Tag Archives: tim boetsch

mixed martial arts, MMA, New England Fights

PAT KELLY TO COMPETE IN FINAL MMA FIGHT ON SEPTEMBER 8 IN BANGOR

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Maine (August 7, 2018) – New England Fights (NEF) will hold its next mixed-martial-arts event, “NEF 35: Wicked Season,” on September 8 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.  Earlier today, the fight promotion announced the addition of an amateur lightweight title fight to the card.  Pat Kelly (4-0) is scheduled to defend his strap against the challenge of fellow undefeated MMA competitor Tim Manning (2-0).

 

 

 

The fight will be the final contest for the 53-year-old Kelly who began competing in MMA four years ago in his late 40s.  He brought to the cage unmatched wrestling credentials earned through a lifetime on the mats.  Kelly is nothing short of a legend in Maine wrestling circles.  He won a state championship as a senior competing for the former Camden-Rockport High School.  Kelly went on to wrestle for the University of Maine where he claimed a New England title and competed in the national NCAA championships.  Later, as a coach Kelly would lead Camden-Rockport and Camden Hills Regional High School to multiple state championships.  Among the students he coached is current UFC star Tim Boetsch (21-11).  Kelly was inducted into the Maine Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2007.

 

 

 

“I started this journey five years ago in Bangor with Young’s MMA,” said Kelly. “It is only fitting I have my farewell fight in the same great city.  I am very grateful to NEF for the opportunity to fight in their cage and ultimately win an ammy title.  To me, age is simply a number.  I have searched for tough and competitive challenges my entire career, and this fight is certainly another big challenge.”

 

 

 

For all his accomplishments in wrestling, Kelly’s time in the MMA cage has been impressive as well.  He was able to finish his first three bouts on his way to earning a crack at the NEF Amateur Lightweight Championship.  Last summer at “NEF 29,” Kelly handed then-undefeated Rafael Velado (4-1), an athlete fourteen years Kelly’s junior, the first loss of his career to claim the belt.  Over a year later, Kelly promises to bring his trademark intensity to both his training camp at Young’s MMA and his final fight on September 8.

 

 

 

“I train hard, period,” exclaimed Kelly. “And I am sure my opponent does the same thing, and that’s what it is all about – the willingness to prepare to win.  Additionally, it is important for me to let coach Chris Young and Ernie Fitch know that I truly have appreciated them letting me become a part of the Young’s MMA family.  To my teammates at Young’s and to all my fans – thanks for the ride… I have enjoyed you all.”

 

 

 

Kelly’s challenger on September 8, Tim Manning, is also undefeated.  Fighting out of F2 Arena in Gainesville, Florida, Manning is nicknamed “Murder” for good reason.  It took Manning a mere 37-seconds to submit his opponent with an armbar in his amateur debut last fall.  He followed up that performance with another impressive first round submission earlier this year in his sophomore cage appearance.

 

 

 

NEF’s next mixed-martial-arts event, “NEF 35: Wicked Season,” will see the company make its return to the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine.  The event is scheduled to take place Saturday, September 8, 2018 with a bell time of 7 pm.  Tickets are on sale now at www.CrossInsuranceCenter.com.

 

 

 

About New England Fights

 

 

 

New England Fights (“NEF”) is a fight events promotions company. NEF’s mission is to create the highest quality events for fighters and fans alike. NEF’s executive team has extensive experience in combat sports management, events production, media relations, marketing, legal and advertising.

Amateur MMA, mixed martial arts, MMA, New England Fights

UFC STAR TO BE GUEST OF HONOR AT NEF XX; MEET-AND-GREET ANNOUNCED

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Lewiston, Maine (November 18, 2015) – New England Fights (NEF), America’s number-one regional fight promotion, will hold its next event, “NEF XX: A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE” this Saturday, November 21, 2015 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine.  The event will feature a first for Maine – mixed-martial-arts (MMA) bouts and professional boxing bouts on the same event with an MMA cage and a boxing ring set up side-by-side.  The fight promotion announced earlier today that Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch (18-9) would be the guest of honor at the event.  It was further announced that Boetsch will be available to meet fans in attendance and sign autographs from 6:00 to 7:00 pmprior to the first fight.

