Sikeston native wins Cage of Honor 91 main event

Sikeston native Gavilan Bland won the middleweight title when he defeated Tavae Lewis by TKO in the second round at Cage of Honor 91 on Saturday, March 9, at the AC Base Arena.

Bland went 39-5 as a high school wrestler in Sikeston, finishing his career with a fourth-place medal at the 2008 state championships. He went on to wrestle collegiately at Missouri Baptist.

Bland started his fighting career in 2016 and fought in 14 amateur bouts, including three matches at COH, before breaking into the professional ranks in 2021.

The title fight puts Bland's pro record at 4-2. Five of those fights have been at COH.

The main event was a battle between who can out-grapple the other. Both fighters took turns trying to bury the other in the first round. Eventually, the ground and pound worked in Bland's favor in the second round.

"I'm grateful that I was built this way, to fight through adversity," Bland said. "I could have quit a few times. I heard him breathing like he wanted to a couple of times. But he didn't and it kind of pushed me to keep going."

Cage of Honor fighter Tavae Lewis proposed to his girlfriend (who said yes) after the main event on Saturday, March 9, at the AC Base Arena. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Lewis has been featured in the last three main event fights at COH. He first lost to Keyth Dawson as the co-main event in COH 89, then came back to spoil Kyle Kurtz's retirement party in COH 90. After the fight, Lewis proposed to his girlfriend at the center of the cage, to the surprise of the crowd.

Fortunately for Lewis, she said yes.

Bland also announced after the fight that he will start a new MMA gym.

“That’s what the Midwest needs,” Bland said. “We need to fight other people.”

Montrel James forced Zach Davis to tap out with an armbar to win the second round to win the pro welterweight title at the co-main event. The emotions of the triumph overwhelmed James, as he crawled toward the center of the cage and bowed his head while reality started to set.

"I had my very first MMA fight here, May 13, 2013. I've been a pro since 2016, I've been independent, busting my ass, taking unnecessary losses in boxing and MMA," James said. "This is a testimony of keep up the hard work and definitely no one tell you your ass can't because guess what, you can."

Montrel James looks at the Cage of Honor welterweight championship belt he won after defeating Zach Davis in the co-main event on Saturday, March 9, at the AC Base Arena. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Here's the rundown on the amateur fights in COH 91:

__Cutter Prater vs. Caleb Woodside__

This was the only MMA match to go the full three rounds. Prater body-slammed Woodside twice and both fighters weathered the storm. In the end, Woodside was the one on top throwing punches from the high ground and retained his lightweight title by unanimous decision.

After the fight, Woodside praised his coaches for taking him in when he had nothing and helping him become both the fighter and man that he is today.

"I would take a bullet for them," Woodside said.

Caleb Woodside (top) defeats Cutter Prater to retain the lightweight title by unanimous decision at Cage of Honor 91 on Saturday, March 9, at the AC Base Arena.Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

__Taylor Dagner vs Danielle Thomason__

Thomason put the “pound” in ground-n-pound when she got on top of her opponent and rained down punches on her like a monsoon. She finished the job with a chokehold to retain her championship belt.

“This belt is mine,” Thomason declared. “This cage is mine.”

Danielle Thomason celebrates winning her fight with coaches Coty Kellison and DeRay Ivie, left, in Cage of Honor 91 on Saturday, March 9, at the AC Base Arena.Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

__Eric Sanchez vs. Giovanni Hidalgo__

Sánchez claimed the flyweight title after using the guillotine to force Hidalgo to tap out in the first round.

__Jimmy Bowen vs. Agustin Lopez__

Bowen entered the rematch with Lopez seeking revenge. He came out swinging from the moment the bell rang but Lopez responded with a knockout punch.

__Ryan Hawk vs. Jacob Albert__

Albert jumped on the attack as soon as the bell was rung. Hawk held his own with his grappling but in the end, Albert won the fight after a guillotine forced him to tap out.

__Jackson Bynum vs. Tony Phonixe__

Phonixe spent the fight absorbing Bynum’s kicks. Outside of the occasional outburst of punches, driving Bynum to the end of the cage, it wasn’t enough for Phonixe to thwart off the unanimous decision going toward Bynum.

__Bryan Barkau vs. Zach Carlyle__

Both fighters unleashed a relentless onslaught of punches towards one another throughout the match. Carlyle had the upper hand in the first round but Barkau forced a submission with a triangle chokehold in the second round to win.

The next Cage of Honor event will take place in June.