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Kage One hits Southern Illinois

by pete spitler

Saturday, February 9, 2008 11:56 PM CST

the southern

CARBONDALE - Natu "The Truth" Visinia will have to wait a little bit longer to bring home Saluki gold.

Visinia, a former SIU football offensive lineman, was scheduled to face Danny "The Hitman" Stoner for the Kage One heavyweight championship Saturday at Sports Blast's "Battle at the Blast II".

But Stoner's father suffered a stroke and he dropped out, according to Kage One promoter Tim Fickes.

"A couple of my football friends came down to see me perform," Visinia said. "It's one of those things where it happens and there's nothing you can do about it."

Visinia's fight would have highlighted a 15-match card that contained combatants from all across the Midwest. A combined 25 Illinois National Guardsmen from West Frankfort, Carbondale and Marion were also in attendance, providing security for the event in a joint promotion with Sports Blast.

The soldiers are involved in various levels of training in the Modern Army Combatives Program (MACP), a four-level program that teaches soldiers basic mixed martial arts (MMA) techniques.

"What the MACP does is teach a soldier not to be timid if the situation goes hand-to-hand," said Lt. Jared Southworth. "The point is to stall the enemy until a friend can come along."

The MACP has been in place since 1995, when the 2nd Ranger Battalion wanted to add martial arts training to its training regime. At the time, the Army's combatives doctrine was relatively boring and soldiers took an uninterested attitude toward it.

MMA is far from boring, as proven by the first few fights on Saturday's card. The first match between Carter Thornton and Cassey Clark took only a few minutes, when a takedown by Clark left Thornton unable to continue.

The match was ruled a medical stoppage with Clark the winner. Thornton had to be helped from the cage.

"It's the fastest growing sport in America," Fickes said. "Anyone who was ever a fan of boxing or wrestling is attracted to this.

"For one, it's real, and two, there's always a decision."

Even if that decision is a draw, which happened in the third bout between Justus Pruitt and Alex Giron. Pruitt and Giron went the full four rounds with the judges scoring the match 29-28 for Giron, 29-28 for Pruitt and a 29-29 tie.

"I view MMA as the ultimate test of somebody's will," said referee Robert Hinds. "They have to train in so many disciplines, it's not a one-sided fight."

But one-sided fights do happen, and one did on Saturday. The bout between Brad Williams and Avion Jones didn't last long after Williams knocked Jones to the mat and pummeled him with his fists. Williams won by TKO.

"There are thousands of opportunities and different ways to win," Hinds said. "As well as lose."

MMA is a sport where the combatants spend more time on the ground grappling than they do upright. Submissions are also key in Kage One, considered a step below Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). UFC is considered the largest MMA promotion in the world.

"Mixed martial arts is a very, very diverse sport and you can come in with a variety of skills," Fickes said. "As a promoter, you look for a well-rounded athlete who has some sort of wrestling background with basic skills in both striking and grappling."

Judging from the sold-out Sports Blast crowd, the sport has found a home in Southern Illinois. Fickes said they had 400 walk-ups at the inaugural "Battle at the Blast I" on September 29 and had to turn people away. The next scheduled event will be "Battle at the Blast III" on April 26.

"I would like to hold four events a year, that's my intention," Fickes said. "If the community backs it, SIU Arena is something to be considered."

As for Visinia, he is scheduled for a pay-per-view fight on February 17 in Chicago against Herk Hayes for the XFO's No. 1 contender's spot.

"It's going to be a tough match," Visinia said. "He's 6-2, but he's fought a lot of good fighters, including some who fought in UFC."

pete.spitler@thesouthern.com/351-5073