 

Boetsch is a native of Lincolnville, Maine.  He is a lifelong wrestler, having won four state championships while attending Camden Hills Regional High School.  Boetsch was inducted into the Maine Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012.  After high school, Boetsch would go on to compete for Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania where he graduated with a degree in criminal justice.

 

He is currently in his second stint with the UFC.  Boetsch holds victories over many of the sport’s biggest names like Kendall Grove (22-15), Brad Tavares (13-4) and Yushin Okami (30-10) just to name a few.  Most recently, he headlined “UFC Fight Night 68” in New Orleans, Louisiana against Dan Henderson (31-14).  Boetsch is scheduled to face Ed Herman (23-11) at “UFC Fight Night 81” onJanuary 17, 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts.  He is currently training with fellow UFC veteran Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis at Davis’ Team Irish facility in Brewer, Maine in preparation for the upcoming bout.

 

“Very excited to be supporting Maine MMA,” exclaimed Boetsch of his upcoming appearance at NEF XX.  “Looking forward to watching a full card of great fights and meeting all the fans that come out to see an exciting show!”

 

“I’ve been watching Tim compete as a wrestler and mixed martial artist for almost 20 years,” stated NEF co-owner and matchmaker Matt Peterson. “I watched him cement his legacy in Maine amateur wrestling by winning four high school state championships and cheered him on as he fought his way to becoming one of the baddest men on the planet in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Tim, along with Marcus Davis, Mike Brown and Tim Sylvia, makes up the Mount Rushmore of Maine MMA and it will be an honor to have him and Marcus both in attendance at the 20th installment of New England Fights on November 21st.”

 

New England Fights’ next event, “NEF XX: A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE,” takes place this Saturday, November 21, 2015 at the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine.  The event will mark the first time in Maine history a mixed-martial-arts (MMA) event and a professional boxing event have taken place together on the same show.  Tickets for “NEF XX” start at just $25 and are on sale now at www.TheColisee.com or by calling the Colisée box office at207.783.2009 x 525.  For more information on the event and fight card updates, please visit the promotion’s website at www.NewEnglandFights.com.  In addition, you can watch NEF videos at www.youtube.com/NEFMMA, follow them on Twitter @nefights and join the official Facebook group “New England Fights.”

 

About New England Fights

 

New England Fights (“NEF”) is a fight events promotions company. NEF’s mission is to create the highest quality events for Maine’s fighters and fans alike. NEF’s executive team has extensive experience in combat sports management, events production, media relations, marketing, legal and advertising.

Fox Sports 1, mixed martial arts, UFC, women's MMA

UFC 183: Who will show up?

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Photo Credit: UFC

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has hit it out of the park so far in 2015, with its first two major cards of the year living up to the hype of their main events. Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones dominated Daniel Cormier to prove he is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world at UFC 182, and at the UFC’s live card in Boston, Mass., in January, Conor McGregor secured a featherweight title shot against José Aldo and wasted no time getting in his next opponent’s face.

Which brings us to UFC 183 tonight, and a main event that is considered a dream matchup by many. Anderson Silva returns to the Octagon after suffering a gruesome leg injury in his last fight against UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman in 2013. Nick Diaz also makes his return to the UFC after losing his last fight against former welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre in 2013.

Tonight’s card isn’t without its other storylines though. A pair of significant undercard fights are taking place under some controversy, as flyweight John Lineker came in overweight for his fight against Ian McCall, which is expected to determine the next no. 1 contender to the flyweight title. In the co-main event, Kelvin Gastelum came in 9 pounds overweight for his fight against Tyron Woodley, which means 30 percent of Gastelum’s fight purse actually goes to Woodley. Talk about insult to injury.

Of course, there is always the wild card with Diaz too. He plays by his own rules, having no-showed the open workouts earlier this week. Will he actually show up to the cage for tonight’s main event? It remains to be seen, though most everyone thinks he will.

So, having said all that, who do I think wins tonight?

Miesha “Cupcake” Tate (15-5) vs. Sara McMann (8-1) (Women’s bantamweight – 135 lbs.)

