Regional MMA

In 2011, when I was living in Las Vegas, I began hearing rumors of a huge MMA tournament being organized by legendary kickboxing star and MMA trainer Ray Sefo. 

Rumors fly everywhere in Las Vegas, especially when you live and operate in the MMA scene. You really never know what to believe. And from what I'd heard of Sefo's idea, I wasn't sure it could ever be pulled off. 

I'd heard Sefo wanted to organize a big MMA tournament, to be held over the course of a few days at Caesar's Palace, with the winner awarded a $1,000,000 prize. It seemed too good to be true. It also seemed remarkably similar to the plot of the movie, "Warrior."

But most of all, it seemed completely outlandish; the Nevada State Athletic Commission would never sanction such an event. 

It was a pipe dream, albeit one that held plenty of intrigue for longtime fans of mixed martial arts. It was like the old days with the crazy PRIDE tournaments, a throwback to the days when fighting was still something of an underground thing, followed closely only by those who frequented mixed martial arts message boards.

Sefo's old-school dreams eventually became the World Series of Fighting, which makes its debut this Saturday night at Planet Hollywood. It's not the tournament Sefo originally envisioned, but rather a simple and traditional MMA card, albeit one with some of the biggest names available outside the UFC. Andrei Arlovski headlines the event. Miguel Torres takes his first post-UFC fight on the main card, and superstar kickboxer Tyrone Spong makes his MMA debut.

But Sefo told me last week that he'd still like to see the tournament format utilized by WSOF at some point.

"That was 100 percent WSOF. We were looking at tournaments at that point in time. We signed a lot of fighters, but we couldn't uphold our end in terms of dates, so we had to release a lot of fighters," Sefo said. "It obviously changed with time. We're going with the format we're using now because it works, and we'll create our roster from there and then eventually look at the tournament style.

"I would have loved for the tournaments to happen. But that was something we would need to have approved before finalizing anything," he said. "It was never anything outside of talks in the office. But it would be kind of cool if it did happen."

Sefo is everywhere in Las Vegas. I used to see him at every local fight card, at Xtreme Couture and at the UFC offices. If a location had something to do with martial arts, Sefo would be there. And so I wonder aloud if Sefo has the time on his busy schedule—he's a prolific trainer of fighters while still maintaining his own fighting career—to manage the responsibilities that come with promoting events. 

But World Series of Fighting isn't Sefo's first foray into the promotional end of the sport. Few people realize it, but Sefo and his business partner promoted K-1 events in New Zealand. To hear Sefo tell it, WSOF is a natural progression from his career as a fighter and trainer.

"It's definitely the next chapter in my long life in martial arts. It's what I wanted to do," Sefo said. "I wanted to stay in MMA and also share these experiences with fans and fighters."

How will Sefo fit WSOF into his already busy schedule?

"Right now I don't have a problem doing it. I'm just one of those guys that stays busy," Sefo said. "My only concern is traveling. But with WSOF, everything is in Vegas. It's good because I'm getting to spend time with my son. It's all possible to do, and I love doing it."

Sefo's role with WSOF is much like Dana White's role with the UFC. He's the figurehead. He'll take the lead at press conferences and do all of the interviews promoting the event. His business partner in WSOF has remained silent and hidden behind the scenes, leaving Sefo to handle the brunt of the publicity work. It's a role he's not used to, but he says he'll gladly do it.

"The crazy thing is that I don't see myself as that guy. I am that guy as the President of WSOF, but I don't see myself being pressured to be that guy. I love it and I enjoy it, and everything works," Sefo said. "I love coaching, competing and being president of WSOF."

"Everything is moving the way it's supposed to. There may come a time when it's too much, when I'm too busy," he said. "If that happens, I'll take a look at it and make adjustments."

Monster featherweight Rick The Gladiator Glenn showed a relentless and highly skilled game tonight in eventually taking out Hamilton's Lyndon Whitlock in an all-out war and fight of the night. Glenn used brutal body kicks to soften Whitlock up and then landed a big head kick to set up the finish in the third round. Despite the loss, Whitlock proved he belongs in the top tier of his division and his game has surpassed that of former foe Tristan Johnson.

