Illinois State University’s Redbird MMA held its first “Winter Fight Night” event last Friday at Kingdom City Boxing, a faith-based boxing gym in Normal.
The event saw two brackets: jiujitsu and boxing, with one surprise bracket.
Jared Gahm, owner and operator of PSF Legacy, was the referee for the jiujitsu bracket and Matthew Ganson of Redbird MMA was the referee for the boxing bracket.
Several students who trained with both PSF Legacy and Redbird MMA fought in the tournament. One of them was Steve Rendon, the winner of last spring’s surprise full-contact MMA match which had been introduced at the end of the “Rage in the Birdcage” tournament.
History repeated itself at Friday’s tournament; another full-contact MMA match was announced in the middle of the boxing bracket.
Steve Rendon once again took the mat, going against Will Hadden from Bloomington American Jiu-jitsu, also known as Team One.
Rendon said he arranged the fight with a coach from Bloomington American Jiu-jitsu shortly before.
Rendon defeated Hadden, using each style in full-contact MMA to fight.
“I had a jiujitsu match earlier, and that warmed me up for this fight,” Rendon said after the match. “I feel like God gave me this opportunity tonight, I took it and look what happened.”
Redbird MMA member Liv Purcell fought in the jiujitsu bracket. Purcell reflected on her performance.
“I feel like I could have done better, but I’m really glad that I came out,” Purcell said. “I grew up doing MMA and I’ve always loved jiujitsu.”
Redbird MMA member Josh Schleich also fought in the jiujitsu bracket. He shared his martial arts journey so far.
“I don’t have as much grappling experience,” Schleich said. “When I was 16, I started karate and I’m still doing it a little bit, but I’m switching over to jiujitsu now.”
“Martial arts are a blast,” Schleich continued. “I think if you look around and you find something that works for you, you can really get a lot out of it.”
Redbird MMA member Cade Ho fought in the boxing bracket. Ho won by knockout.
“Overall, I think I did great,” Ho said. “I started off as a Muay Thai guy, then I did some judo and I got into boxing last.”
“Big shoutout to everyone who came,” Ho continued. “I didn’t know there would be this many people here.’
Redbird MMA member Todd Andreas also fought in the boxing bracket and won his match. He discussed his training methods for the fight.
“[I did] a lot of cardio training with my roommate, and my friends Blair and Mikeal—they were a big help,” Andreas said. “We did a lot of pad work, combo work and mentality work. I need better cardio—you can never be fully prepared with cardio.”
Redbird MMA member Lesly Hernandez discussed how she prepared for her fight in the boxing bracket, as well.
“I do a lot of conditioning on my own,” Hernandez said. “Overall, I do a mix of cardio and then just going to MMA club.”
After the tournament, executive board member of Redbird MMA and emcee Braden Beasley discussed what he wants for the next tournament.
“The whole point of the event is it’s for new people to get a feel,” Beasley said. “At the next 'Rage in the Birdcage,' we want a bigger venue, more chairs and more fighters. We’re going to be inviting quite a few gyms to have actual tournament-style fights.”
PSF coach Jared Gahm reflected on his time working with the members of Redbird MMA until the tournament.
“Seeing how everyone has matured has fighters as been incredible and I feel like the lucky one to guide them along the way.”
The next Redbird MMA fight night is expected to take place next spring.
A recording of Redbird MMA's "Winter Fight Night" can be viewed here.
