After a very long day of fights which started at 9:00 am and wrapped up close to 10:00 pm, the Cellar Fight Team has a lot to be proud of.

Josh Bernstein kicked off the Cellar’s winning ways in the International Rules IKF Point Kickboxing division.  Although intended to be lighter contact in the point division, the judges let both Josh and his opponent slug it out and test their chins.  It was a close fight needing an overtime third round, but Bernstein walked away victorious and with a great deal of added experience.

Mitch Whiley was the first Cellar fighter in the Full Contact Rules division and the first FCR bout of the tournament as he faced England’s Neil Wyborn.  The two went toe-to-toe for all three rounds and when the dust had settled the bout was scored a draw forcing an overtime fourth round.  It was Whiley’s first time going past 3 rounds and he fought his heart out, but suffered a close decision loss following the extra round.

Chris Cichon was next in the ring from the Cellar as he faced Florida’s Dan Silny in a quaterfinal bout.  Cichon’s experience was evident in this one as he put combinations together and landed a left leg round kick to the head at :26 seconds into round #1; ending the fight due to TKO.

The Cellar was also joined by friends Travis Mason (Park City, Utah) and Stacy Chung (Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada) who asked for help in their corner during the weekend.  Mason who entered the tournament with a record of 0-0 used his strength and point fighting experience to earn a 1st round KO at 1:12.

Stacy Chug was next to the ring as she faced Beloit, Wisconsin’s Lisa Wells.  Chung landed terrific sidekicks in the bout, but lost a controversial split decision to the WI native.

Adam McDermid was up next as he faced Jason Beall from Augusta, Georgia.  McDermid started a little slow until he was hit by a beautiful spinning backfist that appeared to wake him up.  He then went to work in high gear throwing beautiful combinations and winning his first bout.

A few hours passed by and Chris Cichon was back in the ring, this time against Blairsville, Georgia’s Travis Jones.  The two fighters wasted no time and started swinging heavy early in round one.  Both fighters landed several hard blows, but Cichon began to edge ahead in the 2nd and 3rd rounds with effective kicks to win a unanimous decision victory (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Shortly after Travis Jones was back in the ring against Christopher Jamison from High Point, North Carolina.  This fight was a test for Mason’s conditioning, the two went back and forth trading shots for three rounds.  But event though Jones was exhausted after the final bell, he did enough to earn the judges decision and advance to championship Sunday.

It was a very long day, but everyone on the team left the event center healthy and with high spirits for Sunday’s finals.  We then hung out a the High Velocity Sports Bar at the hotel to grab dinner, discuss the day, and watch the UFC Fight Night on television.