Author: Julian Radbourne

December 1, 2012 may go down as one of the busiest days in British MMA history.

On the night that BAMMA held a show in Birmingham and UCMMA one in London, the Cage Contender promotion added to the heady mix a show that harked back to the early days of “no holds barred” fighting at The Olympia in Liverpool.

The Fight Stars show featured an eight-man lightweight tournament, with the quarterfinals and semifinals contested over two rounds and the final contested over three—and thanks to Premier Sports the entire show aired for free last weekend over course of two nights.

Part one featured the quarterfinals, beginning with Jamie Rodgers vs. Martin Stapleton.

The first round was a cautious affair.

Stapleton scored with the early takedown, but after that not much of note happened, mainly because Rodgers did a good job at shutting his man down.

The referee stood them up after a few moments, but it wasn’t long before the fighters repeated themselves. The best action came towards the end,  when Rodgers managed to take Stapleton’s back, but he was running against time.

The second round had a lot more to it.

Once again Stapleton was the busier, and although Rodgers looked for a couple of submissions, Stapleton did enough to put in a more dominating performance.

As the fight neared it’s conclusion, Stapleton relaxed a little, thinking that he’d done enough.

The judges saw it that way too, giving Stapleton the unanimous decision.

Then, it was on to Arnold Quero vs. Mihail Kazaku.

These two were tagged as the dark horses of the tournament, mainly because no one knew anything about them, not even the commentators—who soon found out what they were all about.

After a brief feeling out period, Kazaku went for a takedown, which Quero avoided with ease. He then went to work with punches, and while it looked as if Kazaku wanted to swing for the fences, Quero was more measured in his approach.

It soon paid off for the Frenchman when a big right put the Italian on his backside. Quero was reluctant to follow him down, and the referee ordered Kazaku back to his feet shortly afterwards.

Kazaku was now extremely weary about Quero’s punching power, and rightfully so, because Quero soon put him back down on the canvas.

This time around he followed him down for a spot of ground and pound, and it wasn’t long before the referee stepped in to give Quero the TKO win.

Next up where Tommy Maguire, brother of current UFC fight John Maguire, and Chris Stringer.

Stringer began his night’s work with a kick, but he soon found himself on his back when Maguire scored with the takedown.

Maguire went on to dominate the rest of the round. His work wasn’t overly flashy, but he did enough to frustrate his opponent, and enough to prevent a referee’s stand up.

Stringer looked like he was going to have some success at the beginning of the second round, but when he went for a knee, Maguire took him down to the mat again for some more dominating work.

Stringer’s brief moment of offence came when he managed to get hold of Maguire’s foot, but once again Maguire kept busy enough until the end of the fight.

No surprise with the decision here as Maguire took the unanimous decision.

The final fight of the round saw Phil Flynn vs. Uche Ihiekwe.

These two began their exchanges straight off the bat, and although Flynn had some success early on, Ihiekwe weathered that brief storm and came back with some hard blows of his own.

Flynn wasn’t given any time to recover as Ihiekwe upped his game, and when he came forward for a takedown, Ihiekwe connected with a knee that knocked him out cold.

The referee quickly stopped the fight to give Ihiekwe the TKO win.

Part two began with non-tournament action and the bantamweight fight between Paddy Pimblett vs. Douggie Smith.

Pimblett, at just 17-years-old, belied his youthful appearance by putting on a very good performance. He brought a calm demeanour to the early striking exchanges, and when he switched over to the grappling game he looked even better.

Pimblett countered Scott’s takedown attempt with a standing guillotine, and although Scott survived that submission attempt, he soon found himself in the receiving end of another when Pimblett applied a triangle choke while Scott was still standing.

The fight quickly went to the mat, and it wasn’t long before the inevitable happened when Scott tapped out to give Pimblett the submission win.

Then, it was back to the tournament and semifinals, beginning with Martin Stapleton vs. Arnold Quero.

When the fight began, it looked as if Stapleton had been warned about Quero’s punching power.

It didn’t seem to bother him though, and he looked more than a match for his man, even though Quero rocked him a couple of times.

Stapleton soon scored with the takedown, and unlike the fight with Rodgers he was a lot busier on the ground, mainly because Quero was making him work for his life.

As the round entered it’s final moments, it looked like we were going to get another five minutes of action. Then, from out of nowhere, Stapleton rolled backwards and applied a heel hook, with Quero tapping out with just one second left in the round.

The second semifinal saw Tommy Maguire vs.Uche Ihiekwe.

This proved to be an intriguing battle.

Ihiekwe looked great early on as he controlled the action with his striking until Maguire caught him and took him down to the ground, and although he stayed busy enough to control the action, it wasn’t long before Ihiekwe managed to wall walk himself to safety.

