Cobb vs Meredith Headline XFN2

Two of the area's top talents in mixed martial arts are going to throw the ground game to the side on Saturday night.

Adam Meredith and Darryl Cobb square off in the main event of Shamrock FC: Xtreme Fight Night 2. On a night filled with a hodgepodge of combat sports, Meredith and Cobb will close the show with a welterweight K1 (kickboxing) bout.

Cobb, out of Andrea's Academy and Ron Smith's Muay Thai, took part in the first XFN last fall and won a split decision over the always-game Joel Blair.

"(K1) is more up-tempo than MMA," Cobb said. "It's a lot faster. I love it. I feel great. My spirits are high and I'm in good shape. I'm ready to put on a show."

Cobb has logged 13 pro MMA fights. The skinny on fighting him has always been; stay away from his explosiveness, get him to the ground, and tire him out.

Striking has always been Cobb's strong suit whereas Meredith is recognized as a powerful grappler.

"I like that he's a technical boxer," Cobb said. "I'm a little more unpredictable. I have to watch for his right. I don't want to get caught with a crazy right. I think he's going to come out strong and be busy. Try to frustrate me with his jab. I'm going to what to work with that and wait for mistakes."

The 27-year-old Meredith is 2-1 in MMA. He is coming off a win over Blair in September of 2014. This will be Meredith's first K1 bout. He has one pro boxing bout to his record and an amatuer Muay Thai outing.

A product of Jefferson City, Meredith is aptly nicknamed "The Professor." He earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and followed that up by earning a master's degree in Healthcare Administration.

"To me, education is the foundation of society," Meredith said. "It was always As and Bs through school and I wanted to make sure I got my master's within 10 years of graduation."

Meredith was captain of the football and wrestling teams at Jefferson City and came to Lindenwood to wrestle briefly. It wasn't until after graduation did he look at combat sports.

"My girlfriend at the time was pregnant and I just finished school and was working," Meredith said. "It was about a year, year-and-a-half before I started fighting."

Meredith's first four amateur fights were as an independent. Then he hooked up with Mike Rogers and the crew at St. Charles MMA. In October of 2008 he had his first fight under the SCMMA banner.

During the last stretch of his ammy run, Meredith was considered one of the top talents in the region. Meredith's career since has been dotted with time off. Once he turned pro, there was time away from action due to family issues and then completing school.

But now that is all behind him and so he asked for and received the Cobb fight.

"I wanted to stay busy, stay active," Meredith said. "MMA is the focus. Not to make light of this, but I see (Saturday) as a sparring session. I'm not looking to be a pro kickboxer. Win, lose, or draw, I'm doing this to get better. This is just great experience as far as I'm concerned."

Meredith is currently juggling a career, training, and being the father to two youngsters.

"It's a lot but I operate the best when there's a lot going on," Meredith said. "School, sports, family, and work, it's all I've ever known."

In training for Cobb, little has changed in his day-to-day routine.

"Other than working on more combo's, I have kept everything just the same," he said.

Meredith brings plenty of pieces to the puzzle. Along with being strong and athletic, his length could give Cobb fits.

"I have known Darryl for a long time and he is still a big name in St. Louis," Meredith said. "This is his realm. I watched his fight with Joel (Blair) and I don't feel like he is going to throw anything I haven't seen. I can't see him doing anything I can't handle."

While he has been on and off the past three years, Meredith has lofty aspirations for 2015.

"I want to stay active and fight six times this year," he said. "I hope to be able to turn around in three, four weeks and fight again. That's the focus."

Full card:
Adam Mereditch vs Darryl Cobb(K1)
Kirk Huff vs TJ Casey(Boxing)
Bo Kunz vs Sean Woodson(K1)
Jose Jones vs Danny Andrews(Boxing)
Joaquin Buckley vs Bryant West(MMA)

Tara Walker vs Savannah Self
Cortez Heard vs Drew Gigax
Brandon Beatty vs Brandon Reymer
Christian Santana vs Adam Sharp
Jason Brown vs. Jerome Young
John Madaus vs Jobe Washington
Yola Love vs Tyler Madding

Xtreme Fight Night 2
Saturday, February 21st
Lumiere Place Casino, St. Louis, MO

Photo courtesy of Jimmy Range Photography