NAAFS Caged Vengeance 5 Recap

Press Release

(07/12/09 - Columbus, OH) - The NAAFS returned to Columbus, OH on Friday July 10th for Caged Vengeance 5, an event that featured a combination of familiar names to fight fans along with some fresh faces. The event was held at the outdoor amphitheatre of the Lifestyle's Pavilion, providing fans with a great night of MMA action under the starry Ohio skies. The fans were treated to a night that featured several fresh faces looking to make their mark in the National Amateur Series and those in attendance were not disappointed.

In the main event, Yancy Martin of Walker's MMA improved to 8-6 with a win over Columbus native Grant Hoppel (6-3) in a National Amateur Welterweight division fight. Hoppel hadn't competed for the promotion since September of 2007 and had recently switched camps to Buckeye MMA in hopes to begin the second leg of his career. However, it wasn't meant to be on this night.

The fight was fairly even heading into the final frame and Martin took control in the final round to earn himself the unanimous decision victory. After the fight, he told the crowd he planned to work on improving his skills even more and that he looked forward to competing again.

Huey Contreras (5-0) is quickly becoming a force to be noticed in the National Amateur Welterweight division, as he defeated Tony Rottari (4-4) by TKO at 2:25 of the first round to remain unbeaten. Contreras dominated from the opening moments of the fight and never looked to be in trouble at all. With impressive performances in both of his NAAFS outings, Contreras remains a name to keep an eye on in a very loaded division.

Rick "Have a Nice" Day is quietly racking up wins in the National Amateur Heavyweight division and quickly becoming someone to contend with. He improved to 4-0 at Caged Vengeance 5 with a TKO victory over Justin Kennedy (1-1) in just under a minute of the first round. Although the crowd was displeased with the stoppage against the hometown fighter, the victory gives Day his second NAAFS win in as many months. The USA Martial Arts heavyweight prospect now sets his sights on even more competition, looking to make a run towards the National Finals in December.

Chase "Y U Do'em Like That" Owens is quickly becoming one of the more entertaining fighters in the National Amateur Middleweight Division. He improved to 3-0 with a win over Chris Brown (1-1) by rear naked choke at 1:57 of Round One and has no intentions of slowing down. Owens is another fresh face looking for a shot against the top contenders in a very crowded National Amateur Middleweight Division.

Michigan's Dan Claus (6-6) picked up his first win inside the NAAFS cage, when he defeated Derik Sowers of Peak Submission Fight Team (1-1) by Keylock at 1:37 of the second round. Claus' previous two outings were against the likes of top contenders Jason Wolf and Sean Paul Veilleux, so he is definitely no stranger to facing tough competition. Although he already has 12 fights under his belt, this student of UFC Hall of Famer Dan Severn has no intentions of slowing down anytime soon.

In National Amateur Women's division action, Angie Vorhees (1-1) of Team No Joke avenged her previous outing in the NAAFS, when she defeated Aubrey "Le Peau" Rawlings by guillotine choke in just :44 of the first round. At 97lbs, Vorhees is the smallest competitor to ever step foot inside the cage. She is out to prove the old motto be true: it's the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog!

The NAAFS returns to Columbus, OH on Saturday September 19th for Caged Vengeance 6 at the Lifestyle's Pavilion. It was announced to the live crowd that #3 ranked Bantamweight & 2008 National Amateur finalist Josh Castro will be making his return against Columbus native Aaron Hughes. This event will feature both the National Amateur and Pro Series stars in action. Stay tuned to NAAFS.tv for ticket information on Caged Vengeance 6!