KUMITE European MMA Rankings, April 2014

Sorry I’m a bit late with the rankings this month, been busy. Anyways it’s been an active month with movement in every division and a few big changes based on fighters being removed due to inactivity or bans. Check it out…

Heavyweight

1- Alistair Overeem (Holland) 37-13 UFC
2- Vitaly Minakov (Russia) 14-0, Bellator def. Cheick Kongo 4/4
3- Andrei Arlovski (Belarus) 21-10, UFC
4- Stefan Struve (Netherlands) 25-6 UFC
5- Cheick Kongo (France) 20-8-2 Bellator lost to Vitaly MInakiv 4/4
6- Alexander Volkov (Russia) 21-4 Bellator def. Siala-Mo Siliga 11/4 UP 1
7- Damian Grabowski (Poland) 19-1 M-1 DOWN 1
8- Sergei Kharitonov (Russia) 22-6 IND
9- Alexey Oleinik (Ukraine) 53-9-1 IND
10- Marcin Tybura (Poland) 10-0 M-1 def. Maro Perak 4/4 UNRANKED

Light Heavyweight

1- Alexander Gustafsson (Sweden) 15-2, UFC
2- Jimi Manuwa (England) 14-1, UFC
3- Attila Vegh (Slovakia) 29-5-2, Bellator
4- Mikhail Zayats (Russia) 22-8, Bellator
5- Ilir Latifi (Sweden) 7-3 UFC
6- Jan Blachowicz (Poland) 17-3, KSW
7- Linton Vassell (England) 12-3, Bellator
8- Stephan Puetz (Germany) 9-1 M-1
9- Maxim Grishin (Russia) 17-6 IND
10- Mikkel Parlo (Denmark) 12-2 def. Johnny Cisneros 4/4 UNRANKED

Middleweight

1- Alexander Shlemenko (Russia) 50-7 Bellator UP 1
2- Michael Bisping (England) 24-5, UFC lost to Tim Kennedy 16/4 DOWN 1
3- Mamed Khalidov (Poland) 28-4-2, KSW
4- Gegard Mousasi (Armenia) 34-4-2 UFC
5- Frances Carmont (France) 22-8, UFC
6– Luke Barnatt (England) 7-0 UFC
7- Michal Materla (Poland) 20-4 KSW
8– Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (Russia) 23-2 M-1
9- Tom Watson (England) 16-6 UFC
10- Sultan Aliev (Russia) 11-2 IND NR

Welterweight

1- Tarec Saffiedine (Belgium) 15-3, UFC
2- Gunnar Nelson (Iceland) 11-0-1, UFC
3- Cathal Pendred (Ireland) 13-2-1, Cage Warriors
4- Nicholas Musoke (Sweden) 12-2 UFC
5- Adlan Amagov (Russia) 13-2-1, UFC
6- Gael Grimaud (France) 19-6, Cage Warriors
7- Nicolas Dalby (Denmark) 12-0 Cage Warriors
8– Paul Daley (England) 34-12-2 BAMMA
9– Andrey Koreshokov (Russia) 15-1 Bellator
10- Karl Amoussou (France) 17-6-2 Bellator def. David Gomez 18/4 UNRANKED

Lightweight

1- Khabib Nurmagomedov (Russia) 22-0, UFC def. Rafael dos Anjos 19/4
2- Rustam Khabilov (Russia) 17-1, UFC
3- Alexander Sarnavskiy (Russia) 26-2 IND
4- Ross Pearson (England) 15-6, UFC
5 – Marcin Held (Poland) 18-3 Bellator def. Derek Anderson 18/4 UP 5 
6- Ivan Buchinger (Slovakia) 26-4 M-1 def. Sergey Golyaev 4/4 UP 2
7- Musa Khamanaev (Russia) 13-3, M-1 DOWN 2
8- Norman Parke (Northern Ireland) 19-2-1 UFC DOWN 2
9- Piotr Hallmann (Poland) 14-2 UFC DOWN 1
10- Mansour Barnaoui (France) 11-2 BAMMA DOWN 1

