Desert Brawl 9 – Saturday, November 8, 2003 Midtown Rock, Rink & Roll, Bend, Oregon

JT Taylor’s Desert Brawl rattled the town of Bend, Oregon again Saturday night. Held in a local roller skating arena, the event’s cage fit perfectly inside and allowed for hundreds of chairs and a few tables in addition to the remaining standing room only area. I didn’t hear and exact attendance account but would have to estimate at least 700+ in the small venue. The Desert Brawl had something I’d not yet seen in mixed martial arts fighting events – a video and still photographer inside the ring during the fights. Other than obscuring an already questionable view – it seemed a great idea for coverage.

The main event scheduled was a grudge match more than five years in the making. JT Taylor and Dennis Hallman each run their own schools. Taylor trains the Desert Dogs in Bend, Oregon with a great crop of talented young fighters – many of which have fought on Hallman’s cards. Among them are Justin Hawes and Nick Gilardi. Hallman runs Victory Athletics in Olympia, Washington and promotes events throughout Washington State. His stable of fighters includes KOTC veterans Justin ‘The Jet’ Jones, Eddie Ellis and Benji Radach (also a three time UFC veteran). Though the details of the story are still unclear – I believe it stems from philosophical differences and a bit of ego struggle on both parts. Both are extremely talented fighters and trainers that are very proud.

Bout 1 – Zack Foxhoven defeated Ben Cobernik (Oregon Combat) by tapout (guillotine) at 2:38 of Rd1. Cobernik spent a lot of energy working for position against the fence, but was unable to take his opponent down. He fought off the initial front choke attempt, but Foxhoven landed a few stinging jabs before locking the guillotine on the second attempt.

Bout 2 – Mike Joy defeated Jake ‘The Jackal’ Jones by TKO (strikes) at 3:33 of Rd 1. Joy took his opponent down with a double leg slam within seconds landing in Jones’ guard where he began bombing heavily to Jones’ body. Jake fought valiantly for a while and eventually made it back to his feet only to be dropped again with another big double. Joy eventually took Jones’ back, sunk the hooks, flattened him out and began dropping uninhibited to Jones’ head until the stoppage.

Bout 3 – Jim Pope (Pope Fight Team) defeated Jared Mathews (Bend, OR) by TKO (strikes) at 3:07 of Rd 1. These two heavyweights threw everything they had at each other, Pope getting the better of the exchanges as most of the right hands he threw landed. Pope eventually secured the mount after stuffing a takedown attempt and pounded through Mathews’ meager defense until referee Anthony Hamlett stepped in to end it.

Bout 4 –Aaron Hitson defeated Marshall Haney by referee stoppage in Rd 1 (exact time unavailable). Hitson caught Haney with an armbar and the referee stopped the fight before Haney tapped to prevent injury to his arm. Understandably - Haney argued afterwards that he hadn’t tapped out. He wasn’t going anywhere and the ref probably did him a huge favor.

Bout 5 – Chris Davis (Marcelo Alonso BJJ) submitted Travis Doerge (Victory Athletics) with a triangle choke at 0:26 of Rd 2. Doerge, a world class kick boxer, was unable to use his superior striking ability as the well versed Davis kept him tied up until he jumped to guard. Doerge fought through a few submission attempts working from the top, but he was unable to land effectively. The fight went back and forth throughout the first round, neither able to get their game going. Davis opened the second round by baiting Doerge into touching gloves and jumping at him trying to clinch as soon as he did. Doerge responded with a few well-placed punches before slamming Davis to the mat – again landing in his guard, and falling victim to the triangle choke.

Bout 6 – Ed Herman (Team Quest) submitted Ryan Pope (Pope Fight Team) with an armbar at 0:24 of Rd 1 to win the Desert Brawl Middleweight Championship. Herman took Pope down immediately and caught the arm shortly after Ryan reversed him and tried to get some leverage.

Bout 7 – Rich ‘El Chupacopra’ Guerin (Inner Strength) submitted Matt Horwich (Team Quest) by armbar at 1:54 of Rd 1. Horwich showed chin of stone, taking several punches and even a few knees to the head. Guerin outclassed his opponent on their feet prompting Horwich to clinch and look for a takedown. He landed in Guerin’s guard and gave up the arm shortly thereafter.

Bout 8 – Desiree Instenes (Desert Dog Fight Team) submitted Chelsea Waddle (Team Quest) with a rear naked choke at 2:55 of Rd 1. This fight was a submission-grappling match (no striking allowed). Chelsea sprinted across the ring at the opening bell and got a double leg takedown that Desiree reversed in seconds. They got back to their feet and began working for position again. Instenes got a takedown and took Waddle’s back to secure the choke and win her debut match.