The second round began in a similar manner. Once again, Ihiekwe got some good shots in before Maguire took the fight to the ground for some more good work, but as the fight entered it’s final seconds Ihiekwe managed to escape, going for a heel hook before landing a big knee when he got back to his feet.

So, with the fight going the distance, the judges were brought into the equation again.

One judge scored the fight as a draw, which seemed a fair result to me, while the other two gave their vote to Maguire.

Then, it was back to non-tournament action and the welterweight encounter between Russ Smith and Dan Rushworth.

Smith came forward as soon as the bell sounded rocking Rushworth with a big left. He then scored with a quick takedown, but Rushworth managed to get back to his feet within seconds.

The two of them then jockeyed for position against the cage, and when Rushworth, having fully regained his senses, connected with a series of knees in a Thai clinch Smith dropped to the canvas.

A couple of right hands followed before the referee stepped in to give Rushworth the TKO win.

Lightweight action followed as Alexi Roberts went up against Dan Welsh.

The blink and you’ll miss it affair of the evening saw Roberts coming forward straight away, and after a couple of telling blows he slammed Welsh down to the mat.

He quickly moved into a position where he could apply a kimura for the submission win after just 25 seconds, although a few people, including the commentators and the referee, didn’t know that Welsh had tapped until Roberts released the hold and got back to his feet.

The last fight of the show was the tournament final between Martin Stapleton and Tommy Maguire.

This proved to be a very interesting encounter. Early on, they appeared to nullify each other in the grappling department, but as the fight went on Stapleton began to impose his will on the fight as he tried to grind his man down against the cage.

It was a tactic that Stapleton would use for the majority of the fight, and it proved to be highly effective. Maguire seemed to find it difficult to deal with Stapleton at this point, and although he managed to reverse the positions and take Stapleton down his opponent soon found his way out of this perilous position.

Given their exertions throughout the tournament it came as no surprise that we didn’t get a finish, which meant a final job for the judges as they gave Stapleton the tournament winning unanimous decision.

In conclusion—this proved to be a very entertaining night of MMA action.

Although the Fight Stars tournament was compared to the early UFC tournaments I don’t really think that was a far comparison.

The tournament itself was very enjoyable and came across as well planned event.

If it isn’t overdone then it could become MMA’s equivalent to boxing’s Prizefighter tournaments, with tournaments held for all the weight classes and with up and comers going up against more established stars looking for one last short at glory.

As for my fight of the night, I’m going to go outside the tournament and the encounter between Russ Smith and Dan Rushworth.

It may not have lasted that long but it was filled with great action, and for me it’s a worthy recipient of the no-prize this time around.

So with all of that out of the way there’s one last thing to do, and that’s to give what will hopefully become the first of many Fight Stars tournaments the thumbs up.

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com. It’s been online in one form or another for over 12 years now!

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It’s time to step into the world of British MMA for the second time this week, and this time around we’re heading to The Troxy in London for UCMMA, shown this past Wednesday night on Sky Sports here in Britain.

The broadcast began with action from the welterweight division as Tautvydas Lileikis faced Khalid Ismail.

We had quite a lengthy feeling out period at the beginning of this one, but as the action went past the one minute mark it suddenly exploded into life.

Lileikis went for a takedown, but Ismail showed a great deal of strength when he simply barged his man over. He then went to work with the ground and pound, and with Lileikis covering up as Ismail rained down a torrent of heavy blows it wasn’t long before the referee stepped in to give Ismail the TKO win.

Catchweight action, made at 80 kilos, followed as Jimmy Miller took on Joel Reid.

This one was touted as the striker versus the grappler, and it wasn’t long before the striker took control. Miller took a while to gauge the distance, but when he found his range he started to use Reid’s face for target practice, opening up a couple of cuts.

But as the first round entered its final stages, Reid suddenly turned the tables and went for a kimura from a standing position. Miller managed to survive when the fight went to the ground only for Reid to take the mount and deliver a few moments of ground and pound.

Reid continued his comeback into the second round. Miller looked a spent force as Reid went to work with some great strikes, and when they went to the ground it was all over as Miller tapped when Reid took his back and delivered numerous unanswered blows.

Then it was on to the lightweight division as Andy Cona went up against Jamaine Facey.

The introductions for this one lasted longer than the fight did. As soon as the bell sounded Facey went to work, connecting with a left kick to the head. A couple of more kicks followed before Facey connected with a flying knee to the head that sent Cona crashing. The referee quickly stepped in to give Facey the knockout win after just 15 seconds.

It was up to light heavyweight for the next fight as Aurelijus Kerpe took on Nick Chapman.

After highlights of the first round were shown the action began halfway into the second. Chapman looked quite impressive with his takedowns, but once he got there he didn’t seem to do much. It wasn’t a surprise when the referee stood the fighters up as Kerpe connected with a couple of good shots.

