Gunderson overcomes grief, cage opponent

An emotional John Gunderson survived several submission attempts Saturday night before locking in a rear naked choke to secure a victory over James Birdsley.

Whatever difficulties Gunderson faced inside the cage paled in comparison to the struggle of preparing for the fight and the wave of sadness that struck him immediately after wrapping up the win.

Gunderson's longtime trainer and friend Shawn Tompkins died of a heart attack at the age of 37 on Aug. 14.

The fighter's win over Birdsley on the Superior Cage Combat 2 card at the Orleans Arena came in the same venue where Tompkins first cornered Gunderson in an International Fight League bout in 2007.

"We started training for this fight about two months ago, and then this happened to him last week," Gunderson said. "I've been on an emotional roller coaster for a week, and it's been mentally and physically draining. It really has."

He entered the cage for his bout to the song "I'll Be Missing You," wearing a shirt that said "Team Tompkins. R.I.P. Coach."

"I felt like I was going to cry as I walked out," he said. "A lot of people in the MMA community are sad and hurt over this, but there's probably only about 10 of us that were really close to him, and I was one of them. It was really hard."

Gunderson trained with Tompkins at the Tapout Training Center in Las Vegas. He said with the fight behind him, a new period in his mourning has begun.

"He touched so many people's lives. He was my neighbor, my coach, my mentor and my friend," Gunderson said. "I don't have that guy there for me anymore. He was a huge influence in my life."

In the main event, former Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor Josh Neer needed just 2 minutes, 54 seconds to stop Las Vegan Blas Avena. Neer got on top of Avena and rained down punches and elbows until the fight was stopped.

Another UFC veteran, John Alessio, submitted late replacement Shawn Fitzsimmons in the co-main event.

Things didn't go as smoothly for Chase Gormley. After taking the fight on just two days' notice, Gormley was knocked out by Beau Triobolet in the first round.

Gormley was 0-2 in his UFC stint and looked badly out of shape.

Justin Buchholz won by unanimous decision over Thiago Meller, and Elvis Mutapcic took 25 seconds to knock out Vitor Belfort protege Cezar Ferreira.

Locals Danny Davis Jr. and Jimmy Jones also picked up victories. Davis snapped a two-fight losing streak with a third-round submission of Mike Dizak. Jones improved to 3-0 by knocking out Las Vegan David Bollea, a nephew of Hulk Hogan, in the second round.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.