Steel City MMA fighters return home with wins

Three athletes from Steel City MMA - Bowen Oliver, Brock Pinder and Raiden Oliver - competed in Ogitchida MMA: Warrior Games 13 in Ashland, Wisconsin this weekend, bringing home two wins. 

For more information, read the news release below: 

Three athletes representing Steel City MMA travelled to Ashland, Wisconsin, over the weekend, competing in Ogitchida MMA: Warrior Games 13. The Steel City MMA contingent came home with two wins via Knockout and one loss via decision.

In his debut fight, Bowen Oliver fought a back-and-forth fight against Brett Gabora of Canora, Saskatchewan, in the middleweight division. With no clear winner emerging at the end of three rounds, the cage-side judges awarded a narrow victory to Gabora.

Also making his debut for Steel City MMA on the weekend was Brock Pinder, who took on Nate Henze of Bismark, North Dakota, in a lightweight bout. Pinder controlled the action early, scoring with striking from the feet and on the ground, eventually landing a counter punch that sent Henze to the canvass for a win via Knockout for Pinder.

The last Steel City MMA competitor to climb into the cage was Raiden Oliver. Oliver would take on Patrick Keepers of Racine, Wisconsin, in a featured welterweight bout. After a brief exchange, Oliver would make it a quick night for the Keepers, landing a hard right hand that knocked Keepers down, forcing the referee to call an end to the fight via TKO at only 16 seconds into the first round. The win kept Oliver’s record undefeated at 3-0.

After more than two years of disruption due to Covid19, SCMMA head coach Brent Fryia is happy to have his team back competing regularly.

“It’s been a long haul for some of these fighters who haven’t fought in two years or who were supposed to make their debuts two years ago. It’s definitely good to be back.”

Having travelled to Chicago, Sudbury, Flint and Wisconsin recently, Fryia looks forward to having his team competing in a variety of martial arts.

“We’ve been busy over the last couple of months with people competing in MMA and Jiu Jitsu. We’ve got more events coming up with people competing in Kickboxing, Jiu Jitsu and MMA in the next few months.”

Notably for MMA fans in Sault Ste. Marie, the Steel City team will be competing at Big Johns MMA, at Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, on Sep. 24.

“We hope to have between four and six athletes on that event,” says Fryia of the first local MMA event in over three years.