Gameness Fighting Championship VIII took place Saturday night, Oct. 9, at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds Sports Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The card boasted 15 fights; seven pro and eight amateur, with a main event for the Gameness Flyweight (125 lbs.) Title between undefeated Strikeforce veteran Dustin Ortiz vs. Team Wildside’s Cory Alexander.

Ortiz was 5-0 coming into this fight. Alexander was 3-3 as a pro and looked to be the bigger fighter. Ortiz is the top lighter-weight fighter in the region and knowing that future plans are for him to move to the big show for good, this was an important fight.

Despite his record, Alexander was anything but a walk-through for Ortiz. He is is a legitimate pro and extremely athletic. It was fairly even in the first and second rounds with Ortiz getting the edge in some fast-paced very explosive grappling. Ortiz ended round two on top throwing bombs and as round three began it became apparent he was wearing Alexander down.

The bout was scheduled for five rounds but as Ortiz took the mount in the third more and more elbows and punches were landing from his ground and pound. Finally the referee had seen enough, stopped the fight and Nashville had witnessed two of their own put on a performance to rival the WEC. Ortiz was awarded the 125 lb. title and the crowd was on their feet cheering a perfect ending to the night.

The other fight which must be discussed was 2004 Olympian Rhadi Ferguson (American Top Team) making his Gameness FC debut against local heavyweight Jeremy Boczulak. It was the second pro fight for both guys. Boczulak took the fight on late notice and deserves a ton of credit for that.

Boczulak did the best he could and even landed one good shot on Ferguson, but the Olympian’s footwork, head movement and speed prevented Boczulak from landing most of his shots. Although known for his grappling, Ferguson, also a BJJ black belt, kept the fight standing, using leg kicks and punches to get the job done.

The end came about mid-way through round one when Ferguson landed an enormous left hook that dropped Boczulak. Ferguson immediately exploded on his injured opponent with more strikes and the fight was stopped. You can watch a video of the fight here: Rhadi Ferguson GFC 8 fight video.

Nashville MMA’s Dustin West also deserves mention for bouncing back with a big win after breaking his hand at “Strikeforce: Nashville” back in April. He defeated his opponent, Brandon Gaines, fighting out of Team Nemesis, with submission due to strikes in round three.

Stay tuned for a complete GFC 8 photo gallery which should be up later today.

GFC 8 fight results:

PROFESSIONAL CARD

• (125 Title) Dustin Ortiz def. Cory Alexander by TKO (strikes) Rd 3
• Tony Parker def. Gerric Hayes by submission (rear-naked choke) Rd 1
• Charles McTorry def. Chris Fernette by submission (rear-naked choke) Rd 1
• Rhadi Ferguson def. Jeremy Boczulak by TKO (strikes) Rd 1
• Tom McKenna def. Kwinn Davis by unanimous decision Rd 3
• Dustin West def. Brandon Gaines by submission (strikes) Rd 3

AMATEUR CARD

• (Muay Thai) Connie Rymer def. Tiffany Ferry by unanimous decision Rd 3
• Braeden Ward def. David Fifth by TKO Rd 2
• Bryan Adkins def. James Gann by knockout Rd 1
• Cromwell Stewart def. Aaron Kim by unanimous decision Rd 3
• Kevin Hill def. Josh Phelps by TKO (strikes) Rd 2
• Dante Lawson def. Matt Evittts by TKO (ref stoppage) Rd 2
• Adam Reece def. Anthony Lemon by submission (triangle choke) Rd 2
• Luke Sanders def. Phillip Grayson by submission (strikes) Rd 1

Opponents for Johnathan Ivey and Thomas Campbell both pulled out and their fights were cancelled.