Respect in the Cage 3: From the Fox theater in Pomona, CaliforniaA unique blend of Mixed Martial Arts and a party atmosphere highlighted Respect in the Cage 3 and perhaps in direct conflict with the cliché “party all night long,” 5 of the 7 scheduled bouts ended in less than 63 seconds. In those bouts, a total of 3 minutes and 1 second of cage time was recorded and the rear naked choke was the chosen method of completion in most cases.

In the night’s opening bout, (4-1) made short work of David Barnett, rushing him into a clinch where he easily hopped on his back and secured a standing rear naked choke. The win improves the California Submission Wrestling product’s record to 4-1 while the Inland Empire-based Unbreakable Gym product drops to 1-1.

A featherweight bout followed and served as the 2nd longest and also the most competitive fight on the card. Cooper Gibson came in sporting Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s replicated shorts, complete with rear side eyes. He brought his best Shogun impression as well, outstriking Chris Mercardo in the first round easily as Millennia MMA product mounted little offense of his own. In the second, Gibson was able to shoot and score a takedown where he quickly got to full mount. But Mercardo slipped away and returned a shot that opened up a chance for a standing rear naked choke of his own. Gibson managed to do a full front flip in attempt to smash his backmounted dominator into the canvas but that only allowed the choke to be sunk deeper and he would have to tap.

A few more bouts would precede the rescheduled main event of the evening. Instead of the originally slated main event between Jared Papazian and Shad Smith, a fight between Riverside Submission and Temple Fitness’ Todd Willingham and Jason Maeders, another Millennia team member, served as the new feature attraction. Maeders would do his gym proud and keep them undefeated for the evening, earning a lopsided unanimous decision to end the night of fights. He was able to outstrike, outwrestle, and generally outwork Willingham the entire fight. He improved to 9-7 with the victory and has now won 5 in a row. His last loss was in 2008 to Toby Imada. Willingham falls to 2-2.

Despite the short bout time and long wait time between bouts, the unique atmosphere created by John Pena’s vision for a night of MMA went off well. After the final winner was announced, the lobby of Pomona’s Fox Theater morphed into a club and all ticketholders were invited to an on-site after party complete with bar and DJ. If entertainment is what you crave, Fox Theater seems to be the place to be every other month.

Full results for the event that took place on January 19th are listed below:

Craig Wilkerson def. David Barnett via Submission (Standing RNC) @0:38 of Round 1
Chris Mercardo def. Cooper Gibson via Submission (RNC) @2:41 of Round 2
Carla Esparza def. Cassie Trost via TKO (Punches) @0:48 of Round 1
Chris Manzo def. Danny Vargas via TKO (Punches) @0:25 of Round 1
Russ Miura def. Pete Sabala via TKO (Punches) @0:40 of Round 1
Shad Smith def. Jared Papazian via Submission (Triangle) @1:03 of Round 1
Jason Maeders def. Todd Willingham via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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