Shamrock FC: Meltdown - Recap

The constant rain and thunderstorms of Kansas City were pushed aside Saturday as Shamrock FC brought the heat back to the Ameristar Kansas City.

Meltdown was a chance for fresh fighters with only a few fights to step forward and make an impression.

The main event between Andrew Tyson and "Slick" Nick Gehrts was a technical ground battle.

In a classic wrestling vs jiu-jitsu style clash, Tyson won with an unanimous decision scoring points with take downs and the occasional strike from top position. That's the result, here's how we got there.

In the first round Gehrts caught Tyson in a painful heel hook. Though Tyson eventually escaped the damage was done.

"I got up in the second round, my leg just didn't feel right. I had no spring." Tyson said. "When I threw that one kick, it had no snap on it. It hurt when it came back down."

With one weapon neutralized Tyson fell back on his strength in wrestling.

Gehrts was comfortable on the mat with an active butterfly guard. Attempting a kimura, arm bars, and leg locks all defended well by Tyson.

Throughout the fight Gehrts was full of energy and wore a confident smile. Gehrts never stopped talking during the match to his opponent, his corner, the ref, and at one point the ring announcers.

This at the time seemed an unnecessary show of bravado but later Gehrts explained that, "I don't mean anything disrespectful by it, it just helps me stay calm."

Through the constant commentary of Gehrts, Tyson persevered, controlling the match and earned the victory. However, he was dissatisfied with how he won. Even if it wasn't in the fashion he wanted Tyson fought through the pain and earned the unanimous victory.

"This is a big show, main event. I want to give the crowd what they deserve." Tyson said. "I'm happy with the win, don't get me wrong. I don't want to overlook the fact I beat a tough guy, but it wasn't what I wanted to give the crowd."

Tyson improves to 5-0.

The co-main event between Shane Grant and Kenny Fredenburg unfortunately ended abruptly when Fredenburg couldn't continue after an inadvertent foul by Grant.

With the victory Grant improves to 4-1 and still hasn't seen the second round.

Fight of the Night honors go to the ladies. "Ruthless" Becky Ruth defeated Taylor Turner in a bloody brawl that had the crowd giving an ovation between rounds.

"Wow. Rebecca Ruth and Taylor Turner. They stole the show." Shamrock FC President Jesse Finney said. "The girls stole the show. On of the best female fights I've ever seen. Rebecca Ruth has a huge future. Taylor Turner, that whole camp came out of Knoxville, they're first class. I want to have them back as soon as possible, they're all very entertaining."

The taller Taylor Turner tied up Ruth in the beginning. Holding in the clinch they traded knees. In the striking Ruth got the better of Turner by a wide margin. Turner could seemingly jab from a mile away keeping Ruth back, but once inside Ruth was more damaging with superior boxing.

"She's definitely long and had some strength behind her reach." Ruth said. "We trained for the stand-up we trained for the takedowns. A lot of the girls I do fight end up going to the ground. I know to work on the defense for any kind of takedown."

Turner was relentless, always stepping back up after absorbing a combination from Ruth.

"I unfortunately did NOT follow our game plan which was to take her down." Turner said. "I got an adrenaline dump with it and just couldn't follow our original game plan."

Ruth stepped up the punishment in the second round where the referee call a stop to the fight at 4:25 due to a TKO. With the win Ruth, out of Pacific, MO improved to 4-1.

On the amateur side Kevin Woltkamp was one of the bright spots on the card. After exciting first round, Wolftkamp dropped opponent Dusty Chandler and finished the fight with a TKO midway through the second.

"Dusty Chandler is no punk. Kevin Woltkamp came out and stepped up to the plate." Finney said. "I'm really looking forward to when he steps up to the pros, and I think he's ready for the pros."

With Meltdown in the rear-view, Finney is already looking forward to Shamrock's next trip to town on September 26th.

"We went up against one of the most anticipated UFC events with Connor McGregor." Finney said. "We did alright, this wasn't a home run show. We lost three pro fights in a matter of seven days. I will tell you this, come September 26th, that will be a home run show."

Full results:
Andrew Tyson def Nick Gehrts -- Unanimous Decision
Shane Grant def Kenny Fredenburg -- TKO 0.59 1st
Becky Ruth def Taylor Turner -- TKO 4:25 2nd
Kevin Woltkamp def Dusty Chandler -- TKO 1:29 2nd
Thomas Thatcher def Kaleb Young -- TKO 0:38 1st
CJ Randall def Chris Heavner -- RNC 0:35 1st
Ethan Charles def Marcus Jacobs -- Arm Bar 2:34 2nd