By Greg Saks

Rick Hawn and Tom Gallicchio stepped into the main event slot of WCF 9 Friday night after an injury forced Mike Campbell off the card, and delivered a grueling, high-level 3 round war. Hawn controlled and outpointed a more experienced and game Gallicchio to win a unanimous 30-27 victory and keep his undefeated record intact. Over 3,000 were in attendance for the 10 fights at the Shriner’s Auditorium in Wilmington, including familiar local faces from the UFC, an appearance by Butterbean, and several Boston Celtics players.

2004 Judo Olympian Rick Hawn continued the perfect start to his MMA career with a victory over his toughest opponent to date in Tom Gallicchio. The sportsbooks had Gallicchio coming in as the -160 betting favorite, and he looked to be brimming with confidence in his corner as he waited for referee Kevin MacDonald to signal the start of the fight. Gallicchio had Hawn looking tentative in the initial striking exchanges, but the momentum would soon change. Midway through the first Hawn unloaded a powerful counter-punch that resulted in Gallicchio backing up for the first time. Hawn pressed forward and in the ensuing clinch went to his judo roots and sent his opponent sailing to the mat with a beautiful shoulder throw. Hawn controlled the rest of the round with Gallicchio now bleeding from the forehead.

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World Championship Fighting (WCF) put a ribbon on its ninth offering last night (Feb. 26, 2010) from the Shriner’s Auditorium in Wilmington, Massachusetts.

WCF 9 featured a main event between former Olympian and undefeated MMA fighter Rick Hawn against New Jersey native Tom Gallicchio. Hawn — a four-time national champion in Judo and top 10 finisher at the 2004 Olympics — kept his perfect record intact with a unanimous decision, passing perhaps the toughest test of his career to date.

In other action, New England mainstays John Benoit and Dan Bonnell racked up more wins, defeating Noah Weisman via unanimous decision and Cesario de Souza via first round technical knockout.

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by Jack Encarnacao (jencarnacao@sherdog.com) (Photos by Joe Harrington)

WILMINGTON, Mass. – Rick Hawn, one of the highest-level judokas on the American MMA circuit, showed a well-rounded game in keeping his winning streak alive Friday in the main event of World Championship Fighting 9.

The 33-year-old welterweight, who represented the United States in the 2004 Olympics, notched a workmanlike unanimous decision over Tom Gallicchio of New York’s Team Bombsquad.

Hawn sported a black gi on his way to the ring and a tattoo of the Olympic rings on one of his rib cages. He was especially effective in holding top position and showed some boldness with his hands.
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by Steven Marrocco on Feb 26, 2010 at 3:10 pm ET

Former Olympian Rick Hawn (5-0) reached a conclusion that’s well-known to many international competitors: you can’t eat gold medals.
With that in mind, the 33-year-old Hawn, who faces Tom Gallicchio tonight in the main event of World Championship Fighting 9 in Wilmington, Mass., scrambled to fulfill a long-held dream of fighting in mixed martial arts and competed in his first fight within six months of picking up a four-ounce glove.

“I don’t want to get caught up as just a grappler, because that makes you one-dimensional and easy to figure out,” Hawn recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
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By Josh Nason

Regional MMA continues to grow in North America and tonight in Massachusetts, I’m going to finally try my first sample of the local scene by checking out World Championship Fighting.

The event – set for the Shriner’s Auditorium in Wilmington, MA, with a bell time of 7:30 pm – will feature a slate of fights involving local talent at every level of the game, headlined by Mike Campbell vs. Marc Stevens and Rick Hawn vs. Tom Gallicchio.

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By: Mark Daniels

World Championship Fighting promoter Joe Cavallaro wants to put on fights that matter.

Judging by the amount of fighters that have gone on to bigger shows after fighting in his promotions it seems to be the case. And tomorrow’s event in Wilmington should be no different.

Win or lose, headliner Rick Hawn (5-0) is already pay-per-view-bound with Shine Fight Promotions after his bout with Tom Gallicchio (12-4). For Gallicchio, who trains out of New York with Team Bombsquad, it makes the bout even more attractive with his opponent bound for a bigger stage.

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By Bryan Levick

World Championship Fighting has found itself a nice niche in the New England area. With a loyal fan base and a good group of fighters, they consistently put on quality shows. I was fortunate enough to speak with John Benoit, who will be fighting Noah Weisman this Friday in a 155-pound bout that is sure to excite the masses.

The 26 year-old Benoit seems to embody everything that makes a regional promotion special in that he’s loyal, dedicated and humble. An iron worker by day and mixed martial artist by night, he does all of this so he can pursue his dreams and make a better life for him and his girlfriend Sarah. Spend a few minutes and get to know Benoit and you will truly understand what regional MMA is all about.

MMA Madness: Can you tell me a bit about your background and how you got involved in MMA?

John Benoit: I started wrestling in the sixth grade and I loved it. I wrestled as a freshman but soon turned my focus to hockey. I went back to wrestling and as a senior, I compiled a 44-4 record but blew my back out during the states and had to withdraw. I competed in cross country to stay in shape. After high school, I wrestled in a few men’s leagues and got a job as an iron worker. I was thinking about doing some amateur body building and ran into an old friend who invited me down to watch one of his fights. He beat his opponent pretty badly and I used to beat him during my wrestling days so I started training with him.

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By Dan Duggan

Before sharing a few extra quotes that didn’t make it into today’s story on Glen Davis’ mixed martial arts training, I just want to make sure no one gets the wrong idea and thinks Davis was engaging in some glorified Tae Bo workouts. Wai Kru is one of the top local mixed martial arts gyms. John Howard, a Dorchester native, is 2-0 in the UFC and Wai Kru is his home gym.

Davis actually said he learned a lot about the mental aspect of MMA from grappling with Howard, who is 5-foot-7, 170 pounds. Read more »

by Carly Carioli

There was some speculation, before Saturday night’s World Championship Fighting card at the Shriner’s Auditorium in Wilmington, that we might see KIMBO SLICE and SEAN GANNON in the same room for the first time since Gannon, a Boston cop, knocked out Kimbo in an unsanctioned bare-knuckle brawl. It was not to be: Gannon, a frequent attendee at WCF events, reportedly had to work that night. And Slice was present only as a spectator — he was in town on his way to do the Jimmy Fallon show, and deflected questions about his upcoming Ultimate Fighter 10 bout, to be televised tonight. Read more »

Review by Gregg Snyder

At the Shriner’s Auditorium in Wilmington, World Championship Fighting returns for another star-studded, action packed event.  This event featured a solid card of 12 fights co-headlined by Mike Campbell v Mike Medrano and Hitalo Machado v John Benoit.

In attendance, was a star packed crowd of Kimbo Slice, “Big Baby” Davis, Joe Lauzon, Dan Lauzon, Marcus Davis, Jorge Rivera, Mark Dellagrotte, John Howard, Gary Cherone, Jorge Gurgel, John Clark and Dana Rosenblatt. Read more »