Just when you thought it was safe, we're baaaack!! Tap It Clothing is back in Colorado Springs for Annihilation XXVI. Thanks to our Denver marketing agency FIG Advertising who helped us out with this event. It was a great event, our top seller was the “You Wish” shirt as usual,

but in close second were the thongs. You know you wish your girlfriend was wearing them.

But now let's get to the action:

There were 10 fights, if you were in the first five you better hope you were in the red corner, they won 4-1. The other five fights had 3 title bouts and 2 pro.

First up was Art of War's Doug Saiz vs. Brian Scott of Serial Boxe in the 155 lbs class. Scott had height but Saiz was able to use that to his advantage and got Scott down and pummeled him until 2:44 into Round 1 where we won by striking.

Next up were the big guys at 185 lbs was Dan St John from Team Wildman against Warriors Academy's Rayfeal Walton. St John was dominant from early on with a massive body slam, finally winning by TKO 1:08 into Round 2.

Remember how I said there was one fight where blue won? This is it, don't blink or you'll miss it. At 175 lbs Justin Hayden of Spartan House faced off with Travis Aragon from Kings MMA. 17 seconds into Round 1 Aragon dropped Hayden with a vicious hit that knocked him out on the spot. Hayden recovered within a minute or so while Aragon pounded the floor in victory. If you recall both of these guys won their fights last time we were here, though Aragon was in the 190 lbs class then.

Josh Cavan from Team Wildman was up against Nick Vigilanese from Trybz MMA at 170 lbs. Cavan had a big crowd as he got in close and executed a ton of knees to Vigilanese's midsection, unfortunately one hit the groin. After a few minutes and a stern warning they were back at it. Round 2 had Cavan hanging off of his opponent, feet off the ground, in a bear hug while Vigilanese stumbled around the cage. Finally Cavan pulled off the victory in Round 3 at 31 seconds.

The last fight before intermission was the only women's fight of the night. Heather Smith from Team Grizzley against Jessica Toy of Select Fighter. We know from last time that Smith can persevere and pull off the win, this time she was down 5 lbs into 140. Smith beat Toy senseless pretty much right from the start. Toy's fans looked on helplessly as she was on her back getting pounded. Finally in Round 2 at 2:17 Smith won by submission due to strikes and Toy was spared further suffering.

After the intermission the title bouts started.

At 155 lbs we had Jeff Estrada from Team Wildman up against reigning champ Andre Harrison from KS Team Militia. We got a shout out from the ring announcer between rounds to check out Tap It Clothing, in fact so should you. Harrison was generally ahead through Round 1 though Estrada always seemed to work his way out of the holds. Round 2 saw a more even exchange of holds though Estrada seemed to be getting tired. Round 3 continued in the same manner and this ended up being the only fight to go the distance. In the end Harrison won by judges' decision 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27. Not bad for a guy with a broken hand fighting on his birthday. Hope this made the trip from New York, where he's been training, worth it. Next time you see him give extra applause to Harrison for stopping by our booth after the fight.

The big guys were back with the next fight at 185. Team Victory's Gilbert Smith vs. Josh Cole from Trybz MMA. Early in Round 1 Smith threw a kick to Cole's head that missed and caused Smith to lose his feet. Cole took advantage of this and got him in a hold. Smith was able to escape and decided to take it right back to Cole who was saved by the bell at the end of the round. In Round 2 Smith again lost his footing on his own and fell, Cole was on top again, and yet again Smith was able to escape. In Round 3 Smith decided he had enough and clearly made a decision to end it, 31 second into the round it was over, Smith winning by submission. As Smith said in his post fight interview “I finally got hit... Whoa, that's what it feels like to get hit.” He decided he's too short for 185 and is going to lose some weight to compete in the 170s.

Next up was Matt Manzanarez from Black Dragon came out to Black Sabbath's “Iron Man” to face JT Hudson from Kongo Do, the reigning champ. Hudson came out with a series of devastating kicks to swin by TKO in Round 1, separating the man from the music.

