Mixed Martial Arts

December 9th, 2011

Driller Productions/SEC Promotions, the most consistent local promoters of the sport of mixed martial arts, bought another night of action to the Hyatt, downtown Minneapolis, (November 26). The card was full and the action was none stop, as the Downtown Showdown commenced their parade of beatdowns. Choke outs and submissions were the order of choice on a cold Minneapolis night.

Mike "The Marine" Richman (10-1) 145 LBS was "fighter of the night" as he completely dominated one of Wisconsin's best in Morgan Sickinger (9-3) in a Unanimous Decision. In a hotly contested match that had the audience on their feet for the entire fight, its easy to see why SEC executives believe that 26 year old Mike "the Marine" Richman from Rosemount, MN is the real deal. Richman did the honor of serving the U.S. Marine Corps until 2008 when he began serving, with the same winning attitude and dedication, in the ring of mixed martial arts.

Richman's boxing skills were apparent as he threw crisp punches with a minimum of wasted effort. His opponent, Sickinger, telegraphed his punches long before he launched, and spent too much energy missing shots. With every miss Richman made him pay the price. The final scores (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) were quite near the mark as Richman's offense was displayed heavy, and much; sort of like a Marine offensive! Richman said like many skeptical parents of future MMA stars, his parents thought it was a joke, "like I wasn't serious" says Richman with a wry smile. They can relax, it appears that Richmond's career in MMA is certainly no joke, as opponent Morgan Sickinger would probably attest.
Richman says his earlier influences were Prince Naseem Hamed, Arturo Gatti, Mike Tyson, and Tito Ortiz. It’s clear that Richman likes boxers and lets boxing skills lead his attack. Mike attributes his climb to a 10-1 record to "natural athleticism, slick boxing skills, combined with superior counter wrestling skill". Judging by his performance, you'd have to agree.
 
Here are the results of the evening: 
150 — Eric Wisely def. Brandon Girtz by submission due to injury (broken arm) at 4:26 of second round.

145 — Mike Richman def. Morgan Sickinger by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27,29-28).

125 — Lloyd McKinney def. Erik Vo by unanimous decision (30-27 on all three judges scorecard).

175 — James Clark def. Jay Paulson by TKO at 1:59 of first round.

170 — Corwin Nichols def. Jake Wyman by submission due to rear-naked choke at:58 of first round.
165 — Nick Compton def. Bruce Johnson by submission due to guillotine choke at 1:46 of first round.
135 — Brandon Buchholz def. Panda Nguyen by submission due to triangle choke at 1:54 of second round

If you like Mixed Martial Arts Driller/Sterling Entertainment Group has a host of events slated for for 2012.