​Karli Jo Thomas’ introduction to combat sports started as a plan for self defense at the request of her mom, Tonya. Karli Jo and her sister were taken to an MMA-style gym at age 10 to learn how to protect themselves.

Once the now 25-year-old Karli Jo started taking classes at the since shut down Uniontown-basd gym she no longer remembers the name of, she quickly fell in love with the training. Her love of the sport distracted from other questions she may have asked.

Why did they need to learn this intense style of combat?

“Honestly, I’m not really sure,” said Karli Jo, an Albert Gallatin graduate. “She always worries and more so that she knows the world is a little bit crazy. Things can happen and it’s better to have some understanding of how to fight if we have to rather than not.”

Karli Jo more than understands the process now. She will be searching for her second consecutive professional win this Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City on the undercard of the Cage Fury Fighting Championships 145 event.

Karli Jo, who is 1-0 as a professional, will take on Annabel Kelly, who is 3-0 with two knockouts in a strawweight bout. 

Isaac Greeley, who is the owner of the Mat Factory in Lower Burrell where Karli Jo trains, believes this is a good opportunity for her to build her profile.

“They really liked her pro debut,” Greeley said. “They want her to be a part of the organization. If she can win this fight, she can be set to take off in a big way.”

Mom watches, reluctantly
Karli Jo's early fighting experience wasn't like the typical kid who does a karate class. The first gym they attended allowed younger members to give everything a go.
​
“We did the punching, kicking and everything they do there,” Karli Jo said. “We worked on grappling, wrestling and jiu jitsu.”

As Karli Jo got more involved with the sport, she ended up at the Uniontown Fight Club -- which also no longer exists -- where she met Josh Fremd, who went on to fight in the UFC, and Nick Browne, who fought in Bellator and the Legacy Fighting Alliance.

Karli Jo, who wrestled one season in high school and now coaches the Waynesburg women’s wrestling team, was all in on fighting. It wasn’t exactly what her mom intended.

But Tonya still attends the fights.

“She has some mixed emotions about it,” Karli Jo said. “She made it clear that she would like it if I did something else. She understands I do it because I love it. It’s where I feel like I have purpose.”

Let’s make a weekend out of it
Karli Jo will have plenty of support in Atlantic City. In addition to her coaches, she will be joined by her boyfriend, Justin Patton, who also trains at the Mat Factory. Patton, who is 8-4 as a professional, is a Plum graduate.

Patton will fight Frank Wells in a featherweight bout in the bout before Karli Jo’s. This is the fourth time they’ve been on the same card together.

“What’s funny is I’ll be fighting after him,” Karli Jo said. “I’m guessing it’s because I’ve fought for them once already. Usually he goes before me because he sells tickets and is more popular. It’s definitely stressful watching someone you care about fight like that.”

Greeley said he is excited to see them both compete.

“They both represent what we stress as the Mat Factory,” Greeley said. “They represent that to the fullest.”

Up for the challenge

Karli Jo is hoping to take another step up in the MMA world. She turned professional last May after spending four years on the amateur circuit.

Greeley said he has seen a large improvement in her skillset. Karli Jo cut her teeth in the Ohio Combat Legue and 247 Fighting Championships as an amateur.

“She’s an amazing fighter,” Greeley said. “She’s probably the toughest fighter we have. She is a gritty, tough girl and she’s getting really technical.”

Karli Jo submitted Lateesha Mohl in the first round with a guillotine in her debut. She isn’t trying to make any promises for her upcoming fight.

“From the first fight to the second fight, it doesn’t feel too much better,” Karli Jo said. “It doesn’t feel much better than being an amateur. It’s about learning how to handle the five-minute rounds and pacing myself.”

​Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

Fabian Edwards followed in a family tradition by capturing a belt in mixed martial arts with a head kick knockout Thursday night at the Hollywood Casino in Florida. Edwards put away Dalton Rosta, a Laurel grad, with that particular attack during the third round round of the PFL Middleweight Tournament final.

Fabian's brother, Leon, also won the welterweight championship in the UFC with a head-kick knockout. Leon's was even more dramatic. He knocked out long-reigning champion Kamaru Usman with 56 seconds left in a fight where he was behind on the scorecards.

"That is team headshot, dead," Fabian said to Dan Hardy in the cage after the fight. "That is crazy. God has a funny way to work. I'm so grateful."

While Rosta found success with his wrestling, it wasn't enough to slow down the potent British striker. Rosta completed three of his five takedown attempts and was in control for most of the second round. However, Edwards kept mixing up his kicks and all of the work paid off in the third round.

Nearly 90 seconds into the round, Edwards fired off a left head kick that put Rosta out.

Edwards followed up with one shot on the ground before the referee stopped the bout. Rosta fell to 11-2 in his career.

Josh Rizzo is the editor of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be sent to [email protected] or on X at @J_oshRizzo

.Ethan Goss' return to the national stage didn't end how he hoped. The Petersburg, Pa., native and former 247 Fighting Championships double champion wanted to stay on the outside and strike. However, Goss' undefeated opponent, Alexei Pergande, didn't plan to give him time to operate during their featherweight bout during the PFL World Tournament 10 on Thursday night in Hollywood, Fla.

