Carson Beebe recently signed to the Texas based Legacy Fighting Championship and will be making his promotional debut on February 24th against Tim Snyder. His bantamweight bout will be apart of the televised portion of the card on HDNet.

Beebe has put together three straight victories since trying to get onto The Ultimate Fighter. After losing his fight against Johny Bedford to enter the house, Beebe returned to the Chicagoland area to add more fights under his belt.

In August he competed at Rockford Cage Fights where he submitted Matt Wycoff via armbar in the second round. He then put together back-to-back decision victories over Dan Aguirre and Lloyd Carter at Chicago Cagefighting Championship 4 and XFO 42 respectively. Beebe has stated that he is only looking for difficult fights against fighters with more experience than him.

He will get that when he fights Tim Snyder on February 24th. Snyder is looking to rebound from his current two-fight losing skid after suffering submission losses to Frank Gomez and Douglas Frey. Snyder is known for his powerful hands as he has finished five opponents by way of knockout or technical knockout.

Other notable fighters on the card include Pat Audinwood and Gerald Harris.

(G2) Gilbert Grappling, Chase Beebe and Clay Guida

XFO 42 took place on Saturday December 10 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.  Joey Hill was on hand and cage side to take pictures of the historic event. Click on the title to view the gallery.

Click to view the photos…

XFO 42 took place at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, IL, on December 10th, 2011.  The night of action saw eight amateur bouts and eleven professional fights.  Read on for the full recap of the professional fights as well as quick results of the amateur bouts.

Anthony Goodwin vs Robert Couillard

The fighters felt each other out on the feet early. Goodwin finished a double-leg take-down into Couillard’s guaround Coullard returned to his feet and Goodwin went for another takedown, but was smashed with a vicious knee instantly knocking him out. Couillard pounced with a huge hay-maker to an unconscious Goodwin before the ref intervened.

Johnny Coleman vs Chris Haney

Coleman caught a Haney flying knee and took his opponent down early. Haney gained top position, and passed Coleman’s guard to back mount. He flurried, and Coleman tapped out due to strikes.

Will Serment vs Vince Ramos

Vince Ramos shot early and briefly got Serment’s back. The fighters exchanged positioning, and Ramos wound up on top. Ramos passed to half guard, and remained on top for the majority of round 1. Round one went to Ramos, 10-9

Ramos was all over Serment with a wrestling attack. Serment is able to earn top position, and passed to half guard. Ramos powered up and returned to Serment’s guard. Serment swept to the top position and the round ended there. It was a debatable round, but we will edge it out to Serment, 10-9

Serment came out throwing heavy punches and snapping kicks, and shot on Ramos. Ramos again proved to the be the superior wrestler and pressed Serment into the fence. A long, stalled-out shot was finished by Ramos, eating up the entire second half of the round. Serment wins the final round on the early flurry, 10-9

Ed Blake vs Matt Tobie

Big kicks from Blake opened the round. He clinched Tobie against the fence and went for a trip take-down. Tobie twisted and landed on top in half guard, but Tobie was swept and Blake passed to mount. A buck of the hips created a scramble for Tobie, and he returned to his feet. The fighters clinched, and Blake successfully tripped Tobie to the ground. Blake improved his position twice and blasted Tobie with a big right hand before the round ended, winning it, 10-9

Blake hammered Tobie with a big right hand early, collapsing his opponent to the canvas. Tobie survived and stood to a clinch. Blake took Tobie down, but Tobie swept him and scrambled to take his back. Blake stood up to avoid, and the fighters exchanged take-downs. Blake was on top, delivering knees, as the horn signaled the end of the round. The round went to Blake, 10-9

Tobie opened up with a flurry, stunning Blake with a right hand. Blake got a take-down, and Tobie nearly tapped him with a guillotine. Tobie swept him with the near choke and flurried from mount, with multiple points near a stoppage. Blake survived the onslaught and stood to a clinch. “10 seconds” was yelled out to the cage, and Tobie breaks away in a flurry, hurting Blake. The round ended before Tobie could capitalize. Tobie wins the third round handily, 10-8, meaning that mmarecap as this one a 28-28 draw

Brandon Wood vs Joey Diehl

The fighters traded glancing one-twos to open. Diehl nodded to the sound of his coach and unleashed a vicious combination. Wood turtled up and was pounded out for a quick stoppage.

