Fighters melt at ‘Meltdown’

Ray Doxie’s professional mixed martial arts career got off to an electrifying start Saturday during Cage Combat Fighting’s “Meltdown” event at the Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds in Yuba City.

Doxie, 23, of Yuba City, was one of five Yuba-Sutter fighters taking part in the first MMA event in Yuba City since the California State Athletic Commission sanctioned the sport in December of 2005.

Unfortunately for the hometown fans, Doxie, a middleweight, was the lone member of the five Yuba-Sutter fighters who had his hand raised in victory after his arm-bar submission win over Terry Broughton just 1 minute, 35 seconds into the first round.

Doxie’s arm bar earned him the “Submission of the Night” bonus.

“It was awesome,” Doxie said. “I came out and finished it quick and didn’t mess my face up too much, so that’s always what I hope for.”

Nick Kassimis of Marysville had his first professional fight stopped after the second round due to a cut above his left eye.

Tyson Schoel’s professional debut also began in heartbreak after he lost by triangle choke at the 2:15 mark of the second round.

“I should have done better, should have thrown my hands more,” said a disappointed Schoel of Yuba City. “Live and learn I guess.”

Tony Juarez of Yuba City lost by TKO 31 seconds into the first round, and Richard Blake of Yuba City tapped out due to a rear-naked choke 33 seconds into the first round.

Juarez and Blake, who are strong boxers, were each expected to walk away with knockout victories.

“I got caught,” Blake said. “I talked to him (his opponent Kawika Morton) after the fight and he said he was told not to stand with me and he was waiting for me to throw that left.”

Doxie’s bout got off to a rocky start after the powerful Broughton wrapped him up and took him to the mat, landing vicious body punches.

After working through Broughton’s punches, Doxie calmly worked his way into position to take Broughton’s arm for the submission attempt.

After securing the arm bar, Broughton struggled to escape, picking Doxie up while still stuck in the move and slamming him to the cage floor. But that did nothing to help Broughton, as Doxie’s hold became tighter, forcing Broughton to tap.

Doxie jumped to his feet and threw his arms in the air as his adoring fans stood in frenzy.

“That was from the guard,” Doxie said about the arm bar. “I’ve always had a good guard. I got into MMA by Brazilian jiu-jitsu, so I’ve always been pretty mobile from the guard. Once I opened my guard and started to shift my hips around, I knew I’d open up for the arm bar.”

Doxie said Broughton’s boxing concerned him heading into the bout.

“I was glad to put on a show in front of the home-town crowd,” Doxie said. “I was worried about him cause I know he’s got pro boxing experience, and he’s strong looking. I knew he’d try and hit me hard, and he did hit me pretty hard on the ground.”

Kassimis, fighting in the lightweight division, battled opponent Vince Wolf in the first round, reversing out of Wolf’s mount and dropping some elbows and body shots before the horn sounded.

In the second round, Kassimis was taken down and took some hard shots and elbows that opened up a cut above his left eye. As the round ended, Kassimis gingerly walked to his corner and the fight was soon stopped by a ring-side physician.

Schoel battled off his back for much of the first round and looked to be in control in the second, dropping Anthony Bivins to the mat. But Bivins worked through Schoel’s punches from the top for a submission, locked up Schoel’s arm and sank in a triangle choke.

Schoel battled to break the hold, but submitted after struggling to escape.

“”I tried to play the ground game, but he’s really good on the ground,” Schoel said. “That’s a move I do the most and he beat me with it. It was a good fight. He’s a good fighter.”

Juarez was hit with a flurry of punches from Damien Douglas early in his welterweight fight. Juarez attempted to duck out of the way of the punches, but as he did, Douglas threw up a knee, catching Juarez and flooring him. Douglas pounced and connected with a few more before the ref stopped the fight.

Blake charged Morton to open their light heavyweight fight, throwing a hard left that missed before locking up with Morton and throwing him to the mat. As they both fell to the cage floor, Morton gained side control and then took Blake’s back, locking in the rear-naked choke and ending the fight quickly.

“I just made a mistake and he caught me,” Blake said. “I threw a jab and a left and he put me up against the corner, hooked me and I went to throw him. But, when I threw him, my foot slipped and from right there he caught me, picked me up and got me down. I just made a mistake.”

Appeal-Democrat reporter Justin Miller can be reached at 749-4796. You may e-mail him at jmiller@appealdemocrat.com