September - Kansas City Sports & Fitness Magazine

I have
By MARK MERRELL, Contributing Writer
to admit I had never been to a Mixed
Martial Arts (MMA) event before, so
when I got this assignment, I was really
excited to see something new. I had seen a
match or two on television, but was not sure
what to expect in person, but I have to say
that the event hosted by Harrah’s North
Kansas City in the Voodoo Lounge, which
is a perfect venue for MMA and boxing,
was amazing.
The room was sold out, with people
standing all night due to the incredible
action in the ring. The fighters entered
through a door of sorts to a circular ring
with a mat, surrounded by a 12-foot high
chain link fence. Once inside, the door is
locked behind the participants, and the
match is on.
The fighters start out sparing like boxers,
but that is the only similarity to a traditional
bout. Within a few minutes, an aggressive
opponent will usually make a move to tackle
and take down their adversary. Once a person
has that advantage, the next move is
either a choke hold, or to just beat them up
by continually hitting them in the head, face,
or sides until the fighter either gives up, gets
knocked out or the referee stops the match.
There are three rounds to a match, with
each lasting three minutes. If neither fighter
gives up or gets knocked out, the decision
goes to the judges. Several times throughout
the sixteen scheduled bouts I wondered if
some of the fighters thought three minutes
seemed more like three hours while they
were being pummeled.
Four bouts at the end of the card were for
the title of that specific weight class, not
unlike boxing. I watched a local favorite
20 SEPTEMBER 2010 KANSAS CITY SPORTS & FITNESS
presents THE SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT REPORT
MMA packs them in at Harrah’s
getting warmed up in the ring prior to his
fight, and had a chance to speak with Tony
Davis, who would be competing in the main
title bout in the 135-pound class against outof-town
participant Todd Brooker.
“I went to Olathe North high school, and
I was in choir, and never been in fight in
my life, until
I started this,”
Davis said.
“But I thought
fighting was
cool.”
Davis stated
that he has to
work out on a
daily basis,
leaving little to
no time for any
real life outside
of preparing for
the next match.
“Sometimes
after fights,
I think that
I never want to do that again,” Davis said.
“I am always beat up and stuff, but once it
all wears off, you get the itch and want to
do it again.”
Davis was wearing a pink shirt prior to
the fight, as was a large section of the
crowd.
“I really try and stay humble, and not let
people gas you up too much, and just know
that you can be beat at any time, just like
you can beat up on anyone else, so I stay
calm and patient, and focused, and just do
what I need to do.”
Some of those words would certainly
come to haunt Davis latter in his match.
The first title bout featured the mid-
“Sjaak the World” is an independent film about one man’s motorcycle
journey through 75 countries over five years
World Premiere Set for Friday, October 1 at Screenland Armour Road
One man. One motorcycle. One monster fiveyear
road trip!
On Friday, October 1, Kansas City film buffs and
motorcycle
enthusiasts are
set to welcome
Sjaak (pronounced
Shock)
Lucassen to
Screenland
Armour Road for
the 7:00 p.m.
world premiere of “Sjaak the World.” This one-hour
documentary is as story of horsepower and chutzpah
and one man’s dream journey through 75
countries on a Yamaha R1 Superbike.
The trek started on March 4, 2001 and ended on
August 6, 2006. He traveled 154,668 miles, used
an estimated 12,500 liters (3,302 gallons) of gasoline,
performed 20 oil changes and went through 11
front and 17 rear tires. Sjaak shot all his own
footage and traveled alone without chase cars or
emergency assistance. He encountered the muddy
waters of the Nile and Congo, the endless sands of
the Sahara desert and a snake slithering up his
engine block in Guyana. His favorite country to
explore was Russia. Favorite snacks were licorice,
Lay’s potato chips and Coca-Cola.
“This is no ordinary motorcycle tale,” said
Brandon Green, the Kansas City-based director
who produced the film locally. “It’s a story of
ambition, dreams and a guy living a fully engaged
life.” This is a journey no one will ever duplicate
and why it’s such a compelling piece of cinema.
Everyone who worked on the film, from production
to marketing to social media, volunteered
their time.”
Sjaak is a 48-year-old potato trader from
Maashees, Netherlands. He’s scheduled to appear
in studio on Good Sports – the Kansas City Sports
& Fitness magazine show on Saturday, September
25. Good Sports airs live on Saturday mornings
from 8-9 a.m. on KCTE Hot Talk 1510 AM.
