MMA
The event, May 31, was the latest installment of the XCC Championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fights. XCC, or Xtreme Cagefighting Championship, is one of several organizations that feature combat between two fighters who use a combination of fight techniques - including boxing, wrestling, kickboxing and martial arts - to win. Competition takes place inside a caged octagon. Instead of ropes, the mat is encircled by a rigid fence. When you think XCC, think of the WBO or the WBA or the IBF.
This weekend’s amateur fights featured nearly twenty bouts, pulling in fighters from across the state. Billed as XCC VI: Duel in Downriver, it was the sixth XCC event this year with 18 more planned across lower Michigan from Port Huron to Wyandotte to Jackson. Originally, two more fights were planned but shows on June 13 & 14 in Walled Lake and Sterling Heights, respectively, are being cancelled according to the promoter due to scheduling conflicts. The number of shows is a testament to the popularity of MMA. XCC will put on roughly the same number of events as there were professional boxing shows in the state last year. And, XCC is just one organization putting on shows. There are others. Competitors wear 6-oz grappling gloves, no headgear and no shirts. They fight three, 3-minute rounds with 1-1/2 minute rest periods. They use a variety of fighting styles in an effort to win by knockout, submission or winning points from three judges and much of the time is spent on the ground maneuvering for a position of advantage. Hitting your opponent when he is down is not only allowed it is what makes the fights Just as most boxers, and pure boxing fans, trash talk the sport that presidential candidate John McCain once described as “human cockfighting,” the mixed martial artists are not shy in their criticisms of boxing, either. “We’ve evolved past boxing,” said Jake Lamb, one of Saturday’s fighters. As you might expect, Lamb believes a contest between an MMA trained fighter and a boxer is really no contest at all. Asked why he doesn’t box, Lamb answers: “In boxing, I can’t kick the guy in the head.” Lamb was one of several fighters that touted the skills it takes to master multiple fighting disciplines and keep the action going the entire time in the cage. Unlike boxing, MMA fighters have to fight on their feet and on the ground. There is no time to throw a punch and then back off for a breather. Lamb won his match Saturday, his fifth time in the cage, bringing his record to 3 wins, 2 losses. All of his wins, according to his coach Matt Sredzinski, were by knockouts. The 19-year old from Fowlerville began competing in mid-December after 7-8 months of training, usually one day a week in the beginning. So anxious to fight was Lamb that when his original opponent fell out at the last minute, he agreed to enter the cage with a fighter twenty pounds heavier. He knocked that heavier opponent out in the first round, as he predicted. "Skill will beat size," Lamb explained after the fight. Josh Kelly, called “Malibu” by his teammates, left the ring after recording his seventh win (with one loss) in just 3-1/2 months.
His fight had been closer and would probably have gone to his opponent, an assistant coach said, had the 23-year old with the baby face not gotten his opponent to tap out. “I thought it would be easier,” Kelly said after his fight, clearly disappointed in his performance despite the win. Kelly fights out of the Dragon MMA in Lapeer and is much more reserved than Street Soldiers’ Lamb. Lamb’s fight was #15 in an evening with roughly 18 contests, whittled down from a scheduled twenty-five. It is a shame his fight came so late in the evening – starting about 12:15 am. What had started as a capacity or near-crowd had thinned to under 200 after nearly five hours. What they missed was a short but entertaining display of skill and toughness. A first round knockout ended the fight before 135-pounder Lamb, who looks as much like a model as he does a cage fighter, could suffer any real injury. The only injuries he has suffered so far have been black eyes and minor cuts. “I
love being out there,” Lamb said, pointing from the locker
room toward the arena. “I’ll take a few scars for that.”
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