Source: Savannah Morning News
Tonight’s card at the Savannah National Guard Armory
Punches, kicks and submission holds return to the Savannah National Guard Armory tonight.
It’s the second coming of mixed martial arts here this year. Hilton Head, S.C., fighter Muhsin Corbbrey said this event will be better.
Fifteen bouts -11 amateur, four professional – are slated. Highly regarded Corbbrey, who is scheduled to fight on Showtime on July 28, will meet Jeff Williams, of Tampa, Fla., in the main event.
“After the first show, I went out front to shake hands with the fans,” Corbbrey said. “We had great action-packed fights and the fans were great.”
Corbbrey (9-2) sat out the first MMA card here when his opponent, Jason Nicholson, suffered injuries in a car accident the day of the fight.
Now Corbbrey is ready.
“I think I trained harder for this fight,” he said.
The 29-year-old Williams, a field engineer for RJ Griffin & Company in Tampa, has had only one professional fight. After getting out of the Army, he said he still needed the adrenaline rush.
“I might have had only one fight, but I train in a competitive gym (Spartan Gym), and I think I’m a pretty good striker,” Williams said. “What better way to test your striking skill than against another good striker.”
Savannahian Chris Scott is in a similar scenario, competing in only his second MMA fight. Scott, like Corbbrey, didn’t compete in the first show when his opponent pulled out during the week.
“I can’t wait to fight in front of my home fans,” said Scott, who attended Windsor Forest High School.
The fighters aren’t the only ones looking for success. Promoter Ernie Cardin has put in long hours as well. He beefed up television, radio and newspaper advertising and tweaked some of the fight-day operations, namely cutting down time between fights.
Cardin said all 14 VIP tables have been sold along with the first three rows at ringside.
Hooters will sell food and non-alcoholic beverages. No beer will be sold at the armory.
Cardin says approximately 1,000 tickets remain. The native New Yorker who now lives in Bluffton, S.C., doesn’t expect the tickets to last long.
“I think Savannah is a last-minute town,” Cardin said. “I was talking to someone at the Civic Center and he said when the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) is in town, 90 percent (of the crowd) is walk-up. That’ll make any (promoter) worry.”
With a paid crowd of approximately 1,200 on May 4, Cardin said he and two other partners made a small profit.
“If we had lost money, we probably wouldn’t be here doing this again,” he said.
