Mixed Martial Arts in DC News Blog

Matt Coleman was the fan favorite at EFC 8, winning by an armbar in the first round.

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Elite Fighting Challenge 8 was held at the Lynchburg Armory on April 2, 2011. A packed house filled the chairs at the event for the amateur mixed martial arts fights. Teams from Maryland to North Carolina came to compete in the MMA event. The headliner for the evening was a title bout between Hybrid Training Center’s Lee Rahlien of Virginia Beach and BJJ Conquest’s Micah Terrill (Crofton, Md.).

The event was fueled with strong representation from the Renaissance Academy of Martial Arts (Team RAM) in Lynchburg, Va. Leading the team was the crowd favorite, “Big” Matt Coleman. Coleman, a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu with experience in training muay thai, took on Steve Odum of the Striker’s Union Fight Team in North Carolina. The bout ended quickly in the first round when Coleman caught his opponent with an upper cut, eventually putting him on the ground. Coleman followed up with ground work, ending with a transition to an armbar. “It was a lot quicker than I anticipated, but I’m not complaining,” said Coleman.  ”They’re tough guys,” he said.

The referee steps in to end the bout after E.J Mecklenburg's opponent taps from a choke.

E.J. Mecklenburg of BETA Academy and Team Lloyd Irvin in Washington, D.C. quickly disposed of his Striker’s Union opponent, Josh Clark, in the first round.  The former D-1 wrestler from American University shot in for the takedown, eventually putting his opponent on his back. A guard pass with a transition to the mount resulted in a reign of strikes that bloodied his opponent. “I told my coaches I want to make him bleed and I want to tap him out,” said a frustrated Mecklenburg, who had a previous opponent back out on him at another fight event last week. The match ended when Clark bellied down and tapped out from a choke.  ”It kinda worked out that way,” said Mecklenburg.

Lee Rahlein wins the title at Elite Fight Challenge 8 by americana armlock.

The fight of the night went to Lee Rahlien and Micah Terrell in the final bout of the evening. Rahlien and Terrell battled back and forth, trading punches toe-to-toe, gambling to see who would connect. First it was Terrell connecting with a punch to put Rahlien down, then Rahlien returned the favor. The two would battle fiercely up standing and on the ground, drawing blood during the course of the action. “I definitely took a lot of damage, more than I have in any other fight,” said Rahlien.   After fighting on the fence, Rahlien eventually hit a takedown and ended up in side control. An americana armlock sealed the win for Rahlein with a tap out by Terrell.

Other Team Highlights:

* Hybrid Training Center went 1-1 and captured the championship title
* Renaissance Academy of Martial Arts (Team Pedro Sauer) went 4-0
* Striker’s Union Fight Team from North Carolina went 0-7
* MMA Institute had two opponents back out but went 1-0 on the evening with a KO from a head kick.

Check out EFC 8 related articles:
Quick results of all bouts
Fight photography

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