By D.j. Vasil

Published: Saturday, January 26, 2013, 10:52 p.m.
Updated: Saturday, January 26, 2013

It couldn't have gone much better for Lower Burrell's Dominic “The Honeybadger” Mazzotta, who made his professional Mixed Martial Arts debut on Saturday night.

Mazzotta defeated Doug Hodges by submission, via rear-naked choke just 1:30 into the first round, during the Gladiators of the Cage “North Shore's Rise To Power” at Stage AE.

Mazzotta, 25, won his first fight in the featherweight division (145 pounds).

“It was different, Mazzotta said. “I was more nervous than usual. I knew what I had to do and I got the job done. I wanted to end it as quick as I could.”

Mazzotta finished 7-1 as an amateur fighter in the North American Allied Fight Series and left the NAAFS as the featherweight champion before turning pro.

“This was my first Pennsylvania and pro fight,” Mazzotta said. “I had a lot of people coming to see it, and I didn't want to drop the ball. “I wanted to give them what they were looking for.”

—D.J. Vasil

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