Pittsburgh Challenge Series 3 – Results

Team BluegrassMMA is on hand here at the Iceoplex at Southepointe in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania for Pittsburgh Challenge Series 3 presented by Pinnacle Fighting Championship. The card is stacked tonight with 11 bouts compromised by both amateurs and professionals. Headlining the card tonight is Bellator and UFC veteran Donny Walker and the “Pride of Bloomfield” Mark Cherico.

This will be the third event for the upstart promotion which has made the Iceoplex their home venue. Pinnacle has been making waves in the western Pennsylvania region with their previous shows which featured some of the areas top talent. Tonight is no different. You will not want to miss any of the action. As always we will have all of the coverage right here on BluegrassMMA.

Tonight’s action is set to being at 7pm ET with the doors opening up at 6pm ET. The results are brought to you by our good friends and sponsor, Bangtown Fightwear and Combat Sports Insurance. Be sure to check them out when you get a chance.

For the most up-to-date information be sure to refresh your page often.

Drew Shields (4-5) vs Doug Haupt (4-6-1) – – Amateur
Winner: FIGHT NOT HAPPENING – MEDICAL CLEARNACE (VISION)
Recap:

Jason Cowden (4-3) vs Kyle Strong Dunmeyer (5-0) – Middleweight – Amateur
Winner: Kyle Strong Dunmeyer def Jason Cowden via Submission (Leg Triangle) 01:28 in Rd 2
Recap: Dunmeyer came out strong in the opening round of their fight. Secured an immediately takedown where he began to work for an americana. Dunmeyer eventually gave up on the submission attempt and gained full-mount where he repeated began to rain down strikes from the top. Here Dunmeyer stayed for the rest of the round. The second round began the exact same way, Dunmeyer with the quick double leg takedown, landing in side control. From there he transitioned to grab the arm of Cowden to lock on a loose armbar. Dunmeyer then released the armbar and locked on the leg triangle. Seconds after the leg triangle was locked on Cowden tapped out.

Eric Gifford (4-4) vs Julian Ramos (2-2) – Featherweight – Amateur
Winner: Julian Ramos def Eric Gifford via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Recap: Talk about a ‘clinch’. They were locked up in a clinch for the better off of the fight. Both of them had spectacular clinches each worked hard to gain outside control. Julian was able to get more takedowns from inside the clinch. However once on the ground Ramos was not bale to follow it up with anything effective to gain the victory. Gifford was able to get up almost immediately get back to his feet once the fight was taken to the ground. In the final round the two stood and slugged it out briefly in Gifford favor but it was not enough to secure a finish.

Jarod Newbraugh (0-2) vs Caleb Dobosh (1-1) – Welterweight – Amateur
Winner: Caleb Dobosh def Jarod Newbraugh via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Recap: The two young amateurs put on a good technical display inside the cage. Caleb was able to pull off the victory as he was able to control the fight from the ground more effectively than Newbraugh was able too. Couple that along with the takedowns Caleb was able to do just enough to secure the decision.

Jake Schilling (3-0) vs Philip Parrish (6-7) – Catchweight (160lbs) – Amateur
Winner: Phillip Parrish def Jake Schilling via TKO (Strikes) of 01:00 Rd 1
Recap: Schilling started the bout off real strong. He was the aggressor with Parrish back-pedaling. We soon found out why as he was looking for that counter-punch. Schilling was able to connect with a few strikes but as soon as Parrish seen the opening he connected with a few shots one being a right hook that dropped Schilling which then forced him to fall back to his wrestling trying to get Parrish down to the ground so he can recover. Parrish was able to prevent the takedown and connected with a couple of more shots that dropped Schilling down to the ground forcing the ref to step in and call the fight.

Chris Humes-Mitchell (3-1) vs Nick Browne (5-1) – Lightweight – Amateur – Title
Winner: Nick Browne def Chris Humes-Mitchell via Split Decision (29-28 Browne, 29-28 Mitchell, 30-27 Browne)
Recap: The opening round of the title fight we saw Browne stick to his wrestling trying to take down Mitchell on several occasions. Mitchell was able to defend against them throughout the round. Early on in the round Mitchell scored the only takedown of the round but was not able to do anything effective allowing Browne to get right back to his feet. Browne was able to connect with an uppercut early in the second round that dropped Mitchell down to his back. Browne immediately capitalized on the situation getting the back of Mitchell and locking on a rear-naked choke. He let go briefly to gain full-mount but gave that up to go back to the rear-naked. Eventually Browne gave up on the choke which gave an opening for Mitchell to get back to his feet which he did. The round ended as soon as he did get back to his feet. The final round went back and fourth on the ground where it was contested for a majority of the fight. Browne was able to put more pressure and control the pace of the fight while on the ground which helped him when the decision victory.

