Rumble young man rumble
Kalispell's Michael Wilson lifts his arms up in a combination of exhaustion and victory after defeating Adam North of Howard, S.D. during the annual Kalispell Kombat on Friday evening.
Kalispell's Chhimed Kunzang puts Polson's Cody Weaving into a headlock.
Kalispell's Eddie Dolzadelli puts his arms in the air after defeating Florence's Chris Mayeur.
Polson's Alonzo Bringsyellow throws a punch while Great Falls' Jason Mustain puts up a kick.
Kalispell's Gus Nolte puts up his dukes before starting his fight against Plains' Anthony Young.
Phillip McClendon is pressed up against the fence by Kent Johnson.
Great Falls' Phillip McClendon grits his teeth as he squeezes his arms around Bozeman's Kent Johnson during the annual Kalispell Kombat at Majestic Valley Arena on Friday evening.
Jason Mustin falls back toward the fence after getting hit by Alonzo Bringsyellow.
Anthony "Rumble" Johnson recognized the look in each fighter's eyes as they stepped into the cage on Friday night.
Sitting ringside instead of being in their shoes for once, Johnson could recognize the nervous adrenaline among the 22 fighters who competed in this year's Fight Force Kalispell Kombat inside Majestic Valley Arena.
It wasn't that long ago that the mixed martial arts veteran was a 20-year-old learning the sport one black eye at a time.
"They still could use some freshening up, but that's the way it is. They're amateur fighters," the UFC professional said. "My hat goes off to these fighters. They are trying. That's all you can do."
Six fighters from Kalispell came away victorious, including local Straight Blast Gym veterans Jake Oyler, Zach Dickson and Gus Nolte. But a few others made a name for themselves on Friday, like 38-year-old Chhi'med Kunzang and 18-year-old Michael Wilson, who picked up exciting wins in their first competitive matches.
In the second fight of the night, Kunzang asserted himself from the start and secured a rear naked choke hold for the first-round submission.
"There was as much adrenaline as I thought there'd be," he said. "The nerves came and went. I've got such a good team and such good coaches and they just kind of talked me through it. They said just treat it like you're in the gym and that's what I did. But with a little extra."
Kunzang came away with a cut ear, which the ringside doctor said needed stitches.
A worthy price to pay to go along with a good memory.
"Nice little battle scar," he said.
Wilson, who lives in Eureka but has been driving to Kalispell to train at Straight Blast Gym three times a week for the past few months, had a similar aggressive strategy pay off. After catching a punch in the face and injuring his eye, Wilson managed to muscle his way atop his opponent and finished with a submission in 1:22.
"It was a good fight. He cracked me a couple times and one really rung me a little bit," Wilson said. "I threw some ground and pound to open him up, slipped the choke in and it was over."
The roller coaster bout of the night came in the eighth when Nolte got caught with three back-to-back-to-back punches right away, seemingly caught off guard and doomed. But Nolte kept his legs under him and recovered quickly, pushing forward and landing his opponent on the ground where he won with a rear naked choke.
Oyler won in familiar fashion in the main event finale, throwing a barrage of punches and elbows on his grounded opponent before the referee stopped the fight in the first. After the fight ended, Oyler quickly hugged his smiling wife, who is pregnant with their first child and due any day now.
Dickson submitted his opponent quick and clean in the second to last fight of the night.
Freestyle Kalispell fighter Eddie Dolzadelli came away with a win thanks to a nice complement of punches.
Polson's Alonzo Bringsyellow won by majority decision in his bout. Kent Johnson of Bozeman edged out a split decision in the first fight of the night. Zach Anderson of Butte won by submission. Ted Reiter of Malta won after his opponent verbally submitted. Eric Oakland of Great Falls won a FightForce title belt at 135 pounds with a split decision.
After the split decision, a few upset spectators booed the announcement from the crowd, at which point Johnson stepped into the ring, took the microphone and defended his colleagues.
"Don't boo the fighters. These guys are in here working hard," said Johnson, who will fight again professionally in June on Versus. "Celebrate these fighters."
Johnson came to town as a guest of Kelly Shenefelt and held autograph sessions at Shenfelt's Fashion Plus on Friday.