April 28, 2014 by katakumite

Cage Warriors 68: Wallhead vs. Roberts Preview

Saturday 3rd May
Echo Area, Liverpool

Simply put, this is most likely going to be the best & biggest single UKMMA card of the year (discounting CWFC’s teased Super Saturday dual card…)

That’s not hyperbole, just look at the fights!

The headliner sees CWFC veteran ‘Judo’ Jim Wallhead (25-8) return after a spell alternating between Bellator and BAMMA and is indisputably one of England’s top welterweights not contracted to the UFC, while across the cage we have in-form hometown boy Danny ‘Hot Chocolate’ Roberts (10-1) who is riding a four fight win streak.

Both men are in clear contention for the Welterweight belt now held by Nicolas Dalby and should provide a heated and competitive climax to the evening’s fights.

Experience is clearly on Wallhead’s side, but Roberts has the greater momentum and such advantage as comes from fighting with the crowd in your corner.

With both fighters being finishers (72% for Wallhead, 80% for Roberts) capable of ending a fight on the feet and each in possession of some excellent grappling skills this is sure to be a great fight to watch.

Backing up that main event we have exciting and accomplished English fighters Ronnie Mann (23-6-1) and Matt Inman (13-5) facing international opposition in Marcelo Costa (8-2-1) and Mauro Chimento Jr (15-10) respectively.

Not enough? OK, how about a middleweight contest between ex-UFC fighter Che Mills (15-7) and the popular Leeroy Barnes (12-13, 1NC) both looking to break losing streaks?

The undercard also features Dinky Ninja’s John Cullen (17-8-2) and Dean Reilly*(6-5) so we’ve got more than a little local interest in the event as well.

*Sadly Dean’s match was cancelled due to his opponent pulling out due to injury. 😦

It’s a cracking card and we can’t wait for Saturday.

Viewing Details:

LIVE STREAMING

MMAjunkie.com | USA and Canada only
http://www.IrishMMA.tv | Ireland only
Viaplay | Scandinavia only
CageWarriors.tv | Rest of the world

LIVE TV

MAIN CARD | 9pm BST local time (4pm ET, 1pm PT)

Danny Roberts vs. Jimmy Wallhead
Marcelo Costa vs. Ronnie Mann
Mauro Chimento vs. Matt Inman
Steve Dinsdale vs. Matt Hallam
Leeroy Barnes vs. Che Mills
John Cullen vs. Dean Garnett

FACEBOOK PRELIMS | 7.50pm BST local time (2.50pm ET/11.50am PT)

Conrad Hayes vs. Paddy Pimblett
Dez Parker vs. Charlie Watts
Ant Phillips vs. Adam Ventre

UNAIRED PRELIM | 7.30pm BST local time

Ellis Hampson vs. Azi Thomas

April 27, 2014 by katakumite

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

April 11, 2014 by katakumite

Cage Warriors 67: Johns vs. Brum Preview

Sat, 12 Apr 2014
Swansea, Wales
The LC Arena

In the middle of an ambitious run, Cage Warriors return to British soil tomorrow with a solid card topped by an insanely compelling main event.

That headline match sees hometown boy Brett ‘the Pikey’ Johns (9-0) make the first defence of his Bantamweight title against James ‘Job Done’ Brum (14-2).

Johns won the title back in September, defeating David Haggstrom and plucky alternate Jordan Deesborough in the final to lift the belt after the winner if the other semi final, James Pennington was injured.

Undefeated, well rounded, with cardio to burn and still only 22 years old, the possibilities for Johns career at this point are infinite.

However, this first defence comes against one of the most consistent, entertaining and dominant Bantamweights in the world.

In the 2 1/2 years since his decision loss to Erik Perez (who’s gone 5-1 since, with four UFC victories to his name), Brum has amassed an eight fight win streak including victories over Martin McDonough, James Saville and Olivier Pastor and was Cage Warriors’ fighter of the year for 2012.

Long considered the uncrowned champion by many, Brum now faces the younger belt holder to see who really belongs on top of the mountain. It’s gonna be epic.

My plus one pick has to be the flyweight encounter between Martin ‘Mr Pink’ McDonough (11-4) and Shaj Haque (4-1).

McDonough drops from bantamweight on the back of a five fight streak of submission victories and only missed out on a place in the tournament that crowned Johns as champion through injury.

