Titans of the Cage live MMA comes to Pulaski Co. H.S.
Live MMA action is coming to Pulaski County H.S. in Dublin, VA Saturday, April 7th. Doors will open at 5:00 P.M. and the fight card begins promptly at 6:00 P.M.  The fights are being sanctioned by the state of VA and overseen by the United Combat Arts sanctioning body and DPOR of Richmond, VA.
One of the headliners for the event will be C.J. Burleson of Pulaski who will face Demetrius Dye of Halifax for the TOC cruiserweight championship belt. Burleson was a standout football player for the Pulaski Co. Cougars and will showcase his MMA fighting skills inside the octagon in the Co-Main event of the evening. Â Females will also be on the card as Tiffani Underwood, also of Pulaski will take on Anne Okes of Flat top, WV in a catch weight bout. Another local fighter, Jody Pyles of Radford will face Austin Cox of Lebanon in a middleweight bout.
In the Main Event of the evening it will be Antwon Curtis of Roanoke going to battle with Christian Bradberry of Knoxville, TN (formerly of Wytheville) for the TOC middleweight title. In an interesting twist, teammates will face each other when undefeated (10-0) Austin Cooper takes on his teammate Micah Sheffey in a 160 lb. super fight bout. Both Sheffey and Cooper have reached the pinnacle in the region. Both men train out of Ring-Combat Sports in Wytheville.  Having been training partners for over 5 years now, both men are very familiar with each other’s style and Sheffey looks to hand Cooper his first loss, while Cooper hopes to remain undefeated.
The current TOC bantamweight champ, Ray Ray Holston of Ring-Combat Sports in Wytheville will put his title on the line as he faces the talented up and coming fighter, A.J. Sanchez out of Chicago, IL.  Also, TOC lightweight champ, K.C. Cockran out of Hybrid martial arts in Roanoke puts his belt on the line against Dylan Smith of Elite Grappling out of Lebanon in another exciting title fight. Jeromy Mitchell is the current bantamweight champion and represents Advantage Martial Arts in Princeton, WV and he will face Doug Williams of Ring-Combat Sports, of Wytheville in a much anticipated super fight bout. Closing out the title fights it will be TOC welterweight champion Joey DeSanto of Indiana putting his title on the line against Brandon Williams of Greensboro, NC. Â
This fight card is stacked heavily with great match-ups from top to bottom. Other local and regional fighters who will be showcasing their talents on this card will be; Â Jaylee Long (Wytheville) vs. Will Holtzclaw (Norfolk), Clay Anders (Wytheville) vs. Jake Lineberry (Hillsville), Christopher Spencer (Wytheville) vs. Christopher Oliver (Pulaski), Stacy Dalton (Austinville) vs. Robert Niday (Roanoke), Josh Cook (Halifax) vs. Daniel Parsons (Big Stone Gap), Micah Dando (Knoxville, TN) vs. Zion Tomlinson (Roanoke), Â Dee Venable (Martinsville) vs. Jacob Coller (Greensboro, NC) and Tyler Carrico (Wytheville) vs. Charlie Conner (Halifax).
The event will also feature a teen expo kickboxing bout between Elijah Caviness of Hillsville and Addison Hendry of Greensboro, NC.  There will also be two of our crowd pleasing youth grappling bouts. In the first youth bout featuring 4 year olds, it will be Riley Grubb vs. Joey Larkin. Riley is the daughter of Danielle Reeves of Wytheville and Joey is the son of Joe and Ashley Larkin of Rocky Gap. In the next youth grappling bout it will be 7 year olds, when Brady Sark takes on Dalton Walters. Brady is the son of Greg and Tonya Sark, while Dalton is the son of Wayne and Denise Walters, all of Fort Chiswell.  All four of the youth bout participants are members of the “tiny titans†martial arts program at Ring-Combat sports in Wytheville.
The event is sponsored by and will benefit the Pulaski County high school fellowship of Christian athletes. Ring girls for the event will be Tiffany Barr of Abingdon and Keyona Miller of Roanoke. Advanced tickets are available online at www.titansofthecage.com. Tickets can also be purchased from select fighters or at the early weigh-ins event which will be held on Friday, April 6th at Italian Garden Restaurant in Wytheville from 5:00 to 8:00 P.M. Tickets will also be available at the door of the event beginning at 5:00 P.M. on Saturday, April 7th. Titans of the Cage promotions, is a family friendly event and we encourage the public to come out and bring the entire family for a great evening of entertainment. Don’t miss any of the action and be sure to search for us on facebook at TOC Fights to keep up with all the MMA action, past, present and future. Â
Photo 1:Â C.J. Burleson (right) of Pulaski, will face Demetrius Dye of Halifax for the TOC cruiserweight belt
Photo 2:Â Long time teammates will clash inside the cage when Micah Sheffey (left) takes on Austin Cooper (right)