Jason Huntley slams his opponent early in 1st round

       This past saturday night in Morton,MN the Jackpot Junction casino saw many greats fights. Among those fights the four fighters from the Academy put on a great showing for a packed house. Ben Smith, Jason Huntley, and Carl Deaton finished their Opponents while Mikey Zimmer won a decision in the nights main event.

(Fight summaries by Jeremy Bjornberg/mnmmanews.com)

Jason Huntley vs Bounoun Tonsay 135 LBS

Both guys came out wild but it led to a few very exciting scrambles. Bonoun had a guillotine in for over a minute and it was very deep, but Huntley showed fantastic self control and stayed calm until he slipped out and took Tonsay’s back. The Academy product then picked him up violently and slammed him down so hard he immediately tapped. Huntley moves to 2-0 via verbal submission in Round 1. Very puzzling tap but Huntley definitely was in control. Huntley looks like the real deal and is looking to move to 125 pounds…very impressive.

Ben Smith vs Reilly Griffin 195 LBS

Ben Smith led off the action with a spinning back kick, which caused Griffin to attempt a takedown. Smith stuffed it and then picked him up and 360 slammed him on his head. He then landed a series of knees to the body and hammer fists. He pounded away until Griffin was completely out, giving Smith the KO win at 1:11 of round 1.

Carl Deaton vs Josh Wiseman 135 LBS

Early fight of the night as Deaton and Wiseman put on a show for the screaming fans. Both men landed bombs in Round 1, but Wiseman landed a stiff left that bloodied Deaton’s nose and probably gave Wiseman the standup edge. Toward the middle of the round, however, Deaton took down the highly decorated wrestler Wiseman with a double leg and then spent the rest of the round on his back. He tried finishing with ground-and-pound and a rear-naked choke attempt, but Wiseman was having none of it and the round came to an end.  Wiseman came out looking to finish in Round 2 and landed a stiff jab that seemed to bother Deaton, but he was then able to get Wiseman against the cage and take him down again, thoigh it didn’t last long as Wiseman popped up quickly. Deaton however was relentless and got in deep on a double leg and slammed Wiseman, and he eventually took his back. From there, he landed some nasty ground and pound before he finished at 3:21 of Round 2 via RNC over a very game Wiseman.

Starr Roberts vs Michael Zimmer 155 LBS

Zimmer came out landing powerful strikes until he was accidentally poked in the eye which led to a 3-4 minute break while he got his vision backed. He came out with urgency and took down Starr and started teeing off with elbows and punches. Roberts threw up a few arm bar attempts but was unable to close as Zimmer powered through them. The first round ended with Zimmer on top and Starr was tired from all the pressure and ground and pound and took a while to get up.

Starr came out in Round 2 and just missed a head kick and then forced a clinch, which the popular local hero Zimmer used to force a takedown and take top position and once again he started landing powerful shots. Starr as always refused to bend and showed his heart as he kept struggling and eventually forced a stand up. From there, Zimmer landed a nasty knee to the body, which dropped Roberts and once again put Zimmer in top control, but he was unable to finish.

Zimmer rushed across the cage and once again put him in the clinch, where he did very impressive work. Starr however took advantage of a totally gassed Zimmer to take his back and also mount him in the last few minutes of the fight. He almost got the finish.

But it wasn’t enough. Zimmer claimed a 29-28 unanimous decision. The crowd went absolutely nuts in appreciation of both mens’ brave performances.