ELYRIA - Amherst’s Mike Garcher was focused on his 185-pound title fight Friday night. So much so, that he forgot to bring his championship belt to the Elyria Roll Arena.

“I had to call (my girlfriend) Jen at home and tell her to bring it with her,” Garcher said. “I was more concerned about winning the fight.”

Garcher didn’t need to worry. The Team Powerhouse middleweight used his patented aggression and power to overwhelm challenger Jesus Santiago of Cleveland and come away with a unanimous decision for his first title defense.

“A lot of people were telling me he was a chump, but that guy was tough,” Garcher said. “I really felt like I was struggling out there. I definitely feel I should have trained harder for this fight … you can always train harder.”

Garcher earned points on the judges’ scorecards with dominating sweeps to reverse Santiago’s takedowns, and a vicious ground-and-pound game once he set up a solid base on top.

Santiago stayed busy on the bottom with punches to the ribs and a strike that opened a two-inch gash over Garcher’s left eye, and didn’t agree with the outcome of the bout.

“There was no way that was a unanimous decision,” Santiago said. “I had two arm bars and a leg bar on him, and I controlled him the entire time. It was a good fight on my part, and I lost that fight because he’s the hometown hero.”

The area’s other champion wasn’t as lucky. Former Amherst High state wrestler and Golden Gloves boxing champion Dominic Jones fell victim to the superior jiu jitsu of Hillsboro’s Trent McCown, losing his 155-pound belt in the night’s first main event.

Jones dominated during the fight’s opening round, using several takedowns, powerful rib punches and some brutal ground-and-pound to build a quick points lead.

But McCown, who broke his left hand during the fight, began working multiple submission attempts early in the second round to wear Jones down. McCown couldn’t hold a loose triangle, but then slapped on a violent arm bar that pulled Jones’ forearm back at a dangerous angle from his elbow.

Jones managed to fight off the arm bar, but McCown kept hold of the arm and sunk in the move twice more before the second-round horn sounded. McCown kept working on the arm in the third round, and Jones was finally forced to tap with just eight seconds left in the fight.

“My arm just couldn’t take another arm bar,” Jones said. “I tried to be patient and wear him down with body shots and knees. I wanted to get him into the third round and finish him.

“But he was the one that capitalized.”

McCown, who improved to 6-0, returned the praise.

“I would love to win a fight by knockout, but Dominic was just too good on his feet early in the fight,” said the lightweight, who was congratulated by UFC fighter Jason Dent in the dressing room afterward. “It’s obvious that jiu jitsu is my strong point. I work on it four to five times a week.”

Several other area fighters were in action during Superior Cage Fighting’s “Friday Night Cage Fight” event:

• North Ridgeville’s Rodger Grimes earned his first MMA victory with a slick triangle choke on Amherst’s Kenny Shinafelt in the first round.

• Lorain’s Carlos Arroyo won his debut with a vicious technical knockout of Salem’s Josh Pittman.

• Lorain’s Angelou Verde lost his debut by technical knockout - the fight was stopped when he dislocated his shoulder - against Sandusky’s Greg Petty.

• Elyria heavyweight Matt Novosielski was knocked out when Boardman’s Dave McLain caught him with an uppercut under the chin with two seconds left in the first round.

• Lorain’s Jose Martinez dropped New York fighter Dave Marfone for a TKO.

• Elyria’s Marcus Washington landed multiple power shots on Lorain’s Tony Rottari to earn a TKO win in the second round.

• Elyria’s Paul Troutman earned a TKO win that left Zack Novoseilski with a blood-soaked face.

• Elyria’s Chaz Gray captured a third-round TKO win over Pennsylvania fighter Jared Carle.

Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

Results

• 135 POUNDS - Greg Petty (3-0) def. Angelou Verde (0-1) by TKO at 4:28; Paul Troutman (4-2) def. Zack Novoseilski (1-2) by TKO at 6:37.

• 145 POUNDS - Rodger Grimes (1-2) def. Kenny Shinafelt (0-2) by triangle choke at 1:21; Tom Finlay (3-0) def. James Ruck (0-2) by arm bar at 1:49; Carlos Arroyo (1-0) def. Josh Pittman (1-2) by TKO at 1:18.

• 155 POUNDS - Curtis Crank (1-0) def. Geoff Burchfield (0-1) by rear naked choke at 1:16.

• 170 POUNDS - Danny Anderson (2-0) def. Preston Blankenship (0-1) by TKO at :30; Marcus Washington (3-0-1) def. Tony Rottari (4-5) by TKO at 5:02.

• 185 POUNDS - Jose Martinez (3-1) def. Dave Marfone (1-1) by TKO at 2:15.

• 205 POUNDS - Tim Piat (2-1) def. Bruce Morgan (0-1) by triangle choke at :58.

• HEAVYWEIGHT - Dave Mclain (1-0) def. Matt Novosielski (0-2) by knockout at 2:58.

• SUPER-HEAVYWEIGHT - Eddie Ambers (1-0) def. Dartanyian Washington (0-1) by verbal tapout at 6:00; Chaz Gray (4-0) def. Jared Carle (3-7) by TKO at 7:04.

• 155-POUND CHAMPIONSHIP - Trent McCown (6-0) def. Dominic Jones (5-2) by arm bar at 8:52.

• 185-POUND CHAMPIONSHIP - Mike Garcher (4-0) def. Jesus Santiago (4-2) by unanimous decision.

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