SHELBYVILLE, IL. — The anticipation of the first-ever Mixed Martial Arts event in town, the Shelbyville Dam Smackdown, lived up to the hype.

A 13-match card with several Shelby County fighters, thrilled the crowds with determination, effort, and MMA techniques that displayed a level of training even among the novices. It earned them an approving nods and increasing cheers from MMA fans as the night went on. The excitement reached a fever pitch when former prep wrestling star Nate Bly took his co-main event to a full 3-round decision, celebrating a unanimous victory.

Due to the efforts and successes of Zuffa Entertainment’s Ultimate Fighting Championship, America has seen the rise of a sport known as Mixed Martial Arts. Though the sport itself had a rough start, MMA has seen a surge of popularity due to the UFC putting together fantastic fight cards, and the popularity of many fighters like Brock Lesnar, Forrest Griffin, Georges St. Pierre, and Illinois’ own Matt Hughes.

Thanks to Cage Concepts and Buck Stop Archery, Shelbyville was able to experience the sport first hand, with an incredibly exciting amateur MMA card on September 4, which showed off the dynamic and exciting nature of what is the fastest growing sport in the world.

The card began with a bout contested at a 160-lb catch weight between Pana’s PJ Gatons, and Pinkneyville’s Shyler Mathes, with each fighter making their amateur MMA debut. At the opening bell, the two fighters clashed quickly, much to the delight of the crowd. However, Mathes was able to sink in a very deep guillotine choke, and take the fight to the mat. Though Gatons was able to lift his opponent and slam him in a maneuver of desperation, the hold was far too tight, and Gatons was forced to tap in Round 1, giving Mathes the win.

Bout 2 was a 170 lb fight of Shelbyville’s own Jason Baker, taking on Travis Bennett, who is a native of Lerna, Illinois. Despite the fact that that both fighters weighed in at the same weight, Bennett had the obvious size advantage, being taller and having a longer reach.

StittIt seemed that those advantages weighed in heavily in the fight, with the bout seeing Bennett bully Baker around due to those aforementioned traits. The bout ended with Baker being unable to continue due to a knee injury, giving Bennett the victory to verbal submission in the first round.

The third bout of the evening saw some poor sportsmanship on the part of Chad Mckittrick. The Tower Hill native made his amateur MMA debut in a 190 lb catchweight against Andrew “The Norwegian Nightmare” Nordemoe. After the opening bell, Nordemoe reached to touch gloves in a show of respect, but McKittrick threw a cheap shot in an attempt to gain some early offense on the much more experienced fighter. However, the Josh Koscheck style strategy did not work, and Nordemoe defeated McKittrick by a first round TKO.

In the fourth contest of the evening, Shelbyville’s Brandon Daily faced off against Adam Daughtry at 155 lbs. Daughtry was 2-2 as an amateur before walking into the bout. Daily had his chin tested quickly, as Daughtry caught him with a stiff jab that rocked the Shelbyville native, sending him to the canvas. Daughtry quickly followed up his powerful offense with thunderous ground and pound from the mount position. This led to the referee pulling him off in the first round, with Daughtry officially taking the bout via TKO.

What followed next was a bloody bout between Shelbyville’s Cody Hammonds, and Charleston’s Troy Higgs in a 155 lb bout. Despite the fact that the two weighed in at the same weight, one could tell that Higgs cut a substantial amount to make the 155 pound limit, looking much thicker than his opponent. It seemed that the power advantage was, in fact, in Higgs’ corner, because he put on what could only be described as a clinic. In the first two rounds, Higgs sent Hammonds crashing with some fluid combinations, and kept him on the ground with a vicious assault. However, to Hammonds’ credit, he refused to say die, and hung in until the third round, where he was stopped by a punch flurry, resulting in a TKO victory for Higgs.

In another 155 lb contest, Shelbyville may have seen the knockout of the evening when Herrick’s Budda Gatons faced off against Pana’s Shane Rhodes. Budda rocked Rhodes early with a straight right hand, following it up with ground and pound, but when Rhodes finally managed to get back to his feet, Gatons electrified the crowd with a thunderous uppercut. Budda’s first round knockout seemed to electrify the crowd, and was an impressive first round knockout for a young man that seems to have fists made from stone.

The seventh and eighth bouts of the evening saw a short string of submission victories. In a heavyweight bout between two Shelbyville natives in John McShooler and Dolan Homer, a cheap shot from McSchooler followed by a rapid succession of punch flurries seemed to gas the fighter out. However, he was still able to finish his opponent with a first round standing guillotine choke. In the eighth bout (contested at a 175 lb catchweight), Carbondale’s William Wyatt faced off against JJ Duvall, who quickly took his opponent down, and submitted him with an arm triangle choke.

The next bout, contested at heavyweight, saw Josh Binnion taking on Grant Fifer. On top of the fact that Binnion came into the bout on only a week’s notice, luck seemed to be further stacked against him as he took a hard shot to the groin early in the first round. After he rested, Fifer was able to rock Binnion, but Binnion was able to keep an active guard, and even reversed position later in the round, attempting an Americana lock. However, the second round saw Fifer dominate, winning the round by TKO. Afterwards, in a 170 lb bout, Tommy Wallace swiftly submitted Zack Bollenbagh with a standing guillotine. In the following bout, Tom Butler made short work of Levi Haycraft, with Haycraft submitting due to strikes in round one.

In what could be seen as the co-main event of the evening, hometown hero Nate Bly faced off against Chris Gallegos. In this bout, Bly looked to rebound from his first amateur bout, which was a tough loss. In the first round, Bly showed improved striking, throwing head kicks to keep his opponent at bay. However, as Gallegos closed distance, Bly shot in for a double leg takedown, and worked ground and pound from his opponent’s guard, winning the round. In round 2, Bly was rocked by a punch, but was able to complete a low single leg (a la Randy Couture v. James Toney) and consistently passed his opponent’s guard, keeping a constant offense on the ground. In round three, it seemed as if it would be lights out for Bly as Gallegos hit him with a rough punch flurry, but Bly was once again able to use his magnificent wrestling ability and take his opponent down, working for an arm triangle choke. In what may have been the most crowd-involved bout of the night, Bly was able to weather the storms and win an unanimous decision victory, with the judges scoring the bout 30-27 in his favor. Credit is due to Gallegos, however, due to his crisp striking skills and toughness.

The main event of the evening saw Damian Norris face off against Mattoon’s Brock Keller. According to many in the crowd, the bout was expected to be a solid stand-up war, with both fighters having credentials in that element of MMA. However, it is often said of MMA bouts that all of them start standing, but many of them end up going to the ground. Such was the case with this bout. Keller was taken to the ground midway in the first round, but was able to lock in a tight triangle choke on Norris, and submitted him with what many could see as the most dramatic submission of the evening, capping off an excellent card that was a real treat for anyone who attended.