IT Fight Series 38 went down at the Action Sports Center in Dayton, Ohio on Saturday night, as one of Ohio’s busiest promotions held their penultimate event of 2015.
It was a robust card with 15 total fights, including five in the pro ranks and ten amateur pairings. The card featured a little bit of everything, from big knockouts to decisions to a five round battle in the main event. A raucous crowd was on hand and it’s possible that the promotion could return to Dayton in the near future.
Check out a full recap of the event below.
‘Of the Night’ Awards
Performance of the Night: Paul Shough
Fight of the Night: Reggie Merriweather vs. Brandon Suber
Submission of the Night: Jason Trzewieczynski
Knockout of the Night: Tray Taylor
For full results from IT Fight Series 38, click here.
Hanna stays unbeaten
It wasn’t pretty at times, but hometown favorite Rob Hanna (7-0) stayed unbeaten, picking up the IT Fight Series featherweight title in his 145-pound debut. Matt DiMarcantonio (8-6) forced Hanna to defend about a dozen kimura attempts, including one in the fourth round that appeared to be deep. It was a close back-and-forth battle, but Hanna controlled the positioning in the fight more and was awarded the judges’ decision with scores of 48-47, 49-46, and 50-45.
Hanna continues to win and appears difficult to beat on the regional level. While his fighting style isn’t always exciting for some, he consistently moves forward and is always looking to improve his positioning. It should be interesting to see where he goes now that he is 7-0 with some wins over pretty big names.
Finney snaps her streak
Jan Finney (8-11) hadn’t earned a victory in MMA competiton since 2010, and that’s a streak that she is glad to have broken, as the Ohio native picked up a unanimous decision victory over Allanna Jones (2-6) in the night’s co-main event. Finney used her kickboxing skills to stay on the outside and pick Jones apart, while Jones was relying on heavier shots to try to get inside of the taller fighter.
Finney also used timely takedowns to score points in the fight, and took home scores of 29-28 across the board.
Rising stars
There was a wealth of young talent on the IT Fight Series 38 card, including a host of amateur fighters who put on impressive performances thoughout the night.
Heavyweight Paul Shough (3-1) put himself into title contention with his third straight victory as he stopped Justin Richwine (3-3) with strikes in just 53 seconds.
Grove City BJJ appears to be a gym that is on the rise, as lightweight Avery Arellano (3-0) stayed unbeaten with a split decision victory, while Jake Miller (4-2) won for the fourth straight time with a technical submission victory. With a star like Alfred Leisure leading the team, Dave Freetage and Co. are starting to make a name for themselves on the Ohio MMA scene.
IT Fight Series 39
Despite a whirlwind year that has already included nine events, IT Fight Series has already announced that it isn’t done for 2015 just yet. IT Fight Series 39 will be a pro/am event that takes place on Dec. 19 at the Muskingim County Fairgrounds in Zanesville, Ohio. We’ve started to hear some names trickling out of who is expected to be on the card, and we’ll keep you updated with event info as we receive it.