by: Jack Bratcher
Capital City Cage Wars held their debut event on November 1st in downtown Springfield, Illinois at the Prairie Capital Convention Center.
The promotion is being run by Springfield native and current Philadelphia Phillies right fielder, Jayson Werth.
The event featured both professional and amateur fighters from the central Illinois area.
Former UFC Welterweight Champion, Matt Hughes of Hillsboro had five of his students from the HIT Squad in Granite City on the card, including TUF veteran, Tommy Speer.
They made an impressive showing as four of their participants were victorious while the fifth, Charles Hackmann, fought a tough fight only to give up a split decision after three rounds to Rodney Sleepers.
We last saw Speer in the UFC at Fight Night 13 in April of this year where he suffered a devastating KO at the hands of Anthony Johnson. Speer returned to action in October in a local Minnesota promotion where he got a first round TKO victory.
Speer faced Geno Roderick in the main event at Capital City Cage Wars and once again his fight ended in round one for the sixth time in a row. It was a rear naked choke submission victory for “The Farm Boy” and his record improved to 11-3.
(Editor’s note: Sherdog’s Fight Finder actually has Tom Speer losing this fight but it’s a mistake; he won!)
Other fighters from the HIT Squad to walk away with the victory were Tony Zucca who by won by TKO and Matt Veach and Justin Robbins who both won handily by submission.
The H.I.T. Squad (Hughes-Intensive-Training) is an MMA Team led by UFC legend, Matt Hughes. He has a record of 42-7.
Matt Hughes has lost his last two outings with the most recent being to Thiago Alves at UFC 85. He is expected to return to the Octagon in 2009 to face Matt Serra.