Brentin Mumford stops Sam Kitchener in the 1st round at Carnage in the Cage 5

Lismore based fighter Brentin Mumford earned himself a Carnage in the Cage title shot with an impressive first round stoppage over Sam Kitchener on Saturday night at Carnage in the Cage 5.

The event took placed at the Mackay Entertainment & Convention Centre in Queensland’s North and was streamed live via GFL.tv.

From the outset Mumford wasted no time as he attempted a pair of spinning back-kicks before pushing his opponent against the cage. Controlling the centre of the cage, Mumford secured the takedown and from guard dropped back as he looked for a heel-hook and leg-lock submissions. Unable to secure the submission, Mumford ended up on the bottom. He quickly worked back to his feet and as the two separated landed a beautiful spinning back elbow that dropped Kitchener to his back. Kitchener quickly bounced back to his feet but Mumford pounced and slammed Kitchener back to the canvas. There he went to work with punches to get the stoppage 4:04 into the first round.

The win halted a two-fight losing streak for Mumford who also gets the opportunity to face New Zealand fighter and current Carnage in the Cage champion Kieran Joblin for the title.

Kimo Smith secured a third round stoppage over Chris Hay in the co-main event contest. Both Hay and Smith started swinging for the fences before Hay landed a right that momentarily dropped Smith. Smith came forward before Hay, who trains out of the Gamebred Combat Club, secured a takedown. From half-guard Hay landed some short ground-and-pound before passing to side-control. Hay immediately looking to rain down with strikes which gave Smith the opportunity to get back to his feet where he finished strong with punches.

Smith continued landing the better strikes to begin the second round as he also stuffed the takedown attempt from Hay. The two clinched against the cage before Hay reversed and landed some short punches from half-guard. Smith scrambled out and got the mount position. He immediately rained down with punches as Hay turned his back and bucked Smith off. The round ended with Hay on top in north-south position.

Smith finished the contest with punches that dropped Hay against the cage. The local fighter continued to rain down strikes before the referee halted the contest to give Smith the win. The official time came at 1:14 of the third round.

Bowen MMA trained Taela Kelly and Tasmanian David Simmons met in a competitive lightweight bout with youngster Kelly walking away with a majority decision win. The first round was competitive with Simmons countering nicely. The Hybrid Training Centre landed crisp strikes, in particular knees up the middle despite giving up some takedowns.

Kelly pushed the action against the cage in the second round where he was able to control the bout before a accidental low-blow halted the action momentarily. On the restart Simmons landed a big hook before again landing some big knees as Kelly pushed the action against the cage. Kelly secured a late takedown only for Simmons to work back to his feet before the end of the round.

Kelly used his wrestling to take control early in the last round. Simmons left it all in the cage in the final minute as he went for the stoppage before the buzzer halted the contest.

Two judged awarded the fight to Kelly 29-28, with the third judge scoring it a 29-29 draw.

Gold Coast based Anthony Johns won a unanimous points decision over local fan favourite Keohu Smith. With arguably a round a piece leading into the third and final round, Johns took control securing the top position where he was able to work towards a deserved unanimous points decision.

In the opening professional rules bout on the night, Byron Cowell outworked Tahiwi Sellars-McGee on route to a unanimous points decision win.

A-Class:

• Brentin Mumford def Sam Kitchener via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1, 4:04
• Kimo Smith def Chris Hay via TKO (Strikes), Rd 3, 1:14
• Taela Kelly def David Simmons via Decision (Majority)
• Anthony Johns def Keohu Smith via Decision (Unanimous)
• Byron Cowell def Tahiwi Sellars-McGee via Decision (Unanimous)

B-Class:

• Beau Luxford def Karl Patterson via Decision (Unanimous)
• Ethan Cannon def Justin Van Heerden via TKO (Strikes), Rd 2, 1:10
• Brandt Cogill def Arron Mpumba via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1, 1:35
• Ben Edmonstone def Justin McLeod via Submission (Armbar), Rd 1, 2:13
• Jack Macklin def Stephan Friedrich via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1, 1:51
• Joel McFarlane def Sean Stannard via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1, 2:18