CORNWALL, Ontario – It was one for the books as Wreck MMA returned to Cornwall this Saturday, June 4 after last year’s tremendously successful event.
With a full house and 10 fighters on the card for the evening, the energy inside the Nav Centre was palpable.
Headlining the fight was Cornwall’s Deven McIntyre against independent fighter, Adam Gladue for the title of Wreck MMA Amateur Fighting Championship Featherweight. After taking a few good kicks, McIntyre kicked it into high-gear, pinning Gladue to the ground and delivering a ferocious series of punches.
With countless hours of training having gone into his hometown win, McIntyre says that ‘it’s still surreal.’
“This has been a long camp, it’s been a hard camp,” said McIntyre. “I’ve worked with some amazing trainers along the way. I’m thankful – it’s because of them that I’m becoming better every day.”
Having worked alongside Quest Personal Training’s Thomas Irvine; also McIntyre’s first sponsor – he says that his structured workouts really helped push him to his limits.
“He’s been a great support,” said McIntyre. “I’ve worked with him in the past, but he really took it to a different level with me this time.”
“I still can’t believe I got this thing. There’s been a lot of hard work to get here,” said McIntyre. “I work full-time, train twice a day, I’m doing MMA every single day of the week. It’s not an easy thing to do. It takes a lot of sacrifice in my personal life, but it’s what I love to do.”
Opening the main card was Seaway Academy of Martial Arts’ (SAMA) Pat St-Pierre vs. Big Country MMA’s Rob Davidson. The fight went on for the full three rounds, and after a relentless battle in the red corner, St-Pierre walked away with the first home win of the evening by unanimous decision.
Travis Nutbrown was the second local on the card, fighting Big Country’s Tyler Telford. Nutbrown came at his opponent with a series of blows, and a deadly combo in the final round, earning him the unanimous decision of 29-28 on all three scoring cards.
Cornwall’s Garret Dagenais came out strong, but so did his opponent, Tommy Yi, of Angry Monkey Gym. Delivering some wicked kicks, Yi was later pinned to the ground and tapped out 1:56 into the second round.
In the 166-pound fight, SAMA’s Matt Therrien battled Jamie Naddiwan of Fear the Fighter Gym. After pinning Naddiwan and delivering a continuous stream of blows, Therrien won the round by referee stoppage just short of a minute into the round. Climbing the cage in celebration, Therrien’s victory delighted crowds, offering one of the most intense bouts of the evening.
In the last non-title fight, SAMA’s Joel Brazeau took on Dawg Jiu Jitsu’s Matt Sheppard. With an impressively active first round, Brazeau took the 135-pound bout, choking out his opponent 2:55 into the first round.