Vermont MMA legend Rex Thompson and his Donnybrooke Fight Promotions rolls into the Barre Civic Center in Barre, Vermont Saturday night with a stacked fight card as the only sanctioned MMA promotion in Vermont presents Battle of Barre 6. New England MMA would love to give a huge shout out here to undefeated NEF amateur Welterweight; Christian Barrett (2-0, 2 first round knockouts) who stepped up and helped us with the coverage of Saturday night's Battle in Barre 6. Christian gives us some MMA veteran insight on just how he believes these eleven matchups will play out, follow along below as Christian Barrett breaks down tomorrow night's fight card!
Main Event:
Matt ”Pretty Boy” Probin ( Recon Fitness) vs Mike Taylor (Underestimated MMA)
165lb Muay Thai Bout
In the Main event of the night we have striking savant Matt Probin moving up 20 lbs to take on the always exciting Mike Taylor. It will be interesting to see how the former featherweight will handle competing with the additional weight but despite this move in weight class Probin will be the taller fighter by an inch. Anyone who has ever seen “The Blackpool Ripper” in action knows they can look forward to a technical display of the “art of 8 limbs” come main event time tomorrow night. Mike Taylor will be looking to make his professional Muay Thai debut but is no stranger to the pro striking scene having competed in two pro boxing bouts last year. And if there wasn’t already certainty that this main event was going to be action packed, Mr. Taylor is a warrior that win or lose always goes out on his shield with only two of his 30 some odd combat sports bouts going to the score cards. For the fans of finishes, I don’t see this one going to the scorecards either.
Josh “The Hitman” Hardy (0-2, Independent) vs Bruce “Braveheart” Richards (0-1, Independent)
145 lbs Pro MMA Bout
In the co main event we have the young up and comer Josh Hardy and the long time Vermont MMA Veteran Bruce Richards battling it out for their first pro victory. Josh Hardy is making his first foray into the Vermont professional MMA scene after starting his professional career in 2021 with a two fight stint under the banner of the UFC Fight Pass partnered CES MMA. Although his first two pro bouts didn’t go Josh’s way, these losses should be taken with a grain of salt; with one loss coming at the hands of regional stud Tom Pagliarulo and the other coming by way of Tyrime Da Silva’s patented Guillotine. Claiming victory in Josh’s third bout will be no easier, having to try to do so at the hands of savvy veteran Bruce Richards. Don’t let Bruce Richards 0 and 1 record fool you, he is one of the most veteran fighters on the Vermont MMA scene, having a 35 fight amateur career before taking his first pro bout in 2014. Since then he's had close to 20 more amateur striking/custom rule set bouts among VT promotions resulting in Bruce winning a local lightweight muay thai belt. After a pro boxing debut last year, Richards is ready for his long awaited pro MMA return. Both men are well rounded, with a majority of their victories coming by way of submission, however both have a tendency to try to keep the fight on the feet, so I expect that’s where this fight will take place. Needless to say both men are very hungry for their first Pro W.
Coty Allen (Plattsburgh Combat Sports) vs Donald Walton (Saratoga MuayThai/ Northeast BJJ)
170lb Amateur Muay Thai Title Bout
Set to battle for the Welterweight title fight we have Coty Allen, who is no stranger moving around weight classes having fought from 125 to 155 so far in his MMA career, yet again moving up in weight to take on Donald Walton. Coty Allen is looking to carry on the same winning trend he started in his amateur Muay Thai debut. Yet trying to close the distance to impose his boxing may be a difficult task against a much longer opponent. Donald Walton is also coming into the fight with a 1 and 0 record with his lone Muay Thai win coming against one half of Battle in Barre 6’s Main event Mike Taylor. Walton, having trained at Kings MMA under the great Rafael Cordeiro since his last Muay Thai bout, will be looking to show his growth at his opponents expense. Both guys like to move forward so it should be entertaining for as long as it lasts.