Danny Rodriqez vs Adam Ward

Ward stormed out and started putting his hands on Rodriqez, hurting him with a right hand and taking him down with a double leg. Rodriquez stood up, but was blasted with a head kick soon after. He survived, stood again, and was met with a straight cross, knocking him out cold.

Kent Rexford vs Darren Jacoby

The fighters circled early and Rexford delivered snapping leg kicks. Rexford pressed in with punches and Jacoby was clinched against the fence. Jacoby began opening up with his punches and dropped Kent with a big shot. Rexford survived and stood, but got into a firefight with Jacoby. Jacoby landed a full-force right hand, collapsing Rexford to the canvas.

Chase Beebe vs Lloyd Carter

Beebe opened with aggressive striking, but Carter was getting the better of him with quick hooks. Beebe shot and wrestled his opponent to the mat. He took his back and worked him with punches for the rest of the round. Beebe won it, 10-9

Carter began the round with his hands low, circling away from Beebe. Beebe threw a flurry and quickly took Carter down, passing his guard and dominating the grappling. Carter stood, and when Beebe shot on him he locked up a tight guillotine. Beebe stacked him and pressed, surviving the position to end up in guard. He passed and dominated from the top position to win the round, 10-9

Carter tried to suck Beebe into a striking match, waving him in, but Beebe had none of it, finishing a double-leg early. Beebe took the back and controlled the position, later in the round taking mount. Carson was able to stand, but Beebe suplexed him, providing what was surely the highlight of the fight. The round ended, Beebe taking it 10-9, and the fight 30-27

Brandon Adamson vs Kevin Knabjian

The fighters exchanged early, and Knabjian ducked under a head kick from Adamson. Adamson attempted a heel hook, failed, and Knabjian started landing heavy shots. He passed to side control, locked up a kimura, and cranked it for the tap.

Danny Aguirre vs Jake Grigson

Aguirre pressed in with fast punches, but was met with a driving double leg from Griggson. Griggson elevated him and dropped him on the mat, landing in side control. Aguirre returned to his feet, and lit Grigson up with a vicious flurry. Grigson caught a knee and wrestled Aguirre to the mat, only to be caught in a reverse triangle. With a few seconds remaining, Grigson broke free and stood over Aguirre, delivering kicks to his legs and being weary of up-kicks. Aguirre won the opening round, 10-9

Round two opened up with a bang as both fighters pressed and exchanged. Grigson shot and Aquirre answered with rubber guard. He elbowed Grigson repeatedly, and then hit a tight armbar forcing the tap.

Mike Marrello vs Miodrag Petkovich

It wasn’t hard to tell who the hometown hero was as the heavyweights made their way to the cage. A steady “Boo” rang throughout the area as Petkovich walked to the cage. It was followed by an enormous, thundering cheer for Marrello.

Marello opened with a big right hand and take-down attempt, stuffed by Petkovich who snatched a guillotine. Marrello broke free and the heavyweights exchanged, ending in a clinch. Marrello had double under-hooks but did not secure a body lock or do anything with them, and thus the fighters were broken apart. They exchanged single shots back and fourth for the rest of the round, and Marello won it, 10-9

Marello pressed into Petkovich, clearly the more aggressive striker early. Petkovich made him pay for his aggression, catching Marrello with a counter. Marrello shot in on a rushing Petkovich to stay alive, and he recovered. The fighters took center cage again, with momentum shifting from Petkovich to Marrello as the round wore on. At the bell, Marrello caught Petkovich with a clean one-two. Still, Petkovich won the round, 10-9

A clinch was initiated by Marrello early, pressing Petkovich into the fence and landing short body shots. The fight returned to the center, and Petkovich hammered Marrello with a powerful punch. He pounced on his hurt opponent, trying to finish the hometown hero, but Marrello survived and clinched Petkovich to recover. Exchanges and some brief clinch-work again ensued. The ref broke a stalled clinch, and after some brief striking, the round ended. Petkovich won the final frame, 10-9, and the fight, 29-28

