Mitch Whiley – Adult Men’s FCR Welterweight (147 lb) Champion

Jon Cichon – Adult Men’s K-1 Lightweight (132 lb) Champion

Chris Cichon – Adult Men’s FCR Middleweight (165 lb) Champion

Adam McDermid – Adult Men’s FCR Cruiserweight (189 lb) Champion

Jon Lewis – Team USA vs Team Poland Superfight Winner

Justin Whiley – Head Trainer

The Cellar Fight Team was back in action over the weekend at the KICK/WAKO Nationals in Chicago, IL. The tournament was held to determine the U.S. National Team that will travel to Nice, France for the 2009 WAKO World Championships as well as other international opportunities. Last year Cellar Kickboxing’s Jon Lewis, Adam McDermid, and Neil Osten all won their respective divisions and were selected to travel to Coimbra, Portugal for the 2007 World Championships. This year Neil did not fight as he’s taking some time off due to work commitments and Jon Lewis was not competing in the tournament because he was headlining the event as part of the Team Poland vs. Team USA match-up. For more information on that, click here. But Adam McDermid was once again seeded in the brackets along with Mitch Whiley and Chris Cichon who were looking to earn a spot on the team with their performances.

Cruiserweight Division (189 lbs) – Adam McDermid was seeded #1 in his weight class due to his impressive kickboxing record and currently holding the U.S. Team spot. After a few fighters dropped out of the division last minute Adam received a bye in the first round and fought in the finals Sunday against Demond Landry (8-2/6 KO) from Abilene, Texas. Adam started off clean and smooth as always looking to pick his opponent apart, but the Texan fighter was looking to brawl by any means necessary and even resorted to grabbing Adam by the neck and leg and attempted to throw him across the ring. The dirty fighting only made Adam more focused however, and he came out in the second round throwing beautiful combinations and powerful kicks that dropped Landry to the canvas and forced the ref to stop the fight when Landry had difficulties getting back on his feet. McDermid retains his spot on Team USA with a TKO in round 2 of the finals.

Middleweight Division (165 lbs) – Chris Cichon entered the tournament looking for redemption after a disappointing split decision loss at last years event. At registration time Cichon had the #2 seed in the weight class, but his 3 wins two weeks ago at the IKF World Classic were enough to bump him into the #1 position and gave him a first round bye after one fighter in the division didn’t make weight and two others pulled out. Cichon met Virginia’s Michael Davenport (12-2/2 KO) in the finals Sunday afternoon and was given a very difficult fight. The much shorter fighter from Virginia decided early that he didn’t want to fight on the outside and repeatedly looked to close the distance and tie up with Cichon. It wasn’t a pretty performance, but Cichon was able to land enough kicks and punches between the clinches that scored well with the judges and Cichon won the bout and joined Team USA by unanimous decision.

Welterweight Division (147 lbs) – Mitch Whiley was probably the fighter of the weekend from the Cellar. In the first round he faced Sardor Sodikov (1-0) from Brooklyn, New York. Whiley came out looking sharp in the first round and began to pick his opponent apart. In the second round Sodikov began to drop his left hand and Whiley landed a right leg roundkick with his shin that ended the fight and gave Whiley his first win by knockout. Mitch advanced to the finals against Aaron Swenson (6-1 from Arlington Heights, Illinois) and the fight was added to the undercard of the USA vs Poland event. Swenson traveled with Team USA in 2007 to Coimbra, Portugal and was looking to defend his spot on the prestigious team. Whiley began patiently in the first round against the Illinois fighter and his cautiousness may have cost him the round. But he came out in the second round with newfound confidence as he realized he could fight with the best in America. Whiley brought the fight to Swenson in the second and third rounds and was willing to trade his powerful strikes with Swenson’s speed. When the dust had settled the judges scored the bout in favor of Mitch Whiley by split decision: 29-28, 28-29, and 30-27. Mitch Whiley proved he deserved to be a part of Team USA.

Lightweight K-1 Division (132 lbs) – Jon Cichon joined his older brother and the Cellar Team for the weekend as Jon’s trainer unfortunately could not make the trip (Jon Cichon currently lives in Platteville, WI and trains/fights out of Team Singto and the Dubuque Martial Arts Group in Dubuque, Iowa under Mr. Dean Lessei). Cichon met Tony Jabkul, 2-2 from Strongsville, Ohio in the preliminary round Sunday morning. Both fighters were extremely patient in the ring landing strong leg kicks and quick punches, but Cichon used his reach wisely and advanced t the finals by unanimous decision. In the finals Jon faced Illinois’ Dave Cawall and he immediately looked motivated by his first title fight. Cichon put pressure on Cawall and answered almost every technique the Illinois fighter threw with a counter of his own. Cichon also showed very impressive boxing skills and was able to consistently out-box Cawall. Jon Cichon captured the unanimous decision win and took home his first championship title.

It was a fantastic weekend and everyone from the Cellar Fight Team sincerely appreciates the support from all our friends and family that traveled to Chicago to cheer us on. We would also like to extend a big thank you and congratulations to the other teams and fighters that joined us throughout the weekend. It was a pleasure to fight alongside you all and your friendship made our trip much more enjoyable.

• Jon Cichon – Men’s Lightweight K-1 Champion (Team Singto, Dubuque, IA)
• Stacy Chung – Women’s Lightweight 2nd Place (PMA, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada)
• Scott Legus – Juniors Middleweight 2nd Place (Bloomington Karate, Bloomington, MN)
• Jim Klauba – Men’s Lightweight FCR Champion (JK Fight Team, Chicago, IL)
• Justin Peckels – Boys Light Bantamweight Champion (Eugene, OR)
• Dee Jay Jones – Team USA (Greensborough, NC)
• Nelson Lebron – Men’s Lightweight Low Kick Champion (Craig Smith Kickboxing, Virginia Beach, VA)
• J.R. Gates – MMA Trainer (Bradenton, FL)