Nestled away in the Mountains of San Carlos Arizona Fighting Legend Don "The Predator" Frye made his return to the U.S on Saturday May 13th at King of Cage: Predator Returns. The main event saw Don Frye a native of Sierra Vista, AZ take on Gladiator Challenge Native American Heavyweight World Champion Ruben "Warpath" Villareal. In the co-main event of the evening 12-1, 4 time defending World Bantamweight Champion Urijah “the California Kid” Faber defended his belt against undefeated former 3 time King of the Cage world Bantamweight Champion Charlie Valencia. 


The fight card opened with Justin Bailey defeating DJ Hollingsworth via rear naked choke. Bailey took the fight to the ground early, landed a few strikes until Hollingsworth gave up his back and was done in with the choke at 1:55 of round 1.


Daniel Madrid was victorious over Leroy Fornoff. Madrid came out the more aggressive striker, while also landing a big slam that brought the fight to the ground. Madrid would slam Fornoff yet again as he powered out an armbar submission attempt. Madrid would end the fight with an armbar of his own at the 4:51 mark of round number 1.


David Carrasco took on Bob Calnin in the 3rd fight of the night. Carrasco came out of the blue corner swinging for the fences with an assertive stand up game that saw him land a few punches and just miss with a high kick attempt. Calnin countered this with a take down that brought the fight to the mat. Carrasco may have punched himself out of the fight, even attempting a flurry of punches from the half guard. Going into round 2 Calnin would again take the fight to the ground where the fight was stopped due to strikes at 2:50 of round 2.


Hailing from Globe, AZ Vince Perez fought Chad Dietmeyer just miles from his hometown. Perez would quickly take down Dietmeyer with a crisp double leg. Immediately after being taken down Dietmeyer would slap on a tight armbar that would end the fight at 1:06 of round 1.


What else can you say about a fight that lasts less than 10 seconds? Ron Rumpf knocked out Shane French with a left hook that sent French to the floor and Rumpf pounced on with hammer strikes until Referee Cecil Peoples stepped in with a nice take down of his own at the 8 second mark of round 1.


The fight of the night pitted Matt Ver Halen against Matt Dell. The action began with Dell landing a low left kick and then getting rocked by a Ver Halen left jab. Dell would get Ver Halen in the clinch up against the cage where he worked in 2 or 3 good punches including an uppercut that caught Ver Halen square on the chin. Both fighters took each others best shots, Ver Halen in particular took a lot of punishment but continued to be aggressive in the stand up game. Round 1 would be scored 10-9 to Dell after he blocked a spinning back kick attempt by Ver Halen and countered with a right-left combo that sent Ver Halen to the ground. Round 2 would end on a high note after the majority of the round consisted of Dell and Ver Halen battling for position in the clinch. Dell would secure the spilt decision victory with a barrage of kicks and knees that closed out the second and final round.


The Kyacey Uscola vs. Jacob Chagolla was stopped before the start of round 2 due to a cut above Chagolla’s left eye brow. Chagolla received the cut early in round 1 from a punch by Uscola.


The upset of the night was Brett Slone’s victory over ring veteran Bryan Pardoe. Slone making his MMA debut got the quick take down of Pardoe and followed it up with some quick left hooks that dazed Pardoe on the mat. Pardoe countered with a failed armbar attempt that gave way to more punches by the hard-hitting Slone. The bout ended in 40 seconds due to knockout with Slone taking home the win.


Bobby Hoffman with over 40 MMA fights under his belt faced off with new comer Paul O’Keefe who replaced injured Victor Vincelette who pulled out of the match due to a broken hand. The MMA debut would be short but not so sweet as Hoffman controlled the ground game until he was able to apply an arm triangle choke that ended O’Keefe’s night at 1:29 seconds of round 1.


Champion vs. Champion as Urijah Faber and Charlie Valencia squared off in the only title fight on the card. Both fighters did not waste anytime as Valencia was the first to connect with a 1-2 combo and a missed flying knee. Faber used the miss to score a takedown but he was clearly affected by the early fists of Valencia. From here Faber would allow Valencia to stand up. Faber connected with a left knee that shook Valencia as the fight continued against the cage. A suplex attempt by Faber was rolled through as Valencia countered with a heel hook that Faber was able to escape.


Throughout the fight Faber took down Valencia at will. The final takedown saw Faber land some nice punches, than standing up looking for more action on the feet. Still on his back Valencia tried a leaping back kick that grazed Faber but allowed him to mount Valencia’s back to sink in the rear naked choke.


“I got his back sunk in a deep choke. I had it pretty tight he wasn’t getting out of it.” Faber said. “It’s either pass out of tap out on that one”


The fight ended at the 3:09 mark of round 1 with the Urijah "The California Kid" Faber declared the winner.


A decade ago Don Frye defeated 3 opponents in one night at UFC’s Ultimate Ultimate 1996.Returning to US soil for the first time since, Fyre would have to go through 280 pound Ruben "Warpath" Villareal in order to notch another victory on his belt.


The fight would go all three rounds. With a stand up war ensuing between two very powerful heavyweights. Fyre would begin with a bull rush to start round 1 but Warpath would not back down throughout the fight with both men landing punches and knees when wrapped up in the clinch. To close out the first round in this stand up battle Fyre was able to land 2 consecutive uppercuts from the clinch that woke up Warpath and brought the crowd to it’s feet.


Round number 2 saw Warpath use his reach advantage to land some nice left jabs that eventually opened up a small cut under Fyre’s right eye. The first take down of the fight came after Warpath connected with a knee to body, Fyre responded with a hip toss that saw both men go to the floor. The remainder of round 2 Fyre worked some punches from the full mount but Warpath showed enough defense that no major damage was inflicted.


“I trained for 3 rounds I felt in the second round I tired him out pretty good.” Said Warpath. “So it was just an matter of keeping him standing, I had  the reach on him as long as I kept in him the middle of the ring I thought I had it.”


Going into round 3 of this heavyweight bout saw both of these warriors gassed from the frantic first 2 rounds. So the bout would come down to a judge’s decision. Judge 1 scored the fight for Warpath, with Judge 2 going with Fyre, and Judge 3 declaring the fight a draw.  “So when you leave it up to the decision you know how it goes.” said Warpath. “Its just a honor to be in the ring with him.”


After the bout Frye was in good spirits.


“It felt great fighting in my home state,” said Frye. “I wish I put on a better performance but it wasn’t my fault it was Ruben’s fault. He’s a great fighter and tonight he put the boots to me”


Post fight Frye said he was looking forward to a rematch with Warpath.


"We’ll have to fight for the title next time, I figure I’m about 1/8 Cherokee. So I want a shot at that belt he’s got”

Source: MaxFighting