Kyle Kurtz’s MMA career comes to a close in Cage of Honor 90

Everyone was on their feet in respect to Kyle Kurtz as the local legend made his final walk to the cage.

The Jackson native was supposed to go out with a bang and retain his middle-weight title belt at Cage of Honor 90 on Saturday, Nov. 4, at the AC Base Arena. Instead, he went out with a whimper, tapping out to Tavae Lewis after being caught with a rear-naked choke hold.

By missing weight, Lewis was not eligible to take the title, but he was after a much bigger prize.

“[Expletive] that belt, I got a win over a MMA legend,” Lewis exclaimed with the American flag draped over him.

Redemption was on the line for the “Southern Illinois Golden Boy”. After falling to Keyth “The Sleeper” Dawson in the COH89 main event, Lewis came back to defeat an opponent who was an inspiration to him.

__Co-Main Event: Jaquise Williams vs. Tristan Overvig__

Overvig ate a couple of punches by Williams before using a combination of low and high kicks to set up his chance to bring the challenger to the ground and win by tapping out with a rear-naked choke hold. Overvig previously lost the light heavyweight belt in COH89.

“I was on a two-loss streak and I needed a win,” Overvig said.

__Owen Tschantz vs. Chris Carpenter__

Carpenter almost got a hold of Owen’s leg to win the fight similarly to his last event. It didn’t work and Tschantz ground and pound his way to winning the welterweight title in his professional debut.

I worked too hard to not win tonight,” Tschantz said.

__ Joy Connelly vs. Danielle Thomason__

The “Wife Beater” used grappling to pressure Connelly for the second and third rounds before winning the the first female flyweight championship by TKO.

Besides this win, one of Thomason’s missions was to bring awareness to women’s MMA in Southeast Missouri.

“Every time I tell someone I’m fighting, they look shocked,” Thomason said.

She succeeded in breaking the stereotype that women fighters are not as entertaining as men.

__ Bryce Crump vs. Tyreace Wilbourn__

Ground and pound was the name of the game between these two grapplers. Crump swung momentum his way in the second round when he kicked Wilbourn in the face while lying on his back. He spent the entire third round on top of Wilbourn to hand him his first amateur loss and win the bantamweight title.

The COH bantamweight division is an interesting one. Crump got the title by defeating the guy who got the belt by defeating Camden Hoe in COH89, who got the title by beating Crump in COH87.

__Bryan Barkau vs. Jayden Ross__

The first knockout of the night came in the final bout of the undercard. Barkau and Ross traded blows early in the fight. “The Italian Stalian” had a bit more power in his punches and landed the knockout blow in 1:56.

__Cutter Prater vs. Malachi Mitchell__

Prater’s wrestling background came to good use as he locked Mitchell in a rear-naked chokehold and forced him to tap out with mere seconds remaining in the second round.

Prater will take on COH flyweight champion Caleb Woodside in COH 91 in March.

__Jack Whitiker vs. Kyle Fitzgerald__

In a Dexter vs. Cape Girardeau battle, whoever had momentum on their side would win. Fitzgerald rode the momentum of his punches to take command at the end of the first round and the beginning of the second round. The Kelly High School alum won by TKO and thanked War Eagle coach DeRay Ive for preparing him for his first kickboxing fight.

“He’s the best coach in this game and nobody can tell me different,” Fitzgerald said.

__Andrew Labbe vs. Giovanni Hildalgo__

It was a highly competitive fight that went the full three rounds. Hildalgo threw a flurry of kicks but very few of them reached his longer opponent. He got the upper hand in the third round when he dropped Labbe and ground-and-pound his way to a win by unanimous decision.

__Jimmy Bowen vs. Agustin Lopez__

Lopez, a local fighter making his amateur debut, put the “kick” in kickboxing and dominated the fight. His Muay Tai background paid off with a lot of body kicks. Bowen slipped twice and eventually succumbed to a foot injury, ending the fight in 1:40, and giving Lopez a win by TKO.

__Trevor Hatton vs. Blake Hooe__

It didn’t take long for the Cape Girardeau native to take the fight to the ground. Two fighters bounced around the walls of the cage before Hooe took Hatton to the floor and forced him to tap out in 2:22 with a rear-naked chokehold.

__Jacob Albert vs. Konnir Hinz__

Hinz used his jiu-jitsu and grappling to gain an early advantage over Albert and had plenty of opportunities to win the fight in the first round. He got Albert to the ground but didn’t have the pound to finish the fight and was unable to force a submission. Albert showed the stamina to last the full three rounds, tire out Hinz, and punch his way to a TKO victory.