6-26-2008

Superstar Lee Anderson brought his octagon of pain to the Magic Valley for a special Thursday night edition of the UCF, entitled Retribution. The card was highlighted by several high-octane fights and a light heavyweight championship bout between Champion Dan Theron and challenger Ricardo Reyes.

The night opened with a heavyweight bout between Superstar Assassin Zeke Herron in his MMA debut against Logan Mullins. Herron battled early, breaking his right hand on a hard jab to Mullins' head and and upper torso. But, he continued fighting, unloading a barrage of shots that Mullins couldn't defend against. Herron took the technical knockout at 2:02 of the first round.

In a welterweight battle, Pocatello's Brian Dixon and Twin Falls Brazilian Jiu Jitsu's Brian "Madman" Merrill faced off in one of the surprise gems of the evening. Dixon nearly worked Merrill into a quick guillotine choke in the first round, but he relinquished control and Merril rained down blows from a near half guard position. Dixon would give up his back in defense, but the blows were too much, forcing him to tap out in submission for the technical knockout.

Young kids took center stage, as well. Weston Walgen, of Twin Falls, and Storm Anderson, of Hailey, two 15-year-old fighters, battled in a non-striking contest. But both proved that they could handle themselves cleanly in a mixed martial arts contest. Anderson was clearly the aggressor in takedowns, netting three in the two round battle. But, Walgen handled himself well on the ground, managing a near triangle choke in the first round, then nearly securing a guillotine choke in the second. Anderson notched the split decision, 19-19, 20-18, 20-19.

Four other bouts filled the fight card. We'll have three of them to cap the sportscast on Friday night. You won't want to miss the fist-flying action.