Amateur quick results
Stephon Vonaulock defeated Jake Klipp by technical knockout at 1:13 of round 2
Josh Estrada defeated Mike O’Conner by unanimous decision
Alonzo Fuller defeated Tommy Hawley by unanimous decision
Zach Ottow defeated Oliver Vazquez by Unanimous Decision
Pat O’Conner defeated Eddie Escobar by triangle choke at 1:30 of round 1
Andre Feliciano defeated David Williams by unanimous decision to become the new XFO flyweight amateur champion
Cory Galloway defeated Pedro Velasco by arm bar at 1:11 of round 2 to become the new XFO featherweight amateur champion
Richard Dey defeated Vince Romadine via body kick knockout at 3:54 of round 1 to become the new XFO bantamweight amateur champion

Professional quick results
Danny Aguirre defeated Jake Grigson via armbar at 2:19 of round 2
Miodrag Petkovich defeated Mike Marrello by unanimous decision
Kevin Knabjian defeated Brandon Adamson via kimura at 1:44 of round 1

Carson Beebe defeated Lloyd Carter via unanimous decision

Darren Jacoby defeated Kent Rexford, via KO at 4:13 of round 1

Adam Ward defeated Danny Rodriguez via KO at 2:00 of round 1

Joey Diehl defeated Brandon Wood via TKO 0:47 of round 1

Ed Blake defeated Matt Tobie via majority decision

Guillermo Serment defeated Vince Ramos via unanimous decision

Chris Haney defeated Johnny Coleman tap via strikes at 2:25 of round 1

Robert Couillard defeated Anthony Goodwin, KO-Knee at 3:22 of round 1

<h5>Injuries abound have forced changes to this weekend’s XFO 42 event at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.  Chris Tickle injured his shoulder and had to withdraw from his fight with Will Brooks.  A replacement is being sought out for Brooks at this time.</h5>

Another injury forced David Sachs out of a highly anticipated fight with Carson Beebe.  Stepping up to fight Beebe on short notice is Llyod Carter.

Other changes have been made in the past two weeks and the full lineup currently looks like:

Mike Marrello vs Miodrag Petkovich
Daniel Aguirre vs Jake Grigson
Kevin Knabjian vs Brandon Adamson
Carson Beebe vs Lloyd Carter
Kent Rexford Jr. vs Darren Jacoby
Adam Ward vs Daniel Rodriguez
Joey Diehl vs Brandon Wood
Matt Tobie vs Ed Blake
Vincent Ramos vs Guillermo Serment
Christopher Haney vs Stanton Gavia
Kenny Booker vs Evian Rodriguez
Anthony Goodwin vs Robert Couillard

Mike Marrello - Photo via Keith Mills for Sherdog

The main event for XFO 42 features a heavyweight bout between Mike Marrello and Miodrag Petkovich. Marrello may not be a name one immediately recognizes, but ask anyone who’s been to an XFO before and they will tell you he put’s on one hell of a show.
Marrello is a Team Curran fighter who has spent most of his career fighting for the Xtreme Fighting Organization. Outside of three fights, one of which was an exhibition bout, his entire career has been fought around the Chicagoland area.

Marrello made his professional debut back at XFO 13 where he needed just 2:31 to lock in a fight ending rear naked choke over Joshua Taibl. Other notables on the XFO 13 card included Jeff Curran taking on Raphael Assuncao, Terry Martin defeating Jason Guida and Matt Fiordirosa battling Justin Robbins.

Marrello followed his first professional victory up with a fight at the next XFO event, this time forcing Bryan Zanders to tap due to strikes in the first round. After the Zanders fight, Marrello got a chance to fight at King of the Cage. He went to battle with Brandon Griffin and won a majority decision.

At XFO 15 Marrello fought Ron Fields to a draw. The fight would linger on Marrello’s mind until nine months later when he defeated Fields by Rear naked choke at XFO 21.

Before reclaiming his draw, Marrello fought three more times. He again fought for King of the Cage and again the victory came by unanimous decision. After that fight he fought at XFO 18 and 20 losing the first to Terry Davinney and winning the second over Fahid Khamo by triangle choke.

