Setting the stage: Cage of Honor 92 coming to Show Me Center

Cage of Honor fighter and Jackson native Ethan Rea spars at Peak Performance Training Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3. Rea will be fighting for the amateur Featherweight Championship belt at Cage on Honor 92 on Saturday night at the Show Me Center.

Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

The mecca of Midwest regional mixed martial arts is coming to the Show Me Center on Saturday, Dec. 7. With hopes and aspirations of forging a path to the UFC, a handful of the area’s top fighters will be competing under the bright lights at Cage of Honor 92.

Event promoter DeRay Ivie, who is a Muay Thai master instructor and the co-owner of Peak Performance Training Center in Cape Girardeau, believes that with the venue upgrade, this Cage of Honor (COH) event has the potential to the best one yet.

“We have been supported by Cape Girardeau and the Jackson area for a long, long time,” Ivie said. “It’s finally time for us to try a bigger venue to see what we can really do with this in the Cape area.

“We will have 14 or 15 fights on the night. Doors open at 5:30 (p.m.) and the fights start at 7. It's some of the best fighters in the region competing, especially at the amateur level and then also at the professional level. We have some amazing fighters that have been there.”

Cage of Honor promoter and co-founder of Peak Performance Training Center DeRay Ivie coaches his fighters during a training session on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

The main event features Sikeston native Gavilan Bland against Garrett Gross for the COH Middleweight Championship. Bland (4-2), nicknamed the “Flawless,” will be defending his belt after three straight professional victories, including a TKO over Tavae Lewis at Cage of Honor 91.

One particular fight to keep an eye on is the COH amateur Featherweight Championship between Jordan Carson (3-0) and Peak Performance product Ethan Rea (8-1). A hot prospect, the 23-year-old Rea, who began fighting when he was 17, says that he is mentally and physically on point for the bout and is relishing the opportunity to be able to fight in the Show Me Center atmosphere.

“It means a lot,” Rea said of his opportunity. “I mean, ever since my first fight, I've dreamed about fighting in the Show Me Center, so it's always great opportunity. Now, fighting in front of all the hometown crowd and all that means everything.”

Rea was born and raised in Jackson. He described himself as “a punk kid” but was humbled and matured through MMA when he was introduced to and fell in love with the sport as a teenager.

“I grew up wrestling, but I wasn't ever very high level or anything,” Rea said. “When I was 17, we came in here and started training. I loved it. It kept me out of trouble and DeRay said he could get us to fight (competitively) when we turned 18.”

The rest is history.

Primarily a striker who uses his wrestling background as an advantage on the ground, Rea and his opponent Carson have the potential to steal Fight of the Night honors based on their current trajectories and similar styles.

“He's got a lot of power and good wrestling, but I don't think his technique is up to power to mine to be honest with you,” Rea said.

Rea’s friend and training partner Giovanni Hidalgo (3-3) will be fighting for the vacant amateur Flyweight Championship belt against Andrew Labbe (3-9). The former Jackson High School wrestler last defeated Labbe by unanimous decision at COH90 on November 4, 2023.

Cage of Honor flyweight and former Jackson High School wrestler Giovanni Hidalgo spars during a training session at the Peak Performance Training Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

On the professional card, Tristan Overvig (6-3) will be defending his light heavyweight championship belt against Jaquis Williams (7-15) in the co-main event. He claimed the title by knocking off Williams by submission via rear naked choke at COH90 on November 4, 2023.

“We really did dream of doing the Show Me Center,” Ivie said. “It always felt out of touch until all these Cape and Jackson natives got behind us and raised Cage of Honor to be one of the most fun events to go to in the area. So, we are so thankful for our fans and the support that we get from all the local businesses, big and small. Without them we wouldn't be able to do it.”

CAGE OF HONOR 92 FULL CARD

Main Card (Professional)

Middleweight title: Garrett Gross vs Gavilan Bland (Main Event)

Light Heavyweight title: Jaquis Williams vs Tristan Overig (Co-main Event)

Welterweight bout: Zack Davis vs Keyth Dawson

Heavyweight bout: Nicholas Williams vs Ronald Coleman

Middleweight bout: Jordan Fowler vs Tavae Lewis

Light Heavyweight bout: Josh Hewlett vs Chris Petty

Prelims (Amateur)

Am. Featherweight title: Jordan Carson vs Ethan Rea

Am. Welterweight title: Mazin Polus vs Michael Terry

Am. Vacant Flyweight title: Andrew Labbe vs Giovanni Hidalgo

Am. Welterweight title: Chris Carpenter vs Bryan Barkau

Bantamweight bout: Chad Hinton vs Camden Hooe

Lightweight bout: Cutter Prater vs Luke Winston

Superwelterweight bout: Trevor Hatton vs Kyle Fitzgerald

Lightweight bout: Eli Traub vs Kiyren McKee

Bantamweight bout: Stryder Ramsey vs Agustin Lopez

Featherweight bout: Jason Carson vs Willie Henderson