Local fighters throw down

Nick Shadwick was picky when choosing a mixed martial arts event to bring to the Yuba-Sutter area.

The owner of the newly opened Xtreme Sports Training Center in Yuba City wanted a legitimate promotion that would provide MMA fans with excitement in every round.

Shadwick said after carefully sifting through various promotions, he found Cage Combat Fighting.

On Saturday, five Yuba-Sutter fighters with various backgrounds and experience will test their might when the first-ever mixed martial arts event comes to the Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds.

Cage Combat Fighting will present 11 fights for its “Meltdown” card, including a bout between David Mitchell and Andy Maccarone for the vacant middleweight title.

“We had a good selection of shows to review to bring here and I chose Cage Combat because they’re huge,” said Shadwick, a former MMA fighter who now trains fighters at his Yuba City gym. “They’re a good show. They’re not a little podunk show. They’re going to put on a good production and they’re legitimate.”

Yuba City fighters Tyson Schoel, 30, Tony Juarez, 23, Ray Doxie, 26, and Richard Blake, 32, and Marysville’s Nick Kassimis, 29, will all have the opportunity to attempt to shine in front of the hometown crowd.

Shadwick is confident his fighters, three whom will be making their professional debuts, will come out with their arms raised in victory.

Shadwick said Cage Combat fighters differ from fighters in other promotions because they are skilled and expected to come in well-trained and ready to fight.

“That is one of the reasons for bringing it here. I’m not going to bring something that’s cheesy,” he said. “The guys are highly skilled, and there won’t be one fight that leaves people thinking to themselves, ‘what’s that guy doing in there?’ Every fight people are going to be standing and screaming. It’s going to be non-stop banging from start to finish, I guarantee it.”

Kassimis and Schoel have no grand illusions of how their first professional fights will end.

“I have a game plan, but I mean, when you go into a fight, that kind of goes out the window after the first punch is thrown,” said the 155-pound Kassimis, who has been training for three years. “So, you just have to learn to adapt. That’s what I’m thinking about, all the different things you could do.”

Schoel, a sales broker, said he has fought in a few amateur fights in the 170-pound weight class, but doesn’t plan on making MMA fights part of his long-term career plans.

“I love the training and the fight for me is just a test to see where I’m at,” he said.

Schoel said he plans to do most of his damage on the ground.

“I think the definition of courage is looking past the fear, so I think you just look at the positives,” Schoel said about his mental preparation before a fight. “This is just a challenge for myself. It’s not a career choice, just a personal challenge for me.”

Blake, a foreman for Granite Construction, may be on a fast track to bigger promotions.

Blake, in his second year of training, will be dropping down to the light heavyweight division and looking to improve on his 5-3 record.

After his fight Saturday, he is booked to take on Lodune Sincaid, who reached the finale on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, at the “Malice at the Cow Palace” event taking place Sept. 9 in San Francisco.

“I’m slowly starting to come around now and everyone is excited to see what I do at 205,” Blake said.

Blake and Juarez are each boxers that converted to MMA. Juarez, who has boxed for 14 years, is still competing in professional boxing events. He will be on the Aug. 30 boxing card at Colusa Casino Resort.

“I’ve been doing the transition from MMA to boxing, and it’s pretty tough. But I like tough; I don’t like easy,” said Juarez, a welterweight.

Doxie is a middleweight who is 2-2 in his amateur MMA career. He has trained for four years and has experience in taekwondo, kick boxing and jiu-jitsu.

“Once you deal with the nerves, get in the ring and throw the first punch, it’s pretty much all fun and games from there,” he said. “I love the sport. I love fighting, whatever it is.”

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