Phoenix fight fans It’s that time again RUF Nation is bringing you another awesome fight card with RUF 44 on Saturday, October 23rd at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. RUF 44 will bring you more of the usual, hard-hitting, bone-crushing competition in another exciting card on THE ROAD TO ONE. The main card will start with the newcomer Anthony Pike as he will face off against Austin Wourms. Next, we will see Michael Quintero’s take on Eddie Perez. In addition, we will have the pleasure of watching Tra’von Butler avenge his first meeting against Vernon Lewis. Finally, in the main event, we will get to see two seasoned Heavyweights with nearly 200 combined fights, Aaron Brink & Shannon Ritch, take center stage at RUF 44 on THE ROAD TO ONE.
Shannon Ritch AKA “The Cannon” at the age of 51 comes into the bout as one of the oldest active MMA fighters in the world competing in a whopping 151 mixed martial arts matches over his lengthy career dating back to June 1998 in his debut match World Shoot Wrestling. After winning his debut match, Ritch has since piled up 58 wins over his extensive career fighting in many different promotions along the way such as PRIDE & M-1 Global. Rich is the former King of the Cage Middleweight Champion and the current Bareknuckle Fighting Championship International Heavyweight Champion. Ritch is coming off a loss via submission (calf slicer) so I’m sure the reigning BKFC International Heavyweight champion is going to bring the fight to Brink in front of his home crowd.
Aaron Brink comes into this bout at the age of 46, starting his mixed martial arts career in December of 1998. Brink has taken a completely different route than Ritch to get to this Fight at RUF 44. Brink has competed for fighting promotions such as King of the Cage, Rage in the Cage, World Extreme Cage Fighting, and even made an appearance in the UFC. Brinks’ time in the UFC was short-lived as he made his debut against Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski in which he lost via submission (armbar). Although this was his only fight in the UFC, Brink has formed a nice list of World Class opponents over his nearly 21-year career. His most noteworthy opponents consist of Joe Riggs, former PRIDE Alistair Overeem, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei ” The Pitbull ” Arlovski, and Former UFC Middleweight Champion & current Vice President of ONE Championship Rich Franklin. Brink has a combined total of 57 fights over his career with 25 total wins. Despite his last fight coming back in June of 2019, he is coming in sporting a 3-fight win streak.
PREDICTION: Brink has only 1 fight in his 57 career bouts that have gone to a decision and I do not believe this fight will be number 2. I am taking Brink via knockout in the 2nd round.
Tra’von ”Wildman” Butler, the 6’2 261.5-pound heavyweight, is coming off a win after defeating Corey Mullis via KO just 3:55 into round 1 at RUF 39. Wildman is sporting a 3 -1 record coming into the bout he has 2 knockouts and 1 win by decision after defeating Brad Schott via unanimous decision in his debut match. Butler’s only loss was a majority decision against the man he is facing off against at RUF 44, Vernon Lewis. The #1 ranked wrestler in the state of Missouri in 2020 with a total of 8 career Knockouts, is coming to avenge the only loss of his young career. This time around, I doubt the Wildman lets the Judges decide the winner.
Vernon aka ” Big E ” Lewis, the Waco native, is coming off a KO loss in round 1 to undefeated Thomas Peterson which was featured on UFC fight pass. Big E walks into this bout sitting at 8 – 5 in his mixed martial arts career. He is returning to see a familiar face in Wildman Butler and I’m sure he wants to show out in front of the Phoenix fans at RUF 44. The heavy-handed Lewis wants to make a statement and put the chatter to rest regarding his previous bout with Butler.
Prediction: I know Wildman can’t get that decision out of his head and Lewis is just as upset after his recent TKO loss. I expect both fighters to come out swinging early and often, but in the end, I believe Wildman will come away with the victory via TKO in round 2. CAN WE SAY TRILOGY?
Michael Quintero is sitting at a 7-2 record coming off his knockout performance at RUF 41 over Cody East. This former teacher-turned-fighter is ready to come into RUF 44 and take care of business versus Perez as all but 1 of his wins have come by stoppage.
Eddie Perez, who has a professional record of 4 -1, also competed at RUF 41 picking up a win versus Darion Abbey. Both Perez and Quintero are early on in their prospective careers. Yet, there is a major age difference as Perez is just 27 years of age and has competed in a total of 5 professional bouts. His opponent, Quintero, is 45 years of age and has a total of 9 professional bouts under his belt. The Bogeyman is carrying a 2-fight win streak into the cage with him, and I know he plans on keeping that going.
Prediction: I’m calling this bout the Cali Showdown. Perez vs Quintero should be an exciting hard-hitting fight that will not go the distance. I think Perez will ultimately walk out of RUF 44 with his 3rd straight victory.
Anthony Pike, who trains in the Phoenix area, will be trying to pick up the victory. He is 1 – 1 overall in 2 exhibition bouts, and I’m sure he is to start his professional career with a win.
Austin Wourms is a little more familiar to the RUF crowd as he competed in RUF 36 and RUF 40. The Assassin is looking for a much better outing this time as both of his previous RUF appearances ended in a loss by KO.
Prediction: Anthony stepping in for his first time and Wourms looking to finally cash his ticket in, I see a 1st round stoppage going in favor of Austin “The Assassin” Wourms.
