BOISE, Idaho, Oct. 14 — If you were west of the Rockies on Saturday night looking for a hot MMA show to attend and wound up in Las Vegas for the UFC, you just might have made the wrong choice.

XFS II packed nearly 6,000 screaming fans into Qwest Arena, which maybe the best venue for the sport on the left coast.

Headlining the event was a clash of the titans in the form of super heavyweights Dan Bobish (Pictures) and Dan Evenson. Tipping the scales at a combined weight of over 600 pounds, with barely half a love handle between them, Evenson and Bobish faced off in a classic striker versus power-grappler clash.

The 6’ 4” 265-pound Evenson, a current Skip Kelp and John Lewis (Pictures) student who took a Gladiator Challenge heavyweight tournament two years ago, faced the feared 320-pound Bobish, a UFC, PRIDE, and King of the Cage veteran. After leaving MMA for the greener (money-wise) pastures of Japanese pro wrestling, the Ohioan is now coming back to the sport with a vengeance.

Evenson, an aggressive and powerful striker who is surprising mobile for such a big man, came out swinging and connected early on the hard-charging Bobish, who lived up to his nickname of “The Bull.”

With his nose bloodied but his confidence unshaken, Bobish finally cornered Evenson against the cage, dug for a leg and then put his foe onto his back with a thundering crash. It was so strong, as a matter-of-fact, that it tore down the padding from one of the ring posts, necessitating a stoppage of action while the damage of repaired.

When the action resumed, Bobish retook top position against the fence and attacked with a forearm choke, which Evenson seemed to counter. As Bobish leaned forward and applied more pressure, Evenson suddenly tapped out even though he appeared unhurt.

Unknown to nearly everyone in the arena, even to the officials, the collision had torn two chain link barbs free which painfully pressed into the back of Evenson’s head, causing him to submit.

“I don’t blame the referee,” Evenson said gracefully afterwards. “You couldn’t see the barbs because they were jammed into the back of my head — but I certainly could feel it. I know I can beat Bobish. I wouldn’t have taken the match if I didn’t think so. All credit to him, he did what he had to do, but I think I deserve a rematch.”

Bobish was amenable to any future meeting. “Bring it on,” he said. “I want to fight tough guys and Evenson definitely fits the bill. If he’s free in December for the next XFS then let’s make it happen.”

In the co-main event between 185-pounders, local favorite Kacey Escola, an exciting punch-out artist who is hampered by the lack of a strong ground game, met the best 10-10-1 fighter in America, Detroit’s Brendan Seguin (Pictures), who has the buzz of being a good all-around fighter with a glass jaw.

If Seguin has a glass jaw then maybe they should start armoring M1A1 Abrams tanks with the stuff, as he took shot after shot from Escola over the course of three-hard rounds. He continued to move forward, punching his way into grappling range before taking Escola to the mat for classic ground-and-pound.

Although battered from Escola’s barrages, Seguin finally scored full-mount midway though the final stanza, when he unleashed a finishing flurry for a stoppage at the 3:41 mark.

“Relentless” Ray Perales (Pictures), the slowest starter in MMA but perhaps the fastest finisher, got battered around in the opening few minutes by an aggressive Damien Hatch, but then took control of the 175-pound match with a viscous ground-and-pound attack that forced a referee stoppage at 1:06 of the second stanza.

Mild-mannered Boise schoolteacher Scott Lincoln put on his Superman cape and gave a lesson to Trent Standing in just 56 seconds of the first round. Lincoln took Standing quickly to the mat and knocked him out with a powerful flurry of ground strikes.

In early action Gabriel Miranda lost to Jay Grimsley in a 175-pound rematch that was much closer than the unanimous decision would indicate. The fight was basically even throughout, with neither man having a decided advantage, and a decision for Miranda could have easily been justified.

Japanese female fighter Sumie Sakai dominated local fighter Amy Davis and submitted her via armbar, only to see the match declared a No Contest when the first of three scheduled three-minute rounds as allowed to go much longer due to a timekeeping error. Promoter Kacey Thompson paid both women their full purse and promised to arrange a rematch.

To round out the 11-match card Jack Montgomery beat Tim Turner.

Zack Lari stopped Steven Rodgers with a slam.

Justin Fusco submitted Whit Albertson.

Jake Paul (Pictures) ground-and-pounded Manny Hernandez for the TKO.

Also worthy of mention was the good work in the ring of head referee Scott Marker and referee Chuck Gale. In the midst of the usual firestorm of MMA fight controversy the two kept their heads and made consistently good decisions while being unobtrusive and letting the fighters settle the outcome in the cage.