Irvine, CA–The inaugural Collision in the Cage event provided mma fans in so-cal a solid night of action live from The Bren Events Center at the University of California Irvine. Well known fighters such as Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Fabricio Werdum, Mark Munoz and Affliction owner Tom Atencio were in attendance to soak up the atmosphere and interacted with fans. It was indeed a special treat for those fans in attendance, but no one would of imagined that James “lights out” Toney would have made an appearance as well. The former middleweight and current NABO and IBA heavyweight boxing champion addressed the crowd and welcomed all challengers to his much anticipated UFC debut. The crowd jeered and chanted “Kimbo, Kimbo,” at one point during an in cage interview and Toney retorted back “Bimbo Slice.”
The card itself was the icing on the cake as the scheduled 8 fights offered chokes, knee bars and TKO’s. The night started with Ethan Cox of Los Angeles, CA dropping a unanimous decision to Cody Goodale. The next bout offered both fighters the chance to win one of two 2,000 dollar scholarships, a four fight deal, and the ability to earn up $34,000 in purse winnings. It was a wonderful gesture by the promoters who were looking to give back to those mma fighters still in school. The first scholarship was won by Mike Christensen who defeated Carlos Aguilar via rear naked choke. The second was awarded to John Mowery who defeated Jason Williams via unanimous decision. The momentum continued to build as former King Of The Cage champion Waachiim Spiritwolf and Kings MMA fighter Fernando Bettega traded flush uppercuts, knees and haymakers that had everyone in attendance on their feet. Bettega displayed Wanderlei Silva type movement in his standup and landed clean shots that gave Spiritwolf a look of displeasure across his face coming midway to the first round. The fighter continued to press the fight until a failed guillotine attempt landed him on the mat. The tide soon changed as Bettega was in danger of being knocked out with huge blows by his opponent that had his head rocking up and down. Bettega was saved by the bell but could never recover as he slowly began to gas out and ultimately lost in a unanimous decision.
The Body Shop in Lakewood already houses one champion in the form of Antonio Mckee. It could be very well grooming another potential champion in Jesse Juarez. The Bellator and MFC veteran overwhelmed Brazilian Mauro Chimento with top notch jui-jitsu and solid wrestling. Never really in danger for the entirety of the fight, Juarez escaped a tight guillotine attempt and accumulated points with ground and pound shots before submitting his opponent in the final half of the third round. In the semi main event The “Arm Collector” Giva Santana collected a TKO victory over Lodune “The Vanilla Gorilla” Sincaid. It was a back and forth tussle worthy of a rubber match. The Brazilian contingent on hand let everyone in the arena know whom they were rooting for as Santana displayed an arsenal of strikes that would make the fabled Spanish Armada wince in fear. Elbows, about a dozen or so found their way to the face of Sincaid who had the astonishing ability to absorb punishment and still come forward. By the third round both fighters were gassed but Santana managed to take down “The Vanilla Guerilla” who then took his opponents back. The referee would soon stop the bout as Santana teed off on Sincaid’s steel like head after the fighter could no longer defend himself.
In the main event mma veteran and current MFC lightweight champion Antonio Mckee took on Team Vitor Belfort’s own Rodrigo Ruiz. Mckee has been on the brunt end of criticism as of late with fans and analyst alike labeling him a “boring” fighter. Mckee showed his worth and silenced those critics as he easily submitted Ruiz in the first round via kimura in a entertaining match. Mckee landed hard side kicks to the body of Ruiz that gave many flashbacks from Bruce Lee films of past. He eventually scooped up Ruiz head over heels and dumped him onto the mat where he transitioned into side control to eventually trap his opponents arm for the win. It was announced before the match that the winner would be awarded a championship College Cage Series ring from promoter Shane Corbin. A thankful Mckee accepted his prize and expressed his desire to face UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn. “I’m the only one at 155lbs that can beat BJ. That fight can’t be boring right? What’s gonna make me exciting, someone who can stop the takedown and stop the ground and pound.” The Lakewood based fighter presents an interesting match up for Penn as he extends his undefeated streak to seven years accumulating a nine win undefeated streak.