His next challenge: attempting to ride his motorcycle
from the northernmost tip of the continental
United States (Barrow, Alaska) to the southernmost
tip (Key West, Florida). To connect with Sjaak:
www.facebook.com/SjaakTheWorld.
dleweights (185 pounds) Jet Jones and
Antonio Atkins. As soon as the fight began,
Jones started with several shots to Atkins
body and face, connecting over and over.
Not long after taking the advantage, Jones
took his opponent to the mat, and got an
incredibly tight hold on Atkins. Not wanting
to let up,
Atkins never
the less was
unable to get
out of the
clinch and at
2:36 into the
first round,
Jones, an
Orange
County,
California
native, stood
tall with a
gigantic title
belt held high
over his head.
The next
fight put the crowd in frenzy, as Billy Benz
took on Danny Mainus in the 125- pound
class. Mainus took down Benz quickly in
round one. Benz was able to get out of the
hold, but the aggressive Mainus again took
his opponent to the mat. Once again, Benz
made an escape, and took Mainus down.
The two went after each other, sparing until
the end of round one.
As the second round began the aggressive
nature of both fighters was on display once
more to the roar of the crowd. Mainus again
took down Benz, but a thumb to Mainus
right eye stopped the bout. Mainus appeared
unable to see very well, squinting his eyes.
The referee held up the pair for a brief time
to make sure Mainus would be able to continue.
Mainus was able to get his vision back
enough to carry on, and the two again went
after each other.
In the third and final round, Mainus took
Benz to the mat, and put a headlock on
Benz. Time ran out for the pair, so the decision
was left to the judges. Mainus was
declared the winner, and was ecstatic.
“He was so easy to take down, the plan
was ground game, so I knew once I got him
to the ground, it was a rap,” Mainus said.
“So the game plan was why stand there and
put on a show, and try to throw blows with
him when I could take him down that easy,
so I just put it on him, and made it an easier
fight for myself. It worked out in my favor.
Harrah’s North Kansas City begins its annual
First Down Frenzy on Sept. 5 and running each
week through the end of the National Football
League regular season.
There will be $135,00 in prize money - $50,000
at the end of the season and $5,000 each week.
There will be one free entry pre week, plus addi-
Mainus, a 25-year-old from Colby,
Kansas, said he heard the crowd cheering
him on, but it seemed to put more pressure
on him, and actually started to wear him out.
“I couldn’t see anything out of my right
eye,” Mainus said concerning the eye jab.
“When I looked at the lights, everything
would go blurry. I was afraid then I would
get caught with a big shot, so I didn’t want
to continue like that. It made me mad. In the
third round, I caught my second wind.
In the second of two fights featuring
women, Noe Perreria and Alex Stobbe went
toe-to-toe for the 155-pound title class.
Perreria got the advantage early, taking
Stobbe to the mat and keeping her there.
After putting a breathtaking choke hold on
her opponent, Stobbe seemed to be struggling
to breathe, and tapped out, giving
Perreria the title at 2:45 in the first round.
The 265-pound class match up was next,
featuring Robb Phillips from Hutson,
Florida (drawing boos from the crowd with
the mention of his home town), and local
favorite Shane “Bubba” Grant from Eudora,
Kansas. Grant had several fans cheering him
on, and as Grant’s name was announced, the
entire room was chanting, “Bubba-Bubba-
Bubba.” Grant looked strong, as the pair
clinched for a while early on. Grant was
able to connect several times to the face on
Phillips, causing a stream of blood from
above his left eye.
Grant took Phillips down, but his adversary
was able to get away. As the two faced
each other in the center of the ring, out of
nowhere, Phillips landed a left hook, sending
the 265-pound frame of Grant flat to the
mat face first, knocking him out in front of a
stunned crowd.
In the final title fight in the main event,
another local favorite, Davis took on Todd
Brooker in the 135 pound weight class.
Brooker was very aggressive from the
start, trying some roundhouse moves, and
connecting a couple blows to Davis,
who seemed to be letting Brooker wear
himself out.
While Davis was being conservative,
Brooker kept the pressure on. In the final
round, Brooker was able to get a take down
on Davis, but the Olathe native fought his
way out of the hold, getting to his feet.
Unfortunately for Davis, the fight went to
the hands of the judges after the close
match. Fans for Davis seemed to be everywhere,
porting the same style pink shirt he
CONTINUED ON PAGE 30
First Down Frenzy kicks off in September at Harrah’s
tional entries can be acquired for 50 base rewards
points earned Sunday through Monday.
Just pick the winner for each NFL game played
on Sunday or Monday. Picks are made on Friday
and Saturday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Weekly winners
for this extremely popular promotion will be
posted by noon every Wednesday.