Local pro Gabe Salinas-Jones will be fighting Scott Barrett at XFC 18 in Nashville on June 22.

Salinas-Jones (6-2-1) will be making his third appearance for the XFC. He fought Parker Porter in his first two matches, dropping the first and then submitting Porter in the second bout.

His last two bouts have come in Strikeforce. He was able to display his ground game against Brian Humes in front of his home crowd here in Chicago, submitting Humes in the 3rd round last July at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson. But he dropped a decision in his last bout to Devin Cole in December.

Scott “The Bear” Barrett may be a familiar name to Chicago fight fans. He fought Damian Grabowski at Bellator 25 at the Chicago Theatre in August, 2010. Barrett is a heavy-handed brawler that Salinas-Jones will want to get to the ground, even though Barrett has a strong wrestling base. “If I want Scott Barrett on his back, he will be on his back,” Salinas-Jones told the XFC.

He seems unfazed at the prospect of fighting Barrett. He offered his thoughts on how he thinks it will go down in an interview with the XFC website. “A beer in my hand at a country dive bar, after a one sided beat down of Scott Barrett on national TV. I’m the fighter that everyone else is going to be gunning for and the 22nd is just the beginning,” said Salinas-Jones.

Salinas-Jones has learned the hard way not to let fights go to a decision. In his  three pro fights that have gone to the score cards, 2 have resulted in losses, the other in a draw. He has won all of his other bouts.

“I’m excited to have Gabe in our Heavyweight division,” said XFC President John Prisco.  “He put on a good show at (XFC) 13 and has gained a lot more experience since then. I’m positive the fans in Nashville and those watching live on HDNet will enjoy the show, as well as  getting to know Gabe as an XFC Fighter.”

Salinas-Jones is also excited to be back in the XFC. “I want the XFC belt! When I first fought for XFC, that was my goal and it still is. I can’t wait to make a statement in front of the Nashville fans and all those around the world watching on HDNet. When I signed the deal, it was discussed that I was going to be really active throughout my contract. I seriously can tell you how excited I am to be fighting for XFC,” said Salinas-Jones.

XFC 18 airs live on HDnet, June 22 at 9pm, from Nashville, Tennessee. For more info on the event visit  www.OfficialXFC.com.

We spoke with Josh about the injury and when he’ll make his pro debut, how he made the massive switch from a heavyweight fighter down to middleweight, why he chose to switch camps and more.

Listen to the interview below.

The Beebe brothers — Chase and Carson — were both back in action on Saturday night in Kokomo, Indiana, fighting at Colosseum Combat XXI.

Chase was featured in the main event against Cory Mahon, and finished his work quickly with some devastating ground and pound.

Carson had some ground and pound of his own for opponent Brady Hovermale, taking the fight to the ground early in the first and doing damage from top position. Carson won via unanimous decision.

Chase made it two straight wins with his TKO of Mahon, and Carson made it five straight wins.

Jeff Curran will fight Johnny Eduardo in Virginia on Tuesday as part of the UFC on Fuel event. The MMA pioneer spoke with Chicago’s MMA about an array of topics over the weekend.

On facing Eduardo:
“Even though Eduardo has been around for a long time like myself, I don’t know him and didn’t know much about him until I signed to fight him. But we watched some tape of him fighting, and we know how Nova Uniao guys fight. I’m very confident I’ll come out with a win on Tuesday.”

On his ground game:
“I think what people on the big stage have yet to see from me is my ground game when I have top position. That is where I am most dangerous and where I can really dominate fights. I think I have one of the better guards in the game, but most every fighter has excellent submission defense.

On TRT:
“I actually looked into TRT and had my doctor check my levels. My count is low due to my age and probably all the wars I’ve been in. But there’s so much that goes into using it that I would never take it. Because if you don’t do it right or have one failed test then you open yourself up to all the media scrutiny and it’s really not worth it.

