LONG BEACH --- Welterweight Jesse Juarez of Torrance faced the biggest test of his career against King of the Cage veteran Thomas Kenney of Huntington Beach in the main event of Long Beach Fight Night 3 on Sunday night at Hall of Champions Gym at Long Beach City College.

Juarez proved to be up to the challenge, dominating Kenney from the opening bell and eventually getting the tap out victory at 2:07 of the second round.

"Everybody kept talking about how tough this guy was," said Juarez, who trains with Antonio McKee. "That got into my head and I said (forget) that, I'm tough. I know I'm tough. I train with the toughest guys at the Body Shop."

Juarez set the tone early when he slammed Kenney to the canvas and controlled him on the ground for much of the first round.

Juarez stunned Kenney with a right head kick early in the second round. Kenney was hurt and tried for a takedown, but Juarez stuffed it, spun around and took Kenney's back. Juarez went for a rear-naked choke, but Kenney was able to roll onto his stomach. That's when Juarez unleashed a brutal barrage of punches and Kenney was forced to tap out.

Juarez improved his record to 7-5, while Kenney, who hadn't fought since June of 2007, dropped to 12-4.

Light-heavyweight Keneti "Monsta" Faagata of Lake Forrest was successful in his pro debut, winning by TKO over Demetrice Woods (0-2) of Lompoc at 1:17 of the opening round.

Faagata and Woods were exchanging punches when Woods dislocated his left shoulder after missing with a wild punch and was unable to continue.

Bantamweight Maurice "Syko" Eazel (6-9) of Lakewood had his way with Jim Ramsey (4-3) of Camp Pendleton before winning by verbal submission 46 seconds into the second round.

Featherweight Darrell "The Mongoose" Montague (3-0) of Chino used some brutal ground-and-pound to bust open the face of Scott Brommage (1-4) of Villa Park before submitting him with a rear-naked choke at 2:36 of the third round.

Welterweight Tony "El Cucuy" Ferguson (4-0) of Ventura submitted Frank "The Tank" Park (2-1) of Buena Park with an arm-triangle choke at 2:43 of the first round.

Lightweight Danny Juarez (1-0) of El Segundo overpowered Miles Howard (0-1) of West Hills, taking him down and locking in a rear-naked choke to get the submission victory at 1:51 of the first round.

De La O Jiu-Jitsu's Ron Turner (1-2) of Santa Ana made quick work of Alex Rickards (3-8) of Hesperia, submitting him with a head-and-arm choke 45 seconds into the opening round.

Turner used a judo throw to take down Rickards right into the side mount. From there it was just a matter of time until Turner got Rickards to tap out.

In a matchup of heavyweights making their pro debuts, Manny "Bam Bam" Lara of Rancho Santa Margarita won a unanimous decision over Bryan Keith of Huntington Beach in a three-round slugfest to open the card.

The third round featured some excellent back-and-forth action. Lara dropped Keith with a straight right, then went to work with some serious ground-and-pound before securing a deep guillotine choke. Somehow, Keith got a reversal into the full mount. Keith eventually got Lara's back and hammered away on him. The fight got back to the feet and both exchanged bombs until the bell sounded to end the fight.

All three judges had Lara winning by the same score, 29-28.

Long Beach Fight Night 4 will be held on April 19 at Hall of Champions Gym. Call (800) 762-9785 or go online at LongBeachFightNight.com for ticket information.

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