Shamrock FC: Extreme 6 - Recap

Shamrock FC's mixed combat show, Xtreme Fight Night returned on Saturday night with three professional bouts on the main card, all with a different format.

After the event concluded, Shamrock FC President, Jesse Finney stated that XFN 6 was "Hands down the best XFN we've had in its year and a half run."

The main event was a professional boxing match between Raymond Handson and Kevin Brown, a re-do of a scheduled bout in November that was post-phoned due to an issue with the ring.

Early on Brown looked to press the action as Handson circled and fired his jab, finding his counters and continuing to move. Handson seemed to have the crisper shots and Brown looked to tried to turn the fight into a brawl. Handson looked to catch Brown's timing by the second round, landing more clean shots early on. In the third Handson slipped and countered with good combinations to start the round in his favor. Brown look to cut off and corner Handson, trying to set up a big shot, but one never found one that would land.

In the final round, Handson threw and landed the greater number of punches peppering his opponent with crisp combos as Brown just would not fade. After the final bell, Raymond Handson won the decision.

Game veteran Darryl Cobb out of Andrea's Academy returned to action after a year layoff to take on Jarrod Thomas from the River City Warriors in the night's only professional kickboxing bout.

The fight started very fast as both fighters came out throwing with bad intentions. Cobb looked to work the body with punches and land hard round kicks to set the pace. Cobb was the aggressor early attempting to close the distance and pepper Thomas to the body with hooks while Thomas looked to stay at his range and find his timing while trying to wait for Cobb's pace to temper. The pace did slow and become more measured in the second round. Cobb threw out plenty of feeler jabs to set up his offense and close the distance, as Thomas still looked to try to land effectively with his range.

The start of the third was more of the same action until Cobb seemed to really separate himself in the last minute of the final round landing a couple hard body shots, moving to a clinch and landing a solid knee. Any mounting effort for Thomas to push back was stunted in that exchange. Darryl Cobb was declared the victor by unanimous decision.

Bo Kunz was ready to go at weigh-ins the day prior, however he could not get cleared by the pre-fight doctors for competition the following day. In his spot, a willing and very capable Scott Futrell from Modern Combat Systems stepped up on an afternoon's notice to take on Zach Gerullis in the only MMA bout of the entire card.

Both started the fight measuring distance with kicks. Until a clinch ensued that ended with Futrell securing a takedown and landing in half guard. Gerullis shrimped back to guard and starting looking for sweeps. An attempted kimura sweep was countered by Futrell as he pushed Gerullis's hips back to the mat, giving him the mount in the process. Gerullis locked down tight to not give Futrell enough distance to land strikes. Futrell was able to land a couple shots and keep the mount position, patiently waiting for his chance. After an attempt by Futrell to lock up a triangle choke, Gerullis was able to get free and back to his feet. With Gerullis back into the ropes they traded knee attempts and Futrell did land a very solid elbow, then persued Gerullis around the ropes.

Gerullis sent Futrell to the mat early in the second round with an inside kick that seemed to trip him and then just missed landing a solid kick on Futrell's head as he got back to his feet. Futrell seemed to find his rhythm on his feet and was landing some solid crosses. Futrell continued to stalk Gerullis around the ropes and try to pin him in the corner. Gerullis caught hold of a Thai plum and found some food knees on at a certain point. Futrell stuffed off a takedown attempt by Gerullis toward the end of the round and look to land counters as Gerullis was now pushing forward trying to push back.

To start the third Futrell continued to walk around on the outside as Gerullis moved around the topes. Futrell eventually found his moment and sent Gerullis to the canvas, then landed a couple punches before the referee stoppage. Scott Futrell, on a days notice, stepped up and earned himself a win by TKO in round three.

The rest of the bouts the on the card were all amateur kickboxing matches, showcasing a mix on familiar and new faces to the brand.

With an amateur Shamrock FC welterweight kickboxing belt on the line, Montuelle Prater took on Hahn MMA's young gun, Evan Elder. Elder came out firing kicks, catching some of Prater's kicks in return and looking to trip. There were a lot of high-energy engagements as they both looked to land effective kicks in their combinations.