Featherweight

1- Magomedrasul Khasbulaev (Russia) 21-5, Bellator def. Mike Richman 4/4 UP 2
2- Conor McGregor (Ireland) 14-2, 10-1 UFC
3- Tom Niinimaki (Finland) 21-5-1 UFC
4- Marat Gafurov (Ukraine) 9-0 M-1 NR def. Lee Morrison 4/4 UNRANKED
5- Shabulat Shamhalaev (Russia) 12-2-1, Bellator
6- Daniel Weichel (Germany) 33-8, Bellator
7- Joni Salovaara (Finland) 14-7 IND
8- Sergei Greicho (Lithuania) 15-5-1 OC
9- Niklas Backstrom (Sweden) 7-0 IND
10- Robert Whiteford (Scotland) 11-2 UFC

* Dennis Siver removed from rankings due to PED ban.

Bantamweight

1- Vaughan Lee (England) 14-9-1 UFC
2- Brett Johns (Wales) 10-0, Cage Warriors © def. James Brum 12/4
3- Ronnie Mann (England) 23-6-1 Cage Warriors UP 1
4- Cory Tait (England) 8-2 Cage Warriors UP 1
5- Timo-Juhan Hirvikangas (Finland) 8-2 Cage FC def. Tymoteusz Swiatek 5/4 UP 1
6- James Brum (England) 14-2, Cage Warriors lost to Brett Johns 12/4 DOWN 3
7- Sirwan Kakai (sweden) 9-2, IND UP 1
8- David Haggstrom (Sweden) 7-2-1 IND UP 1
9- Toni Tauru (Finland) 9-1-1 Cage Warriors UP 1
10- Magomed Biboulatov (France) 5-0 IND UNRANKED

* Martin McDonough now a Flyweight

Flyweight

1- Ali Bagautinov (Russia) 13-2 UFC
2- Brad Pickett (England) 24-8 UFC
3- Pietro Menga (England) 11-0 FCC ©
4- Marcin Lasota (Poland) 8-0 Cage Warriors
5- Neil Seery (Ireland) 13-10 UFC
6- Shaj Haque (England) 4-1 Cage Warriors def. Martin McDonough 12/4 UP 1
6- Mikael Silander (Finland) 10-3 The Cage def. Daniel Barez 5/4
7- Rany Saadeh (Germany) 6-1 BAMMA def. Mahmood Besharate 5/4 UNRANKED
8- Kairat Akhmetov (Kazakhstan) IND UNRANKED
9- Kevin Petshi (France) 5-0 IND def. Victor Balica 4/4
10- Phil Harris (England) 22-12 Cage Warriors DOWN 2

Women’s P4P

(Due to the less developed state of Women’s MMA we’re ranking our top ten female fighters from across the weight classes – we hope to expand this section in future.)

1- Joanne Calderwood (Scotland) 8-0 Invicta FC
2 – Marloes Coenen (Netherlands) 21-6 Invicta FC
3 – Katja Kankaanpaa (Finland) 8-1-1 Invicta FC
4- Rosi Sexton (England) 13-4 IND
5- Aisling Daly (Ireland) 12-5 Cage Warriors
6- Milana Dudieva (Russia) 8-3 ProFC
7- Maria Hoegaard Djursa (Denmark) 5-4 IND
8- Shiela Gaff (Germany) 10-6-1 UFC
9- Agnieszka Niedzwiedz (Poland) 6-0 Cage Warriors def. Gemma Hewitt 12/4 UNRANKED
10- Pannie Kianzad (Sweden) 4-0 IND DOWN 1

 

 

KUMITE European MMA Rankings, March 2014

It’s been a huge month for European MMA, from UFC Fight Night London and a busy Cage Warriors schedule to the debut of Europa MMA. The rankings have certainly been shaken in several divisions, so let’s take a look.

Heavyweight

1- Alistair Overeem (Holland) 37-13 UFC
2- Vitaly Minakov (Russia) 13-0, Bellator
3- Andrei Arlovski (Belarus) 21-10, WSOF
4- Stefan Struve (Netherlands) 25-6 UFC
5- Cheick Kongo (France) 20-8-2 Bellator
6- Damian Grabowski (Poland) 19-1 KSW
7- Alexander Volkov (Russia) 19-4 Bellator
8- Sergei Kharitonov (Russia) 21-6 IND
9- Alexey Oleinik (Ukraine) 53-9-1 IND
10- Magomed Malikov (Russia) 7-2 M-1

Not a big month for the ranked fighters, but April will be huge with Minakov vs. Kongo on 4/4 and big bouts for Alexander Volkov and a host of potential contenders including Konstantin Erokhin, Blagoi Ivanov, Phil DeFries and Daniel Omielanczuk.

