Kitchener, ON — BTC 21 started off with a bang, and ended with a couple more.
For the last few years, Burlington, Ontario’s BTC has helped lead the charge for MMA in Ontario, which had largely dried up after the loss of the Score Fighting Series. But Saturday night showed that fight fans in the province need not stray far from home to get their fisticuffs fix.
The seven fight card at The Aud (properly The Kitchener Memorial Auditorium) started off with a bang when featherweight Amin Almelik, with the fitting nickname “Sweet Dreams,” put opponent Victor Jauregui to bed with a perfectly timed knee, followed up with the requisite ground n’ pound. It was over in just 55 seconds.
Improving to 4-2 with the win, the 27-year old has not lost since dropping his first two pro fights, putting him on a four-fight win streak.
The bigger, better known names at the top of the BTC 21 card did not disappoint either. Windsor, Ontario’s Tony Laramie, arguably the top flyweight prospect out of Canada and brother of UFC alum T.J. Laramie, had a short night as well, flooring Daniel Nunez with a right hand and finishing him off in just 33 seconds.
Laramie, like his brother before him, is going places. Quite likely to the UFC, where a red-hot flyweight division awaits. As he told Cageside Press, “I’ve never been in a boring fight, never been in a bad fight.” Now, he added, it’s just a matter of racking up wins.
At 5 foot 2, Laramie is a natural flyweight, one who appears to retain his power without making a drastic cut to 125 pounds. He’s won six straight, and the manner in which he took home the victory on Saturday could very well have the big leagues calling.
Power was on display in the main event as well, where UFC veteran and longtime mixed martial artist Jesse Ronson took just 56 seconds (one second more than Almelik, who opened the card) to put away fellow veteran Ricardo Chavez. The icing on the cake for Ronson, who simply overwhelmed Chavez, raining down bombs until the ref waved things off, was that the BTC welterweight title was on the line.
For Ronson, who exited the UFC on a sour note last year, that’s now four straight wins, and two regional titles.
