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By ROBERT S. JOHNSON
Valley Press Sports Editor
It wasn't a banner night for local mixed martial arts.
But Friday night's Chaos event at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds may have been just good enough
to lead to more local events.
That will definitely be the case if promoter Justin Vasquez gets his way. The Littlerock resident was
part of the brain trust that brought Chaos in the Cage in
2006. After taking three ensuing shows out
of the area - because the fair board decided it wasn't interested in hosting the event again - Vasquez finally won approval to bring the show back Friday night.
With tickets priced from $30 to $80 in a 2,000-seat venue, Chaos drew a rabid but light crowd of somewhere between 900 and 1,200, according to Hervi Estrada, who served as promoter for the last Chaos card at the Fairgrounds but worked as matchmaker for Friday's event.
The show had its moments, but Chaos featured only three local fighters in 10 bouts. Two of those fighters - the two who train out of Vasquez's Team Garage - lost, but the third provided what was probably the most exciting and crowd pleasing (translation: bloody and brutal) of the entire night.
The main event featured two fighters with no local ties and career records just above .500.
All of those things may have contributed to the sparse crowd, although Estrada said the event could have done better with better promotion.
"I thought it was going to be a sellout, and it should have been a sellout," Estrada said Saturday. "I don't really know what went wrong there. Maybe it should have been promoted out of the area better. I think it was short on promotion because that place should have been a sellout."
Considering the last time Chaos was in the Valley it drew more than 4,000 fans in an outdoor setting, Estrada may be right.
"I really think you've got to be more aggressive," said Estrada, who also promotes boxing and runs Antelope Valley Boxing Academy in Palmdale. "We can sell that place out. That's how I brought all those people in the first time."
Because the Poppy Pavilion was not filled to expectations, it appears that the show lost money. Estrada said that it cost $45,000 to put the show on, but he was told by the financial officer from the California State Athletic Commission that Chaos lost $15,000.
Vasquez didn't return phone calls to the Antelope Valley Press, so exact figures on attendance and the financials could not be obtained.
Although so many aspects of the show didn't go as expected, there were some good moments.
Andy Jewett, who turned 18 on Jan. 4, won his fight with a first-round submission, then broke into heavy sobs when thanking his team and the crowd.
"It's an emotional game," Jewett said. "Five days a week we train our (butts) off, so when it finally pays off, that happens."
Vasquez's Team Garage fighters were Palmdale residents Daniel McWilliams and Ray Olmos. Olmos started the night by being knocked out in the first round. McWilliams, who fought toward the end of the card and was the most promoted of the local fighters, submitted in the third round.
The only local fighter who had success was Rosamond resident Cameron Froede, who took on Mike Penifeil in an action-filled and bloody match and won by unanimous decision.
"Froede was amazing," Estrada said. "You've got to bring people like that back because people will watch him."
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