Naptime Wins Fight of the Night Bonus

“Naptime” Nic Herron-Webb proved himself the Ghost Buster by defending his title against Josh “The Ghost” Henry in what amounted to a four-round masterpiece.

Judges had the match in Josh’s favor up until the point when the submission took place. Nic was able to grab a hold of Josh’s leg during a transition and execute a picture perfect kneebar, Josh Henry taps at 2 minutes and 30 seconds in the 4th round, stunning jiu-jitsu from the young but talented champion.

“His knee popped a couple times and his elbow popped a couple times. He was talking a lot of smack about our gym. He can say all he wants, it’s right here. This is the proof.”

For his efforts, Nic won $250 dollars for Fight of the Night in addition to his fight purse and also received his seventh Mad Hatter Tapout watch while retaining what mattered most, the belt.

The first three rounds were evenly matched with neither fighter hurt. Josh held the lead on the judge’s cards by getting at least one takedown per round and by gaining a slight measure of top control.

By the fourth Nic was breathing hard and by his own admission was gassed. Once again Josh got a takedown but Nic found an opening for the kneebar demonstrating his jiu-jitsu acumen by securing the submission when it presented itself.

The victory serves to broaden the reputation of Nic’s gym Greatland MMA with the champion firmly establishing himself as the #1 welterweight in Alaska.

AFC 76 results

First fight had evenly matched Nick “The Noodlizer” Pekkala (133 lbs) facing Hau Vu (129.5) who entered the cage without entrance music. Nick was anxious for another shot since losing his debut at AFC 74 but his return party was not to be.

Even though Nick showed decent striking in both rounds and was able to maintain top control when the fight went to the mat, he was unable to capitalize any further. After failing a few other submission attempts, Hau finally took hold of Nick’s arm to end the match by armbar, 1:45 in the 2nd.

Second fight had wildly popular Koby Perkins (179), who weighed in 8 pounds over the welterweight limit, matched up against Mike “Kalu Kid” Muna (171) who showed up with lime green hair. Mike had a commendable first round by staying active with strikes and by showing a good sprawl to avoid takedowns.

By the second round Mike’s lack of cardio came into play as Koby connected with a big right hand dropping Muna down. A couple more shots on the ground and it was over, referee stoppage 23 seconds into the 2nd round.

In the third match, ABJJ’s Daniel Cook got a big takedown early against Conner Riddell with a few sharp elbows landing on his opponent's side. He then found some space, avoided Conner’s upkicks and came crashing down with a hard right hand.

Conner lay in the corner of the cage, eyes dazed, knocked out cold at 1:26 of the 1st round, his mouthpiece found wedged in the fence a few fights later.

After the first intermission, Kerby “The Curb Stomp” Coman (169) handed Harry “The Viper” Caudle (170) his third loss by landing solid strikes early, getting a good takedown and maneuvering to his opponent’s back for a rear naked choke, Harry taps out 39 seconds in.

ABJJ’s Anthony Collett (157) took Black Lake’s Dave Croizer (153) to the judge’s cards for the fifth fight in a well-fought victory. Anthony showed superior athleticism against his opponent with aggressive jiu-jitsu, hard elbows in the 2nd, and top control to finish out the 3rd.

“I wanted a sub in that fight but it doesn’t always go your way,” the victor later said.

Sixth bout saw Luke “The Lumberjack” Murray (169) as a short notice replacement for the injured Jaime Cash against top contender Michael Madrid (170.5). Madrid began quickly by immediately throwing a front leg kick that landed flush on Luke’s stomach. As fighters clinched against the cage, Luke’s corner told him to go down on one knee to avoid knee shots to his head.

The strategy backfired as the former champion sunk in a guillotine to end the match 1:37 in the 1st. Madrid then garnered loud boos from the crowd by saying that at his best, he could easily handle anyone in his weight class. Hopefully for him he gets a rematch against Nic Herron-Webb, this time with the belt on the line.

After second intermission, Black Lake’s Tyler Milner and Andy “Tank Mode” Enz arrived to the cage to promote their #1 contenders match for AFC 77. Julio Paulino then came in and relinquished his title so that his Gracie Barra teammate Enz could have a shot at being the middleweight champ.

Of course the stipulation would be that if Milner walked away with the belt, Julio would be forced to make his comeback to reclaim the title. The fight between Tyler and Andy will take place November 17 at the Sullivan Arena.

Milner’s teammate Leslie Fine-Wright (170.5) fought valiantly in her short-notice match but lost against a quicker and more active Lauren “The Pirate” Taylor (150) who used her speed to avoid her opponent’s strikes and land accurate shots of her own.

After taking Leslie down in the 2nd and landing a few hard shots, the referee stopped the fight at 2:25. Afterwards, Leslie’s training partner, women's title holder Willow Bailey challenged Lauren to a championship match that will tentatively take place in January.