Combat Fitness/SBG Idaho athletes posted a 3-1 mark at Front Street Fights 5 this past Friday night at CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho.
First up for the team was heavyweight, Russell Koharchick, taking on Daniel Spitz, in the evening’s 3rd amateur bout. The fight was a close affair, contested largely on the feet, save for several clinching exchanges. Spitz was the aggressor early, landing several solid combinations that backed Koharchick up and seemed to discourage him. As the bout progressed, Spitz’s output decreased and Koharchick found greater success with low kicks and several solid right hands. In the end though, it appeared as though Spitz’ greater workrate, combination punching, and constant forward movement carried the day, and he was awarded a split decision victory. With the loss, Koharchick dropped to 1-1.
Next up was featherweight, Matt Jones, taking on Chris Bateman, in the evening’s first professional bout. After some early faced paced kicking exchanges, both fighters found themselves clinched, against the cage. Several frenetic scrambles occurred next, with Bateman threatening a guillotine choke, then Jones threatening a back take, followed by a head and arm throw, to another scramble, that ended with Jones controlling a front headlock. Jones quickly used the hold to bring Bateman to the mat and take his back, securing both hooks. With Bateman unable to free himself, Jones softened him up with ground strikes and eventually found the opening he needed to secure a first round rear naked choke victory. With the victory, Jones improved to 2-1.
In the night’s co-main event, our head BJJ trainer, Scott Thometz, used well-timed takedowns, stout submission defense, and stifling top control to pick up a unanimous decision victory over Darrell Flores in a professional lightweight contest. Flores showed his gameness over the course of the fight, however, as he threatened with several leglocks and a kimura, in defending Thometz’ takedowns. Each time, Thometz was able to calmly free himself from the hold and advance to top position. From there, he used strong hammerfists, punches, and elbows to the body and head of Flores to exact his damage and gain a unanimous decision victory. Overall, a very entertaining fight that resulted in both athletes receiving the “Fight of the Night” bonus. With the win, Thometz improves to 7-4.
The evening’s main event, saw Jesse Brock pick up a unanimous decision victory over Bendy Casimir, in a professional bantamweight clash. After some brief exchanges, Casimir drew first blood, landing a quick straight left that quickly dropped Brock to the seat of his pants. Brock was able to recover and take control over the final several minutes with a takedown and hard elbows against the cage. Rounds 2 and 3 followed a similar pattern, with Brock using strong right body kicks and superior lateral movement to close the distance on Casimir. When he wasn’t able to secure the takedown, Brock maintained a rear waist lock, pressing Casimir into the cage while firing knees to the legs, and punches/elbows up under the arms and over the shoulders, to the head of Casimir. Desperate for a finish, Casimir tried multiple times for a rolling kneebar in rounds 2 and 3, but was unsuccessful. With the win, Brock improved his record to 20-8.
Congratulations to all our athletes, trainers, and training partners for representing yourself with skill, character, and class against quality opposition!!! Photos and video coming soon!