This is actually the main event of the preliminary card on Fox Sports 1. Tate requested to compete on this portion of the card instead of the pay-per-view card, taking a page from Urijah Faber’s playbook. Tate is also eager for a third fight with Ronda Rousey for the women’s bantamweight title. Both of these women suffered Rousey’s wrath, particularly McMann, who was demolished by Rousey in about a minute last year.

McMann is a pure wrestler with very little else to her repertoire, whereas Tate built on her established wrestling skills to become an effective striker. I think she will stuff McMann’s attempts to take this fight to the mat and use her vastly superior striking skills to keep McMann befuddled en route to a dominant victory.

Winner: Tate by unanimous decision

Jordan “Young Gun” Mein (29-9) vs. Thiago “Pitbull” Alves (25-9) (Welterweight – 170 lbs.)

Alves has alternated wins and losses in his last six fights, while Mein rides a two-fight win streak. Alves is always dangerous with his Muay Thai and striking, while Mein landed a first-round TKO victory in his last fight. This should be an exciting stand-up battle with neither guy willing to give an inch. I think Alves is the more dangerous fighter here, and will land one good shot to knock Mein silly.

Winner: Alves by second round TKO

Thales Leites (24-4) vs. Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch (18-7) (Middleweight – 185 lbs.)

Leites comes into this fight on a roll, having won his last seven fights, with the last two coming by way of TKO. Boetsch has alternated wins and losses in his last four fights, including a TKO victory in his last fight against Brad Tavares.

Boetsch is a slow, plodding bruiser best known for derailing the Hector Lombard hype train when he first made his UFC debut. Leites is a crafty, dangerous fighter who can finish you with his hands or by submission. I think Leites will avoid Boetsch’s power and wait for Boetsch to make a mistake, where Leits will capitalize.

Winner: Leites by third round submission

Joe Lauzon (24-10) vs. Al “Raging” Iaquinta (10-3-1) (Lightweight – 155 lbs.)

You know what you’re getting with a Joe Lauzon fight. You’re going to see an exciting, action packed bout that will most likely end with him locking in a slick submission or, in the case of his fight against Jim Miller, suffering a gnarly cut that will guarantee a blood battle.

Iaquinta has been on a roll since his time on The Ultimate Fighter Live, having only lost once in his last six fights. A win against Lauzon would be a real feather in his cap and might propel him into title contendership discussion. But Lauzon is one of the best submission specialists in the UFC, and I think the crafty veteran has another submission up his sleeve.

Winner: Lauzon by second round submission

Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley (14-3) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (11-0) (Welterweight – 170 lbs.)

As mentioned above, Gastelum weighed in 9 pounds over for this fight and will forfeit 30 percent of his purse directly to Woodley. It was reported that Gastelum spent time in the hospital leading up to this fight, which contributed to him coming in overweight.

Woodley will be angry in this fight, and rightly so. It’s not fair that his opponent will have a weight advantage due to his own failure to do what he was supposed to do. Give Woodley credit for wanting to keep fighting when it would have been perfectly understandable to postpone it.

Woodley will channel his rage into a blitzkrieg of offense at Gastelum, and the lethargic and probably still-injured Gastelum will have no response.

Winner: Woodley by second round TKO

Anderson “The Spider” Silva (33-6) vs. Nick Diaz (27-9-1) (Middleweight – 185 lbs.)

This is one of the several main events that have fight fans buzzing in 2015. Many didn’t think Silva would ever walk again after his leg injury against Weidman, let alone come back to the UFC to fight. The matchup style of Diaz wanting to push the pace, get in his opponent’s face and sucker him into trading blows against Silva’s unrivaled elusiveness will be interesting to watch.

Diaz said he wouldn’t trash talk Silva during this fight out of respect. But if Silva keeps bobbing and weaving and dodging Diaz’s punches, we’ll see how long Diaz commits to that. I think we’ll see vintage Silva in this fight, making Diaz look silly in some spots while landing well-timed strikes that will confuse and frustrate Diaz, which will allow Silva to land even more.

Diaz is too tough to finish, but this fight will show that Silva still has it and is the vastly superior fighter.

Winner: Silva by unanimous decision

Chris Huntemann writes about mixed martial arts in the state of Maryland. He also contributes his thoughts to our site on the UFC, Bellator, and World Series of Fighting. Check out his blog, or follow him on Twitter: @mmamaryland.