King Of The Cage "Steel Curtain" brought nine professional bouts and what should have been a 185-pound title matchup to Norman, Oklahoma Saturday night. The card featured 13 Oklahomans looking to grab a win in front of a sold out crowd at Riverwind Casino’s Showplace Theater.

Headlining the card was to be a title fight between current belt holder Brandon Hunt and the undefeated Sean Strickland. Unfortunately Strickland came in overweight and regardless of how the bout played out Hunt would retain his title.

Strickland Silences Hunt

The much younger Strickland came out looking fresh and early on looked light on his feet. Both fighters circled for nearly a minute before engaging the other. Hunt looked to use his experience over Strickland but Strickland was able to take Hunt down and quickly move from side control to mount. From there Hunt would roll to his stomach and Strickland finished him off with a flurry of strikes.

Cottrell Outclasses Schulte

JC Cottrell faced a challenge in the much more experienced Brandon Schulte. However Cottrell rose to the occasion and solidified himself as a contender for the King Of The Cage lightweight title.  Early in the fight Cottrell looked flat on his feet and lacked head movement giving advantage to Schulte. He quickly adjusted and found his groove landing quick punches. Despite breaking his hand early in the first round what progressed was a striking clinic put on by Cottrell.

Schulte never found his rhythm with his fists and rather relied heavily upon leg kicks that never seemed to affect Cottrell. Only once did the fight go to the ground but it quickly returned to its feet. All three rounds looked the same as Cottrell hammered away with jabs and hooked that kept chipping away at Schulte. Despite bleeding heavily from his face, Schulte stood his ground at took an onslaught of punished. At the end of three rounds it was no question that Cottrell had out classes Schulte for the decision

The remainder of the night played out with a variety of outcomes. Brian Grinnell was unable to answer the bell after the first round of his bout due to a loss of sight in his eye and so Codale Ford picked up a TKO victory. Tim Papp suffered his second King of the Cage knockout in a row at the hands of Carl Perry. Garrick Landis wore down a battered and bloody Rickey Bowen for a full three rounds as Bowen spent most of the fight on his back looking for a submission. Perhaps most suprising of all was the opening bought where local Anthony Kellen tapped to strikes with only two minutes and forty seconds remaining in his bout against Isaiah Reyes.

Oklahoma fight fans enjoyed another evening of fights highlighted by an awe inspiring performance by rising star JC “Superstar” Cottrell. If anything fight fans walked away hoping to see Cottrell get an opportunity to fight the top guys in the lightweight division and soon take a run at the KOTC title. 

Full results

Sean Strickland VS Brandon Hunt
Winner: Sean Strickland via TKO at 3:48 of round 1

Thomas Schulte VS JC Cottrell
Winner: JC Cottrell via Unanimous Decision (30-27) after three, 5:00 rounds

Codale Ford VS Brian Grinnell
Winner: Codale Ford via TKO (Eye injury) at 5:00 of round 1

Tim Papp VS Carl Perry
Winner: Carl Perry via TKO at 1:26 of round 1

Rickey Bowen VS Garrick Landis
Winner: Garrick Landis via Unanimous Decision (30-26) after three, 5:00 rounds

Michael Casteel VS Scott Bear
Winner: Scott Bear via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:52 of round 1

Marciano Wilson VS Rico Cato
Winner: Rico Cato via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:28 of round 1

Rowdy Wilbourn VS Noe Zamora
Winner: Noe Zamora via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 0:51 of round 1

Isaiah Reyes VS Anthony Kellen
Winner: Isaiah Reyes via Tapout (Strikes) at 2:21 of round 3