Mixed martial arts: Three titles decided at fight night

A Dunedin fighter put on a calm display while two North Islanders showed their class at a fight night on Saturday.

Three mixed martial arts titles were on the line at Hammerhead Productions' event at the Caledonian gymnasium.

Dunedin's Robert Dean used good composure to overpower Napier's BJ Bland with a second-round stoppage to win the International Sport Karate Association New Zealand professional middleweight title.

The 22-year-old freezing worker stayed focused as he avoided Bland's attempts to take the fight to the ground. He controlled the first round, landing punches and knees on numerous occasions.

In the second round, with his back against the cage and Bland clinging to his waist, Dean delivered several fierce elbows and punches to the side of Bland's head, resulting in a technical knockout.

The win takes Dean's record to eight wins and two losses.

Dean's Hammerhead team-mate Brogan Anderson was not so fortunate in his Iska New Zealand amateur title fight.

Anderson (22) had no answer to a strong and ferocious Arthur Lasike (27).

As they entered the cage it looked like it would be a war of attrition between two well-conditioned men.

Lasike, fighting out of Auckland's Shuriken gym, overpowered Anderson with a first-round win, improving his record to six wins and three losses. He tagged Anderson with crisp left hook early in the round, and when both men went to the ground Lasike stayed in a dominant position and unleashed some vicious punches and elbows.

At one point Anderson attempted his trade-mark arm-bar submission, but Lasike fought it off.

With 30sec remaining, several elbows to Anderson's head convinced referee Terry Hill stop the fight, silencing the near capacity crowd of 800.

Auckland's Ev Ting (23) and Timaru's Scott Macgregor (27) put on a masterful performance of grappling in their SFC featherweight title fight.

For almost two rounds Macgregor controlled the fight, but Ting defended his submission attempts and he ended the fight by putting Macgregor to sleep with a rear-naked-choke and improving his record to eight wins and two losses.

Ting said to win a title was "the greatest feeling in the world". He had fought all around the country and the Dunedin crowd was "by far the most enthusiastic".

Earlier in the night, Dunedin woman Kat Moghadassi (20) made an impressive debut in her kickboxing bout. She punched, kicked and kneed her way to a second-round knockout win over Invercargill's Dana Templeton.

Moghadassi said she loved the challenge and was keen to get back in the cage as soon as possible.

Promoter Matt Toa was thrilled with the fight night and was looking forward to future collaborations with Hammerhead, Iska, ten8 media, Strikeforce gym and SFC.

Referee Terry Hill officiated all the fights. Other Dunedin winners were Hammerhead's Ricky Welsford and Ronnie Parkes. Saturday's show will air on Sky Television in December.