FCF:   Let’s first start with your earlier days in the sport. How did you get into mixed martial arts?
TS:     I wrestled a bit in high school. I wasn’t good at all. I was fat, short, and out of shape, but I loved to compete. I always did karate all through grammar and high school. I have about seven years of karate under my belt. I held a black belt in Okinawan karate and held a brown belt in an Americanized version I studied. Something I’ve always enjoyed was martial arts. I moved to another town and started bouncing at a place where all the other bouncers were doing grappling. They would just do it on the side and I started going to classes and really enjoyed it. We’d get together a couple of times a week at the local Gold’s Gym. We were doing it mainly to protect ourselves when we were bouncing. We were choking guys out instead of punching them, which was much easier.

FCF:   Where were you and the other bouncers getting your grappling knowledge from?
TS:     One guy learned from Boston Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Marcus Davis was a pro boxer out of Bangor [Maine]. He was teaching us the sambo part that he had learned in Boston. I also got all the Mario Sperry tapes that we’d all watch together on the weekends and then go and practice. I guess I was mostly self-taught for that first year.

FCF:   How did you progress from grappling to MMA?
TS:     I had the opportunity to compete in a couple of grappling tournaments and took first place in both of them. Then, I had the opportunity to do an amateur NHB fight, open-handed, in Rhode Island. I knocked the guy out in twelve seconds and thought, ‘Wow, this is kind of fun. I kinda like doing this. I don’t get in trouble for it and it’s a great way to release stress.’ And it kinda started from there. The next time they had a fight, I came down and won again. They gave me a title shot with Rhode Island Vale Tudo — that’s Kipp Kollar’s event — and he got me involved with the IFC. I went to Atlantic City and won there.

FCF:   From there, how did you connect with the Miletich Martial Arts team?
TS:     I went to the next UFC and met Pat [Miletich] and those guys and just started talking to them. I had a big fight coming up in World Extreme Fighting and knew that my competition was going to be tough. The guy I was training with at the time was talking to Pat and he ended up inviting me out [to Iowa] for a week. I came out and trained my ass off for a week and Pat said, ‘You know, we could always use a hard working heavyweight. Why don’t you come out and live here?’ That’s all I was waiting for and a month later I moved out here.

Kenneth Alexander (Team Bad Boy, USA) from San Diego, posted 3 impressive wins earlier this year, two in RITC and one in Tito’s Rumble on the Reservation. Kenneth moved to the #1 spot in the RITC Welterweight rankings. US Marine Sergeant Alexander then spent a 5 month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Adam Durant has posted a 4-1 record in RITC matches this year. His lone defeat was to Alexander when Adam stepped up to the Welterweight division to fight Alexander who had a 10 lb weight advantage that night. Adam is now on a 3 fight win streak and is ranked #1 in the RITC Lightweight division.

When Kenneth returned home from Afghanistan last month, he officially announced that he’s dropping to the Lightweight division. Kenneth and Adam are now co-ranked as the #1 RITC Lightweight due to this latest development.

Kenneth now has his sights set on highly regarded Javi "Showtime" Vazquez but first wants to determine, at equal weight, who deserves the RITC Lightweight Championship, so we’ve added this outstanding matchup, Durant-Alexander II, as a Main Event fight to the RITC 39 card.

Previously announced:

One of Arizona’s most active and most popular fighters, Edwin Dewees, will be featured in one Main Event fight for RITC 39. Edwin, in just over 2 years, has posted a 23-4 record in RITC bouts. A special thanks to Edwin for stepping up to accept this huge challenge in front on his hometown fans.

Sam Adkins is a Wrestler/Boxer. He has appeared in the UFC on three occasions. Prior to his UFC 8 debut, Adkins had amassed an amateur wrestling record of 83-1, an amateur boxing record of 54-12 and a pro boxing record or 6-7. He was a National Golden Gloves silver medalist and formerly served as a sparring partner for both Tommy Morrison and Riddick Bowe. Sam has fought many notable MMA heavyweights, including Ken Shamrock, Don Frye, Dan Severn, Tank Abbott, Bobby Hoffman, Gan McGee and Travis Fulton.

Sam Adkins is a very experienced fighter who will provide a stern test for local favorite Edwin Dewees. It should be a "war" that you won’t want to miss.

Joseph Riggs just turned 20 years old. He’s a Wrestler/Boxer. He’s a two-time State Wrestling Champion and an Arizona Golden Gloves Champion. In his first year of MMA competition he has posted a 6-1 record over quality opponents including two UFC veterans.

Former #1 ranked RITC Heavyweight, Allan Sullivan is coming out of "semi-retirement" to challenge the current RITC Heavyweight Champ. "A-Dawg" has posted a 5-3 record against UFC veterans and a 9-2 record in RITC matches. He’s looking to regain the top spot in the RITC Heavyweight Division.

With a combined weight of nearly 700 pounds, the Cory Timmerman / Justin Lyon fight in RITC 38 turned out to be a real crowd pleaser. Cory stopped Justin’s three fight win streak with an arm bar submission victory late into round 2. Justin asked for a rematch and since the fans loved their first encounter, we’ll do it again at RITC 39.

These intriguing fights along with a strong supporting card will make for another exciting evening of RITC fights. We’re going to work hard on the rest of the card right up until fight time to provide the best available action for our loyal RITC fans.

Kevin Christopher’s Team Bad Boy USA, from San Diego, will be "invading" Phoenix to showcase some top new talent.

Matt Asher’s Combat Team, from Casa Grande Arizona, will be back in full force. The Asher Team, along with their huge contingent of supporters, have made a phenomenal impact on RITC over the past year.

The always popular fighters from Leininger Dojo will be back for more action as well.

Triple Main Event:

Edwin "Babyface" Dewees vs Sam "The Experience" Adkins

Joseph "Diesel" Riggs vs Allan "A-Dawg" Sullivan

Adam Durant vs Kenneth Alexander

Super Fight:

Cory "Tugboat" Timmerman (305 lbs)
vs
Justin "Big Dawg" Lyon (375 lbs)

There will be 12 fights (the Arizona Commission Limit).

Fight Card subject to change.

Celebrity Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona
Saturday, October 19, 2002
Doors Open: 6 PM, Fight Time: 8 PM