Seattle’s Mike “300” Hayes (3-0) from White Buffalo’s Gym will face Josh Bennett (7-4) from TeamQuest in Portland, Ore. in a mixed martial arts (MMA) event at Emerald Queen Casino on Aug. 30.
“These are two of the best up and coming heavyweights in the Northwest,” said CageSport’s Dennis Hallman. “Both of these guys are going to be looking for a knockout. This is a great heavyweight fight and the winner will be in the mix for the CageSport Northwest heavyweight title.”
Also on the card will be Len Bentley, who fights out of Victory Athletic in Olympia. Bentley is an Iraq war veteran who served in the first wave of action in Iraq after being stationed at Fort Lewis.
He was the Northwest amateur champion. Bentley, who is 2-0, will face Carmen Cassella from Spokane’s Kempo Karate Club. Cassella was the Northwest regional kickboxing champion with 25 amateur mixed martial arts bouts. This will be Cassella’s pro debut.
“This will be a test for Bentley to see how he can handle Cassella’s well-rounded MMA game,” Hallman said. “For Cassella it will be a test to see how he handles the transition from amateur to pro MMA fights.”
Brian Halquist, president of Brian Halquist Productions Inc., has teamed with Hallman, a former Washington state wrestling champion, to form CageSport, a venture into the world of mixed martial arts. They promoted a fight in June at Tacoma Dome that drew a crowd of more than 7,500.
Doors open at 6 p.m. with the first fight starting at 7 p.m.
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