Cage Fury Fighting Championships, Atlantic City NJ premier Professional MMA Organization had their 18th show with this being its debut in Virginia. CFFC 18 was held October 27th at the Richmond Raceway complex in Richmond Virginia. This was a big show for Virginia and no surprise to the fans in attendance it was dominated by Virginia’s biggest fight team MMA Institute. Overall MMA Institute went 7-1 going 2-0 in the amateur undercard and 5-1 on the pro main card.
To start off for MMA Institute was Julia “will killa” Ho coming into the bout with a 1-0 record taking on Evie Johnson. It was clear early on in the exchanges striking, that Julia had the crisper striking and won the first round with striking dominance. In the second round Julia scored a takedown early and quickly secured Johnson’s back and sunk in a rear naked choke for the tap. Next up from MMA Institute was Scott Noble. Noble was a standout football star from JMU making his amateur debut in MMA. This was the quickest fight of the night with a devastating knee KO that halted the fight less than 30 seconds in the first round.
Mark Strickland Vs. Joe Slaughter
On the main card starting off the professional bouts was MMA Institute’s and Predator wrestling Coach Mark “The Predator” Strickland. Strickland is known for being one of the best wrestlers to ever come out of Virginia and has turned his competitive focus on MMA. Strickland had recently made his pro debut in New Orleans last month taking on a Veteran fighter with close to 20 professional fights and winning that fight by unanimous decision. This fight was thought to be easier taking on Joe Slaughter who came in with a 0-1 record. This turned out to be a war with Strickland dictating with takedowns and superior wrestling and Slaughter fighting every second making this a competitive match up. After three hard fought rounds Mark Strickland was declared the winner by unanimous decision.
Donny Ooton Vs. Same Eure
The next fighter from MMA Institute was another wrestling coach from MMA Institute, Donny ”One Speed” Ooton. Ooton has built a reputation since early on in his amateur career as a very aggressive and exciting fighter. . Sam Eure fights out of Virginia beach and was making his professional debut. This fight did not disappoint, from the first bell Ooton stayed active both standing and on the ground and used his dominant wrestling style to dictate the pace of the fight. After three hard fought rounds Donnie Ooton was declared the winner by Judges decision.
Keith Bell Vs. Shelton Graves
Fight number three featured the heavyweights; Keith “Bad News” Bell from MMA Institute verses Shelton Graves from Maryland. This started as a fast paced fight especially for the big boy division. Both fighters came out throwing heavy punches and both seemed willing to throw. As the fight progressed it ended up on the cage were Keith took a shoot that put him to the mat. Graves followed up quickly with some unanswered shots and forced the referee to stop the fight by TKO giving MMA Institute its only loss of the night.
Terrell Hobbs Vs. Mike Phillips
The fourth fight of the night had Bellator veteran Terrell “Hollywood Hobbit” Hobbs from MMA Institute taking on the very experience Mike Phillips. This was considered by many the best fight of the night from a technical stand point if not from excitement. Every round had great stand up exchanges with Hobbs securing takedowns followed by some nice ground n pound in each round to secure the each round on the judges’ cards. Finally in the third round Hobbs found his opening after securing a takedown to side mount, he unleashed a barrage of unanswered blows which again forced the referee to step in and declare Hobbs the winner by TKO 1:58 into the final round.
Bryan Lashomb Vs. Rich Ostrum
The fifth fight of the night pitted Bryan ”The Angry Elf” Lashomb from MMA Institute against power house Rich Ostrum. Rich Ostrum a BJJ brown belt from Global academy in Virginia Beach was a last minute step in fight for Lashomb when Ostrum’s original opponent got a cut during training and Lashombs original opponent Keyon Wilkins no-showed and promoters couldn’t get in contact him with three days before the fight. Both fighters seemed to want to keep the fight standing in the first round with some great striking skills exhibited by both fighters. Lashomb seemed to be the quicker and more technical and Ostrum seemed to look more for the bigger power shots. Lashomb landed the cleaner shots and dictated the striking giving him the first round. Early in the second round Lashomb decided to change it up and secured a takedown followed by ground and pound. Using his striking to advance his position Lashomb moved to mount where he began to unload elbows that prompted the referee to halt the action and declare Bryan Lashomb the victor by TKO at 2:31 of the second round.
Mike Wade Vs. Kris McCray
The Main event of the night featured MMA institute fighter Mike “Taylor Made” Wade against UFC veteran and Ultimate Fighter season 11 Runner up Kris McCray. Kris McCray came into this fight undefeated outside of the UFC. Mike Wade used this opportunity to show the world he was ready to move up to the next level. The first round saw Mike use his strong wrestling to control up against the fence and cause McCray to primarily defend during the opening round. In the second round McCray seemed to turn it around and opened up with his striking that did some damage and seemed to use his wrestling defense on the cage to open up strikes and give him the second round. The third round proved to be the most exciting and dominate of all the rounds. Wade secured a takedown in the first part of the round and took full advantage of the positional dominance. He transitioned from mount to back mount the rest of the round and came close to finishing McCray several times before the bell ended the round. The fight ended with Mike Wade getting the decision and the biggest win of his young career.
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