Lockdown in Lowell on October 2nd

This past Friday Cutthroat MMA Entertainment presented another installment of “Locked Down in Lowell” at DC’s Country Junction in Lowell, Indiana. A venue that takes you back to the old days of mma with dirt floors and upper tier seating right on the cage, “Locked Down in Lowell” provided an evening full of highlights for the fans in attendance.

Starting off the night, Miguel Torres’ protégé Jake Naurcy made a successful debut as he submitted tough veteran George Gonzalez by arm bar in the opening minute of the first round. It was an impressive performance for the highly touted bantamweight. Speaking of impressive performances Modern Martial Arts Academy light heavyweight Will “Sic Wit It” Casoday sunk in a brilliant guillotine choke enroot to a first round win over LA Boxing’s Mike Heartline. Casoday is really starting to make some waves as a standout 205 ammy.

Gilbert Grappling came out in force as both Danny Gilbert and Matt Kuckla were both victorious. Gilbert at welterweight and Kuckla at bantamweight were coming off long periods of inactivity. Gilbert decimated his opponent by raining down strikes to end the fight via TKO. Meanwhile, Kuckla showed his tremendous power by executing a darse choke slam also known as the “Kuckla Slam”. Kuckla would hold onto the darse choke and finish the fight midway through the first.

Light Heavyweight Standout Anthony Gomez (9-1) from Torres Martial Arts survived a contact malfunction to get a first round tko win. Following the win, Anthony Gomez when asked who he’d like to fight next, welcomed a fight that has been in the making for quite some time with Jose Medina. Medina going head to head against Gomez is sure to produce fireworks.

The co-main event of the evening was a three round battle as LA Boxing’s Muay Thai coach, lightweight up and comer Nick Wayne waged a three round war with Extreme Martial Arts’ Jacob Morales. Wayne started off the fight demonstrating superior striking working angles, landing vicious right hands, with a follow up of upper cuts. Despite taking a substantial amount of punishment Morales kept coming forward, staying on his feet, and returning fire of his own. Both Morales and Wayne engaged in a toe to toe battle in the second and third round. Wayne would get the best of the exchanges landing the effective and powerful strikes. As the horn sounded at the end of the third round, the crowd of over a thousand plus rose to their feet in appreciation for these two warriors. Wayne was victorious by unanimous decision, but Jacob Morales showed a ton of heart and one granite chin.

The main event of the evening was a battle between two rising bantamweight stars as Team Colon’s Mike Welch defended his Cutthroat MMA 135 title against LA Boxing prodigy Jake Rosenbaum. There was a bit of controversy at the weigh ins as Welch weighed in 2 and a half pounds overweight at 137.5. After careful deliberation between his coach John Kolosci and his camp, Jake Rosenbaum elected to move forward with the fight with Welch. Welch was penalized an undisclosed amount from his purse which went to Rosenbaum. The electricity at DC’s Country Junction reached a fever pitch as both competitors entered the cage. Both Welch and Rosenbaum brought a tremendous amount of fans. The fight was a one sided affair as Welch (13-2) would take the then undefeated Rosenbaum down at will, posturing up in his guard executing vicious ground and pound. Rosenbaum showed his bravado by getting to his feet on a couple of occasions, but as the fight moved into the latter stages Welch proved to be too big and too strong. Referee George Sanchez put a halt to the contest midway through the fourth round as the Team Colon bantamweight standout went on to retain his title. Despite Welch’s performance, Jake Rosenbaum gave it his all in a spirited performance. He is on his way to train under Urijah Faber in Sacramento later this month. Welch on the other hand will look to defend his title before turning pro come early next year.

The stars came out to DC’s Country Junction for” Locked Down in Lowell” as Wes “A Whole Show” Sims in his conquest to help stomp out hunger was on hand selling t-shirts and caps with all proceeds going towards the homeless. Former WEC Bantamweight Champion of the World Miguel Torres was on hand cornering two of his fighters and also stated he is looking to get back in the cage and reclaim his title from Brian Bowles.
The next Locked Down in Lowell will be held on Friday Dec 18th at DC’s Country Junction in Lowell, Indiana. It should be another terrific night of mma.

By Ray Flores