Local MMA fight promoter challenges other MMA promoters

By Katrina Belcher (KatrinaBelcher@mmaratings.net)

Friday night was a great night for MMA in Knoxville. Absolute Cage Fights (ACF) put on a great show with 17 (count ’em – 17!) matches, in the very first PRO/AMMY fight event in the history of Knoxville, Tennessee!

As per my previous article, ACF and Chili’s worked together to put on a show that was not only entertaining for the crowd, but had a purpose: to raise funds for the children of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Per Rick Hunley, Sales and Marketing director of ACF, “When John from Chili’s first asked us to do this fundraiser, it was basically a no brainer because these kids (at St. Jude’s) are fighting for their life from cancer and other illnesses. I mean, you do it for the kids and you don’t look back. Our goal was to have the fighters battle for the kids so they don’t have to fight so hard themselves.” And battle they did.

Per Hunley “We appreciate the sponsors and fans who donated to this fundraiser. You know, coming to an MMA event costs a lot of money to get in there to see the show, but we got a good amount of donations from these people. It was really heartwarming to see how much money they donated! Just as important is the amount of awareness we created for the good St. Jude’s is doing for these kids.“

The audience got to witness 17 exciting fights (14 ammy and 3 pro), complete with nonstop action. And between the great sponsors, the generous crowd, (who donated at will) and ACF, (who donated $2 of each ticket), a total of $8,800.00 was raised for St. Jude’s. Incredible!

In fact, Hunley was so moved by the success of this event’s fundraiser, he’s put a challenge out to other local and national MMA promoters: “I just want to challenge fellow promoters of any karate or wrestling tournament, to any cage fight or MMA event promoter, to follow our lead and setup a fundraiser event. Let’s face it – you’re in this to make money, sure, but is that all there is to life? It doesn’t have to be St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, but it would be nice.“

Hunley suggests talking to the sponsors: “It just takes just a little bit to help these kids by giving what little you can. All you need to do is just talk to your sponsors and tell them what you’re going to do. A lot of people don’t normally put those two things together – you know, fighting and saving lives – but they should. This sort of event just helps advertisers and helps the kids out – and it makes you feel good. Let’s make this a regular thing and show the sports community what MMA is all about.“

Can you imagine if all the smaller shows nationwide held just ONE fundraiser a year for a worthy cause? The results and benefit for the cause du jour would be amazing. To see the results of the fights, please read below.

Amateur Bout Results

• Spencer Hunter defeats Johnathan Nye via TKO in Round 1.
• Travis Chitwood defeats Justin Strange by decision.
• Josh Hanson defeats James Adcock by TKO in Round 2.
• Chad Perriene defeats Chris Wolfe by KO (head kick) in Round 3.
• Drew Kennedy defeats Scott McDermitt via submission (guillotine) in Round 1.
• Ken Wilson defeats Kyle Kohler by TKO in Round 3.
• Sean Young defeats Chris Lussenden via submission (Americana) in Round 1.
• Marlone Smith defeats Adam Milligan via submission (RNC) in Round 1 and becomes the Absolute Cage Fights Super Heavyweight Champion.
• Chris Wright defeats Brandon McMahon via unanimous decision for the Absolute Cage Fights Bantamweight Championship.
• Jay Menigello defeats Joe Wright by TKO (ref stoppage due to strikes) in Round 2 for the Absolute Cage Fights Lightweight title.
• Shane Hill defeats A.J. Paoletto by TKO in Round 1 for the Interim Welterweight title.
• Marshal Manning defeats Paul Crane via submission (RNC) in Round 1 and retains the Middleweight title.
• Jeremy Holmes defeats Nick Breeden via submission (armbar) in Round 2 for the Heavyweight title.
• Jeremiah Huskins defeats John Buck by TKO in Round 1.

Professional Bout Results

• Aundre Boyd defeats Eric Cipriani by TKO (ref stoppage due to strikes) in Round 1.
• Shane Matchette defeats J.R. Hines via submission (Triangle choke) in Round 1.
• Jeremiah Huskins defeats John Buck by TKO in Round 1.

For more info: For a blow-by-blow of the fights, please visit Denny Hodge’s article on PROMMA.info. He took time out of his busy schedule to join us at the ACF fights Friday night and we were honored to have him.