Light Heavyweight

1- Alexander Gustafsson (Sweden) 15-2, UFC defeated Jimi Manuwa 8/3
2- Jimi Manuwa (England) 14-1, UFC lost to Alexander Gustafsson 8/3
3- Attila Vegh (Slovakia) 29-5-2, Bellator lost to Emanuel Newton 21/3
4- Mikhail Zayats (Russia) 22-8, Bellator lost to Muhammed Lawal 28/2
5- Ilir Latifi (Sweden) 7-3 UFC defeared Cyrille Diabate 8/3 UP
6- Jan Blachowicz (Poland) 17-3, KSW
7- Linton Vassell (England) 12-3, Bellator UP1
8- Stephan Puetz (Germany) 9-1 M-1 defeated Viktor Nemkov on 14/3 NR
9- Maxim Grishin (Russia) 17-6 NR
10- Viktor Nemkov (Russia) 19-5 M-1 lost to DOWN3

Ilir Latifi was the big winner this month with his dominant win over the now retired Cyrille Diabate. Diabate’s loss and retirement allowed Maxim Grishin into the top ten, while Stephan Puetz enters at 8 thanks to his win over Viktor Nemkov who drops to tenth.

Next month sees big fights for Linton Vassell, Volkan Oezdemir and veteran Vladimir Matyshenko who could all improve their standing or enter the top ten.

Middleweight

1- Michael Bisping (England) 24-5, UFC
2- Alexander Shlemenko (Russia) 50-7 Bellator UP1 defeated Brennan Ward 28/3
3- Mamed Khalidov (Poland) 28-4-2, KSW DOWN 1
4- Gegard Mousasi (Armenia) 34-4-2 UFC
5- Frances Carmont (France) 22-8, UFC
6– Luke Barnatt (England) 7-0 UFC
7- Michal Materla (Poland) 20-4 KSW UP1 def. Jay Silva 22/3
8– Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (Russia) 23-2 M-1 DOWN1
9- Tom Watson (England) 16-6 UFC
10- Ramazan Emeev (Azerbaijan) 11-2 M-1

Wins for Shlemenko and Materla boost their stock a bit, while wins for Abu Azaitar and Norman Paraisy at Cage Warriors push them closer to the top ten.

Big fights for Michael Bisping, Mikkel Parlo and Max Nunes to come in April.

Welterweight

1- Tarec Saffiedine (Belgium) 15-3, UFC
2- Gunnar Nelson (Iceland) 11-0-1, UFC
3- Cathal Pendred (Ireland) 13-2-1, Cage Warriors
4- Nicholas Musoke (Sweden) 12-2 UFC
5- Adlan Amagov (Russia) 13-2-1, UFC
6- Gael Grimaud (France) 19-6, Cage Warriors
7- Nicolas Dalby (Denmark) 12-0 Cage Warriors def. Sergeo Churilov 22/3
8– Paul Daley (England) 34-12-2 BAMMA
9– Andrey Koreshokov (Russia) 15-1 Bellator
10- Jim Wallhead (England) 25-8 Cage Warriors

Aslambek Saidov drop out to accommodate Andrey Koreshkov after a big win, but otherwise a quiet month for the top of the division.

With Koreshokov, Saidov and Ali Arish all in action next month, there could well be more movement.

Lightweight

1- Khabib Nurmagomedov (Russia) 21-0, UFC
2- Rustam Khabilov (Russia) 17-1, UFC
3- Alexander Sarnavskiy (Russia) 26-2 IND
4- Ross Pearson (England) 15-6, UFC
5- Musa Khamanaev (Russia) 13-3, M-1
6- Norman Parke (Northern Ireland) 19-2-1 UFC Majority Draw with Leo Santos 23/3
7- Ivan Buchinger (Slovakia) 25-4 Cage Warriors
8- Piotr Hallmann (Poland) 14-2 UFC
9- Mansour Barnaoui (France) 11-2 BAMMA
10- Marcin Held (Poland) 17-3 Bellator NR

Ramazan Esenbaev drops out to accommodate the rejuvenated Marcin Held but has a fight on 5th April to possibly sneak back in. Khabib Nurmagomediv has a big match on 19th April and Held has another Bellator tournament bout on the 18th. Elsewhere, Ivan Buchinger, David Khachatryan and Colin Fletcher are all in action throughout the month.

