CANMORE – Adam Zekry’s face bared scuffs and stitches following a successful mixed martial arts debut on Saturday (Oct. 19), but the Bow Valley Jiu Jitsu (BVJJ) fighter was immediately back to work hours after the bout.
“I’ve got bills to pay,” Zekry said, after describing some awkward looks customers gave his marked up mug while serving at Bicycle Café on Sunday.
His employers at Bicycle Café and Natural Tree Solutions are supportive in his endeavours though – even if that means being a little black and blue from time to time.
The previous night, Zekry served up fists and kicks to Calgary’s John Moore, and won by unanimous decision in a middleweight (185 lbs.) amateur bout at Rumble In The Cage 62 in Lethbridge.
#Canmore’s Adam Zekry defeats John Moore via unanimous decision at Rumble in the Cage 62. Zekry won rounds 1 and 3 in his amateur debut. #mma #bowvalley pic.twitter.com/W7EJgEdzIA
— Jordan Small (@jordiesmall) October 20, 2019
The inside of the Canmore fighter’s mouth needed four stitches and his foot was a bit sore, but Zekry was otherwise motivated in victory.
Over the course of the three three-minute round fight, Zekry outpointed and bloodied Moore's lip and eyebrow with strikes in the predominately stand up battle.
Though, Zekry got tagged on the chin early in the second with a stunning punch that briefly dropped him down to one knee.
“He clipped me pretty good, but I didn’t feel like I was in danger of the fight being over,” said Zekry, 30. “I made a mistake with my hand … it was good punch and a wake up call to be not overeager. It was my first MMA fight and that was a theme for me, I didn’t want to be too eager.”
Despite being rocked, Zekry regained composure and forced a third and deciding round against the Cardinal MMA fighter. With momentum leading into the final round, Moore hesitated to engage with Zekry after the local “cranked him a couple times” when the Calgary fighter moved forward.
“I got a reasonable background in boxing and Thai boxing and had faith in my boxing ability mostly,” he said.
Zekry worked leg kicks in the round before throwing bombs at Moore’s head. The cut up and bloodied Moore took down the BVJJ fighter in the fading seconds of the fight, but it wasn’t enough on the judges’ scorecards.
Zekry said he’d like to get down to welterweight (170 lbs.) when he takes his next bout and will continue to grow as a martial artist in the meantime.
Travis Erlam, BVJJ head instructor, also fought on the card in a combat jiu-jitsu bout, losing by triangle choke to Calgary’s Sebastian Lopez.
Sebastian Lopez submits #Canmore’s Travis Erlam with a triangle choke at 4:34 in a combat jiu-jitsu bout at #RumbleintheCage62. #banff #bowvalley #mma pic.twitter.com/LIia59JE6i
— Jordan Small (@jordiesmall) October 20, 2019
Contested at 195 lbs., the single 10-minute round was all over at 4:34 when Erlam tapped to the constricting submission. The local purple belt was thrown off his game in the opening seconds after being sliced open at the eyebrow from a standing elbow. Erlam said the ref warned Lopez a few times about elbows, which is an illegal strike.
“It kind of pissed me off and aggravated me and threw me off my game,” said Erlam, 33. “I’m better under calm circumstances and was making rash decisions.”
The rules for combat jiu-jitsu are similar to jiu-jitsu except there are no gis and open hand strikes are legal when one or both fighters are on the ground. In danger of the bout being called off due to the cut, Erlam was overly assertive in trying to take out his opponent.
Lopez scored a double leg takedown on the BVJJ fighter and was unrelenting in his attack of palm strikes and working toward a submission, but Erlam nearly caught him with an armbar during a scramble. Lopez slipped out of the attempt and kept top position on Erlam and eventually secured full mount and locked in the bout-ending triangle from the top.
“I was too aggressive rather than waiting for an opening,” Erlam said. “I wanted [to] choke [out Lopez] and that’s all I was focused on right then and there. The ref said a couple things about the cut and I was going faster than what I wanted.”
Despite the loss, the submission ace wants to return to the combat jiu-jitsu realm.
“I definitely would do it again, no doubt in my mind,” he said. “That’s an experience a lot of people will never get. I didn't feel any pressure, I just wanted to go in and do what I do.”
