Locals Wisniewski, Kolosci compete in HFC 7: Validation

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

VALPARAISO — When 1,200 fans packed the Porter County Expo Center in Valparaiso Saturday for the Hoosier Fight Club’s HFC 7: Validation, they were treated to an unusual amount of star power for a locally-produced card.

Several amateur and pro match-ups ensued with some competitive three-rounders in that mix before the evening’s co-main event and main event would showcase four Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans, two from Northwest Indiana.

LA Boxing’s John Kolosci, who last fought in the Bellator 25 in August, was looking to bolster his 14-7 pro record and possibly go 3-0 for HFC events. But the Portage fighter had to get past welterweight Forrest “The Meat Cleaver” Petz, who was looking to avenge his 0-2 performance in the UFC last year.

“You can’t get too far in front of yourself,” Petz said before his match with Kolosci. “Right now the only thing I’m thinking of is my opponent. I’ll worry about (future UFC prospects) tomorrow.”

Petz, with his 3-1 record for fights in the state of Indiana said he’d “like to win with a knockout on my feet.”

The Cleveland MMA star did just that. He controlled the temp of the fight while Kolosci seemed to reel from the speed of his strikes. At 0:57 in the second round referee Rob Hinds stopped the match after Kolosci lost his step and twirled into the cage. With the TKO (strikes), Petz improved his record to 20-9.

Kolosci was taken to a local hospital immediately after his bout, where doctors checked for damage to a hand, according to members of Team LA Boxing.

Arriving at the octagon to a comparatively toned-down entrance — though he carried a five-match winning streak — Keith “The Polish Connection” Wisniewski would control the vast majority of the three five-minute rounds of his main event match versus UFC veteran Chris Wilson of Beaverton, Ore. The Hobart welterweight, who started competing as an MMA pro in 1998, was featured on UFC 56-Full Force in 2005.

Wilson, whose cage nickname is “The Professor,” learned a thing or two about country name-dropping during his bout with Wisniewski. Emphasizing his recent training in Brazil with the renowned Team Nogueira, Wilson could hardly make use of the ju jitsu he had worked on; when Wisniewski didn’t have his opponent’s back against the cage, he was rolling him over with his well-known prowess in Greco-Roman wrestling.

Midway through the fight, Wisniewski took the opportunity to try sleeper holds on his opponent. Though Wilson popped back up after the tries, the Hobart fighter didn’t do so bad, considering he had just woke up from his own power nap prior to the bout.

Fans got on their feet and got vocal when Wisniewski held his challenger to the mat.

“Do that and he’ll wake up again in Brazil,” one boisterous MMA fan shouted.

After 15 minutes of Wisniewski-dominated fighting, the judges awarded him with a unanimous decision victory, bringing that winning streak to six. His overall recorded improved to 28-12-1.

“I just had to win every second of the fight,” said Wisniewski standing near his celebrating Duneland Vale Tudo teammates. “I try to be a better striker, a better wrestler and submit him if I can.”

Wisniewski said he hopes UFC officials will take note of those qualities as well.

“I’ve been in contact with them, and they said I needed to get some bigger wins,” Wisniewski said. “To me, this is a big win.”

HFC’s next MMA event is slated for Aug. 20 at the Porter County Expo Center.