Local Sylvan Lake MMA fighter, Grady Behrens, won his second MMA fight in Grande Prairie, March 15.
Behrens, who teaches and trains at Arashi-Do in Sylvan Lake, won his second MMA fight by armbar at the one minute mark in the third round. He went into the event, planning to compete at 185 pounds, however, his opponent dropped out, and he was then asked to fight at 205. He quickly agreed and walked into the event 12 pounds lighter than his opponent, Brandon Burton.
Behrens dominated the stand-up in the first two rounds, peppering Burton with jabs in the first, which frustrated Burton who received a verbal warning from the referee.
The second round Behrens showed excellent kicking skills, according to Renshi Ken Sumner.
The third round Burton came out strong attempting to take Behrens down, eventually succeeding. From the back, Behrens was able to secure a strong armbar to finish the fight.
Three other competitors from Sylvan Lake competed the next day at the Capital City Championships in Edmonton; Kristal Snow, Jadon Hewitt and Gage Russell.
Snow fought in the Adult Female White belt division. She finished three of her opponents, to finish with the first place in Gi, and the second place in NoGi.
Hewitt and Russell were both in the same 13-15-year-old divisions. Russell took first place in NoGi, and Hewitt took second. The roles were reversed with Gi.
Their coach, Sumner commented on the weekend of competition calling it a “fantastic weekend” for the competitors.
“Everyone showed great heart and some amazing skills. Also, they showed super sportsmanship with all their competitors and truly showing what good competition looks like,” Sumner said.