Haque, despite his relative inexperience is one of the best flyweights in Europe, ranked #7 by us and #14 by FightMatrix and given that he has always gone the distance in his fights, while McDonough has only won by stoppage means something has to give.

With Neil Seery off to the UFC and the likes of Phil Harris and Marcin Lasota appearing in Cage Warriors, both fighters will be looking to impress and put down a marker for the vacant title.

With bouts of such significance at the top of the bill and an undercard full of interesting bouts, this event should continue Cage Warriors awesome run. Get it watched.

MAIN CARD | 9pm local time BST (4pm ET/1pm PT)

Brett Johns (c) vs. James Brum – CWFC bantamweight title bout
Sean Carter vs. Mario Saeed
Shaj Haque vs. Martin McDonough
Jamie Pritchard vs. Phil Raeburn
Gemma Hewitt vs. Agnieszka Niedzwiedz
Simas Norkus vs. Stu Tyrie

UNAIRED PRELIM | 7.30pm local time BST

Mark Handley vs. Paul Rogers

BROADCAST DETAILS

LIVE STREAMING

MMAjunkie.com | USA and Canada only
http://www.IrishMMA.tv | Ireland only
Viaplay | Scandinavia only
CageWarriors.tv | Rest of the world

LIVE TV

March 28, 2014 by katakumite

#Menga4UFC

Over the past week, since Pietro ‘Pitbull’ Menga extended his unbeaten record to 11-0 with a win over Sotir Kichukov at FCC9, I’ve seen the hashtag #Menga4UFC pop up a lot on my Twitter feed.

Before we go any further, check out the match…

Ranked 31st in the world and 3rd in Europe on Fightmatrix, few can argue against Menga’s worthiness for a crack at the brightest lights, but aside from continuing to decimate all comers in the North West of England, what can Menga do to expedite his progression to the world stage.

Without intending any disrespect to Full Contact Contender who are a fantastic promotion, if a UFC call isn’t immediately forthcoming I believe Menga should sign for Cage Warriors.

‘Pitbull’ would immediately be amongst the top contenders for the Flyweight title vacated by Neil Seery and successful outings against the likes of Paul Marin, Mikael Silander or Shaj Haque on the well respected and internationally broadcast show, especially when combined with his record and dedicated fan base in the north west could raise his stock enough to get a UFC call sooner rather than later.

To be honest, if I was in Sean Shelby’s shoes I’d have signed Menga up already, the UFC’s Flyweight division is shallow as it is and Menga is already at least as good as half the guys they have under contract in the weight class and would give the rest a damn good fight.

He’d be a really good fit for the upcoming Dublin card in July, but if that doesn’t materialise then a winning run in Cage Warriors should make him a lock for the early 2015 London card.

March 9, 2014 by katakumite

The Good, The Bad & the Ugly: UFC London Edition

You know how this works by now…

The Good:

The action throughout was of a high quality but the undoubted high points have to be the standout performances by Alexander Gustafsson and Gunnar Nelson, with the compelling bouts between Pickett/Seery and da Silva/Scott and big wins for Ilir Latifi, Luke Barnatt and Louis Gaudinot.

The new announce team of John Gooden and Dan Hardy did a fine job, offering informative and engaging commentary while not stepping on the action or indulging in self aggrandisation – a rare and special feat in terms of MMA announcing it seems.

A lot of UK cards have felt a tad second rate in the past, headed by bouts that wouldn’t make the main card of a US show but that criticism simply cannot be aimed here. Two number one contenders were decided and some other fighters took big steps towards the top echelons of the divisions.

Even the late replacements to the card were significant with Neil Seery proving a great test for Brad Pickett and really showing his quality (Dana White was vocally impressed, for one thing) while Michael Johnson added to his win streak with plenty to spare against Melvin Guillard.

The Bad:

A strangely lacklustre co-main event where some promising trash talk resulted in a tepid match with long periods of reluctance to engage interspersed with burst of compelling action was a bit disappointing.

Indeed, I don’t recall another match that had several near knockdowns that proved so unsatisfying and unmemorable.

The new EMEA ring announcer (who’s name I’ve forgotten already) wasn’t convincing and I can totally understand the criticism of some US commentators feeling that his delivery made the show seem like a regional level event. Do we not have anyone in the UK who won’t fluff the information given on their cue cards and doesn’t make their ring announcing sound like a pro wrestling bout in a working men’s social club, circa 1982?

