Author: Julian Radbourne

It was a quick return to action for Britain’s Cage Warriors this past weekend.

After their recent trip to Lebanon, they returned to the HMV Forum in London for Cage Warriors 45, shown this past Wednesday night on Sky Sports in Britain.

The show began in the middleweight division as Brett Bassett went up against Brett Sizeland.

This proved to be a very good fight.

After a feeling-out period at the beginning of the first round, it went to the ground with some nice back-and-forth action.

Bassett went on to lock in a standing guillotine, which Sizeland slammed his way out of.

Later in the round, while Bassett was looking for a takedown near the cage, Sizeland connected with a series of short elbows that opened up a nasty cut in Bassett’s hairline.

The doctor quickly checked him out and allowed him to continue, although the amount of blood left on the ground at the end of the round left some of the fans gasping for a few seconds.

The good groundwork continued into the second, but as the blood began to pour from Bassett’s cut, the referee stopped the action.

Upon seeing his back covered in claret, he called an immediate halt to the proceedings, giving Sizeland the stoppage win.

It was up to the heavyweight division for the next fight, as Eddy Bengtsson faced Dave Keeley.

This was another encounter that featured some nice ground work. After testing the waters with a couple of blows, Bengtsson scored with the takedown, putting in some good work as he went for a neck crank, and later a kimura.

But Keeley was able to survive these attempts and get back to his feet, and when Bengtsson went for another takedown against the cage, Keeley connected with a couple of elbows.

The Swede fell to the ground, and after a brief check from the referee, the fight was stopped as Keeley took the TKO win.

Then it was down to the featherweight division, where Conor McGregor took on Steve O’Keeffe.

No feeling-out period in this one. McGregor came forward straight away, connecting with a series of blows and knees that rocked his man.

O’Keeffe soon countered with a takedown attempt, later moving on to a standing arm triangle until McGregor managed to escape.

It was all over seconds later.

As O’Keeffe went for another takedown, McGregor connected with a succession of elbows, and like in the previous fight, O’Keeffe slumped to the ground.

The referee, seeing that he was out of it, stopped the fight to give McGregor the TKO win.

Then it was on to the quarterfinals of the middleweight title tournament, where Chris Fields faced Jack Mason.

This was a quick one.

After a feeling-out period, Fields connected with a high left kick to Mason’s head. Mason slumped to the ground, with the referee stepping in after a brief moment of ground and pound to give Fields the TKO win after just 50 seconds.

Lightweight action followed as James Reese faced Brad Wheeler.

The pattern for this one was the same throughout. Wheeler would go for a punch or kick, and Reese would counter with an immediate takedown.

It proved to be an effective tactic for the American, who put in some good work while dealing with Wheeler’s attack from his back.

There were, however, numerous stand-ups from the referee because of a lack of action.

Wheeler’s only effective moment came when he went for a kimura on the ground. It wasn’t long before Reese escaped and re-established control.

So with the fight going the distance it went down to the judges. No real surprise here as they gave everything to Reese.

The main event featured heavyweight action as Rogent Lioret went up against Bobby Brents.

Lioret began his night’s work with a hard leg kick, but soon found himself on the receiving end of Brent’s big takedown.

It wasn’t long before they were back to their feet exchanging blows, with Brents getting the better of the exchanges.

However, when Brents scored with an overhand right, Lioret fell to the mat.

Brents followed him down, locking in an arm triangle choke. The Spaniard tried to fight it but it wasn’t long before he was tapping out, giving the American the impressive submission win.

In conclusion, while I enjoyed last week’s Fight Night show in Beirut, I have to admit that I enjoyed this show even more.

None of the fights here disappointed as we got to see the full range of skills, with the main event battle between Lioret and Brents the fight of the night for me.

So once again, I’m going to give a Cage Warriors show the thumbs up, and once again I find myself looking forward to their next television appearance, which is less than a week away.

 

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British MMA brings an international flavour as we take a look at Cage Warriors’ most recent show, which saw them travel to Beirut for Fight Night 3 for their first appearance on Sky Sports this past Wednesday evening.

The broadcast began in the welterweight division as Domingos Mestre faced John Donnelly.

