GFL 9 “Smith vs Gonzalez 2”
From UNH Campus’ Whittemore Center
128 Main st Durham NH
September 17th 8pm

The Culmination of many events, hard work, determination, whit and experience all come down to this. GFL 9 “Smith vs Gonzalez 2” has been the most talked about event of the summer. GFL pushed forward through 2010 like a undrafted freshman out to prove his worth and came out of the smoke primed to take on New England with their best foot forward. Now regarded as New England’s premier MMA promotion Global Fight League is out to capture the eyes of the Nation. August 26th brought us the Premier of the highly anticipated NESN show “The Life”. Now stepping out of the gates as a highly touted senior ready for his career in the big leagues GFL presents there biggest show to date.

Live from the Whittemore Center on UNH campus in Durham NH. 7000 hopefuls will pack the arena for a most memorable night. Tickets to Students are available for just $10 and $15 reduced tickets for the Military! An astronomically reduced rate that is sure to receive an astounding attendance.
Covering YouTube with their hype video’s and grabbing hits from all over the country notables John Benoit, Josh Hersey, Dennis Olson, Tom Moreau, Matt Smith, And Pedro Gonzalez round out 3 HUGE title fights. 4 huge double-sided Mega Screens drape the arena for 8 views of the action, which makes every seat a good seat!

Lets get to the preview of the fights!

Main Event

135lb Bantam weight Championship
Pedro Gonzalez 6-3 (DWMMA) vs. Matt Smith 7-2 (Renzo Gracie NH)

This is the biggest fight of the year. These two met once before and fought a grueling 5 round, 25-minute war at GFL 6 and gave us the most memorable fight in GFL history. This fight simply put was AWESOME. Treating us to what now is sure to be another treat the GFL brings these two together for what will be history. We’ve all heard the story and watched “The Life” and now its time to get busy. There is no love loss here and I can guarantee you a fight you will remember. Never have two individuals been hyped so much for such an anticipated bout you’d be crazy to miss this one.
Fresh off wining a much deserved title in a smaller organization against Barrington Douse, Pedro Gonzalez was a force to be reckoned with, taking no rest “The Beast” took his efforts to Triumph as he took on 135lb bantam weight reality fighting champion Tom Giove and in just under 3 minutes he dismantled the champ quickly and submitted him for the finish. What better way to set up a rematch than to go out and destroy two champions over the summer and claim a belt of your own.
Patiently waiting, the ever-ruthless Matt Smith highly regarded as the best wrestler to ever come out of New England; the two time national champion waits his turn to finish what he had started long before. The raining, defending GFL bantam weight Champ is licking his chops as he awaits what he see’s as his fait to once again prove to everyone he is the only 135lb champion.

170lb welter weight Championship
Tom Moreau 6-2 (Valor/Moreau) vs. Dennis Olson 11-5 (Gracie Barra)

You asked for it and the GFL delivers. MMA fans have been waiting for this much anticipated fight for a long time now. Two of New England’s top MMA athletes will finally meet for the coveted title of “Champion”. Both Dennis Olson and Tom Moreau are not strangers to each other. Growing up just a town away from each other and competing at some of the highest levels of MMA these two have yet to meet in the cage. Tom Moreau brings an arsenal of weapons that can destroy a man at any point in a fight. The once Golden gloves Champion boxer possesses KO power in both hands and has never been stood toe to toe with by anyone and lost a battle. His strengths don’t stop there, the Judo black belt will toss you for a loop if you get to close. No matter how you look at it, when you fight Tom Moreau your guaranteed a fight and a very tough one at that. Olson has been the busiest guy in MMA recently. Fighting UFC Veterans Dan Cramer, David Branch and Mike Dolce and hopefully soon Rick Hawn. Dennis’ loses are none to bicker about. Taking on all comers, nicknamed “The Menace” Olson plays into that roll frequently in the cage. More of a bully Dennis Olson is a powerful striker that throws punches as if they’re cinder blocks falling on your head from a building if you can survive that his ground attack is much the same. Powerful yet very technical Olson possesses a ground game to be jealous of. He makes beating your ass an Art. How many 170lb fighters walk at 210lbs and can drag an F150 with its E-Brake on? This fight is not for anything very interesting and the fans win hear.