In truth, it wasn’t a great night for British fighters as they went 1-4 on the card, with only Luke Barnatt really adding to his stock (I’m not counting Pickett vs. Seery here as it was pretty much a derby fight) but Brad Scott can feel aggrieved at losing the decision in his fight and Manuwa and Mitchell both showed plenty of skills and entertainment value.

The Ugly – this week retitled, The Funny:

Towards the end of the Igor Araujo vs. Danny Mitchell match, the two fighters were locked in a mutual leg lock and with time winding down, they flailed at each other like (admittedly large and strong) toddlers fighting over who gets to play with the toy bricks.

Totally understandable in the circumstances, but visually hysterical nonetheless.

Disclaimer: We watched the whole show on Fight Pass / BT Sport, so didn’t have first hand experience of the Channel 5 offering of the top fights, but by all accounts their broadcast was embarrassingly bad which shouldn’t surprise anyone who witnessed their half assed attempts on BAMMA shows.

If we’d had the UFC chequebook we would have given bonuses to…

Fight of The Night:

It had to be Pickett vs. Seery for sheer competitiveness, quality and variety of action and a sense that the fight mattered. While not quite the OMG spectacle I had built the fight up to be, it still had a bit if everything and I can’t criticise Brad Pickett for doing the sensible thing and taking Seery down to ensure what was a vital win for him.

Performance of the Night #1:

Alexander Gustafsson, who waited till he had Jimi Manuwa’s measure and then ended his undefeated streak almost at will, choosing to turn up the heat midway through the second round and quickly dropping the powerful Englishman. This was exactly the result Gustafsson needed following his razor thin loss to Jon Jones and he is back as #1 contender once again.

Performance of the Night #2:

Gunnar Nelson for handling the very dangerous Omari Akhmedov with his characteristically unhurried style. Nelson has never been one to rush things or look particularly stressed by a situation, but his calm demeanour through the early striking exchanges and his supremely smooth jiujitsu towards the end made a worthy opponent look like a beginner at Mjollnir MMA that Nelson was demonstrating techniques to.

Surely a top ten opponent for Gunnar next, maybe Mike Pyle or the winner of Matt Brown vs. Erick Silva?

Notable mentions go to Ilir Latifi for a good performance and brutal neck crank submission win, Luke Barnatt for a big KO over a very underrated Mats Nilsson and Louis Gaudinot for his party pooper early sub of Phil Harris.

MAIN CARD

Alexander Gustafsson def. Jimi Manuwa via TKO (knee and punches) – Round 2, 1:18
Michael Johnson def. Melvin Guillard via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) – Round 3, 5:00
Brad Pickett def. Neil Seery via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) – Round 3, 5:00
Gunnar Nelson def. Omari Akhmedov via submission (guillotine) – Round 1, 4:36

PRELIMINARY CARD

Ilir Latifi def. Cyrille Diabate def. submission (neck crank) – Round 1, 3:02
Luke Barnatt def. Mats Nilsson def. TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:24
Claudio Henrique da Silva def. Brad Scott def. unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – Round 3, 5:00
Igor Araujo def. Danny Mitchell def. unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – Round 3, 5:00
Louis Gaudinot def. Phil Harris def. submission (guillotine) – Round 1, 1:13

March 8, 2014 by katakumite

Conflicted Loyalties – One Punch, or 2 Tap?

Usually, I know exactly who I’m backing in a fight. Sometimes it’s an easy question with an exciting, likeable fighter from a nation I hold an affinity to facing off against a dull, dislikeable fighter from a nation I don’t but sometimes the equation is more balanced.

Sometimes there will be a fighter who’s style I like but who’s personality I don’t against a polar opposite, a fighter who I might favour for geographic reasons against one who’s style I like better or any sort of combination of factors.

As a rule I favour fighters in the following order of nationality – Scottish, Irish/Welsh, English/Scandinavian, European, Asian, Brazilian, North American – this often has as much to do with underdog status as anything else and can be completely thrown out if I’m a big fan (or not) of the fighter’s personality, skills or style.

Basically, if I’m backing you purely because of your nationality, it’s because I have no strong feelings about you apart from that, which is not a good thing.

However, never have I been as on-the-fence as I am for tonight’s bout between Brad ‘One Punch’ Pickett and Neil ‘2 Tap’ Seery.

I’m a huge fan of both fighters, for their personality, fighting style and the fact that they are both from a similar part of the world to me*.

