Full contact Kombat

Mixed martial arts fans in the Flathead Valley will have no shortage of action this weekend.

Two MMA events are scheduled to take place in Kalispell starting with the spring edition of Fight Force’s Kalispell Kombat at the Flathead County Fairgrounds tonight.

The UFC-style event is slated for 10 amateur bouts starting at 7:30 p.m., with a batch of local fighters set to take the ring.

The following day at Glacier High School, the first-ever Gorilla Cup Grappling Championship will kick off at 8 a.m and run through the day. The submission and jiu jitsu competition is open to men and women of all ages and currently has roughly 50 athletes signed up from across the Northwest.

“It’s going to be a good weekend for combat sports in Kalispell,” local Straight Blast Gym owner and fight team head coach Travis Davison said.

The Gorilla Cup will be a test run of what he hopes will eventually become a summer league for grapplers, Davison said.

Straight Blast Gym has three athletes trained and ready to make their hometown debuts, two of whom are fighting for title belts, at Kalispell Kombat.

Will Barnhart, 21, will get a chance to reclaim the FightForce 170-pound belt that SBG teammate Zach Dickson vacated when he went professional last month. Barnhart is 1-0 in mixed martial arts fights and takes on Travis Lafountain of Great Falls.

Duran Flaget, a former standout wrestler at Flathead High who went on to become an All-American freestyle competitor, will make his Kalispell debut along with Barnhart. Flaget, 22, has a 6-4 record after fighting across the Northwest the previous years before moving back home. He will take on Ryan Mulvihill of Spokane, Wash.

“I’m more excited than nervous, I guess. I’ve fought before but this will be my first time fighting in front of the hometown crowd,” Flaget said.

Rounding out the SBG competitors is 21-year-old Gus Nolte, who has been training for 14 months and is making his fighting debut.

The 6-foot-6 Flathead Valley native recently earned his blue belt in jiu jitsu, a requirement Davison has for his fighters to ensure their readiness before competition.

“Since the day he signed up I haven’t been able to keep him out of the gym,” Davison said. “The guy is here every class, every night.

“Everybody who trains here or who knows (Nolte) is talking about the thing they’re most excited about is seeing Gus fight because they just know he’s a beast in training.”

Nolte brings a distinct reach advantage into the ring because of his size. His boxing skills are a strength several fighters won’t be able to match, his coach said.

“Gus has come a long way. I’m super excited to watch him,” Straight Blast Gym boxing coach Phillip Moore said. “It seems like a lot of the MMA guys, when they’re starting out, they’re more comfortable to take it to the ground because it hurts and you get knocked out when you get hit with those small gloves. So everybody is a little hesitant at first, but I’ll tell you what, if Gus hits somebody with that right hand, they’re going to go out.”

Columbia Falls native Michael Hader returns to the ring looking to duplicate his exciting performance from last year’s Kombat. Hader won a crowd-pleaser in front of roughly 1,000 fans at Majestic Valley Arena in April 2009.

Eureka has two fighters making the trip to Kombat — Lance McMarrell and Brady Meekhof of Team EFC.

All in all, promoter Kevin Moore, who fights in mixed martial arts himself, said the FightForce event has earned a good reputation in the valley for a reason, and Friday is sure to live up to that.

“I think we have a good fanbase in the Flathead. They can tell the difference between a good (fight) card and a bad card, and we always have a good card,” Moore said.

For information about Kalispell Kombat, call Kevin at 250-4997 or visit www.ultimatefightforce.com. For information about the Gorilla Cup, call Straight Blast Gym at 250-2380 or visit www.sgbmontana.com.

FightForce Kalispell Kombat

Flathead County Fairgrounds

Fight Card

160 — Michael Hader, GFW of Great Falls, vs. Brad Cain, Freestyle of Deer Lodge

170 — Will Barnhart, SBG Montana of Kalispell, vs. Travis Lafountain, Freestyle of Great Falls

185 — Gus Nolte, SBG Montana of Kalispell, vs. Teddy Shaw, SOB of Butte

135 — Lance McMarrell, Team EFC of Eureka, vs. Jon Hiltz, Freestyle of Deer Lodge

160 — Brady Meekhof, Team EFC of Eureka, vs. Skeet Archer, Montana MMA of Bozeman

Heavyweight — Kenji Nita, Icon Gym of Spokane, Wash., vs. Mike Ishak, Hel-Town Hybrid of Helena

205 — Alex Calvi, GFW of Great Falls, vs. Dallas Sleuder, Freestyle of Billings

135 — Ryan Clemmons, Combat Compound of Miles City, vs. Ryan Fuss, Hel-Town Hybrid of Helena

145 — Duran Flaget, SBG Montana of Kalispell, vs. Ryan Mulvihill, Icon Gym of Spokane, Wash.

135 — Bizter Kenitzer, Combat Compound of Miles City, vs. Steven Helman, Freestyle of Great Falls