Hader's ultimate win

Columbia Falls fans remember Michael Hader as a state champion wrestler but after Saturday night, it's his boxing that won't be forgotten anytime soon.

At the second annual Kalispell Kombat, the 19-year-old Columbia Falls native dazzled in his first mixed martial arts fight ever and used an explosion of left-handed punches to not only win by technical knockout, but bring the Majestic Valley Arena to its feet.

"I just felt great. Right after it started I landed a couple bombs and was like 'I got this fight. I'm just gonna stay on my feet all day,'" said Hader, a former state champion Wildcat wrestler currently competing at the University of Great Falls.

Hader, looking more like "Iron Mike" the boxer than the 140-pounder who won state wrestling as a junior, landed one full blown punch after another against local fighter Ryan Asay. Two minutes and fifty seconds into the bout the referee stepped in and pulled Hader back.

"It feels good to be here in front of the home crowd," Hader said. "Finally got to come home, there's a lot of adrenaline."

Over 1,000 fans filed in to see 11 ultimate fighting bouts that included a number of local athletes squaring off in the amateur mixed martial arts event. The first 10 fights were set for two, four- minute rounds and the title fight was three, four-minute rounds that were overseen by Montana's only sanctioned mixed martial arts referee, Dennis Bain.

Zach Dickson won in the title bout to earn the first belt for local Straight Blast Gym, which opened just over five months ago.

Earlier in the night, Hamilton Ash, who came from Portland and has been training at SBG for the last month, faced off against Nick McMarrell of Eureka. McMarrell threw two quick kicks to Ash's legs in the opening seconds without getting a reaction. The third earned a reaction all right. Ash let loose a heavy jab to McMarrell's nose that dropped the Eureka fighter and opened a flood of blood. McMarrell kept his wits, however, and fought off a barrage of punches.

But Ash got an opportunity and took it, grabbing the arm and using it to win with an armbar.

"I was worried at first," Ash, who improves to 4-2 in amateur bouts, said about the fight. "I wasn't angry going into the fight. I was just really relaxed. He threw those kicks with a lot of power but I got that blow to his nose and got pretty excited."

Ash's teammate and Kalispell's Thomas Lamarr (2-2) went the distance in two rounds with Great Falls' Michael French. After two rounds, Lamarr and French had traded an equal amount of shots and an overtime round was called to answer the draw. French went on to win by split decision.

Sitting ringside for every fight throughout the night, Kevin Moore liked what he saw.

"All these fighters are putting out such a great effort. They've all trained very hard and you haven't seen a single fight that hasn't had a lot of heart involved," Moore said.

Moore is the owner of FightForce, which promoted the event and has built a firm foundation of ultimate fighting across the state.

"You can feel the energy in this place, it's a little bit electric," Moore said. "You'll see these kids continue in this sport and go on to be great athletes, and from little Montana. (Mixed martial arts' has become huge here, hopefully we've had a lot to do with it."

Kalispell Kombat

Saturday's Results

185 - Kenny Weasel, PFA of Edmonton, Canada, wins by chokehold over Jacob Blackmer, Team EFC of Eureka.

185 - Dalton Peasley, Hel-Town of Helena, wins by TKO over Bryan Schloss, Freestyle of Whitefish (20 seconds).

175 - Kendall McAllum, USA-Bozeman of Bozeman, wins by submission over Donnie Cheaney, Team Lone Wolf of Ronan (1:51).

155 - Hamilton Ash, Straight Blast Gym of Kalispell, wins by armbar over Nick McMarrell, Team EFC of Eureka (43 seconds).

185 - Michael French, GFCW of Great Falls, wins by split decision over Thomas Lamarr, Straight Blast Gym of Kalispell.

135 - Ryan Fuss, Hel-Town Hybrid of Helena, wins by TKO over Lance McMarrell, Team EFC of Eureka (47 seconds).

155 - Michael Hader, GFCW of Great Falls, wins by TKO over Ryan Asay, Straight Blast Gym of Kalispell (2:50).

Exhibition - Kenneth Hollinbaugh, Hel-Town of Helena, draws with Jeremy Basier, SOB Montana of Butte.

150 - Ryan Mulvhill, Icon Gym of Spokane, Washington, wins by guillotine over Kyle Miller, Hel-Town of Helena (34 seconds).

Heavyweight - Kenji Nita, Icon Gym of Spokane, wins by submission over Jesse Newbreast, SOB Montana of Butte.

145 (title fight) - Zach Dickson, Straight Blast Gym of Kalispell, wins by triangle choke submission over Kahl Clark, SOB Montana of Butte. (third round)