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The calendar turns to October, and that means that the local MMA action begins to heat up once again, with multiple top events showcasing some of the best talent that the Ohio Valley has to offer on tap this weekend.
A total of four events take place in our coverage area this weekend, with Ohio and Indiana featuring one each and Kentucky with a pair of fight cards.
First up will be Midwest Fight Series in Indiana tonight, and then tomorrow NAAFS: Rock N Rumble 8 will take place in Ohio, and Turf Wars 21 and Xtreme Fighting Champions will both be in Kentucky.
Check out the previews below, and be sure to come right back here to BluegrassMMA.com early next week for results, recaps, and reactions from all of the weekend’s action. [/tps_header]
[tps_title]NAAFS: Rock N Rumble 8[/tps_title]
This event is about as stacked as a regional MMA event can get. Case in point: top prospect and area superstar Cody “No Love” Garbrandt (4-0), who could be in the UFC after just one or two more fights, only gets third billing on the card for his bantamweight matchup against Charlie Stanford (5-2). Stanford is a solid prospect in his own right, and he could rocket up the local prospect ranks if he pulls of what would be a major upset here. Garbrandt trains with Team Alpha Male and has reportedly sold close to 500 tickets for his first fight in his home state in more than two years. Expect the Canton Civic Center to be rocking when the local hero is introduced.
Not to be outdone in terms of importance, this event also features a pair of professional title fights to co-headline the event. First up, Antonio Castillo Jr. (8-4) will drop to bantamweight as he looks to extend his four-fight winning streak while also wrestling the NAAFS 135-pound title away from Bellator MMA veteran Bryan Goldsby (18-14). Castillo is 6-1 over the last three years, with his only loss coming to Frank Caraballo in an NAAFS title bout last year. Goldsby, meanwhile, has competed just once since winning the NAAFS title last year, dropping a decision to Kevin Croom at Titan FC 27 in February. The winner of this fight will be dangerously close to consideration for a roster spot with one of the national organizations.
And the headliner will be a fight that the Northeast Ohio area has waited to see for years, as Cody Stevens (11-7-1) will challenge Frank Caraballo (13-7) for the NAAFS featherweight title. Stevens never lost the NAAFS title after defeating Donny Walker to win it in 2008, and he gets a shot to once again regain it as he fights for the organization for the first time in over six years. Stevens has lost back-to-back fights and is just 2-2 in his last four, but those two losses came to future MMA Hall of Famer Shinya Aoki and 13-1 top prospect Jimmie Rivera. Also of note, Stevens has only been finished once in his career, which was a TKO loss due to injury in 2009. Caraballo halted a two-fight losing streak with a win over UFC veteran Tommy Hayden in June.
This event also features four other pro bouts, with notables like John Hawk (9-5), Eric Bledose (1-0), Wes Hanson (3-0), and Jeff Hughes (0-0, 11-3 am) all in action.
We’ll also see the return of the highly successful NAAFS amateur series, which has produced some of the area’s best talent over the years. Two of Northeast Ohio’s top gyms will square off for the 2014 NAAFS middleweight title, as Evolve MMA’s Devon Kelleher (3-0) faces Strong Style’s Darrion Peterson (3-0). A host of other fighters will have their eyes on NAAFS gold at the end of the year, and many of them will be competing on this card.
Garbrandt, Stevens, and Caraballo joined BluegrassMMA Live earlier this week to talk about their respective fights on the card. Check out Gary Thomas’ breakdown of some of the top fights on this potential fight card of the year here, and you can see the full 14-fight lineup here.