FORT SMITH, Ark. — Saturday night at the Fort Smith Event Center in Fort Smith, Ark. featured some of the most talented and highly-trained amateur and professional mixed martial artists in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

McAlester’s own Stephen Rowell made the trip for the third fight of the night. He paced and allowed himself to go deep in thought as he walked around the Event Center with his headphones on before the fights began.

He was there supported by teammates Fernando “Oatmeal” Torres and D.J. Loveless, as well as Thunderfoot Gym operator David Bailey.

When asked if he thought Rowell was ready, Bailey replied, “He’s here. That’s as ready as he’s going to be.”

Another fighter from the McAlester area was scheduled for one of the five professional fights. Justin Short, a baseball standout for Crowder, has been training out of Omega BJJ in Fort Smith as a professional fighter.

Before his fight that night, the owner/operator of his gym, Billy Arnold, spoke on Short’s competence.

“He’s a super-technical fighter with great boxing. He’s a very explosive and intelligent fighter. He’s a great representative of Omega BJJ.

“It won’t go the distance. He’ll finish the fight for sure,” Arnold said confidently of his fighter. Short’s fight would be the fourteenth fight of the night and one of the most decisive.

Fittingly, before the fights started, a fight broke out in the crowd. The Fort Smith Event Center could barely contain the outrageous levels of testosterone and action.

Fight Promoter Shawn Vanderploeg of Hit ‘Em Hard Entertainment (HEH) gathered a respectable fight card that included several committed teams and many devoted individuals. After the announcer declared Vanderploeg’s engagement to his ring girl and girlfriend, Amber Wright, he went on to ask, “You guys getting married in the cage?”

Wright didn’t need a microphone to be heard, “Oh no!”

The next engagement of the night came when Lucas Jackson and Justin Knuckles met center-cage. Knuckles had to dodge a little trash talk outside the building from a Jackson supporter as he entered the building, but handled it well.

“Lucas is a cool guy. I know he’s not cocky,” Knuckles said graciously. Knuckles didn’t bother with a lot of talk. Rather than run down his opponent in any way, he said simply, “We’ll see.”

After exchanging friendly nods at each other from within the cage, the two began feeling each other out with quick strikes before Jackson got aggressive and went low for a takedown.

The entire fight featured a mixed display of standing strikes, knowledgable grappling, and instinctive transition moves.

The two were 17 seconds from a decision when Jackson had to tap to maintain his good looks. Knuckles lived up to the name and proved to be the more dangerous man Saturday.

The second fight of the night was a leg kick exhibition by Dustin Keeter who hit Daniel Johnson with cracking kicks in the thigh and calves.

As the only two 200-plus fighters featured, each clean shot did damage. Johnson had a stern overhand right that he sought to implement maybe a little too much. Keeter was clearly the more active fighter and landed the more respectable shots of round one.

In the midst of round two, Johnson apparently had something bothering his eye as he clutched part of his own head. Keeter reminded him he was in a cage fight by laying the leg kicks on even thicker. The two took a short break after Keeter was kicked in the groin as Johnson tried to defend himself from the thunderous kicks.

Despite both being angered by the other during the second round, they patted each other on the back at the end of the round. With a lot of sportsmanship and after a little deliberation, the fight had much more to offer.

Even though Johnson was nowhere near as impressive physically, he managed to go the distance of the fight. Unfortunately for Johnson, he did have to endure more leg kicks and then a devastating superman punch. The eye that bothered Johnson earlier was busted open as he bled from eye to belly, and eventually to the floor.

The damage he took was too great for the judges to disagree with each other; Keeter was the unanimous winner.

The cage already had to have blood cleaned off of it and there were still 14 fights to go.

In the third fight, Rowell was finally center stage. Thunderfoot’s latest undefeated fighter took on Terrod Clayton from Southern Pain MMA, out of Fort Smith.

29-year-old Clayton faced just a freshly-graduated, quiet teenager from a small town that works out in a gym with no heat or air-conditioning. He couldn’t be ready to face a grown man training out of a gym in a major Arkansas city, could he?

After walking out to the cage, supporters Bailey, Loveless and Torres whispered a few words of advice. That wouldn’t be the last instruction he would receive that night though.

Clayton looked to strike from the bell. He hit Rowell with a leg kick and Rowell tried to tie-up while standing.