Glenn clearly wants Chris Horodecki next. He called him out for the second time in a row in his postfight interview. He is a tough matchup for anyone, and not just in SFS.

In a disappointing end to the evening, an accidental headbutt by Cardinal in an exchange in the first round opened a severe cut on the brow of Horodecki. After the cut was checked by the doctor after the first round, the fight was called off and ruled a no contest.

Jesse "The Ghost 2.0" Gross dominated grappler Seiji Sugiman-Marangos tonight in the opening bout of the main card, and it was just the performance that Gross needed in his career. He used his power and movement to overwhelm the smaller opponent and got the stoppage at 4:59 of the second round. The power and efficiency in Gross' hands were vintage Adrenaline Training Center. The sacred gym in London, Ontario houses some of the best strikers in Canada in Jesse Ronson, Sam Stout, Chris Clements, Mark Hominick, Chris Horodecki and Chad Laprise.

 Gross could be in line for his dream rematch with Brad Cardinal very soon.

John "Haggis Basher" Fraser took a gritty bounce-back victory over Tyler Toner using his superior takedowns to stay in dominant position for most  of the night. The striking in this one appeared in the second round, and though there were shifts and opportunities for Toner, Fraser was in control all night. He went north-south position on Toner a few times and had arm bar and kimura opportunities. He delivered a nice war for his hometown fans.

"This is what I wanted, I wanted a war and this was a war. Every punch hurt, it was awesome. Thank you Tyler Toner for coming this far to fight me."

It is a nice bounce back for Fraser, and it keeps him in the top tier of the division in the SFS.

Tony Hervey should go grab a Lotto Max ticket because luck seems to be on his side. Hervey was getting dominated for much of the fight with Jorge Britto before an injury to Britto's arm halted the bout after the second round. Hervey got the gift win. There is no question that Hervey earns the win by hanging in there, but who knows who could be next for him after that performance.

Sergej Juskevic was just a bit too much for Gerald Meerschaert on this night as he took him out with a slick kneebar submission at the end of the first round. Juskevic was the better fighter from the get-go and seized his opportunity to put a quick end to his night.

It's time for an SFS big name for Juskevic as Forrest Petz is headlining the next card. This guy deserves to be near the top of cards as well.

Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter @wakafightermma

On Saturday, September 22, a new chapter was launched in the long struggle to bring professional mixed martial arts competition to New York State, as the Gladius Fights promotion kicked off their inaugural show from the Cattaraugus Sports Arena in Irving, NY. The event was sanctioned by the Seneca Nation Athletic Commission and was broadcast live by Go Fights Live.

It was an action-packed 12-fight card loaded with some of the best MMA talent living and training in central and Western New York. Many of these fighters had spent years building their careers on the road, continually playing the role of out-of-town spoiler versus hometown hero.

On Saturday night, it was finally their turn to feel the energy that comes from fighting in front of family and friends.

The night kicked off in storybook fashion. In his second amateur fight, flyweight Brandon Warne of Ovid, NY won by unanimous decision over Dustin Bertch and then capped off his night by successfully proposing to his girlfriend in the middle of the octagon.

In lightweight action, Kevin Johnston improved his amateur record to 5-2 via split decision victory over previously unbeaten Jake Bohn. The two fighters put on a solid display of technical grappling. 

"It was very important to us to make sure we had top-notch amateur fights," promoter Ryan Ciotoli told me after the show. "If we were going to have amateur fights, we wanted to make sure they were going to be very good."

The professional card kicked off with light heavyweight Jabril Patterson beating Dan Jennings by first-round TKO at 3:04. 

In flyweight action, Pete Cole of Cortland, NY hung tough in stand-up action against Gabe Sacchetti before securing the takedown and sinking a rear naked choke to win by submission at 3:35 of round one. 

In his professional debut at a 150-pound catch weight, Shane Manley bested Jeff Denz by unanimous decision. 

In one of the night's most heated battles, Ahsan Abdulla showcased crisp striking on his feet and withstood Sabino Scarpone's powerful wrestling attack to counter with a guillotine choke 1:47 into the second round. Abdulla, who was the victim of an atrociously bad split-decision loss in Rhode Island on August 3, improved his professional record to 1-1.