Featherweight

1- Dennis Siver (Germany) 22-9, UFC
2- Conor McGregor (Ireland) 14-2, 10-1 UFC
3- Tom Niinimaki (Finland) 21-5-1 UFC
4- Magomedrasul Khasbulaev (Russia) 21-5, Bellator
5- Shabulat Shamhalaev (Russia) 12-2-1, Bellator
6- Daniel Weichel (Germany) 33-8, Bellator NR defeated Matt Bessette 28/3
7- Joni Salovaara (Finland) 14-7 IND DOWN 1
8- Sergei Greicho (Lithuania) 15-5-1 OC
9- Niklas Backstrom (Sweden) 7-0 IND NR defeated Max Coga 22/3
10- Robert Whiteford (Scotland) 11-2 UFC NR defeated Daniel Pineda 15/3

Chris Fishgold, Akira Corassani and Marat Gafurov drop out due to big wins for Weichel, Whiteford and Backstrom while victories for Alexey Butorin, Martin Svensson and teddy Vilet push them into contention.

May sees big fights for Magmomedrasul Khasbulaev, Corassani, Gafurov and Tom Duquesnoy

Bantamweight

1- Vaughan Lee (England) 14-9-1 UFC NR def. Nam Phan 1/3
2- Brett Johns (Wales) 8-0, Cage Warriors ©
3- James Brum (England) 14-2, Cage Warriors
4- Ronnie Mann (England) 23-6-1 Cage Warriors
5- Cory Tait (England) 8-2 Cage Warriors
6- Timo-Juhan Hirvikangas (Finland) 8-2 Cage FC
7- Martin McDonough (Wales) 11-4, Cage Warriors
8- Sirwan Kakai (sweden) 9-2, IND
9- David Haggstrom (Sweden) 7-2-1 IND
10- Toni Tauru (Finland) 9-1-1 NR Cage Warriors

Brad Pickett’s drop to Flyweight opens a whole at the top which is swiftly filled by Vaughan Lee after a stunning win over Nam Phan. Toni Tauru enters the rankings after his dominant performance on Cage Warriors.

April promises movement at the top with Brett Johns vs. James Brum and a fight for Timo Hirvikangas.

Flyweight

1- Ali Bagautinov (Russia) 13-2 UFC
2- Brad Pickett (England) 24-8 UFC NR defeated Neil Seery 8/3
3- Pietro Menga (England) 11-0 FCC © UP 1 defeated Sotir Kichukov 22/3
4- Marcin Lasota (Poland) 8-0 NR Cage Warriors defeated Paul Marin 28/3
5- Neil Seery (Ireland) 13-10 UFC DOWN 3 lost to Brad Pickett 8/3
6- Mikael Silander (Finaland) 8-3 IND DOWN 1
7- Shaj Haque (England) 4-1 Cage Warriors
8- Phil Harris (England) 22-12 UFC DOWN 5 lost to Louis Gaudinot 8/3
9- Paul Marin (Romania) 7-4, Cage Warriors DOWN 2 lost to Marcin Lasota 28/3
10- Paul McVeigh (Northern Ireland) 19-8 Cage Warriors DOWN 2

Very intense month for the division, with Brad Pickett and Marcin Lasota earning big wins and with Silander, Saadeh, Haque and Martin McDonough all in action

Women’s P4P

(Due to the less developed state of Women’s MMA we’re ranking our top ten female fighters from across the weight classes – we hope to expand this section in future.)

