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ARCHIVED STORY SPRING 2018
AMMO Fight League: House of Pain
MMA event of St. Patty’s Day
Ryan Sanders kicks Jon Manley during the main event at AMMO Fight League: House of Pain, which was held on March 17 at the Big E in West Springfield. Manley won the fight by unanimous decision.
Photo by John Fulcher
By Brian Woodman Jr.
(March 17 -- West Springfield, MA) A professional 170-pound bout between Jon Manley (11-4) and Ryan Sanders (15-9) headlined AMMO Fight League’s latest MMA event at the Big E. The organization scratched a 205-pounf fight between William Knight and Wesley Hall, which was the event’s only other scheduled bout, due to what promoter Bill Vigil (AKA Bill Idol) described as a problem with one of the fighters making weight.
The evening also included 10 amateur MMA fights and four submission-only grappling bouts.
Manley, who runs his own martial arts school in Easthampton, MA, earned an unanimous decision over Sanders after three five-minute rounds that went back and forth. Sanders, who trains at Young’s MMA, landed a few solid high kicks to the face during the fight and both fighters exchanged strikes. But Manley used his wrestling skills and a few punching combinations to generally remain in a dominant position.
The main card opened with a featherweight bout between Jacon Strohman of Fighting Arts Academy and Jose Hercules of Thornton Martial Arts -- both of whom were making their debuts. Strohman lifted and dropped Hercules before getting a bully mount and punching his way to a first-round TKO at 2:48.
Demetrius Plaza (2-0) of Black Hole Jiu-Jitsu secured a win over Jonathan Colon (0-1) of Plus One Defense during a welterweight bout, submitting him by arm bar at 2:04 in the third round. Plaza brought Colon to the ground with a double-leg takedown in the first round and attempted a rear naked choke. Plaza took Colon down twice during the following round -- Colon attempted a guillotine choke from the ground but Plaza generally dominated the round. Plaza caught a kick from Colon during the final round and threw him before winning the bout.
Casey Norton (2-0) of Thornton Martial Arts earned an unanimous decision over Broderick Matticks (0-1) during a flyweight bout. Matticks wound up in Norton’s open guard during the first round and eventually attempted a guillotine while Norton attempted a leg triangle. Norton picked up and dropped Matticks during the second round -- he wound up on top and attempted body shots from the top as the round ended. The third round opened with Matticks attempting a guillotine as the fight went to the ground and ended with both fighters on the ground.
Jordan Butler (1-0) made quick work of Fenix BJJ’s Joao Da Silva, winning by TKO at :26 in the first round.
Jeremy Woolfolk (1-0) of Shark Zone defeated Jon Gruber (2-2) by unanimous decision. Woolfolk generally dominated the heavyweight bout, during which Gruber received a warning from the referee after hitting his opponent in the cup. Gruber attempted a few spinning back fists and actively engaged in the striking exchanges, while Woolfolk leaned towards power punches and ground-and-pound.
Shawn Rego (1-0) of the Regiment Training Center defeated Steve Romano (0-2, according to Tapology.com) of Thunder MMA by TKO at 1:56 in the second round during a lightweight bout. Rego lost his mouth guard at one point, prompting a referee’s stoppage, but he took Romano down twice and attempted ground-and-pound. Rego kneed Romano’s legs in the clinch during the second round before lifting over his shoulder and slamming him into the may. The referee waved the fight off and a ringside physician examined Romano.
Jason Francisco defeated Meylis Charyyew (both 2-1, based on information from Tapology.com) by majority decision, with one judge ruling the 185-pound bout a draw. Francisco brought Charyyew down twice during the first round, with single and double-leg takedowns, but both fighters came off well during the striking exchanges. Francisco took Charyyew’s back during the second round and almost got a guillotine -- Charyyew wound up on top as the round ended. The referee deducted a point from Charyyew during the third round and the fight went to the ground again.
The next bout was contracted at 148 pounds, according to information from the promoters. Sam Ayers of Fighting Arts Academy (2-1, based on information from Tapology.com) earned an unanimous decision win over Brando Rose (0-1) of Punishment Striking.
Rose brought Ayers to the ground during the first round -- Ayers wound up on tiop and mounted a ground-and-pound attack as it ended. During the second round, Rose landed decent shots before the two fighters clinched. Ayers landed a straight shot to the jaw and a lower leg kick as the third round opened -- after some clinching Ayers lifted Rose and dropped as the round ended.
The next fight was an energetic flyweight bout between David Durao (1-1) of Underdog BJJ and Matt Franco (0-1).
Durao knocked Franco to the ground during the second round but had to avoid a heel hook attempt. He took Franco down with a double-leg attempt as the second round ended. He repeated this at the end of the third and won by split decision.
The next fight was for the organization’s welterweight belt. It ended with a visibly exhausted Angelo Richardson of Golden Falcon submitting Elias Morales by rear naked choke at :43 in the third round. Richardson struggled to get a dominant position during the first two rounds but after a striking exchange during the third they cinched -- they wound up on the ground and Richardson secured the win from the bottom.
The grappling matches preceded the MMA bouts.
Fabio Rivera Nicholas Caggia submitted Fabio Rivera during the first match by kimura via side control.
The next matches (Kyle Hodgdon versus Kevin Shaughnessy and Isabella Bruno versus Liko Rhines) ended in a draw. Gianna Ganiele submitted Cadence Nadaal by arm bar during the final match.
The promotion cancelled a match between Gabriel Souza and Ray Shawdee.
Editorial correction: Casey Norton is from Team Thunder MMA. Broderick Matticks is from Thornton's. This was incorrectly reported and we regret the error.
