PAUL FELDER AND BRAZEN BOXING CONTINUE TO BEST AMA

By Mike Kemmerer

Philadelphia, PA – May 16, 2013  – At Cage Fury Fighting Championships 24 this pastSaturday night, though the main card featured two title fights, it was the undercard showdown between Brazen Boxing & MMA's Paul Felder out of Philadelphia and the highly acclaimed AMA Fight Club's top prospect, Corey Bleaken, that stole the show.  

            The back story between these two camps goes back to CFFC 20, when Paul Felder quickly and dominantly put away the brash Rick Nuno (also from AMA) in a mere three minutes and fifteen seconds.  Internet chatter and excuses ensued as much of the AMA faithful believed Felder's destruction of Nuno to be a fluke.  Yet, having earned a record of 4-0 at that point, with four KO/TKOs to his credit, one wonders how any educated fight fan could doubt Felder’s abilities.

Enter Corey Bleaken.  Bleaken is an accomplished amateur wrestler who, like Rick Nuno, boasted a strong amateur MMA record and a 1-0 professional record when each of them faced Felder.  Also like Nuno, Bleaken had never beaten a fighter with a winning record at either the amateur or professional level.  It seemed a bit ambitious for AMA to believe taking on a 4-0 Felder would be the time that trend would end.  But believe it they did, as Bleaken stated in interviews leading up to the bout that he planned on "destroying" Felder and avenging the quick, yet substantial, beating given to his teammate.  Beliefs aside, the night belonged to Felder.

On paper the Felder/Bleaken fight appeared to be a classic striker versus grappler contest, but someone forgot to tell that to Felder and Bleaken.  Both showed the fighting public that they could learn and use each other's dominant skill-set as they put together performances that were both skilled and well rounded.

Almost as impressive as Felder's newfound wrestling ability was Bleaken's aggressive and effective striking against one of the most polished young 155 pound strikers in the region.  The fight was truly a great display of skill, aggression, and determination from both combatants.  Most casual fans in the audience (at least in my section) believed rounds 1 and 3 were all Felder and that a close second round belonged to Bleaken.  In the end all three judges (as did I) scored the fight for Felder.  But take nothing away from Bleaken, as I believe he was easily the second best 155 pound fighter on the entire card. 

A matchup between Bleaken and CFFC poster boy, Bobby Fabrizi, would certainly be interesting, as Fabrizi has yet to post a victory against any fighter with a professional win. His wins come against opponents with a combined record of 0-5, so Bleaken would be a substantial test to clean up a cluttered CFFC 155 pound division.

The obvious question: where does the impressive Felder go from here?  A CFFC title maybe?  Word from CFFC Champion Sean Santella is that Corey Bleaken pushes around the Miller brothers.  If that’s true, then... how good is Paul Felder?  My guess is that the talented young Felder will be amongst the UFC's most talent rich division in the next year or two.

CFFC XX – Heckman and Felder Dominate - Brazen Boxing & MMA Goes 4-0

By Gunnar Bolf

Philadelphia, PA – February 13, 2013  – Cage Fury Fighting Championships announced its Pennsylvania presence with authority as the promotion made its inaugural Pennsylvania debut just 20 miles from the famed fighting city of Philadelphia on February 8, 2013 at the Valley Forge Resort and Casino.

            In typical CFFC fashion, the production value of the show was outstanding and the venue top notch. Despite the threat of severe ice and snow, the attendance was very strong, as fans packed into the venue to see a fight card so promising that they didn’t dare miss it. And as the fights actually played out, this card lived up to its promise.

