 The fans were booing, and Kenward Bernis was glad to hear it.
The Port Barre resident they call "Boo" took down Verdan Badun of Croatia Saturday night in Blackham Coliseum, concluding an evening of mixed martial arts bouts on the card for the Collision at the Coliseum: USA vs. Croatia.
Bernis (2-0) needed less than three minutes to defeat Badun (3-1) as he escaped a triangle choke, then won with a rear-naked choke.
Bernis, a veteran of the reality television show "Survivor", was grateful to outlast a more muscular and taller fighter in the 205-pound weight division.
"I got lucky, obviously," Bernis said. "I fought above my weight division. I think this guy was rusty. He used to fight. He retired, and he took a fight. I think I got lucky with some of that. He hadn't fought in a while."
Josh Artigue serves as Bernis' trainer. He instructed Bernis to use Badun's kickboxing background against the Croatian.
"I figured if he could get the guy to the ground and take his feet out of it, we could work more toward Boo's strengths," Artigue said. "Boo is a phenomenal grappler. He pins most of the guys in the gym on a regular basis."
Bernis almost fell victim to the legs he was trying to avoid.
"I knew he would be able to kick me," Bernis said. "I was trying to pick my shot to take him down. When we went down, I think he knows he can triangle a lot of people because his legs are 10 feet long. I made the mistake of trying to sweep under his leg. He got me in the triangle, and it was tight man."
Bernis was running out of oxygen. Standing up, he loosened Badun's grip and put the Croatian on his back.
With Bernis on top, Badun rolled to his stomach. It would be his last mistake of the evening as Bernis slipped his arm under his neck and pulled hard, forcing a submission by Badun.
Bernis plans to take some time off before entering the ring once more.
In earlier professional action, Latigo Heriberto needed just 40 seconds to defeat Danny "Lil Voodoo" Payne. Heriberto landed multiple blows to Payne's head, forcing a quick tap out.
Four amateur bouts began the evening. Jimmy Guzman used a vicious left hook to bring Lafayette native Arron Phillips to the mat, then landed several more punches before the fight was called at 2:41 in the first round for excessive strikes.
Robert Perez endured a knee to the groin from Blake Borskey, then dominated their match before retiring with an injury to his left thigh after one round.
The most competitive fight on the card was between Lorenzo Billescas of Houston and Eric Scallan of Lafayette. Scallan forced action to the ground as both fighters took turns giving and receiving blows in the first round. In round two, Scallan brought Billescas to the mat again. He won the match with an arm bar at the 2:52 mark in round two.
Ivan Brkljaca brought the crowd to its feet with a strong left uppercut that ended both Trenton Burke's night and the amateur MMA card. Brkljaca landed several more punches after Burke hit the canvas, winning via excessive blows 27 seconds into round two.
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