MMA Cage Fights Take Center Stage At Green River

Travis Doerge hosted a mixed martial arts (MMA) event on campus.
The event was called Redemption 12 cage fights.
Doerge has been into MMA fighting for about 26 years where he started out as a kickboxer.
“When I was kickboxing, I turned professional in 1999 and quickly moved up the ranks,” Doerge says. “And before switching to MMA fighting, I was ranked 18th in the world.”
Not only does Doerge have his own gym that he operates, but he also has merchandise such as shirts related to fighting. The clothing booth could be seen at the event.
For those who don’t know the gist of the basic rules of cage fighting, the rules generally depend on the organization and if it’s pro or amateur fighting. Also depending on the style of fighting.
Although the event was held here on campus, students from Green River didn’t compete in Doerge’s show. The fighters are from different gyms or around Washington, Oregon, and Canada.
Doerge has participated in many cage fights throughout his 26 years in the sport.
“Some of the big organizations I fought in was the World extreme cagefighting, International fight league, and the world of series fighting,” said Doerge.
Doerge gave some final words encouraging those interested in joining the sport. “Find a good gym to start training at.” Otherwise getting hurt is bound to happen without the proper training. “Make sure the coaches are credible because, there are a lot of gyms out there without good coaching that are just opening gyms to try and make money because of the sport growing so fast!”
Doors opened at 6 p.m on March 3 and the fights began at 7 p.m. With live action MMA, kickboxing, and Muay Thai style fighting. Being an all ages event, there were three title fights and many more following match ups.
This style of fighting allows striking, grappling and gathers techniques from other combat sports.
Kickboxing is a form of martial arts based on kicking and boxing. Elements of karate is infused in this style of combat.
Muay Thai being a boxing type of combat sport, this style of fighting uses stand up striking and various clinching techniques.
The lineup for the event consisted of 16 fighters. All of which were of various ages, genders, and weight; each of which fought in a different style of fighting. Whether it be kickboxing, MMA or Muay Thai.
From the beginning of the first bell to the very last, all fighter gave everything they had and put all their efforts into fighting. With the fighter’s supporters on deck (family, friends and coaches) there was non-stop action.
Other than the big three title rewards which fought for a belt, there were also other awards throughout the night.
The fight of the night award went out to Tristen Hansen and Julio Layva. Knock out of the night went to Josh Moore-Ilkb. Submission of the night was awarded to Kyle Hayden.