1- Joanne Calderwood (Scotland) 8-0 Invicta FC
2 – Marloes Coenen (Netherlands) 21-6 Invicta FC
3 – Katja Kankaanpaa (Finland) 8-1-1 Invicta FC
4- Rosi Sexton (England) 13-4 IND
5- Aisling Daly (Ireland) 12-5 Cage Warriors
6- Milana Dudieva (Russia) 8-3 ProFC
7- Maria Hoegaard Djursa (Denmark) 5-4 IND
8- Shiela Gaff (Germany) 10-6-1 UFC
9- Pannie Kianzad (Sweden) 4-0 IND
10- Joanna Jedrzejczyk (Poland) 4-0 IND

It’s been a quiet month for the girls, with Lena Tkhorevska and Kamila Porczyk earning wins but not yet being enough to crack the rankings. Expect things to speed up once Invicta comes back into action.

European National Rankings
(Each ranked fighter scores points for their nation, with a no.1 ranking earning 10 points, down to a 10 ranking earning 1 point. This is just for fun.)

1- England – 113pts UP 1
2- Russia – 110pts DOWN 1
3- Poland – 34pts UP 3
4- Sweden – 32pts UP 3
5- Finland – 31pts DOWN 2
6- Ireland – 29pts DOWN 3
7- Netherlands – 26pts DOWN 2
8- France – 23pts –
9- Germany – 21pts –
10- Wales – 13pts DOWN 1

 

Cage Warriors Fight Night 10: Azaitar vs. Marshman Preview

March 28, 2014
King Hussein Youth City Boxing Arena
Amman, Jordan

A week removed from their card-of-the-year-so-far in Copenhagen, Denmark, the Cage Warriors roadshow pops up in Jordan for their tenth ‘fight night’ card in the Middle East.

Stacked with interesting and championship-relevant bouts despite a relative lack of ‘big’ names, this card promises plenty of action and perhaps a few opportunities for some real stars and belt contenders to emerge.

Headlining the card, recent signing Jack Marshman (14-4) faces Germany’s Abu Azaitar (8-2) with the winner likely to be right in the mix for the currently vacant Middleweight belt last held by World Series of Fighting’s Jesse Taylor.

A former British army boxing champion, Marshman has earned ten of his fourteen victories by knockout, although he has also shown impressive grappling and submission skills.

Azaitar is also a finisher with six of his eight wins coming inside the distance and most of them coming through strikes as well.

Basically, this is unlikely to be a lengthy or sedate affair and these two are likely to throw leather until one of them hits the canvas.

Both men come in on win streaks and interestingly already have matches booked in May, so must both be confident of a quick knockout win. It will definitely be interesting to find out.

The pick of the rest of the fights features Scotland’s Allan Love (11-4) – who was nice enough to give us an interview earlier in the week – against France’s Norman Paraisy (13-3-2) in another bout which may produce a contender for the 185lb belt.

Love is riding a four fight streak of stoppage victories while Paraisy is on a four fight unbeaten streak characterised by dogged performances against Chris Fields (set to appear on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter) and Leeroy Barnes, getting a draw and a win respectively despite being on the back foot against more aggressive fighters.

Paraisy’s losses all came on trips to fight for Bellator in the US, while Love’s four defeats are bunched into a five fight run where he fought some of Europe’s best on their own patch.

Will the stoppage seeking Scotsman or the canny Frenchman come out on top on neutral ground?

Also on the card, the Most Exciting Fighter In Scotland, John Cullen (17-7-2) faces Marat Pekov (10-5) who impressed in his recent CWFC losses to James Brum and Ronnie Mann alongside Marcin Lasota (7-0) and Paul Marin (7-3) who will both have an eye on Neil Seery’s vacated Flyweight crown.

We’ve also got former Featherweight title contender Dave Hill (11-3) against late replacement Miguel Haro (7-4), an appearance by the ever entertaining local favourite Mohamed Ali and a bundle of fighters who’s names I don’t recognise, which just causes me to wonder what gems Ian Dean has unearthed this time!

Cage Warriors never disappoint and their Fight Night cards have often been far more than the apparent sum of their parts and considering the already awesome parts, you should definitely catch the show live on FRIDAY, starting at 5:10pm on Facebook and Premier Sports at 6pm for the main card.