In featherweight action, "The Russian Sniper" Amaran Aliyev beat Antwerp, Belgium import Nico Verresen by guillotine choke at 3:08 of Round 1 after a thrilling, blood-filled stand up war that had the crowd on their feet and screaming. 

In featherweight action, fast-rising prospect Desmond "The Predator" Green improved to 5-0 when he dominated Matt Dimarcantonio en route to a unanimous decision victory. A Rochester native and former University of Buffalo wrestling standout, Green was fighting in his own backyard in front of an enthusiastic partisan crowd. 

MMA fans who play the prospect-watch game should place Green firmly on their radar. 

In a matchup of skilled grapplers, Tom Vanderhorst of Bedroc MMA in Rochester, NY employed an aggressive bottom game to catch an arm bar on James Frier at 2:33 of round two. 

In my own choice for Fight of the Night, bantamweight Andrew Cseh bested Zech Lange via unanimous decision 29-28 on all three cards. 

In the co-main event, welterweight Mike Winters improved to 7-2 by winning a unanimous decision against TJ Sumler. 

In the main event, Rochester native and Bellator and Strikeforce veteran Don Carlo-Clauss survived an early scare against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Eddie Fyvie to improve his record to 10-7.

Fyvie caught Carlo-Clauss with a hard shot early in the first round and closed aggressively. Carlo-Clauss dropped his level and secured an easy takedown, but Fyvie reacted aggressively, sinking a deep arm bar that nearly ended the night. Carlo-Clauss escaped by lifting Fyvie and slamming him headfirst into the mat. 

"That's not normally my go-to (for escaping the arm bar), but I had to do something" Carlo-Claus told me in the locker room afterwards.

After escaping danger, Carlo-Clauss kept Fyvie trapped tight against the cage for the remainder of the round, which he still managed to win on all three cards. 

In the second and third, Carlo-Clauss imposed his will with a dominant clinch game, trapping Fyvie on the cage and working for a takedown. 

"I knew I could easily control the action in that position," he said afterward. "But he was crafty. He wouldn't give me any room to get off with a punch or an elbow."

Although he was pleased to come away with the win, Carlo-Clauss expressed some disappointment in his inability to deliver a more exciting performance. "

You train to finish guys and dominate," he said. "And I don't usually get to fight in front of so many family and friends. I wanted to put on a show."

"But sometimes, you have to do what you can do to win."

In truth, the fight was a satisfying technical matchup. Fyvie displayed an extremely fluid jui-jitsu game from his back and managed to score with flashy, if not overly effective, up-kicks when trailing late in the fight. 

For his own part, Carlo-Clauss showed an impressive ability to adjust during the fight. He credited his opponent for the effective strike in the first.

"That might be the hardest I've been hit," he admitted. "I was worried about it the rest of the fight and couldn't get my rhythm."

Nevertheless, he managed to score throughout the fight with punishing leg kicks. It was a testament to intelligent reading of a dangerous opponent: "He kept stepping and circling with his jab, stepping right into the leg kick."

Carlo-Clauss showcased some smart adjustments in the grappling game, too. After surviving a legitimate scare in the first, he was never in serious danger the rest of the way. "In the second and third round I started to get a feel for what he does."

"I roll with good guys all the time," said Carlo-Clauss, mentioning his Bombsquad teammate and four-time Mundial world champion Rene Nazere. "But everybody does things a little bit differently."

For Gladius Fights and the Seneca Nation, it was clearly a night to build upon for the future. Ciotoli, who has been active in the northeast and national MMA scene for a decade, was happy with his promotion's initial offering. 

"We looked to match up guys who would make exciting fights. I feel like we got it tonight and that we might have some matchups we can build on in the future based on what happened tonight."

Before a fighter becomes a professional mixed martial artist, he must prove himself as an amateur in the sport, competing against other up-and-comers who have the dreams of someday fighting on national television.

For Minnesota prospect John Castaneda, that journey has been a fairly long one.

Though he only began training in the sport during his freshman year of college in 2010, Castaneda has already competed in 13 amateur bouts, even earning himself an amateur lightweight championship along the way.

