Cage Championships 51 - Recap

It was a quick night in Sullivan as Cage Championships returned to action after celebrating its historic 50th show last fall.

Fans were treated to several familiar faces including Cage Champs poster boy Denver Sells, the heir apparent to UFC middleweight Jake Collier.

Sells rebounded from a fight of the year battle with Ty Flores last November with a quick stoppage of Tracy Farland in the first round. This was all Sells, who overwhelmed Farland taking him to the ground and working ground and pound from mount to back position, back to mount where he ended the fight.

Sells is the total package with dominating ground game and supreme confidence with his stand-up, he improved to 9-3 and (with consistent training) has the potential to follow in the footsteps of training partner Collier.

Dakota Bush, a teammate of Sells battled another young lightweight prospect Jamese Taylor in a back and forth K1 match-up that entertained the crowd and had to have been difficult to score.

Bush came out firing with blistering leg kicks, but it was the reach of Taylor that seemed to be the difference maker. Taylor peppered Bush with kicks to body setting up his combinations, but the resilient Bush never looked in trouble. After three exciting rounds Taylor came home with the unanimous decision.

Colten Carmack looked impressive with second round submission of Trevon Crawford. Carmack nearly ended the fight with the first punch of the night, dropping Crawford with a stiff right. Crawford battled back and survived numerous submission attempts from Carmack to send the fight into the second round.

In the second it was more Carmack dominance, who quickly sent the fight to the mat where he worked on his ground and pound from the top. With about a minute elapsed on the clock, Carmack seized the opportunity and secured the winning armbar to improve to 6-1 and is one to keep an eye on.

An eagerly anticipated match-up between Brandon Aubuchon and Jason Newman ended quickly with Newman showing off his improved ground game and taking home a first round triangle submission.

A slimmed down Newman weighed in at 160 and seems to have found that competitive drive that fueled his older brother Damian to success in the amateur ranks.

Danny Quaite got the best of Kwade Nash in a grappling exhibition. Quate won the match-up with one submission to none in a very competitive match.

Cody Winisterfer scored a brutal stoppage in a K1 contest vs Ryan Shelton. Winisterfer's stand-up has always been good, but he the cage on Saturday oozing with confidence. The 24-year old striker made quick work of his opponent in the only K1 bout that did not go to the judges scorecards.

Teammates at Modern Combat Systems, Jonathan Bradberry and Byron Stevens showed off great technique in an exhibition match between two heavyweight strikers.

Travis Edwards and Mario Hudgins kicked off the show with a back and forth battle that saw Edwards in trouble early, but rallying back to take home the narrowest of decisions.

Full results:

Denver Sells def Tracy Farland - TKO R1
Jamese Taylor def Dakota Bush - Unanimous Dec (K1)
Colten Carmack def Tre Crawford - R2 by submission
Jason Newman def Brandon Aubochon R1 by submission
Travis Edwards def Mario Hudgins - Majority Decision (K1)
Cody Winisterfer def Ryan Shelton - R1 TKO (K1)
Danny Quaite def Kwade Nash (grappling)

Original poster artwork by Brian Higginbotham. Cage-side notes provided by Aaron Holmes