Flaget keeps bantamweight championship at Kalispell Kombat

Fighting in the first title bout of the night, Kalispell’s Duran Flaget dominated Billings’ Ryan Ferguson to defend his bantamweight belt at Fightforce’s Kalispell Kombat mixed martial arts fights on Friday.

“You don’t really have the belt until you defend it,” Flaget said.

The former Flathead wrestler controlled the fight from the top, using his wrestling skills to keep the advantage on Ferguson. Punctuating the fight with a big takedown in the third round, Flaget closed the bout with three big strikes to the delight of the hometown crowd.

“(My strategy) was to stand actually,” Flaget said. “He really wanted to get to the ground so a lot of my takedowns were reversals. He threw me off, I didn’t know he was going to go for the ground. But I’m OK on the ground so it doesn’t matter.”

The 170-pound title fight between Thomas Lamarr and Josh Williams and the 185-pound title fight between Gus Nolte and Jesse Day Rider were not completed at press time.

In the earlier fights, heavyweights John Spotted Eagle and Matt Miller each won by submission. Spotted Eagle, from Polson, was able to get out of trouble early to turn an Americana submission on Ronan’s Tony Chaney. Miller, dominated his fight with Polson’s Alonzo Brings Yellow ending it three minutes in with a deep standing guillotine.

Kalispell’s Randy Kopchinsky, a striking coach at Straight Blast Gym, won his first ever MMA fight in a split decision. Kopchinsky, who fought at a height and reach deficit to Lethbridge’s Dallas Knelsen, was able to use his kickboxing to deliver a series of vicious leg kicks in the fight, leaving Knelsen with a huge welt on his left leg. SBG’s Tanner Beaman also won by split decision, taking down Sandpoint, Idaho’s Micahel McCray with ease in all three rounds.

There were three early finishes in the undercard, with Devon Prutch wowing the crowd with his frenetic pace to beat Kalispell’s Tony Best. Prutch, who goes by the nickname “Kid Kamikaze,” showed how he earned the moniker, leaping from the corner into a standing guillotine attempt as the bell sounded. Less than two minutes into the round, he was able to take down Best and finish him on strikes.

Tyler Wheeler had the quickest knockout of the night, finishing Kalispell’s Joey Goetsch in just seven seconds. Wheeler got a quick takedown and into the full mount at the starting bell, then finished the fight one punch later as Goetch submitted on strikes.

Lethbridge’s Khalil Azizi won his bout after two rounds when Polson’s Sheldon Fisher didn’t come out of the corner. Another Lethbridge fighter, Connor Darby, won the first fight by dominating Kalispell’s Joel Ballard for  three rounds to earn a unanimous decision.