The Tribune

LIVE Mixed Martial Arts made a spectacular return to the country with Bahamas Open Martial Arts Championship 4: The Striker's Quest.

Bahamian Giovanni Johnson made his successful pro debut at home and Matthew Colquhoun of Jamaica continued his dominance in the region to headline the card, hosted August 3 at the Melia Resort.

The event featured fighters from Angola, Jamaica, Turkey and the United States who competed alongside top local talent.

Fighting styles on the night included MMA, Muay Thai kickboxing, Chinese kickboxing, boxing and amateur grappling.

Johnson continued his undefeated run at BOMAC events with a second-round knockout of Pedro Cassoma at the 2:44 mark.

In the opening round, Cassoma looked to establish himself early with kicks, but Johnson's reach began to play a factor in his ability to counter and strike from distance.

Johnson kept his challenger at bay and avoided those kicks early in the second round. Both fighters scored knockdowns early in the round, Johnson on a strike and Cassoma on a sweep before Johnson landed the winning blow on a counter punch.

"If it's one thing that I've learned through my years of training, it's that the tide of a fight can change with one punch. I've never been one to swarm my opponent with strikes.

"I like to pick my shots, make them count. So when I saw the opening for the lead hook, I threw it every time," Johnson posted to his official Facebook page.

"My teammates say I'm annoying to stand in front of because I don't like to make the first move. I really don't. I want you to throw what you have at me, then I want to return it to you. And that's exactly what happened here. I was the more patient fighter. I made sure my strikes landed. I found my opening. I didn't hesitate. I pulled the trigger, and I came out on top."

Johnson has won both of his previous appearances at BOMAC events. At BOMAC 1 he defeated TJ Miller via Submission and at BOMAC 3 he won by decision over Douglas Wilder. Calquhoun defeated Emre Orun of Turkey in one of the quickest bouts on the card via submission (armbar) at the 3:53 mark in the first round.

Just over two weeks after his gold medal performance at the Pan American Sambo and Combat Sambo Championships in Mexico, Calquhoun was back in the ring despite an injured left hand.

"The fight was awesome. It was pretty short. I came out very strong, I didn't wait on him to take the initiative. I wanted to end the fight very fast," he said. "It was a pretty short night. I wanted to make pretty short work of this. I didn't want to risk injuring the hand any further. It was amazing. It was good."

It was the second BOMAC win for Culquhoun after a win over Isaacs at BOMAC 1.

In the heaviest weight class on the card, Marcian Tucker and Berke Orun of Turkey promised fireworks at the weigh-in and they delivered in the cage.

Tucker was the aggressor early and landed several strikes early on that forced Orun to the canvas early and often. He survived the first round bell, but Tucker capitalised on a ground and pound opportunity before a referee stoppage at the 1:06 mark in the second.

Tucker made a successful return to the ring since a KO win over Floyd Moxam at BOMAC 1.

The Oruns were unable to continue their success from BOMAC 3 where they both recorded wins.

Kyle Chin of Jamaica defeated Tyson Issacs when the referee stopped the fight 26 seconds into the third round.

Isaacs appeared in his fourth BOMAC event, with a 2-2 record thus far. At BOMAC 1 he lost to Colquhon, at BOMAC 2 defeated Rohann Exctain via TKO and at BOMAC 3 he defeated Denez Jones.

Cameron Lewis defeated McNeil Newton via referee stoppage in the third round for his second consecutive BOMAC win and the second consecutive loss for Newton.

The cage fight event is billed as a part of the larger BOMAC Championships which began in 2010.

BOMAC traditionally features open forms and weapons tournament, point and continuous fighting, amateur Sanda/Sanshou, Pankration, grappling and amateur MMA.

BOMAC has hosted over 500 competitors from 11 countries in its history.

In addition, it also hosts various martial art seminars by world-class instructors.

In April 2015 BOMAC Cage Fights 1 featured seven bouts at Mario's Bowling and Family Entertainment Palace. BOMAC 2: The Revenge took place in August 2015 at the British Colonial Hilton in August 2015. A total of 11 bouts were featured on the card including the first female MMA cage match in Bahamian history featuring Melanie "Bear Traps" Camden against Gillian "Savage" Robertson. BOMAC 3: King of the Ring was hosted December 2015 at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.