Jim Jenkins talks March Mayhem

On Friday, Rumble Time Promotions and the Sport Fighting League will come together for March Mayhem. The Ameristar Casino will host boxing and MMA fights including the finals of the Gateway to the Top Tournament. In all, there will be four boxing and seven MMA fights on the card.

We recently spoke with Jim Jenkins of the Sport Fighting League to help us break down the two tournament finals. The winners of each tournament final will receive a two-fight professional contract with the SFL.

Jenkins says the motivation behind this tournament is to get some of the region's best amateurs big fight experience. This will serve as a proving ground to help them find their weakness before they take their career to the next level.

"If you can't beat another high level amateur opponent then you're probably not ready to go pro, and this is what these guys need to find out," Jenkins said

In the welterweight final Kyle Walker will be taking on Hugh Pulley. Walker trains with Animal House MMA in Du Quoin, IL and is a tough, durable fighter with knockout power in his hands. In the semifinals, Walker battled Malcom Smith to a split decision. This fight left many in the crowd asking for one more round.

Pulley was able to take victory over Adam Meredith in his semifinal match. Both decisions were razor thin and could have gone either way.

"Hugh is probably the best athlete we have in this area in MMA, just a great natural athlete," Jenkins said.

In the featherweight finals Travis Draper will be taking on Scott Ettling. Ettling dominated his opponent James Mottershead in their semifinal match and was able to neutralize almost all of his opponent's offense, but was unable to put him away.

Both combatants are very young and come from good camps. Draper trains at St. Charles MMA, maybe the premiere camp in this area and has incredible training partners. Ettling trains at Explosion MMA out of Hillsboro, Il.

"I expect this to be a great fight. Both camps think they're going to win already, I've talked to both of them," says Jenkins.