MAPLEWOOD -- A great deal was on the line Saturday night as Brutaal/CFX returned to Myth for CFX 39.

Brutaal/CFX has some massive shows on the horizon and Saturday's event was used to set up key matchups for those cards.

Meanwhile, the co-main event proved to be a shocker of epic proportions.

Minnesota standout and Bellator veteran Travis "The Hurricane" Reddinger enter the night's fight as the state's No. 2-ranked 135-pounder behind only fellow Bellator veteran Nick Kirk.

The Minnesota Martial Arts Academy standout squared off against unknown Iowan Brad Floyd.

The fight started well for Reddinger as he rocked Floyd with a right hand early. Reddinger was relentless with his aerial attack, landing kicks up and down Floyd's body.

After rocking Floyd early, it seemed Reddinger could smell blood. He chose to stand and bang. But Floyd wasn't backing down.

Floyd and Reddinger worked their way over to Reddinger's corner. That's when Floyd landed the big shot. He hit Reddinger with a right hand right behind Reddinger's left ear. The shot wobbled Reddinger. He looked to be out on his feet when Floyd came with another right that knocked Reddinger out cold just 1:55 into the fight.

The Myth crowd was stunned.

After the fight Floyd promised he'd be back fighting in Minnesota and hoped to return to training full-time.

Reddinger already has plans to return. He'd like to get back into the cage as soon as his suspension has been lifted, possibly right away in December.

The night's main even proved to be the fight of the night, and it foiled some of the plans Brutaal/CFX has for an upcoming show.

Northern Minnesota standout Derek Varin locked up in a lightweight tilt against Mikey Zimmer, who trains at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy.

Both fighters were unbeaten as pros heading into the fight. Varin's lone loss came to Justin Kratzke as an amateur, and Zimmer lost to Dan Moret as an amateur.

Zimmer looked good early. He controlled much of the opening round with his striking. After a good early exchange, Zimmer kept Varin up against the cage for a couple of minutes. He was looking for the takedown early, but Varin defended.

Still, Zimmer held the upper hand in the first, winning most of the exchanges on the feet.

The tides changed in the second. Zimmer looked like he was gassing, and Varin could sense it. Varin started showing off his wrestling and excited the crowd with a nice takedown and slam.

Varin's best action came late in the round when he started to dish out some ground and pound.

Heading to the third round, it appeared the fight was tied one round apiece. And that's when Varin did his best work. With the fight on the line, Varin went out there and took it.

Zimmer didn't go down without a fight, though. He came out swinging -- and kicking -- in the third. But eventually, Varin locked up another takedown. Varin picked Zimmer up off the ground and walked him over into his corner.

Then Varin slammed Zimmer to the mat. For the next two minutes, Varin unleashed a vicious serious of ground and pound strikes. Countless elbows and punches got through, punishing Zimmer

Zimmer survived, but it was a dominant round for Varin.

The fight went to the judges' scorecards and all three judges scored it 29-28 in Varin's favor, giving him the unanimous-decision win.

Brutaal/CFX had planned to put Zimmer in a big fight against Derek Getzel down in Mankato on Nov. 17. This loss might alter those plans. Now Varin just might get that opportunity against Getzel, who is a Strikeforce veteran.

Varin improved to 5-0 as a professional.

In another fight with big future implications, Crystal Fight Club's Mahmoud Aburia hooked up with Danyelle Williams.

Aburia entered the fight 2-0, including an impressive win over UFC veteran Zak Jensen.

Aburia dominated the fight, but it was in a manner that likely wasn't expected. In previous fights, Aburia showed off dominating work on his feet, picking opponents apart with his hands. But Saturday at Myth, Aburia got the job done with his wrestling and ground and pound.

Williams had his moments, though. He had an armbar late in the first, but he wasn't able to finish it. Williams ended both the first and second rounds on top, but the reversals happened very late in both rounds.

For the most part, the entire fight was spent with Aburia on top of Williams. Still, Aburia looked to be running low on gas even in the first round. Though he was tired, he pressed on and did enough to claim the easy win. All three judges gave every round to Aburia (30-27), and he claimed a unanimous-decision win.

After the fight, Aburia was offered a big opportunity. He has been offered a fight against Minnesota Martial Arts Academy standout Ron Winslow Jr. at the Target Center on Dec. 8. Aburia accepted, so the showdown is set.

Get Sum Compound's Tony Martin made quick work of Jay Ellis in a stay-busy fight for one of Minnesota's best prospects.

After a brief early exchange, Martin and Ellis locked up. And Martin clinched on to a deep guillotine. Just 51 seconds in, Ellis tapped out to the choke and the fight was over.

Martin has struggled to find opponents since he turned pro. He's now 4-0 and on his way down to 155 pounds. Even for the Myth card, Martin had several ranked fighters turn down the opportunity to fight him.

Martin said his management team is now looking outside of Minnesota for his opponents, since ranked fighters in Minnesota seem to be running from the prospect.

Martin said his next fight likely will be in Mahnomen, hopefully against UFC veteran Matt Veach, though that fight is not a done deal.

Ryan Willette looked impressive Saturday in his 185-pound fight against Reilly Griffin.

Willette entered the cage having lost his last two fights. However, those two fights were against UFC veteran Logan Clark and Get Sum standout Brad Padgett.

Willette clearly was the more in shape fighter when he entered the cage Saturday. He was calm, cool and collected, and he didn't need long to finish this one.

Griffin tried to force the action, but it didn't bother Willette. He calmly locked onto a deep guillotine, cinched it up and forced the tap. The end came just 39 seconds into the fight.

With the win, Willette moved to 2-2 as a pro.

In the night's only amateur fight, Jerrell Skelton earned a win over Jack Smail. The fight was one round apiece entering the third. But Skelton dominated the final round. He got on top of Smail and dished out loads of ground and pound in the final minute. The barrage of punches left Smail wobbling and bloody after the fight.

Skelton was awarded the unanimous-decision win, with all three judges scoring it 29-28 in his favor.

Veteran Justin Morrison also picked up an impressive win Saturday. He downed Sherman Xiong, who owns a win over Ryan Sweezer.

Morrison scored an early takedown and looked sharp on the ground, winning a scramble before taking Xiong's back. Xiong fought off the rear-naked choke for as long as he could, but eventually Morrison got it under the chin and forced the tap at the 2:47 mark.

The Sweezer-Chad Vaudrin fight did not happen Saturday. Vaudrin called before the fight and said he couldn't make it because he "knocked himself out with his car door."

MNMMANEWS AWARDS

Fight of the night: Derek Varin vs. Mikey Zimmer.

Fighter of the night: Varin.

Submission of the night: Ryan Willette.

Knockout of the night: Brad Floyd.

***

BRUTAAL/CFX AT MYTH

Saturday 10-20 * Maplewood

155 -- Derek Varin def. Mikey Zimmer by unanimous decision (29-28) on all three.

Heavyweight -- Mahmoud Aburia def. Danyelle Williams by unanimous decision (30-27 on all three).

140 -- Brad Floyd def. Travis Reddinger by knockout at 1:55 of first round

185 -- Ryan Willette def. Reilly Griffin by submission due to guillotine choke at :39 of first round.

135 -- Justin Morrison def. Sherman Xiong by submission due to rear-naked choke at 2:47 of first round.

165 -- Tony Martin def. Jay Ellis by submission due to guillotine choke at :51 of first round.

175 -- Jerrell Skelton def. Jack Smail by unanimous decision (29-28 on all three).