Vigilant MMA Strikes The Stage At The Tampa Gold Club

“Violence and ladies pack the house!!”

Vigilant MMA returned after a few months off, and Tampa Gold Club on Adamo Drive in Tampa, FL welcomed them with open arms!! This well-known club is not only one of the biggest locations in the Tampa area, but their award-winning food and knockout ladies have made this one of the gems of the Tampa area. Choosing this as the site for CQ 23 was one of the best decisions Vigilant MMA could have done.

Combat Ju Jitsu opened the early afternoon card in the 145-150lb division. With Matt Allison and Jorge Betacourt going toe to toe. The opening round was a solid grappling match, and Allison was able to land some solid slaps to distract Betacourt. Both fighters worked their way into multiple submission attempts, but the match reached the time limit, and was forced into overtime.

Allison started off attempting to escape and was able to do so in a decent time frame. Betacourt was trying to keep him locked in, but Allison was far too flexible. Reversing roles, Betacourt was unable to escape in enough time, and ultimately lost because of this.  Winner: Allison in OT with fastest escape.

Brian Velez and Joshua Kabay squared off second in 159lb Muay Thai kick boxing. The opening round had Velez dominating Kabay, and that continued throughout the fight. Both combatants came out with signs of advanced striking knowledge, but the practical experience to find openings was lacking early.

In round two Kabay started finding his favorite target of the night; Velez’s balls. With repeated strikes to the midsection, it was like any shot he attempted at the lower stomach or inner thigh ended up there. Velez kept battling back and kept moving forward to win the second round easily. With Kabay losing a point for the strikes, it was Velez’s fight to lose.

Velez-4

The final round was a war of attrition. Both fighters were clearly exhausted and straggling to find open shots. Naturally, Kabay found his favorite target yet again, and seemed to find it a few more times “accidentally”. Despite this, Velez kept moving forward and dodging the meat sinking missiles Kabay was trying to launch. Velez took the time to notice a few weaknesses and exploit them before the round ended. This and the point dedication was more than enough to earn him a unanimous decision. Winner: Velez by Unanimous Decision

Ryan Arquette and Kahlil McKinnie faced off in 170lb MMA next. This bout had Arquette coming out like a man possessed. While his strikes were pinpoint in their execution, McKinnie was able to take advantage and get him into a grappling match. While his submission attempts were outstanding, they couldn’t make him submit.

The second round saw Arquette bringing heavy strikes back into the rotation, and they worked McKinnie to the mat very efficiently. With a rear mount, Arquette was able to rain down blows as McKinnie attempted his best defense to the frequent punches. At first it looked like Arquette was looking to find a submission move, but the strikes were working perfectly. The ref stopped the contest with McKinnie being clearly out hit.Winner: Arquette  by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:08 in Round 2

Graves-8

Opening the main card, Daniel Meadows and Devin Flores squared up in 126lb boxing. Both fighters came out looking to establish the jab early, but neither gaining significant ground. Meadows worked the breadbasket a bit, but the midsection of Flores was able to take the shots and keep moving forward.

Round two had both fighters looking tired and using the tie up and the cage to stay up. Flores was able to get Meadows pressed into the cage, and the ref allowed these tie ups to stay going a bit longer than you’d like to see in boxing. This was something clearly noted by Flores’ corner towards the end of the round.

The final round opened with both fighters looking to end the bout quickly. Unfortunately for Meadows, Flores was able to get him back against the cage relatively quickly and keep him there most of the round. Had this fight had a more boxing focused ref, this tactic would not have been as effective, as Meadows was doing his best to work the outside game. Needless to say, Flores was able to work the ribs strongly, and rack up the points clearly. This gave him a decisive majority decision. Winner: Flores by Majority Decision

Dontei Young and Kwanme Jordon brought us back to Muay Thai kick boxing. Jordon came out with a solid boxing posture to open the round, with Young in the more traditional style MTKB setting. This duality of styles looked to end it early for Jordon, but Young battled back and kept his feet under him.

Round two saw more traditional movements from both fighters, and Young now had him playing his game. Jordon was able to land some significant body strikes, but they weren’t impacting Young’s game plan a bit. Eating these strikes eventually wore him down and to the mat he went. Rebounding quickly, he finished the round with a significant strike advantage.

The final round was another chess match. The even matchmaking between these two made for an amazing fight, with Young eventually taking an accidental shot to the groin that kept him down for a good bit, but he recovered with a new fire. Out striking Jordon a good bit, he ended up taking the split decision. Winner: Young by Split Decision

In the Co-Main Event, Michael Faulkner and Grayson Fischer battled it out in 155lb MMA action. Faulkner came out striking and grappling. Fischer battled back to avoid being taken down as best her could. Unfortunately for him, Faulkner was able to get him to the ground with a decisive and devastating rear into side takedown. This seemed to stun Fischer as he tried to avoid the guillotine choke, and ultimately a rear naked choke that he quickly tapped out to. Winner: Faulkner by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:48 in Round 1

In the Main Event, Dakota Trice and Champion Morquez Forest squared off for the 155lm MMA Title. Despite feeling each other out to open the fight, Forest took Trice to the mat quickly. Controlling the mount decisively, Trice gave every bit he had to trying to defend various submission attempts. From in the guard or side control, Forest was consistently looking to make him tap.

From the outset of the second round, the fight returned to the ground. Trice looked for variations of triangle chokes and locks, but to no avail. As the two battled on the mat, Forest varied his choke positioning, and how much effort he was putting intop the submission with Trice preventing him from locking it in. This conservation of energy meant Trice was starting to get gassed.

The final decisive round was more of Forest controlling things from the mount. With the amount of time these two spent on the mat, neither showed much damage, but they were clearly operating on pure love for the fight. Keeping Trice in a rear mount for most of the round, Forest was incredibly dominant in the round. Then again would you expect anything less from the #1 MMA fighter in Florida? Ultimately this control was more than enough to earn the unanimous decision.  Winner: Forest by Unanimous Decision

Vigilant MMA continues to bring the action across Florida. In 2023 there are rumors of the organization taking their action-packed events across state lines. Stay tuned for updates!! When they come to your town, you will not regret coming to see the future stars of combat sports today!! You can find tickets and PPV information on social media @vigilant_mma, their website at www.vigilantmma.com, and don’t forget to check out their channel on Roku!!!