EliteXC may be dead but King of the Cage is alive and well.

On Saturday night King of the Cage went to Youngstown for six professional bouts and 10 amateur bouts.

The night was a cornucopia of submissions. Five of the six professional fights ended by submissions, all early in the first round. Only one fight made it to the second round and that was stopped due to a cut.

The main event of the evening featured Micah Bender and Mitch Whitesel. This fight went like all the others, with a quick submission victory by Whitesel. The Youngstown crowd was clearly behind Micah Bender, but it was to no avail as the veteran Whitesel handled his twenty three year old opponent easily with guillotine choke at the one minute mark.  

There were two standout professional fighters in Victor O'Donnell and Brandon Ezzo. Both appear to be headed for bigger and brighter things at 185lbs. O'Donnell moved fast in his fight against Jim Bundy, landing several punches before taking the fight to the ground, where he finished Bundy with an armbar. O'Donnell's victory over hometown hero Jim Bundy  moved his undefeated streak to five in a row, O'Donnell has yet to lose a fight.

Brandon Ezzo may not have a perfect record, but his youth and an active guard make him a fighter to watch for the future. Ezzo was the victim of an early takedown by John Fields, yet he overcame the poor position by securing an armbar. Fields responded with an impressive scramble, spinning his entire body to escape the arm bar. In the scramle Ezzo was able to trap Fields in a triangle choke, ending the fight at two minutes twenty four seconds of the first round.  Brandon Ezzo is only 22 years old and still attends Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania.

Tony Abbate and Chad Riedmiller made their professional debuts against each other. Riedmiller pulled out the quick victory with a guillotine choke.

Michael Bogner and Curtis Hall were the only professional fighters to make it to the second round. However Curtis Hall suffered a cut from an elbow in the first round. The cut was deep, and blood splashed onto the ringside table. The doctor let the fight continue after examining the cut, but it became fast apparent that Hall was on borrowed time. A minute into the second round  the cut reopened causing the doctor to stop the fight.

The first fight of the evening was also the shortest professional fight that evening. Brandon Bice -- whose brother fought as an amateur earlier that night -- faced off against T.J. Findlay. Bice started quickly by closing the distance and securing a takedown, but Findlay countered with a kimura during the scramble to the ground. Once on the ground Findlay locked in the kimura causing Bice to tap thirty three seconds into the fight.

Professional Results of the evening

Mitch Whitesel def. Micha Bender via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 1:26
Brandon Ezzo def. John Fields via submission (triangle choke) - Round 1, 2:24
Victor O'Donnell def. Jim Bundy via submission (armbar) - Round 1, 1:15
Chad Riedmiller def. Tony Abbate via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 1:13
Michael Bogner def. Curtis Hall via TKO (doctor stoppage due to cut) - Round 2, 1:19
T.J. Findlay def. Brandon Bice via submission (kimura) - Round 1, 0:33

Check out the amateur highlights after the jump

Amateur Recap

Watching amateurs fight is an enlightening experience. If you're an optimist you see raw talent in the process of being honed into a weapon. If you're a pessimist, you are seeing green boys unsure of their actions. Whatever your opinion of amateur fighters there were several standout performances during the course of the evening.

Five second knock out

A lot can happen in five seconds - as Don Cheadle is fond of reminding us this every NFL playoff season -- one can propose in five seconds, one can fall a in love and one can be knocked out with such devastating force that the event must be paused till the ambulance leaves the arena (OSAC rules require a stoppage). That is what happened to Jordan Albright. Kyle Dolan demonstrated serious knockout power with his pinpoint overhand right that dropped Albright and sent the crowd in a frenzy. Albright was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons.

Heavyweights Frank Armstrong and Mike Fair, engaged in a potential fight of the night, that was until the third round started. Still the two heavyweights fought an entertaining bout that went the distance. Amateur rules in Ohio have the rounds set to three minutes, for heavyweights this is a godsend. Armstrong went all out in the first two rounds, throwing spinning back fists and back kicks in an attempt to finish off the more athletic Mike Fair. But when the third round started both fighters were clearly spent, and the early work done by Armstrong ensured him the decision victory.  

The surprisingly entertaining heavyweight bout was no match for the real fight of the night winner, between Chris Curtis and Mike Cardona. Cardona won the first round due to a right hook that knocked down Chris Curtis. Curtis would respond by winning the next two rounds with a combination of punches and timely takedowns in an extremely entertaining affair.

Gamesmanship or cheating?

Chad Bice had a controversial and impressive fight against Mike Passio. The smaller brother of professional Brandon Bice, demonstrated ferocious striking and an animal instinct in finishing ability, as his opponent verbally submitted to strikes in round one. Bice's actions at the very start of the round mired ill responses from fans and the rival corner.

The incident occurred as Bice and Passio entered the center of the cage to touch gloves. Immediately after the gloves touched, Bice through a quick left hook while he pulled away his right hand from the ceremonial sign of respect; while the punch landed cleanly it did not damage Passio so significantly to affect his fighting. Bice was emotional in his defense, yelling verbal barbs back at his detractors after the fight. While the action may not of been against the letter of the rules it was clearly against the spirit of the rules

Jacob Liss also put on an impressive show with his first round knock out over Mike Wiseman, though not as devastating as the Dolan knock out.