RFL Relentless: Recap and ResultsRFL lands big punch, expected to return By Jay Adams
Midway through Saturday's scheduled fight card, Revolution Fight League president Bryan Van Houten had already made his decision. "I want to come back to Macon," he said. "I really do. ... People in Macon know their fighters, and they support them." "Relentless" may have failed to come close to selling out the Macon Coliseum, but by RFL standards, Saturday was an overwhelming success. Official numbers weren't released, but Van Houten expected the number of those in attendance to easily surpass 2,000. "Our second event in Macon, I expect to sell out," he said. Van Houten said Saturday's crowd was the best he has seen since the RFL's inception, even though the league has put on events in cities much bigger than Macon. "It was top-notch. The production quality was very, very good," said Stephen Ledbetter, the victor of Saturday night's main event and new RFL featherweight champion. "Top to bottom, there's just not much room for improvement. Everything was set up well, everything was run smoothly, the cage looked great, there wasn't a bad seat in the house; I'm so impressed with everything." Ledbetter earned the featherweight belt through a triangle submission on Johnny Bedford in the first round. Bedford, from Fort Worth, Texas, was named as a replacement two weeks ago. Ledbetter was originally scheduled to fight Charles Wilson, from Chicago, but Wilson tore his anterior cruciate ligament in preparation for the fight. Ledbetter, from Athens, didn't find himself in much trouble against Bedford. The two traded some punches after the opening bell, and the fight quickly went to the ground. Bedford, at one point, picked Ledbetter up over his head and slammed him to the mat, but the triangle submission was locked in, and Bedford subsequently tapped out. Five Maconites also took to the cage Saturday night as part of the fight card. Rush MMA went 2-for-5 with Aaron Hall and Bryan Goldsby both winning and garnering the most excitement from the crowd. Hall won his amateur bout against Payton Owens quickly with a first-round submission. Goldsby, however, had to put in some time to earn a win. Goldsby, fighting Joey Marimberga, took the win by decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). Showing a lot of confidence, Goldsby - a Northeast alumnus - went at Marimberga with a barrage of kicks, but Marimberga gave them right back. Goldsby looked to have the fight well in hand early but started to tire in the second round. Marimberga's leg kicks started to take a toll, but Goldsby fought off a late effort by his opponent to win in front of his home crowd. "Bryan trained harder than I've ever seen anyone train in my entire life," said Rush MMA co-owner Ben Pierce, who lost his lightweight bout with Valdosta's Kamrin Naville. "He deserves that win, and I'm very proud of him." Central product Tony Hunter had a rough night against Albany's Heath Davis. Davis caught Hunter early in the right eye with a punch and slapped a submission on Hunter for a 26-second win. Jason Gold, who opened the event with the night's first bout, lost by decision (29-27, 29-26, 29-27) to Chase DeLong. The RFL doesn't have any plans in place to return to Macon just yet, but considering the strength of Saturday night's card and the turnout, another event might not be too far in the future. "The fans that were here were into it, were loud, were knowledgeable," Mammoth Sports & Entertainment's Andy Beach said. "And they stayed the whole fight, whether it was their guy or not their guy or if they didn't have a guy; they were fight fans. ... Macon is a great place for us. It's a place we want to come back to." RFL results Chase DeLong (Rockledge, Fla.) d. Jason Glow (Macon), decision
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