Canada comes calling for Jarrett Vornbrock
Yk mixed martial artist off to world amateur championships after winning qualifier in Alberta
James McCarthy
Northern News Services
Friday, June 3, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right? Well, as far as Jarrett Vornbrock is concerned, what happens in Vegas could determine the next stage of his mixed martial arts career.
Jarrett Vornbrock is on his way to the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation World Amateur Championships with Team Canada after winning a gold medal at his qualifier in Lethbridge, Alta., this past Sunday. - photo courtesy of John Stanley |
The Yellowknife fighter is on his way to Las Vegas to join Team Canada for the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation World Amateur Championships next month after he defeated Jesse Atwell by unanimous decision in Lethbridge, Alta., this past Sunday. The fight was a qualifier to determine who would get the flyweight spot with the national team.
It's the second time Vornbrock has defeated Atwell, repeating the result from one year ago when Vornbrock won the Fivestar Fight League amateur flyweight title over Atwell, and his record now sits at 5-0.
Vornbrock said he knew Atwell would most likely come back the second time with a new game plan.
"Last time, they tried to stand up and punch and that didn't work out too well for them," he said.
"I expected him to try and set up a takedown using his striking."
Vornbrock had anticipated that would happen in the centre of the cage but was surprised.
"He was trying to clench up and get me over to the cage, put me on the cage and take me down from there," said Vornbrock. "That's a little easier when you're pinned up because you can't move."
Vornbrock didn't make it through the first round completely unscathed, as he was the victim of an accidental, but illegal, knee to the head, which knocked him for a loop for a few seconds.
Normally, a fighter is allowed up to five minutes to get their thoughts back together after an illegal blow but that wasn't the case this time and it was a bit of a surprise to Vornbrock.
"I think he should have given me a bit more time," he said. "I was kind of surprised that he got me back in it right away."
John Stanley, Vornbrock's trainer, said the referee's version of a concussion test wasn't even close to the real thing, which is standard whenever someone takes a nasty knock to the head.
"The referee assessed Jarrett based on his own opinion," he said. "He had Jarrett follow his finger a bit and told him to get back in. To be honest, I thought Jarrett recovered 100 per cent, otherwise I would have spoken up. He was a bit foggy but he survived the round. I still think he should have had his five minutes though."
Vornbrock seemed to be just fine because he dominated the next two rounds of the match to win by unanimous decision and book his place in the big show next month.
As it stands, there are 12 fighters in total in the flyweight bracket, including Vornbrock. The draw will be made at random with no rankings taken into account and the fighters will simply whittle themselves down to the final two for the right to be called the world amateur mixed martial arts flyweight champion.
Should Vornbrock win it all, the next question is: will he turn professional?
Stanley said it's a wait-and-see process.
"We'll see how he does there but I think he has a legitimate shot of winning it," he said. "If he does win, going pro is probably the road we'll take. If he doesn't, we'll re-assess things."