“I don’t care if other guys take it, I personally don’t feel like (dealing with) all the stress and paperwork that would go into doing it so I avoid looking into it further. It all comes down to technique. I know that past steroid use is one of the reasons for low testosterone and it’s interesting that when the guys who were absolutely killing it in PRIDE came over here to fight in the states it was a totally different story. But for now TRT is legal and I don’t care that fighters do it. I just won’t.”

Watch Jeff Curran fight Johnny Eduardo tomorrow on Facebook. And if you’d like to train with Jeff and the rest of Team Curran, visit their new facility:

Team Curran MMA
110 W. Woodstock St. Unit E
Crystal Lake, IL 60014
815-356-0454

Bogguess beat Mikey Santiago at XFO 43, locking him up with a guillotine and putting him to sleep in just :32. He’s won four consecutive fights, with the last three ending in the first round from Bogguess’ vice-like guillotine choke.

Brooks has run through everyone he’s been up against in both his amateur and pro careers. He’s 5-0 with his last 4 wins coming by submission. He last fought in October at Chicago Cagefighting Championship IV, beating the always-tough Ryan Bixler with a second round rear naked choke.

In other fights, MTC fighter Josh Estrada will be making his pro debut against an opponent yet to be determined. Estrada told Chicago’s MMA that the fight will either be at 185, or a catchweight of 195. Estrada has fought at both heavyweight and 205 in his amateur career, and recently made quick work of Chris Appleton at the Rumble on the River’s 10th Anniversary Show. Estrada jumped all over Appleton early and never relented, claiming a victory by TKO due to strikes.

MTC’s Andre Feliciano will be making his second professional fight, taking on Team Curran’s Phil Williams. Both fighters made their pro debuts at XFO 43, and both scored victories. Williams choked out James Smith in the first round, while Feliciano’s win came via a hard fought decision win over Jerald Williams.

Here’s the rest of the card as it currently sits, and we’ll have more on XFO 44 as we get closer to the event.

Tory Bogguess vs Will Brooks
Brandon Adamson vs Mike Budnik
Joshua Killion vs Christopher Haney
Ryan Storey vs Matt Tobie
Phil Williams vs Andre Feliciano
Corey Simmons vs Cory Galloway
Ramy Daoud vs TBD
Josh Estrada vs TBD

Visit XFOMMA.com for tickets.

Stephan Bonnar has a new hero. His name is Tim Karaker, who at the age of 53 just put a whooping on a fighter more than half his age.

Karaker showed up as a fan to watch some MMA at the Fire Extreme event in Bourbonnais. Except when he got through the door they asked him to fight. A 21-year old. Naturally, he said yes.

Karaker needed some time in the first round to get his bearings against Brandon Frey, his much younger opponent. Frey had no qualms about putting it on Karaker, but about halfway through the round Karaker’s spinach kicked in.

Bonnar, who was on hand to ref some of the bouts and watch the fights, actually shot this video and called Karaker his new hero. Made for TV movie forthcoming? I’d watch.

Muay Thai: Axel “The Phantom” Mendez vs Anthony Pazmino (Mendezl via Decision)Alphonso Graves vs Jacob Ryan Judiscak (Judiscak via Rear Naked Choke)

Other bouts include:
Tom Shoaff vs. Warren Roberds
Axel “The Phantom” Mendez vs Anthony Pazmino
Dorothy Schultz vs. Desiree Brandt
J.J. Gilmer (Flyweight Champion) vs. Sean Silver
Nemo Vier vs. Eric Bradach
Larry Lindenman vs. Tom Regep

A portion of the proceeds from this event will go to the Make a Wish Foundation. For tickets, visit CutThroatMMA.com.

All of these great snaps were taken by Herb Staten of Scales Off Media. If you would like to purchase any prints, please click here for the full gallery of Rumble on the River pictures.

Rumble on the River, 4/21/12

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Listen closely and you might also hear what could have been an epic blooper.