James Gilliland’s MMA Blog
James Gilliland
The heavyweight division has always been the most distinguished division in combat sports. In boxing, there were great fighters like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and Rocky Marciano. In MMA, you have Fedor Emelianenko, Randy Couture, and Brock Lesnar.
As for the valley MMA scene there is maybe a hand full of heavyweights. The only local heavyweights most people have heard about are Brandon Cash and Lavar Johnson. The central valley favors smaller weight classes which is great but a local heavyweight bout with two quality fighters would be fantastic.
Johnson and Cash have both had superb fights. For Johnson, it was his last Strikeforce appearance when he knocked out Carl Seumanutafa in eighteen seconds. Lavar is still recovering after being shot twice at a July 4th event with his family.
As for Cash, he dispatched his last opponent in twenty-six seconds. He’ll be fighting on the next Strikeforce card in Fresno on November 6th. It will be exciting to see him back in the cage after recovering from a hand injury, he suffered in his previous fight.
Some fans might not know this but Doug “The Rhino” Marshall was once a heavyweight. When he started in MMA, he fought at heavyweight and is a former WEC North American Heavyweight Champion (see WEC X: Bragging Rights).
It would be great to see two local heavyweights go toe-to-toe, but I realize that won’t happen anytime soon. If there are any heavyweights in the central valley from Porterville to Merced/Modesto let it be known on cageradio.com or any other way you can get the word out. It may help get you a fight and fans don’t forget to support local MMA.
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Manuel Quezada, Wasco Calif.
He does MMA, I thought he was a straight boxer
I belive he is 2-0 or 3-0 in MMA… he is a former champion kickboxer, I believe K1 Level.