Kalispell’s Joaquin Calderon came out on top again in a rematch of former Flathead High wrestlers at the Kalispell Kombat mixed martial arts bouts on Friday night at Majestic Valley Arena.

Calderon, who won in the second round of the bout last year, repeated the feat this year with a reversal of a takedown, getting the back of Duran Flaget with four minutes left in the round and using strikes from the top to force a referee stoppage 2:12 seconds into the round.

Calderon, who hadn’t formally trained for the fight last year, began fighting out of Legacy MMA in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and felt more prepared for this bout.

“It was a lot better,” Calderon said. “I didn’t worry about being on the bottom because I have some jiu-jitsu now. I know what to expect.”

The bout was the main event of an exciting night of MMA, highlighted by a slew of early stoppages.

In one of the closest fights, Kalispell’s Dakota Tackett, a jiu-jitsu specialist out of Straight Blast Gym, forced his fighter’s corner to throw in the towel in the third round. Tackett took charge at the start of the third against Lethbridge’s Leo Shoji, opening the round with a series of combos before taking the fight to the ground. He had Shoji in a leg triangle for more than a minute before the Lethbridge coaches called the fight.

“My coaches told me I was hurting him coming forward, so I came forward and punched him,” Tackett said. “I didn’t think he was going to tap but I was going to hold on and use it to win.

“Once I got him to the ground, I knew it was game over.”

Kalispell’s Michael Kuehne needed just 2:20 of his fight to force a referee stoppage, finishing with a flurry of fists from full mount after a series of big takedowns and slams early on. Kalispell’s Brandon Bailey also won quick, needing just 1:55 to win by guillotine choke. Havre’s Hunter Azure, a four-time Montana state wrestling champ at Poplar, won his first fight in just 1:53.

In total, six of the 11 fights were finished in the first round and only two went to decision.

Kalispell Kombat

Friday

Majestic Valley Arena

170 — Nick McMarrel, Missoula, def. Jeff Sanders, Kalispell, TKO, R1 :30 (Leg kicks); 135 — Carlos Lozoya, Twin Falls, def. Mirlan Maratbekov, Billings, U. dec.; 160 — Cody Jerome, Lethbridge, def. Josh Dusterhoff, Kalispell, U. dec.; 190 — Brandon Bailey, Kalispell, def. Aaron Westphal, Kalispell, TKO, R1 1:55 (guillotine); 135 — Dakota Tackett, Kalispell, def. Leo Shoji, Lethbridge, TKO, R3 1:37 (corner stoppage); 145 — Hunter Azure, Havre, def. Brandon Iwassa, Lethbridge, TKO, R1 1:53 (guillotine); 155 — Tom O’Connor, Lethbridge, def. Ryan Asay, Kalispell, TKO, R2 3:09 (ref stoppage); 170 — Michael Kuehne, Kalispell, def. Adrian Goes Ahead Pretty, St. Ignatius, TKO, R1 2:20 (ref stoppage); 130 — Andrea Kate, Billings, def. Jen Johnson, Kalispell, TKO, R1 3:00 (arm bar); 175 — Kolton Menzak, Lethbridge, def. Andrew Howk, Kalispell, TKO, R1 1:26 (rear naked choke); Joaquin Calderon, Kalispell, def. Duran Flaget, Kalispell, TKO, R2 2:12 (ref stoppage).