* I hesitate to say ‘British’ as Seery and most Irish fans wouldn’t like the designation, even if it’s intended as more a geographical than political term, to be used in similar terms to ‘Scandinavian’ – the fact that I am a Scot in favour of Scottish independence, yet quite happy to also self-identify as part of a cultural ‘British’ diaspora (drinking tea, speaking English as a first language etc.) seems to confuse and threaten a lot of people. Is a desire for self-determination without racism really so hard to understand?

Under normal circumstances, I would pull for Ireland over England (well, I do when they meet in the 6 Nations, it’s a gaelic thing) and the underdog over the established star, but I can’t bring myself to cheer against Pickett, because I like him and my team sports tendency for ‘anyone but England*’ doesn’t extend to MMA, it seems.

* which again, stems more from sheer annoyance at the English sports media and the fact that they are sort of the big dogs around these parts.

So, I’ll do the sensible thing. I’ll sit back, watch the match and enjoy the performance of two martial artists that I have massive respect for, cheering and applauding both men.

In a lot of ways, this is something that I love about MMA – it cuts through a lot of the more insidious prejudices that are commonly associated with team sports and at the end of the day, you tend to like or dislike a fighter based on their personality and performances, rather than their country of birth.

Sure, nationality can be a starting point before you get to know the fighter, but it all too quickly becomes a secondary concern for most fans and that’s a really good thing.

Either way, I think this is a lock for our fight of the night and I can’t wait…

March 6, 2014 by katakumite

Probably The Worst UFC London Preview In The World

I’m enjoying the build up to this card too much to overanalyse everything so here goes…

This card is stacked with fun fights, but I’m particularly looking forward to the headliner between Alexander Gustafsson & Jimi Manuwa as two European fighters with a penchant for intense striking battles face off with the promise of a title shot on the table. What’s not to love about that?

That said, my pick for fight of the night is the Flyweight contest between Brad Pickett and Neil Seery – two reliably entertaining fighters with a few built in story lines for added value (Pickett’s hunt for a title shot, Seery’s ‘Rocky’ story and the whole England vs. Ireland thing) facing off in a guaranteed barnburner.

Throw in UFC debuts for Danny Mitchell and Mats Nilsson, the fact that every single match (bar the co-main event) will have a an impact on our European rankings and I can’t see any way that Michael Johnson vs. Melvin Guillard and Omar Akhmedov vs. Gunnar Nelson will be dull matches.

I’m also excited to see how the box fresh commentary team of John Gooden and Dan Hardy get on. Gooden has long been one of my favourite announcers and Hardy is easily one of the most engaging figures in MMA, so they should be an excellent partnership.

Our live tweeting will be done from a party (UFC at a civilised hour is a good excuse to gather friends and have a few beverages, no?) and may well include photos and videos of our own merry-making chaos as well as insight on the fights themselves.

We’re gonna have a great night, and we think everyone who attends or tunes in will as well.

Card Information

UFC Fight Night 38: Gustafsson vs. Manuwa
March 8, 2014 | O2 Arena | London, England

MAIN CARD
BT Sport 8 p.m. GMT / UFC Fight Pass, 3 p.m. ET
Channel 5 from 9.45 p.m. GMT for the co-headliners and highlights.

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jimi Manuwa
Melvin Guillard vs. Michael Johnson
Brad Pickett vs. Neil Seery
Omari Akhmedov vs. Gunnar Nelson

PRELIMINARY CARD
UFC Fight Pass, 12:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m GMT

Cyrille Diabate vs. Ilir Latifi
Luke Barnatt vs. Mats Nilsson
Brad Scott vs. Claudio Henrique da Silva
Roland Delorme vs. Davey Grant
Igor Araujo vs. Danny Mitchell
Louis Gaudinot vs. Phil Harris

February 16, 2014 by katakumite

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

January 3, 2014 by katakumite

UFC Singapore WILL Show on BT Sport & Five Reasons Why It’s Worth Watching

I’m always happy to give credit where it’s due and today BT Sport renewed a chunk of my faith in their commitment to MMA (well, UFC but at this level the terms are interchangeable) by confirming that they will show Saturday’s UFC Fight Night Singapore event, albeit on a few hours tape delay starting at 9pm.

The tape delay could be construed to be an annoyance, but in fairness it keeps everybody happy as it allows the UFC to charge for the live event on ufc.tv (although I’d be astonished if anyone aside from dedicated journalists buy it), it allows BT Sport to stick with their preferred daytime lineup – let’s be honest, the weakest UFC card in a while isn’t gonna draw them more viewers than FA Cup football, NBA basketball or top level rugby, is it? – and we still get some MMA action on our screens at a relatively decent time of night.

