Art of War Cage Fighting kicks off their first of 6 events this year on Saturday night (3-28) with AOW 46: Turnbull vs Yapsam at the cozy Valley Forge, PA Casino. Mike Bickings and team have been putting on outstanding events consistently and the 2026 forecast looks like more of the same. Turnbull will defend his AOW featherweight belt in the main event vs the Canadian, Ryan Yapsam.
The co-main event features Marquez MMA‘s stud Juwan Gonzales (4-1) who is the defending bantamweight champ. Gonzales will welcome the challenge from Justin Cariss who has been wrestling since he was three-years-old and is 3-1 with a win via ankle lock in his last bout on February 28th. This fight is my choice for fight of the night as I believe both of them will have long, successful careers but first must get through one another on that path. Cariss trains with OGs Nick Cottone (American MMA and Wrestling) and Jeff Cressman out of Power Half Wrestling Academy/Cressman MMA. Cressman fine-tuned his craft under the legendary Daddis Fight Camp and is a tremendous striking coach and leader of men. Check out our interview to learn more about Cariss who is wildly popular and sells a ton of tickets.
In a featured middleweight bout, Justus “the Ruckus” Cheatom (2-0) will look to stay perfect against the savvy, much more experienced Nick Stephenson (2-1) who is currently training with the Daukaus brothers, Chris and Kyle and company at The Forge MMA. Cheatom is 22 years old and has fallen in love with the gym. Not just fighting, but everything including weightlifting and it only takes one glance to notice that this dude is a physical specimen. That doesn’t always translate into the cage, but so far it has and talking with the much-respected Cressman, he believes the future and ceiling for his guy is gigantic. Please check out his interview as well as the chiseled athlete claims to be a mama’s boy.
If you cannot make it out for the fights, you can see us on the PPV link on the Starfund app. Doors open at 6 pm. First bell is at 7 pm.
