Pride Gym fighter Keanan ‘Porrada’ Paterchuk earned a first round TKO and was crowned light-heavyweight champion at the Proving Ground Mixed Martial Arts Fights in Liberty Lake, Washington on May 21.
The Proving Ground’s main event saw Trail’s Paterchuk go toe-to-toe with current champion Chris “Giant Killer” Gamby of Spokane. Gamby boasted a 7-2 win/loss record going into the fight, and was undefeated in five straight, compared to Paterchuk at 2-0, and battling in just his third MMA match.
Paterchuk controlled the match from the outset with his jab and hand combination. The Pride Gym fighter then landed a right roundhouse kick to the champs head that put him on his heals.
Paterchuk continued to put the pressure on Gamby with a right body punch then a front push kick in the stomach to set up the hand combo that put the champion on his back.
Paterchuk pounced on Gamby and finished him off with the ground and pound. The referee stopped the contest giving Paterchuk a first-round TKO victory and the Proving Ground Mixed Martial Arts light heavyweight title.
“He makes all the other people around him better at the gym with his work ethic and leadership abilities,” said Pride Gym owner/trainer Glen Kalesniko in a facebook post.
On the undercard, Lowell Carroll of Rivervale took on Darien Riviera of Pulman, Wash. in a middleweight match.
Lowell kept his composure with a straightforward attack, clinching up with Riviera and landing a couple knees before taking him down.
Carroll landed on top of Riviera and began throwing heavy punches to his opponent until the referee jumped in to stop the fight, and giving Lowell the victory with a first round TKO.
With Paterchuk’s third straight victory, he is now ranked #2 in B.C., #4 in Canada, and #1 in the Pacific Northwest in the light-heavyweight division.
Pride Gym also had a third fighter, Tyler Harry, set to enter the ring that weekend. However, his opponent pulled out two days before the fight leaving Tyler without an opponent. Tyler is set to fight in Calgary in the end of June.
Read: Pride Gym fighters excel at Liberty Proving Grounds
sports@trailtimes.ca
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter