Art of Fighting (AOF) presents its fifth event of the year and its fourth at Robarts Arena in Sarasota, FL. Art of Fighting's three previous events at the venue have been successful and after a trip to Tampa with the biggest fight card Tampa has ever seen, AOF returns to Sarasota. The fight card is stacked with established talent and up-and-coming fighters.
Baten vs. Turner
Chris Baten is a Tampa Bay area police officer who just had one of the biggest fights of his career on August 22 in Tampa. Baten fought the man that knocked out Kimbo Slice, Seth Petruzelli. The fight started out as a war as the two traded solid blows, Baten was caught with a solid right hook that sent him to the canvas and as he was starting to pull defensive posture, the ref jumped in and said the fight was over. Baten admitted that he took a solid punch from Petruzelli but the crowd wasn't too pleased with the stoppage as it was shown on the instant replay. After handling the defeat gracefully and only a glimpse at Baten's skills, AOF promoter Nathan Smith offered him another fight immediately for October 23. A talented striker, Baten will be facing Robert "CT" Turner in his second AOF appearance. CT won his first AOF fight by disqualification as he received a vicious kick to the head while he was on the ground from middleweight up-and-comer Jamie Yager.
With both fighters past AOF appearances ending in controversial fashion, the match up only makes sense. Chris Baten, the Hillsborough County Deputy will face fellow striker and once homeless fighter CT Turner. Turner used professional fighting as a tool to create a better living situation for himself. This is the main event for Art of Fighting 5.
Lee vs. Farnetti
6'6" 320 lbs. K1 Vet Imani Lee will be making his AOF debut. The super heavyweight has had several huge kickboxing matches in Japan and is now transitioning into mixed martial arts. Lee also spent some time as a WWE wrestler and looks to put on a great show in the arena where the WWF began, Robarts Sports Arena in Sarasota. Lee will be facing California's Sal Farnettie, another 300+ lbs monster. This fight will be a crowd pleaser as two of the biggest fighters Sarasota fans have seen to date, enter the cage to face off.
Cury vs. McWilliams
Nicolae Cury may be the toughest fighter to ever step foot in the cage. Cury holds a 1-1 record with AOF but won fight of the night in his loss to Levon Maynard on April 25. Cury took a vicious first round beating from the more experienced Maynard but went on to finish the last two rounds of the fight losing by decision. A far cry from Cury's first AOF appearance as he defeated veteran Brent Carraway in little over a minute. Cury holds black belts in both Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Judo. He is also an instructor at one of the most prolific MMA schools in the country, American Top Team in Coconut Creek, FL. Cury will be facing a more experienced Daniel McWilliams who has over 13 fights and has spent some time inside the California state prison, so you know he's ready for anything.
Art of Fighting 5 will also feature some "New Blood" and returning AOF fighters on the card. There will be five fighters making their professional debut alongside some AOF veterans to include AOF fighter Mark Serkez who will be making his second AOF appearance after a vicious first round knockout of 6'8" striker Cory "The Freak" Krebs at AOF 4 in Tampa. Making his third AOF appearance is the young welterweight and local Bradenton trained fighter, Raul Amaya. Amaya trains at Champions MMA in Bradenton and has won both of his AOF fights in the first round. There are 9 total fights scheduled for the night.
|
|
|
