Worcester, MA — Rigo Dominicci and Dan Simmler each secured the win last Saturday at CageFX’s first event, Wartown Beatdown.
Fans packed the Worcester Palladium for CageFX’s Wartown Beatdown. For months, Linda Shields, the president of CageFX and the first female MMA promotor in New England, spent months working with street teams, organizing ring girl searches and hosting charity fundraisers. The hard work paid off. The event sold out and CageFX extablished itself as one of the premier mixed martial arts promotions in New England.
In the headlining fight, Rigo Dominicci put on a great performance against local favorite Mike Littlefield and walked away with the win. Littlefield, in his first fight in two years, came out strong in round one, pinning Dominicci against the cage with a flurry of punches. Dominicci covered up and circled back to the center of the cage. Littlefield scored a takedown but was unable to maintain a dominant position. The rest of round one was a boxing match that saw Dominicci winning most of the exchanges and set the pace for the rest of the fight.
Dominicci came out swinging in round two, pushing the action with strikes and transitioning to a take down. From Littlefield’s guard, Dominicci’s striking was effective and he was able to defend against Littlefield’s submission and reversal attemps. Littlefield could do little more than try to defend against Dominicci’s ground and pound. When the two men stood with the referee in the center of the cage, Rigo Dominicci’s hand was raised and was declared the winner by unanimous decision.
In the co-headlining fight, Matt Sera black belt and alumni of The Ultimate Fighter, Dan Simmler demonstrated his Jiu-Jitsu skills and was awarded the win over Everilton “Soneca” Silva. The majority of the fight was a ground battle. Early in round two, Simmler slipped when attempting a high kick. Fighting from his back, Simmler was able to keep Silva off balance and work for a submission. Silva, after defending against Simmler’s submission attempts, stood up. Simmler through an upward heal kick that found its mark on Silva’s chin. Silva fell forward into the cage and Simmler pulled him down, wrapped him in a triangle choke that forced Silva to submit. Simmler was declared the winner.
The event featured six amateur and eleven professional fights that did not disappoint. Credit needs to be given to fight picker, MikeVarner and all of the fighters, who left it all in the cage.
Results
Amateur Fights
Justin Corneglia def. Donnie Hershey via Split Decision.
Jimmy “Jimbo Slice” Davidson def. Lukas Cruz via TKO (Ref. Stoppage – Strikes) at 1:20 of Round 2.
Josh Henderson def. Nick Grendell via Unanimous Decision.
Marquis Brown def. Graeme Prue via TKO (Ref. Stoppage – Strikes) at :17-seconds of Round 2.
Jeff Cesaitis def. Scott Coburn via Submission (Armbar) at 1:21 od Round 1.
Greg Olsen def. Brad Spence via TKO (Ref. Stoppage – Strikes) in Round 2.
Professional Fights
Nick Tzimas def. Dan Morin via Submission (Armbar) at :27-seconds of Round 1.
Paul LaBelle def. Joe Kavey via TKO (Ref. Stoppage – Strikes) at :42-seconds of Round 1.
Jose “Dirty” Sanchez def. Greg Mendes via Unanimous Decision.
Rick Hawn def. Bruno DeCosta via TKO (Ref. Stoppage – Strikes) at 2:07 of Round 1.
Mike Zichelle def. Mike Young via TKO (Ref. Stoppage – Strikes) at :22-seconds of Round 1. (Unofficial Time)
Shawn Galano def. Ed Medeiros via TKO (Ref. Stoppage – Strikes) at 3:50 of Round 1.
Scott Rehm def. Adrian Coleman via TKO (Ref. Stoppage – Strikes) in Round 2.
Dan Conway def. Travis Lerchen via Submission (Guillotine) in Round 2. (Result Unofficial Pending Arbitrator’s Decision)
Lee Bean def. Diego Santos at 2:01 of Round 1.
Dan Simmler def. Everilton “Soneca” Silva via Submission (Triangle Choke) in Round 2.
Rigo Dominicci def. Mike Littlefield via Unanimous Decision.