The number of Bangor-area mixed martial artists getting the chance to prove themselves on larger stages continues to grow.
Jon Lemke of Team Irish MMA Fitness Academy in Brewer will make his debut with the Rhode Island-based CES MMA promotion on June 10 when he takes on veteran Josh LaBerge of Fall River, Massachusetts, in a three-round lightweight (155-pound) bout at the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island.
Lemke will be one of two area fighters on the CES 36 card, which is scheduled to be broadcast live by AXS-TV. Ryan Sanders of Young’s MMA in Bangor will face Luis Felix of Providence, Rhode Island, for the CES lightweight title in the main event of the same show — Sanders defeated Felix in a non-title match earlier this year.
Lemke (5-4) is coming off a narrow five-round split decision loss to Bruce Boyington in a battle for Boyington’s New England Fights lightweight title as the main event of NEF 21 in Lewiston on Feb. 6.
LaBerge (10-5) has won eight of his last nine bouts. Based at Lauzon Mixed Martial Arts, he most recently won a unanimous decision over Ran Weathers on the main card of CES 35 on April 16 in Rhode Island.
Boyington has since vacated his NEF belt and is focusing on a June 17 World Series of Fighting bout against Saul Almeida at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
Another local fighter with a more immediate national-level fight is Bucksport High School graduate Ray Wood, who will take on undefeated Anthony Piccolotti in a clash of promising lightweights on the main card of Bellator 154 on Saturday night in San Jose, California.
The bout between 8-1 Wood and 7-0 Piccolotti will be televised on Spike TV.
NEF to make Cape Cod debut
NEF 23 will be held at the Hyannis (Massachusetts) Youth & Community Center.
Nick DiSalvo, a Massachusetts lawyer and co-owner of NEF, said last week that cageside ticket sales were so brisk that more chairs and tickets were ordered after the original stock sold out.
“The fans were asking us to add some more cageside seats, so we happily accommodated them,” he said.
The main event will match heavyweights Brendan Battles, a former three-time All-New England high school wrestler from Nauset (Massachusetts) Regional High School and the Hyannis-based Team Juniko MMA club, against Mike “The Mustache” Hansen of Rumford, also a former high school wrestling state champion at Mountain Valley High School.
Two Maine lightweights will battle in the co-main event as Derek Shorey of Dover-Foxcroft and Matt Denning of Auburn will reprise their NEF 15 match held in November 2014, a bout Denning won by submission.
“I thought I could beat him the first time, and he caught me with an armbar,” said Shorey, who trains out of Dexter’s Shatterproof Combat Club. “This time I will leave that cage the victor.”
Among the amateur bouts on the card, Angela Young (1-1) of Brewer and Young’s MMA in Bangor will attempt to secure her second win in three weeks in a bantamweight (135-pound) clash against newcomer Kylie O’Hearn of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Team Juniko.
Young’s MMA teammate Victor Irwin, a former wrestling state champion at Brewer High School, will seek to improve his record to 2-0 against Tracey Schryba (0-0) in a light heavyweight (205-pound) matchup.