Most fighters who have so many amateur fights are either fighting in small towns or have weak records that don’t lead to as many opportunities to turn pro. But for John Castaneda, it wasn’t either of those things. At 12-1 in his amateur career and with victories over some top-level amatuer opponents, Castaneda could’ve turned pro well before this if he wanted to.

“My first few fights, I just kind of won based on pure skill that I had through wrestling or some basic stuff that I picked up in the gym,” Castaneda told Bleacher Report MMA. “I really wanted to be considered well rounded before I turned pro. I wanted to be confident in all of my abilities, whether it’s boxing, kicks, elbows, jiu-jistu.”

A former high-school wrestler, Castaneda had already established himself as one of the better wrestlers in the 155-pound division within Minnesota, so his move to the Mankato Martial Arts gym has allowed him to really get the well-rounded attention that he needs.

“In my last few fights, I’ve been super confident in my hands,” he said. “ It’s almost like I don’t even want to go to the ground anymore, and that’s what I’m known for.”

When fighters who have dominant amateur records begin to look for fights as professionals, it can often be difficult to find opponents who are willing to even get in the cage with them. Losing to a fighter in his pro debut doesn’t look great on a fighter’s record, and many promotions give very little weight to what a fighter did as an amateur.

Castaneda credits his Sterling Entertainment Group manager Jeremy Bjornberg with finding a quality opponent, Nick Schmidtke, for him to test his skills against in his pro debut at Saturday’s “Caged Chaos at Canterbury” event.

Unfortunately, Schmidtke won’t be able to compete on the card due to an untimely staph infection.

Bjornberg was forced to scramble and put together a replacement opponent for the “Sexi Mexi” to go up against. He eventually found Brandon Abrego, a journeyman fighter whose fearless attitude could revitalize his career if he’s able to pull out an upset against Castaneda.

“I’m sure he’s ready to go. He wants to take out one of the top up-and-comers,” Castaneda said regarding his new opponent. “My Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach Justin Kratzke actually fought him, so I have somewhat of an idea who he is. He’s kind of a brawler, he’s not that technical of a fighter. I actually saw his last fight, but he got knocked out in just a couple of seconds, so there wasn’t much to learn from that one. I’m sure he’s going to come ready to swing, though.”

With teammates helping to simulate Abrego’s aggressive style, Castaneda feels that he is prepared for the fight. He also believes that the increased round time of five minutes in pro fights as opposed to three minutes in amateur fights won’t make much of a difference for him.

“I don’t remember the last time I actually practiced for a three-minute round,” he said. “All we do [at Mankato Martial Arts] is five-minute rounds...whether you’re pro or amateur. I had some come-from-behind wins where I was down two rounds to none, and I came back because of my cardio.”

While the increase in fight time might not be much of a factor for him, the pressure of the first pro fight is definitely not something that Castaneda is taking lightly.

“It does feel different to be preparing for my pro debut because I look at my amateur career as kind of like practice and getting myself ready,” he said. “If I screwed up before, it’s whatever...Now there’s really no room for screwing up. This is when it counts.”

Although this fight will be at 155 pounds, like most of his amateur bouts, Castaneda will actually be looking to make a dramatic drop down in weight, all the way to 135, perhaps even by the end of the year.

“It’s a big drop, but I’ve made 145 for a couple of my fights last year,” he said. “Making a cut to 145 is just like wrestling where I could cut 10 pounds of water weight. But 135, I haven’t been that low since my sophomore year of high school!”

Castaneda, who currently ranks in the top 10 in the state in the lightweight division (via Minnessota Mixed Martial Arts News), will soon be looking to make his way back into the rankings in the new weight class.

“I’m not looking to fight turds to boost my record. That’s not going to do me any good,” he said. “All of the smaller weight classes in Minnesota at 135, 145 and 155 are just stacked with talent. So I really wouldn’t expect me to be on the rankings at 135 very quickly. I know I’m going to have to work at it and get some wins under my belt.”

Though the plans are in place for Castaneda to begin fighting at 135, we might see him fighting at another weight before he gets down to 135. In fact, we might even see him competing in an entirely different sport.