155lb Light weight Championship
John Benoit 9-2 (Renzo Gracie NH) vs Josh Hersey 4-1 (Cage Strikers)

John Benoit has arrived in the GFL and instantly looks to fight the best they have to offer. The Renzo Gracie Purple belt trained under Kru Tim Barchard and BJJ black belt Kevin Landry brings so many tangibles to the cage. Once a former state champion wrestler Benoit has traded in his wrestling shoes for boxing gloves and a Gi. The ever-evolving 155lber shows us something different he’s been working on in every fight. Wrestling his way to victory in his first few fights, he then proved his submission skills were something to take notice of, then with a his last few fights Benoit has shown some serious striking that has taken notice of one man in particular. Josh Hersey sprung on the scene in GFL 1 and from there took over the 155lb division in the GFL, as he knew it. With the recent success for Hersey he’s proved himself a top 155lber in the area. Hersey is a monster at 155. Walking around at 185lbs on a regular basis Hersey has got to be one of if not the largest 155er in New England. A traditional boxer with great takedown defense and an ever-approving jiu jitsu game, Hersey poses a very big threat to Benoit. Hersey is undefeated at lightweight and his only loss coming at 170 was a controversial stoppage at the hands of Ralph Johnson 6-1. Benoit has yet to be tested standing and Hersey should pack plenty of punch for him come fight night.

245lb Heavyweight fight
Cody Lightfoot 4-1 (Seacoast) vs Kym Sturdivant 4-2 (America Fight Team)

In what should be one of the more interesting fights of the night, Kym Sturdivant bumps up to Heavyweight and meets arguably one of New England’s toughest Heavyweight fighters Cody Lightfoot 4-1 of Seacoast BJJ. An American Fight Team product, Kym Sturdivant 4-2 is a well-rounded dangerous fighter. A seasoned veteran himself Sturdivant will look to impose his will on the ground with the giant wrestler. Kym will be a great test for Lightfoot as this may be the first time he’s fought anyone just as good as he on the ground. Sturdivant poses a severely dangerous GnP game and threatens submissions like a welterweight.
Lightfoot will have a size advantage here for sure but Kym will bring the speed. Looking to capitalize with his wrestling Lightfoot will most likely try to take this fight to the ground and force Kym to work off his back. Cody’s lone loss came via Randy Smith in a war at Combat Zone where Randy was able to neutralize Cody’s takedowns and control the stand-up for three rounds.
No matter how you look at it this fight will be exciting to watch.

150lb Catch weight
Jeremy Ross 3-2 (Gladiator BJJ/AFT) vs Justin Homsey 7-1 (Renzo Gracie NH)

This Fight falls at a catch weight of 150lbs. Ross the much larger of the two stands 6’1” and is a purple belt in BJJ under Gladiator Santos. Ross’ record is deceiving, losing only to John Benoit in his debut and Brent Kinberger. To say the least Jeremy only takes tough fights. Once a welterweight, then a lightweight, Ross is making his move to featherweight now. What a better way than to take on the Featherweight champion? Ross should pose a decent threat to Homsey. Couple his 3 in reach advantage with an equally impressive purple belt in jiu jitsu and we’ve got a match.
Justin Homsey is on a tear. Plain and simple, no one has come close to defeating him since a loss to WEC veteran John Franchi. Homsey is the most skilled 145lb fighter in New England. A two tip purple belt and a state champions wrestling pedigree make Homsey a beast on the ground. Justin’s ever-evolving striking attack will most likely be on display here as both purple belts may turn this into a stand-up war.

185lb Middleweight Bout
Chris “The Ego” Fisette 3-3 (Seacoast) vs Ben Hudson 3-2 (Cage Strikers)