Elder caught a kick and landed a trip early in the second, and as Prater got back to his feet Elder upped the pressure, sensing Prater's tank could be emptying. Prater was able to endure and even land a trip himself right before the round ended.

Elder kept up his pace in the third, looking to suffocate Prater with constant pressure. Prater would not give in, and endured to the end of the bout off of sheer Cahokia toughness. The fight went to the judges and Elder was declared the winner by unanimous decision, earning him the Shamrock FC belt.

A competitive first round between Joe Caratachea and DeWayne Diggs was slowed by a couple of accidental groin shots by Diggs.

Diggs was looking to chop at the legs of Caratachea, while Caratachea weaving in and looking to set up his offense. As Caratachea tried to close the gap, Diggs circled and landed shots, and even found a couple knees during the second round.
Diggs started to fatigue in the third round, and Caratchea found success attacking the body and lead leg of Diggs, trying to create a stoppage or referee count that never came before the bell rang. DeWayne Diggs held on and won by unanimous decision in the end.

Fresh off of winning his division in the novice St. Louis Golden Gloves, Luis Pena made his Shamrock FC debut taking on Tyler Albert. Albert looked to pressure Pena early, pushing him to the corner and throwing big shots. Pena moved, threw select uppercuts and straight punches while circling, looking to settle Albert down from the initial rush. When he saw his moment Pena buried a knee into Albert's sternum and sent a flurry with him on the way to the mat. Albert did not make it back on his feet, and at 59 seconds into the first round the bout was over, declaring Pena the winner by KO.

After some measuring and a bit of movement Dan Skaggs landed a heavy body kick early against Cody Leas, sending him to the mat and ending the fight, giving Skaggs the victory by TKO in the first.

Derek Neuenschwander came out of the gates with a constant flurry, looking to end the fight early against Johnny Cox. Cox found some spots to land uppercuts and knees in response during the onslaught. Cox found an effective punch that seemed to catch Neuenschwander at the right time as he looked to have punched himself out to the point of exhaustion, sending him to mat and ending the fight by 10 count. That gave Cox the win by TKO in the first.

Kris Craig looked to stay out along the ropes and counter early on against Connor Real. Craig caught a few kicks and responded with punches firing back. Real looked to set up off his jab and work while Craig tried to keep countering with overhands and round kicks. This pace continued for the duration of the bout, and Craig won by unanimous decision.

Patrick Sittner came out throwing leg and body kicks right out of the gate against Matt Cockrell. An accidental shot to the groin delayed the action in the first, and upon resuming, Cockrell eventually got Sittner in the corner and started throwing a series of body hooks. Sittner landed a couple knees to the body before escaping. Sittner was able to drop Cockrell right before the end of the round and earn the win by first round TKO.

In a match-up between Eric Ellington and Stanton O'Dell both fighters tried to feel each other out but throw with fight ending intentions. Ellington found success attacking the lead leg of O'Dell throughout the fight, leaving a visible coloration. O'Dell looked to land a variance of kicks to set up his offense as Ellington looked to explode forward and overwhelm him in return. In the end, Ellington was declared the winner by unanimous decision.

Making his kickboxing debut and fighting out of the HIT Squad O'Fallon, Ian Zarvos squared off against Caleb Sowell. Both fighters circled around trading shots in a very entertaining first round, with Zarvos landing a couple knees in a some clinches. In the second, Zarvos saw Sowell start to fade a bit and poured on the attack, creating a standing eight count.

The third round was very similar to the first. Both fighters had moments of success as it drew to the close. When the scorecard was read Ian Zarvos was declared the winner by unanimous decision, garnering very loud cheers from the crowd
supporting him.

In the first bout of the evening Brandon Pearson beat Connor Huck by split decision in what was a gritty effort on both ends.

Shamrock FC returns to Lumiere Casino on April 16th.

Photo courtesy of Jimmy Range Photography