ZenRhino's MMA Blog: Complete Devastation 8

Complete Devastation 8
Blair County Convention Center
Altoona, Pa.

03/02/13

Pro Fights:

Main Event:
Brett "Showtime" Shoenfelt over William Ward by TKO 1:48 of Round 1

Jeff Holmes over Brad "Machine Gun" Mountain by RNC 1:22 of Round 1
Jason Willett over Tyler "Country Boy" Updike by Guillotine 1:22 of Round 1
Charlie "The Madman" Gathers over Donte Adams by RNC 2:52 of Round 1

Ammy Fights:

Title Fight: Featherweight
Rich Cantolina over Zachery Shultz by Unanimous Decision

Doug Haupt over Jason Royer by Stoppage (Guillotine) :25 of Round 1
Kyle Dunmeyer over Chaz Dowdell by Key-lock 1:15 of Round 1
Jacob Kozorosky over Matthew Maney by Unanimous Decision
Ethan Goss over Daniel O'Neill by Unanimous Decision

Another awesome night of fights at the Blair County Convention Center as Complete Devastation 8 came to Altoona, Pa. Even with a few fights not getting to happen - most notably a Heavyweight fight featuring Complete Devastation veteran Clark Young) - the fights that did survive were exciting. It was a night of 1st round finishes & unanimous decisions. The crowd was animated and very involved. Even with what seemed to be added seats to the venue from previous events, it appeared to be a sold out crowd - even possibly standing room only.

The night started off with local fighter Brett "Showtime" Shoenfelt entering the cage with some people associated with the Hollidaysburg High School Wrestling boosters and pro hobby stock car racer Curtis Guyer. Shoenfelt made a donation to the wrestling boosters and talked about his support of their program & efforts to take wrestlers to the state championships. Brett also talked about how he sponsors the efforts of Guyer as he competes in pro hobby stock car racing.

The fights began with the amateur fights. Etan Goss facing Daniel O'Neill. It was an action packed three round fight, but it was clear to those in attendance, and by the judges score cards that Goss was the winner.

Next up was Jacob Kozorosky against Matthew Maney. Kozorosky was victorious in a dominating win at Complete Devastation, and Maney was supposed to also fight on that card but had to pull out of that fight. Kozorosky again was very dominant in the win over Maney for another win at a Complete Devastation event.

Kyle "Strong" Dunmeyer squared off against Chaz "The Gladiator" Dowdell. Dunmeyer is a veteran of 3 previous Complete Devastation events, and came into this fight undefeated at 3 - 0. Even though Dowdell had a significant height advantage over Dunmeyer, Kyle pulled off a "key-lock" armbar for the first round submission.

The next fight was between Dignan/Brumbaugh MMA fighter Jason Royer and Doug Haupt. Royer usually fights at Lightweight (155lbs) but took this fight against Haupt at Welterweight (170lbs) and was giving up over a dozen pounds coming in to this fight. Haupt had fought a team-mate of Royer's (Ryan Glunt) and had lost to him. In Jason's previous fight at Complete Devastation 5 he was dominating the first round against Jesse Busfield when the doctor stopped the fight in between rounds because Royer had a cut over his eye that was effecting his vision. It was a disappointing loss for him considering he was winning the fight up to that point. Haupt & Royer started off with a furious page & ended up with a takedown and Royer being on top of Haupt - and that's where Royer had another dose of bad luck. Haupt had a guillotine on Royer from the bottom and the ref was trying to determine whether Royer was ok or not. It appeared that Royer had "spiked" his head when he slammed Haupt down to the mat. After a few attempts of trying to communicate with Royer to see if he was ok to continue or succumbing to the guillotine, the ref stopped the fight to the dismay of Royer at only 25 seconds into the fight. Royer said he was fine and didn't realize the ref was talking to him with the questioning, but the decision had been made and the fight was over. The crowd erupted in disapproval and shouts of "REMATCH NOW!" rang out because the official decision hadn't been announced to explained what had happened. Hopefully Royer's next fight ends without any controversy.

(It should be said that referee Bill Bookwalter has had fight experience and is a very qualified referee. He was doing what he felt was in the best interest of the fighter, and while it have been disappointing for Royer, hsi fans & the Dignan/Brumbaugh MMA Fight Team... it was the right call at the time.)

The last of the amateur fights was a title match to fill the spot for the Featherweight (145lb) championship left vacant when Charlie Gathers turned pro at Complete Devastation 7 last November. Originally, Dignan/Brumbaugh MMA fighter Cody "Lenny" Karlheim was set to face off with undefeated Zachery Shultz, but when Karlheim injured his ACL/MCL ligaments of his right knee a replacement had to be found on relative short notice. Pittsburgh-based fighter Rich Cantolina stepped up on short notice to take the fight. Cantolina has fought for a title previously with other promotions 3 times without coming out the champion, and was looking to finally get a belt around his waist. Shultz came in to this title fight at 3 - 0 to Cantolina's 8 - 6 record. Cantolina was teeing off on Shultz, but Zachery showed tons of heart and withstood the many strikes which landed to his head. At one point in the 1st round Cantolina rocked Shultz and seemed very close to ending the fight, when the ref had to stop the action to make him aware that in the follow-up strikes to that initial big blow Shultz had become a "downed opponent" and under Pennsylvania amateur rules you can't strike to the head when fighters are either downed or on the mat. No point was deducted due to the accidental nature of the strikes, but the time it took for the ref to address the situation with both fighters allowed Shultz to recover enough to escape the round intact. Rounds 2 and three were similar to the first, and the result was a unanimous decision to Cantolina who became the Complete Devastation Featherweight (ammy) champion.

