Everyone in the fight community knew that Wild Bills Fight Night 6 would have fireworks, but boy was everyone in for a surprise.
Fourteen total fights were on the card and some of the best fights in a long time were witnessed in one evening as there was knockouts, submissions, tapouts, upsets and several fights that went the distance.
Wild Bills Fight Night 4 also provided for the largest crowd to ever witness a fight at Wild Bill's as more than 3,500 people purchased tickets to witness the second round of the 155 lb Tournament.
UFC star Forrest Griffin was on hand to cheer on several of his teammates from the Hardcore Gym in Athens and the 2006 Georgia Fighter of the Year Award was handed out to Kevin Gittemeier of McDonough by co-promoters David Oblas of Undisputed Productions and Steve Mudder of Full Throttle Entertainment.
Full results are below.
Fight 1
Ben O'Sheilds defeated Jason Nicholson by tap out due to triangle choke at 1:25 of the first round.
Fight 2
Marius Cujba defeated Bob Cook 40 seconds into the fight by tap out due to triangle choke
Fight 3
Adam Longshore and Duke battled it out to a draw in muay thai. This fight was probably the fight of the night as both guys beat on each other from the beginning of the fight until the end. Both fighters have already agreed to a rematch on the Friday, March 2 Wild Bill's Fight Night VII card.
Fight 4
Broke Kerry of Louisiana defeated Georgia's Ben Pierce at 2:03 of the second round by TKO.
Fight 5
In the first fight of the 155 lb Tournament, Jarred Card won a controversial fight over Chicago's Kevin English. The fight went the distance with Card winning a split decision in a fight that could have gone either way. This win was considered a mild upset as English is a highly ranked fighter and Card is naturally a 145 lb fighter.
Fight 6
In the second fight in the 155 lb Tournament, Athens' own Stephen Ledbetter was methodical in his win over Majeed Alkush beating him by unanimous decision.
Fight 7
The seventh fight of the night saw the second muay thai fight and the first female fight of the evening. Commerce's Rebecca Duran defeated Ashley Altman of Alliance Martial Arts via split decision in the 135 lb weight class. Duran has fought several times at Wild Bill's and will be seen again in the ring at Wild Bill's as she brings a work ethic matched by few female fighters.
Fight 8
The FOX 5 news cameras decided to follow around Athen's Dave Mewborn as he made his pro debut and nervous he was not! The young buck showed his skills by forcing the ref to stop the fight only 21 seconds in the first round as he defeated South Carolina's Steve Sawyer. Mewborn was able to knock Sawyer to the mat and was landing hammer fists as referee Blake Grice stepped in to stop the fight.
Fight 9
Fight 10
Fight 11
In a fight where two warriors stood toe to toe for the whole three rounds, Hilton Head's Charles Nutt did enough to win over Hardcore Gym's Chad Shafer by unanimous decision. It was later discovered that Shafer broke his hand in round two of this fight, although one would have never known it has he continued to land bombs and kept the fight standing for 15 minutes.
Fight 12
Charles Blanchard is quickly becoming one of the most feared 175 - 185 lb fighters in the Southeast as he pulled off a major upset by forcing Tim Stout to tap out due to rear naked choke only 4:34 into the first round. Blanchard's incredbile wrestling skills have helped him stay undefeated thus far as both an amateur and professional mixed martial arts fighter.
Fight 13
The co-main event saw two-time UFC Heavyweight Kevin Jordan enter the ring to face North Carolina's Chris Herring. Jordan had not fought in more than a year and had lost two fights in a row. Herring had fought regularly in the past year and had won a few fights recently. While some fans suspected a possible upset brewing, Jordan would have none of that as he did his job in defeating Herring 1:19 into round one by tap out due to strikes. With a few more wins, Kevin Jordan of Columbus, GA, might be back in the UFC mix.
Fight 14
It took all night to get to this point and not one person in the crowd had exited the building. It was time for Ledbetter vs Card for the 155 lb finals and to see who would earn the opportunity to fight Steve Kinnison in the finals on March 2. In what was a great fight from start to finish, the Hardcore Gym's Ledbetter proved to be too talented, too strong and too technical for North Carolina's Card as he pulled out the unanimous decision. With the win, Ledbetter set up a fight that many in Georgia have been pointing to as "The Fight" for more than six months now.
On Friday, March 2, at Wild Bill's Fight Night VII, it will be time for the finals of the 155 lb Tournament.
)
