(slightly edited for Front Page post)

Rage In The Cage #127
Desert Diamond Casino

Tucson, AZ – Saturday, May 16, 2009:

Rage In The Cage #127 was another great night for mixed martial arts in the state of Arizona. The venue, like always was perfect, the fight card was stacked with talent and the fighters were electric. If you are a fight fan, RITC #127 delivered, again!

With several amateur bouts on the card and the main event featuring the current Rage In The Cage Middleweight Champion Eddie Arimendez vs. Jacob Ortiz, the night looked to be entertaining. There were several home town favorites from Tucson on the fight card providing plenty of excitement for the crowd to chant, cheer and stay totally involved. The atmosphere to say the least was electric.

With the night starting off with one of the fighters having some equipment issues causing a slight delay but it quickly progressed into a flurry of punches, kicks, submissions and of course we had blood. One of the early fights featured a Tucson resident and Rillanation.com’s very own Michael “The War Monkey” Parker. He was facing off against Nate Gelinas and once again “The War Monkey” was just a little too much for his opponent and choked him out in the first round. The night was young and the action progressed with some serious toe-to-toe banging and very evenly matched fighters.

One such match was the Andres Acuna vs. Michael Goodman fight. These guys proved to be warriors as heavy punches were exchanged and Andres had several dramatic take downs. It was very evident that Goodman wanted to keep the fight standing while Acuna looked very comfortable working all aspects of the cage. After this war was over and the bell sounded for the final time, the judges gave a unanimous decision to Goodman. Nice fight for a couple of inexperienced amateurs. Rillanation.com will look for more from these two fighters. Luckily for us at Rillanation.com and the rest of the amped up crowd, it was early.

The match of the night could’ve been the Nick “Nyquil” Rhoads vs. Glenn Parker. The action was fast, frantic and explosive at times. Both fighters showed great striking ability while Parker scored several takedowns with some powerful slams. Nick is a RillaXtremeWear sponsored fighter and is known for his heavy hands but Parker was fully aware of Rhoads’ strengths. Parker kept pressing and controlling the cage and scored some nice strikes as well as those takedowns. Nearing the end of the third round, Parker scored yet another takedown and was working ground and pound and was able to snatch Rhoads’ loose arm and scored a submission by arm bar. Both fighters worked their tails off and put on a heck of a show for all of us at the Desert Diamond Casino. Up to this point, this was the fight of the night. Most of the RITC fans already know that Nick Rhoads always delivers on excitement and this match was not different.

With the crowd at a fever with chants, cheers and intensity, next on the card was a crowd favorite Jo-Jo “Chocolate Thunder” Thompson. He was to take on the proven, past champion and on a win streak, Adam Padilla. This Super Heavyweight bout was sure to excite and keep the energy high priming the crowd for the main event. But in anti-climatic style, Padilla took charge immediately, taking Thompson’s back while standing and delivering a rear naked choke with Thompson falling to the mat close to unconsciousness. The referee quickly stepped in and called the fight. Within seconds Padilla’s win streak continued and the crowd was totally stunned by the quick and uneventful match-up. But being the educated fans and appreciative of the hard work these fighters put in, they were thirsty for more.

Next up, the main event , current RITC Middleweight Champion, Eddie Arimendez vs. Jacob Ortiz. And yes, this match was for the belt. Arimendez has yet to lose a title fight and came to the ring looking in great shape and vowing that this is still his time to shine.

This truly was the fight of the night. Most of the defending champs’ fights end early and quickly with the champ delivering nasty, heavy blows. This match proved to be only slightly different. The only difference, Ortiz kept coming back for more. It was three complete rounds of heavy hitting, strategic tie ups and some tactical take downs. The Champ continued to land blow after blow and the crowd would gasp after each one. We couldn’t believe Ortiz didn’t hit the mat! It was amazing and yet so very punishing for Ortiz.

After three great rounds, the judges gave the unanimous decision to Eddie Arimendez as he retained his Middleweight title. This was a war and Ortiz’s face was swelling quickly and the champ gave credit to Ortiz for such a brutal battle. The champ commented on how he actually felt severe pain in his hand after delivering a blow to Ortiz. And the ice bag on the Champ’s hand after the fight was witness to just that.

After the judges unanimous decision for Arimendez, the crowd erupted in celebration for their local hero and definitely the fan favorite. What a great way to end the night for the Tucson crowd. Rage In The Cage #127 at Desert Diamond Casino was a huge success and the fighters made it happen. Thank you from RillaNation.com and congratulations to all the fighters for training their rear-ends off and delivering some stunning matches.

We look forward to the next MMA fights coming up in the Southwest and know they will be exciting as ever!

By: LNuss
Rillanation.com