Combat Fitness/SBG Idaho athletes took part in 5 of the 8 fights at Front Street Fights 6 last Friday night in downtown Boise, Idaho.
Though we didn’t earn victory in every contest, we are incredibly proud of the heart, skill, and sportsmanship displayed by every athlete that stepped into the cage that night.
Results and recap are as follows:
Stephanie Hernandez (CF/SBG Idaho) lost via unanimous decision to Courtney Youngblood. Both ladies went after each other with aggression from the opening bell. Hernandez landing the harder punches, but Youngblood using her taller frame to push Hernandez to the cage numerous times throughout the bout, where she was able to land hard knees to the midsection. Several times throughout the bout Hernandez was able to land strong takedowns, but save for a deep RNC attempt in round 1, was unable to hold Youngblood down for long. Ultimately, it was Youngblood’s strong clinchwork over all three rounds that earned her the decision. Fantastic fight by both athletes!
Darneal Stephens (CF/SBG Idaho) winner via TKO over Tommy Turner, Round 1. Stephens utilized good movement early to keep Turner, an excellent boxer, off balance and guessing. After a few early exchanges, Stephens timed a nice double leg takedown, and hoisted Turner into the air. Turner acted well, securing a tight guillotine choke, which had Stephens fighting hard to free his neck. After eventually escaping danger, Stephens went to work, landing hard punches and elbows from halfguard, mount, and back control, before the referee decided to intervene on Turner’s behalf.
Josh Wick (CF/SBG Idaho) winner over Vince Morales via submission (armbar), Round 2. This was, by far, the fight of the night! Morales was the aggressor early, using strong boxing to back Wick to the cage and unload hard punching flurries, before clinching and looking for takedowns. Wick’s takedown defense was airtight, however, and he began to assert himself with strong elbows and knees up against the cage before circling off and attacking with kicks to the legs, body, and head. Round 2 saw Wick resume his kick-heavy offense, before Morales came forward with a strong flurry and a clinch. A short elbow from Wick, opened up a nasty cut on Morales that immediately began painting the canvas red, as Wick circled away. Coming forward with another flurry and clinch, Morales finally secured the takedown he was looking for. His success was short-lived, however, as Wick immediately snuck his legs into high guard, and as Morales went to stack him, secured the fight ending armbar!
Brendon Raftery (CF/SBG Idaho) lost via unanimous decision to Joaquin Calderon. An early takedown by Calderon off of a Raftery kick, saw Raftery’s leg become entangled strangely with Calderon’s. Stuck in the unusual position, Raftery was unable to move his hips well, and spent the majority of the round defending punches from the bottom. The extended grappling exchanges in the first round seemed to drain Raftery’s gastank over the final two rounds as he was unable to generate enough meaningful offense on the feet to stop Calderon’s clinch, takedowns, and topside grappling. Raftery never gave up though, and continued to fight as hard as he could until the very end.
Scott Thometz (CF/SBG Idaho) winner over Jacob Jokela via unanimous decision. Save for a few competitive exchanges in round 3, Thometz was utterly dominant throughout this fight. Hard striking exchanges into early takedowns every round by Thometz, saw Jokela stuck on bottom eating punches and elbows from every possible position. Though he did well to survive the grappling exchanges, even managing to achieve top position several times in the final round, Jokela was completely outclassed, as Thometz swept the scorcards from every judge.
Once again, congratulations to ALL our athletes who trained like ad competed like champions! Special thanks to our trainers and training partners for all you do to help our guys be the bests martial artists they can be! And finally, thank you to the crew at Front Street Fights for giving athletes in this area a solid platform to compete on, can’t wait for the next one!!!
Pictures and video to come soon, stay tuned.
