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http://www.omniture.com --> Sections Home Page Local News AP News AP Entertainment Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Distinctly Northwest Readers' Choice Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Holiday Guide Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend December 10, 2006 Ultimate Cage Fighting: Total Destruction 2 on Nov. 4 drew a crowd at the Jackson County Expo. Another multi-bout event is scheduled for next month. (Denise Baratta) Lure of the Ring Inside the steel-cage octagon of a mixed martial arts fight, action is intense and brutal. Still, hopefuls train dilligently for their place in a sport that's growing in popularity By chris conrad Mail Tribune It's Friday night and class is in session at the New World Fighters gym in northwest Medford. Tonight's lesson: learning to take a punch. It sounds counter-intuitive, but the secret to surviving a shot to the head is to lean into it, allowing the fist to glance off your forehead while keeping your eyes locked on your opponent. The point is to let the thick part of your skull absorb the shock and not the soft parts — nose, jaw, chin — that tend to crunch under a fist wrapped in six-ounce grappling gloves. So says Evan Norris, 20, a full-time roofer and mixed martial artist from Medford. He spends five nights a week at the gym sparring with Bryson Gutches, 19, a fighter whose wrestling-influenced style is the perfect complement to Norris' aggressive boxing tactics. "We're two different fighters," Norris says, after trading a salvo of punches with his buddy. "He helps me and I help him. And the harder he hits, the better I'll fight next time." Advertisement Gutches traces his love of mixed martial arts to his wrestling days at Crater High School. After all, mixed martial arts is basically wrestling with strikes. "Wrestling really helps me understand good and bad position when I'm on the ground," he says. "I can tell by how a guy shifts his hips if something bad is about to happen." Both hope to go pro by the end of next summer. Their coach, Jake Porras, thinks they have the grit to make an impression on the sport, in part because both started training so young. Most fighters, until recently, first strapped on the gloves in their mid-20s. Gutches began preparing for the octagon at age 16, he says. "These two kids have a better chance than any of the guys that have come out of Medford so far," Porras says. And that's saying something, considering two local fighters tested their mettle on Spike TV's reality show "The Ultimate Fighter" each of the last two years. Soon some New World Fighters will do battle on the Fox Sports Network as part of the International Fight League. The glory is there for those who are willing to train with the New World Fighters. The gym is open to anyone. A sport on the rise Mixed martial arts has come a long way since its bloody beginnings in the mid-1990s, when Sen. John McCain dismissed it as "human cockfighting." Like its gladiators, cage fighting has survived several beatings over the years. It almost went under once and has been attacked for its brutality — though there have been no mixed martial arts deaths reported, according to a USA Today story this year. Now its pay-per-view buys are approaching one million and Spike TV's Ultimate Fighting Championship, the nation's most popular pro league, outdraws baseball and basketball among the 18 to 34 crowd. The recent fight between Canadian superstar Georges St. Pierre and legend Matt Hughes was a ratings bonanza. A quick browse on YouTube revels hundreds of mixed martial arts matches, each carrying heated debate by viewers praising winners and ridiculing the fallen. In fact, many have speculated that cage fighting, with its hyper-quick action and colorful characters, will replace boxing as the nation's choice bloodsport. But Bulldog Boxing founder Joe Pedrogetti says not so fast. He argues that boxing's sustained, tactical action will always have a place in American sports. "I like the cage fighting," he says. "But it happens so fast. The worst thing a boxing fan can see is a Las Vegas title fight that ends in a quick knockout." Other cage fighting leagues have sprung up to challenge UFC's dominance. The most popular is the Japan-based Pride Fighting, which features brawlers from across the globe. Pride fighters eschew the octagon cage for a traditional boxing ring. Porras believes mixed martial arts has lost some of its stigma by evolving beyond the primitive street-fighting vibe that permeated early matches into a refined discipline encompassing several complex styles. The signs are pointing to the next generation's Rocky being a multifaceted warrior, educated in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Thai boxing, Greco-Roman grappling and Russian sambo wrestling with a pinch of judo for flavor. "It's still young," Porras says. "It's only been around 10 years. We're seeing it now come into its own." This was evident at Ultimate Cage Fighting: Total Destruction 2, held Nov. 4 at the Jackson County Expo. Sure there were plenty of howls for blood and a reservoir of Bud Light was consumed in the three hours, but several fans seemed to understand some of the strategies, apart from simply pummelling your foe into submission, that a serious fighter needs to win a match. "Shoot for the legs!" one woman yelled. "Nice takedown!" answered her friend when Gutches took his opponent to the mat. Several in the crowd shouted advice to the beleaguered fighters. They screamed for triangle arm bars, jiu jitsu defense, leg locks and guillotine chokes. The night ended with a Gutches victory, sending the mob who stomped and roared through Total Destruction 2 home satisfied. A natural fit for Medford? So why has mixed martial arts taken root so easily in the Rogue Valley? What does it say about us? Jeffrey Rahenkamp, owner of Phat Kat Tattoo and Ultimate Cage Fighting sponsor, thinks it has something to do with how boys are raised down here. "These guys grow up tough in Medford," he says. "It's kinda country around here and these boys have done hard work all their lives." Porras hopes that New World Fighters will take off in the coming years and become a force in Oregon mixed martial arts much like Portland's Team Quest, which was headed by UFC hall-of-famer Randy Couture, whom Porras trained under while a student at Oregon State University. "Each time we put on a fight we put the money back into the school," Porras says. "We have yet to make money on a fight." Only recently have multiple businesses wanted to sponsor local mixed martial arts fights. Some in the business world didn't want their names to be associated with the sport. Total Destruction 2 featured five sponsors and the list could grow for the next match on Jan. 13 at the Expo. Until then, Gutches and Norris will keep training and hoping to one day get their shot at the big time. Though breaking into the pro level is difficult, and as of yet there is not a lot of money to be made for most fighters, they are looking to make their names in Portland fighting at the Roseland Theater. The duo remains realistic — a single injury can end a fighting career — but they seem happy with the opportunity mixed martial arts has afforded them to compete after their high school wrestling careers. But one battle remains. "The only thing I wish were different about my fight career is I wish my mom would come watch me fight," Gutches says. "Yeah, I have to call my mom before and after every fight," Norris adds. Reach reporter Chris Conrad at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] . Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums. Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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