The tightly muscled, 205-pound fighter enters the ring and hops to keep warm as his tattooed opponent Huy “M1” Vu emerges, followed by a mass of teammates in white team shirts. After the ring girl shows off the round number, fighters touch fists. The main event of Fight Night Entertainment’s Round V is underway.

Spaulding makes first contact, landing kicks to the left shin of Vu before his left foot finds the side of Vu’s face. The fight moves to the ground as Vu attempts to lock in a submission hold on Spaulding, but he breaks free and unleashes punches and kicks onto Vu unchecked. In one minute, 11 seconds it is all over when Spaulding TKOs Vu with a kick to the head, knocking him to the floor in the first round.

Fans sitting around the elevated ring in folding chairs or standing pressed up against the glass surrounding the Sportsplex’s soccer field erupts into hoots and cheers as the victorious Bellingham fighter is embraced by his corner-man John Keay and coach Cody Houston.

“He can hit like a truck,” said Houston, owner of Bellingham’s West Coast Fight Club, about Spaulding’s punching ability. “And his kicks will literally break your legs.”

The fight was the last of nine matchups witnessed at the fifth “Round” series event. Fight Night Entertainment joined up with West Coast Fight Club to produce the MMA showcase, which featured fighters representing 12 gyms from Northwest Washington and British Columbia, and special guest Krzysztof “The Polish Experiment” Soszynski, a 19-10-1 Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter. Approximately 770 fans came out, said Frank Pefferman, timekeeper for the fight.

In the third fight of the night, Western junior Morgan Tucker of West Coast Fight Club (WCFC) made his MMA amateur -fighting debut against Nathan Graham, fighting out of North County Martial Arts Academy in Lynden. Knocked to the mat by a savage series of strikes at the hands of Tucker, Graham struggled to regain his footing and catch his breath. Graham threw in the towel two minutes, 25 seconds into the match, giving Tucker the win.

“I was pretty impressed for his first fight” said Elisey Yorovoy, Tucker’s cornerman and teammate at WCFC.

Houston started his training facility two years ago in a small, two-story gym at the intersection of Ohio and Franklin street. He said he now trains 10 active fighters and 85 to 90 students in boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He said the sport, along with his enterprise, is expanding.

“This is bar none the fastest growing sport in the world,” Houston said. “And we have a long ways to go before we hit our saturation point still. That’s just because it’s such an awesome sport.  People are starting to understand that, and it’s just starting to get its recognition all over the world. It’s no longer a blood sport.”

Some would argue the point. In 1993 the Ultimate Fighting Championship held the first MMA match in Denver, bringing a sport long celebrated in Japan and Brazil to America, reported the Washington Post on July 15, 2007. However, the early matches were unsanctioned by states’ athletic control boards and the fighting was unregulated. Arizona Senator John McCain, a former Navy boxer, found fault with the sport and led a national campaign against MMA, wrote Amy Silverman for the Phoenix New Times.

In 2001, Nevada and New Jersey sanctioned MMA fighting under a set of rules that would regulate acceptable moves and fight conclusions. According to a 2006 Johns Hopkins study, injury rate in MMA competitions is similar to other sports involving striking. The study also found that MMA fighters are knocked out less frequently than in boxing, reducing the number of brain injuries caused by the sport.

Lou Faralan, owner of Kalahi Martial Arts Academy in Burlington and certified MMA referee, said elbow strikes are not allowed at the amateur level, and throughout MMA there is no strangling, twisting of small joints, fishhooking lips or eye-poking.

Faralan also said a referee will call a match if they decide that a fighter is losing consciousness or control over bodily functions such as sight or balance, or is in danger of being seriously injured.  

The fights are still unsanctioned in 10 states, including New York, where as recently as January 22, 2009, the New York Times Editorial Board called the contest “a blood-soaked slugfest.”

Although violence is a main aspect of the sport, personal achievement is the reason “The Spartan” competes.  

“I just want to get out there and see what I can do,” Spaulding said. “I just want to measure my spirit and my strength and my mind power and technique against some of the better fighters out there.”

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