Bout 9 – ‘Kodiak’ Kyle Keeney (Victory Athletics) defeated Carl ‘The Professor’ Pope (Pope Fight Team) by tapout to strikes at 2:30 of Rd 1. Both men headed directly at the other as soon as the fight begun and the whole cage shuddered when they hit each other. Carl shot for a takedown but was shucked to the side by the younger though experienced Keeney (2001 Washington State High School Wrestling heavyweight Champion). Keeney held Pope at bay with underhooks until he was able to topple the larger Pope to the canvas. Keeney secured Pope’s back and controlled him expertly on the ground with a body lock and ankle ride…all the while landing huge bombs to Carl’s head. The agile 250-pounder delighted the crowd with a sea-walk after being announced the winner.

Bout 10 – ‘Bend’s Bad Boy’ John Gunderson (Desert Dogs) submitted ‘Mighty’ Chris Young at 4:17 of Rd 1. Gunderson took Young down quickly and worked to side-mount only to have young turn and reverse him. From Gunderson’s half guard Young worked to throw strikes while averting a triangle attempt. They ended up back on their feet and working against the fence for position. Gunderson landed a few clean shots and a knee to the body only to eat a straight right hand that forced him to go for another takedown. It came in the form of a huge double leg slam that sent the crowd into frenzy. They rolled back and forth – each having a front choke at different points. From his guard and having been stacked against the fence, Gunderson almost nailed a triangle only to have Young power out. After two different armbar attempts failed – Gunderson was finally able to sink a third triangle that had Young tapping seconds after it was locked. All the ladies in the crowd cheered for the local boy and I later overheard WEC promoter, Scott Adams, talking about possibly having Gunderson fight for his organization.

Main Event – JT Taylor (Desert Dogs) and Dennis Hallman (Victory Athletics) fought to a draw. This match was fought under special rules – win, lose or draw. There would be no stand-ups once the fight went to the ground, and there were no judges – if the fight went the distance it would be declared a draw. Referee Anthony Hamlett stated before the fight began that the fight would be fought using UFC style rules and end in one of three circumstances: 1) a fighter tapped out/verbally submitted; 2) a fighter was out cold; 3) a fighters corner threw the towel. He also stated that he would not stand it up nor end it for any other than one of those three reasons. Hallman entered the ring first. Taylor let him cool for at least 5 or 6 minutes during an extended intro that included clips of Taylor sparring and previous fights on the big screen. The crowd roared with anticipation throughout the intro, many chanting JT’s name.

Round 1 - The two feeling each other out and finding their range. Both were cautious knowing that the fight could end quickly at any time if they were to give too much or take too big a chance offensively. Both looked sharp landing low leg kicks and throwing punches and high kicks – Taylor getting the better of the exchanges. Hallman threw the same combination that he’d used against Ray Cooper (a right spinning back fist followed by left high kick) but neither landed. Dennis then looked to close the distance and begin grappling. Taylor hopped to guard and Hallman slid through it to side mount effortlessly in just seconds. Dennis made few attempts to do much from there, as Taylor was not leaving any openings. JT landed a few head shots, none of which did any real damage. Hallman got his knee on Taylor’s stomach and was able to land a solid right hand just as “10-seconds remaining” was announced. The bell sounded with Dennis standing over Taylor - who was kicking at Hallman’s legs.

Round 2 – Taylor threw a straight right hand that Hallman ducked under to grab a double leg and drop JT on his back. Taylor locked in the guard and Hallman pushed him across the ring to his corner. Each time Taylor was able to turn himself away from the fence preventing Hallman from using it to his advantage. Knowing that Hamlett would not stand them up – Dennis held tight to JT the entire round doing little to nothing offensively. Taylor, meanwhile, delighted the crowd with several different methods of striking Hallman as he was held down. He threw body-head-body shots; head-head-body shots; then he got creative and switched them up right to the lead with a left to the body. He even threw the left and right to the body at once a couple times followed by the same to the head. The entire time – Hallman held tight and turned himself away from the head strikes. The crowd voiced their displeasure calling him everything but his actual name before a chant of “JT! JT! JT! JT!” took to the lips of nearly everyone in attendance. It looked like they were talking shit to each other for the entire round. Hallman looked like he was trying something again just as the 10 second mark was announced – he caught a foot to the grill for his trouble as bell the sounded the end of round two.

Round 3 – Taylor came out looking to throw the single bomb that would end the fight. He eventually rushed Hallman into the fence and began punishing him with knee strikes to the thighs and foot stomps (those fuckers hurt). Hallman absorbed all of them and held Taylor up with a single under-hook – again not looking to do anything offensively for about three and a half minutes. The crowd again began chanting JT’s name in support. Hamlett leaned against the fence watching with a blank expression. With one minute left Dennis spun Taylor’s back to the fence and landed two knees of his own – one to the thigh and one at the body - before throwing JT to the ground and standing up out of his guard. Hallman then threw about a half dozen leg kicks and taunted Taylor with a chicken wing flapping gesture until the final bell sounded. When the draw was announced Hallman told the crowd that his game plan was to survive while Taylor looked to end the fight and that there would definitely be a rematch between them. He even acknowledged the fact that had there been judges – this was JT’s fight.