Pergande landed a stiff knee along the cage and used that to bring Goss to a knee on the fence. Pergande quickly wrapped up a D'Arce choke, forcing Goss to tap with 1 minute, 8 seconds remaining in the first round. Pergande improved to 7-0 in his career.

Goss fell to 12-8. Pergande finished with a 16-11 edge in strikes landed. Pergande started the sequence that ended the fight by catching a leg kick attempt by Goss. As Goss fell toward the canvas, Pergande fired off a knee that landed above Goss' eyebrow and opened a cut. 

This was Goss' second professional fight in a major promotion. He last fought in Bellator in 2017.

Josh Rizzo is the editor of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] on X @J_oshRizzo.

NORTH VERSAILLES TWP - Plenty of local amateur fights had the opportunity to help open a new combat sports venue. The 247 Fighting Championships provided many Pittsburgh-area MMA fighters an opportunity to record a historic win Saturday night.

Chad Miller, who was fighting out of Greensburg, was in the first amateur fight of the night. He lost to TJ Sloan, who lives on Pittsburgh's North Side by decision. Sloan is originally from Woodstock, Va., and controlled the fight after Miller found success with grappling in the first round.

Sloan came out aggressive in the second round and dropped Miller with strikes not long after the bell sounded. Miller was able to work back to his feet but could never get enough offense going to steal a decision. Sloan picked up the historic win with a 30-27, 29-28 (x2) decision.

Sloan said he expected to have to wrestle, especially with Pennsylvania's reputation for strong amateur wrestling.

"We knew from the jump he was a wrestler that he was going to shoot," Sloan said. "It was all about learning his timing, which I did in that first round. My coach said, we know the timing. Get aggressive, go after it. We can't handle it. And I proved it. He couldn't handle it."

O'Hare would like amateur title shot at 125 pounds

Kyle O'Hare impressed the crowd when he submitted Tommy Devito in the first round by rear-naked choke. The only thing that slowed won the colorful O'Hare, who sported purple hair and did a length victory dance, was his exuberance. O'Hare took Devito's back, but did so thanks to a fence grab, so he had to give up the position.

O'Hare, who moved to 3-0, ended up earning the submission soon after. He called for a shot at the 247 flyweight amateur crown after the fight.

LaDuke collects a victory

Josiah LaDuke picked up his first amateur MMA win via decision. LaDuke is a Riverside High School graduate.

Former Pitt wrestler loses debut

Tye Weathersby, who wrestled at Pitt with James Lledo, lost his debut to Sean Kyle, who fought out of Johnstown.

Other amateur results

Akshat Chaudhari won his first-ever kickboxing fight. Jayden Blake, from Greensburg, won in the third round by guillotine choke. There will be a story about his life in Monday's Tribune Review.

For more on the main event and professional fights, ready my story for the Tribune Review.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

James Lledo wanted to get some help to round out his mixed martial arts skillset. His cousin knew a guy who may be able to help. Lledo was put in touch with UFC veteran Bill Algeo, who helped Lledo work on adding kicks.

Lledo, who trains with Algeo MMA & kickboxing in King of Prussia, recently won The Cage Fury FC 175-pound NextGen Championship at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City in July. The former Pitt wrestler and Lower Merion High School graduate is now 6-1 as an amateur.

"I want to put myself in tough positions," Lledo said. "I want to make sure I am growing every day. It's a deep game. It's important to continuously get better."

Lledo, 23, picked up MMA during his second year of college. Lledo had a 28-15 record with the Panthers, including a career-high 15 wins during his sophomore season. During Lledo's time at Pitt, he said his interest in wrestling started to fade.

He found MMA to be a natural transition. He initially started training with Stout Pittsburgh and still works locally with The Southside Boxing Club. While boxing always felt like it came naturally to him, Lledo wanted to work with Algeo to pick up better technique for kicks.

"I always liked fighting," Lledo said. "I would see the UFC and other stuff and I was always interested in it. When I lost some interest in wrestling, I wanted to try it. That's been it ever since."

Lledo has found a lot of success finishing fights at the amateur level. He is 6-1 and has three wins by submission and two by knockout. Lledo's lone defeat was a decision loss to Chris Droege on June 8, 2024. 

Lledo bounced back with a knockout win over Tyler Dibert in April 2025. During Lledo's championship win over Joe Teguia, he persevered through some adversity. Lledo executed a successful trip 30 seconds into the fight and used the takedown to get in top position and utilize ground-and-pound.

Teguia was able to shove Lledo off and onto the canvas. When Lledo went to stand back up to his feet, Teguia fired a stiff shot that caught Lledo clean.

"I felt in control," Lledo said. "It was a good fight. He came ready to fight. He was tough. I never really felt out of control."

Lledo regained control with 1 minute, 22 seconds left in the first round when he landed a knee to the head. He followed that up with a takedown seven seconds later. Lledo then successfully rained down more strikes from the top.

While Teguia worked his way back to his feet, he was dropped again with a calf kick late in the first round. Teguia would tell his corner following the first round that he couldn't see and the doctor stopped the fight.

Lledo said he plans to turn professional next April. Until then, Lledo is open to going anywhere and meeting with anyone who can help him improve.

"I always travel," Lledo said. "I want to go anywhere that can add value. But I'm confident with what I have. I'm surrounded with people who love and care about me."

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.