Marrello then got a chance to be apart of the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter. His first task was taking on Gerald Harris in the opening round to earn his way into the house. Unfortunately he lost a unanimous decision and wasn’t apart of the show.

His first fight after being so close to joining the ranks of the UFC was against Terry Davinney at XFO 23. This was a rematch for Marrello as his lone loss at XFO 18 came at the hands of Davinney. Unfortunately the outcome of this fight wasn’t much different as he lost in the rematch.

Marrello rebounded from the loss with a three-fight win streak with wins over Johnny George, Lance Harvey and Sherman Pendergarst. In August of 2009 Marrello suffered a TKO loss to Rich Lictawa. After the loss, Marrello decided to take some time away from the sport.

After a two-year hiatus from the sport, Marrello returned to action at XFO 41 against Brad Scholten. Even with the little bit of rain that was coming down at Outdoor War, Marrello was on point. Just past the minute mark of the first round he was able to lock in a rear naked choke over Scholten.

Marrello will now take on Miodrag Petkovich in the main event of XFO 42 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates. Petkovich is a tough heavyweight who trains out with the Serbian Vale Tudo Team. He most recently lost to Ed Carpenter at Chicago Cagefighting Championship when Carpenter caught him in a sneaky modified arm triangle choke.

Photo via Joey Hill (www.joeyhill.com)

In one of the most anticipated fights for XFO 42, Midwest Training Center’s Will Brooks is taking on Chris Tickle in lightweight action. Brooks is arguably one of the hottest prospects to come out of Illinois in a long time, but Tickle has been quietly making a name for himself just four hours south.

Tickle caught MMA Recap’s eye in November of 2010 when he was originally scheduled to meet Vince Ramos at XFO 37. Tickle was coming off a big knockout victory over Jimmy Donahue and had brought his record up to the winning side at the time with his second straight victory, and fifth overall.

Since that time, Tickle has tried to fight top fighters; at one point even scheduled to fight Matt Veach before Veach was forced out of the fight due to contractual obligations for a different promotion. But Tickle persevered and continued to find fights.

In March he took on Steve Berger at Cage Madness MMA in Glen Carbon Illinois. Tickle needed just 56 seconds of the second round before his attacks warranted a referee stoppage. In October he took on former UFC vet Brian Geraghty and earned a unanimous decision over him. The victory is Tickle’s fifth straight with four of those coming via stoppages.

Brooks meanwhile is coming off of his most difficult fight to date against Ryan Bixler at Chicago Cagefighting Championship 4. In the first round an inadvertent eye poke by Bixler sent Brooks running while trying to recover. But Brooks was able to hold onto Bixler and recover. In the second round Brooks immediately took Bixler down and secured his back and locked in a fight ending rear naked choke.

The victory continued Brook’s undefeated streak as he is now 5-0 all by way of a stoppage.

This fight has a lot of potential riding on it and should not only entertain the fans, but also the brass at the top promotions seeking to find one of the hottest prospects Illinois has to offer.

XFO 42 takes place on Saturday, December 10 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Photo via Joey Hill (www.joeyhill.com)

Many people think that just because a fighter is smaller, he won’t have knockout power. And while that can be true of a fair number of fighters, don’t tell that to Chris Haney or Stanton Gavia. While both fighters are early in their career, both have faced tough resilient fighters and shown they have the power to send their opponent to the canvas.

The fight between Haney and Gavia is going to be contested at just 130lbs and will likely be one of the fasted paced fights of the night. Haney, a veteran of the Chicago area fight scene has been making a name for himself since turning pro in November of 2010. Gavia has mostly fought across the border in Wisconsin leaving a massive wreck of fighters behind him.

Gavia turned pro in 2008 at Combat USA’s Fight Night. He needed just over a minute to submit Brad Robinson with a guillotine choke and setting the stage for his career. Just eight months later Gavia had one of the hardest fights of his career when he earned a split decision over Jake Omen.

