Shamrock FC 309 - Preview

The future is now for Shamrock FC, with a card chalked full of up and comers fighting alongside popular names from the SFC roster.

A familiar face headlines SFC 309, slated for September 7 at the River City Casino, as a rejuvenated Adam Cella takes on Julio Gallegos in a middleweight match-up. Since moving up to 185 last December, "El Natural" has picked up three-straight first-round, stoppage wins including an impressive late TKO over Dewayne Diggs at Bellator 197 capping the trifecta. Cella will face Kentucky's Gallegos, who won two out of three in 2017 but has yet to compete in 2018. Gallegos has a nasty guillotine and has finished a majority of his fights via submission. Cella will have a sizable height and reach advantage on Gallegos, and this could be a major factor in the fight if Cella is able to keep Gallegos at range and pick him apart with his kicks.

Featherweight Cort Wahle will take on former SFC amateur champ Trevon Crawford. Wahle picked up a much-needed win in April at Bellator 197, evening his record at 3-3. For the past two years, Wahle has focused a good chunk of his training on his ground game working, with the HeadNod Squad, and cross-training with the crew at the HitSquad. After winning his pro debut at Guns n' Hoses, Crawford lost his second pro bout against Wahle's teammate Brandon Lowe. This is a chance at redemption for Crawford, and a chance to prove his featherweight amateur title was no fluke.

One fighter that has everyone keeping their eye on is Evan Elder out of Finney's MMA. Elder was nearly flawless as an amateur. His only loss came to The Ultimate Fighter contestant Luis Pena as he cruised to a 6-1 record while picking up the SFC amateur lightweight title. It was his fight with Colin Parr earlier this year that was the biggest feather in his cap and is an early favorite for amateur fight of the year. At SFC 309, Elder is matched up against Antonio Atkins for his pro debut.

Also making his professional debut is Parr out of Watson Martial Arts. Parr rounds out the all-pro main card against Joe Roye, a tough, journeyman, who has faced several of the area's best in the early parts of their career.

A potential showstopper on the undercard is a match-up between Finney's MMAs Max Choriev taking on one of the brightest new stars on the MMA scene, Chuckie Brooks. Brooks has been buzz-sawing his way through the competition with a deadly right hand on his way to a 5-1 amateur record. Brooks has been splitting his time with the mat monsters over at Pedigo Submission Fighting and could prove to be the total package of powerful, dangerous stand-up with a slick submission game. Choriev has looked very impressive in his handful of fights and seems to be learning quickly alongside teammates Cella and Elder. If this goes the way we think it will, this could be a contender for the ammy fight of the year.

Dustin Ventimiglia is hopefully back at it again on September 7th. Ventimiglia was scheduled to compete in July, but his scheduled fight fell through on the day of the contest. Ventimiglia is returning to action after a near-fatal workplace accident last summer.

Also in preliminary action, watch out for The War Room's Wendy Julian, who at one time was the best amateur females in Missouri, and quite possibly the Midwest. She's been mostly inactive the past three years but continues to resurface from time to time.

Full fight card: (Subject to change)

Adam Cella vs Julio Gallegos
Cort Wahle vs Trevon Crawford
Evan Elder vs Antonio Atkins
Colin Parr vs Joe Roye

Max Choriev vs Charles "Chuckie" Brooks
Max Boyd vs Nathan Stearns
Dustin Ventimiglia vs Arvin Mills
Jason Stevenson vs Jesse Martinelli
Cory Tinnon vs Devin Anderson
Josh Jessie vs Randy Hawkins
Daniel Clenderman vs Reco Hile
Oscar Ahuatzi vs KJ Jones

Kickboxing:
Wendy Julian vs TBD
Ali Blackman vs TBA
Jon Leach vs Toby Gvillo

Shamrock FC 309
Friday, September 7th
River City Casino, St. Louis, MO