Full Card

Abu Azaitar vs. Jack Marshman
John Cullen vs. Marat Pekov
Mohamed Ali vs. Malik Merad
Allan Love vs. Norman Paraisy
Marcin Lasota vs. Paul Marin
Miguel Haro vs. Dave Hill
Jarrah Al-Silawi vs. Carl Booth
Elodie Puget vs. Vanessa Rico
Hicham Laghzali vs. Yazan Janeb

KUMITE European MMA Rankings, February 2014

A few significant cards on show with the UFC and Cage Warriors back in action and offerings from M-1 and Cage meaning theres quite a lot of movement this month…

Heavyweight

1- Alistair Overeem (Holland) 37-13 UFC def. Frank Mir 1st February ^5
2- Vitaly Minakov (Russia) 13-0, Bellator v1
3- Andrei Arlovski (Belarus) 21-10, WSOF v1
4- Stefan Struve (Netherlands) 25-6, UFC v1
5- Cheick Kongo (France) 20-8-2, Bellator v1
6- Damian Grabowski (Poland) 19-1, IND
7- Alexander Volkov (Russia) 19-4, Bellator
8- Sergei Kharitonov (Russia) 21-6, IND
9- Alexey Oleinik (Ukraine) 53-9-1, IND
10- Magomed Malikov (Russia) 7-2, M-1

Ubereem returns to the top tanked position following his impressive win over Frank Mir. March promises a few significant fights with Alexander Volkov looking to climb back towards the top against Mark Holata, while Konstantin Erokin, Michal Kita and Blagoi Ivanov all have chances to move towards the top ten.

Light Heavyweight

1- Alexander Gustafsson (Sweden) 15-2, UFC
2- Jimi Manuwa (England) 14-0, UFC
3- Attila Vegh (Slovakia) 29-4-2, Bellator
4- Mikhail Zayats (Russia) 22-7, Bellator
5- Jan Blachowicz (Poland) 17-3, KSW ^1
6- Victor Nemkov (Russia) 19-4, M-1 ^1
7- Linton Vassell (England) 12-3, Bellator ^1
8- Jason Jones (Netherlands) 20-10, BAMMA ^1
9- Cyrille Diabate (France) 19-9, UFC ^1
10- Ilir Latifi (Sweden) 7-3 UFC NR

The only movement this month sees Gegard Mousasi move to Middleweight, allowing Ilir Latifi into the top ten. March will be a huge month for this division with four ranked fighters competing at UFC London and Attila Vegh defending his Bellator title against Emanuele Newton while Mikhail Zayats faces King Mo on Friday.

Middleweight

1- Michael Bisping (England) 24-5, UFC
2- Mamed Khalidov (Poland) 28-4-2, KSW
3- Alexander Shlemenko (Russia) 49-7 IND ^1
4- Gegard Mousasi (Armenia) 34-4-2 UFC NR – comes down from Middleweight – lost to Lyoto Machida 15th February
5- Frances Carmont (France) 22-8, UFC v2 lost to Ronaldo Souza on 15th February
6 – Luke Barnatt (England) 7-0 UFC v1
7 – Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (Russia) 23-2 M-1 v1
8 – Michal Materla (Poland) 19-4 KSW v1
9 – Tom Watson (England) 16-6 UFC v1
10 – Ramazan Emeev (Azerbaijan) 11-2 M-1 v1

All the movement comes from Carmont’s loss to Jacare and Mousasi being back in the division. Faycal Hucin drops out due to Mousasi’s arrival and March sees Shlemenko, Barnatt, Materla and contenders Tomas Drwal and Mats Nilsson in action so a lot can change.

Welterweight

1- Tarec Saffiedine (Belgium) 15-3, UFC
2- Gunnar Nelson (Iceland) 11-0-1, UFC ^1
3- Cathal Pendred (Ireland) 13-2-1, Cage Warriors ^1
4- Nicholas Musoke (Sweden) 12-2 UFC NR – def. Viscardi Andrade on 15th February
5- Adlan Amagov (Russia) 13-2-1, UFC
6- Gael Grimaud (France) 19-6, Cage Warriors
7- Nicolas Dalby (Denmark) 11-0 Cage Warriors
8 – Paul Daley (England) 34-12-2 BAMMA
9 – Jim Wallhead (England) 25-8, BAMMA
10 – Aslambek Saidov (Poland) 15-3 KSW

I’ve unranked Martin Kampmann due to his self imposed hiatus, with his place taken by Niko Musoke after his impressive away victory on the recent UFC card in Brasil.