Gavia was then forced to take time off from fighting after being in a near fatal car accident. He suffered a massive neck injury and had surgery on his neck. It took nearly two years of rehab and recovery, but then he got the all clear to start training and fighting again.

His first fight back didn’t last very long. His opponent Shawn West barely touched Gavia before he was taken down and was eating punches and elbows. The ref had one of the easiest decisions in stopping the fight and awarding Gavia the victory.

Gavia then competed at the Combat USA Illinois State finals a month later against Dave Sachs. The fight did not go his way as Sachs earned a TKO victory. Gavia now with a full training camp is ready to get back on the winning side of the equation.

In his way is the increasingly popular Chris Haney. Haney made his professional debut at Supremacy in November of 2010 losing a unanimous decision. But he was offered a rematch from his amateur days in his second pro fight against Joey Diehl. The first time the two met they were amateurs, but now as professionals their training and conditioning was drastically improved in addition to deadly elbows now being allowed.

Haney was nearly finished by Diehl in the first round, but always managed to escape. In the second round it was again a back and forth submissions and escapes from both fighters. But Haney found his opening and locked on a triangle choke and force Diehl to tap.

Haney wanted to prove a point in his next fight at Outdoor War 7 in September. After a delay in the fights due to the weather, Haney was ready to go out and set the stage for the rest of the pro card. Needing just ten seconds, Haney came out with a big leg kick and followed with a high kick that sent his opponent Dexter Wright the canvas completely unconscious.

There’s a lot of potential fight of the night performances on the XFO 42 card, but the fight between Haney and Gavia will likely set the bar extremely high for the rest of the fights.

Photo via Joey Hill (JoeyHill.com)

XFO 42 will be taking place on Saturday, December 10th from the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The night is scheduled to feature fourteen professional mixed martial arts fights in addition to a handful of amateur action. Leading the way on the professional side of the card is a catchweight bout between Carson “Lil Juggernaut” Beebe and Dave Sachs at 140lbs.

Beebe recently signed to fight for the Texas based Legacy Fighting Championship but wanted another fight in his hometown of Chicago before he entered the cage in the Lone Star State. Beebe made a push on his social networking sites to get as many people as possible to spread the #getCarsonXFO tag. The message worked as he is a late addition to the impressive lineup for XFO 42.

Beebe will be riding a two-fight win streak into fight. Most recently he defeated Dan Aguirre at Chicago Cagefighting Championship 4 on October 15. Beebe used his wrestling to prevent Aguirre from landing a big punch. When Aguirre threatened with a submission from the bottom, Beebe set his base and held his position.

Prior to the Aguirre fight, Beebe had a time-lapse with regards to fights. He was called up the UFC to participate on the current season of The Ultimate Fighter, but when he lost his fight to get into the house he was left waiting. Before the first episode aired, Beebe was cleared to fight for Rockford Cage Fights where he defeated Matt Wikoff by armbar in the second round.

Sachs has greatly improving his game over the past year. After starting his career at with a 2-2 record, Sachs has gone on to win five in a row leading up to this fight. He holds a notable victory over Billy Vaughan in 2008. Sachs finished Vaughan in the first round with a triangle choke. Vaughan recently competed at XFO 39 losing in the main event against Jeff Curran.

Sachs took a break from fighting in 2010, but in 2011 he has competed twice for the Wisconsin based Combat USA. Both fights Sachs was able to finish his opponent in the second round. His first fight for the promotion he stopped Stanton Gavia by TKO and his second he submitted Josh Steery by rear naked choke.

While this is a late addition to the card, this is a fight that could have a lot of eyes on it from other organizations.

It’s been nearly two weeks since Will Brooks was in the toughest fight of his career, but he’s already back at the gym training for his next fight.  Brooks is scheduled to meet Chris Tickle at XFO 42, a fight that will take place at the Sears Centre, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.  For his fight with Tickle, MMA Recap is going to check in on Brooks through out the training camp to see how things are going for this fight.

Let’s start off with your most recent win against Ryan Bixler.  That was the toughest fight of your career to date.  In the first round you suffered an accidental eye poke and weathered a storm of punches from Bixler.  You were able to recover after taking him down and held on to him.  How much trouble were you in while he was unloading on you?

