Shamrock FC: Victory - Event Preview (Updated)

For its third trip to the picturesque River City Casino a show-stopper of a main event will be awaiting fight fans.

Adam Cella will face Lucas Gwaltney in the marquee bout of SFC: Victory.

"This has fireworks written all over it," SFC president Jesse Finney said. "Have you ever seen a boring Lucas Gwaltney fight? Have you ever seen a boring Adam Cella fight? Lucas definitely comes to bang and he gets the crowd going."

Cella, out of Finney's MMA, made a name locally with a 4-0 start to his career. He then built a national brand with his season-long stint on "The Ultimate Fighter." After his loss to Tor Troeng at UFC on Fuel TV 9 in Sweden, the talented striker rebounded with a vicious KO of Justin DeMoney at SFC: Uprising. An injury put him on the shelf for the latter part of 2013. Cella was originally going to face Jesse Sanders (23-6) but an injury pulled Sanders off the card.

Gwaltney, a no-holds-barred striker with seven TKO/KO victories, is the owner of over 30 pro fights and has fought a plethora of quality names including; the UFC's Michael Johnson and Abel Trujillo and Bellator's Pat Curran. He may be most well-known for his fight with Trujillo, but has fought many St. Louis-area fighters like Jimmy Donahue and Rob Washington. In case you missed it earlier this week, check out this awesome feature on the return of "2Strong."

On paper, this fight is much closer than most people think as the combined record of Cella's last three opponents are 47-33 whereas Gwlatney's opponents combine for a record of 32-16.

Adam Cella's last three opponents:
Justin DeMoney (17-7-2) - Win va KO
Tor Troeng (14-4) - Loss via Submission
Dominic Brown (16-21-0) - Win via TKO

Lucas Gwaltney's last three opponents:
Robert Washington (17-8) - Loss via decision
Dustin Center (3-3) - Win via TKO
Abel Trujillo (12-5) - Loss via decision

Here is an interview with Cella from late last week:




In the co-main event, Hahn's MMA's Malcom Smith looks to notch his second win in a row when he faces Jake Constant. Smith is coming off a 2013 St. Louis MMA Fight of the Year nominee bout with Shaine Moffitt where the two fighters went back and forth for three rounds in a fight that was promoted to the main event after a no-show by Ray Clayton scratched the headlining fight.

Smith is very athletic and has looked incredibly fast at the lighter weights. In his first couple fights as a pro, he faced some incredibly tough opponents in Vincent Eazelle and Hugh Pulley, and is much better than his 1-2 record would indicate.

Constant had an exceptional amateur career that he has rolled into a 4-3 start as a professional. Fighting out of Springfield, IL, several of Constant's wins have come via submission. Training with Dustin Jacoby and the other dogs at the Kennel Fight Club, look for Constant to be ready for anything.

A couple of Shamrock FC veterans will be making their pro debuts when Tyler Claussen faces Cory Hauter. Both fighters have spent several rounds in the Shamrock FC cage as amateurs.

Fresh off his pro debut victory in January, Modern Combat System's Scott Futrell will step in against Smith's teammate at Hahn's, Jake Buehler. These two were scheduled to fight in December but an illness kept Futrell off the card. This should be a good stylistic match-up as Futrell is an accurate, athletic striker while Buehler has a nice combination of grit and power.

To kick off the pro portion of the card is a match-up between Bo Smith and Sean Woodson. These two like to throw frists with bad intentions, and are hungry to get that first win as a professional.

"Top to bottom, this is the most exciting card Rob Donaker has put together," Finney said.

The undercard is dotted with plenty of local talent as well including fan favorite Suzie "Mama Beast" Wyatt taking on Krystal Hertel plus a battle between two agile big men in Jason Huncovsky from the Hit Squad taking on "The Silverback" Zack Gerullis.

Here is the full card:

Adam Cella vs Lucas Gwaltney
Jake Constant vs Malcolm Smith
Tyler Claussen vs Cory Hauter
Scott Futrell vs Jake Buehler
Bo Smith vs Sean Woodson

Brandon Nehls vs TJ Casey
Marissa Smith vs Melissa Smith
Ryan Dennis vs Mark Kirkland
Suzie Wyatt vs Krystal Hertel
Jason Huncovsky vs Zack Gerullis
Ryan Jones vs Dan Uhlenbrock
Tyler Madding vs Montrell James
Armin Dubinovic vs Mike Pulley

Shamrock FC: Victory
River City Casino & Hotel - St. Louis, MO
Doors @ 6:30 | Fights @ 7:30