CageSport 58 took place at the Emerald Queen Casino on August 10, 2019, in front of an announced sell-out crowd. The crowd was treated to nine bouts, including two title fights. Incredibly, all nine fights ended in finishes. While a three or five-round war can be wildly
entertaining to watch, I think I speak for most MMA fans in saying that there is something very satisfying about seeing a fight conclude by finish.
This fight report provides a summary of all nine bouts. However, special mention at the top of the report is warranted for the Featherweight Title fight between Talon Hammons and Kevin Boehm, easily the fight of the night. The fight was highly entertaining with a dramatic momentum swing mid-way through the fight.
Chris Varner v. Jake Blaski – 140 lbs
The opening fight of the night featured two fighters looking for their first professional victory. Early on, Varner looked sharp on the feet, scoring early with leg kicks and a hard counter right hook. Varner was by far more active to start the fight. However, mid-way through the round Blaski displayed beautiful timing on a takedown to get Varner to the ground. Both fighters
quickly attempted leg lock submissions, with both defending well. Varner reversed position and landed some effective strikes from top position, openin g up a cut on Blaski, just prior to theround ending.
The second round started slowly, with little action for the first couple minutes. However, that changed with the fight ending sequence when Varner hit Blaski with a heavy overhand right that dropped Blaski to the canvas. Varner quickly took top position and landed 5-6 heavy blows. With Blaski merely covering up and eating the shots, the referee ended the fight. With his TKO victory, Varner’s record climbed to 1-2-0.
Brandon Cromartie v. Jorge Alcala – 146 lbs
Jorge Alcala, a Yakima Washington product, who trains in Las Vegas at 10th Planet and Xtreme Coutoure, showed off a good ground game producing a rear naked choke submission at 3:36 of the first round. Cromartie, a southpaw fighter out of Portland OR, was able to get a takedown in the first minute of the fight but was unable to keep Alcala down. After the fight returned to the feet the fighters traded leg kicks and Alcala produced a takedown. From side control, Alcala hit Cromartie with elbows and punches. After a minute plus of top control, Alcala transitioned to Cromartie’s back and quickly sunk in the rear naked choke. With the submission, Alcala’s record now stands at 2-1-0. Cromartie fell to 2-3-0.
Bryon Fernandus v. John Simon
John Simon, training out of American Top Team, won his bout with Bryon Fernandus via a quick heel hook submission at the 1:14 mark of the first round. Simon pressured Fernandus hard right at the outset and landed several nice hooks. Succumbing to the pressure, Fernandus essentially pulled guard and Simon got the heel hook position from top half guard. Simon leveled his record at 1-1-0 with the win. After the bout, Fernandus, 45 years old, announced his retirement from MMA. Fernandus made a heartfelt speech to the crowd, thanking his fans for their support. Mentioning the need to spend more time with his family, Fernandus expressed his love for MMA and fighting.
Gillian Noll v. Kelly Clayton – 136 lbs
A high paced, action packed fight took place in the women’s bantamweight division between Gillian Noll and Kelly Clayton. Clayton, who lost a split decision to Noll three years earlier in the amateur ranks, avenged her loss via TKO at 1:51 of the second round. Noll started
aggressively and pressed the action, however Clayton put Noll in a standing headlock. Noll escaped the position and pressed Clayton up against the cage and did some fine work from the clinch. However, later in the round Clayton rocked Noll with a big right hand and shortly thereafter followed with a takedown. Working from half guard, Clayton scored several hard left elbows. Clayton finished the round in top position accumulating a couple of minutes of top control. In Round 2, Clayton took control of the fight with Noll pressed against the cage. Clayton used a trip to secure a takedown and immediately take top position in Noll’s half guard. Clayton scored with multiple elbows and punches from top, but then transitioned to back mount and secured the TKO finish with ground and pound at 1:51 of the second round. Clayton improved to 1-2-0, while Noll fell to 1-1-0.
Jarett Finau v. Dominic Lapraim – Heavyweight
A highly entertaining fight between two debut fighters occurred in the fifth fight of the night. Jarrett Finau, former UW Husky Fullback, and Ivan Salaverry MMA product, showed off fast hands to start the fight. But Lapraim proved a willing foe. Early in the fight he landed a hard right hand counter off a Finau leg kick. Finau later scored hard leg and body kicks, but Lapraim landed an explosive takedown at around the two minute mark of the round. After working his way to the feet, Finau showed a nice hard jab. Finau defended a second Lapraim takedown attempt at the end of the round. Both fighters traded heavy punches in a round that saw plenty of action.
