Lance Lawrence and Dontale Mayes set for pro debuts at Hardrock MMA 77

Hardrock MMA begins their 2016 campaign in the same spot they closed out this year, Shepherdsville, Kentucky.

The excitement is already building with just over a month to go before Hardrock MMA 77 takes place at the Paroquet Springs Conference Center. The card is taking shape and looks to be anchored by four solid professional fights including the pro debuts of two BluegrasssMMA 2015 Amateur Fighter of the Year candidates in Dontale “King Kong” Mayes (0-0, 8-0 am) and Lance Lawrence (0-0, 8-0 am).

Lawrence will meet the always dangerous Brian Kerr (3-1) at a catchweight of 150 pounds. Lawrence breezed through his amateur career and capped it off with a 44-second TKO win over Kevan Avery Hardrock MMA 76.

Kerr is dangerous on his feet and has even shown glimpses of a strong submission game. His armbar victory over Ruslan Aminov at Hardrock MMA 73 is nominated for the 2015 Pro Submission of the Year.

Dontale Mayes went 6-0 in 2015 and won all of those fights by TKO. He is a hard-hitting, multiple time amateur champion who is powerful but reserved. He meets Harry Hunsucker (1-1) in a heavyweight bout. Hunsucker dropped his professional debut back in September but rebounded with a win over Kevin Powers to end the year.

Dusty Stengel (0-0) was super excited to make his professional debut but his opponent was unable to clear the pre-fight medical testing leaving him without a fight in November. He will now meet David Crowe (2-1). Crowe too had a scheduled fight that never happened to end the year.

The fourth pro fight should be interesting as Randy Jones (2-5) and Scott Dabe (0-1) meet. Both fighters have great potential and have shown flashes of solid talent in the past but both desperately need a win. That pressure could make for a great fight between two respectable fighters.

Stay close to BluegrassMMA for a breakdown of the amateur side of things.

Here is a look at the card as it stands.

Hardrock MMA 77 card

Pro Bouts:
Lance Lawrence vs Brian Kerr
Randy Jones vs Scott Dabe
Dusty Stengel vs David Crowe
Harry Hunsucker, Jr. vs Dontale Mayes

Amateur Bouts:
Ricky Jones, Jr. vs Shawn Nickell
Kegan Agnew vs Cory Clemons
Gavin Agnew vs Frank Hacker
Mariano Rios vs Zachariah Davis
Jared Morris vs Justin Worley
Jeremy Durham vs Jonathan Franklin
John Johnson vs Randy Shipp
Tyler Joseph Shipp vs Donshay White
Zachary Baker vs Joshua Wright
Charles Pinkston vs Jason George
Nicholas DeNicola vs TBD

*subject to change