Mixed martial arts competition returns to Fort Worth

by Sean Malone of of North Texas Fisticuffs

Professional mixed martial arts returned to Fort Worth, Texas as Bloody Knuckle Promotions staged their inaugural MMA promotion Thursday night at the Cowtown Coliseum.

In the evening’s main event, Jonathan Ivey was able to use veteran savvy to earn a victory over the hard charging Ralph Kelley. Kelley came out aggressively in the opening round, utilizing a mixed assault to try and blitz Ivey. But Ivey was able to weather the early onslaught, and in the second round, was able to use his commendable ground game to latch on a choke hold that forced Kelley to tap.

The official time of the submission was 0:52 into the second round. With the win Ivey improves his record to 54-46; Kelley falls to 10-7 in defeat.

In the co-main event of the night, Matt Thompson of Austin was able to survive a spirited effort from Ryan Lopez, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to earn a first round submission by an arm bar.

The official time of the submission was 1:22 in the first round. With the win Thompson improves his record to 11-8; Lopez falls to 9-5 with the loss.

On the undercard, Chris Spicer of Robinson, Texas needed only seconds to stop Paul Halme of Fort Worth. After some cautious few seconds, Spicer caught Halme with a hard right hand that dropped the Fort Worth based fighter. Spicer seized the opportunity and after raining down some concussive ground and pound, punctuated by a flurry of hammer fists, the referee mercifully stopped the fight.

The official time of the stoppage was 0:51 into the opening round. With the win Spicer improves his record to 3-1; Halme falls to 0-3 in defeat.

Brandon McDowell utilized his extensive wrestling background to submit Jared Taylor via rear naked choke.

The official time of the submission was 1:01 in the first round. With the win McDowell improves his record to 35-20; Taylor falls to 9-8 in defeat.

Eric Davila of Dallas made short work of Cleburn Walker, submitting him with a guillotine choke in the opening round. Davila came out fast, landing a hard punch before Walker took the fight to the ground. Davila managed to get to his feet and caught Walker as he was charging in with the choke hold.

The official time of the submission was 0:53 seconds into the first round. With the win Davila improves his record to 13-7; Walker falls to 6-2 in defeat.

In a battler of heavyweights, Tony Melton of Sherman, Texas, survived some rough moments early on to stop Aaron Martin of Waxahachie, Texas. Martin came out firing low kicks, but Melton landing a wicked right hand that stunned Martin. After a salvo of hard punches the fight was waived off.

The official time of the stoppage was 1:55 in the first round. With the win Melton improves his record to 4-1; Martin falls to 1-1 in defeat.

Joe Christopher or Lewisville, Texas looked impressive in submitting Ryan Chavarria of Austin, Texas in the first round. Christopher came out the aggressor early on, and after taking Chavarria to the ground, softened the Austin based fighter with some ground and pound, latched on with an arm bar that ended the night.

The official time of the submission was 2:19 in the first round. With the win Christopher improves his record to 12-3; Chavarria falls to 1-2 in defeat.

In the night’s opening bout, Seth Clifton of Dallas gutted out a close split decision victory over Jerome Martinez of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Scores were 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Clifton, the other scorecard read 29-28 in favor of Martinez. With the win, Clifton improves his record to 4-1; Martinez falls to 3-3 in defeat.