AN all-York clash proved the undoubted highlight of the non-title showdowns at Cage Confrontation 3.

At the heart of the tussle was Multi Masters Academy’s Jan Matusek, who showed awesome courage.

Rocked by an initial ram-raid by Lee Hall (Team Choke/Legions) who had longer reach, the bloodied Matusek withstood the pressure of being pinned to the canvas for long spells in both rounds of their semi-pro MMA 97kg clash only to then turn the tables and force a submission.

Nic Sanderson made short work of his semi-pro MMA bout at 83kg.

The Multi Masters Academy ace stung within the first half of the opening round of the two scheduled rounds to hoist Ben Verdon (New Mills MMA) off the ground before executing a guillotine to seal a win.

The night got off to a stormer with Dean Croft (York MMA/Legions) earning a points win over Rick Jones (NWCK). After his greater punching power and accuracy gave him the advantage, Croft was rocked by a high kick only to regain his composure and re-assert his supremacy in the K1 80kg clinch.

Selby MMA battler Anthony Buttle oozed bottle to gain a first round stoppage against Hebden Bridge visitor Dave Brown (G Mac Kickboxing). After a feisty first few minutes to the opening round of two in their semi-pro MMA 65kg spat, Brown hauled Buttle to the deck. But the Selby scrapper quickly flipped his foe over and after persistent pressure imposed a stranglehold.

A blitz named Ben Saxon did for United Masters’ Dave Spowart, who only took the fight at late notice.

He was caught cold within 40 seconds to be overpowered and arm-locked to submission.

Team Choke/Legions’ John Brough was bested by Dewsbury’s Nazam Azam, whose scrambling body-hold tactics nullified the York fighter’s speed and slick punching.

Two England v Scotland collisions graced the bill, with one win apiece.

York MMA’s Kevin Preston spent almost all of the five minutes of the first round and three minutes of the second of his amateur MMA 65kg bout under the fist-pounding Dundee Shoot fighter Scott Malone before the Scot got the submission signal.

Parity was restored in the semi-pro 97kg battle thanks to Adam Wright’s first round stoppage of Tony Chan (Urban Disturbance, Fife).

The 16-bout bill was completed by a first round win for Amar Azan (Cage Steel, Dewsbury) over Josh Martin (Leeds Cage) in a semi-pro MMA 66kg contest and a second round stoppage of Rizwan Sultan (Cage Steel) by Rob Hardman (Body Matters, Manchester) in a semi-pro MMA 77kg encounter.