Vombaur Wins Championship Gold – Knopp and Heath Battle to a No Contest

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Tacoma, WA (April 28th, 2013) – The Emerald Queen Casino showroom was sold out yet again when Halquist Productions’ CageSport XXIV came into town featuring ten high quality action packed bouts. Two titles were on the line at CageSport as it was the first televised event for the promotion since CageSport XXI late last year.

The 2000 seat showroom was alive as ever as the card was loaded with Northwest MMA fighters that brought in huge fan bases.

As announced last week, the United Fight Alliance (UFA) was in attendance as they plan on televising CageSport XXIV making it available to over 100 million homes. Sitting cage side commentating the event was UFA’s Emmy winning, Jordan “Jay” Adams, and former UFC fighter, Jeff Houghland.

In the main event, Vancouver’s Cory Vombaur (5-2), fighting out of Gladiator MMA and Sports Lab MMA faced Spokane BJJ’s, Josh Rettinghouse for the CageSport Interim Bantamweight Title. Rettinghouse was fighting on short notice as current bantamweight champion, Brandon Hempleman pulled out of the fight for unknown reasons. In the pre-fight interview with Jay Adams, Vombaur stated that he was going to be aggressive in the fight and dominate whoever steps into the cage with him and he stayed true to his words.

Vombaur was able to out wrestle Rettinghouse and control the entire fight with superior ground game. Rettinghouse was in danger of getting caught with a rear naked choke multiple times throughout the fight, but did a good job through four rounds of never letting up and keeping the fight going. In the fifth and final round of the fight, Vombaur was able to wear Rettinghouse down and finally secure the rear naked choke 3:38 into the round. Vombaur becomes the new CageSport Interim Bantamweight Title holder. Hempleman will be forced to fight Vombaur when he becomes eligible to fight again. IF he is unable to, Vombaur becomes the unified

In the cruiserweight title fight between Brent Knopp (4-0) and John Heath (6-6), the fight was stopped twice due to accidental strikes to the head by Knopp. The doctor allowed the fight to continue after the first time, but ruled Heath unable to continue the second time around. Due to the fight not lasting at least three rounds of a five round title match, the fight was ruled a no contest. The undercard was full of high paced action highlighted by Scott McDonald’s dominate pro debut victory along with comeback fight of the year nominee when Alfonso Gonzales defeated Darrio Mobley. After Dex Montenegro’s victory he proposed to his girlfriend in the middle of the cage, in which she happily said yes. Below are the full undercard results of CageSport XXIV.

Alfonso Gonzales def. Darrio Mobley RD3 Triangle Choke

Austin Springer def. Aaron Martin RD1 TKO(punches)

Julian Erosa def. Jason Gybels RD2 Triangle Choke

Zach Skinner def. Arjay Murphy RD1 TKO(punches)

Kasey White def. Gustavo Lopez UD (30-27) (29-28) (30-27)

Dex Montenegro def. Christian Ortiz UD (29-28)(29-28)(29-28)

Scott McDonald def. Paul Njoku RD2 Rear Naked Choke Emanuell Russell def. Trevor Sojot UD (30-27)(30-27)(30-27) Halquist Productions has grown immensely since being televised on ROOT SPORTS in October of 2012, consistently selling out the Emerald Queen Casino Showroom as it continues to be the premier MMA promotion in the Northwest. Many current UFC fighters such as: Bryan Caraway, Miesha Tate, Michael Chiesa, John Albert, and Sam Sicilia have fought on previous CageSport cards, showcasing their talents and earning respect fighting on the most reputable MMA promotion in the region. Tickets are now available for upcoming CageSport XXV set for July 6th, 2013. For more information on CageSport XXIV and all other Halquist Production events, please visit www.halquistproductions.com and visit the official Facebook and Twitter Pages of Halquist Productions, CageSport, and Battle at the Boat.