Rumble on the Rez

The second of the aforementioned under-the-radar New York State shows took place last night, this one on an Indian reservation outside of Buffalo. Dubbed "Rumble on the Rez", the event was a mix of professional bouts and amateur bouts, and featured the likes of former BodogFIGHT headliner Matt Lee taking on kickboxer Peter Kalejevic (Lee won the decision), veteran warrior Andrew Montanez rematching with BCX champ Pat Audinwood (Audinwood won the split decision), and the Northeast's top-ranked bantamweight Steve DeAngelis squaring off against Josh Pearson (DeAngelis won via rear naked choke at 2:22 of the first round). Close to 500 spectators came out to watch the action, making this well-run event a nice addition to the Empire State's growing collection of MMA organizations.

BCX 5 Notes

Battle Cage Xtreme had their fifth event on Saturday night, and with seven belts on the line, the event provided a healthy dose of ass-kickery. Some notes: -Joey Camacho absolutely crushed Micah Goss, proving yet again that he's more than capable of bringing the fury. A post-fight Goss looked like he'd been in a car wreck. -The unbreakable Don Wagner, old school warrior Joey Brown and last-minute replacement Andrew Montanez all fought their hearts out right up to the final bell, despite being on the losing end earlier on. You gotta love it. -Why can't Kevin Roddy ever get a split decision to go his way? He's so damn talented and skilled. Props to Dwayne Shelton for not getting caught by the K-Rod sub machine. -Jon Jones is good but he still needs to be tested. Someone like Brendan Barrett, Costa Phillippou or Ricardo Romero won't be overwhelmed by Jones' speed and athleticism. -Tim Troxell looked great (as usual) but Lester Caslow was pretty impressive for hanging in there, and he even had the Trox rocked at one point. On paper, I thought this would've been a mismatch, but Caslow proved he belonged. -Joe Abouata exposed Carlton Haselrig as a one-dimensional wrestler. Oh wait, we already knew that. Well, Abouata looked fantastic either way.