Ramtown Karate Martial Artists Compete in Bare-Knuckle, Full Contact Tournament

Special to Dixon Patch

Months of training were put to the test over the weekend for fighters who train at Ramtown Karate. The Dixon martial artists drove to San Francisco Sunday to compete at the Oyama World Cup Contact Championships.

It's a yearly event that brings in bare knuckle, full-contact fighters from all over the world to compete for the coveted Heavy Weight and Light Weight Men's division titles. Fights last up to five minutes with no stops unless a fighter is injured by his opponent.

"Ramtown brings fighters to this tournament ever year, where we fight hard and make new friends," said Kathy Ernest, who owns and operates Ramtown Karate alongside her husband Jim.

The friendships made at Oyama are rekindled in November, when Ramtown Karate hosts a added Kathy Ernest. This year, Ramtown Karate brought six of its fighters to compete at the Oyama Tournament.

Dixon's Sebastian Gutierrez fought in the advanced division against other 9 to 11 year olds. Sebastian won his first fight with a head kick and won the second place trophy after overtime and a decision in his final fight.

Kiera MacKenzie and Kristina Tomelloso fought a field of seveb advanced 13 and 14 year olds. Kiera won her first fight with powerhouse punches and kicks.

Kiera, who sustained a rib injury during the tournament, would go on to lose to her teammate, Kristina in the third round of fights. Kristina went on to the finals and won the division, driving her opponent out of the ring several times with her punches.

Valentin Angel fought in the 13 to 15 division and won first place after delivering a spinning ax kick to his opponent which stopped the bout in under one minute. 

The final events of the day were the Men's Heavy Weight and Light Weight Bare Knuckle Titles fights. Ben Ernest took a second place in the Heavy Weight Event in 2009 with a knockout (as seen on the attached YouTube video).

This year, Ben was the lightest competitor in the Heavy Weight division, weighing in at just 200 pounds.

All advanced male competitors in the division begin with a board-breaking competition, where they must break a minimum of three boards to be allowed to compete for the title.

The heavyweight division had 12 competitors this year with the best eight fighting in the finals, so the first place winner had to win three fights in the finals.

Ben defeated his first opponent, Aaron Robinson, with a spin kick to the stomach early in the match. His opponent was not able to continue.

Ben's second competitor, Michael Samad weighed in at 240 pounds and the fight was even for the first minute. During the remainder of the match Ben's hard hits were too much for Michael. Ben advanced to the finals with an injured foot.

His opponent, Gary Cooper also weighed in at 240 pounds.vBoth men concentrated on punches, neither giving up any ring until Ben delivered a series of punches that caused Gary to hold his hands up for a break.  When the fight continued, Ben clearly dominated and took the 2012 Bare Knuckles Title at the Oyama World Cup.  

In addition to his full contact karate, Ben is a registered fighter in CAMO.