With her hands clenched tightly together, Dawn Hunt watched her son fight in what would be his last match as an amateur mixed martial arts fighter Friday night.
Dawn’s son, Lorenzo Hunt, was one of 18 fighters who participated in Major League Fighting’s “Friday Night Fights” at Level Nightclub, 238 W. University Ave. The event included nine fights, two of which were title fights.
About 280 people huddled around the metal-wired octagon cage at about 9:30 p.m. to watch the matches.
Friday’s first fighter was Ricky Jantzen, who is from Ohio but trains in Gainesville. His pitch-black beard matched his hoodie, which bounced with him as he tottered back and forth before the brawl.
Jantzen wrestled with his opponent for three rounds before he was unanimously deemed victor — the first win of his amateur career.
“The hardest part was not knowing anything about the other guy,” he said. “Stamina is easy because I’m a cardio guy.”
Major League Fighting founder Hunter Winter paid the nightclub $7,000 to host the Friday night event. Winter started his organization in 2012, two years after fighting locally, and the group hosts fighting events statewide.
“I definitely took a loss tonight,” he said, referring to how many people attended the event.
Despite the event’s low turnout, Winter said he was happy with the crowd’s enthusiasm. He plans to host more local fights but said the next one wouldn’t be until Spring semester.
“When you have two basketball games going on the same night, it’s tough,” he said.
About two hours into the night, a determined 32-year-old Lorenzo walked slowly toward the ring after an announcer echoed his name. Eminem’s “’Till I Collapse” blasted from the speakers and boomed off the walls, overpowering the cheers from Hunt’s fans, family and supporters.
Dawn, 49, stood behind the railing and videotaped her son as his coach prepped him before Lorenzo climbed up the stairs and into the cage.
“Let’s go, Lorenzo!” Dawn shouted just before the fight began.
She and her family drove from St. Augustine, Florida, to see Lorenzo fight. She said this was his last match before he would fight professionally.
“He’s a humble guy,” she said. “Humble is good because you don’t know everything, and there’s always something to learn.”
In the ring, Lorenzo’s opponent, Garrick James, was on top of him most of the fight, pounding at his head and midsection.
By the third round, Lorenzo was exhausted and couldn’t shake James off.
“Come on, Lorenzo! Come on, boy!” yelled Justin Dee, who promotes Lorenzo’s fights to raise money for multiple sclerosis.
But as the bell rang at the end of the third round, Dawn and Dee knew Lorenzo was done.
Dee, who lost his voice by the end of the fight, said it was tough watching Lorenzo lose because of all the work he and Lorenzo’s team put into promoting him.
Dee said he raised $400 from donations and selling T-shirts throughout the night, all of which will go to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.
“We’ve been working months for this,” Dee said. “He doesn’t have to win for something good to happen.”
The loss gave Hunt a 6-2 record in amateur fighting, which won’t affect him turning pro, Dawn said.
“He might’ve been knocked down, but he wasn’t knocked out,” she said. “He’ll be back.”
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 11/17/2014]
Garrick James celebrates his victory over Lorenzo Hunt at “Friday Night Lights,” an MMA event hosted at Level Nightclub on Friday night. James earned the title of middleweight champion.
