Gladiators 49 – Under Card Action

The Gladiators 49 under card featured nine MMA bouts and three submission grappling matches last night. Fan favorites such as Danny Boy Downes and Paul Martinez brought their fans with them and didn’t disappoint. Of the nine MMA bouts only one went to a decision and all were action packed.

The evening started out with submission grappling matches using rules and scoring in accordance with NAGA. Team Matamoros went (3-0) for the night in submission grappling and was determined not to let anyone come onto their turf and steal the show.

In the first match, Chuck Gruber of Fox Valley Grappling and Jason Kazmierczak of Matamoros Jiu-Jitsu squared off in a 205lb light heavyweight bout. Unfortunately, the match was almost a stalemate once the bout hit the mat with very little action as neither opponent was able to get anything going within the allotted time limit. Kaz outpointed Gruber (2-0).

In what was probably the most competitive grappling bout of the evening, Travis Hanson of the Fox Valley Grappling Club took on Scott Huston “We Have A Problem” of Matamoros Jiu-Jitsu. This was a match where Hanson was the bigger man at 225lbs vs. the 205lb Huston. However, Huston was higher ranked with a purple belt vs. a white belt in Hanson. Huston showed Milwaukee what Royce Gracie showed the world in the early nineties. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, better technique should prevail over strength and size in the long run. Huston won via kneebar at 3:23.

Ryan “The Beard” Williams of Matamoros Jiu-Jitsu decisively outpointed Chris McIntyre of Badgerland Jiu-Jitsu in Madison. Williams racked up points by using good transitions. Despite the final score being (8-0) I am quite sure McIntyre was not awarded points for his sweep when Williams had knee on stomach. Williams in turn swept McIntyre to full mount in the closing minute. I could be wrong regarding the scoring, as I am not a competitive grappler.

The first amateur MMA fight of the evening was probably the closest and hardest to call. Pete Miller of Third Heaven MMA took on Ryan Landry of Neutral Ground in a 155lb lightweight battle. The first round took place entirely on the ground. Landry attempted many sweeps but was not successful. Neither fighter utilized ground striking and left the round as a question mark in the eyes of the judges. The second round was clearly Landry’s and he achieved full mount from a takedown set up with strikes. His attempted heel hook and rear naked choke may have not finished Miller but cemented the second round as his for the taking. Miller then won the third round highlighted attempted arm bar. When the judges read the cards (30-29) for Landry, (29-28) for Miller, and (29-28) for Landry who won the bout via split decision.

Jimbo Abate of Rockford Kickboxing & Jiu-Jitsu threw some big lefts that dropped Steven Gonzales of Gracie Fighting in a 205lb light heavyweight battle. He immediately mounted Gonzales and unleashed some of the fiercest ground and pound of the evening. It was over before it even got started at 18 seconds in round one via TKO – referee stoppage.

In 135lb bantamweight action, Chris Hart of Third Heaven MMA defeated Matt “Pitt Bull” Ellis of Roufusport via rear naked choke at 2:33 in the first round. Ellis had a hard time dealing with the clinch of Hart early on. Hart unleashed some effective ground and pound that reinforced the reason why I am a writer and not a fighter.

Jake Kazmierski of Choice Martial Arts in East Troy took on Brad Funk of Carlson Gracie in Chicago in a 155lb lightweight bout. The match would be a classic match-up of striker vs. grappler. While Kazmierski showed some great striking including a head kick and a big knee to Funk, he was not able to deal with Funk excellent takedowns in the first round. In round two, Funk unleashed a big left hook and got himself a double leg takedown. After working for and achieving the full mount, Funk unloaded a barrage of ground and pound. Kazmierski showed his toughness and survived the round. In between rounds doctors came out to check on Kazmierski who was on wobbly legs. Doctors stopped the match in between the second and third round. Funk won via TKO – doctor stoppage.