Lightweight

1- Khabib Nurmagomedov (Russia) 21-0, UFC
2- Rustam Khabilov (Russia) 17-1, UFC
3- Alexander Sarnavskiy (Russia) 26-2 IND
4- Ross Pearson (England) 15-6, UFC
5- Musa Khamanaev (Russia) 13-3, M-1
6- Norman Parke (Northern Ireland) 19-2 UFC
7- Ivan Buchinger (Slovakia) 25-4 Cage Warriors
8- Piotr Hallmann (Poland) 14-2 UFC
9- Mansour Barnaoui (France) 11-2 BAMMA
10- Ramazan Esenbaev (Russia) 6-1 IND

Slow month for the division, but March sees Mairbek Taisumov, Marcin Held and Daniel Weichel with opportunities to climb the ladder.

Featherweight

1- Dennis Siver (Germany) 22-9, UFC
2- Conor McGregor (Ireland) 14-2, 10-1 UFC
3 – Tom Niinimaki (Finland) 21-5-1 UFC
4- Magomedrasul Khasbulaev (Russia) 21-5, Bellator
5- Shabulat Shamhalaev (Russia) 12-2-1, Bellator
6- Joni Salovaara (Finland) 14-7 IND
7- Sergei Greicho (Lithuania) 15-5-1 OC
8- Chris Fishgold (England) 10-0 Cage Warriors
9- Akira Corassani (Sweden) 12-3, UFC
10– Marat Gafurov (Ukraine) 8-0 IND

Quiet month for the top ten with no fighters active. Wins for Max Coga and Zubaira Tukhugov push them closer to the top ten, while March sees Robert Whiteford and Artem Lobov with great opportunities to code the distance as well.

Bantamweight

1- Brad Pickett (England) 23-8, UFC
2- Brett Johns (Wales) 8-0, Cage Warriors ©
3- James Brum (England) 14-2, Cage Warriors
4- Ronnie Mann (England) 23-6-1 Cage Warriors
5- Cory Tait (England) 8-2 Cage Warriors NR def. James Pennington, 15th February
6- Timo-Juhan Hirbokangas (Finland) 8-2 Cage FC V1
7- Martin McDonough (Wales) 11-4, Cage Warriors
8- Sirwan Kakai (sweden) 9-2, IND
9- David Haggstrom (Sweden) 7-2-1 IND
10 Ruslan Abiltarov (Ukraine) 16-4-1 IND

Cory Tait’s win over James Pennington jumps him to fifth in the rankings, while Pennington drops out. March sees Vaughan Lee, Davey Grant and Damien Rooney all in big matches with prospects of being ranked next time round.

Flyweight

1- Ali Bagautinov (Russia) 13-2 UFC def. John Lineker on 1st February
2- Neil Seery (Ireland) 13-9 Cage Warriors ©
3- Phil Harris (England) 22-11 UFC
4- Pietro Menga (England) 10-0 FCC ©
5- Mikael Silander (Finaland) 8-3 IND def. Tony Caizedo 15th February ^2
6- Paul Marin (Romania) 7-3, Cage Warriors v1
7- Shaj Haque (England) 4-1 Cage Warriors v1
8- Paul McVeigh (Northern Ireland) 19-8 Cage Warriors
9- Chris Miah (England) 5-0 IND
10- Kairat Akhmetov (Kazakhstan) 7-0 IND NR

Baguatinov extends his lead as Europe’s #1 Flyweight with his win over John Lineker while Mikael Silander gets back in the win column at Cage.

Phil Harris has a huge match next month against Louis Gaudinot and we live in hope that Neil Seery will get the call to face Ian McCall.

I realised I completed neglected Kairat Akhmetov last month, so he’s been elevated into the top ten at the expense of Rany Saadeh.

Women’s P4P

(Due to the less developed state of Women’s MMA we’re ranking our top ten female fighters from across the weight classes – we hope to expand this section in future.)

