Tyler Cardwell (right) lands a big left hand to his opponent - Photo courtesy Titans of the Cage
Tyler Cardwell and Antwon Curtis headline Titans of the Cage 28
Titans of the Cage returns to the Appalachian Apex Center in Wytheville, Virginia on Saturday, September 21 with a stacked TOC 28 fight card, filled with many local and regional fighters. The card will feature eight title fights with championship belts on the line. The event will be overseen by the Virginia DPOR and sanctioned by United Combat Arts.
Two undefeated Wytheville based fighters, Tyler “Ace” Cardwell and “Razor” Robbie Ring will headline the card in the Main and Co-Main events. In the main event it will be champion vs champion as Tyler Cardwell puts his light heavyweight belt on the line against the current TOC Super Cruiserweight kickboxing champion, Antwon Curtis in a MMA championship bout slated for (5) x 3 minute rounds. Cardwell is a member of Team SWMA and trains out of Ring-Combat Sports located on Main St. in Wytheville. Curtis fights out of Modern Gladiators in Roanoke. Both of these fighters bring great skill sets to the cage in this much anticipated match-up.
Local fighting champion, “Razor” Robbie Ring puts his bantamweight belt on the line once again as he will face undefeated fighter, Adrian Guijoza. Ring. Who is a graduate of George Wythe H.S. and currently enrolled in the criminal justice program at WCC, aslo represents Team SWMA and fights out of Ring-Combat Sports and is coming off of a 1st round rear naked choke victory in his last fight in Johnson City, TN. Guijoza trains out of Team Rock Bottom located in Martinsville.
TOC lightweight champ, K.C. Cockran of Hybrid martial arts in Roanoke, puts his title on the line against challenger Josh Lilley out of Beaufort, SC. The women’s flyweight belt will be on the line when two former champions in this division hook up to see who can bring the gold home. Tasha Hewitt fights out of Marietta, OH and she will face “Machine Gun” Kathy Hatfield out of Advantage martial arts in Princeton, WV. This one is sure to be exciting and high paced.
Local up and coming fighter Jacob Catron gets his number called to step in on late notice to face current featherweight champion, Dylan Smith who puts his featherweight belt on the line. Catron comes off of an impressive win in his last outing and now faces his biggest challenge to date in champion, Dylan Smith out of Elite Grappling in Lebanon. In what could be a fight of the night candidate, Kaine Tomlinson Jr. of Team Legion in Roanoke will challenge TOC welterweight champ, Jacob Lamb of Team Phoenix out of Greensboro, NC.
Two Junior Expo title belts will be on the line, as local youth athletes showcase their skills inside the TOC cage. Abi Long will face Laci Dixon in a youth kickboxing bout. Both young ladies train out of Ring-Combat Sports in Wytheville and both are freshmen in high school. Abi attends George Wythe H.S. while Laci attends Fort Chiswell H.S. Also, for the Youth modified MMA expo belt, it will be Angel Rigney of Roanoke, VA doing battle with Nathanael Dalton who attends middle school in Carroll County.
In another much anticipated match-up it will be two TOC hall of famers going head to head inside the cage as Micah “the original” Sheffey makes his long awaited return to the cage to face the always entertaining Josh “the great dane” Cook. Cook has switched up teams and now trains out of Team ROC in Eden, NC and comes off of a unanimous decision win just 4 weeks ago in Norfolk. Sheffey, a long time Team SWMA member out of Ring-Combat Sports in Wytheville, has previously held the lightweight title belts for Titans of the cage as well as Caged Combat. This will feature two of the most experienced amateur fighters in the state with each man having over 20 fights in the cage. Team SWMA fighter, Zach Simons out of Ring-Combat Sports will be making his MMA debut as he fights veteran TOC competitor William Hale out of Roanoke, while Evan Lineberry of Hillsville will face Will Spann III (Myrtle Beach, SC) in a flyweight top contender bout.
The remainder of the card is full of local and regional athletes; Joy Miller of Ring-Combat sports faces Maygan Emmett of Charleston, WV in a kickboxing bout. Teammate Tiffani Underwood of Ring-Combat Sports will face veteran fighter Hannah Elswick of Tazewell in a kickboxing bout. Still other local fighters out of Ring-Combat Sports will test their skills inside the cage as Logan Hurley (Wytheville) faces James Bowman (Saltville) and Jasmine Dudding (Bland) takes on Stevana Shouvley (Roanoke) in MMA action.
More local youth expo bouts will also be a part of this blockbuster fight card with the following youth athletes competing; Emily Foore vs Amelia Dalton (modified MMA), Hailey Collins vs Grace Crowder (modified MMA), Aiden Jackson vs Levi Collins (kickboxing) and Abagail Collins vs Irene Jackson (grappling).
Other exciting MMA bouts on the card will be; Jordan Thornhill (Roanoke) vs Zach Bobbit (Chase City), Sean Mitchell (South Hill) vs Clay Bucci (Greensboro, NC) and Zack Humbertson (Fairmont, WV) vs James Anderson (Halifax).
TOC has a brand new and much improved seating layout that will put all spectators up close and personal to all the action inside the cage. Doors open at the Apex Center, 290 Ready Mix Rd. Wytheville, VA at 5:00 PM and fights start promptly at 6:00 PM. Tickets are available online at www.titansofthecage.com, at Ring-Combat Sports (213 W. Main St. in Wytheville) or at the door.