197 lb Dwayne Davis stepped up to fight heavyweight Leland “Tank” Brown of Waukesha MMA on short notice. Apparently he must not have attended the rules meeting prior to the bouts. While achieving top position in the first round he unloaded a big and illegal knee to the head of “Tank”. The referee stopped the bout and Davis was deducted a point. Later Tank would have Davis against the fence. Davis grabbed the fence and was warned. Davis again grabbed the fence and was deducted another point. In the second round Davis pulled his mouthpiece out and tossed it across the cage. Leland “Tank” Brown won the match via DQ in the second round.

"Smoking Joe" Blake of Waukesha MMA wasted no time in his 155lb lightweight fight against Ben Gladem of Janesville. Blake fended off a guillotine attempt from Gladem to win via rear naked choke at 1:23 in round one

Danny Boy Downes of Roufusport defeated Jerold Steer of Minneapolis via TKO referee stoppage in 45 seconds. His ground and pound stoppage was set up with a thunderous head kick that energized the crowd. Wisconsin Combat Sports awarded Downes knock out of the night for the amateur bouts. Downes in turn, increased his amateur MMA record to (4-0) and will now become a professional fighter. No opponents have yet been discussed for his first professional bout.

Reed Ehmke of Neutral Ground in Milwaukee faced Ed Schultz of Team Dawg in Walworth in a 170lb welterweight bout. “Reed-Diculus” Ehmke fended off a guillotine after getting the takedown. Ehmke then got full mount from side control. From full mount he unleashed some ground and pound until Schultz gave Ehmke an arm. Ehmke wins via armbar at 1:02 in the first round earning submission of the night for the amateurs. Ehmke’s amateur record is now (4-0) and there are rumors that he may be going pro in his next bout.

In the final amateur bout of the evening, heavyweight Paul "Big Papi" Martinez of Roufusport quickly finished Michael "The Psyco" Garcia of Garcia Fighting in Milwaukee. Garcia tapped out from the heavy hands of Martinez. Martinez wins via submission due to strikes at 23 seconds in the first round. Martinez will next fight in the King of The Cage amateur heavyweight tournament next month. The winner of the sixteen man tournament will be awarded a professional contract with KOTC. Martinez who is (3-0) as an amateur should pose a threat in that tournament.

All in all, the amateur fighters put on just as good of a show as the professionals last night. I would like to thank Scott Joffe and Duke Roufus on behalf of Wisconsin Combat Sports for promoting a great show. Stayed tuned to for Tyler Welch’s write-up of the professional fights on the card. It should be published in the next day or so.

Amateur results are below:

Gladiators Fighting 49 – The Warriors
Wisconsin State Fair Park
Milwaukee, WI
02/17/2008

Undercard – Amateur Bouts

Submission Grappling -205lbs*
Chuck Gruber (Fox Valley Grappling-Appleton, WI)
vs.
Jason "Kaz" Kazmierczak (Matamoros Jiu-Jitsu-Milwaukee, WI)

Kazmierczak wins via points 2 to 0

Submission Grappling -225lbs*
Travis Hansen (Fox Valley Grappling-Appleton, WI)
vs.
Scott Huston "We Have A Problem" (Matamoros Jiu-Jitsu-Milwaukee, WI)

Huston wins via kneebar at (3:28)

Submission Grappling -185lbs*
Chris McIntrye (Badgerland Jiu-Jitsu-Madison, WI)
vs.
Ryan "The Beard" Williams (Matamoros Jiu-Jitsu-Milwaukee, WI)

Williams wins via points 8 to 0

Lightweight -155lbs
Pete Miller (Third Heaven MMA-Lake Mills, WI)
vs.
Ryan Landry (Neutral Ground Jiu-Jitsu-Milwaukee, WI)

Landry wins via Split Decision (30-29), (29-28), (29-28)

Light Heavyweight -205lbs
Jimbo Abate (Rockford Kickboxing & Jiu-Jitsu-Rockford, IL)
vs.
Steven Gonzales (Gracie Fighting-Milwaukee, WI)

Abate wins via TKO (referee stoppage) – RD 1 – (0:18)

