Combat Zone 36 Results: Kattar Downs Rodrigues, Santiago Overcomes Injury to Win

It might not be the bright lights of the UFC or Strikeforce, but there's something to be said for appreciating regional MMA as these truly are the stars of three, five or 10 years from now.

That brings us to Friday night at Rockingham Park in Salem, New Hampshire, where Combat Zone MMA put on their 36th event. It was packed, hot and a hell of a lot of fun—a large mix of guys on their way up and a select few you'll get to know fairly soon.

Want to follow along with full video? The whole event is already up on their site.

Calvin Kattar def. Luiz Rodrigues via unanimous decison

This was my Fight of the Night pick, one that had a lot of drama late and was really great from start to finish. Kattar (11-2) owned the first two rounds and was timing Rodrigues' kicks perfectly, catching them and taking it to the ground.

But Rodrigues (4-1) wasn't about to abandon his feet and kept at it, valiantly trying to end the fight in the third. Kattar was able to survive and got a takedown late to secure the win.

This was a battle of Massachusetts as Kattar fights out of Wai Kru while Rodrigues is out of Team Sityodong, but the New Hampshire crowd was firmly on the site of Kattar.

Nate LaMotte def. Nuri Shakir via 1st round submission (4:43)

LaMotte (10-5) didn't want to keep it standing and got it to the ground quickly, working for the rear-naked choke and getting it. Shakir (15-17) looked a bit soft and didn't seem to have the fire.

Will Santiago def. Chris Madden via 1st round KO (:39)

The story here was Santiago (an American Top Team product) stomped when he got into the cage and hurt his leg and then was noticeably limping, causing the doctor to have to fully check him out.

As expected, Madden started going for kicks to attack the leg but didn't know enough to keep his hands up and Santiago took advantage—hard. He cleanly knocked out Madden and is a rising New England prospect to watch at 2-0. He just needs to work on his ring entrance.

Corry Murray def. Perry Filkins by unanimous decision

This was my runner-up for Fight of the Night, filled with awesome standing exchanges. Murray (3-0) would start laying some punches in and Filkins (2-1) would fire right back, teasing a bit of Jung/Garcia from 2010.

I had this going for Filkins, but Murray got the duke. This was one of those brawls made better by the smaller venue as you could see and feel every shot like you were watching at home on HD.

Evan Parker def. Adam Toussaint via 1st round submission (2:52)

Parker improved to 3-1 in a nearly all-ground battle, defeating Toussaint with an arm triangle.

Amateurs

Anthony Loycano def. Dustin Hurtgam by unanimous decision

Loycano had Hurtgam's number all night, but Hurtgam deserves credit for fighting off several rear naked choke submissions and refusing to tap. Not a great fight, by Loycano is now 3-0 in the amateurs.

Ethan Conley def. Justin Clough via 1st round submission (2:01)

Best amateur performance of the night as Conley was a buzzsaw, using picture-perfect punches and knees, setting up a standing guillotine for the win. Conley—a 145-pound Wai Kru product—is now 4-0 in the amateurs and seems ready for the pros.

Lowell Zangri def. Rob Goodwin via 3rd round KO (:32)

Really entertaining fight. Goodwin was connecting clean early on and was stuffing Zangri's takedown attempts, but Zangri kept working and wobbled Goodwin in the second. Like Sullivan, Zangri connected flush and Goodwin was out. Fun fight.

Mike Sullivan def. Wayne Ahlquist via 1st round KO (1:51)

Sullivan poured it on, knocking out Ahlquist clean. He was down for several minutes, but eventually was ok.

Smith Cotioto-Cachay def. Peter Wellman via split decision

Cachay was making his debut and showed off some kickboxing skills, throwing a lot of kicks and overwhelming Wellman early. But Wellman found his groove and easily won the third round, taking Cachay with some nice ground and pound. It came to the second, round which was very close to call.

Mike Burke def. Nick Berube via 2nd round submission (1:22)

Another matchup of first-timers, Burke was dominant throughout, clamping on the rear-naked choke to end this quickly in the second.

Cheyenne Vasquez def. Bob LaRochelle via 3rd round verbal submission (:53)

This was your basic matchup of two young 205ers making their debuts with Vasquez relying nearly exclusively on a top guillotine choke. Vasqeuz looked more comfortable in the second and opened up with his striking. Vasquez made him verbally submit on the ground in the third.

Notes

- Mark Dellagrotte and John Howard were both in attendance, as was Tony Fryklund, whom yours truly featured last week.

- Attendance wasn't announced, but my estimate was around 750. The standing-room-only around the seats really added to the atmosphere and it got very loud at times. Great atmosphere.

- Next show is scheduled for April at the same venue.

Josh Nason is a New England-based freelance MMA journalist that covers live events, contributes to FIGHT! Magazine and frequently does radio/podcast appearances. He asks for your "like" for ESPN Boston to cover MMA. Follow him on Twitter.