The Fair Fight

Wow! This weekend was a real eye-opener.

The Wreck Squad traveled some 4 and half hours south in our first effort to expose our fighters’ talents to distant communities, and I must say, I think all of us experienced a bit of a culture shock.

So the story goes…

I recently received a phone call from Dan, our fight promoter, following our fighters’ incredible performance on Saturday, June 20^th. Dan called to apologize for the fact that 5 out of our 6 Muay Thai fighters were pulled from the fight the previous night due to complications with their opponents’ blood work. Although aggravating, I understand the importance of keeping our fighters safe, therefore, there was little we could do. Tired and sluggish from the long night of celebrating and drinking multiple flavors of adult soda pops, I listened to Dan explain that he could get my guys a chance to fight the upcoming Friday in Hillsboro, Illinois. He continued to bait me with his offer by ensuring me that he would pay for all of our travel costs and our hotel. Great, I thought, this will give us a chance to get our team on the road for a change and Wreck some other teams. Plus the little “rock star” voice swelling in my head was all over the offer. Dreams of grandeur and pampering began fluttering about in my mind. Finally, I thought, the big payoff has arrived and the front seat was reserved for The Wrecking Ball Fight Facility.

Now, you may be asking yourself, as I did, where the heck is Hillsboro, Illinois? Please allow me to offer a brief MMA history lesson and quench your inquiry. Hillsboro is home to Matt Hughes, nine-time UFC Welterweight Champion. For anyone who has not been living under a rock for the past 5 years, this name is synonymous with the birth of mainstream MMA. I was rather excited to travel to his town and perform. I felt it would be an honor. Plus, Dan informed me that Matt Hughes would be attending because his team would be fighting at the venue. It all sounded like a perfect weekend of fighting in the good old country air. That was my fanciful notion.

This was the actual nightmare…

Hillsboro is a place that was left behind as the world continued to turn some 45 years ago. No disrespect to the community or its inhabitants, the town just seemed sluggish, as if it was drugged perpetually, and the lovely people that dwelled there made no effort to conceal their unwelcoming gaze. Simply put, we were definitely outsiders and the fact that we were one of the few people not driving a rusted-out pickup truck from the 70’s made us sitting ducks.

We met Dan at a lovely little motel appropriately named, The Country Inn. Yes, it was in the country, but the brochures failed to mention that the rooms’ glorious view faced a State Correctional Facility - one of the largest in the state from what I was told.  Ironically, the rooms bore no relief from the awful eyesore outside… we walked into a room that hookers would refuse to work in. The walls were ornamented with cheap skewed pictures and the whole room seemed to possess a dingy yellow hue from all the smokers that stayed there over the past 60 years. The 100-watt bulbs struggled to cast light through the smog that lingered like an uninvited guest. It was dim, dirty and filled with duck tape that clung to broken hinges, sinks and ceiling fans. Remember what I said about the rock star treatment? Forget it, it never happened.

The best remedy to this experience would be to set the Country Inn ablaze and watch it burn to the ground. We managed, however, and we stayed close while sleeping in fear that the room’s complimentary cockroaches might carry us away in the night. I figured if we slept alone they could team up and get the best of us, but if we slept tandem those nasty roaches would never get the drop on us.

The fight venue was located at the Montgomery County Fair Grounds in Butler, population 200. Butler was another sleepy town proudly consisting of good old boys driving multiple arrays of pick up trucks and wildly imaginative farming equipment. I think we even saw a John Deer with tank treads lumbering down the street. We entered the fair grounds, and to our surprise the cage was set in the center of the same dirt pit where the crash derby and monster tuck races were held. Ok, I thought, this should be interesting.

The cage was set up under an array of lights and there was a mega grandstand roughly 20 feet away that would hold all of the general admission spectators. The locals began to fill the place and it actually turned out to be a very impressive showing. Like I said, Matt Hughes was a local there and he was bigger than sliced bread to the hundreds of people that worshipped him there. By the time the fights kicked off the place was flooded with fans.

Both of our fighters won and displayed very impressive combat skills. Joe Gurgul, or CAPTAIN AWESOME-O (proudly walking in to Michael Jackson’s Thriller) to the loving Butler spectators, won his first fight ever by dominating a veteran MMA fighter. The fight lasted all three rounds, but Joe walked out victorious with the win and a smile. His opponent, however, limped out with an extensive collection of bruises and a frown spattered in blood.  We are very proud of Joe and all that we put him through during the weekend. His brutal combinations and his new found love for leg kicks made him a crowd favorite under the country stars that night. I also have to mention that a couple spectators asked Joe for his autograph and got a picture with the superstar!

Matt “The Titan” Tobie was the main event of the evening.  Matt was fighting Colby Watson, a tough fighter from the Pat Militage Camp based out of Iowa. Pat Militage is another name that walks hand and hand with the birth of mainstream MMA, for he was Matt Hughes’ coach in addition to a slew of other UFC superstars. So needless to say, we were not going to underestimate any fighter that trains with the Militage Family. Colby had beat our beloved Franky “The Tank” Rano in a too close to call split decision this past February. Although Frank kneed the soul out of Colby’s body and viciously cut his head open during the second round, the judges somehow were swayed to give Colby the win. This fight was very important to Matt because he wanted to seek vengeance for his teammate and bring the win back home. The crowed went nuts as the fighters entered the cage, and Scott and I literally were chewing at our fingernails waiting for Matt to do what he does best.

With great pride I write that Matt Tobie ended the fight with Colby Watson in one minute and thirty seconds of the first round. All of his hard work, determination and heart brought redemption home to our family. Matt won the fight with a deep arm bar that was inflicted perfectly.  All the Wreck Squad family attending the fight jumped from their seats and screamed in excitement. It was a perfect ending for a very imperfect weekend.

All and all, it was a Fair Fight.

Brian Blackburn

Wreck’em All