LEWISTON, Maine — Aaron Lacey of Brewer and Young’s MMA improved his professional mixed martial arts record to 3-0 during NEF 25 on Saturday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.
Lacey, coming off a split-decision victory over John Santos at the “Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight” show held Aug. 5 in Bangor, scored his second victory in five weeks with a first-round submission of Cory Trial on the New England Fights’-promoted MMA-boxing card.
Lacey scored a takedown early in the featherweight (145-pound) battle, then used ground-and-pound to secure the match-ending rear-naked choke at 3:48 of the opening round.
Among the other pro fights, Mike Hansen (5-4) and Jesse Erickson (8-5) each scored a first-round victory, Hansen stopping Matt Andrikut (2-1) and Erickson (8-5) submitted Crowsneck Boutin (2-3) in the main event of the evening.
The amateur portion of the MMA card included a pair of NEF title fights, with Rafael Velado (4-0) capturing the amateur lightweight (155-pound) belt with a first-round submission of Young MMA’s Jimmy Jackson (3-3) and Caleb Hall (8-3) retaining the amateur featherweight title with a split-decision victory over previously unbeaten and current NEF amateur bantamweight (135-pound) champion Johnny Crafts (4-1).
In another anticipated amateur battle, Rachael Joyce (2-0) of Veazie and Team Irish MMA Fitness Academy of Brewer scored a unanimous decision over Jessica Borga (2-2) of Clearwater, Florida, in their women’s bantamweight clash.
Both combatants were eager to get back into the cage after a nearly yearlong hiatus because of the inability to find an appropriate opponent, and Joyce was able to control the match both in the striking game and with takedowns in each of the last two rounds
“She’s real tough,” said Joyce of Borga to the Lewiston Sun Journal. “She gave me competition that I’ve been looking for.
“I just kept training, getting my work in, and once we found an opponent, I started working on preparing for her,” Joyce added.
On the boxing portion of the card, John Webster (9-7-1) defeated Zenon Herrera (0-3) via unanimous decision on the eve of Webster’s 48th birthday — marking Webster’s first victory since 2004 before he took a decade off from active competition.
Also in the boxing ring, Casey Kramlich (5-0-1) remained undefeated with a fourth-round technical knockout of John Ortolani (0-1) while North Anson native Brandon Montella (5-0) kept his pro record perfect with a second-round stoppage of Tollison Lewis (2-2).
NEF announced that it would co-promote its next event with the Rhode Island-based Classic Entertainment & Sports, as the two largest fight promotions in New England will present “Supremacy” on Nov. 4 at the Colisee in Lewiston.