The 18-foot by 21-foot caged hexagonal mat was surrounded by an audience of nearly 300 people at the fighting event in Little Bear East's conference room. The mat was made of wood, wire fencing, and reinforced with padding to protect fighters. Ricky Bedell of St. Ignace earned his first victory in a mixed martial arts cage match against Robert McCory of Sault Ste. Marie. It was one of about 10 matches that were enjoyed by nearly 300 people at St. Ignace's Little Bear East Arena and Community Center Saturday, November 1.

Mr. Bedell, whose overall record now stands at 1-1 in mixed martial arts fighting, needed only one round to defeat Mr. McCory, who was participating in his first official bout.

Another Eastern Upper Peninsula fighter, earning his fifth victory, was Joe Pine of Rudyard, whose record now stands at 4-1. Mr. Pine's match-up with firsttimer Josh McLarahmore of Sault Ste. Marie was the event's first match.

An 18-foot by 21-foot hexagonal caged mat was placed in the conference room of the Little Bear East facility, providing a close-up view of the matches for spectators. The event was coordinated by MUTT MMA Fight Club's Jamie Stelmaszek of St. Ignace. Mr. Stelmaszek was also the referee for each fight.

Referee Jamie Stelmaszek lifts the hand of Ricky Bedell of St. Ignace, who earned his first career victory in a mixed martial arts (MMA) match against Sault Ste. Marie's Robert McCory, during a cage fighting event held in St. Ignace Saturday, November 1. Mr. Stelmaszek, a former MMA fighter and owner of MUTT MMA Fight Club, coordinated the event. Many fighters came from the Eastern Upper Peninsula, including St. Ignace, Rudyard, Sault Ste. Marie, Kinross, and other areas, such as Alpena, Harrison, Petoskey, Onaway, and Black River.

When one fighter, 320-pound Keith Sterly of Petoskey, did not compete owing to his challenger backing out, the announcer sought any challengers from the crowd, however, there were no takers.

Types of fighting presented at the event included mixed martial arts, kick boxing, and submission.

Some fights were canceled and others rescheduled with lastminute changes owing to some fighters backing out, making the evening shorter than expected, said Scott Marshall, director of St. Ignace's Recreation Department and facility coordinator of Little Bear East.

Spectators at St. Ignace's cage fighting event got an up-close view of the action in Little Bear East's conference room. Here, Onaway's Steve Milliron (bottom) locks in an arm hold on his opponent, Nathaniel Segar of Kinross, in a martial arts competition. Mr. Milliron, who is a 155-pound Ruffhouse title holder, won the match. Another cage fighting event in Gaylord, which was held the same time, said Mr. Marshall, may have affected the number of fighters available to participate in St. Ignace.

"I think we had a very good turnout for it being the first time held in St. Ignace," said Mr. Stelmaszek. "I'm looking forward to the next event."

Mr. Stelmaszek plans to hold an MMA cage fighting event in St. Ignace every other month, with the next one scheduled for January 10, 2009.

Some adjustments will be made for the next event, such as the caged mat will raised higher to allow spectators in the back rows to get a better view, and the Recreation Department will provide better sound for background music during the fights and intermissions.