King of Sparta 130 Pound Tournament Winner Crowned

King of Sparta 130 Pound Tournament

Sparta Combat League brought together the toughest men they could find for the 130 pound King of Sparta tournament. For those not familiar with King (and Queen) of Sparta, this is a one-night event where eight fighters compete in three different disciplines. The winner goes home with $10,000 and serious bragging rights. The first round of the event is boxing. The winners move on to kickboxing and the finalists compete in an MMA bout. This equals a possible 11 rounds in one night.

The 130 tournament was also paired with Sparta Combat League’s Army vs Marines (AVM) event. With 20 fights on the card, the action stayed consistent switching between the cage and ring.

Boxing

Nick Burgos def Joeseph Quintana via decision

No one really wants to go all four rounds in that first bout of the night, but it happens. This one was an all-out war. Burgos seemed to take the lead early on with evasive head movement and powerful strikes. The scales slowly started to tip in the later rounds as Burgos’ hands started to drop and Quintana found his groove. Quintana didn’t have the power to make up for lost time and Burgos was awarded the decision win.

Dylan Schulte def Jared Padilla via first round KO

Both of these fighters made it clear that they came to win. Though Padilla remained technical, Schulte was able to score two solid knockdowns and a third just before the bell to finish the fight.

James DeHerrera def Mark Wirth via third-round KO

Despite decent volume, Wirth just wasn’t packing the same amount of power for this fight as DeHerrera who scored a knockdown in the 2^nd and finished the fight in the 3^rd.

Cody Durden def Justin Parker via decision

This was a very evenly matched fight. Both fighters were about to maintain speed, power and composure throughout the bloody four round war. In the end, Durden was awarded the decision and the opportunity to advance.

Kickboxing

Dylan Schulte def Nick Burgos via second round KO

The first round of this kickboxing bout was well matched with both fighters keeping pace. Schulte settled in during the end of the round, finding a way to keep Burgos in the corner. He secured two knockdowns in the second round, with the third one finishing the bout and moving him on to the final fight.

Cody Durden def James DeHerrera via decision

It took a minute or two for these two fighters to find their kick range. Both were throwing volume and a lot of fancy spinning kicks, without anything really landing. DeHerrera began to land leg kicks with some intensity but was having trouble transitioning MMA takedowns to legal kickboxing moves. Durden was able to land legal sweeps, which helped him to pull ahead and secure the win.

MMA

Cody Durden def Dylan Schulte via first round KO

After a long night of tough matches and the up and down of adrenaline, rest and fighting again, Schulte and Durden were the last men standing. The matchup had the makings of a war, but Durden was able to commit to a powerful takedown early in round one which landed Schulte partially on his head/neck which looked like it may have been where the knockout occurred. Durden followed through to finish with ground and pound, but the ref stopped the fight within seconds awarding Cody Durden the title of King of Sparta and the $10,000 purse.

Watch the entire event below:

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Bryanna "Pink Ranger" Fissori is a professional female fighter based in Denver, Colorado. Fissori has been working as a professional journalist for well over a decade in a number of industries as a general reporter and legal analyst. Along with a mean left hook, she also has a law degree. Fissori trains out of Elevation Fight Team and has competed for top-level promotions such as Bellator MMA and PANCRASE MMA in bantam and featherweight divisions.

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