Rumble in the Ring 9 Results
Held March 22, 2003
At the Muckleshoot Tribal Centre
Auburn, Washington
By Mike Neva

Radovich pounding on Sires

As the sport of mixed martial arts grows, many grass roots promotions are popping up world wide. One such an event is Joel Townsend’s little known Rumble in the Ring. As were the previous eight, the ninth edition was held at the primitive Muckleshoot Tribal Centre, a venue that leaves much to be desired such as toilets! On this evening disorganization rained supreme with the event starting 45 minutes late as Townsend scrambled to secure last minute line up changes and qualified judges.

The six bout card was littered with up-and-comers and highlighted by an impressive victory for crowd favorite Tim Williams who slapped on a quick triangle choke submitting Dennis Hallman trained fighter Jake Yohe. After an action packed co-feature, which saw Clint Radovich stop the heavily muscled Scott Sires, the main event was a disappointing lackluster affair. Outweighing his opponent by over 50 lbs Josh Bennett used his weight advantage to clinch and control the smaller Glen Barber, eventually wearing him down until referee Joe DeRobbio called a halt to the action late in round 2.

1. Matt Lininger def. Brian Johnson by TKO referee stoppage from strikes at 2:01 of round 2
2. Justin Nelson def. Luke Davenport by rear naked choke at :39 of round 1
3. Tim Williams def. Jake Yohe by triangle choke at :51 of round 1
4. Paul Purcell def. Ryan Carlin by unanimous decision after 2 rounds
5. Clint Radovich def. Scott Sires by TKO referee stoppage from strikes at 2:34 of round 1
6. Josh Bennett def. Glenn Barber by TKO referee stoppage from strikes at 3:57 of round 2

Jeremy Jackson being pulled off Eddie Ellis

Lemoore, CA — With under a week to go the final card for WEC 6 is in and it looks to be a strong one. Much has already been written about Shamrock vs. Pardoe with Shamrock making his return after almost two and a half years away from MMA. Five-time UFC champion and two-time King Of Pancrase Shamrock has had two K-1 fights in that time against Elvis Sinosic and Shannon Ritch before breaking his leg in preparation for WEC 3 last summer. Now completely healed Frank takes on Rage In The Cage standout Brian Pardoe who most recently fought in KOTC in December.

UFC vet Shonie Carter has his hands full with Jeremy Jackson, the winner of the Ultimate Athlete 8-man tournament last September. In that tournament Jackson beat Cesar Gracie stand-out Nick Diaz as well as Team Punishment’s Zach Light and Shark Tank’s Mike Panalber. All five of Jackson’s wins have been by KO while his two losses have been by submission while Shonie has only won one fight by submission in three years. Since leaving the UFC after a KO kick delivered by Pat Miletich, Shonie has picked up six wins and a draw with no losses but all of the wins have been by decision except his TKO win over Fernando Vasconcelos in KOTC when Vasconcelos’ corner threw in the towel between rounds. Don’t let Shonie’s run of decisions and draws fool you, he can be unorthodox and very exciting as well as having the experience to be able to stand with a fighter with a better striking record. With Shonie getting the shot against Ronald Jhun for Romie Aram’s Welterweight KOTC belt in May look for all eyes to be on this fight.

Nick Diaz landing a punch on Chris Lytle

From a fan’s perspective one of the more exciting match-ups is Lion’s Den fighter Joe Hurley against the aforementioned Nick Diaz. Hurley, at 12-2, is much feared and respected by the California gyms with his only two losses being against UFC vet Gil Castillo and the phenomenal Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro. This man went the distance with Yves Edwards for a decision win as well as holds a KO over Chris Brennan! Diaz, on the other hand, made quite an impression at IFC last summer when he picked up a decision win over current HOOKnSHOOT Welterweight Champion Chris Lytle in what had to be the fight of the night.

Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu has the most fighters at five while most of the other CA teams like rAw, Team Quest, AKA, SLO Kickboxing, and many more all have participants. From the team perspective the biggest criticism one could find is that at fourteen fights it’s going to be a long night. From a weight class perspective this show satisfies the fans of the faster, more flexible fighters with all but three fights being between 155 and 185. With the last three fights having UFC vets in Shamrock, Castillo, and Carter the casual fans not as familiar with the up-and-comers are satisfied. Basically even though this card came out unusually late it looks to be a tour de force of the California scene well worth the wait.

World Extreme Cagefighting
"Return of a Legend"
March 27th 7:30P.M.
The Palace Casino, Lemoore, CA.

1. Steve Cutler Vs. Carlos Cordero (170)
2. Eric Husbands Vs. Poppis Martinez (155)
3. Jack Cardenas Vs. Chris Sanford (185)
4. Ed Wedding Vs. Doug Evans (155)
5. John Appleby Vs. Tim McKenzie (205)
6. Brandon Wolff Vs. Hannibal Adofo (170)
7. Bert Bergmark Vs. Brodie Farber (185)
8. Mike Swick Vs. Kengo Ura (185)
9. Caleb Mitchel Vs. Jeff Hougland (155)
10. Joe Hurley Vs. Nick Diaz (170)
11. Levi Thornbrue Vs. Brian Stromberg (265)
12. Jeremy Jackson Vs. Shonie Carter (170)
13. Chris Williams Vs. Gil Castillo (185)
14. Frank Shamrock Vs. Brian Pardoe (205)