Ground fighting was the order of the day in this encounter. After briefly jockeying for position in the first round, Mestre went for a couple of guillotine attempts, which Donnelly waited out.

Sadly the second round wasn’t shown, so it was straight to the third round where more ground fighting followed, with Mestre opening up a nasty cut on Donnelly’s forehead before going for another guillotine.

With the fight going the distance, it was down to the judges to decide. By unanimous decision, Mestre was given the win. It would have been nice to see that second round though.

The quarterfinals of the Middleweight title tournament began next as Victor Cheng took on Matt Gabel.

This was a fight packed with incident, particularly in the first round. After a brief feeling-out period, the fighters engaged in a clinch against the cage where Cheng connected with a knee south of the border.

Cheng got off a few good strikes, but later on Gabel went for a guillotine choke. But as he tried to synch in the hold properly, he connected with a kick to Cheng’s spine that earned him a warning from the referee.

A second warning came a few seconds later. As Cheng made his escape, Gabel connected with an upkick while Cheng still had one knee on the ground. This time around, the warning came with a one-point deduction.

The end came in the second round. Cheng began to unload with the heavy leather, staggering his American opponent, before taking the win with a crisp rear naked choke. Nice work all round.

The second quarterfinal saw Faycal Hucin taking on Gareth Joseph.

This was a great, if somewhat brief, back-and-forth encounter. Joseph began in an explosive manner, scoring with a takedown and going for the ground-and-pound with a series of hammer fists.

Hucin managed to escape and began to unload with the big shots. A right hand staggered Joseph, and with the American looking out on his feet, the referee stepped in immediately to give Hucin the knockout win.

With the tournament action over for the evening, next up was a featherweight contest between Matteus Lahdesmaki and Graham Turner.

Another good encounter saw the fighters engage in a brief feeling-out period until Lahdesmaki scored with the takedown. The Finnish fighter soon went for the kimura before seamlessly transferring to Turner’s back where he synched in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

It was back to the middleweight division for the next fight as Mats Nilsson went up against Tommy Speer.

In a very intriguing affair, both fighters put on some good work in the first round where they exchanged positions on the ground.

The best work came in the second. Nilsson took control on the ground, putting in a good showing as he controlled his American opponent until the referee stood them up because there wasn’t enough work for his liking.

With the fighters back on their feet, Speer looked to take control with his striking but soon found himself back on the ground. Nilsson then took the mount before locking in an arm triangle choke. Speer tried to fight it but it wasn’t long before the inevitable tap-out to give Nilsson the submission win.

The main event featured lightweight action as Juha-Pekka Vainikainen went up against Kyle Watson.

A solid if somewhat unspectacular affair saw both fighters putting in a good effort in an even-looking first round. The action really didn’t hot up until the second when Vainikainen scored with a couple of blows straight down the middle as well as showing some good takedown defence.

The rather unfortunate ending came when Watson went for a takedown. A glancing blow from Vainikainen opened up a nasty gash on Watson’s forehead. As the blood began to pour during a clinch against the cage, the referee stopped the action and called in the doctor, who soon called the fight off, giving Vainikainen the TKO win.

All-in-all, Fight Night 3 proved to be an enjoyable show. There were some good displays, particularly from Cheng and Nilsson, although Hucin’s knockout win was the fight of the night for me.

The Cage Warriors debut on Sky Sports gets the thumbs up from this writer. I’m looking forward to seeing more from them in the next couple of weeks.

 

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com, as well as my Facebook page at Facebook.com/twoshedsreview.

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British mixed martial arts is on the agenda for the first time this year as we take a look at the latest offering from Dave O’Donnell’s Ultimate Challenge promotion, The Real Deal, shown on a three day delay on Sky Sports this past Wednesday evening here in Britain.

The broadcast began with middleweight action as Luke Barnatt took on Ben Callum.

This was one of the most action packed fights I’ve seen this year. After a somewhat icy staredown these two began connecting as soon as the bell sounded, filling the first round with some intense back and forth striking action as both men looked to secure the quick finish.

