Jason Brenton knocks out Pat Reeves in first round

RANGELY I Jason Brenton, who was graduated from Rangely High School in 2005, was in the main event at Cage Wars XVI at Brownson Arena in Grand Junction. Brenton didn’t disappoint his family or many fans in the large crowd when he knocked out Pat Reeves in the first round, in his 18th career professional Mixed Martial Arts fight, battling under the fitting name of Jason “Show Stopper” Brenton.
As a senior in Rangely, Brenton broke, set and still holds the 2A Colorado State Track and Field triple jump record (48-feet, four inches) and and he also became a college All-American when he won a national title in the same event with a hop-skip and jump of 52-feet, nine inches.
Brenton earned a degree in exercise science from Lake Superior State University and is looking forward to earning a master’s degree in sports management.
He is currently an assistant track coach for CMU, but continues to train and fight since 2007, having a 20-2 record as an amateur and a 16-2 record as a professional fighter. His losses as an amateur and pro came at weight classes more than the 145 (featherweight).
“Since I’ve dropped down to 145s, I haven’t lost a fight, and I’ve never been past the first round,” Brenton said.
Brenton recently fought the No. 1 featherweight fighter from Mexico and knocked him out with one punch in the first round in New Mexico and did the same thing to his opponent from Utah last Saturday in front of family, fans and his track team.
“I knew my opponent would be well rounded; he has almost 50 pro fights and has fought some of the ‘who’s who’ in MMA,” Brenton said of Reeves. “I also knew his strengths were jiu jitsu, so my plan was to keep it on the feet and use my strength, which is striking. I possess a lot of power and knew all I had to do is land one shot to end the fight.”
Which is what he did, just two minutes into the first of three, five-minute periods. However, Brenton did not exit the cage unscathed.
“I broke my foot for a second time; this time in two places,” Brenton said. “I should only be out four to six weeks and hopefully after that it’s back on the grind and back to fighting.”
Brenton’s grind consists of four- to six-hour workouts six days a week in his gym, called the School of Hard Knockouts.
“It’s actually three companies working together in one building,” Brenton said. “We call the building DNA Training Facility (Dynamic Novelty Athletics). It includes my strength and conditioning (S&C), impact boxing and Purebred Wrestling. I run the S&C, Alex Trottier is our striking coach and Mike Smith (four-time state wrestling champ from Nucla) is our grappling coach. There are roughly 10 fighters who train there and another 40 members who just work out there.”
Brenton was ranked 304th in the world and hopes the win against Reeves moves him into the top 150.