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Article Excerpt
Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard
The punches rain down on Travis Stansbury's face like hard, heavy rain - rain with fists - pelting him one after another. They come so fast it almost looks like one of those old-time, black-and-white sports clips. The ones where everything's moving in a frenetic and fast motion. The only part that looks to be in slow motion is Stansbury's head, as it absorbs one blow after another, like a pumpkin waiting to cave.
The referee quickly calls the fight - one of 15 on May 13 at the Lane Events Center - as Stansbury's opponent, Roseburg's Jeremy Jones, vacates his position straddling Stansbury on the mat. But Stansbury is already out cold. He probably has been since the second or third punch. And the area around his left eye and the side of his head is already swelling.
Steve Pratt, a registered nurse at Sacred Heart Medical Center and the ringside medical personnel for this Pacific Coast Cage Fights event at the fairgrounds' Exhibit Hall, rushes into the cage to check on Stansbury. Eventually, the fighter is brought to his feet but cannot stand up on his own. His legs resemble two strands of wet spaghetti as he bobs to and fro while a trainer hangs on to his waist.
"That's what you wanna see - knockouts, right?" the ring announcer says after Stansbury and Jones exit the cage. The crowd roars approval.
Stansbury, from Yreka, Calif., spends the rest of the night in a back room - swearing about his quick demise and wincing in pain, with an ice bag held to his head.
Eight fights later, first-time fighter Ryan Loftin of Houston is quickly pummeled by James Dennis of Bend, who turns Loftin's face into a bloody mess. Pratt advises Loftin to go to an emergency room because he has facial cuts that will never heal on their own. It's not known if Loftin follows the advice.
Vicious brutality or a legitimate sport?
It's called "cage fighting," and it's becoming more and more popular in Lane County...
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