Continuing its reign as one of Ohio’s longest running and most consistent promotions, the RFO returns to its home base in Mansfield next month, as Big Guns 14 goes down on October 18 at the Richland County Fairgrounds.
In the main event, boxing veteran Marc “Ring Shark” Salser (0-0, 15-1 boxing) will make his professional MMA debut, as he takes on “Karate” Mike Williams (1-2) in an intriguing bout. Salser joins a group of local boxers who have recently dipped their toes in the waters of MMA. Salser is a popular Mansfield native, and he’ll certainly have a hero’s welcome when he steps in the cage for the first time. He has finished 9 of his boxing bouts via knockout, but he’s coming off of the first loss of his career when he was stopped by Adrian Granados via TKO last August. He’ll have a tough out in Williams, who has competed in a total of 19 MMA bouts since making his debut in 2008. He’s had an interesting pro career, with none of his three bouts going past the first round. Most recently, he was stopped by Mike Cardona via submission due to strikes at Caged Madness 31 last month.
In what is sure to be a highly anticipated bout, Josh Longood (0-0, 8-1 am) will make his professional debut at bantamweight against Lloyd Thornton (2-1, 1 NC). Known as “The Honeybadger,” Longood finished all 8 of his amateur bouts via submission, including winning his last 3. Most recently, he claimed the Turf Wars bantamweight title in his divisional debut in May. Thornton will look to bounce back from his first loss as a pro, as he dropped a split decision to veteran Orville Smith last month. Prior to that, he earned victories over Wes Lane and Miguel Garza to kick off his pro career.
In another pro bout, Raymond Yanez (3-4) will look to regain his footing after a loss to Jeremy Pender at Big Guns 13 in his last outing in May. He’ll take on Pennsylvania’s Charlie Gathers (5-6).
The fourth pro bout of the night could be the most highly anticipated, as two of the area’s top young flyweights will square off. It will be Cody Gabelman (1-0) against Darnell Pettis (0-0, 1 NC) in a matchup that has fireworks written all over it. Gabelman is 13-1 overall and was successful in his pro debut earlier this year, but he has since run into some problems, first being suspended one day prior to a fight and then losing an opponent at the last minute in his next scheduled outing. He’ll look to return to normalcy when he faces Pettis, who also had some controversy surrounding his last bout. His fight with Thornton at Caged Madness 31 was ruled a no contest after a questionable illegal knee to the head foul was called. Either way, the 20-year-old Gabelman and 23-year-old Pettis represent the cream of the young crop in the area and this could be a fight between two future UFC fighters.
There will also be plenty of amateur action, as Aaron Neighbors (9-6) will battle Jeff Mack (10-2) for the vacant RFO bantamweight title. Both fighters are on two-fight winning streaks.
The current lineup for Big Guns 14:
Pro Bouts:
Mike Williams vs Marc Salser Jr.
Josh Longood vs Lloyd Thorton
Raymond Yanez vs Charlie Gathers
Cody Gabelman vs Darnell Pettis
Amateur Bouts:
Aaron Neighbors vs Jeffrey Mack – for bantamweight title
Aaron Garrett vs. TBD
Jesse Dennis vs TBD
Updated 9/18/14 to include opponent change for Josh Longood from Jordan Gonzales to Lloyd Thornton. Also included that Aaron Garrett will be fighting on the amateur portion of the card.