HORSEHEADS, N.Y. (WETM) – Gladius Fights returned to The L in Horseheads and delivered another memorable night.

Mansfield native Luke Kelly claimed gold at Gladius Fights 44, on Saturday. The local combat sports promotion returned to The L with a high stakes main event featuring 2 local fighters, Kelly of Mansfield and Corning’s Chase Bailey. Kelly, representing the Northern Tier knocked out Bailey, 33 seconds into the 1st round of the main event and earned the Gladius Fights 155 pound MMA Title. With the win, the North Penn-Mansfield grad improves to a 4-0 record in MMA. The new champion has been red hot since a submission win at Art of Combat SC 16 in April of 2022. Since moving to Gladius Fights, Kelly has won 3-straight bouts in 3-consecutive events.

Mansfield’s Luke Kelly and Corning’s Chase Bailey face-off ahead of their 155 pound Gladius MMA Title bout

Kelly defeated Mason Lewis by decision at Gladius Fights 42 in March, setting up a match with Skylar Rasmussen. Kelly continued to stay hot with a 2nd round submission win over Rasmussen 3 months after his first fight. The wins set up a title match with unbeaten Chase Bailey, who Kelly stopped to become champion. Both Bailey and Kelly shared their excitement leading up to the fight on Twin Tiers Overtime, last week.

Issac Eddings crowned Gladius Fights Amateur Heavyweight Champion after defeating Josh DePace

Aside from the main event, a large crowd at The L witnessed another gold belt be awarded, as Issac Eddings beat Josh DePace for the Gladius Fights Amateur Heavyweight Title. On the rest of the card, Austin Richcreek earned a big submission win over Nyles Rife and Kevin Carrier submitted Skylar Rasmussen, 1 minute and 33 seconds into the 1st round. A full look at the Gladius Fights 44 results are listed below:

Main Event – 155 pound MMA Title – Luke Kelly def Chase Bailey – Via 1st Round KO
Amateur MMA Heavyweight Title – Isaac Eddings def Josh DePace – Via Decision
190 pounds Amateur MMA – Austin Richcreek def Nyles Rife – Via 2nd Round Submission
175 pound Submission Only – Kevin Carrier def Skylar Rasmussen – Via 1st Round Submission
135 pound Amateur Kickboxing – Mitch White def Andreas Quiroz – Via Decision
130 pound Amateur Kickboxing – Jonny Scheg def Alex Sengphonexay – Via Decision
130 pound Kickboxing – Michael Santiago def Lesley Hines – Via Decision
155 pound Submission Only – Sean Sullivan def Mason Lewis – Via DQ for Illegal slam

Stick with 18 Sports and Twin Tiers Overtime for the latest on Gladius Fights and local combat sports.