Saturday night's all right for fighting

Testosterone soaked the air at the A.C. Brase Arena Building on Saturday night with a mix of violence, alcohol and attractive women.

Some combination of the three likely helped play a part in what turned out to be a capacity crowd at the Devastation Fight Night mixed martial arts event.

It was the second such event in consecutive weeks as a combination boxing/mixed martial arts event took place Jan. 20 at the Eagles Aerie 3755.

An estimated crowd of 1,600 packed the Arena Building to see what was supposed to be a 14-bout event.

"I came down to one a few years ago and it was all right," Jerry Schweain of Cape Girardeau said. "There's not much going on in this town, so it doesn't take much to draw people to come here. It's more just a good place to go on a Saturday night."

The setup featured an octagon-caged ring where the fights took place. The ring was a smaller version of what is used in the popular Ultimate Fighting Champion. Competitors used punches, kicks, submission holds and other martial "I've liked the action," Phil Wulfers of Cape Girardeau said midway through the event. "The fights have gotten better as they go. The lightweight title fight's been the best one. They've had a good crowd response. It seems like it's full, and when there's a lot of people it makes it more exciting."

A crowd, made of up mostly of young to middle-aged men, had plenty to keep its attention between the fights, a slew of women dressed provocatively and plenty of food and beverages.

"I don't think it brought out a rowdy crowd, just people enjoying themselves and everyone seems to be getting along," Schweain said.

There are already two more Devastation Fight Nights scheduled for Cape Girardeau, March 31 and Sept. 22. A larger scale event at a place like the Show Me Center could be a good draw as well, Wulfers surmised.

"I bet if they could get some of the bigger-name fighters they'd get a good crowd at the Show Me Center," Wulfers said.

Many of the fighters competing Saturday were from the St. Louis area and some areas of Southeast Missouri. Several of the fighters came from Farmington as well as Fredericktown and Poplar Bluff.

Steve Lough of St. Charles fought in the opening bout of the night. Lough has been fighting in mixed martial arts events for eight months and is trained in jiu jitsu.

"I do it basically for the love of the sport," Lough said. "All of your focus is on one thing. You don't hear what's going on outside. You just zone in on the guy you're fighting. It's just you and him."

Lough said he was impressed with the crowd considering this type of event is relatively new down here.

"This is a little smaller than I've been used to. But for this small of a building, it's a real good crowd. For the first time in this area, it's nice to have the support."

Three titles for the Devastation Fight Club were up for grabs Saturday. In the featherweight bout, Torry Bogness secured the first knockout of the night. While there were titles to be had, the fighters are amateurs and are not paid for their fights. And while some may have hopes of fighting in the UFC or other professional fighting organizations, many simply fight for the sport.

"It's just for fun right now," Lough said. "If it [the UFC] happens, it happens."