CITC 5th Offense Recap!
by Derek Coleman



July 25,2009 NEWARK, Del. – In a daring attempt to bring amateur MMA and Muay Thai action to a northern Delaware audience, Combat in the Cage presented 16th Strike and East Coast Combat Challenge 8 simultaneously Saturday night at the Newark Boy's and Girl's Club.

Though starting late, the event rolled smoothly from MMA in the cage to Muay Thai bouts in the ring, with headliners Osvaldo Dominguez and Mike Lyle capping the night in a furious five-round muay thai battle. Fight fans also got a glimpse of MMA pro Jon Murphy - who did double-duty as a referee later in the evening - and witnessed the return of a rising prospect in CITC cruiserweight champ Tim Williams.

Murphy, the Elite XC veteran, got the better of Joe Stripling in their three-round muay thai exhibition to open the card. Williams then did't disappoint in his return to the cage following surgery for a brain aneurysm less than a year ago.

In a submission grappling tilt against Baltimore's Tenyeh Dixon, Williams got a quick takedown and slowly worked to side control. Just when Dixon thought he had an opening to sweep, Williams locked in a guillotine and fell back to secure the tap at 2:46 of round one.

"I feel like I'm a little better actually," stated Williams, a 24-year old who has built up an 8-0 amatuer MMA mark. "I"ve been training and really only took off about a month and a half.

"It was tough, don’t get me wrong," he said of the long road back, "But never did I think that I wasn't going to come back."

In notable MMA action, Renzo Gracie product Cory Coopersmith outworked and overpowered Gregory Ugenti to gain a unanimous decision at 175 pounds. In round one, Murphy actually showed off his sprawl technique while working as a ref; with Coopersmith working for a takedown, Murphy got trapped behind Ugenti and used to cage to lift himself above the retreating fighter briefly. Coopersmith used the remaining rounds to put on a grappling exhibition and win his amateur debut.

Ken Nagle of Real Combat MMA subbed Bruce Lee Baker via 3rd Round kimura, and lightweight Phil Legrand (Miletich New York) gathered a first-round TKO of Trevor Patterson. Louis Thibault (175-lbs.) and Dan Arrowood (147) picked up first-round sub's by armbar, while Chris Holland finished off Rodger Hamrick via second-round Rear Naked Choke.

In the ring, Tom Arnold was awarded the victory when Chazz Brown was physically unable to continue just 13 seconds into their muay thai bout. Jason Reiss and Vasile Burchovschi picked up wins by majority decision, before Anthony Yuan outworked teenager Davon Dorsey in a 147-lb. bout. Yuan was able to land strong knee's to the thigh from the clinch, and in round two landed a straight right that shot Dorsey's mouthpiece out of the ring and onto press row.

Dorsey landed some clean strikes but was visibly tired after round one, and Yuan was able to gather the unanimous decision. At 125, Dan Walls needed three rounds to finish Lekbir Boukar while 200-pounder Steven Santangelo knocked out Rick Scott in just two minutes.

In the finale, a five-round war that didn't start until well past midnight, Dominguez outlasted a game Mike Lyle at welterweight.

Combat in the Cage returns with CITC 6th Offense on Saturday, Sept. 12 in Leesburg, Virginia.

* Note that the article and opinions of the Writer does not necessarily reflect those of CITC.