“I’ll probably have a boxing fight before I do another MMA fight, maybe even as soon as next month,” Castaneda said. “I really want to get this boxing fight under my belt because especially for bigger shows, a pro boxing win looks really good on your resume. “

Before he can begin thinking about 135 or a pro boxing fight, though, Castaneda has an important first step to take by getting a victory against Brandon Abrego on Saturday night in Shakopee, Minn.

“Not to sound cocky or anything, but I’m really looking for a first-round knockout,” Castaneda said.

Castaneda will be representing Gamebred Fightwear, Sterling Entertainment Group and Taco Loco at the event, scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. at Canterbury Park. Tickets range between $30-100 and can be purchased at the door or by calling 612-281-6300.

Those who are out of town are invited to check out the event’s free live stream at SterlingMN.com.

For more MMA news, fighter interviews and opinions, follow Nick Caron: @NicholasCaron.

Over the past several years, one of the biggest fights in the mixed martial arts universe has been waged outside of the cage: the effort to finally get the sport legalized in the state of New York.

Despite already passing the New York Senate with wide spread popular support, in May of this year, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced that the bill would once again be prevented from reaching the Assembly floor for vote. For the second straight year, the bill to legalize mixed martial arts in New York was killed in committee.  

The ongoing ban in New York has prevented thousands of fans in the state from having the opportunity to watch their favorite sport live. It has robbed venues from Madison Square Garden to countless smaller arenas from the revenue-generating bonanza that would come from hosting a professional MMA card.

But without a doubt, the biggest burden has been felt by New York state fighters and trainers. For professional fighters trying to establish a career while living in New York has meant long overnight drives, hostile crowds and records marred by judges' decisions that smell suspiciously like "home cooking."

But later this month, an exciting new venue will open up for fighters in upstate New York, as the Gladius Fights Promotion hosts its inaugural card at the Cattaragus Sports Arena in Irving, NY, sanctioned by the Seneca Nation's Athletic Commission.  

Gladius Fights was started by long time MMA trainer and owner of Bombsquad Management, Ryan Ciotoli. Ciotoli once estimated to me that he travels 30-35 weekends a year with his fighters, getting them the fights they need to stay active and build their up their resumes. 

By donning a promoter's hat, the former Ithaca College All-American wrestler will get the chance to bring the sport he has been involved in for more than a decade closer to home.

For the Seneca tribe, sanctioning and promoting mixed martial arts is not a new venture. The tribe previously worked with the Raging Wolf Promotion, hosting the cards at their Seneca Niagara Casino, in Niagara Falls, NY. 

The experience makes them an ideal partner for Ciotoli, regardless of the ban that prevents him from promoting cards anywhere else in the state. "The Seneca Commission is very easy to deal with," he told me. "Very structured and organized. They bring in good refs and judges and a good doctor."

The Seneca Nation's new Cattaragus Arena provides a state-of-the-art venue for the show. "The locker room area is great," Ciotoli said, noting that in his road warrior travels shepherding his team around the Northeast, accommodations for fighters are not always ideal.

"It's great to have a place for each team to relax and get ready. And having a place to shower, that's nice." 

As would be expected, the card is loaded with New York state fighters, including main event combatants, lightweights Don Carlo-Clauss, 9-7, of Rochester and Eddie Fyvie, 9-5, of Schenectady.

A Bellator and Strike Force veteran, Carlo-Clauss could be the poster boy for fighters getting a raw deal on the road. Last December he dropped a split decision in New Jersey to hometown fighter Chris Liguori. NortheastMMA.net correspondent Old School reported he had been sitting next to Liguori's own family, who all thought their boy had lost the fight.

Although Carlo-Clauss fought on a Raging Wolf cards in 2009 and 2010, like most New York state fighters, his career has mainly been played out away from home. In a press release on the Gladius Fight's Facebook page, he stated: 

"I’ve had 16 fights and some of my closest friends and family have never seen me fight before. I want this fight to start a new chapter in my career, and I want to keep looking ahead."

The card will be streamed live by Go Fights Live. Comcast Regional Sports network will broadcast a highlight version of the card within two-three weeks of the show date. 

