by: Cory Brady
UFC veteran Drew Fickett suffered a huge TKO upset defeat last night at the hands of New Mexico native Richard Villa. Fickett was coming off of a five fight win streak with his last four fights being finished in the first round and to say he was a heavy favorite coming into Rage in the Cage 113 from the Santa Ana Star Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico would be an understatement.
This card was billed as New Mexico Vs. Arizona and because a good amount of the fighters were coming from Arizona it was decided to hold the weigh-ins the day of the fight as opposed to the day before the fight. This may have had something to do with Fickett’s downfall. Fickett stepped onto the scales just two pounds overweight but was forced to run those last two pounds off just hours before fight time. Knowing that Drew had unwittingly exerted some extra energy not too long before fight time, it was Villas strategy to let Fickett come on strong early and turn the heat up on him later when he began to tire. It worked out perfectly. The first round saw Fickett landing a couple of really nice headkicks on Villa that Drew followed with a takedown. Fickett controlled Villa from the top while he searched for submission after submission. Richard Villa was able to survive the storm and make it to the second round. In the second round Villa dropped Fickett with a huge right hand, then immediately pounced on his fallen prey and delivered a shower of rights and lefts until the ref stopped the contest declaring Richard Villa the winner via second round TKO. One could easily make an argument for this being the upset of the year up to this point.
Other action of the night saw fellow UFC veteran Alberto Crane rebounding from a three fight loss streak to make short work of New Mexico fighter Adrian Valdez. Crane was all over Valdez from the get go. Crane secured a takedown where he worked for an armbar and then transitioned into a nasty guillotine choke securing the victory at the 1:35 minute mark of the very first round.
Another successful event for Rage in the Cage saw an action packed night of 22 fights that did not dissapoint. Here’s a quick breakdown of last nights fights.
Richard Villa def. Drew Fickett – TKO 0:34 R2
Alberto Crane def. Adrian Valdez – Submission/Guillotine 1:35 R1
Jen Babcock def. Raechel Megahan – Submission/Arm Triangle 0:55 R1
Danny Martinez def. Felipe Chavez – Submission/Guillotine Choke 2:07 R1
Mike Valdez def. Carlos Lopez – TKO 0:22 R1
Marciano Wilson def. Dickie Chavez – Disqualification/Illegal Knee 1:35 R1
Ryan Kelly def. Jerome Martinez – Unanimous Decision
Josh Lanier def. Josian Smith – Submission/Triangle-Armbar 0:34 R1
Quinn Mulhern def. Blue Edwards – Submission/Triangle Choke 0:34 R2
Travis Degroat def. Robert Montiel – TKO 1:02 R1
Eric Saavedra def. Jeff Horlacher – Submission/Guillotine Choke 1:41 R2
Richard Hale def. Jeremiah Martinez – KO 1:01 R1
Rafael Freitas def. Eric Buck – Submission/Rear-Naked Choke 1:45 R1
Zack Mathews def. Mano Otero – Submission/Armbar 1:42 R2