Three title fights went on the line at Reign Fighting 3 with Western Australian Jack Della taking home the promotions welterweight title in the main event against Glen Pettigrew.
The event took place at the Mansfield Tavern in Queensland on Saturday night.
After opening the fight with a beautiful body rip, Della was forced to work back into the fight after getting caught by a shot early and then defending a rear-naked choke when Pettigrew took his back. Della, from the MMA Clinic in Perth mixed up his shots, landing to the body and head before dropping Pettigrew. The youngster followed up with big ground-and-pound to force the referee stoppage at 3:26 of the opening round.
The win was Della’s second in a row after previously taking out Brandt Cogill in October and suffering losses to Aldin Bates & Darcy Bendy his first two career bouts. Pettigrew drops to 3-2.
Chris ‘Kewlbonez’ Morris successfully defended the Reign bantamweight title, edging out Callum Lewis in a competitive fight. Lewis made his intentions known early, shooting in for a takedown which Morris was able to defend against. The two jockeyed for position against the cage with Lewis securing a takedown late in the round.
It didn’t take long for Lewis to take the fight to the ground in the second, only for Morris to pop straight back up. Shortly after Lewis secured a big takedown and landed heavy ground-and-pound that forced ‘Kewlbonez’ to scramble to his feet. The fight ended up on ground again, this time with Morris on top inside guard. Lewis was able to prohibit Morris from doing much damage by utilising a high guard and body triangle from the bottom while staying busy with short inside elbows.
A sloppy takedown to begin the third from Lewis, had him concede the takedown as Morris reversed and got the top position. The fight slowed down from here with Morris doing just enough inside the guard, while Lewis stayed active off his back. He attempted to secure a gogoplata which allowed him to get back to his feet but became overzealous as he pressed forward giving Morris the opportunity to drop levels and secure another takedown. Even though Lewis arguably may have been more active off the bottom, the judges gave the decision to Morris who had periods of top control.
Training out of Southside MMA, Morris is gaining momentum, with the win being his fourth in a row as he moves to 10-6. Sunshine Coast based Lewis drops to 7-7.
After a dominating performance at XFC in February, PUMMA trained Tim Moore secured another victory, defeating Victorian Sean Gauci to defend his Eternal flyweight title.
The 30-year-old was made to work for it as Gauci came out strong and proved difficult to takedown in the early minutes. Moore seemed to turn tide midway through the first round as he lifted his opponent and walked him to his half of the cage before securing the takedown. Moore secured more takedowns in the second round however on each occasion, Gauci didn’t stay on his back long, working back to his feet. Both fighters battled for position against the cage in the last round. Gauci defended well as Moore took the back a couple of time, the last one landing inside guard as Moore looked to lock up an armbar.
Judges gave Moore the unanimous decision as he takes his record to 12-6. His only lost once in his last six outings, that being a decision to Japanese talent Yusaku Nakamura last year in the Philippines. Gauci drops to 3-1 in his first career loss.
Ryan Gray from the MMA Clinic secured the knockout of the night, punishing Garret Gross with a paid of knees that laid his opponent out. Gray landed another big shot on the ground to secure the quick 49-second victory. The bout was originally scheduled for Eternal 18 last month before Gray was forced out on fight day, coming down sick with food poisoning on fight day.
Also in a professional bout on the card, Ryan Lambert gained confidence as the fight went on to defeat Diego Pereira via unanimous decision.
Fight Card (Pro):
- Jack Della def. Glen Pettigrew via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 3:26 – Reign welterweight title
- Chris Morris (c) def. Callum Lewis via Decision (Unanimous) – Reign bantamweight title
- Tim Moore (c) def. Sean Gauci via Decision (Unanimous) – Eternal flyweight title
- Ryan Gray def. Garret Gross via KO (Knees), Rd 1, 0:49
- Ryan Lambert def. Diego Pereira via Decision (Unanimous)
Fight Card (Amateur):
- Justin Van Heerden def. Marko Slomovic via Decision (Unanimous)
- Dante Jackson def. Dimps Gillies via Decision (Unanimous)
- Rasa Dasa def. Jye Wyllie via Decision (Unanimous)
- Nicole Szepesvary def. Tina Trinh via TKO (Strikes), Rd 2, 1:24
- Molly O’Connell def. Emma Chambers via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd
- Josh Butturini def. Blake Harrison via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 1:47
- Taj Fewquandi def. Deegon McGurren via TKO (Punches), Rd 2, 2:00
- Young Nghiem def. Brooke Kenrick via Decision (Unanimous)
- Ken McAndrew def. Danny Atom via KO (Punch), Rd 1, 1:04
- Bruce Qurbani def. Ali Imran via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 2, 1:29
Reign Fighting 2 Recap: Darcy Vendy submits Holyman-Tague to take middleweight title