Reginald Merriweather (2-1) vs Anthony Smith (2-0) – Lightweight – Professional
Winner: Anthony Smith def Reginald Merriweather via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Recap: Merriweather came out strong to start the round rushing Smith landing some quick strikes but got dropped by a counter from Smith. Smith was able to get Merriweather down to the ground where he was able to hold him for the remainder of the round. Smith came out in the second where he connected with several shots that dropped Merriweather. Somehow Merriweather was able to stay in the fight and hold one as he was stunned by several more heavy shots from Smith. After eating some heavy shots Merriweather resorted back to his base and went for the takedown on Smith. He was able to get it but Smith quickly transitioned to gain the back of Merriweather. Once he had his back Smith was able to lock on a rear-naked choke but it didn’t appear too deep. Still able to hold on after the initial beating Merriweather worked his way out of the submission. At this point you could tell Smith was nearly gassed out. Merriweather was able to regain his composure just enough to get back to roll over and get into the full-guard. In the third round both stood toe-to-toe slugging it out. At first Merriweather was able to connect with some shots that rocked Smith but was not able to string together any sort of combination. Smith was able to connect string together some strikes that ended up dropping Merrieweather down to the ground. Smith at first wanted no part of the ground standing over Merriweather who you could tell was gassed out. For some reason Smith dropped down to Merrieweather, full guard, and the remainder of the fight was contested here. Smith landed up more shots from the top but had already done enough to when the fight.

Justin Steave (4-2) vs Mike Diggs (7-4) – Featherweight – Professional
Winner: Justin Steave def Mike Diggs via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Recap: Steave controlled the opening round of their match-up although not much damage was done from Steave. He was able to control the pace and pressure of the round keeping Diggs at way with kicks and punches. Towards the end of the round Steave started to connect with more power shots but a little too late in the round. Diggs came out strong in the second connecting with a huge shot that cut Steave open on the eyelid. That punch took a lot out of Steave. Moments after he was cut open the ref stopped it to have the doctors look at it. Diggs was on a roll out this point but after the fight resumed Steave started to catch some steam nullifying the attack of Diggs. The third round started with both fighters signaling to the crowd to start cheering for the final round. They started out much like the way the first round went as Steave was keeping Diggs at bay picking his shots carefully. Steave got a takedown in the latter half of the round which was just enough for him to get the round and the fight.

Johnson Jajout (1-0) vs Mike Wiseman (1-0) – Lightweight – Professional
Winner: Johnson Jajout def Mike Wiseman via Split Decision (30-27 Jajout, 29-28 Wiseman, 30-27 Jajout)
Recap: The opening round was slower paced at first until both fighters felt comfortable. Wiseman came out better in the first portion of the round with a pair of takedowns. Jajout was able to get back to his feet after the takedowns. After that Jajout got hit in the groin from a kick by Wiseman that need a ref stoppage so Jajout could recover. After a few mins of recovery Jajout came back applying pressure to Wiseman. They clinched up in the closing minute of the round where Jajout was able to land a handful of knees. The bell sounded saving Wiseman from more punishment. The second round both fighters came out looking for the knockout finish. Jajout connected with a shot to Wiseman that stunned him. Jajout was not able to fully capitalize on the situation allowing Wiseman to recover. When Wiseman did recover he connected with a head kick and later followed it up with a shot that dropped Jajout. Wiseman came forward to finish him but was slow to react and Jajout was able to get a takedown on Wiseman where he held him down so he could recover. Wiseman was able to get back to his feet and they had one last exchange before the bell ended the round. The final round started out a little slow as you could see Jajout was a little gassed from the previous two rounds. Midway through the round Jajout scored a takedown but was not able to do anything with it and the ref stood them up. Then Wiseman went for a takedown of his own but a little different than Jajouts as he picked him up and slammed him down to the ground. After scrambling from the bottom seconds after the slam Jajout was able to reverse and get top control. The bell sounded not long after the reversal.

Khama Worthy (2-2) vs Francis Healy (1-0) – Featherweight – Professional
Winner: Khama Worthy def Francis Healy via TKO (Strikes) 00:57 of Rd 2
Recap: Khama came out to bang in this fight which apparently has become heated as halfway though the round Khama decided to ‘flick’ Francis off. Prior to that Khama was picking Francis apart landing heavy strikes. Khama dropped Francis twice with two left shots that cut him open below his right eye. Khama from there slowed down a bit but remained on the offense picking Francis apart with his jabs. Khama went to the body as well landing a nice left hook to the ribs of Francis that stunned him momentarily. Khama was slow to react to the shot to capitalize. The second round opened up much the way as the first the two going back and fourth with shots. Khama had the better of the exchanges and then was hit in the groin. The ref gave him some time to recover. After he recovered after the second shot he came out with a vengenace and pressured Francis knocking him down to the ground. He ran over to the downed Francis and went to town on him with shots forcing the ref to step-in calling and end to the fight.

Mark Cherico (4-0) vs Donny Walker (14-9) – Featherweight – Professional
Winner: Mark Cherico def Donny Walker via TKO (Doc Stoppage) 01:40 of Rd 2
Recap: They stood briefly exchanged It was a bloody first round as Cherico was able to cut Walker open from a nasty elbow while in the full-guard position. The ref had to pause the fight so he could take a look at it. The doctor let the action continue. Cherico locked in a side choke from the top once the fight resumed. He transitioned to full-mount letting go of the choke where he proceeded to rain down some heavy shots. The bell rang shortly after ending the round. The second round started with Walker getting an early takedown but was not able to do anything as Cherico was immediately able to get back to his feet and went to work on the cut that he created in the opening round. After a few strikes to the cut the blood proceeded to come out even more. The ref saw that Walker might be having issues seeing from the blood that is dripping down his face and called a timeout to have the doctor take a look at it. After a review by the doctor he decided that Walker had enough and called an end to their fight.