Historic Cobo Arena in downtown Detroit has been the site of some of the greatest fights in combat sports featuring such warriors as Tommy Hearns, Roberto Duran, Floyd Mayweather, Joe Frazier…and of course the infamous attack on Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan by Tanya Harding’s boyfriend! But all those battle’s held on the same night couldn’t compare to the pure adrenalin rush that King of the Cage provided as they held their monthly live MMA broadcast on HDNet. Terry Trebilcock (with a little help from Midwest MMA icon Monty Cox) assembled a card that had more comebacks than a Chris Rock concert and more knockdowns than a Charlie Sheen marriage counseling session!

Joe Doerksen DEF Chad Herrick
King of the Cage fighter Chad Herrick faced off against UFC and Sengoku fighter Joe Doerkson, a fighter in his prime who came into the match looking to reestablish himself as one of MMA’s preeminent forces. Coming in, Herrick’s record of 6-4 was deceptive as he had fought mainly in King of the Cage, where every round is a battle and every fight a war. Training with James Lee’s MASH Fight Team, Herrick is a former street brawler who had fallen on hard times and was now back in society looking for personal redemption through MMA.

“I made some bad choices early in my life,” said Herrick, “and it cost me a lot of lost time and a lot of years I could have been moving up in the sport. I look at what I’m doing now as a way to help others to not make the same mistakes I made and to show them that you can change yourself for the better.”

Opponent Joe Doerksen, out of Winnipeg, Canada, is at the top of the sport and with a record of 45-12-0 has made his mark in nearly every major fighting event in the world. “I’m not taking Herrick lightly,” said the classy Doerksen before the match. “He’s a tough guy who came up the hard way and trains with a great team. In front of his hometown fans I know he’s going to be tough.”

Truer words could not have been spoken as at the opening bell Herrick came out strong and aggressive, not intimidated by Doerksen’s world class fight resume, and staggered him with a quick flurry, nearly ending the fight. Pursuing Doerksen around the cage after stunning him early and cutting him, Herrick had several chances to get the early win. But this was Joe Doerksen, and he does not go down easily. Counterpunching effectively and keeping Herrick at bay with long-range kicks, Doerksen made it to the round one bell knowing he was in a struggle for survival.

Turning the tables at the second round bell, Doerksen staggered Herrick with a right and immediately took the fight to the mat, where he worked for submissions and landed repeated ground strikes for much of the round. With each man having won a round, both knew the fight hung in the balance and the winner of the final round would determine the winner of the contest.

Herrick came out looking to land a big bomb and brawl with Doerksen, having dominated the fight on the feet to this point. Fighting smartly, Doerksen took Herrick down, pounded him from inside the guard, and then got to his back where he started looking for a rear choke. Escaping to his feet, Herrick again pounded Doerksen to the mat, forcing him to lay on his back to recover while Herrick kicked his legs. Working his way back up. Doerksen then dropped a bomb on Herrick that crumpled him to the mat. Doerksen followed him down and nearly got in a rear choke as time expired.

With each having clearly won a round and with the final round split evenly, Doerksen’s late knockdown proved the difference as he got the split decision win in a thrilling match that showed Doerksen is better than he has ever been, and also showed that Chad Herrick deserves to be mentioned with the elite of the sport.

Dominic O’Grady DEF David Shepherd
David Shepherd, the 155 lb. champion, came into his title match short on experience but long on heart and desire. Experienced opponent David Shepherd weathered an early storm from his active opponent and hung tough for the first round getting top inside guard position as the bell rang. O’Grady dropped Shepherd early in the second and started to ground and pound him, almost forcing referee Herb Dean to stop the match. Revering the position, though, Shepherd got inside top guard position and started to return the favor! Just as it seemed that the fight might go his way, Shepherd got overly aggressive and opened himself up to a triangle choke, which O’Grady applied before turning it into a fight ending arm-bar for the exciting round two win for the KOTC title.

Daron Cruickshank DEF Jason Holmes
This three round match was non-stop action from start to finish between two fighters that looked similar, wore the same Full Tilt Poker trunks, and even fought with the same take-no-prisoners mentality. After three full rounds that were really too close to call, it was Cruickshank’s athletic kicks and flying punches that caught the judges’ eyes and got him the three round split decision.

Ben Lagman DEF Angelo Popofski
Soon-to-be star Ben Lagman, a talented fighter whose biggest fault might by in trying TOO hard, met jiu-jitsu expert Angelo Popofski in a match of contrasting styles. Smartly refusing to be drawn into Popofski’s deadly guard, Lagman played a perfect sprawl-and-brawl game, catching Popofski numerous times as he came in for takedowns and getting the round one TKO. Once Lagman learns to let the fight flow naturally to him, and starts not trying to beat his opponents at their own games, he will be hard to stop.

Waylon Lowe DEF Steve Berger
Steve Berger was, and is, one of the best fighters in his weight class in MMA over the past decade. Fighting often and against tough opponents, Berger has all the tools and is still on top of his game. So what do you call it when a fighter named Waylon Lowe comes out and shows such quickness that he is impossible to hit, takes down Berger at will numerous times, and then finally knocks him out so hard that he has to be carried out on a stretcher? I’d call it scary. When Monty Cox, who has seen it all and manages nearly all the top fighters in MMA right now, tells you before the fight that Lowe is something special, you listen to him. You just don’t expect to see this. Keep an eye on Lowe and watch what he does and don’t miss a chance to see him fight.

Brandon Hunt DEF Brad Burrick
Brandon Hunt is really two fighters: the one who comes out slow and cautious in the first round, and then the other one who throws caution to the wind in the second and become an unstoppable force. True to his nature, Hunt looked all but beaten in a shaky first round that saw 185 lb. champion Brad Burrick have his way with him. When the second round opened, though, Hunt opened up his game, let his fists of fury fly, and dropped Burrick with a devastating punch that put him out cold and won Hunt the KOTC world title belt. Rocky Balboa, himself, couldn’t have done it any better.

Conclusion
As good as this show was, it could have been even better as James Lee was forced to drop out at the last minute due to a dental emergency and Jeremy Horn didn’t fight to due his opponent suffering a last minute training injury. A big disappointment in the preliminary matches was Tony Hervey’s opponent also dropping out, as the former KOTC champion looked fit and fabulous and ready to rock. In the prelims, Chuck Mady was impressive in his victory, as were Eric Moon and Caleb Grummet. Don’t be surprised to see any of them on a future HDNet card. After barely getting by Chad Herrick, Joe Doerksen returned to the UFC a month after this show and easily won his match with a second round rear choke. There are no easy fights anymore and hype and promotion aside, the differences between the top fighters of any of the major promotions are very slight. Case in point!

For more information on King of the Cage go to www.kingofthecage.com.  To view the complete photo gallery of KOTC Detroit click here.