The next two rounds were mainly on the ground as Barnatt put in a dominating performance. Callum went for a guillotine early on the second with Barnatt taking control after he escaped, going for numerous submission attempts including arm bars and rear naked chokes. It was only the great defensive work Callum was putting in that stopped him from getting the win.

So with the fight going the distance the judges came into play, with each one giving Barnatt every round in what may very well be the best British fight I’ve seen in ages.

After a highlights package featuring some of the other fights, it was on to it was on to the welterweight encounter between Ben Dishman and Michael Page.

The best way to describe this fight was eventful. It didn’t last long but it certainly was memorable.

Dishman came forward early, looking for the takedown which Page easily avoided. Dishman tried the tactic time and time again, and got the same result each and every time.

Then Page began to showboat, his arms down by his side, sticking his tongue out at his opponent. It looked as if Dishman just didn’t know what to do, and when Page connected with a spin kick to the head Dishman staggered before falling to his knees. The referee stopping the fight seconds later, giving Page the TKO win.

It was up to light heavyweight for the next fight as Mohammad Ali (no not that one), took on Iain Martell.

We had a lengthy feeling out period at the beginning of this one, the first physical contact coming after 30 seconds when Martell scored with the takedown. All Ali did was hold Martell in position, so it came as no surprise when the referee stood the fighters up.

Martell scored with another takedown soon afterwards, and this time Ali did nothing as Martell completely overwhelmed him. It wasn’t long before Martell took his back and synched in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

Nice work for my local Norwich fighter.

Featherweight action followed as Rae Edgar went up against Ashleigh Grimshaw.

This one began with a feeling out period, with both fighters testing the waters a little before Grimshaw scored with the big takedown.

From there Grimshaw dominated, transitioning well and taking Edgar’s back where he rained down a torrent of blows including numerous unanswered lefts. The referee kept a close eye on action, calling a halt to the proceedings when Edgar verbally tapped to give Grimshaw the impressive win.

Then it was on to the big boys of the heavyweight division, and when I say big, I mean big as Tomasz Czerwinski faced Stav Economou.

This one had a controversial ending.

Economou scored with the early takedown, delivering a few blows before moving to side control. He then went for a key lock on Czerwinski’s left arm, and after Czerwinski cried out and tapped Economu’s back once the referee stopped the fight.

It was then that big Czerwinski got to his feet and cried “no!”, claiming he hadn’t tapped at all, although the replays showed that he did. So the final decision—a submission win for Economou—stood. Look for these two to face each other again soon.

The first title fight saw Spencer Hewitt facing Cory Tait for the Interim Bantamweight title.

The blink and you’ll miss affair of the evening saw both fighters circling each other before Hewitt connected with a big right that sent Tait crashing to the floor like a sack of spuds. The referee quickly stepped in and stopped the fight, giving Hewitt the knockout win after just 10 seconds.

The co-main event saw Aurelijus Kerpe taking on Linton Vassell for the vacant Light Heavyweight title.

Vassell put on a clinic in this fight, getting the early takedown and overwhelming Kerpe, transitioning to the mount and delivering a few choice blows.

After trying to take Kerpe’s back Vassell went back to the mount, moving so he could apply an arm bar for the impressive submission win.

The main event saw UK1 kickboxing action as Peter Irving challenged Luke Sines for the Welterweight title.

This certainly proved to be an action packed three-round affair. Sines looked good early on, delivering some nice strikes as he looked to keep his title. But from the second round onward, Irving took control, often putting the champion on the back foot with his combinations and causing him some trouble with his knees to the body.

With neither man able to put the other away, it went down to the judges as Irving took the split decision.

So what can I say about this one, then?

UCMMA’s first show of 2012 proved to be one of the best I’ve seen so far this year.

From top to bottom, we were treated to some memorable encounters and controversial moments, with the Barnatt/Callum encounter the highlight of the night for me.

Also, it was great to see Sky Sports give them a two-hour slot instead of the usual 90 minutes we’ve been used to, so kudos to them for that.

So in all, UCMMA The Real Deal gets the big thumbs up from me, a perfect advertisement for British MMA at it’s finest.

 

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com, as well as my Facebook page at Facebook.com/twoshedsreview.

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