Saturday night’s Driller Promotions/Sterling Entertainment Group event in St. Paul, MN could be the biggest regional MMA event of the year for the state of Minnesota. The stacked card has the area buzzing in anticipation for what could be a historic night.

One of the fighters competing on the card is a top up-and-comer in the area, Patrick Delgado, whose undefeated record as an amateur transferred over smoothly into a pro career this past July when he defeated Roland Larson.

As a jiu-jitsu expert, Delgado has mostly dominated his fights by utilizing his superior skills on the ground to control and later submit his opponents, none of whom have even made it out of the first round against him.

That’s not exactly what happened against Roland Larson, though, as Delgado still won in the first round—but this time, rather than using a jiu-jitsu hold, Delgado forced his opponent to tap out due to the relentless elbows he was landing.

“I love to tap people out, but I’d rather be as safe as possible,” Delgado told Bleacher Report MMA regarding the fight. “[Roland] is a brown belt jiu-jitsu fighter as well, so there was no way that I was going to try go for a submission that would be a lower percentage for me to finish and have him see an opening.”

Earning the first pro victory of his career was important, but it’s not necessarily the most memorable moment for him thus far in the sport. Instead, that title has to go to his performance on May 14, 2011, when he subdued Jahmale Maxwell with a rarely seen hold called the Nutcracker Choke.

Though it’s practically unprecedented in MMA, Delgado has added it to his regular arsenal on the ground and has been working on it for quite some time now.

“It’s one of my bread and butter moves, actually,” he said. “I tried to work it into my MMA game right away because no one expects it. It comes on so fast and if worst comes to worse, it opens up other submissions.”

Delgado learned the choke from his jiu-jitsu coach Luiz Claudio, a black belt under the great Rickson Gracie. Delgado himself earned a brown belt in December 2011 and can be considered one of the best in the state when it comes to utilizing those skills in MMA competition.

However, given his expertise on the ground, Delgado knows that his opponents have been working on ways to keep their fights against him on the feet. To counter that, Delgado has been working extensively on his own standup game.

“I think [my striking] might catch people by surprise a little bit,” he said. “We have a Golden Gloves boxing champion [at Fearless Mixed Martial Arts Academy] that I train with almost every day. He’s a really fast guy and all I do is soak it all up.”

Not only is Delgado getting experience with a high-level technical boxer, but he has also been working regularly with UFC heavyweight Ben Rothwell who trains at another Wisconsin gym only about an hour away from Fearless MMA.

All that preparation has Delgado confident heading into his fight on Saturday night against Derrick Smith, who is a veteran with experience that far exceeds his own.

“I’m expecting a really tough fight against Derrick. He’s the toughest opponent I’ve had so far,” Delgado said. “I know he’s going to give me some new problems that I’ve never had to deal with in the past, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to find a way to work my way out of them.”

Although he acknowledges that Smith won’t be an easy win by any means, Delgado is actually looking at the fight as an opportunity to prove himself.

“I’m always looking for a challenge and hopefully I can demonstrate a bit more of my standup game in this fight,” he said. “We’re probably going to exchange in the standup game for a little while, but the fight is probably going to take place mostly on the mat. I’m confident in my jiu-jitsu game, so hopefully I’m able to catch him, maybe something off my back, although I’d prefer to be on top.”

With Derrick Smith coming off of a controversial 11-second knockout loss, Delgado knows that his opponent has only gone to a decision once in his career and has looked a bit worn out late in some fights. Given that, he’s looking to test Smith’s cardio against his own even though Delgado himself has never even been out of the first round in any of his fights.

"I don’t want to get Mike Tyson fever where he finished everyone early,” Delgado said. “I’ve adjusted my training a lot so I won’t gas, and I honestly expect this one to go the full three rounds. That’s what we’ve been training for.”

As a former construction worker, Patrick Delgado is now living his dream of becoming a professional mixed martial artist. At 32 years old, he still has a few years of prime conditioning remaining before his body starts to wear down. Even then, though, he doesn’t see himself fully walking away from the sport.

