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Hundreds attend MMA night

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Daniel Phelps
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  More than 900 Team Shaw members gathered at the fitness center here to watch 20 mixed martial arts fighters battle in a cage match and cheer on Shaw's own Staff Sgt. Ferdinando Acerra, 20th Maintenance Operation maintenance instructor, as he fought for the light heavy-weight title March 30.

"This event was the largest paid event in Shaw's history," said Misty Hatfield, 20th Force Support Squadron marketing director. "I thought it went awesome. Airmen have been telling us they wanted something like this for quite a while."

The highlight of the night was when Acerra took down Joe Pacheco, Elite Production's light heavy-weight champ, with a guillotine hold.

"It was incredible to be able to defend this belt in front of all of my friends and family here at Shaw," Acerra said. "The noise after he tapped out was incredible."

The match between Acerra and Pacheco was also Acerra's last fight as an amateur, he added. He is now looking to go pro with a 7 wins and 1 loss record.

The event took about six months to plan and put together, Hatfield said. It took constant communication with Fight Lab Productions and Seymour-Johnson, N.C., to figure out the best way to make the event possible.

The MMA event provided first-class entertainment to Team Shaw personnel as well as returned a profit to Shaw's Morale Welfare and Recreation fund, added Lt. Col. Dalian Washington, 20th FSS commander.

"It was homerun event in every facet of the word and FSS is looking to bring similar type entertainment to Team Shaw," Washington said.