Menjivar lands a knee to Ackerman

September 5, 2004: Apex Championship Fighting rolled out an entertaining mix of match-ups in its debut tonight from the Pierre Charbonneau Center in Montreal, Quebec. It’s a shame that MMA fans missed out on the fun. Venue officials did not have a tally of ticket sales but a pooled media estimation had the turn-out somewhere between 600 to 800 spectators. Nonetheless, fighters came to fight, and delivered on their end in spades.

Highlights for the night included Team Quester Ryan Schultz’s quick domination of Jason Dent with his plethora of endless short right hooks standing and on the ground. A former college wrestler under the watchful eye of Matt Lindland, Schultz will only get better as he continues his quick ascension in the ranks. Next stop: the Euphoria MFC event on October 15th in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Rea taps out to choke from Horwich

Fryklund pounces on Myers

TQ teammate Matt Horwich also impressed with the upset win over internationally-seasoned striker Antony Rea. Rea commanded the first round early on with solid kicks and punching combos, but as is Horwich’s way, he weathered and ultimately secured the rear naked choke early in the second after getting full mount from a takedown. With this victory, light-heavyweight Horwich is on the map indeed.

Miletich Martial Arts rep Tony Fryklund did not disappoint in one of the featured bouts of the evening, even when last-minute replacement fighter Chris Myers gave it all he had to keep up with "the Freak’s" legs kicks, knees, and power punches. Myers even managed to land a punch in one of a few heated exchanges that opened a cut out of the corner of Fryklund’s right eye, but the consummate pro was never in any real trouble and voiced it by turning to the audience to gage their approval midfight. Although not entirely content with his performance, Fryklund’s control throughout was an underlying theme. The referee missed Myers tap out, and Fryklund got the TKO referee stoppage from strikes in Myers’ guard 4:25 in.

Francois TKOs Sims

Francois sends Sims over the ropes

In the co-main event Wes Sims had a poor showing against light-heavyweight local Ricardeau Francois, who had taken the fight on a week’s notice with a fifty pound differential. Francois seemed timid to Sims’ persona at first, but quickly warmed up when he landed his first right punch to startle the 3-Time UFC veteran. Sims seemed fatigued early on, falling over the ropes in a clinching exchange, and was even slammed by Francois later in the round, but neither could get anything going on the ground. Re-stood by the referee, Francois began to gain momentum on his feet, although his punches did not pack enough power to finish the job. Sims finished the round on all fours, too spent to stand and return to his corner, with coach Mark Coleman screaming for him to stand. Opening up with a Francois spinning back kick in round two, Sims doubled-over and pushed along the ropes, where Francois finished with some follow-up uppercuts for the referee intervention. Although the elated Francois had his moment among the local fans hungry for the upset, it will be quite sometime before the lanky Canadian gets the opponent he called out for next: Chuck Liddell. It’s nice to know that the UFC reaches the North though.

In the main event of 145 pounders, UFC vet Ivan Menjivar proved hands down why he belongs among the ranks of SHOOTO caliber fighters. A go getter through and through, Menjivar pulled out the stop on tough opponent Ryan Ackerman, landing the full gamut of punches, knees, and kicks accessible to a fighter. Ackerman hung in there and even rang Menjivar’s bell once or twice, but the ultimate athlete prevailed in the end.

Apex "Genesis" Results
Three Round Bouts
Ivan Menjivar def. Ryan Ackerman – TKO referee stoppage (strikes) 2:02 R2
Ricardeau Francois def. Wes Sims – TKO referee stoppage (strikes) 0:26 R2
Tony Fryklund def. Chris Myers – TKO referee stoppage (strikes)-
Matt Horwich def. Antony Rea – Rear-naked choke 1:13 R2
Steve Berger def. Fritz Paul – Keylock (with legs) 4:46 R1
Ryan Schultz def. Jason Dent – TKO referee stoppage (strikes) 3:00 R1