By Bobby Pena
With great weather in the DFW area, XKO had a fantastic show! The Block party was just the beginning to a power-punch evening. The Gym was packed and the tension high with anxiety for the fights to start. This is the first XKO show with a belt on the line. So who wouldn’t want the fights to start?
1st fight Chris Feist vs. Jason Painter- starting the night off with a bang, both showed great heart and battled it out. In the end the judges’ call was in favor of Chris Feist.
2nd fight Randell Kennedy vs. Jason Fisher- Randell showed great heart digging deep in the 2nd round, but lost to Jason Fisher by referee stoppage.
3rd fight Alex Russ vs. Kevin McGee- ended with a disappointed McGee, who wanted to keep fighting but was stopped by the ref. Alex Russ worked really well and won the fight.
4th fight Gabe Guerrero vs. Chris Pecero- showed heart in the face of adversity. Chris was dazed in the 1st round, but came through with good stand up and determination to get the judges decision. Don’t get me wrong, Gabe was throwing some heat and laying the pressure down.
5th fight Kashif Solarin vs. Mike Sierra- Solarin’s pro debut ended with a tight triangle from the guard forcing Mike to tap in the 2nd round. Great scrambles occurred, and no one knew who would win.
6th fight Brad Mitchell vs. Steven Peterson- Brad was very calm and on the hunt. Steven was working very well, throwing unorthodox kicks and punches and giving it his best. Regardless of the danger Brad was capitalizing. At the end of the third round it was up to the judges . . . 29-28 unanimous decision to Brad Mitchell.
On to the 7th inning stretch!! Yes I used baseball humor, Quaint Kempf vs. Jay Flores. With a nice re-shot bear hug to mount and with dogged determination, Quaint gets what he is working for in the 1st round. The Head and Arm triangle and finishes Jay in the 2nd round.
8th fight of the night was Beau Hohmann vs. Zac Board. Unfortunately it ended with Zac being DQ’ed due to an illegal kick, as Beau was unable to continue. Even dazed during the interview, Beau was a super classy guy and said if anyone was needing to be interviewed it should have been Zac. Ego was out the door for Beau and great respect is what he should get!!! Hats off to you Beau!
9th fight and closer to the main fight! Chris Holdsworth vs. Randy Villarreal. Good BJJ work out of these fighters. Chris gets the win with a rear naked choke. 2:09 into the 1st round.
Finally the main event.
Roy Spoon vs. Chris Jones- The anticipation is over and the fight starts. Great pressure from both fighters, neither letting up. Both are as cool as ice and both work very well from any position. Roy gets a good throw and Chris rebounds and scrambles to 1/2 guard. Chris takes Roy’s back and Roy spins around to full guard. Chris throws the triangle and sinks it in. At 2:30 in the 1st round Chris gets the win and a shiny new belt. Both fighters look fresh and ready to do it all again.
WOW I am pumped to have even been there!!! So in retrospect of the night, all fighters showed heart and class win or lose!
– Bobby Pena is a professional fighter with a 1-0 record in XKO events. He is part of an ongoing series of professional fighters sitting ringside at our local North Texas events.