Early in Round 2 Finau landed a 1-2 combination and followed with a high kick. But a hard left hook from Lapraim landed square and left Finau visibly rocked. Lapraim aggressively pursued, but to his credit and despite taking numerous heavy blows while already compromised, Finau kept his feet and fought back while firing counter shots. But by this writer’s estimate, Finau took close to ten hard shots from Lapraim before being knocked down by a right-left combination.After 4 hard right hands landed squarely from top position, Lapraim knocked Finau unconscious. Both fighters showed toughness and skill in their professional debuts and appear to be two fighters worth keeping a close eye on as they progress in their professional MMA careers.
Cameron Rivera v. Tobias Baker – 171 lbs
Tobias “the Heathen” Baker improved his professional MMA record to 2-0 with a TKO finish via ground and pound at the 1:21 mark of Round 1. The Heathen aggressively pressured Cameron Rivera from the start, forcing the fight to the fence and landing multiple knees from the clinch. Baker then secured a takedown and immediately took back mount. From there, the
Heathen threw hard elbows and punches to Rivera’s head to force the stoppage. Although not much tested in this bout, Baker left little doubt that he should be a force to reckon with on the regional MMA circuit at 170 lbs.
Chris Stone v. Charon Spain – 155 lbs
Chris Stone, of Port Orchard, WA improved to 7-1-0 with his rear naked choke submission of Charon Spain at the 1:00 mark of Round 1. Stone displayed well-rounded skills, scoring immediately with a low kick followed by a nifty side kick. Stone secured a takedown within 30 seconds of the start of the round and quickly took Spain’s back and produced the tap. With the loss, Spain fell to 16-32.
CageSport Featherweight Title Fight – Talon Hammons v. Kevin Boehm
Without a doubt, the featherweight title fight was the fight of the night. Talon Hammons and Kevin Boehm fought for the strap in a rematch of their controversy laden CageSport 54 fight from December 15, 2018. However, this time there would be no controversial ending.
The first round featured some wild action as both fighters traded hard punches. Boehm put Hammons in a front choke; however Hammons was able to take Boehm down from that position. After returning to the feet, Hammons landed two big knees to Boehm’s head from a front headlock position. In one of the wilder moments in a fight full of wild moments, Boehm used his feet to try and climb the cage to release the hold, but ended up getting flipped over the top of Hammons’ head and landing on the ground. Hammons controlled much of the round in the clinch and on the ground. He was off to a fast start with a dominant round.
Round 2 would also be Hammons round by a fair margin, although Boehm had his moments. Hammons scored an early takedown, displaying what appeared to be a sizeable strength advantage over Boehm. Hammons controlled Boehm in mount position and landed multiple hard punches. Hammons later landed three big knees from top position to Boehm’s midsection.
Despite taking quite a bit of punishment, Boehm was able to reverse position and land a few shots from Hammons’ guard. The fight returned to the feet and Boehm was able to land a few clean punches. However, Hammons scored another takedown toward the end of the round.
Round 3 was a very close round as both fighters had their moments. However, it was toward the end of the round that Boehm appeared to be turning the fight in his favor, after being fairly well dominated. After eating a big right hook, Hammons scored a takedown. Boehm was able to work back to the feet, but Hammons quickly took Boehm back down. Hammons controlled a good portion of the ground on the mat and attempted a triangle arm-bar submission. Boehm, however, was able to defend the submission attempt and reverse position immediately. At this point, Hammons appeared considerably gassed. Boehm took mount off of the reversal and landed hard punches to the face to end the round.
Round 4 was a dominant round for Boehm, who scored early with a hard left jab. Later, Boehm took mount and landed multiple elbows and heavy punches. Boehm spent most of the round in top position and landed numerous strikes.
Round 5 started with Boehm landing a hard left hook. A big right hand from Boehm then sent Hammons tumbling to the canvas. Boehm followed by taking mount and landing heavy shots. Boehm finished the exciting fight, at 2:31 of Round 5, by armbar submission. Boehm displayed an incredible amount of toughness and resilience in this fight as a clearly physically stronger opponent controlled him for much of the first two rounds. Boehm took damage, but was undeterred. After Hammons began to tire, Boehm eventually took control of the fight. After the finish, Boehm climbed to the top of the cage and soaked in a loud ovation from the crowd.
CageSport Heavyweight Title Fight – Sua Tuani v. Jay Radick
In the Heavyweight Title Fight, Jay Radick continued his ascent as an undefeated fighter, now 3-0-0, with a rear naked choke finish of Sua Tuani at 1:25 of the first round. Radick shot for an early takedown attempt and pinned Tuani against the cage. The fight went to the ground, with Radick initially in Tuani’s half guard. Radick quickly transitioned to Tuani’s back and wasted
little time in cinching the choke. With the loss, Tuani fell to 3-4-0.