            In the main event Scott “The Animal” Heckman (14-3) proved too experienced and perhaps a bit too physical for the lesser experienced but very game Brett Martinez (5-1). Both fighters showcased some of the excellent collegiate level wrestling that has propelled them in their MMA careers, but with over triple the pro MMA experience (16 fights for Heckman to a mere 5 for Martinez), it was Heckman who was quicker and more accurate in transition. Those transitions and takedowns allowed the PIAA state place winner and Bangor, PA native to finish with a powerful guillotine choke that ended the fight as well as the undefeated record of Martinez at 4:23 of the very first round. I expect to see Martinez rebound and string together some quality wins while continuing to develop. As for Scott Heckman, I believe the AMA standout is the best 135 or 145 lb fighter on the CFFC roster… and yes that does include Artur Rofi. It would not be too difficult to imagine any one of these three fighters making it to the UFC and doing well, showing just how deep the talent pool is at CFFC.

            While Heckman is currently the most promising and proven fighter on CFFC XX, the most intriguing fighter on the card was undoubtedly Paul Felder. The talented prospect out of Philadelphia’s Brazen Boxing & MMA came into this fight sporting a 3-0 record, all 3 victories by brutal KO/TKO stoppages. The undefeated Felder was just fight 5 weeks out from his total annihilation of highly regarded Khama Worthy on December 29, 2012. Felder dispatched Worthy in only 70 seconds with a series of knees to the head and finished the fallen opponent with pinpoint ground and pound. That being said, it was a bit curious to see Felder matched up against the still very green Rick Nuno (1-0).

            Ricky Nuno fights out of the famed AMA camp, and is a teammate of Scott Heckman and coached by the great Mike Constantino. Seemingly overflowing with confidence, the AMA fighter spent almost as much time on his walkout as he did in this fight with Felder. The muscled up Nuno started off the fight quickly, hitting a well-timed takedown off of a Paul Felder right low kick. While Nuno attempted some ground and pound off the takedown, Felder appeared to avoid any damaging blows, and that was the last effective offense that Nuno was able to mount in the fight. Felder easily got the fight back to the feet, and then took total control as he stifled and confused Nuno with kicks and clinch work. Felder hurt Nuno to the body several times with knees as Nuno tried desperately to escape the clinch and get his back off of the cage. Sidestepping around the cage when he finally managed to free himself, as soon as Nuno began to reengage with Felder on the feet, he was quickly hurt by a beautiful spinning back kick. To Nuno’s credit, that shot likely would have dropped a lesser man. Though Nuno sported the bulkier physique, it was Felder who appeared physically stronger, overwhelming Nuno in the clinch following that back kick with a right knee to the body, two left knees to the head, and a furious and accurate shower of strikes to the grounded fighter. Big Dan Miragliotta stepped in to end the assault, stopping the fight at 3:15 of the first round. With the win, Felder remained undefeated at 4-0, with all 4 victories by KO/TKO.

            All in all it was a fantastic night of fights with Brazen Boxing & MMA going undefeated at 4-0 with 3 finishes (2 in the first round). The amateur Brazen fighters looked poised and polished as Mike Backman (1-0) and Adrian Jimenez (3-1) put away both of their opponents via guillotine choke and Matt Klacik (1-0) regularly landed his right hand on his way to a hard fought split decision victory.

STANDOUT HONORS:

* Fight of the night: Bill Algeo vs Shane Manley

* Knock out of the night: Paul Felder (Brazen Boxing & MMA)

* Walk out of the night: Rick Nuno (AMA)

* Submission of the night: Scott Heckman (AMA) and Adrian Jimenez (Brazen Boxing & MMA)

FULL RESULTS:

Scott “The Animal” Heckman def. Brett “Young Blood” Martinez via Guillotine RD1

Eddie Alvarez def Eliezar Mendez-Garcia via DEC (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)

Bill Algeo def Shane Manley via RNC RD2

Paul “The Irish Dragon” Felder def Ricky “El Numero Uno” Nuno via TKO RD1

Justin Lesko def Orlando Cuevas via DEC

Michael Backman def Ethan Walters via RD2 Guillotine

Adrian Jimenez def Scott Huning via RD1 Standing Guillotine

Matt Klasic def Robbie De La Riondo via DEC

Ryan Holmes def Magic Mears via DEC

Aaron Bicking def Casey Jones via Armbar RD1