Felipe Gunter (4-0, First Class MMA) vs AJ Barton (1-0, Black Hole Jiu Jitsu)
145lb Amateur MMA Title Bout
In the Featherweight title fight we have one of the hottest bantamweight prospects in New England; Felipe Gunter vs FAA/ Black Hole submission artist AJ Barton. Although formerly competing at flyweight Barton apparently asked for a fight weight of 145 here, it will be interesting to see how much muscle he packed on to force the move up two weight classes. That muscle coupled with his Purple Belt in jiu-jitsu could make Mr. Barton a real submission threat. The other half of this title fight is current NEF Amateur Bantamweight Champ and #1 ranked amateur bantamweight in New England; Felipe Gunter. Gunter is looking to bring yet another belt home to the stable of fighters at First Class MMA in Brunswick, Maine. Felipe is no stranger to submission victories compiling three of his own against regional studs Schuyler Vaillancourt(x2) and Teddy Politis. Despite the submission victories Felipe usually keeps the fight on the feet with a majority of his submission victories coming directly after a knockdown.
Mike Morris (0-1, Granite City MMA) vs Henry Finck (0-0, Vermont Martial Arts Academy)
145lb Amateur MMA Bout
Mike Morris looks to get his first Amateur win after coming up short in his debut, at just 18 years old, last year. The promising Morris had his opponent, Mike Caron of regional powerhouse gym; South Shore Sportfighting, rocked in his debut at Battle of Barre 5, before he was eventually stopped due to strikes. Finck will be making his MMA debut tomorrow night coming out of Vermont Martial Arts Academy.
Tyree King (Debut, Granite City MMA) vs Cody Toby (2-2)
155lb Amateur MMA Bout
Cody Toby will be coming back for his first fight in nearly four years to take on a debutant with an interesting combat sports background. Cody Toby likes to utilize a diverse attack, as shown in his last win where he used his wrestling to get his opponent to the mat before rocking him on the feet to get the stoppage. He'll need every bit of that wrestling to ward off the shots and clinchwork of Tyree King. King not only has a wrestling background but a good handful of fights under the STREETBEEFS banner (on YouTube) using the Alias "FETTY." King uses his strikes at range to open up his wrestling and once on top he likes to impose vicious ground and pound.
Kyra Lee (Combat Fitness) vs Paige Shutter (Fusion MMA)
145lb Amateur Muay Thai Bout
Paige Shutter looks to get back into action after three years off from competition. In Shutters last time out she claimed her first Amateur MMA victory by landing a vicious straight right hand that earned her a 13 second TKO at Ground and Pound promotions. Kyra Lee is making her Amateur Muay Thai Debut and is fighting out of Combat Fitness. Shutter is moving up from flyweight to featherweight for this match, so we'll see how she deals with the larger opponent.
Derek Meunier (0-0, UFAI) vs Tim Walsh (0-0, Independent)
135lb Amateur MMA Bout
Derek Meunier will be coming back after a six year layoff and after dropping an impressive 50lbs from his last competition weight to make this a Bantamweight bout. Derek has had a few Muay Thai bouts but this will be his Amateur MMA debut. After starting his Muay Thai career with a 1st round finish, he then fell short contending for a pair of regional Middleweight titles, he'll be looking to bounce back against the nearly unknown Independent; Tim Walsh.
Mike Dyer (Burgess MMA) vs Austen Allen (Plattsburgh Combat Sports)
170lb Amateur Muay Thai Bout
Austen Allen will be making his Muay Thai debut after an unsuccessful bid in his Amateur MMA debut. We didn’t get to see much of Mr. Allen’s stand up in his MMA debut, although he started off both rounds swinging, almost all of his first fight ended up being spent on the ground. Mike Dyer will also be looking for his first combat sports victory after a tough first fight with the undefeated Colin Brennan at Battle In Barre 4. Dyer did make a good impression however, landing extended combinations with his hands anytime his opponent gave him space. This one could very well be a slugfest.
David Klemis (Burgess MMA) vs James Hebert (Independent)
Amateur Muay Thai bout
Both fighters are making their combat sports debuts and are virtually unknown.
Ryan Sweeney (0-0, 518 Muay Thai) vs Terrohn Richardson (0-0, Rutland BJJ)
Amateur MMA Bout
Both Fighters are making their amateur MMA debuts and are virtually unknown.
Once again New England MMA would like to thank Christian Barrett for helping our team continue to provide coverage of all the New England MMA action. Christian came to us last weekend hoping that he could offer some help getting some of these young amateur fighters shine and he did just that with his research and breakdown of Battle in Barre 6 and we hope to have Christian providing content and insight on the site moving forward, Thank you Christian.
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