On June 22nd 2007 I had the chance to attend my first amateur show at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan. I had no idea what to expect as I’ve heard both praise and horror stories about the quality of amateur shows, but I decided to skip the Strikeforce/Elite XC pay-per-view and see what the amateur scene had to offer, I must say I was far from disappointed.

A little Background info.

The organization is Champion Cage Fighters, or CCF for short, which is owned by promoter Neil Helmkay and is based out of Flint, Michigan. They use an eight-sided cage which is smaller in size then that of the octagon used in the UFC, and the bout duration was 3 rounds at a length of 3 minutes each. When I heard about the length of each round I was a little skeptical about the quality of the fights since I assumed this would greatly reduce the potential for submissions, but when I found out how many fights were scheduled I understood the reasoning behind a 6 minute fight. Originally there were 22 fights scheduled for the night, but the one issue that you have to deal with when you put on an amateur event is that these fighters are not bound by any contract and can thus drop out or no-show without any real repercussions.

On this night there were 3 fights that had to be scrapped due to various reasons, but I think that the 2000 or so fans inside the Palace enjoyed the idea of seeing 19 fights instead of the usual 5 to 8 fights you see via pay-per-view. I’d like to add that I was also far off when I said that the potential for submission victories was greatly lessened due to the 3 minute rounds since 9 of the 19 fights actually ended by some form of submission.

The Action.

The fight card had fighters ranging in weight from 130 pounds up to as much as 370, most of them being at some sort of catch weight, and the level of ability seemed to range as greatly as the weight classes did. I take nothing away from any fighter that stepped inside that cage since they are willing to do something that I am not, but there were a few fighters who could have used a dozen or so rounds of sparring before stepping up and taking an actual fight.

That said I would have to say that of the 19 fights at least 15 of them were exciting, and many of the fighters displayed skills much greater than I assumed they had. Not a single fight went to a judge’s decision with fights finishing via armbar, RNC, vicious ground and pound, as well as one big K.O. that sent a 370 pound man flopping on the ground like an elephant seal to end the night. I have much respect for these up and comers, and while many of them will do nothing more than fight at the amateur level, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple of them in the bigger organizations if their appearance in this event is a pre-cursor of what they are capable of. As a more knowledgeable fan of MMA I also enjoyed a couple of special guests in KOTC Light Heavyweight Champion James Lee, and International Karate and Kickboxing Hall of Famer Albert Mady (please look for my article on this Martial Arts master in the coming weeks).

Both guys addressed the crowd and thanked fans for supporting MMA in Michigan. As a Canadian I was also happy to see several of my fellow countrymen fighting with 3 of them looking very impressive in victory.

My Final thoughts.

If you ever get the chance to see an amateur event I highly recommend you go and check it out, whether it be CCF or some other promotion that allows young up and coming MMA artists to showcase their talents. The price was reasonable with tickets ranging in price from $25 to $75 (which included a waitress providing personal service so you didn’t have to miss a minute of action). While there isn’t spectacular pyrotechnics, or elaborate fighter entrances, there is plenty of quality MMA action and always the potential to see a future MMA "star" before he makes it to the big leagues.

Some fighters that I hope to see more of in the future, and won’t be surprised if they do make it to the professional level include:

Featherweight fighter Justin Goodall - Reminicent of George St. Pierre, very well rounded, and powerful kid with a ton of upside.

Light Heavyweight fighter Tyrone Holmes - Think about a younger, slightly shorter, Kevin Randleman with very heavy hands. If he can make 185 then he would be absolutely scary, and if he’s serious about MMA you’ll definitely be hearing about this guy.

Lightweight fighter Paul Martin - Short and compact a la Sean Sherk, similar to Sherk he’s very strong, he also showed a great ground game in his submission victory.

Middleweight fighter Ali Mokdad - Fights under Albert Mady and showed great skill both standing and on the ground. Powerful and is a big Middleweight, another fighter that could make his way into a bigger organization should he choose to.

These 4 fighters stood head and shoulders above the other 34 guys on the card. Now I’m not saying that they are ready to jump up and start fighting the elite of their respective weight classes, but if they continue on the path they are on I really wouldn’t be surprised if that ends up being the case.

Special thanks to Neil Helmkay for allowing us unlimited access while covering this event.

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