Saturday night was a night to remember for local mixed martial arts fans as Titans of the Cage returned for the first time since March 2020, just before the COVID pandemic. They came back in with a bang as a sold out meeting center full of excited MMA fans witnessed 22 action-packed bouts. The event started out with four youth expo bouts before moving on to the full-contact adult MMA bouts.
In the main event of the evening it was Dylan Smith of Lebanon defeating iconic Wytheville fighter, Micah “the original” Sheffey via arm bar late in the second round to take home the vacant TOC lightweight belt. Sheffey came out at the opening bell letting his hands fly, landing some heavy shots on Smith and opening up a cut.
Luke Kincer (left) of Ring-Combat Sports lands strong punches on Josh Cook (right) of Halifax
Smith weathered the initial storm and the fight eventually found its way to the ground where Smith caught Sheffey in a tight arm bar that Sheffey miraculously got out of to take the fight into the second round. The second round saw Sheffey fight his way into the top position and was trying to land some shots from the top when Smith suddenly threw up another tight arm bar, but this time Sheffey was not as fortunate, bringing the night to an end.
In the co-main event, Dallas Manspile of Roanoke took home the TOC featherweight strap by defeating Josh Lilley of Beaufort, South Carolina, by rear naked choke midway through the second round.
Pictured (L to R) Vanessa Manns, Sensei Greg Ring, Bobby Collins (winner), “Razor” Robbie Ring, Miranda Blevins and Tiffany Houck
Chris Hamlett of Roanoke defeated Antwon Baker of Beaufort, South Carolina, to take home the interim Cruiserweight title. Brandon Holloway of Greensboro, North Carolina, captured the bantamweight title winning by 1st round choke over Jonathan Freeman of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Angel Rigney of Roanoke retained his youth Expo MMA belt with a win over Wytheville fighter Austin Sayers in a fight that had the fans on their feet from beginning to end. Sayers came out on fire, landing big punches and mixing in his kicks winning the first round on all three judges’ scorecards. However, halfway through the second round as the fighters clinched with each other along the cage fence, Rigney landed a perfectly placed knee to Sayers lower abdomen that dropped him and he was unable to recover. Both fighters showed they have a bright future in the sport of MMA.
Plenty of Wytheville based fighters filled the card and every single one of them that walked into the cage came in with a gigantic fighting spirit ready to put on a show for the crowd. Bobby Collins of Ring-Combat Sports in Wytheville defeated John Coalson in a three round affair that featured plenty of heavy leather being thrown, knockdowns and both fighters continuing to come forward, eventually earning themselves “fight of the night” honors.
Also, Luke Kincer of Ring-Combat Sports, making his official MMA debut won a hard-fought decision over TOC hall of fame fighter and veteran of more than 20 fights, Josh Cook of Halifax in another crowd pleaser that featured both men showing tremendous heart and determination. Pedro Jimenez Vasquez of Ring-Combat Sports in Wytheville, by way of Ocosingo, Chiapas, finished Curtis Davis via guillotine choke in the second round. Kyle Frankenfield had one of the quickest finishes of the evening winning in just 12 seconds when he landed a perfectly placed knee on Devan Hancock for the TKO finish.
Kevin Varney (left) of Varney Construction in Wytheville presents belt to new cruiserweight champ Chris Hamlett
Others displaying their skills in expo bouts included Savanna Smith, Brianna Hancock, Alijah Webb, Justice Cizl, Shalee Spencer, Desiree Simpkins, Jordan Cizl, Mike Salazar, Tyler Mills and Hunter Anderson.
Still other results from the main fighting card were as follows; Kyle Johnson of Roanoke defeats Wyatt Joyce of Asheboro, North Carolina, by rear naked choke, Daniel Wilkins of North Carolina, defeats Matt Justice of Lebanon by triangle choke to win “submission of the night”, Jonathan Dalton of Roanoke defeats Chris Spencer of Wytheville by TKO, Darren Williams of Greensboro, North Carolina, defeats James Anderson of Lacross by TKO, and Joseph Geilman of Beaufort, South Carolina, defeats Dakota Martin of Lacross by decision.
Ring girls for the event were Tiffany Houck of Abingdon, Vanessa Manns of Grayson County and Miranda Blevins of Abingdon. The event was sanctioned by the state of VA, DPOR and United Combat Arts sanctioning. The event sponsors where A-1 Storage of Wytheville and Varney Construction, also of Wytheville. Follow Titans of the Cage on Facebook to keep up with all the latest news regarding the promotion.
