THE BEAST TAMES THE REVEREND!
King of the Cage - Santa Ana Star Casino - June 19, 2002

report by Katen Patel
photos by chris cozzone

They were turning people away last night at the sold-out KING of the CAGE show at the Santa Ana Star Casino in Bernalillo on a 10-fight card that had fight fans packing in the 3,000-seat arena. With a crowd that had boxing fans mixed in with the , generally, more tattooed, pierced and shaved-head ultimate fighting fans, the casino put on a fast-paced and high-energy card.

Four undercard bouts started things up:

The action opened up in the 155-pound division when Isaias Martinez took out Mike Lee in the first round with a choke hold that gave him the win at 1:58.

Also at 155, Jesse Contraras followed suit by taking out Nick Ristoria by a choke hold at 4:57 of the 2nd. The first round had Contraras applying knees to Ristoria's midsection, although he wilted later in the round. Contraras pounded Ristoria's face while grappling on the canvas, then went to work on Ristoria's kidney before winning by choke hold.

At 185, Joe Merit came out throwing high-flying kicks at Shannon Ritch. At 1:46 of the 1st, Merit picked up the knockout win.

Albuquerque's Keith Jardins was up next, matched up against Phillip Preece. The grappled throughout the first round with Jardins controlling the action with attempted submission holds. In the 2nd, Jardins sustained a cut over his left eye from a punch but still won the round and picked up the decision win.

Four feature fights paved the way to the two main events, with four New Mexicans fighting.

At 185, Farmington's Joey Villasenor was impressive in his short fight against Todd Carney. Villasenor went right to work kicking at Carney, then grabbing him in mid-air and slamming him to the canvas. Villasenor piggy-backed Carney, then pummeled him in the fact before winning by choke hold at 1:47 of the 1st.

Albuquerque's 170-pounder Thomas Schulte was no less impressive than Villasenor: he needed just 34 seconds to blaze in and stop Mark Beecher with a submissive hold.

205-pounder from Carlsbad Jimmy Westfall didn't fare as well as the other New Mexican's on the card. Up against George Allen, Westfall was assaulted with kicks and then brought to the canvas where he was grappled with by Allen, taking many strikes to the face before losing by submission at 2:55.

The final feature fight was a 155-pound bout between Santa Fe's Alberto Crane and Nick Shadwick. The bout opened up with a fake kick that put Crane down. The two grappled and Crane quickly turned things around, applying an arm lock on Shadwick and winning at 1:39.

In the opening co-main, the huge Roger Neff pounced on Paul Buenatello, throwing him to the canvas and punishing him with blows to the head. The action on the canvas was broken up when Neff lost his mouthpiece. When the action resumed, Neff rushed back in but banged his head on a corner pole. Neff took some hits and the two went down. Both got up but a kick to Neff's head had him down and out, giving the KO win to Buenatello at 3:04.

In the main event, heavyweight Dan "the Beast" Severn took on John "the Reverend" Jensen.

The two traded blows in the 1st with Severn looking to tie up and apply holds. The two spent time on the canvas but twice, the action proved too slow and the ref had them stand up. Jensen was cut halfway through the round near the left eye.

In the 2nd, Severn controlled the action, grappling with Jensen and slipping in punches to Jensen's head whenever possible. The punishment proved too much for Jensen, who did not answer the 3rd round bell.

Look for more King of the Cage action in October at Santa Ana Star Casino.

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