All credit goes to BT Sport for moving quickly to placate the ruffled feathers of UFC fans in the UK and facilitating an outcome which is acceptable to all, although it has to be said that the UFC haven’t come out of this episode with shining colours as their attitude towards the UK and European markets has shown we are very much an afterthought.

I have two questions…

Why don’t we have access to the free Fight Pass trial and can anyone confirm whether we’ll be able to watch the upcoming London card on BT Sport?

Aside from all that, and the fact that this is the least marketable UFC card I can remember, it’s still well worth a watch and not just because it’s MMA on your TV (which is usually reason enough for me.)

Here’s Five Reasons To Watch
(they all happen to be fighters you should be interested in)

Tarec Saffiedine

The last ever Strikeforce champion makes his UFC debut almost a year removed from his title winning effort against Nate Marquardt, looking to make up for lost time and stake his claim as a top contender in the now wide-open Welterweight division.

A well rounded fighter with quality grappling and striking skills and some impressive international experience, Saffiedine is definitely one to watch.

Hyun Gyu Lim

Stepping up as a late replacement for Jake Ellenberger, Korea’s Lim is riding a seven fight win streak including two stoppage victories in the UFC and a Fight of the Night award in his last bout against Pascal Krauss.

Almost an opposite to fellow Korean 170lber Dong Hyun Kim, Lim is a finisher with 13 stoppage conclusions in his 15 fights.

Tatsuya Kawajiri

For so long the #2 Lightweight in Asia behind Shinya Aoki, Kawajiri has dropped to Featherweight and makes his UFC debut on a five fight win streak, including victories over standouts like Joachim Hansen and Michuhiro Omigawa.

‘Crusher’ could easily become a major player in the UFC’s featherweight division, so keep an eye out.

Royston Wee

The UFC’s first ever Singaporean fighter is remarkable more in his apparent unworthiness for the accolade, with his two professional fights earning him two first round submission victories… against fighters with a total combined record of 0-3.

Of course, you can only read so much into a fighter’s record but there is a strong sense that Wee is here as a token local. That said, he could be a complete prodigy and make every Western MMA blogger and journalist look like a tool, starting tomorrow.

The fact that his name sounds like a public order offence in the the north of Glasgow is neither here nor there…

Ok, my real fifth reason is that watching the show will confirm to BT Sport (and other broadcasters) that there is a serious demand for MMA programming in the UK, solidifying BT Sport’s commitment to the UFC deal and perhaps inspiring other channel’s to take a look at other promotions for broadcast…

January 1, 2014 by katakumite

Open Letter To The UFC Re: Viewing for UFC Singapore

Dear UFC,

As a rule for all that we complain, us fans in the UK should know we’ve got it quite lucky – all FOX network cards and PPVs for the cost of our monthly BT Sport subscription being a pretty good deal after all but I have to take some exception to how you’ve handled the launch of Fight Pass and in particular the viewing arrangements for event in Singapore this weekend.

I don’t mind paying for my MMA one bit (it’s why I have subscriptions to both BT and Premier Sports after all) but I DO mind being asked to pay the cost of a month’s Fight Pass – which we don’t have the option to get involved in – while the rest of the world is getting the whole package for free until March, especially for a single card which actually airs in a viewer friendly afternoon slot in Europe.

Now, if we in Europe had the option to buy Fight Pass, then you’d have my money already and it seems perverse, indeed counter-productive when one of the main stated aim of Fight Pass is to allow fans across the world to watch events aimed sty other, region specific markets, that you’d bar one of your most developed overseas fanbases from getting involved in the free trial and ask them to pay.

You want to grow the sport in the UK, but plan to charge us (a notoriously PPV resistant market) for the weakest/most obscure card in recent memory when the rest of the world gets it for free?

Really? This seems like a good PR/business move to you?

Why not drop the pay-wall, give us the card on the same terms as fans in the Americas and given it’s daytime running slot over here, you might just get some extra eyeballs on the event and maybe just hook a few new fans.

That’s the point of all this, right?

I reiterate that when Fight Pass is available in Europe, I will gladly pay for it in addition to my BT Sport subscription (it’s still a much cheaper deal than American fans get) but I don’t like the way we’ve in the Uk & Europe have been taken for granted or at best, treated as an afterthought.

Regards,

Chris