Andre Petroski, Zed Montanez stay unbeaten, continue to shine – Art of War 13 recap
Last night at a sold out 2300 Arena, Mike Bickings and his team at Art of War Cage Fighting, put on another terrific fight card loaded with young talent that brought the crowd to a deafening roar.
In the main event at AOW 13, Andre Petroski moved to 3-0 as he recorded his third straight 1st round finish. Petroski came out immediately pushing Jesse “the Outlaw” James into the cage and worked the clench. He secured the takedown and looked for some ground strikes. James got the fight back up to the feet and Andre ducked a kick and landed a big left that rocked James. Andre smelled blood in the water and scored another strong double-leg takedown and immediately grabbed the arm and methodically locked in a kimura to end the fight via tapout at 3:34. Petroski keeps impressing and has next level talent. Looking very forward to seeing what’s next for Andre Petroski.
In the co-main event, Zedekiah “Zed” Montanez improved to 4-0 and was simply amazing against a strong wrestler in Mike Putnam. Right from the opening bell, Zed was landing his quick hands and dazzling with level changes and a wide variety of strikes. Putnam showed a huge heart by taking some of the punishment that was getting dished out. Montanez was shifty as he sprawled to avoid several takedown attempts. Zed kept moving forward and as he softened up Putnam, landed a devastating spinning elbow that put Putnam down and left a huge shiner on the eye of Putnam. The referee had no choice but to stop it at 4:26 of round 1 via TKO due to strikes. Zed is a highlight reel waiting to happen and a must-see competitor and a very humble man. The sky is the limit for him.
Matt “White Chocolate” Turnbull evened his record at 2-2 as he welcomed Taylor “Surtees” Pierce into the cage for his professional debut. I had this as fight of the night as both guys left it all in the cage for 3 rounds. Turnbull scored 30-27 on all cards, but Pierce was persistent and game. Turnbull won much of the battle with some takedowns and vicious ground and pound. At one point in the 2nd round, referee Bill Bookwalter stood the fighters up after a little lull and they both were throwing back and forth for about 2 strait minutes. A very exciting sequence. Great effort from both guys.
Obinna Egbebike won a decision over Johnny Garbarino 30-27 30-27 29-28. Garbarino was strong with his hands, but Egbebike was able to control most of the fight’s position as he continually clenched and worked for takedowns. Not much damage was done, but Obinna was on top for much of the fight and was able to avoid the stand-up to score the win.
Duane “Crispy” Shields won the Amateur AOW lightweight title with a unanimous decision (30-27 30-27 29-28) over Javi Guzman. Shields scored on takedowns and in the standup but had to fight off several triangle attempts and a heel hook as well as a couple arm-bars. Shields did a lot of damage from the top position and landed many more significant strikes to take home the belt and a decisive victory.
“Bang Bang” Sandy Chheng won the women’s amateur straw-weight title when Lateesha “the Honey Badger” Mohl couldn’t answer the bell for the 3rd round. Turns out that Mohl broke her collarbone in the first round and made a valiant effort to fight through it. Chheng was dominant with her takedowns and ground control and had to feel good about her performance.
Aaron “the Hitman” Nobles and Flash Bradley fought to a very close draw in the light heavyweight title fight. Both guys had their moments throughout the fight. Flash did have to deal with a gash over his eye suffered early in the fight. I wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch between these two.
Patrick Brady is the new AOW amateur heavyweight champ after a pulverizing performance. In round 1, Brady pushed Militant Mike Erb around and up against the cage landing knees and dirty boxing strikes. As the second round started it was more of the same and as Brady stepped back to create some space, he landed an overhand right at :37 seconds that knocked out Erb. Brady knew it and just walked away as his opponent fell to he canvas. Brady has been in the sport for about a year and is just getting better. There are several interesting choices for him to fight next…..
Ian Alston and Frank McDaniel went at it at heavyweight. Alston overpowered McDaniel most of the fight with superior grappling and striking. Alston finished it off at 1:57 of round 2 with a tapout to strikes as he poured it on from the mount.
Christian Campbell scored a unanimous decision victory over Nick Stephenson at 205 lbs. Stephenson weighed 358 pounds less than a year ago and has made a tremendous transition. He looked like a guy in his first fight but someone with that will is sure to come back better and stronger. I was happy to see Nick in good spirits after the loss as he has nothing to be ashamed of and was very positive moving forward. He’s a very resilient man. Campbell did what he had to do and used a stiff jab to keep Nick off balance. Campbell also defended several takedown attempts very nicely.
In a match-up of two very good wrestlers at 145 lbs, Chris Kwiatkowski was able to fend off the take down attempts from Wes Russum and was brilliant with his hands. Kwiatkowski was pin-point accurate and rocked Russum several times in round one. His boxing skills are quite evident. In round two, it was more of the same and the referee had to stop it via TKO at 1:07 as Chris continually landed the wood and hurt Russum. Kwiatkowsi is a name to remember. He is an extremely nice prospect.
Art of War 14 will be back on November 23rd in Lebanon, PA