Clayton managed to keep Rowell at bay with a pushing sidekick, but not for long. Rowell immediately went for the takedown and got it.

He was pulled into trouble by Clayton who looked to sink in a guillotine.

Rowell earned a dominant position by pulling his head free. He stood atop Clayton while forcing him into the cage. With Clayton unable to use his hands to defend effectively, Rowell worked a mixture of dirty boxing while keeping Clayton oppressed against the cage.

As the two worked their way to a standing position, Rowell slammed Clayton down. From there, Loveless and Oatmeal began a little active coaching. Whether their instruction helped or not, Rowell did manage to fully mount Clayton. He looked like he was thinking carpentry as he hammer-fisted away, but couldn’t quite end it before the bell that signalled the end of the first round.

Rowell was on the verge of his first second round. He appeared to heed the advice of Loveless, who came in to give him a few shots of water.

Rowell began his second round going for a takedown. Clayton defended quickly, but the tough teen overcame the sprawl and drove Clayton right back into the cage fence and floor.

He didn’t spend as much time beating on Clayton this time before tasking his back and finiching the fight with a rear naked choke (RNC.)

“Oh, I’m so proud,” Sherry Rowell, Stephen’s proud yet worried mom said.

“I’m already ready for him to quit though. I feel like I’m going to need medication to calm down. I’m afraid that he’ll get injured like the guy that fought before him,” mom continued.

Unfortunately for mom though, Rowell displayed a keen talent for out-thrashing bashers, moved to 2-0 and was invited back soon by Vanderploeg.

Rowell hung out and watched some of the other fights and walked around with a smile that said more than he needed to. Rowell’s known for walking big, not talking big.

Teammate Oatmeal said after the fight, “He’s just like that man. He’s a quiet guy.

“He did great though and stayed calm. He kept a tight stand-up game and the shots he threw were all good. He even did a good job of bringing the guy over to our corner,” Oatmeal said. Rowell’s ability to control the setting of the fight and stay close to his blue corner left afforded him the advantage of his teammates’ instruction in-combat.

Loveless and Oatmeal were so active outside the cage, they looked ready to climb in and fight that night.

“We’re all ready to get in there,” Oatmeal said with a smile after the fight.

A brave showing by Rowell was followed by a no-show by Michael Riden in the fourth fight. James Seltzer showed up ready to fight and that was all he had to do to have his hand raised Saturday.

The rest of the fighters did show though.

Bradley Warrick beat Jacob Swartzengruber with a guillotine choke in the first round of the fifth fight.

Rodney Allison was the next to overtake an opponent. Extending the win column in his 6-0 record, Allison made the Redneck Fight Club proud as he let his hands fly out of the gate. He then took the fight to the ground and after rolling a bit, he found himself able to work some ground-and-pound from a dominant position.

While scrambling on the ground, he was able to lock into a body triangle while continuing to brutalize his opponent, Sterlin Lenz. As Lenz tried to roll out, he was caught by the throat and forced to tap. Allison showed his appreciation to the crowd by tossing the T-shirt he won.

“This guy is as tough as they get,” Greg Dunagin, the 135-pound champion of HEH, said about his teammate and now-7-0 Allison.

Allison was every bit as menacing outside the ring as in it as he patrolled the venue with a giant logging chain around his neck, fitting the “Redneck” bill well.

Suour Vue was clearly the better striker in the seventh fight. He opened the fight with a spinning roundhouse kick straight out of a Steven Segal movie.Coming from Ronin Gym in Waldron, Ark., Vue gave the people at the Event Center a little variation. He followed up the roundhouse with more rangy high kicks until he was finally forced to close the gap.

Vue struck his opponent, Matt Howell, with knees as the first fighter of the night to utilize the Thai clinch. A forceful right-handed jab kept the fight standing for a while, but the two were finally forced to scramble for a doiminant position.

Vue proved to be the victor in all facets tested Saturday when he ended the second round by sticking Howell with jabs and crosses and a lot of power.

Vue won the fight by trying to beat the beard off Howell until the ref stopped the fight.

Erick Piersant from Poteau’s The Pit squared off with Antwone Adams.

Adams wouldn’t quit. He was grounded and pounded for most of the first round. He postured at the right time in the second to prevent a takedown, but he couldn’t do it often enough as Piersant battered and bullied Adams.