Before the fight went to the ground I believe I was in more trouble being that I couldn’t see and he was able to land some very solid shoots. Once I was able to hold him I didn’t feel in trouble as much I was more focused on getting my vision back in my eye.

In the second round you looked extremely fresh compared to Bixler.  And it showed as you took him down again with ease.  I noticed that you took his back, much like you did in your previous two fights, only this time you had to finish with the rear naked choke instead of the armbar.  Did you attempt the armbar or was it just straight for the rear naked choke?

When I took his back I was looking to gain control more than looking for any type of submission. I didn’t really look for any submission in particular I I just took what was presented and at the time it was the rear naked choke.

How much time did you take off before you got back into training for your upcoming fight?

I took about a week off that has kind of been the routine of my last couple of training camps and fights lucky not because of injury but just to rest, relax, and go back home to Gurnee to spend time with my family and friends.

You are scheduled to fight Chris Tickle, have you researched your opponent at all and if so what skills do you think are his best?

Yes I’m scheduled to fight Chris at the XFO 42 I’m very excited for this fight it will be another tough opponent and I look forward to it. I haven’t researched him I don’t really research many of my opponents my coach does most of that for me. It’s works better that way so I can focus on more the training camp I trust my coaches and know that they will put together a great game plan for the fight.

With this training camp is there one thing in particular that you want to improve on with your own skill set?

This training camp will focus on just getting better in every aspect just like previous training camps. We train not to focus on working one thing during training camps because we feel as though it takes away from the instinct to work other aspects of MMA.

Talk to us a bit about the start of training camp.  What’s the schedule like for the first week or two?

The first 2 weeks aren’t too much different from later weeks of the training camp. The only difference is that I’m more just focused on getting some weight off and getting back in the mix of strength and conditioning.

Any sponsors or people you want to thank?

I would like to thank LVRG clothing, GNC in south Elgin, the academy of advanced athletics, and last but not least my family and friends.

XFO 42 is set to take place on Saturday, December 10 at the Sears Centre, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The night of fights will feature a combination of amateur and professional bouts with a scheduled thirteen professional fights.

Included on the professional card are fan favorites Mike Pitz, Kent Rexford, Will Brooks, Adam Ward, Joey Diehl and Kenny Booker. The current card includes:

Mike Marrello vs Miodrag Petkovich
Mike Pitz vs Kent Rexford Jr.
Daniel Aguirre vs TBD
Kevin Knabjian vs Brandon Adamson
Will Brooks vs Chris Tickle
Vincent Ramos vs Guillermo Serment
Adam Ward vs Daniel Rodriguez
Matt Tobie vs Frank Pizzirulli
Joey Diehl vs Joe Voitik
Anthony Goodwin vs Robert Couillard
Andrew Krzeptowski vs Quartus Stitt
Kenny Booker vs TBD
Christopher Haney vs Stanton Gavia

Some fantastic fights on the card that could produce fireworks. Will Brooks will look to hold onto his undefeated record against a very tough Chris Tickle. Tickle has won five straight and finished his opponent four times in those five bouts.

Anthony Goodwin had a successful professional debut in August after a very successful amateur career. Goodwin spent a lot of time as an amateur honing his skills before turning pro.

Tickets are on sale at the Sears Centre box office or at www.xfomma.com

Xtreme Fighting Organization will be making a return to the Sears Centre on December 10. The night of action will be capped off with two heavyweight battles as Bryan Humes will take on Antwjuan "Herc" Hayes in the main event and Mike Marrello will take on Miodrag "Pele" Petkovich in the co-main event.

Several top fighters from the midwest will also be featured on this card including: Daniel Aguirre, Giovanni Moljo, Kent Rexford Jr., Will Brooks, Adam Ward, Matt Tobie, Dennis Dombrow, Greg Reddington, Joey Diehl and Kenny Booker.

XFO 39 was held at the Sears Centre in May of this year and featured a main event of Jeff Curran versus late replacement Billy Vaughan. Curran won the fight and shortly after was called up to the UFC.

XFO 42 takes place on Saturday, December 10. Tickets will be available soon at the Sears Centre box office.