At long last, Tim Caron is a world champion.
The 35-year-old New Hampshire native submitted Fran Collins via rear-naked choke in the closing seconds of Saturday’s main event at CES 72 from Foxwoods Resort Casino to capture the vacant CES MMA World Middleweight Championship.
Nearly a decade into his career, the U.S. military vet and longtime New England fan favorite finally captured the gold Saturday against the durable Collins, himself an inspirational story on the heels of his dramatic comeback following a 10-year layoff between 2012 and 2022.
Nearly a decade into his career, the U.S. military vet and longtime New England fan favorite finally captured the gold Saturday against the durable Collins, himself an inspirational story on the heels of his dramatic comeback following a 10-year layoff between 2012 and 2022.
Collins’ strength kept him in the fight early and he landed a few hard shots that stopped Caron in his tracks, but Caron’s ground game was too much to overcome. Once he landed in the choke late in the second round, he forced Collins to submit at the 4:45 mark to win the belt in his 18th pro fight. Caron improved to 13-5 with the win while Collins suffered his first pro defeat and dropped to 4-1.
Collins’ strength kept him in the fight early and he landed a few hard shots that stopped Caron in his tracks, but Caron’s ground game was too much to overcome. Once he landed in the choke late in the second round, he forced Collins to submit at the 4:45 mark to win the belt in his 18th pro fight. Caron improved to 13-5 with the win while Collins suffered his first pro defeat and dropped to 4-1.
In the co-main event, Southampton, MA, native Nate Ghareeb continued his redemption tour in the 145-pound division, submitting rising prospect Damion Nelson of Queens via rear-naked choke at 3:44 of the second round.
Ghareeb has now won two in a row since his featherweight title bout loss to Dan Dubuque at CES 70, a streak that began at CES 71 with an impromptu victory over Antonio Castillo for the then vacant CES MMA World Lightweight Championship. With the 155-pound title in tow, Ghareeb is campaigning again at featherweight in search of his next big opportunity after improving to 8-2 following Saturday’s win. Nelson fell to 4-2.
The most thrilling finish of the night belonged to featherweight Mike Kimbel of Waterbury, CT, who chopped down Texas’ Daniel Arriaga in just 26 seconds courtesy of a series of leg kicks that sent Arriaga crashing hard to the canvas and left him unable to get back to his feet.
After winning his professional boxing debut in January, Kimbel didn’t need to throw a single punch in Saturday’s win, his fifth as a pro in mixed martial arts. The 25-year-old prospect has rebounded nicely from rough stretch early in his career and has gone undefeated since October of 2020. Arriaga fell to 0-3 with the loss while Kimbel is now 5-3 overall with four of those wins coming by stoppage.
After winning his professional boxing debut in January, Kimbel didn’t need to throw a single punch in Saturday’s win, his fifth as a pro in mixed martial arts. The 25-year-old prospect has rebounded nicely from rough stretch early in his career and has gone undefeated since October of 2020. Arriaga fell to 0-3 with the loss while Kimbel is now 5-3 overall with four of those wins coming by stoppage.
In the opening bout of the pro card, unbeaten flyweight Jordan Burkholder of Ohio, who now lives and trains in New Mexico, took down previously-unbeaten Terryville, CT, native Casey Norton via triangle choke at the 4:28 mark of the opening round. An accomplished collegiate wrestler at the Division III level, Burkholder’s ground game was too much for Norton to handle. Burkholder seized control of the bout early in the round and locked in the choke in the closing seconds to improve to 3-0. Norton is now 2-1.
The all-New England battle between flyweights Justin Valentin of Meriden, CT, and Tim Flores of Springfield, MA, ended with Valentin submitting Flores via heel hook at the 4:46 mark of the second round. Valentin appeared to be riding out the final few seconds of the round with Flores in full mount until he reversed the hold and locked in the heel hook with seconds to go. Valentin is now 4-2 with his first MMA victory since January of 2022 while Flores fell to 3-2.
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