The Cellar and fighters from the U.S. Kickboxing Team entered the ring Friday night in front of an energized audience at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown Minneapolis.  The event featured 3 IKF World Championship Title Fights between U.S. and U.K. fighters.  The Cellar’s Chris Cichon put his IKF Light Middleweight World Title on the line against Scotland’s Ryan Lyall; Tennessee’s Caleb Plant challenged England’s Rob Burbridge for the vacant IKF Super Middleweight World Title; and The Cellar’s Adam McDermid dropped down in weight to challenge England’s Ashley Collins for the IKF Light Cruiserweight World Title.  The Cellar’s Elijah Thibodeaux and Jon Cichon also competed on the night’s undercard.

The event kicked off with an amateur International Rules kickboxing bout between The Cellar’s Elijah Thibodeaux and Glen Homac from Ontario, Canada.  The first round started off casually with both fighters feeling eachother out, but things came to an end quickly in the second round as Elijah landed a thunderous round kick to the head, stopping the fight by KO.

Later in the fight card The Cellar’s Jon Cichon squared off with Texas’ Mario Martinez.  The first round started off very close with both fighters landing some great punches on the inside, but Martinez’s leg kicks began to wear down Cichon and his constant pressure gave him the judges decision.  It was a great tough fight for both these young combatants.

As the USA vs UK matchups began, The Cellar’s Chris Cichon took to the ring to kick things off for the Amerian team.  Cichon was defending his IKF Light Middleweight World Title against Scotland’s Ryan Lyall.  This fight was a rematch from a fight that took place last May in Rochester, England; in the previous battle the judges were unable to choose a winner and the fight was scored a draw.  Cichon came out in the opening round looking to establish ring control and keep Lyall towards the ropes.  The two traded blows for all 5 scheduled rounds, and in the end Cichon reigned supreme.  The judges scored the bout unanimously for Cichon 50-44, 49-45, and 49-45 (Lyall was penalized 1 point in the second for a foul).

In the Second main event of the evening, Caleb Plant took on England’s Rob Burbridge for the vacant IKF Super Middleweight World Title.  Plant came out at an incredible pace from the very first bell, slipping punches and landing swift combos, but he began to tire in the late part of the third round and the fight got very close.  In the end the judges ruled the fight in favor of Plant by split decision to capture the New World Title; a very impressive feat for a 17-year old stepping up into the adult division.’

With the USA ahead 2-0, The Cellar’s Adam McDermid (Current IKF Cruiserweight World Champion) faced off with England’s Ashley Collins (Current IKF Light Heavyweight World Champion).  The two chose to meet in the middle weight class to battle for the vacant IKF Light Cruiserweight World Title.  McDermid started the fight off landing great kicks and fluid punch combinations in the first round, but it took just one mistake for Collins to change things up.  In the second round McDermid ducked his head two low while avoiding strikes and Collins capitalized by landing a swift kick to the lowered head of McDermid.  The kick was timed perfectly and it put McDermid down for the first time in his career.  Referee Dan “Bam” Stell quickly called an end to the fight and Collins was awarded the vacant World Title.  Our hat goes off to Collins for stepping up in weight to face someone two divisions heavier and hopefully we will have the chance to see these two share the ring again in the future.

It was a great night for The Cellar and Team USA.  We want to give a huge Thank You to Warriors Fight Promotions and Justin Whiley for helping to make this event possible.  We also want to thank Team UK for joining us.  They traveled a great distance to fight in front of a very pro-U.S.A. crowd, and they gave it their all.  We also had a blast hanging out with them all weekend.  It was an honor to share the ring with you all!!!