FLORENCE, Ky. – Turf Wars returned to Turfway Park on Saturday, June 30, and its seventh edition gave fans all they could ask for with a card that featured a fast pace and only one decision.

Welterweight Joel Miller (1-1) submitted Mike Eckman (1-1) late in the first round of the night’s main event and only pro bout. Miller charged Eckman from the moment the bell sounded and forced his opponent up against the cage. He followed up with a takedown and quickly transitioned into mount. Eckman was able to maintain wrist control briefly before Miller broke loose and landed some heavy punches.

Seeing an opening, Miller locked in an arm triangle choke, but Eckman refused to tap. Miller let the submission go, re-mounted Eckman, and softened him up a bit more. Moments later, he locked in the arm triangle again, and Eckman submitted. The victory is Miller’s first as a professional, but there’s little doubt that it will be his last after such a dominating performance.

In amateur action, Christopher Burchfield (5-3) won the Midwest Alliance Championships welterweight title after defeating both Casey Hall (2-1) and Melvin Lyle Johnson (4-3) in the evening’s four-man tournament. Burchfield came out quickly against Hall and landed a nice combo that hurt his opponent. Hall responded by shooting for the takedown, but Burchfield was ready for it. He grabbed Hall’s head in a guillotine choke as they hit the ground and forced the tap 41 seconds into the round.

Burchfield’s fight with Johnson had some added drama because the two fighters are best friends and training partners. The two athletes exchanged hugs prior to the fight, but when the horn sounded, it was all business. Both men worked their standup early, yet much like Hall did in the semifinal fight, Johnson chose to take the fight to the ground. That proved to be a mistake. Burchfield locked in a triangle choke almost immediately, and despite two powerful slams from Johnson, he held on to force the submission.

Daniel David (1-0) and Jason Faulkner (2-1) put on the fight of the night during the show’s undercard. Both men were cautious to start the fight, with David picking his shots while Faulkner pressed the action. Both men appeared to gas in the summer heat as the round ended, but they came out in the second round and pushed the fight.

The two men went toe-to-toe in the cage exchanging shots until Faulkner rocked David about one minute into the round. Faulkner sensed that David was hurt and went for the finish with a flurry of straight and overhand punches. David defended himself by moving well against the cage, and then somehow managed to take down the tiring Faulkner. Once the fight got to the ground, David pounded out his opponent to force the TKO stoppage at 1:54 of the second round.

Full results:

+for Midwest Alliance Championships welterweight title
*pro bout