Stalcup wins three-round battle in MMA fight

Opponent proves to be biggest challenger so far

By Evan Jensen

The Estacada News, Jul 28, 2010

Estacada resident Josh Stalcup from Alive MMA (left) takes a knee kick from opponent Dustin Hardisty of Lewiston, Idaho, (Team Shingu) during Rumble at the Roseland 52 hosted by the Full Contact Fighting Federation on July 17. Stalcup won the mixed martial arts fight by technical knockout with one second left in the third round.

Courtesy of Full Contact Fighting Federation

After three grueling rounds in the cage in the Rumble at the Roseland mixed martial arts fight a week and a half ago, Estacada-based fighter Josh Stalcup heard his coach yell, “Thirty seconds.” He unleashed a fury of blows and punches on his opponent’s face and watched a stream of blood erupt from the other fighter’s cheek before the referee stopped the fight with one second remaining in the third round.

Stalcup defeated Dustin Hardisty by technical knockout in the mixed martial arts fight hosted by the Full Contact Fighting Federation in Portland on July 17, and Hardisty proved to be Stalcup’s toughest challenger to date.

“We got pretty mashed up in the first round,” Stalcup said. “I almost choked him out at the end of the first round, but the second round was pretty much a 50-50 fight. I got some pretty good hands on him, but he took me down and nobody has ever done that before.”

Stalcup is a former high school state champion wrestler and collegiate wrestler who is battling his way through the ranks to try to turn pro and compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. And while Hardisty doesn’t have the high school or collegiate wrestling background like Stalcup, he’s proven his ability in the cage as a fighter. Hardisty, who lives in Lewiston, Idaho, is currently the welterweight champion in the Northwest Fighting League and will defend his title in September. His loss to Stalcup gives him a 3-2 record, but almost as soon as the fight was over he was talking about scheduling a rematch with him.

“He kind of took me by surprise in the first round,” Hardisty said. “I didn’t know he was that good of a wrestler and he took me down a couple of times. Things went a little better for me when we stayed on our feet. … Late in the third round I went for a last-minute knee bar attempt that failed and he threw me back and then got in a big flurry of punches in the last part of the fight.”

Stalcup faced his own challenges going into the fight with Hardisty. He took almost two weeks off of training leading up to the fight to find a new training facility. Stalcup now trains at Alive MMA in Portland and plans to fight again in August in a cage match organized by the Budo Fight Club in Bend, Ore.

“I knew he had a big right hand going into the fight,” Stalcup said. “In one of his other fights he threw a big right hand and knocked a guy out. I knew I had to be wary of that. … I’ve got a lot of respect for him and everyone who is willing to get in the ring. Everyone trains the same. Everyone goes out there to win. We both came out hard, and it just came down to who had the better edge. It was a good fight. We shook hands after the fight. This is a sport where every competitor has to have good sportsmanship or the sport is never going to prosper.”

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