Cage Titans 40 Breakdown
Cage Titans 40 took place from the historic town of Plymouth, Massachusetts at the promotions hub venue Plymouth Memorial Hall. Miles away from Plymouth Plantation, fifteen fights, including five title bouts took place. It was a night full of technical battles and wild finishes.
Stand Out Fighters – Amateurs
The landmark 40th event hosted some of New England’s brightest young prospects. Faces among the crowd of talent which impressed include amateur Sanad Armouti, Trevor Gudde, and Matt Bienia.
Sanad Armouti
Armouti did so in the nights opening contest. A wild opening round saw the Jordanian fighter sink in two deep choke attempts before the bell. The contest was ended after the initial round as the referee ruled his opponent, Billy Goff unfit to continue. Armouti picked up the second victory of his amateur career.
Trevor Gudde
Trevor Gudde continued his unbeaten streak while defending his amateur welterweight title by submitting Neil von Flatern in the final minute of the opening round. Von Flatern landed a few solid leg kicks before the range was gone and the two engaged in grappling. From there the size and strength of Gudde seemed to take over as he used a kimura trap to take the back of von Flatern and moments later sink in the rear-naked choke. He now improves to 6-0 with his second stoppage victory.
Matt Beinia
Matt Beinia came into enemy territory and defeated Cage Titans fan favorite Chris ‘The Bearded Dragon’ O’Brien in a five-round technical war. It is a daunting task but one that Beinia handled well considering his teammate Neil von Flatern fell earlier in the night, and especially so considering the environment Plymouth Memorial Hall adopts when a fighter such as Chris O’Brien enters the cage.
Stand Out Fighters – Professionals
On a night with great fights throughout the event, it would do great injustice to claim only a few fighters from Cage Titans 40 impressed. Yet, for the sake of finality, the few professionals who stood on last night’s card were Randy Costa, Danielle Hindley, and Kylie O’Hearn.
Randy Costa
Randy Costa is another highly talented bantamweight prospect coming out of New England. His striking style is beautifully unorthodox and he matches that with good jiu-jitsu and wrestling skill which he is yet to show inside the cage. Costa most certainly took home, ‘Performance of Night’, ‘Knockout of the Night’ and basically any other single performance accolade a promoter could think of. He took only 11 seconds to dismantle his opponent, Kenny Lewis with one of Costa’s incredibly powerful and quick kicks.
Danielle Hindley
Danielle Hindley earned the third victory of her career in dominant fashion, as she did in her previous two. It took little time for Hindley to take her opponent, Vanessa Marie Grimes to the mat, systematically break her down and ultimately submit her with an armbar. All inside the opening round.
Kylie O’Hearn
Kylie O’Hearn finally made her return to the cage after a year plus layoff. A series of unfortunate events including injuries and opponent withdrawals forced the extended inactivity. Despite the struggle it was to get back into the cage, O’Hearn looked visibly improved. She overwhelmed her opponent Trish Cicero, dominating the striking range before submitting Cicero exactly halfway through the opening round.
Honorable Mention
In the final preliminary card bout of the night, debuting amateur Peter Hailer took on Pat Crowley. Ultimately Hailer took home the stoppage victory in what was a potential ‘Comeback of Year’ performance. Undoubtedly, the Lauzon MMA fighter earned a ‘Performance of the Night’ accolade for his efforts.
The fight was brutal and hard to watch from the start. Crowley opened up on Hailer, hitting him with what seemed to be nearly 30 unanswered strikes in the first half of the round. It began in striking range as Crowley clearly had an advantage in that department. Hailer attempted multiple single leg takedowns to no avail during the first minute and a half. A testament to the fighters will, Hailer never stopped fighting and eventually, he found an opening.
Hailer got ahold of Crowley against the fence and finally managed to take him down. Once Crowley’s hips sank to the mat, Hailer began an onslaught of strikes. He rained down punches and moved into mount, which only intensified the pace at which he was throwing. At multiple points, on the feet and with Hailer in mount this bout could have been stopped. It took Crowley to verbally submit in order to be saved from the indefensible damage he was taking. Crowley did not verbal tap, this bout was ruled TKO due to strikes.
Five Title Fights
On the night of four championship defenses, ‘And New’ rang the through the halls of Plymouth Memorial Hall twice. In the amateur lightweight championship, Matt Bienia defeated Chris O’Brien. The main event of the evening crowned Jay Perrin as the newest Cage Titans bantamweight champion. Perrin defeated Johnny ‘Cupcakes’ Campbell by unanimous decision in a final round technical war to earn the title. It was an impressive performance in a battle between two evenly matched competitors.
Mitch Raposo and Trevor Gudde retained their titles. Raposo defended his amateur flyweight belt for the first time. To do so he defeated William Graustuck for the second time in his young career. The victory was another dominant showing the young Raposo. He now improves to 5-0 as an amateur. At only 19 years old, the Fall River resident has had trouble booking fights, with every dominant performance that trouble seemingly increases.
Kenny Champion claimed the vacant amateur featherweight title when he defeated Aaron Hughes. In the nights’ first title fight, the two battled in grappling exchanges mostly. Champion controlled throughout the contest to earn the unanimous decision. He now holds a record of 4-3 and currently rides a two-fight win streak.
Cage Titans 40 Results
Main Card – FloCombat 9 pm (EST)
Jay Perrin def. Johnny Campbell via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
Jeff Perez def. Seth Basler via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:35 of round 1
Danielle Hindley def. Vanessa Marie Grimes via submission (armbar) at 4:36 of round 1
Kylie O’Hearn def. Trisha Cicero via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:30 of round 1
Randy Costa def. Kenny Lewis via KO (head kick) at 0:11 of round 1
Matt Bienia def. Chris O’Brien via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
Mitch Raposo def. William Graustuck via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-44, 50-45)
Zach DiSabatino def. John Adams via TKO (strikes) at 1:49 of round 1
Trevor Gudde def. Neil Von Flatern via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:10 of round 1
Kenny Champion def. Aaron Hughes via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
Preliminary Card – FloCombat 6:30 pm (EST)
185lb AM – Pete Hailer def. Pat Crowley via TKO (strikes) at 2:57 of round 1
195lb AM – Ariel Nunez def. Nick Smith via technical submission (triangle choke) at 1:46 of round 3
Hvy AM – Billy Vey def. Diego Juarez via submission (guillotine) at 1:13 of round 1
135lb AM – Arthur Mpofu def. Jaimeir Smith via unanimous decision
170lb AM – Sanad Armouti def. Billy Goff via TKO (referee stoppage) at 3:00 of R1
