Ohio Combat League continues to roll along, as the promotion will host events on back-to-back nights for the first time this weekend. OCL will feature events on both Friday and Saturday night from the Ohio Event Center at the Cherry Valley Hotel in Newark, Ohio.
First up, Ohio Combat League 10 takes place on Friday night.
Three pro bouts are set to go down, including a 140-pound catchweight headliner featuring Jerrell Hodge (6-3) vs. Tobiaus Taylor (3-3).
After a nearly three-year hiatus between bouts, Cleveland’s Hodge will have just five weeks between fights, as he looks to capitalize off of a first round submission win over Mike Johnson at OCL 9 in January. Hodge, who is ranked as the No. 2 pro bantamweight in Ohio according to Tapology, has three wins via submission. He holds notable wins over Cody Garbrandt as an amateur, as well as the late Isaiah Chapman, and Alfred Leisure, who was 5-0 at the time.
Taylor, also from Cleveland, competes for the first time since a close split decision loss to Chapman at Honor FC 10 in September 2019. That loss snapped a three-fight winning streak for Taylor, who has faced some stiff competition in his career, including current 13-1 Bellator standout Patrick “Patchy” Mix. He’ll compete for the second time in two weeks, as he just won the WAKO national kickboxing championship after going 3-0 in Tennessee this past weekend.
Other pro bouts at OCL 10 feature lightweights Josiah Harrell (1-0) vs. Carlos Garnett (2-2), and a 175-pound catchweight between Logan Urban (3-1) and Ravon Baxter (1-2).
Columbus native Harrell looks to capitalize off of an arm bar submission win in his pro debut last year, while Evansville, Indiana’s Garnett looks to snap a two-fight losing streak.
Urban looks for his third win in a row and fourth via stoppage, while Baxter looks to even his pro record after having back-to-back fights cancelled.
Pittsburgh’s Mason Deless (5-1) will also defend his amateur flyweight title against former NJCAA national champion wrestler Alex De La Cruz (4-0), who fights out of Yonkers, New York.
Ohio Combat League 11 goes down on Saturday night, with Columbus native Travis Davis (9-4) taking on Norfolk, Virginia’s Ryan Parker (4-3) in a 200-pound catchweight bout.
Davis, who is ranked as the No. 1 pro middleweight in Ohio, has six wins via submission, including a first round rear naked choke over Marcus Maulding at OCL 8 in December.
Parker has won four of five after starting his career 0-2, with all four wins coming via first round stoppage. He’s ranked as the No. 5 pro light heavyweight in Virginia.
In the night’s other pro bout, Dave Lastafka (1-2) returns from a six-year layoff to face Davis Oracio Jr. (2-4) in a middleweight bout.
Lastafka, who had a 7-1 amateur record, moves up a weight class after competing mostly as a welterweight in the past.
Oracio Jr. looks to snap a three-fight losing streak. In 30 combined pro and amateur bouts between these two fighters, just one bout has made it to the judges’ scorecards.
The amateur featherweight title is on the line as well, as Chris Porter (4-1, 1 NC) faces Pierre Ba (6-4). Porter topped Eric Wolfe to win the OCL featherweight title last March, but the bout was overturned to a no contest. Ba comes from Virginia where he has won two amateur titles, competing mostly as a bantamweight.
Both events stream live via OhioCombatLeague.com iPPV. I will be providing live play-by-play commentary. On Friday night, UFC veteran and jiu-jitsu black belt Luke Zachrich will handle color commentary duties. On Saturday, current UFC lightweight Devonte Smith will be on color commentary.