I feel it’s a bit redundant to keep saying this but it’s an undeniable fact that Evan “The Butcher” Cutts has to be considered one of North Texas’ best kept secrets when it comes to fighting. The humble 20 year old who hails from Keller has quietly gone about his career as an MMA fighter sporting a 2-0 professional record after an impressive 4-1 amateur career.
Saturday night, Cutts had inarguably his toughest fight to date as he took on the unenviable task of facing Reagan Penn, youngest brother of the legendary UFC fighter BJ Penn, on the undercard of the ProElite 2: Big Guns in Moline, IL. Despite the fact that Penn has just begun his MMA career the fact that he has been in and around some of the best fighters in the world along with his pedigree had enticed ProElite enough that it was clear they considered Penn the next big thing.
However, pomp and adulation only get you so far, and in this game, fighting proves everything. Such was the case as Cutts and Penn entered the ProElite cage in order to see who the better man was on Saturday night. Fortunately for fans here in NOrth Texas, in this fight it would be Cutts who would emerge victorious.
Penn started things off early with a quick takedown but Cutts was able to make it back to his feet. From there the two engaged in trading knees within the clinch along the cage wall before Cutts was able to get the takedown. Cutts was unable do much on the ground and Penn soon regained his composure on the feet. Penn soon seized some momentum while standing landing a trio of left hooks that landed flush to the head of Cutts. However, despite eating some hard shots Cutts was able to take the control on the ground and softened up Penn with some ground and pound to finish out the round.
Cutts came out the aggressor in the second round and landed a couple of crisp punches to the head of Penn early on. Penn would take the fight to the ground but despite being a BJJ blackbelt it was Cutts who would control the action on the ground. Penn tried to keep Cutts in his guard but Cutts would have none of it and deftly transitioned to side control where he would pepper Penn with a varying array of punches while on the ground. Penn seemed outclassed on the ground, which would surprise many people, and Cutts was relentless in aggressively trying for various submissions while mixing in some short, sneaky ground and pound tactics. In fact, the flurry Cutts unleashed on Penn to close out the second round was as brutal as you will ever find in MMA.
Penn looked like a man who wanted to be anywhere but inside a MMA cage at the start of the third round. Smelling blood, Cutts pounced on Penn and floored him with a quick flurry. On the ground, again, it was all Cutts as the Fitness Fight Factory fighter simply took Penn’s will to fight. Cutts was relentless and smothered Penn in full mount while mercilessly bombarding Penn with hammer fists, punches, and submission attempts. In a nutshell, Cutts simply dominated the fight.
The reading of the judges’ scorecards was just a mere formality as Cutts was awarded the unanimous decision sweeping the cards with scores of 30-26, 30-27, and 30-27. With the win Cutts remains undefeated with a record of 3-0; Penn falls to 1-1 in defeat.
Photo © ProElite
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