Why So Blu?

April 23rd saw Rocktagon delivering its fifth amateur mixed martial arts event, this time back in Elyria, Ohio. With a nine-bout fight card, things were sure to be rockin’ and rollin’ as soon as that opening bell rang. The multi-faceted fight night featured a little international flare with one of the fighters hailing from Canada. There were also rookie and amateur veteran aspects with some first-timers as well as those fighters looking to turn pro in the near future.

Klee (silver trunks) took the initiative and moved in quick but his effort was all for naught in the end.  After a series of grapples interspersed with strikes, Wright (camo trunks) took his first career victory via TKO at 2:24 in the 2nd round.  After striking Klee repeatedly, the ref stopped the fight resulting in Wright’s win.

Thomas (African-American) may come from a kickboxing background, but it was more boxing than kicking that saw him victorious.  Buffalo native Tabby (Caucasian) took a square shot to the face early in the 1st round that he impressively shrugged off while continuing to hold his own ground.  Unfortunately for him, he’d leave the ground as another direct hit from Thomas’s fist landed on Tabby’s chin, sending him up while gravity took care of the rest.  It was a ‘W’ for Thomas at 1:23 of round 1 via knockout.

The lone Canadian representative on the evening’s card was that of Hawken (red/white trunks).  He brought his jujitsu style to match up against Brown (black trunks) in a grapple-heavy match.  Unfortunately, when Brown takes the ring, he does so in a very un-entertaining manner with a style that involves taking his opponent to the ground and holding him…and holding him…and holding him, with the hopes that it will wear down his adversary.  On this night, it worked as a split decision victory was found in his favor.  Unfortunately, matches like these are not conducive to excitement and while I’m no expert on the sport, I will venture to guess this method isn’t going to work for Alex Brown forever.

Whereas the last match lacked electricity, Rozanski (black/white trunks) and Stewart (black/yellow trunks) re-energized the crowd.  Rozanski received his fourth victory in the form of a TKO via strikes at 2:18 of the 2nd round.

Rottari (green camo) took it to opponent Ricketts (black/white camo) early and often.  At 75 seconds into the first round, Rottari made quick work of  Ricketts with a barrage of punches then ended up knocking him out.

It became the menacing expression of Elek (black/white) versus the eager movements of Booth (yellow).  Booth had the energy of a rabbit when he stormed into the ring, but fell behind early and seemed to play catch-up more often than not.  As the heavily tattooed Elek continued to outmuscle him, the disappointment in Booth’s face continued to grow as he felt victory quickly slip away.  Elek took the win at 1:42 in the 1st round courtesy of a rear naked chokehold.

Before the match commenced, the MC did his usual fighter recognition as they entered the octagon.  When it came Guillims’ time, the announcer made sure to point out that the 1-0 fighter is a decorated Marine, of which not only the crowd showed their rousing appreciation, but opponent Allen (black/gray trunks) as well.  Once the bell rang, Guillims (black/white trunks) opened with a swinging onslaught of flying fists some landing, some sent astray.  The match ultimately went to the ground as the two grappled with Guillims simply dominating rounds 1 and 2.  Allen, between his bouts of vocal expression, found his legs as well as his reserve tank, getting back into the match and landing a few hits to Guillims’ face.  In the end, it was too little, too late as Guillims took a unanimous decision victory after the full three rounds.

With both fighters coming off fresh victories in the last month, it was time to put their skills to the test once again.  Coming in from Buffalo, Hoelzle (yellow/red trunks) approached Pfeiffer with only a fraction of the tenacity that his white-trunks opponent would unleash.  It was all over before the 1st round came to a close when Pfeiffer demonstrated his superior strength in a tapout victory courtesy of a rear naked choke.  As an aside, fans would be wise to keep track of Pfeiffer’s progressing career as he is on the path to turn pro.

It was the hometown boy versus the outsider; Garrett Sahene (black/white trunks), a Pittsburgh-native who caught the resounding boo’s of fans in attendance due to his city of origin.  The undefeated Washington (all black trunks) entered the ring with his trademark focused look.  Sahene carried a more relaxed demeanor, letting go a bit of a grin as the aformentioned audible scowls ensued.  Then the bell rang.  Trading some unlanded blows, Sahene moved in on Washington with the fervor of a cornerback going after a receiver.  Taking Washington to the ground, he secured the upperhand of which he would not relent.  During the tangled struggle, Washington took at least a few shots to the nose.  When he turned to get over Sahene, his nose turned into a faucet of hemoglobin, spilling blood on his opponent as the crimson liquid flowed freely.  At 2:12 in the first round, Washington submitted to Sahene’s triangle choke.  With Washington’s record no longer untarnished, he relayed an expression of extreme disappointment at the night’s defeat.  Sahene simply overpowered and outmatched the reigning champ to claim the belt for his own.

One of the sponsorship mainstays of the Rocktagon events is Famous Energy, promoting their high quality energy product.  Event attendees can often be seen with a can of Famous Energy in hand, enjoying it just as much as the display of martial arts they are watching.  Famous Energy founder Michael Owens took a moment out of his schedule to speak with Why So Blu about his affiliation with the Rocktagon MMA events and what’s on the horizon for his the energy drink.