“Once my career is over, I plan on staying involved in the sport, teaching and training,” he said. “I love jiu-jitsu, it’ll always be number one to me. But I feel like I’m a fighter and I feel like I always need to expand my knowledge. Jiu-jitsu was just the beginning for me.”

Delgado and Smith will compete at the Sept. 8 Sterling Entertainment Group/Driller Promotions “Throwdown at the Crowne” event at the Crowne Plaza in St. Paul, MN.

Tickets are available for as little as $35/ea and can be purchased online or at the door. For those outside the Twin Cities area, the event will also be streamed live for free online at SterlingMN.com!

For more MMA news, fighter interviews and opinions, follow Nick Caron: @NicholasCaron.

The Sterling Entertainment Group / Driller Promotions event on Saturday night will be a historic moment for the sport of mixed martial arts in Minnesota.

Undefeated heavyweights Raphael Butler and Brett Murphy will headline a card which will see them compete for the very first statewide heavyweight MMA title in Minnesota.

For Butler, the road to being one of the top heavyweight MMA fighters in Minnesota has been short. In fact, he’s only been competing as a mixed martial artist since late-2010. But that doesn’t tell the whole story.

As a former amateur and professional boxer, Raphael Butler has competed in literally hundreds of fights throughout his career. Though he has only competed in four MMA fights, the advantage he has of having been mentally prepared to fight so many times in the past has helped him make a smooth transition into another sport.

“It was actually just something I wanted to because boxing had started to slow down for me and I just wanted to get in there and fight,” Butler told Bleacher Report MMA. “A fight is a fight. You’ve just gotta find a way to win. So the transition [from boxing to MMA], for me, wasn’t that hard.”

Fighters moving from boxing to MMA is not new, but most of those fighters have struggles with learning other aspects of the game such as jiu-jitsu and wrestling. Although those things didn’t come naturally for Raphael Butler, it wasn’t the physical aspects of MMA that were most difficult for him to learn.

“The hardest thing for me was just remembering what I could get away with. There are a lot more things that I can do in MMA that I couldn’t do in a boxing match,” he said. “In my first fight, I knocked a guy down and I kind of just stood there. I forgot that I could continue attacking him.”

Now, after having less than two years experience as a pro fighter, Butler will battle one of the state’s top heavyweight prospects for the right to call himself the champion of Minnesota. Though Murphy has a lot of hype coming into the fight as being a powerful striker in his own right, Butler believes that his boxing experience could be the difference in the fight.

“I’ve been in the ring with some of the top boxers in the world,” Butler said. “I’m not going to say that [Brett’s] hands aren’t dangerous because anybody over 200 pounds, if they catch you in the right spot, can knock you out. But I’m not as afraid of his hands as his previous opponents have been. His hands don’t bother me at all.”

Butler is confident enough in his hands that he’d be willing to stand with anyone in the sport, even including UFC champion Junior dos Santos who has been credited by many as having the best MMA-boxing in the heavyweight division.

“It doesn’t matter of it’s boxing or MMA, if I hit you right, you’re going down,” he said. “And with MMA gloves... I throw a mean body shot.”

Butler knows that his opponents have looked to take his punching power away early by taking him to the ground. It hasn’t worked out so well for them, though, and he expects the same from Murphy.

“I’m not trying to take anything away from Brett Murphy. He has just as much of a chance of winning this fight as I do,” he said. “But [Brett’s] going to try to capitalize on my inexperience in MMA and he’s going to quickly find out, like all the other MMA fighters I’ve fought, that trying to take my legs out isn’t going to work because I’m more agile than he thinks.”

Most boxers struggle when they end up on the ground in an MMA fight, but Raphael Butler might be the exception. In fact, he shocked everyone in June, when he won his most recent fight by submission with an armbar.

“Nobody was more surprised than me,” he laughed. “I was surprised that I remembered that I can do that. When you’re in the fight, your mind kind of goes. But I remembered, ‘Hey, I can try to break this dude’s arm!’ “

Though he wasn’t willing to make a direct prediction on the outcome, Butler did offer up some interesting pre-fight analysis.

“It’s not going to be the fight that everybody is expecting,” he said. “But, of course, whoever lands the first big punch can win.”

