Chris Balance stood bloodied in the middle of the ring. The crimson that flowed from his broken nose was splattered on his face, arms and legs.

And he was the winner.

Justin Falls/Daily Advance (ENLARGE)

Josh Miller (left) flips Josh Munden onto the mat at the beginning of the first round of their fight during the Fight to the Finish I MMA fighting competition at the National Guard Armory in Elizabeth City on Saturday.

Justin Falls/Daily Advance (ENLARGE)

Kelly Wilkins (right) is pushed out of the ring by Brian Ward during the first round of their fight on Saturday.

That was mixed martial arts' introduction to Elizabeth City.

Billed as the first-ever MMA event in Northeast North Carolina, Fight to the Finish I was held at the National Guard Armory on Saturday.

"I thought we had a great show," said Donnie Markham, founder of Amateur Fight League. "Considering a lot of these guys it was their first fight, I thought we had some real good fights. You can definitely tell a lot of these guys had been doing some training."

There were eight fights on the card, the first for the newly-formed AFL. Basically a semifinal round, Fight to the Finish II will crown the league's first champions in Greenville on Aug. 30.

Balance's victory in the lightweight division came after he got John White to tap out in the second round.

"He put a hurting on me," said Balance, sporting a crooked nose, black eye and a face still reddened from blood. "I couldn't ask for a better fight, I'm glad I got to fight him."

But why was Balance, and several others, smiling so big after getting beaten around?

"I'm definitely an alpha male and this is definitely an alpha male sport," Balance said. "You'd think that two guys beating the crap out of each other would have hard feeling, but honestly, there is no better place for two opponents. My opponent put up a good fight and he may have gotten some licks in on me that really hurt, but, hey, I respect him. He gave me a good fight."

Other winners on Saturday were Akiemo Rollins (bantamweight), Josh Miller (lightweight), Alex Magnum (middleweight), Sean Dos Santos (light heavyweight), Brandon Lindsey (light heavyweight) and Mark Nedler (heavyweight). Despite giving up more than 20 pounds to his opponent, Kelly Wilkinson fought Brian Ward to a draw in a welterweight bout.

Markham is taking AFL fights all around the region and will have a TV show of highlights from Saturday's action on WSKY-TV 4 beginning June 7. He hopes to have another fight scheduled for Elizabeth City in January.