1- Joanne Calderwood (Scotland) 8-0 Invicta FC
2 – Marloes Coenen (Netherlands) 21-6 Invicta FC
3 – Katja Kankaanpaa (Finland) 8-1-1 Invicta FC
4- Rosi Sexton (England) 13-4 IND
5- Aisling Daly (Ireland) 12-5 Cage Warriors
6- Milana Dudieva (Russia) 8-3 ProFC
7- Maria Hoegaard Djursa (Denmark) 5-4 IND
8- Shiela Gaff (Germany) 10-6-1 UFC
9- Pannie Kianzad (Sweden) 4-0 IND
10- Joanna Jedrzejczyk (Poland) 4-0 IND
No action from ranked fighters means no movement but I have to give a nod to Laura Howarth who definitely stepped closer to contention with her gritty win over Amanda Kelly at Cage Warriors 64.

European National Rankings

(Each ranked fighter scores points for their nation, with a no.1 ranking earning 10 points, down to a 10 ranking earning 1 point. This is just for fun.)

1 – Russia – 109 pts
2 – England – 104 pts
3= Finland – 32 pts
3= Ireland – 32 pts
5 – Netherlands – 29 pts ^2
6 – Poland – 28 pts V1
7 – Sweden – 27 pts ^1
8 – France – 21 pts V1
9= Germany – 13 pts ^1
9= Wales – 13 pts NR

 

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly – Cage Warriors 64 Edition

New format for news and event recaps, trying to make them snappier for you and if I’m honest, more fun to write. Here goes…

The Good

Matchmaking – A lot of these matches looked lopsided from a record and/or familiarity point of view, but the calibre of the contests, especially in the Balde-Bostwick, Roberts-Suarez and Inman-Weibel fights paid testament to Ian Dean’s canny matchmaking, looking past stats and popular perception to provide compelling, close matchups.

Commentary – Josh Palmer and Brad Wharton make a great partnership in the booth, with insightful, educational and pertinent commentary that doesn’t intrude on the action, or seek to overly sway your opinion of it.

The inclusion of Rosi Sexton for the WMMA bout between Laura Howarth and Amanda Kelly was an inspired move, as her knowledge and affinity for the fighters really shine through.

It seems whoever Cage Warriors put behind a microphone delivers as John Gooden and Frank Trigg have also done in the recent past – it might seem a little thing to some, but commentators who add to a broadcast, don’t play favourites and really help to explain the sport rather than doing the opposite makes a massive difference to the quality of the show.

The fights – The whole main card produced compelling action. From Matt Inman’s performance to Laura Howarth’s grit, Nad Narimani’s best showing in the promotion, the supreme display of grappling from Roberts & Suarez, the bloodbath between Bostwick and Balde and Cory Tait’s shockingly quick upset of James Pennington, I just can’t fault this card at all.

TBH, much better value for my time than the UFC card later in the night.

The Bad

None at all. 🙂

The Ugly

There Will Be Blood – Jake Bostwick vs. Boubacar Balde turned into a blood soaked war which resulted in a chunk of the ringside area, including the commentary position being splashed in gore. Definitely ugly, but in that curiously compelling way that only MMA fans will really understand.

All in all, a top event that really sets the tone for CWFC in 2014. I’m now looking forward

For what it’s worth, I’d give…

Fight of the Night

Bostwick vs. Balde. Such a war needs to be acknowledged.

Performance of the Night.

I’m splitting this between – Matt Inman for a typically dynamic performance. – Laura Howarth for her excellent display in neutralising the slightly scary striking of Amanda Kelly, and then withstanding a beating in the third round to get the decision. – Cory Tait for running through one of the largest and most skilled fighters in his division, to suddenly plant himself right in title contention.

Full Results (c/o MMA Junkie)

MAIN
• Cory Tait def. James Pennington via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:35
• Jake Bostwick def. Boubacar Balde via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Danny Roberts def. Juan Manuel Suarez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Nad Narimani def. Benjamin Brander via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:53
• Laura Howarth def. Amanda Kelly via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Matt Inman def. Gregor Weibel via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

PRELIMINARY
• Brad Wheeler def. David Howell via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:46
• Spencer Hewitt def. Cameron Else via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Charlie Watts def. Andy Kerr via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Andrei Manzolo def. Dan Edwards via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:36
• Daniel Crawford def. Huseyin Garabet via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:43
• Veera Nykanen def. Kirsty Davies via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

FIN