This Saturday, June 25th, the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds hosted The Barbarian Fight Club's Summerfest card, headlined by a 170 pound title fight between Kevin "The Fire Starter" Mendoza and Grayson Rowny. The night was one of quick finishes, as the title bout was the only fight that went to the judges for a decision.
The first round was very close striking contest, with both fighters landing some good combinations and neither distancing himself on the card. In the second round, a low blow put Mendoza on his back. The break after the illegal hit seemed to light a fire under Mendoza, who began running away with the bout.
Mendoza began to work a combination of takedown attempts and clinch work to keep Rowny's back on the cage and grind him against the wall with foot stomps and knees. Rowny kept his feet for most of the bout, and even answered back with a few strikes, but could not match Mendoza's constant aggression and grinding tactics.
In the end, The Fire Started took home the unanimous decision and the 170 pound title for his methodical aggression.
In an evening characterized entirely by quick finishes, debuting fighter Zachary Finn took home one of the quickest over Travis Tisdale. Tisdale shot for a quick takedown prompting Finn to nonchalantly pull guard and execute a textbook triangle choke, submitting Tisdale just 33 seconds into the first round.
Not to be outdone, debuting heavyweight Buck McLamb put also away Gary Dixon in under a minute from the first bell. After a brief exchange, McLamb charged in for a big takedown and went to work on his opponent. After a barrage of punches and knees, the referee was forced to stop the fight at 55 seconds in.
Undefeated welterweights Quentin Stephens and Jahtee Harper clashed in another of the evening's lightening fast finishes. As they engaged, Harper pulled guard in what was immediately recognizable as a tactical error. Harper tried to stand as Stephens thundered down blows that looked like they were driving Harper through the canvas. Seeing that Harper had quickly become a punching bag, the referee stopped the bout in 24 seconds of the first round, declaring Quentin Stephens the winner via TKO.
The Barbarian card proved unkind to the Tisdale name, as Anthony "Tatsu" Tisdale also suffered a decisive defeat against debuting fighter David Tran. The first round was competitive, with Tisdale using leg kicks to get the edge on the outside striking, but giving up a takedown that likely cost him on the cards. But, in the second round, those kicks became Tisdale's undoing. An opening high kick caused Tisdale to slip and Tran to swarm in on the attack. Tran jumped into side mount and began laying down elbows on his opponent until Tisdale verbally submitted at 1:12 of the second round.
Local favorite Mike Smith was handed his first career loss by Travis Creamer in a 165 pound catchweight affair. At first, Smith seemed to take control of the bout the way he has in fights past, quickly scoring a clean takedown. Creamer popped up to his feet, only to be put down on his back again. The second began with a series of standing exchanges, with Smith not really getting the worst of it. The two men got tied up in the striking and, much against the script, it was Creamer who scored a takedown in the scramble. Smith tried to sweep up and ran directly into a Creamer triangle choke. Creamer constricted and Smith tapped at 1:07 of the second round.
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