Bantamweight -135lbs
Chris Hart (Third Heaven MMA-Lake Mills, WI)
vs.
Matt "Pit Bull" Ellis (Roufusport-Milwaukee, WI)

Hart wins via Rear Naked Choke – RD 1 – (2:33)

Lightweight -155lbs
Brad Funk (Carlson Gracie-Chicago, IL)
vs.
Jake Kazmeierski (Choice Martial Arts-East Troy, WI)

Funk wins via TKO (Doctor Stoppage) – RD 2 – (5:00)

Heavyweight -265lbs
Dwayne Davis
vs.
Leland Brown (Waukesha MMA-Waukesha, WI)

Brown wins via Disqualification – Refused to fight with mouthpiece.

Lightweight -155lbs
Ben Gladem (Independent-Janesville, WI)
vs.
"Smoking Joe" Blake (Waukesha MMA-Waukesha, WI)

Blake wins via Rear Naked Choke – RD 1 – (1:23)

Lightweight -155lbs
Jerold Steer (Fight Club Minneapolis, MN)
vs.
"Danny Boy" Downes (Roufusport-Milwaukee, WI)

Downes wins via TKO (Referee Stoppage) – RD 1 – (0:45)

Welterweight -170lbs
Ed Shultz (Team DAWG-Walworth, WI)
vs.
Reed Ehmke (Neutral Ground Jiu-Jitsu-Milwaukee, WI)

Ehmke wins via Armbar – RD 1 – (1:02)

Heavyweight -265lbs
Paul "Big Papi" Martinez (Roufusport-Milwaukee, WI)
vs.
Michael "THE PSYCO" Garcia (Garcia Fighting-Milwaukee, WI)

Martinez wins via Submission (due to strikes) – RD 1 – (0:23)

Fighter Interview: Reed Ehmke of Neutral Ground BJJ in Milwaukee, WI

Reed “Icculus” or “Ridiculous” Ehmke is 28 a year old white belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and fights out of Neutral Ground in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is an amateur fighter and holds an undefeated record of (2-0). He will be fighting this Saturday in the Season’s Beatings show hosted by Combat USA in Menasha, Wisconsin. I had the chance to sit down and talk with him about his opponent and background. We also talked about weight, his nickname, and dream fights. Enjoy the interview.

WCS: First off, tell me a little about your opponent.

Ehmke: My opponent’s name is Tyson Fields from Minnesota. That’s about all I know about him. I think he’s an MMA guy, and does a little bit of everything. I think he does some sort of management for a fight team.

WCS: Stylistically, what type of fighter are you? Are you a sprawl n’ brawl guy, jiu-jitsu specialist, stand-up fighter, or a wrestler?

Ehmke: Wrestling is probably where my strong points are right now. I guess a freestyle fighter would be the right verbiage. I definitely like the takedown and ground and pound from there.

WCS: Ideally if a fight unfolds your way, how do you see that fight happening?

Ehmke: I’d like to stand toe-to-toe for a little while. Judge each other’s hands and legs, then most likely lead into my shot. From there I’d like to either pass guard or land in side control and work for advancement from there.

WCS: Do you want to make any kind of prediction for the fight, whether it be via submission or knockout?

Ehmke: I think it will be a submission and it will probably be a three rounder. Hopefully I’ll come out on the winning end.

WCS: Tell me a little about your background. What kind of sports you were in growing up? What got you into BJJ, and tell me how the progession into MMA occurred?

Ehmke: I grew up wrestling. I started watching UFC when I was a little kid from UFC 1. I was always really turned onto the thought of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I moved out to Colorado and kind of lost track of all that. About six months before I moved back to Milwaukee I joined a Jiu-Jitsu club and it’s just captivated my attention. I pretty much live and breathe Jiu-Jitsu now. MMA is just kind of a side note for me right now, just something to do that I enjoy, but Jiu-Jitsu is what I really would like to progress in.

WCS: You have a (2-0) record, tell me about your previous fights.

