 pounds and being real dehydrated and weak for the fight, I allowed him to gain 7 pounds back over night and weigh in at 162 pounds the next day. No one ever saw what he weighed on Friday though, so I don't even know if he weighed 155 pounds in the first place. It was screwed up all around.�?

Lamotte drew blood from Oteri’s face with a shot to the face about four minutes into the first round of their fight, but the tide shifted near the end of the second round as the challenger began throwing kicks during a brief exchange. Oteri was clearly dominating Lamotte at about two minutes and forty seconds into the third.

Peggy Morgan, who weighed in at 136 pounds, defeated 129-pound Kaline Medeiros by a split decision in which one judge called the fight a draw while the other two favored Morgan.

Earlier in the evening, Kollar dubbed the middleweight bout between Jesse Peterson and Jason Ward “the best fight of the night.�? The fast-moving fight opened with a flurry of punches and ended with Ward kneeing and punching his way to a knock-out of Peterson about four minutes into the third round.

Other highlights of the evening included a lightweight fight between Jim Collins of Massachusetts and Jeremy Ross of Enfield that ended with a submission at about one minute and twenty seconds into the first round. Collins secured a double-leg take-down, but Ross regrouped and sunk a guillotine choke shortly afterward.

Another lightweight fight ended in 20 seconds after Brendan Rooney of Milford submitted Leroy Dericott of Barrington with an arm bar.

Rob Font of Massachusetts dropped Thane Stimson of Canterbury with an uppercut to the jaw at 43 seconds into the second round of their feather-weight fight. Middleweight Erik Sommer of Waterbury submitted Ricardo Georges of Massachusetts with a rear naked choke at four minutes and 48 seconds into the second round. Lightweight Aniss Alhajjajy won by decision during his fight with Chris Simmons of Groton.

Kollar announced that the promotion’s next event will be on Sept. 22. It will include a middleweight title fight between Dwight Grant and Vaca Moreno.

Brett Oteri poses with ring girls and welter-weight championship belt during the Reality Fighting event at Mohegan Sun on June 2.

Peggy Morgan, left, exchanges punches with Kaline Medeiros during the June 2 Reality Fighting event at Mohegan Sun. Morgan won a split decision with one judge scoring the fight as a tie.

Fighters Peggy Morgan and Kaline Medeiros