Mixed martial arts fighters rattle the cage

MOSES LAKE — For the second time in 2007, local fighters put the skills to the test against competitors from around the region in a mixed martial arts event at the Grant County Fairgrounds Saturday.

Ten bouts were contested in the eight-sided cage, with bouts ranging from highly technical and tactical contests to all-out slugfests.

In what was probably the closets bout of the evening, Quincy's Gabe Lindquist faced off with Vu Tran of Yakima in a fight that needed an overtime round to decide the winner.

Tran opened the bout with a takedown and got behind Lindquist for an attempted rear-naked choke, but Lindquist snuck out from underneath Tran to turn the tables on the Yakima fighter. From the bottom, Tran then attempted a triangle leg choke which Lindquist was able to fend off as the round came to an end.

Lindquist got the takedown early in round two, and held the top position for the rest of the round. Tran was able to defend himself well from the bottom, and while Lindquist got behind Tran late in the round, time expired before the Quincy fighter could set up a submission hold.

In the third round, Lindquist again got the takedown, but this time was able to land a flurry of punches from the top position. With Lindquist off-balance from throwing punches, Tran flipped the Quincy fighter over and landed in a full-mount position. Tran went for an arm-bar submission, but the fight ended before he could lock in the hold.

All three judges scored the bout 29-29, forcing a fourth and deciding round. In the fourth round, Lindquist countered a Tran kick with a takedown, but the Yakima fighter was then able to apply and finish a triangle leg choke to get the stoppage and the victory.

Another Quincy fighter, Ceasar Cruz, made his return to fighting action a successful one with a first round victory over Jeremy Lewis of Ephrata. Lewis opened the fight with a series of high kicks that were off the mark. Cruz then went on the attack, landing a barrage of punches that eventually knocked Lewis to the ground.

Cruz continued with his punches until Lewis was able to compose himself and slow the action down. The Quincy fighter regained control when he stepped through the legs of Lewis to assume a full mount position, where Cruz was able to unleash a series of blows that forced the referee call and end to the fight.

The evening's main event pitted Moses Lake's Daniel Atnip against Alberto Santacruz of Pasco. The two quickly got the action under way, going toe-to-toe and trading big punches near the edge of the cage. Atnip eventually went to the ground, and from the bottom put Santacruz in the half-guard position. Santacruz reached around Atnip's neck for a guillotine choke, but didn't appear to be in a position to end the fight with the move.

Shortly thereafter, the referee stepped in to stop the fight, having believed Atnip was on the verge of unconsciousness. A shocked Atnip quickly came to his feet after the stoppage to dispute the call, but the referee stood by his decision and awarded the fight to Santacruz.

In what some in attendance viewed as the most entertaining contest of the night, four young athletes ages nine to 14 got in the cage for a tag-team submission wrestling match.

The blue team of Cody Fuller and Angel Cruz jumped ahead with two early submissions. As time was winding down in the contest, the red team of Joel Torres and Zach Tate evened things up with a pair of submissions as the all four participants got into the action at the same time and the crowd cheered in approval.