BFL 50 most memorable moments – #40 Oliver Evanshen

BFL 50 takes place on July 8 from the Vancouver Convention Centre in the city’s downtown core. We are just 10-weeks away from the massive all amateur event and that means MMASucka.com has a huge series in store for the British Columbia promotions marquee event.

Each and every weekday for the next 10-weeks, MMASucka will bring you a different article. They won’t be your average fight story. Instead, we will have 50 of the most memorable moments in Battlefield Fight League history. Just so you know, these are in absolutely no particular order.

Check back daily for a new article leading up to BFL 50.

40. Gone but not forgotten

Battlefield Fight League has seen hundreds of fighters grace the cage. Unfortunately some of those fighters only got to do that on a couple of occasions — due to unforeseen circumstances.

Long live the Lion

BFL 34 was the first time fans of the promotion got a glimpse of Lions MMA bantamweight Oliver Evanshen.

He had a very successful amateur career leading up to his BFL debut and won his first bout with the promotion against David Cunningham at just 53-seconds of the very first round. Evanshen showed such promise in that bout, with the slick submission victory, he was granted a big name fight, against Toshido MMA’s Kevin Kellerman at BFL 35.

On March 28, 2015, Evanshen and Kellerman collided in a three round battle of attrition. The back and forth battle went to the judges scorecards and the 32-year-old, Evanshen earned the unanimous decision.

He was 6-0 in his amateur career and beat a top caliber bantamweight in Kellerman, which earned Evanshen a shot at the BFL amateur bantamweight championship.

Unfortunately Evanshen was not able to capture that gold. He was not able to fight for the championship.

On July 12, 2015, Oliver Evanshen suddenly passed away. Words can not express how saddened the entire British Columbia MMA community was. Words can not express the loss that Lions MMA felt.

Evanshen only stepped inside the BFL cage twice, but he let his presence be felt. He was a true superstar inside that cage. He made the walk to the cage on countless occasions with teammates as their cornerman and he will forever be remembered by everyone that met him or watched him fight.

Tomahawk time

In 2011, the man known as ‘Tomahawk,’ Dillon Brown hit the BFL cage for the first time. At BFL 11, Brown faced Levon Kinley.

Kinley was coming into the bout with a 1-0 record, while Brown was making his debut. Brown showed true grit throughout the fight. However in the second round, Kinley was able to slap in a rear-naked choke to seal the deal.

Despite losing in his first outing, Brown went on to win his next four fights with the Vancouver Island based promotion AFC.

With a 4-1 amateur record, Brown felt it was time to turn pro.

He fought his professional debut at AFC 18 against Taylor Parker and was able to make quick work of his opponent. At just two-minutes and two-seconds of round number one, ‘Tomahawk’ locked in the rear-naked choke to become undefeated as a pro.

Almost one year later, Brown would enter the BFL cage for the last time. He was making his return to the organization after fighting the last three years on the Island and would face Matt Trudeau at BFL 28.

The bout was a back and forth battle, with both fighters showing their warrior spirit. After 15 hard fought minutes, it came down to the judges decision and it was in favor of Trudeau.

Two years later, on March 12, 2016 a shock wave hit the British Columbia mixed martial arts community. Dillon Brown had passed away.

Brown’s partner, Nicole Brown wrote on the Battlefield Fight League Facebook page just days after his death:

“He loved Battlefeild and was so proud to fight for your organization. He absolutely lived and breathed fighting, and loved going to war. I got to witness him train and do fight camps, I’ve never seen such a freak of nature in my life… Hurricanes.. All day. Thank you for giving me some of my best memories as an Mma fighters wife. And again thank you for this post. I can’t wait to show our kids how much love he has received and how respected he was as a fighter.”