Mixed Martial Arts returned to the Triangle with a bang after a 14-year ban in the state of North Carolina. Carolina Fight Promotions hosted the Carolina Crown this Saturday which saw two N.C. State students fighting on the amateur undercard. Sophomore Chris Sutton and senior Pete Martin took this opportunity to battle at a local venue in front of friends and family.
Matt “the Terra” Serra was the special guest in attendance at the event. Serra is the former welterweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the premier MMA promotion organization. Serra was excited for the amateurs who were fighting in the Carolina Crown.
“It’s a great way to get experience, and you can’t buy experience,” Serra said. “Win or lose, that’s going to get them ready for the big leagues. They got to cut their teeth somewhere–it’s nice to do it locally.”
After a delay due to a couple of logistical issues, the first fight of the night pitted Chris Sutton against fellow heavyweight Dwight Hyman. Sutton and Hyman have a history dating back to this summer where Hyman backed out of a fight with Sutton in Wilmington, N.C. In preparation for the fight, Sutton worked on his striking for one reason.
“I wanted to knock him out,” Sutton said. “He dodged me back in Wilmington, and I wanted to knock him out. I didn’t want it to be a submission or let it to go to the judges; I wanted to knock him out. Hands down, that’s what I wanted to do, so I trained on my punches a lot.”
Sutton’s concentration on striking paid off as he came out in the first round dominating his opponent first with several strikes to the face and then with a series of knees to the body after being tied up. Sutton then took Hyman to the ground and began striking his face until the referee called the match 1:59 into the first round.
“I don’t even remember anything,” Sutton said. “It is a blur. You don’t even think in there, it is all reaction. That is why you train so much, [be]cause you don’t see it coming.”
With the win, Sutton has an overall record of 1-0. After his MMA debut Sutton plans on continuing his training and his fighting.
“I might cut down a weight class. I am just going to keep training hard, train with some of the best guys,” Sutton said. “I’m considering a couple of different options, a couple of different fights I’m looking at now. I’m looking at [fighting again in] early November or late November.”
The last fight of the amateur undercard saw sophomore Pete Martin take on fellow 155-pounder Joseph Carroll. Martin had a large showing of fans at the event with virtually all of section 123 wearing “Team Martin” t-shirts.
Martin came out strong in the first round with fierce blows to his opponents face. The rest of the first round was marked by Martin slamming Carroll to the ground and laying heavy hits to his entire body.
Martin came out again in the second round with ferocious blows. Martin then took Carroll to the ground. Carroll was able to slip out of Martin’s grip and get on top of him and apply a rear-naked choke. After being held for a while, Martin had the choice of either tapping out or passing out.
The tap 1:41 into the second round gives Martin the loss due to submission. It was his first MMA loss, putting his record at 4-1 overall.