Ehmke: My first fight was in June and my both of my previous opponents were strikers. The first guy was an undefeated Golden Gloves boxer with no MMA experience. The second guy was a U.S. Muay Thai academy kickboxer. Kind of the same story with him, I think he had limited, if any, MMA experience. Both fights were pretty much carbon copies of each other. I walked across the mat, threw a couple punches to get their hands up, shot, landed in side control with a guillotine. I slipped the guillotine, got knee on belly to mount. Then I just started to rain down on them until they gave me an arm. Then I arm barred them; both were in the first round within about a minute thirty.

WCS: Your undefeated and assuming you win on Saturday and go to (3-0), how long does someone stay amateur? Are you thinking about going pro? At what point would you decide?

Ehmke: Right now, pro is not anything I am bothering my mind with. I’m just concentrating on my next fight and leaving it in my coach’s hands. When he decides it’s time then I’ll definitely be at the front lines ready to do whatever he says. I’m not going to make any plans or assumptions without him giving me the okay prior to that.

WCS: This fight is at 170 lbs, I had heard that you were possibly going to fight at 155 lbs. What weight class are you more comfortable at? Is it 170 or do you feel you would be more dominate at 155?

Ehmke: I think with my strength to weight ratio, 170 is definitely my target weight. Not to say that I won’t drop to 155 if the right opponent presents himself or the right opportunity comes along. Right now I’m a pretty big 170, I’m six foot and I walk around a little bit over 180 with 7% body fat. Cutting a lot more weight than 10lbs would be hard and it would take a little time, but it’s definitely something that’s a possibility down the line, not something I’m planning on currently.

WCS: Who are some fighters you look up to? Is it due to the type of person they are or does it have to do with what type of fighter they are stylistically?

Ehmke: Randy Couture has always been a hero of mine ever since I saw him as a little kid. His involvement in the USA Sunkist kids wrestling team for freestyle and Greco Roman is something I admired about him when I was younger. Rich Franklin for being a good guy and a school teacher. He’s educated and represents the sport well. Also my coach (Jon “White Trash” Freidland); he brings a whole new level of class to the sport even though he has a pretty trashy nickname. He always handles himself out of the ring as positively as he can and I’ve tried to adapt that to my style as well.

As far as styles of fighting, Anderson Silva is hands down the most devastating fighter I’ve ever seen. I’d love to model my style after him and be as good as I can at any position.

WCS: If you could fight anybody you wanted in a dream fight, whom would you choose and I mean anybody?

Ehmke: I’d want to fight Mask from Tapout. Not to talk to much trash, but the whole scene that they are trying to create in MMA is not really where I think the sport needs to head. I’d like to see people represent it more as a professional sport and not a clown and paint show, not a circus. That would be my ideal dream fight. Joe Rogan would be a close second.

WCS: Your nickname, what is it and what’s the story behind it?

Ehkme: It started out Reed “Tard”. I don’t even know how I got that nickname, someone at the dojo mentioned it and it seemed like it would be funny. My theory on a nickname is that it doesn’t matter what your nickname is; you could be Mike “The Maniac” and I’m going to fight you the same way. Names don’t mean anything. I think it’s going to be changed to Reed “Icculus” which is just as dumb, but a little bit less offensive. Hopefully I won’t get so many rolling of the eyes when I tell people my name. It might also be a little bit more marketable.

WCS: Do you have any sponsors or want to give shout outs to anyone?

Ehmke: I’d like to give a shout out to Neutral Ground Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, first and foremost. Shag Clothing Company does all my custom printing for me. Also, Decibal Night Club and Gothic Body Tattoo and Piercing, they have all helped me out in their own ways. I’d definitely like to give them thanks. Most importantly, I’d like to thank my coach Jon Freidland and my parents.



For more information on the Combat USA: Season’s Beatings show check out Tyler Welch’s preview article or the other interviews we’ve posted this week. Please support the local MMA scene and it’s athletes by going to the shows. Wisconsin Combat Sports will be there this Saturday covering the action. We hope to see you there.

This article was originally posted on http://www.wicombatsports.com/ on 12-20-2007.