After a brief intermission the pro fight portion of the fight card commenced. Dignan/Brumbaugh MMA fighter Charlie "The Madman" Gathers was looking to get back to his winning ways after a bumpy start to his professional career. After leaving the amateur ranks with a record of 6 - 1 (and being the Complete Devastation Featherweight Champion who successfully defended his title) Gathers came in to this fight being 0 - 2 as a pro, having lost two tough fights to strong wrestlers Tyler Saltsman & Charles Kessinger both by submission. Gathers was matched up against King of the Cage veteran fighter Donte Adams, fighting out of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The fight began with Gathers charging Adams, and that almost cost him when Adams landed a amazing head kick that rocked Gathers. Adams tried to capitalize on this but Gathers recovered almost immediately after the action went to the mat, and after some scrambling the fight ended at 2:52 of the first round with local favorite Gathers pulling off the victory, winning by Rear Naked Choke.

Next up was Dignan/Brumbaugh MMA fighter Tyler "Country Boy" Updike versus Jason Willett. Both fighters had either been amateur champions or fought for amateur titles, and their pro records coming in to this fight was Willett at 1 - 0 and Updike at 0 - 1. The fight began with Updike taking control, but in a scramble somehow Willett managed to sink in a guillotine and the fight ended with Willett winning at 1:22 of the first round.

In the co-main event was Dignan/Brumbaugh MMA fighter Brad "Machine Gun" Mountain facing Jeff Holmes. The fighters came into this fight with almost identical records of 1 - 3 as a pro, but Holmes also had a no-contest to his record, making him 1 - 3 - 1. Mountain had moved from the Central Pennsylvania area to train & fight in North and South Carolinas before returning to this area and re-joining his Dignan/Brumbaugh MMA Fight Team brothers. Mountain has also trained with current UFC fighter Tim "The Barbarian" Boetsch. Holmes hadn't fought in almost a year, and both fighters were looking to get back to their winning ways. This fight was an almost replica of the previous fight between Updike & Willett. Mountain was taking control until in a scramble Holmes sunk in a rear naked choke to win over Mountain at 1:22 of the 1st round.

After the co-main event the winner in a raffle was chosen, and an autographed banner of Brett Shoenfelt was awarded to one lucky winner.

The final fight of the night was the main event between Dignan/Brumbaugh MMA fighter Brett "Showtime" Shoenfelt and Williams Ward. "Showtime" has trained out in Arizona with current UFC fighters Ryan Bader & C.B. Dollaway before coming back to Central Pennsylvania and training with the Dignan/Brumbaugh MMA Fight Team. Ward had made his Complete Devastation debut at CDMMA 6 back in September 2012 and defeated Shoenfelt's team-mate, Ryan Glunt. Shoenfelt started off his pro career at 1 - 3, but since then he has been on a 3 fight win streak. His previous fight was in January at VFL 40 in Altoona, where he fought on the same fight card as former UFC star & local favorite, Charlie Brenneman. The connection between Brenneman & Shoenfelt goes deeper than just fighting on the same fight card, Brenneman was a teacher at Hollidaysburg High School (his Alma Mater, and where he began his wrestling career) where Shoenfelt was a student and high school wrestler before Brenneman left teaching to begin his career as an MMA fighter.

Ward is a King of the Cage veteran, and his coach at the H8 Squad is a King of the Cage champion. None of his previous pro fights have made it out of the 1st round, and with the way Shoenfelt has been ending fights quickly this shaped up to be an exciting, but short fight. The fight lived up to that billing and after a flurry of action with Shoenfelt pummeling Ward, Brett managed to overwhelm Ward to win by TKO at 1:48 of the 1st round.

After Brett won the fight, someone in the crowd of Shoenfelt supporters raised a sign that said "Brenneman Fears Shoenfelt", and when Announcer Drew Shannon asked Brett what he thought of that sign, Shoenfelt said he wants to fight Brenneman to prove that he is a UFC calibre fighter who deserves his shot at the "Big Show" that is the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

It was an amazing night of fights, and makes me want the next event to happen very soon! The Complete Devastation MMA events have increasingly entertained me as well as everyone in attendance I'm sure. The promotion puts on quality fights that are always exciting as they bring the best MMA action to the region!

I would like to thank everyone involved with making this event such a success. The people at GoTime Promotions & Nova6 Studios for an excellent show, to Ryan Glunt for putting together an incredible fight card, to all of the fighters/managers/coaches/cornermen to the members of the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission for making Complete Devastation 8 another night of memorable fights.

I would also like to thank the people who attended the fights for supporting local MMA. Also a very big thanks to the Blair County Convention Center and the staff for providing an amazing venue for an awesome night of MMA action. Complete Devastation 8 was a total success in my opinion, and I look forward to the next event from this promotion that brings the very best in MMA to the Central Pennsylvania region!