MMA Gospel

Jeremy Hefner uses a front headlock to control Tim Savenok in an exciting three-round fight at Cut Throat MMA (Photo: Mallory Mejia)

On Friday, July 23 2010, staff photographer Mallory Mejia and I attended a local show put on by the Naperville, IL-based amateur promotion Cut Throat MMA for the first edition of MMA Gospel’s new “Amateur Spotlight” series.  Owned and produced by Mike Davis, the Cut Throat MMA production provides a professional atmosphere and efficiently run show that is well worth the time and money for both the fan and the fighter.  The initial response to Cut Throat with local training camps was a mixed bag with a handful complaining of mismatches and last minute fight switching and even accusations of billing pros as amateurs, but neither I nor the close to 1,000 spectators in attendance witnessed any evidence of this at the Holiday Inn Select in Naperville that Friday night.  In fact, the matches were remarkably well-balanced, especially for an amateur event where limited video and the great variances in the effectiveness of the innumerable camps’ training programs make it difficult for promoters to truly gauge where a fighter’s talent level really is.  Throughout the entire 12-fight card there were only two bouts where the promoter could come under scrutiny for questionable  fight booking.  It is important to note, however, that the fighters who were on the receiving end of those mismatches admitted that they not only were fully informed of their opponents’ skill levels and training, but had also been provided with video of prior fights.  Upon viewing the fights, it became evident that the responsibility of the mismatchings fell upon the shoulders of the fighter’s manager/coaches, not the promotion itself.  But we’ll discuss that later; for now, let’s take a look now at what MOMMIE has to say. Continue reading »