The abundance of TapouT gear sported by members of the audience April 11 at BATTLEQUEST 8 underscored the presence of the crew from the TapouT show, who were filming an episode for the Versus network. The larger-than-life personas of Punkass, Mask and Skyskrape were hard to miss during the event. And if the fighters from the event's undercard were trying to put on strong performances to catch the eyes of the TapouT crew, some of them likely accomplished just that.

In the opening bout between welterweights Travis Ramirez and Matt Simms, Ramirez wasted no time in trying a Superman punch and never recovered after missing. Matt Simms scored a quick takedown and began dropping elbows, then took Ramirez’s back and sunk in a rear-naked choke at 1:13 of the first round. In a show of exemplary sportsmanship, Simms consoled a distraught Ramirez after the bout.  

John Doremus opened the first round of his lightweight fight with strong punches and knees while avoiding most of Phil Gonzalez's strikes. Gonzalez began to find the mark with his fists more frequently toward the end of the round until Doremus got the single-leg takedown and finished the round in side control. Round two was all Doremus, who used a double-leg takedown and then began dropping elbows on Gonzalez. Doremus worked his way to full mount, then transitioned to rear mount, where he locked in a rear-naked choke at 2:32.

Kevin Lucero looked right at home in his MMA debut in the 145-pound weight class, wasting little time in taking Roberto Rodriguez to the ground after a brief stand-up exchange. Once on the ground, Lucero stretched Rodriguez out on his stomach and doled out some big ground and pound. Rodriguez was unable to buck Lucero off or defend himself from the strikes, leading to a referee stoppage by TKO at 2:23 of round 1.

Cody East found the kryptonite to counter Zac Mathews' Superman punch thrown in the first few seconds, using Mathews' momentum to hoist him up over his shoulder and slam him down. After briefly returning to their feet, East secured Mathews' shoulder while on the ground and ended the fight with a kimura at 1:14 of round 1.

Once Rob Celani brought Jay Wymer to the mat, he put on a groundwork display by smoothly transitioning from north-south to side control until ending up where he wanted to be -- Wymer's back. Celani stretched Wymer out, then boxed his ears until finding an opening to lock in a rear-naked choked at 1:29 of round 1.

Round one of the Angelo Gallegos vs. Tyler Rodgers bout saw Gallegos take Rodgers down and dish out punishment from full mount and side control. In the second round, Rodgers pulled guard almost immediately and seemed to want to work from his back. Rodgers' plan backfired after Gallegos defeated him by shoulder crank at 1:13 of round 2.

Rory O'Farrel looked to be winning the first round against Cory Sasse in the battle of 205-pounders. He scored three takedowns and had a slight edge during the stand-up. On the third takedown, Sasse found O'Farrel controlling him from the side, but was able to maneuver his leg over O'Farrel's head and lock in a fight-ending triangle choke at 2:33 of round 1.

Welterweights Ryan McKee and Ralston Baker traded forceful kicks to start off their fight. McKee tied up Baker and pressed him against the cage, then tried to pull Baker down into his guard. Unfortunately for McKee, he pulled Baker into full mount instead. McKee gave up his back and was bombarded with strikes to the head, causing the referee to stop the fight at 2:02 of round 1 by TKO (strikes).

The entire crowd seemed to be in the corner of Cat Albert, who fights out of Broomfield. She gave her fans what they wanted by swarming Krystal Macatol with strikes and a high kick as soon as the bout began. Albert pulled Macatol down to the mat and won by armbar a scant 51 seconds into round 1. Afterward, Albert posed for a few photos, making sure to display the ColoradoFightEvents.com logo emblazoned on the behind of her shorts.

New Mexico fighter Vadiano La Luz showed a fighting spirit up until the end of the BATTLEQUEST Middleweight Championship against Denver's Ian Berg, but he couldn't find a way to get past Berg's takedown defense and elusiveness. The first round opened with Berg landing some heavy strikes and dodging most punches thrown by La Luz. Berg sprawled effectively when La Luz went for the takedown, then managed to get La Luz to the mat. Berg peppered La Luz with strikes from the top, then let La Luz, whose nose was bleeding steadily after the assault, rise back to his feet.

The fighters spent much of the second round pressed against the cage and trying to land knees to the legs and body. Berg finally bulldozed forward for a takedown, but didn't do much damage while in the full guard of La Luz. In the third round, La Luz was obviously tired, as evidenced by his heavy breathing and wild punches. Berg appeared to have much more energy, and he used it to take La Luz down. La Luz nearly caught Berg in an armbar, from which Berg was able to escape, but the fight ended with Berg in La Luz's full guard. In a bit of a surprise, the judges scored the bout a split decision, but Berg was named the new Middleweight Champion.

In the first of two professional fights, Julie Kedzie, a Team Jackson fighter, rebounded from a loss in her previous fight to defeat Angela Hayes in convincing fashion. Kedzie traded kicks with Hayes at the fight's opening until she caught one of Hayes' kicks and got the takedown. Hayes attempted two guillotine chokes on Kedzie, but Kedzie was able to extricate herself from danger both times.

 

Kedzie moved from side control to full mount, where she unleashed a steady stream of punches. Hayes almost was able to squirm out from underneath Kedzie, but she left an arm exposed in the process and was submitted by an armbar at 4:06 of round 1.

The main event between Vern Baca and John Dodson got off to a fast start and ended very abruptly. Dodson scored a nice kick sweep of Baca, but Baca was able to scramble to his feet. The two clinched against the cage, and each showed remarkable balance by repeatedly thwarting the takedown attempts by the other. The two separated and began throwing big punches at each other, with Dodson landing more shots than he took. The first round ended with Dodson slamming Baca to the ground and being stuck in Baca's guillotine attempt. In the second round, Dodson was able to avoid being taken down by Baca's body lock. Dodson reversed the lock, picked Baca up and dropped him on his head. The referee stepped in immediately to signal an end to the bout at 1:06 of round 2. The previously raucous crowd was fairly quiet as doctors attended to Baca, who stayed facedown on the canvas for a couple of moments after the stoppage. Baca was able to get up and walk away to the cheers of fans, but he was holding the back of his head and grimacing in pain.

The night might have started a little later than expected at Softball Country Pavilion, but the decisive finishes to many of the fights and mesmerizing match-ups put together by Sven Bean made the evening more than worth the wait.