Cageside for MMA at Tullio Arena

On Saturday night, I went out on my first stringing assignment for the Erie Times-News sports department. I had envisioned my first assignment being Friday night high school football coverage or something along those lines, but instead had the opportunity to watch local mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters duke it out in a cage in front of 1,400 fans at Tullio Arena.

My main focus was on getting details for this story, including the results with winning times and methods.

I did, however, bring along my camera with a fast 50mm f1.8 lens to shoot through the cage, but ended up wishing I had brought longer glass to blow the chain links out of focus.

I did my best with the time and equipment that I had, but quite a few shots ended up like this one:

When I arrived around 4 p.m., the gates were not going to open to the public for another half hour. I managed to contact the event promoter Wally Esper, who gave me a credential and let me in to get situated ahead of time.

I climbed the stairs to the top of the arena to get an overall shot of the floor setup before the match began.

The Tullio is mainly home to the NBA D-League’s Erie Bayhawks and the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters, which explains the white boards circling the floor seating and cage. When I walked onto the floor, I could feel the chill from the ice escaping up through the rubber mats.

I took my seat at one of the media and judge tables next to the ring and made this photo of one of the event staff making sure the cage mat was in pristine condition.

The first event got started shortly before 6 p.m. between local fighter Lukas Barr and Donny Hopkins.

This fight lasted just 21 seconds, as Barr took the fight to the floor and won by submission.

Barr with Hopkins in a match-winning headlock.

The first winner of the night--Lukas Barr.

The next fight got quickly underway between two out-of-town fighters, Tim Miller and Eric McDill.

McDill (top) and Miller (center) went to the mat early and often.

MMA has to be one of the most uncomfortable sports to play for many reasons, not the least of which is the possibility of having your head pushed repeatedly into the fence.

McDill proved the stronger ground fighter, putting Miller into several sleeper holds…

…And eventually winning through submission with a rear naked choke…

Next up was Zack Burns and Erie’s Joe Behrend, who looked to be defending punches and trading attacks quite well at first.

Behrend (left) sparring with Burns.

But a minute and 24 seconds in, Burns saw an opening and knocked Behrend to the mat with a punch. I missed the focus because of the fence, but you can see the punch’s effect via the look on Behrend’s face (right).

Next up was Erie’s Kyle Horn of Team DNA against Renee Beltran. Horn came in looking intense…

And left with a victory at 1:07 of the first round after getting Beltran in a successful arm bar.

When I went to interview him after the match, blood was still dripping openly from his nose and lip, which you can see in this photo.

The last amateur fight of the night came just before intermission between Erie’s Clifton McNair, who became part of my story lead, and Andy Nye. Nye came all the way from Denver to fight, and McNair greeted him with a hug in the match early on.

McNair, who used a strong set of boxing skills to win the match by unanimous decision, said after the fight that Nye “was clinching up like he was scared, so I just kept giving it to him.”

In an act of desperation, Nye took the match to the mat at the conclusion of the second round, but McNair had already won over the judges by that point.

The first pro fight began a half hour later between local competitor Lyle Sansoucie and Noe Quintantilla.

Sansoucie, who looked like he had Quintantilla pinned for a time in the above photo, received loud cheers and support from the crowd Saturday night.

Sansoucie (bottom) spent most of the four minute and 49 seconds of his match holding Quintatilla in a headlock right in front of where I was sitting. Unfortunately for him and his crowd of supporters, Quintantilla eventually turned the tables and managed to flip over and force Sansoucie to tap out.

My final image of the night came from the heavyweight main event between Justin Black and Randy Smith, who won the fight by KO at 2:40 of the first round. I will let Smith’s post-fight quote explain the spittle flying through the air below.

"It was loud enough in that cage, man, didn't matter who was in the crowd," said Smith (left). "Black hits like a truck."