Fitch & Lanning Win at ICFA: Chaos

 

 

Cody Fitch and Matt Lanning returned to action on April 9, 2010 at ICFA: Chaos. As usual with local events, some last minute changes were made to the fight card. This time, Fitch was the one left without an opponent just a few days before the show when the Ohio Athletic Commission denied his match-up. After a lot of scrambling to find a replacement, the only available replacement was undefeated Jeb Pencil (4-0) from Dayton, Ohio. 

 

Confident in his training and eager to compete, Fitch accepted the new fight and began making the last minute adjustments to his strategy. 

 

As the fight began, Cody tried to avoid Pencil's takedown attempts but got put on his back from a tight head-and-arm throw. Pencil wasted little time and advanced immediately to the mount. After only 30 seconds, Fitch found himself mounted, pinned against the cage, with a strong, fresh opponent dropping heavy punches. Fitch kept his composure and looked for every opportunity to escape the position to no avail. He managed to defend many of the punches but several clean shots landed. Cody remained calm, defending the strikes he could and absorbing the shots he couldn't, and survived Pencil's onslaught as the seconds ticked away.

 

Between rounds, Cody took instructions from his corner while catching his breath. Across the cage, Pencil leaned against the fence for support, visibly fatigued. At the start of Rd 2, Fitch defended Pencil's takedown attempts and landed effective punches. A quick clinch against the fence led to Fitch scoring a takedown and, in the ensuing scramble, taking Pencil's back. Fitch got reversed as he came over the top looking for an armbar, but managed to sweep his way back to the feet. Another takedown followed, this time with Fitch getting dominant side control. Cody landed a barrage of punches from the side and back, forcing Pencil to verbally submit with less than a minute remaining in the round. With the victory, Cody Fitch moves to 3-0 and will look to drop to the 145lb division for his next fight.

 

Main Event

 

 Matt Lanning barely had time to congratulate his teammate before it was his turn to fight. Lanning had been promoted to the main event when fellow BuckeyeMMA fighter, Josh Miller, had his opponent pull out of their fight that morning.

 

Lanning faced Rick White, a veteran of 12 amateur fights (4x as many as Lanning). What was expected to be a test for Matt turned into a 1-sided beating. Lanning defended an early rush from White, then put the shorter man on his back against the cage. What followed for the next 2 minutes was nothing short of total domination. Lanning used his reach to land countless punches over the top of White's guard. He landed hammer fists, body shots, and power punches to White's head. After a quick scramble, Lanning passed the guard landed 2 devastating knees to White's body, the second of which broke him mentally. Matt landed a few more hard punches before Rick White tapped out and the bout was halted by the referee.

 

Adorned in his opponent's blood (one of his punches opened a cut on White's face, Matt Lanning celebrated in the center of the cage and addressed his friends and family in attendance. With the win, Lanning improved his record to 4-0 and is in the running for a title shot for the ICFA Middle Weight Championship.

 

 

 

 

Cody Fitch looking to finish in Rd 2 

 

 

 

 Fitch by verbal submission, 2:11 in Rd 2

 

 

 

 Matt Lanning punches through Rick White's defenses

 

 

 

Lanning Wins, 2:21 in Rd 1