The first pro fight was at 180 lbs and saw Mark Padilla of Fight Factory, whose moved up in the world since we last saw him win an amateur fight, against Michael “The Minister” Riggs of Team Prophecy. Having only 2 weeks notice to prepare for the fight didn't stop Riggs from dominating his way to victory in Round 2 at 1:42. He then told us that he “loves” Colorado Springs, the venue, and Jesus. Presumably not in that order. The last fight of the night was Cameron Dollar from Fight Factory up against Ian Stonehouse from Trybz MMA. Stonehouse of course won the last event we saw him at, Annihilation XXIII, could he do it again? No. Lost by choke submission at 1:21 in Round 1.

As always this was a great event, we got to see some great fights and meet some of our customers. Make sure to send us a pic of you wearing our clothes and we'll get you on the site.

We have gone national!  For a day anyway.  Tap It Clothing has been testing the waters in Colorado with the help of our Denver marketing agency, FIG Advertising.  We hit Castle Rock, CO in December with a Cage Girl sponsorship and some items at the official booth, but last Friday we were officially open for business at Annihilation XXIII in Colorado Springs.  So if you weren't lucky enough to come see us, oh and the fight too, pick up a shirt and let's recap the action.

Thanks to our lovely Tap It Clothing Cage Girls for rocking our gear.

 First up was Warriors Academy's Ron Willis Vs. Casey Bernards of Kongo Do.  Willis went down to a TKO at 2:24 in the second round and had to be helped to his feet and out of the cage.

Next we saw 45 year old Ken Henry (Army Combative) VS Phil Campanella (Team Ronin).  Henry won in 17 seconds with an arm bar, now that's military efficiency!

The third fight went the distance with Justin Hayden of Spartan House beating Tyler Watt of Warriors Academy by unanimous judges' decision 29-28, 30-27, and 30-27.  While Watt dominated the second round but the first and third were owned by Hayden.

The 4th fight was a bit of a let down.  Rick Garcia from PWIA had to concede early in the 1st round after his knee gave out on its own.  Donell Branch of Kongo Do got the win after 1:20 and announced to the crowd that he did in fact "Get my sexy back!"

After that Travis Aragon of Colorado MMA took down Kevin Madrid of Team Hitman with a rear naked choke hold 1:23 into the first round.

Isaiah Gomez of Freedom Fighters landed a kick in Billy Martin's (Wy GNP) crotch.  Accidental of course.  Martin took a minute or two to get to his feet and was able to continue the battle.  Unfortunately he chose to begin with a flying knee that Gomez dodged and was able to turn into a rear naked choke.  Gomez was victorious in round 2.

The last fight before intermission was Mark Pidilla from fight factory winning 1:33 into round 3 by TKO versus Brandon Campos of Kong Do.

The first fight back was a great girl fight between Heather "The Hellcat" Smith of Grizzly MMA against Wanda Nilson of Team Hitman.  Nilson dominated rounds 1 and 2 both with striking and on the mat, but somehow Heather held it together. Round 3 started pretty much the same way until Smith turned it on and turned the tables.  At 2:54 in the 3rd "The Hellcat" earned her name with a surprise TKO.

Next was the first Title Fight (125lbs-135lbs) of the evening with James DeHerra of PWIA VS Brandon Downing of Team Heights.  Downing tapped out 1:37 into the second round giving DeHerra the win.

The next fight was the 160 lbs Title Fight between Scott Cleve of Fight Factory and Levi Marden of Fatal Strike.  Cleve was bloodied but ultimately won by judges' decision unanimously with all three judges scoring 30-27.

Now the moment you've been waiting for the, the Pro Fights!

First was the men's Pro Title 155 lbs match of Grizzly MMA's Joe Kelso VS Ian Stonehouse of Trybz.  Stonehouse won by TKO at 2:52 in round 2 after some serious give and take.

Finally was the women's PRO Title Fight between Stephanie Skinner of Wy GNP and Angela Hayes of Rough House/3-D in her Colorado Springs debut.  Hayes won by an amazing standing choke hold in round 1 at 1:53.  She savored the victory by playing to the audience and announcing that she's been to Japan and around the world but this was "the best crowd" she's seen.

So there you have it, sorry you couldn't make it, but that doesn't mean it's too late to grab a souvenir.