Horizon FC: Tribute to the Troops - Preview

Horizon FC makes its promotional debut Saturday at the Sokol Gymnasium.

Horizon FC: Tribute to the Troops will be a mix of amateur MMA, kickboxing, and grappling and features several fighters who have military backgrounds.

The newly formed fight promotion is the brainchild of Ace Anderson and Shaun Scott, and it was launched to help give up-and-coming fighters valuable competition time in order to prepare them for some of St. Louis' more established promotions.

"Ace and I, we're pretty spontaneous people," Scott said. "This is something that we brought up hypothetically and at some point it started to gain some momentum so we said, let's do it and together we were able to make it happen. There have been a couple of permutations but it came together fairly serendipitously and along with our fighting connections, we were able put everything in place.

Scott is the reigning Shamrock FC middleweight amateur champion. This is the first time on fight week he has been on the other side of getting an event off and running.

"Now I'm on the back end and it's cool," Scott said. "A lot goes into it but there are also a lot of great people involved."

Scott has a special kinship with the Sokol Gymnasium. Not only does he host one of his gymnastic programs there but Scott's grandfather was at the forefront in building and designing the venue.

"We're excited to get people in it," Scott said. "Back in the 1970s it used to host concerts and people would put on all sorts of parties there. Over the past few years it has been seriously underused."

By the looks of things there will be ample opportunity as Horizon FC has three-to-four additional events scheduled into the fall. The pair have promised a big show feel and production for a low cost.

Headlining the card is a title bout between flyweights LC Hamid and Steven Coleman. Keith Gorden will face Brandon Pearson in a featherweight title bout in the co-main.

"I can see Gorden and Pearson being a clean fight that goes the distance," Scott said. "In the main event, neither one of those guys hold back."

Yet another title will be up for grabs as bantamweights Terran Kaiser vs. Eric Ellington meet. Cort Romious, one of the top amateur MMA fighters in the area, will take on DJ Jones in a K1 matchup.

"Just looking at the card, I'm in love with it," Scott said of matchmaker Kain Royer's work. "All of the fighters have done a good job putting out videos and getting the word out."

Tyler Madding, one of the top talents out of the Academy of Courage, will face Yola Love on the undercard.

"This fight would be interesting no matter what," Scott said. "But now you have a lot of crazy crap circulating around them on Facebook. It should be fun."

The undercard also marks to the return to competition for AJ Siscoe. Siscoe, a Hodgkins Lymphoma survivor and a pro MMA fighter with Bellator experience, will face Danny Quaite in a grappling match.

"AJ has been busting his ass all the way through chemo," Scott said.

The always-fun-to-watch Fred Freeman was a welcomed late addition. He will face Rodney Cotton in a featherweight bout.

The Sokol gym is located at 4690 Lansdowne Ave, in St. Louis. Things will get underway at 7 p.m.

The complete Tribute to The Troops lineup:

LC Hamid vs. Steven Coleman - 125lb Title
Keith Gorden vs. Brandon Pearson - 145lb Title
Terrance Kaiser vs. Eric Ellington - 135lb Title
DJ Jones vs. Cort Romious - K1
Yola Love vs. Tyler Madding
James Cowan vs. Dillon Pousson
Fred Freeman vs. Rodney Cotton
Danny Quaite vs. AJ Siscoe BJJ Exhibition
Keith Rocheville vs. Alejandro Wajner - K1
Isiah Millican vs. Matt Matteson
Jesse Keezer vs. James McAffie
265+ -pounds MMA Bout:
Tavae Lewis vs. Ryan Lindsey
Orlando Sanders vs. Aaron Lake
Nick Martin vs. Zach RontoSchall
Eugene Swartz vs. Aaron Fahr
Ryan Houge vs Jeralyn Spear - Kids grappling

You can get your tickets at CageTix.com. For more information, like the Horizon Fighting Championships Facebook page.

Horizon FC: Tribute to the Troops
Saturday, May 14th
Sokol Gymnasium, St. Louis, MO