MMA Excitement Returns to Northwest Indiana as Blue Chip Casino Hosts HFC 26 Title Bout

The Blue Chip Hotel Casino and Spa have been a staple of the Northwest Indiana region for several years. Situated in Michigan City, Indiana, the entertainment complex sees thousands of visitors daily and their Stardust Event Center has played host to hundreds of performers since its inception. But it has never seen anything like the event that is coming to the Blue Chip tomorrow: Hoosier Fight Club 26.

To see more photos from the event, click here

Beginning in 2009, HFC has hosted numerous MMA events in the area. Headlining Saturdays event in Michigan city will be the professional middleweight title matchup between Ohio-native Muhammed “The Hurricane” Abdullah (5-1) and Nick “Ye Daddy” Kraus (9-3) of Rolling Prairie, Indiana. Both fighters having recently lost to UFC fighter Chris Dempsey, Kraus will be looking to improve his record to 4 -0 since joining the HFC.

In addition to the title bout, we’ll see both pro and amateur matches in middleweight and welterweight classes. Rounding out the pro line-ups will be the following:

Quartus Stitt vs Kevin Nowaczyk

Robert Nash vs Craig Fruth

Bobby Emmons, Jr. vs Donald Wilken

Michael Bell vs David Oviatt

Jake Lamb vs Askar Askar

Bouvia Claybon vs Jay Jackson

And for the amateurs, we’ll see:

Bradley Glover vs Asef Askar

Ryan Ishmael vs Brandon White

Sinatra Pool vs Mazen Ballout

Andrew Karsten vs Lenard Wheeler

Chris Lee vs Corey Jackson

Joel Giannetti, Marketing Manager of Blue Chip says, “This is a whole new partnership for us with Hoosier Fight Club and it’s been just a great partnership so far. We’re looking forward to a terrific event tomorrow.”

Fight Results:

Fighting in front of a sold-out crowd last night at Bluechip Casino’s Stardust Event Center, Rolling Prairie, Indiana native Nick Krause took down opponent Muhammad “The Hurricane” Abdullah via a toe hold in the third round of their 3-round MMA match, improving his record to 10-3

After dominating Abdullah during the first two rounds, Krause was able in the third round to gain an advantage over Muhammad, taking him to the mat and placing him in a toe hold to force a submission.

The Abdullah-Krause matchup was the main event for HFC 26, which was making its debut at the Stardust Event Center. HFC promoter Danielle Vale tells us that HFC was founded in 2011, and has played at various venues around the region.

“This is our first time here at the Blue Chip,” said Vale. “It was a challenge getting everything in place for tonight’s event, but I think it really came together well. The Stardust Center here is just a wonderful place, and we’re already in the planning stages for our next event, which we’re really excited about.”

The co-main event was a non-title fight between Kevin “Lunch Money” Nowaczyk and Quartus “The Savage” Stitt, with Nowaczyk taking the win by unanimous decision after 3 rounds.

Other face-offs included Bobby Nash’s astonishing  KO of opponent Craig Fruth, Cole Wilken TKO over Bobby Emmons in their first round, David Oviatt TKO over Mason Shock, also in their first round. Other fighters taking their matches were Andrew Karsten, Mazen Ballout, Ryan Ishmael, Asef Askar, and Jay Jackson.