Gracie Barra Fighters 1-1, Locals at Top of Amateur Ranks
Gracie Barra Fighters Go 1-1 at Outdoor Wars III
Gracie Barra Chatham had two mixed martial arts students compete in AFC’s Outdoor Warz III on August 11th in Marine City Michigan. The AFC (Amateur Fight Club) is a very solid amateur promotion out of Michigan.
The Warz III was filled with competitors from great mixed martial arts schools across Ontario and the state of Michigan. One school of particular note is Joslin’s MMA out of Hamilton, which is owned and run by former UFC fighter Jeff Joslin. I have covered Joslin’s career and he is a very good and well respected member of the MMA community in Canada.
Gracie Barra Chatham competitors met Joslin’s crew head on in this competition with very good results.
David Dalrymple won his debut MMA fight by Americana (arm lock) early in the second round. David faced Ahmed Sheeno of Jeff Joslin’s in Hamilton Ont.
Chris Byrne had 3 rounds of back and forth stand-up but unfortunately lost his debut fight via decision. He faced Andrew Walsh also of Joslin’s.
Both Dalrymple and Byrne will quickly be returning to the cage on Aug 25 with teammates Chris Halliday and Tyler Warwick for TXC Taylor Invasion III.
These fights can be seen live streaming www.txclive.com
Local Fighters Are at The Top Of The Amateur Ranks
Success at The Warz III is just a small example of the caliber of competitors in the CK region, I have been able to see fighters such as Tyler Kirk, Josh Rich and jiu jitsu ace Justin Steele in action this year, and all these fighters are competing and representing at a very high level across Ontario and Michigan. Due to amateur MMA (or watered down,safer form of MMA) only being made legal recently in Ontario, many of Chatham’s fighters are always fighting in hostile territory.
That hasn’t stopped local fighters Josh Rich and Tyler Kirk from going in and winning Michigan promotion titles in their respective weight divisions. Titles they are holding today.
The sport is growing fast and thanks to dedicated and qualified teachers like Gracie Barra Chatham’s Thomas Armstrong, the doors are open for all ages to learn and get in shape. You don’t have to compete at a high level either, you can simply do it for it’s core, life reasons which are fitness, healthy living and self-defense.
Keep it tuned in to The Chatham-Kent Sports Network for all your local MMA news!
Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report MMA and guest blogger on Sportsnet.ca.
Follow me on Twitter @wakafightermma