Absolute Action XV- A Review

As I was rolling into the Midwest Sports Complex something caught my attention. It wasn't my first trip there and I am no stranger at being early but on this occasion a big van outside grabbed my focus. It was the Wazoo production truck. It was at that moment I realized what I had been talking about for weeks was true. They hype was here. Absolute Action could not afford to slip up tonight because they had an audience and a much larger audience than expected.

From the first bout through the Main Event of the evening there was something in the air. Excitement? Well maybe that. Energy? Thats always there. It is something I can't quite put into words and you had to be there to take it all in. DJ Cincy had the lights and sounds bumping as is the norm for a Parag Patel/Billy Donovan event. When Cyrus Fees grabbed the mic and kicked things off it was electric for almost 4 solid hours.  The athletes showed up for this show. All of the fights were entertaining and each competitor laid it on the line in front of everyone in attendance and the possible hundreds of thousands watching on broadcast television. Normally after a show I have no problem picking my awards and direction in to which my praise should go. This event however was much harder.

Submission of the Night - Eric Jarvis

I try not to be bias when picking awards but there is not a better man deserving of credit than Eric Jarvis. Jarvis is humble and respectful not to mention he took this fight on short notice. His battle with Deric Reece was awesome. It was very even and up until the finish would have been a toss up with the judges. Eric locked in a rear naked choke that put Reece out. Make no mistake, Deric Reece is a tough guy through and through, but Jarvis listened to his corner man Steve Armentrout to finish the fight. Very deserving of this. Look for only more good things to come from Eric Jarvis in the future.

Knockout of the Night - Donnie Ballou

In the very first contest of the evening Donnie Ballou showed up to fight. He made quick work of Reggie Jones. Ballou was aggressive from the start and was quick to start throwing the big fists. No surprise Ballou was very respectful in his interview with AAMMA staple Rob "Turtle" Whitson. I was very impressed with Ballou and wish him the best of luck in his career.

Fight of the Night

Brittany Skelton vs James Morton

A champion was to be crowned after the dust settled on this fight. Both men involved were well deserving of their shot at the title. Both men proved why they were considered the best 155'ers in the state when they engaged in a fight of fights. During this battle it was back and forth. Morton held the advantage in the first 2 rounds as he worked his ground game and jiu-jitsu. Skelton countered with 2 rounds of his own taking some momentum into the championship finale. When the time came for the judges decision I felt Morton had got the victory but there were no losers in this. While waiting on the official announcement both men started...dancing. Thats right there was an impromptu dance off in the middle of the cage. Referee Chris Kinman was center cage and raised the arm of James Morton as he was presented with a new and improved Absolute Action MMA Championship belt. 

Now that I have been around and have seen well over 100 fights this year I can honestly say that to date this was one of if not the best event I had been to. That is not at all saying that each event was not great in their own right because they were. I felt just a little different when this was over and very much look forward to the next show. There is plenty of year left for this one to be topped and I encourage all of the promoters to try and do this.