Going the distance

Gabby Holloway couldn’t seem to get away from her opponent Vicki Berkshire before their bout Saturday in Barbarian Fight Club’s “Respect” at the Virginia Sports Complex in Ruther Glenn.

“Before the fight, it was like she was everywhere,” Holloway said. “I went to the bathroom twice and she was there. I went out in the parking lot and she was there. We didn’t really speak, just stared.”

Holloway let her fists and grappling ability do all the talking and Berkshire wasn’t feeling nearly as social as the 22-year-old Orange native’s hand was raised in victory.

“Gabby went out there and did the same thing she did in her first fight; she fought her butt off,” said Eric Zamora, owner and head trainer at Zamora Boxing Gym. “It’s funny because I don’t think she really enjoys training, but she loves and enjoys fighting.”

Much like in her first fight, Holloway (2-0) used her wealth of grappling knowledge to earn a unanimous (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) victory and help Zamora’s fighters go 3-0 on the night and stretch the team’s 2010 record to 9-3.

Holloway opened the action with some dirty boxing against the cage before taking Berkshire down at will in the opening round.
Berkshire ended the second round in top position after Holloway attempted a guillotine choke, but Holloway took her prey down again in the third and secured the mount position before locking up the win with some more dirty boxing.

“By the third round, I was tired and I kept thinking that I should have worked a little harder on my cardio,” Holloway said. “I was really happy that I could use my wrestling to get some takedowns. That helped my confidence.”

Holloway is raring to step into the cage again, and she may be one of as many as five Zamora fighters competing July 24 in Barbarian Fight Club’s “Vindication” at the Library Center in Stafford.

» Daniel Moreno, 165, Culpeper
Daniel Moreno couldn’t decide if he should shout for joy or shed a few tears after his bout against Breon Rucker ended 15 seconds into the first round.

“This feels good, but I can’t wait for the next one so I may actually get to fight for a couple rounds,” Moreno said.

Moreno drove his opponent to the cage to open the action, but as soon as Rucker hit the fence he crumpled to the mat, clutching his right shoulder.

Rucker wasn’t able to continue after dislocating his shoulder, and the fight was initially ruled a no contest — a decision that didn’t sit very well with Zamora.

“No contests are generally called when there’s an illegal move or a foul committed,” Zamora said. “But from sitting ringside, I knew nothing like that happened.”

The decision was overturned the following morning and Moreno (3-1) was rightfully awarded a technical knockout victory via referee stoppage due to injury.

“We are much happier with the win because now we never have to justify the no contest,” Zamora said. “People would have assumed some sort of foul had occurred.”

“The win makes it all worth it,” Moreno added. “To have them say no contest, it was like I had come in here and busted my butt for nothing. The win justifies all the hard work I’ve done.”

The win marks Moreno’s third straight victory. How does he plan to celebrate?

“I got a date,” he said with a wide grin.

» Arthur Milam, 185, Orange
After just two fights, Arthur Milam is already becoming known for his big slams, but with Saturday’s submission victory, he took a huge stride in changing people’s perception of him as a wrestler to a mixed marital artist.

“It’s funny because Arthur told me he wants to win by TKO, submission and knock out before he’s done,” Zamora said. “Now he has a submission and a TKO, so all he’s looking for is a KO.”

Milam (2-0) wasted no time taking his opponent Joseph Selvig to the ground in the opening round.

Once there, the Orange native attempted a Kimura arm lock. Selvig defended, but in doing so he left the door wide open for Milam to secure the full mount.

With Milam in such a dominant position, Selvig gave up his back and eventually succumbed to a rear naked choke at 1:21 of the very first round.

“That’s a big thing because a lot of people probably still think we’re just a boxing gym,” Zamora said of Milam’s submission victory. “But that’s not it at all. We have an accumulation of different people who bring different elements of MMA: Wrestling, jujitsu, boxing and Muay Thai. I would say we’re very well rounded.”

Tale of the Tape
Gabby Holloway » Win via unanimous decision
Daniel Moreno » Win via TKO (injury), Round 1, :15
Arthur Milam » Win via submission (rear naked choke), Round 1, 1:21