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ARCHIVED STORY    SPRING 2018
Payant KO’s Borga, Quinones wins decision at Premier FC 25

By Brian Woodman Jr.

(March 10 -- Agawam, MA) Sarah Payant (3-4) defeated Jessica Borga (0-1) in a 135-pound bout before a boisterous crowd at the Chez Josef dining hall, which hosted Premier FC 25. Payant, who trains at Champions MMA, earned the win by TKO due to strikes at 1:33 in the second round of the main event.
    Payant dominated the fight, clinching with Borga and bringing her to the ground early in the fight. But Borga, who has a 5-2 amateur record and trains at Gladiator BJJ, went for an arm bar twice as they rolled during the first round. Payant, who was in and out of Borga’s closed guard, managed to get a bully mount during the second round and launched a ground-and-pound attack that prompted the referee to wave the fight off. 
    The previous fight was also a women’s bout -- a 120-pound fight between Destiny Quinones (1-0) and Lisa Blaine (2-1). Quinones, who trains at Next Level MMA, won by unanimous decision. Quinones generally dominated the ground-heavy fight, ending the first round with an arm bar attempt and attempting a rear naked choke during the second. Blaine, who trains at Ultimate MMA, attempted a few guillotines during the course of the fight.
    Quinones ducked under a spinning back fist during the third round and attempted a double leg takedown that Blaine countered with sprawling. 
    In a twist of sorts, both of the women’s fights featured a ring card guy instead of a ring card girl.



Jessica Borga, left, versus Sarah Payant during Premier FC 25.
Photo by John Fulcher
Lisa Blaine, left, versus Destiny Quinones at Chez Josef on March 10.
Photo by John Fulcher
    The main card opened with a 185 pound fight between Jesus Cintron ( 1-0) of Team Old School and Reginaldo Felix (2-2) of Team Link. Felix clinched with Cintron, went to the ground with him, started to ground-and-pound and won at :59 in the first round by TKO due to strikes.
    The bout originally scheduled to open up the second part of the evening was a 155-pound bout between Alex Ortiz (0-0) of Golden Falcon and Keenan Raymond of RCBJJ. “I was ready,” said Ortiz regarding the scratched fight as he engaged in a little trash-talk and braggadocio following the announcement.
    The next fight, a 170-pound bout between Rodolfo Barcellos (1-0) of Xtreme Ambition and Myles Reid (0-3), took an interesting turn. Reid, who trains with Team Old School, caught at least three of Barcellos’s kicks, pouncing on him a couple of times and actually permitting him to get back up to strike at one point. But Barcellos went to the ground and engaged a standing Myles, securing a submission by heel hook at 1:52 in the first round.
    The evening started with seven amateur fights.
    The first was a 180-pound bout between Anthony Benavides (2-0) of Ultimate MMA and Nick Fernandez (0-1) of Battlecrew MMA. Benevides generally dominated the fight, bringing Fernandez to the ground during each round and attempting ground-and-pound attacks after clinching with him against the fence. Fernandez briefly turned the tables during the third round and attempted some ground-and-pound but it was not enough and Benevides won by unanimous decision.
    Chris Almestica of Team Link made quick work Austin Schalla from Dexters during the 155-pound bout that followed. Almestica submitted Schalla at 1:20 in the first round with a rear naked choke. 
    Kevin Braga (1-0) of SSSF earned an unanimous decision over Blaze Robinson (0-3) of Team Ravenous during a 130-pound bout. Braga attempted to drop bombs from inside Robinson’s half guard during the first round and wound up in his full guard during the second after attempting to take his back. Robinson stepped up the pace after the referee stood the fighters up during the third round, launching a punching combination to the body but Braga brought him to the ground again and wound up on top as the fight ended. The judges scored it 29-28.
    Billy Goff (2-1) of Dexter Vale Tudo defeated Harrison Adamo (no record provided) of Ultimate MMA by TKO at 1:28 in the second round. Goff fought at 160 pounds while Adamo was contracted for between 150 and 155.
    Adamo attempted a bully mount with ground-and-pound as the first round ended. But the referee stopped the fight during the second round as Goff rained bombs on Adamo.
    The next fight, a 185-pound bout between Jideofor Ojukwu (1-1) of SSSF and Yi Ju (1-1) of Team Radical, ended in obvious controversy. Ju unleashed a punching combination that put Ojukwu visibly off balance and prompted the referee to end the fight at:29 in the second round. But a conscious Ojukwu threw his hands up and expressed disbelief and what he clearly considered to be an early stoppage. The crowd booed loudly at the outcome.
    Kenny Campion (3-3) of Golden Falcon earned an unanimous decision over Justin Kristie (2-3) of Ultimate MMA during a 140-pound bout. He started the second round but dropping Kristie with a straight high kick and pouncing on him to attempt some ground-and-pound, Kristie attempted to counter with a leg triangle. Champions wound up in Kristie’s half guard and tried for bombs as the round ended. 
    Kristie slipped another high kick by Champions during the third round and grabbed his waist, bringing him to the ground and engaging in vigorous rolling. The fight went back and forth from there with Kristie attempting two submissions and Champions going for ground-and-pound.
    The last amateur fight, a 165-pound bout, ended quickly. Local favorite Aaron Reverdez (2-1) of Team Juniko volume-punched his way to knocking out Jason Showers (2-7) of Xtreme Ambition at :52 in the first round. 

Correction: Sarah Payant trains at Gladiator BJJ and Jessica Borga trains at Champions. This was not correctly reported in our story and we regret the error.