P.E.I. fighters score victories on MMA card TC Media photo by Dave Mathieson Richard Arsenault of Wellington applies a hold on Gary Brown of Saint John, N.B., during Saturday night’s mixed martial arts card at Casino New Brunswick in Moncton.

Arsenault defends welterweight title against surprise opponent, Wheeler beats Nova Scotia fighter in the first round in Moncton

By Cole Hobson Canadaeast News Service MONCTON, N.B. — Adam Hazelton made short work of Stephen Clement to win Elite 1 MMA’s vacant lightweight title during the main event of a mixed martial arts card held Saturday night at Casino New Brunswick in front of a sellout crowd of over 1,700 fans. The bout was the final of the wildcard tournament as both fighters had won two previous fights to arrive in the championship bout. Clement (3-2), of Elsipogtog, came out on the offensive in the bout, trying to lock on a heel hook after clinching up with his opponent. Yarmouth’s Hazelton (4-1), was unphased, however, and worked out of the submission hold and went on to rain down heavy punches from half-guard that caused Clement to tap at the 1:14 mark of the first round. The card’s main event was supposed to have featured welterweight champion Richard Arsenault of Wellington, P.E.I., defending his title against challenger Meneka Weva of Moncton. However, promoters were forced to scramble to find a replacement after Weva didn’t show up for the Friday weigh-in. Saint John’s Gary Brown, who sports a 1-1 record as an amateur, valiantly stepped up to make his pro debut against Arsenault. While Brown earned a tremendous amount of respect for stepping up only one day’s notice to face a more seasoned opponent, he was handily beaten by the more experienced Arsenault (7-1) in a 175-pound catchweight bout. Arsenault’s first strike was a left head kick that caught Brown flush and dropped him. Arsenault pounced, getting the mount and looking to finish. Brown survived the champion’s onslaught, but while protecting himself from ground and pound he was left vulnerable for an arm bar, which Arsenault took to get the submission win at 1:38 of the first round. “I had a rough night’s sleep (Friday) night because it’s tough when you prepare so hard for one guy, and at the very last moment you find out you’re going to be fighting someone different,” Arsenault said after his win. “They are calling you all night to ask you about this person, that person. I was happy somebody stepped up. “Gary Brown stepped up and I have high, high respect for that guy stepping up to a 12-hour fight notice. It’s one day, so I appreciate that a great deal. Tough guy.” In other fights: Alderic Keith (5-2) of Moncton defeated Troy DeMerchant (1-2) of Woodstock at 56 seconds of the second round via TKO stoppage in a 170-pound bout. Lenny Wheeler (5-2) of Charlottetown defeated Justin Bourgeois (6-5) of Springhill, N.S., at 21 seconds of the first round via standing guillotine submission in a 145-pound bout. “It was a big guillotine. That was my move for a while until (my coach) started showing me other stuff,” Wheeler said. “I knew he was going to shoot, I thought I could guillotine him. . . I just tried to put him against the cage and hope for the best.” Eric St-Pierre (4-3) of Allardville defeated Steven Rogers (5-4) of Summerside at 4:51 of the first round via TKO in a 160-pound bout. Both men were making a return to the cage after long layoffs, and former lightweight champ Rogers started out strong by landing a head kick that threatened to finish the fight. However, St-Pierre battled through it and with only seconds left in the round landed some heavy left hands while stacked up in his opponent’s guard that forced the ref to jump in and stop the bout. Chris Currie (6-4) of Charlottetown defeated Dan Fowler (4-5) of Moncton at 2:02 of the first round via rear-naked choke in a 185-pound bout. “I just tried to stick to my game plan, and tried to stay relaxed and just tried to get him down,” said Currie. “I knew there was a time I had to get him down and I took it whenever he gave it to me.” The card also featured three amateur bouts: Dany Boudreau (1-0) of Moncton defeated Dan Vanderlinden (0-1) of Fredericton via split-decision in a 155-pound bout. Morgan Rhynes (2-1) of Charlottetown defeated Mike Thorne (0-1) of Fredericton via TKO due to a head kick at 15 seconds of the second round in a 145-pound bout. Issa Seck (1-1) of Moncton defeated Paul Melanson (0-1) of Moncton via TKO due to ground and pound at 14 seconds of the first round in a 205-pound bout.