This Fight is sure to please. No matter how this fight goes down everyone is a winner. The Ego and Ben Hudson are both GFL grown athletes. Neither fighter has strayed from the organization from its inception, and for all that follow, you know this will be an unbelievable fight!
From day 1 Ben Hudson has been a GFL highlight reel by him self. The kick from clear across the ring to Brent Bergeron’s face started it all. Couple that with countless KO’s in amateur boxing and another in MMA. This man is dangerous. If you don’t love this kid already, He donates his purses to charity when he fights! This time around Hudson will donate to Chucky’s Fight (www.chuckysfight.com)
Never a boring fighter, The Ego dubbed his name by GFL CEO Scott Millette for his….well, quite frankly very big EGO…. A star was born….locally. In All seriousness, Fisette is a very dangerous fighter. The EGO has evolved into a very well rounded fighter. A background in traditional martial arts such as Karate, and a very solid wrestling base, Fisette has demonstrated some slick BJJ in most of his fights as well. Fighting top ten 185lber Scotty Nichols to a decision Fisette returns to a more natural and obtainable weight at middleweight. This is the Ego’s fight to lose hear as he bring more tools to the table than Ben. As said in his hype video The Ego needs just one minute to beat Hudson and he can have the other 14. Ben, simply put is a showstopper. At any given time no matter how the fight is going Ben Hudson can land a punch to knock you dead.

135lb Bantamweight Bout
Trevor Stone 3-3 (Seacoast) vs Yann Oliviera 1-0 (Renzo Gracie NH)

Trevor Stone is a mainstay in the GFL at bantamweight. Stone’s record doesn’t reflect how good he really is. A BJJ blue belt under Jimmy Deluca this bantamweight has been fighting since the days of the WFL in Laconia. Trevor’s losses are credited to Andre Nevski, and Pedro Gonzalez. Andre is gone now but was a top 155er when he was around. Pedro is now considered top 3 in NE. Trevor brings a very slick ground game and known as a gamer. He’ll take a fight anytime anywhere.
Yann Oliveira is relatively unknown at just 1-0 but the Renzo Gracie fighter is a prodigy in the making. The young Brazilian showed us in a mere 40 seconds against Christian Rivera what he aims to do in the 135lb class at GFL 7. A training partner of GFL Bantam weight champion Matt Smith, Yann has no problem making it very difficult for people to get a shot a Matt without going through him first.
This will be your classic grappler vs striker match-up when Stone looks to take this fight to the ground and Oliveida wants to make another example of someone with his vicious Mauy Thai strikes.

Rounding out the rest of the bouts GFL has 3 UNH students fighting on the card.

Matt Smith (GFL Bantamweight Champion)’s father making his MMA debut.

2 time Mass State Champ wrestler and 2-0 MMA Brandon Fleming Makes GFL Debut

Aaron Smith 4-0 amateur finds himself in an amateur title contention

Cousin to Dan Bonnell, Billy Bonnell makes his awaited MMA debut

GFL 9
UNH Whittemore Center

135lb GFL Bantamweight Championship
135 Pedro Gonzalez 6-3 (DWMMA) vs Matt Smith 7-2 (Renzo NH)

170lb GFL Middleweight Championship
170 Dennis Olson 11-5 (Gracie Barra) vs Tom Moreau 5-2-1 (Valor)

170 Brandon Cyr 2-0 (Terry Dow) vs Nick Rivera 2-0 (UNH/ Renzo NH)

Hwt Cody Lightfoot 4-1 (Seacoast) vs Kym Sturdivant (AFT)

155lb GFL Lightweight Championship
155 Josh Hersey 4-1 (Cage Strikers) vs John Benoit 8-2 (Renzo NH)

185 Chris Fisette 3-3 (Seacoast) vs Ben Hudson 2-1 (Cage Strikers)

Intermission

150 Jeremy Ross 3-2 (AFA) vs Justin Homsey 7-1 (Renzo)

135 TBA vs Josh Bourque 3-2 (Cage Strikers)

135 Trevor Stone 3-3 (Seacoast) vs Yann Oliveira 1-0 (Renzo NH)

155 Devin Powell 1-1 (Seacoast) vs Ryan Thomas Clark 0-0 (UNH)

145 Brandon Fleming 2-0 (SSSF) vs Austin Perault 0-0 (Cage Strikers)

185 Keegan Hornstra 1-4 (Maniac) vs Billy Bonnell 0-0 (Bonnell)

155 Aaron Smith 3-0 (Seacoast) vs Christian Fenderson 1-0 (Havok)

155 Bobby Flynn 2-1 (Pro Elite) vs Adam Gaudreault 0-1 (Valor/UNH)

145 Colton Blanchette 0-0 (Cage Strikers) vs Gordan Smith 0-0 (Smitty’s)