Butler and Murphy will meet as part of the Sept. 8 Sterling Entertainment Group / Driller Promotions “Throwdown at the Crowne” event at the Crowne Plaza in St. Paul, MN.

Tickets are available for as little as $35/ea and can be purchased online or at the door. For those outside the Twin Cities area, the event will also be streamed live for free online at SterlingMN.com!

For more MMA news, fighter interviews and opinions, follow Nick Caron: @NicholasCaron.

I used to live in Las Vegas. I think I've told you this before. I moved out there to cover the sport full-time, and it was quite the experience. 

I can't really tell you any horror stories about living in Vegas because I don't have any. I tired of drudging penniless out of casinos after about 30 days there, and I only gambled sporadically after that. And I was never one for the club scene because I'm in my 30s, and let me tell you right now, I really love to sleep a lot of hours at night rather than spend my time sipping incredibly overpriced alcohol and pretending I can hear what the girl sitting next to me is screaming in my ear.

Vegas was fine. I lived 25 minutes from the strip, and I never set foot in the MGM Grand or Mandalay Bay or Luxor unless I had to work, which ended up being more often than you'd think. I can't complain about living there, and in fact, I'll probably end up moving back at some point next year. 

Living in Vegas and operating in the MMA scene, you don't just become a "local" in the way that Vegas people describe other Vegas people; you become a fixture. You start to hear things. Most of the time, these things are rumors, and oftentimes, these things are not something that you'd ever repeat to another living soul—much less actually report on them. You don't want to get caught in those crosshairs, let me tell you.

Sometime last summer, I first heard that Ray Sefo was pitching an idea for a new mixed martial arts organization around town. The idea was pretty simple: a tournament held entirely in Las Vegas, with the winner receiving one million bucks in cash.

It didn't make sense then, and it doesn't make sense now. And somewhere along the line, Sefo either decided it didn't make sense or he was told, outright, that it was a silly idea. I know this because Sefo trotted out a few fighters—including former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres—out on a stage today at the Planet Hollywood casino for the most awkward fight-related press conference in the history of fight-related press conferences.

I like the idea of alternative programming to the UFC. Businesses rarely thrive without competition to push them ever onward, and so the WSOF seems like a pretty good idea. They're starting off with a nice television deal—they'll be aired on NBC Sports, which used to be known as Versus and is still a much better television station than Fuel TV—and they have a couple of big-name fighters to throw on their broadcasts, including Torres and hulking former pro wrestler turned pretty terrible MMA fighter Bobby Lashley.

Sure, the press conference was not without its hiccups, most of which were due to Sefo apparently never having spoken in public before. Sefo needs boot camp training in public speaking, and he needs it badly, if he's going to continue being the public figurehead for this company as it tries to get off the ground in an increasingly-crowded marketplace.

There was also the matter of some confusion on my part concerning Sefo's pronunciation of the word "decagon," but we'll chalk that up to my poor listening skills. Yes, the WSOF is going to use a decagon, which has 10 sides, which is two more than the UFC. So you know they already have a leg up on the competition there.

But I do foresee some problems here.

Sefo said several times that the top goal of the WSOF is to be fair to the fighters. He's a fighter himself, and so I can understand why he wants to stick up for them. He said that if any of his fighters are unhappy and want to leave, he'll simply allow them to walk away. 

These don't seem like sound business decisions, and they aren't decisions I can see Sefo's new partners at NBC taking very well. The goal of any fight promotion must be—simply has to be—making money and creating new opportunities to make money. It's all well and good to be noble about taking care of your fellow fighters, but the only thing that'll do for you is ensure that your fighting career must continue long past its expiration date because you screwed up your chance to run a promotion with a nice little television deal.

I'm always glad to see that fighters have options. And as someone who has known Miguel Torres pretty well for quite some time, I'm glad to see him get the chance to stay on television, to prove that he's still got something left.

The World Series of Fighting may have a long shelf life. They have good financial backing, they're paying competitively for the fighters they're signing and they have an outstanding local Vegas partner in Planet Hollywood. They're all set to be a success, at least on some level. They'll never be the UFC because nobody is going to become the UFC at this point, but they can strive to be the best alternative available. 

I, for one, hope they can make it happen.