Despite some fighters backing out of the event last minute, Xtreme Cage Wars' Yorkton debut on Saturday, January 19 was a success.
"You never want to get a phone call from guys the night before the event saying they can't make it to the fight," says Dave Lochert, promoter of the event. "It was frustrating. It put us in a tough spot. But we have made the best of the situation."
XCW, a Saskatoon-based company, came close to selling out their 300-person venue at the Gallagher Centre.
"I don't think we sold out, but we had a pretty good turnout," says Lochert. "It was our first show in Yorkton so the city wasn't that familiar with us. We think we will just grow and become more popular in cities like Yorkton."
A huge chunk of the crowd came from Winnipeg, supporting hometown products Ryan Starkell and Mariuz Bloch.
"It was great to see some of the fighters bring a lot of friends and family with them," added Lochert.
Main event
Dauda Keita walked into the Gallagher Centre as if he owned the joint with his lightweight title belt around his waist and walked out with the same swagger.
Keita backed up his confident and somewhat cocky demeanor in the ring, edging out Ryan Starkell in XCW's lightweight title match to retain his title.
"I trained hard and gave it everything I had," said Keita, a native of Saskatoon. "I had to defend my title and worked hard to do that."
Starkell wasn't happy with the outcome of the three-round match, feeling he needs to improve his ground game.
"I need to work on my ground game," said Starkell. "I think that was one reason why I didn't win tonight."
Despite his confidence, Keita went into the tilt not knowing much about his opponent.
"I didn't look into his fights," Keita said. "I just knew I had to defend my title."
The lightweight champion chose an odd way to celebrate his victory after the match by doing the splits.
"It's just something I do after a good fight," he said.
Keita has his sights on the pros; however, he wants to continue to hone his game at the amateur level before making the jump.
"From here I want to go to pro fights, but I'm not ready yet," said Keita. "I don't want to rush it. I'm just going to train and keep fighting."
Opening fights
Mathew Fiddler squared off against Roddy Busler to kick off the event in a grapple bantamweight match.
The fight went the three-round distance without a winner, ending in a draw.
"I don't like ties," said Fiddler. "You don't know who won and who lost. It is hard to know who got the better end of the fight."
The two fighters' age difference was notably significant. Fiddler appeared to be a teenager, while Busler looked like a middle-aged man.
Taking on someone notably older than him didn't bother Fiddler, though.
"It was kind of different fighting someone that much older than me," said the Cumberland House native. "But I wasn't intimidated. I treated it like any other match."
Saskatoon native Christian Ross and Cumberland House native Peter Natomagan also fought in a grapple match, except it entailed the winner having to make his opponent tap three times in the three-round match.
The flyweight title match was a close one with Ross taking it after Natomagan bested him twice in the second round.
"I didn't want to tap once, but I got the win anyway," says Ross. "I'm happy with the outcome."
In the third fight of the night, Steve Arens went toe to toe with Kelly Redman in a 265-pound heavyweight fight.
Arens took the tilt in the first round, beating Redman with strikes.
The night's fourth fight, a welterweight match, was the fastest tilt. Mariuz Bloch knocked out Ryan Moore with a kick to the head in the first round.
"I came into the match determined to win, and I got it done," said Bloch.
Bloch seemed to somewhat get into Moore's head. He dominated Moore, a Biggar native, right off the hop.
"I don't know if I intimidated him, but I was ready to go and pumped to fight," says Bloch. "I just came at him hard and I guess he wasn't ready for it."
