Results from Combat in the Cage’s 12th Strike

Here are the official results from Combat in the Cage’s 12 Strike event that took place at the Newark Boys & Girls club in Newark, Delaware this past Saturday.

All bouts were WKA sanctioned.

Bout 1/Bantamweight (135 lbs.):
Joe Finneran (Team Loch Haven) submitted William McKenna (Team Hammer) at 2:00 of round 1

Bout 2/Welterweight (170 lbs.):
Sam Anderson (Team Steele) won a unanimous decision over Aaron Bojan (Gai Jin Ryu Dojo)

Bout 3/Bantamweight (135 lbs.):
Joe Pond (Warriors MA) knocked out Chris Be (Team Hammer) at 0:10 of round 1

Bout 4/Featherweight (145 lbs.):
Kyle Dolan (Team Loch Haven) TKO’d Joshua Ledbetter (Team Hammer) at 1:21 of round 1

Bout 5/Welterweight (170 lbs.):
Jeshua Alston (Team Hammer) won a unanimous decision Andres Lebron (Modern Army Combatives)

Bout 6/Welterweight (170 lbs.):
Frank Lauro Jr. (Team Steele) TKO’d Neil Gardner (LVIRK) at 1:25 of round 1

Bout 7/Cruiserweight (195 lbs.):
Matt Andirkut (Team Loch Haven) TKO’d Thomas Waltemyer (Alliance BJJ) at 1:26 of round 1

Bout 8/Super Lightweight (165 lbs.):
Tim Sylvester (Maxercise) submitted Frank Piff (Team Hammer) at 1:08 of round 1

Bout 9/Bantamweight (135 lbs.):
Jeff Cressman (Daddis Fight Camps) submitted Kevin Papics (LVRIK) at 3:37 of round 2

Bout 10/Bantamweight (135 lbs.):
Pat Sabatini (Warriors MA) TKO’d Lance Umholtz (GAMA) at 2:28 of round 1

Bout 11/Middleweight (185 lbs.):
Yohanes Habtu (Revolution Academy) TKO’d Jeff Morber (Team Hammer) at 1:16 of round 1

Bout 12/CITC Middleweight Championship:
Charlie Joseph (Renzo Gracie) TKO’d Jesus Martinez (Fight Factory) after round 1

Bout 13/CITC Cruiserweight Championship:
Tim Williams (Millville BJJ) submitted Kyle Braun (Team Loch Haven) at 0:23 of round 2

Bout 14/CITC Interim Lightweight Championship:
Will Martinez (Fight Factory) submitted Juan Contrerez at 0:27 of round 2

Bout 15/Light Heavyweight (205 lbs.):
Joe Stripling (302 BJJ) TKO’d Derek Hopkins (Fight Factory) at 3:08 of round 1

- There was a lot of controversy pertaining to the Joseph vs. Martinez match. The fight was stopped after round 1 after Martinez refused to continue. Martinez, the defending champion, claimed after the round that he was hit with an illegal elbow. The referee, Jon Murphy, did not see such an infraction. Despite visual pleas from his corner to continue, Martinez did not want to continue. Joseph was announced as the winner and right after the announcement, Martinez ripped the title belt away from the ring girl and stormed out of the cage.

After speaking with officials that viewed the replay, the shot in question was ruled to be a clean punch and not an elbow. Martinez did suffer a bad cut from the punch and required stitches. Joseph wasn’t announced as being the new champion, but I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t be. There’s already talk of a rematch.

- There’s talk of the first female bout in Combat in the Cage’s history taking place during its July event.

- Pond’s TKO was absolutely brutal. Be dropped down like a ton of bricks and it really looked bad. However, all indications were that he was going to be okay.

- All fights except the Stripling vs. Hopkins main event were WKA-sanctioned amateur bouts. Stripling vs. Hopkins was a pro fight and it was a really good fight. Hopkins, the Muay Thai coach at the Fight Factory, rocked Stripling early a couple of times and looked like he had him in trouble. But Stripling kept his composure and turned the momentum in his favor.

- CITC’s next event will be a co-promotion called “Kings of New York” on Saturday, June 7 at the Shinnecock Reservation in Southhampton, Long Island. CITC will be returning to Delaware on June 21 and will be back again on July 12.

- The photo is by Fred Haas of Paragon Photography and is run with permission from Combat in the Cage. In the photo, Charlie Joseph is pictured left and Jesus Martinez on the right.