TACOMA – Brent “Mankill” Knopp of Burien kept his perfect record intact following an impressive second round stoppage of Sandy, Oregon’s Brandon Pitts at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma.

The “CageSport XXI” card airs on ROOT SPORTS Friday, October 5 from 10-11 pm, Friday, October 12 midnight-1 am and Sunday, October 21 11 pm-midnight. Those who check out the action on ROOT SPORTS will be treated to expert commentary from a unique broadcasting crew. The crew comprised of global sensation and KZOK 102.5 morning talk show host Danny Bonaduce, former UFC announcer Jeff Osborne and former two-time world champion and Fighter of the Year Miesha “Cupcake” Tate.

Headlining a talent-rich card, the heavy-handed Knopp connected with crisp elbows in the opening stanza. In the second, both men came out guns blazing. Each fighter connected with strong blows, but Knopp’s were more powerful. After repeatedly landing strong strikes on Pitts’ head, the referee stopped the contest at 4:21 in the second of a scheduled three round middleweight contest.

Knopp is now 4-0 with all four wins by knockout. Pitts, who is trained by 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist Matt Linland, falls to 2-2.

In a battle of unbeaten lightweights, Emmanuel Sanchez of North Bend, Ore. bested Brandon Dudley via razor-thin three round split decision. The bout was evenly matched throughout, with both fighters landing a plethora of hard punches. Dudley had a few opportunities to end the fight via submission, but Sanchez weathered the storm.

With the fight on the line in the closing round, Sanchez hurt Dudley with solid kicks and closed the fight by having dominant position following a takedown.

Scores were 29-28 twice for Sanchez and 29-28 Dudley.

With the win, Sanchez ups his professional ledger to 4-0. Dudley, of nearby North Bend, falls to 3-1 after losing for the first time as a pro or amateur.

Welterweight Jerome Jones, 6-4 demolished previously unbeaten Jeff Degenhardt, 2-1, in 11 seconds. A hard shot dropped Degenhardt and an immediate follow up forced the stoppage.

In a battle of Washington natives, CageSport favorite Ryan Mulvihill of Spokane handed Seattle’s Jacob Boysen his first defeat following a dramatic come from behind victory. Over the first rounds, Boysen dominated the fight on the ground and gave Mulvihill no openings. The visibly frustrated Mulvihill looked as if he were going to drop a unanimous decision until he connected with a hard elbow to Boysen’s head.

After buzzing Boysen, Mulvihill quickly locked in a guillotine choke and forced Boysen to tapout at 1:46.

With the gutsy victory, Mulvihill improves to 6-4. Boysen is now 3-1.

Highly-touted lightweight Julian “Juicy J” Erosa remained unbeaten with a first round knockout of Jason “Gut Check” Gybles; albeit not without a brief scare. In the early going, Gybles had an opportunity to pull off the massive upset when a takedown led to a submission attempt but Erosa made it back to his feet. Shortly thereafter, Erosa found his range and started tagging Gybles with shots, including a right hook that put him to sleep.

Erosa, who lives and fights out of Yakima ups his flawless record to 9-0.

“We had a tremendous amount of excitement with this card and I’m thrilled that this is our first card with ROOT SPORTS,” said promoter Brian Halquist. “There was a lot of everything on this card. Come from behind victories, impressive knockouts, tremendous battles and young stars continuing to move up. I advise everybody to watch the fights on ROOT SPORTS because you won’t be disappointed!”

In other action, heavyweight Richard Foster submitted Matt Kovacs in the first round, Damen Woods TKO’ed Damen wood in the first, Jared Torgenson bested Byron Sutton over three rounds, Christian Ortiz tapped out Chris Wheaten in the opening stanza and Andy Paves decisioned Jose Rico.

Halquist Productions returns to the Emerald Queen Casino Saturday, November 3 for “Battle at the Boat 89” and more information will be available shortly on Halquistproductions.com.