Piersant snuck in an RNC but couldn’t break Adams before the second round bell.

Adams came out swinging as Piersant effectively dodged as many as ten shots before maintaining a dominant position until the end of the third. Adams finished the fight on top, but didn’t come out on top. Piersant won the decision and the amateur featherweight belt for HEH.

Garrett Cox won a belt for HEH in his weight division after securing an RNC from underneath. He will defend his title at the same venue on his birthday, Oct. 9.

Fight 10 ended with Will Walker the vistor, but he and his opponent showed ultimate sportsmanship by taking turns raising each other’s hands after the fight.

Johnny Blackburn lost the 11th fight after getting caught against the fence, unable to defend himself. Derrick Woodard teed off on every major organ of Blackburn’s. From there on, Blackburn got popped until he dropped. Woodard was the final amateur winner of the night as the pros took the cage.

Chris Conder, from Oklahoma City, won by RNC after sprawling to defend the double leg takedown by Joey Oldenbroek in the first professional fight of the night.

Conder secured the hold, but Oldenbroek was no quitter. He chose to take a nap rather than tap. Conder will have a decisive victory to brag about in class while he’s studying business and dentistry at Oklahoma City University.

Justin Flanagan may have won the tightest tattoo contest, but that wouldn’t get him anywhere in the 13th fight of the night. The sprawl he hit Jimmy Bell with would though.

Flanagan dirty boxed his opponent against the cage until Bell could no longer defend and the ref stopped another fight.

The 14th fight of the night featured bald brawlers Justin Short and Brad Sustad. Short unknowingly had some big words from his coach, Arnold, to live up to. And he did just that.

Short controlled the fight from the beginning, despite a hostile and able Sustad. Short let the fight go to the ground and worked some elbows from side control.

Short maintained side control while using Sustad’s own movements against him. As Sustad tried to raise upward and force Short off of him, Short would allow Sustad to raise up a little before slamming him back down. Short transitioned into mount, but Sustad had wiggle.

Sustad escaped briefly but gave up his back. From there, Short snatched up Sustad’s neck and the victory.

Short said after the victory, “I played baseball at Crowder and had so much fun, I ended up playing for Carl Albert State College. I played ball there for a year-and-a-half, then started MMA and never looked back.”

He will, however, be looking forward; forward to boosting his popularity within the league, the sport and his fans back home.

Devin Suerls used a unique form of kicking from the ground in the 15th fight. By laying on his back and waiting for the eager Eric Benton to lay down on him with strikes, Suerls clutched his own shin and left his left leg cocked, locked, and ready to rock Benton in the event of an attack.

Benton gave Suerls exactly what he was looking for with a steady, violent attack that seemingly had no end.

Benton took the only thing Suerls gave him: an ankle. He twisted Suerls over into an ankle lock, but Suerls escaped and did some damage from within Benton’s half-guard.

After recovering full guard, Benton squeezed Suerls’s neck with his legs with a triangle choke. As Suerls stood to slam his way out of the grip, the bell sounded to save his neck.

Suerls started using his legs too in the second round. He came out with leg kicks that spun Benton around and off his center of gravity. Benton tried to overcome his own equilibrium by going for a takedown, but succeeded in only pinning Suerls against the cage.

Due to a stumble, Suerls accidentally pulled guard. Suerls kept Benton tight by trapping an arm and pulling him in. From underneath, Suerls kept the action lame which caused the referee to stand them up. The action continued in back-and-forth fashion until the final bell of their fight.

One judge took Suerls’s side. By split decision though, Benton took the fight.

Josh Geske and Derek Swartzengruber were the finale of the night. Geske counterjabbed before the fight was taken to the ground. Once down, Geske managed to mount. Shortly after though, Swartzengruber swept to inside Geske’s guard.

After standing, Geske forced Swartzengruber to the fence. Swartzengruber used both of his arms to control one of the arms that Geske was using to keep him pinned.

A technical battle that featured many different positions, the last fight of the night ended abruptly.

Once loose, Geske quickly grabbed Swartzengruber by the back of the neck. He sent everyone home with a knee to Swartzengruber’s face that laid him out and proclaimed Geske the true showstopper.

Stick with the McAlester News-Capital to see more mixed martial arts entertainment and to see what Rowell and Short do from here.