The third round followed the same pattern, with the addition of long moments against the cage where Chapman tried to go for a single leg while Kerpe tried to go for a guillotine. Eventually Chapman got the takedown and went to work with the ground and pound. It looked better this time around, although it didn’t look like he’d get the finish.

Which meant work for the judges as Chapman took the unanimous decision.

It was back to welterweight for the next fight as Richard Griffin squared off against Paul Kelly.

As the fight began one of our esteemed commentators, Mr. Rob Nutley, declared that the fight wouldn’t go to the ground. Kelly promptly scored with the takedown, once again providing us with a good example of the sports commentator’s curse.

Kelly dominated as soon as they hit the mat. His lefts to the ribs looked and sounded brutal, and although Griffin took a lot of punishment and showed sound defensive skills at times Kelly was able to move around at will.

They followed the same script in the second round, and once again Kelly delivered some hard shots to Griffin’s body. Griffin went for his man’s leg at one point before Kelly synched in a guillotine for the submission win.

The first of the title fights followed as Jody Collins took on Cory Tait for the Bantamweight title.

Tait began his night’s work with his usual stance, moving around the cage with his hands by his waist, and when Collins came forward with a couple of blows Tait simply moved out of the way.

Collins soon caught his man when he scored with the takedown, and he did a good job of controlling the action, taking Tait back down again when he briefly got back to his feet.

But it wasn’t long before Tait came back into the fight, and after a quick scramble Tait went for a couple of submissions before applying a toe hold for the submission win.

Then it was onto the Middleweight title fight between Dan Dixon and Ben Callum.

These two began swinging for the fences as soon as the fight began. Callum rocked Dixon, then Dixon rocked Callum. Then they went down to the mat where Callum took control after a quick scramble and locked in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

The main event featured giants as Tomasz Czerwinski went up against Neil Grove for the Interim Heavyweight title.

I wasn’t expecting a technical classic with this one, but what I got was very interesting.

We had an extensive feeling out period at the beginning, and whenever big Czerwinski came forward, displaying his usual tactic of going for a barrage of big blows, Grove countered with a big left that stopped the big man in his tracks.

Although Czerwinski is one of the most likeable fighters on the roster he once again showed that he’s a tad one dimensional. It wasn’t long before he came forward again, and once again Grove stopped him with another counter left.

The really interesting part came when Grove connected with a right leg kick to Czerwinski’s left leg. The big man made the mistake of showing that the kick hurt him by rubbing his leg. This was like a red rag to a bull as far as Grove was concerned, and another well-placed right kick saw Czerwinski crumple to the canvas. Grove followed him down for a spot of ground and pound before the referee stepped in to give Grove the TKO win.

In conclusion—having been very disappointed with Channel 5’s handling of BAMMA’s recent show it was nice to get back into the swing of things with some quality British action.

UCMMA 31 more than made up for the previous disappointment and showed just how an MMA show should be presented on television. Every fight delivered to varying degrees, with some more enjoyable than others, my only gripe being the cuts made to the Kerpe/Chapman fight.

As for my fight of the night this time the no-prize is going to the Bantamweight title fight between Jody Collins and Cory Tait.

So with all of that out of the way it’s time to wrap this thing up by giving UCMMA 31 the thumbs up.

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com. It’s been online in one form or another for over 12 years now!

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It was an historic night this past Saturday, as for the first time ever MMA was shown on British terrestrial television. The network that broke new ground was Channel 5, and the event in question was the 11th show from the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts (BAMMA).

The two-fight broadcast began in the middleweight division as Sam Boo went up against the darling of the tabloid newspapers, Alex Reid; a man who has become famous more for his exploits outside the cage.

The best way to describe this fight is that it was interesting. The first thing that stood out about it was when our esteemed announcers said this was Reid’s first fight since his loss to Tom Watson for the Middleweight title. So I guess the farce against Jason Barrett that UCMMA put on doesn’t count now.

As for the fight, it was okay—if a little unspectacular. Boo looked like the more lively of the two early on, with Reid’s best success coming when he connected with a series of knees to Boo’s head.

By the end of the first round Reid began to look visibly tired. Boo upped his game slightly in the second, but a knee to Reid’s head while he was still grounded earned him a points deduction.

Reid still looked shaky afterwards, and by the time the third round started his striking looked laboured as Boo beat him to the punch every time. It looked as if the only thing keeping him in the fight were his kicks, and he finally put some life into his work towards the end with a brief moment of ground and pound.

 

With no finish in sight, the judges were called into action as Reid took the unanimous decision; a slightly vexing decision in my opinion, with Reid probably swaying the judges with his work later on in the rounds.

Then it was on to highlights of the middleweight fight between Jack Marshman and “Professor X” Xavier Foupa-Pokam.

With the first two rounds skipped it was on to the third round; Marshman’s face was a complete mess by this time, having already sustained a few serious cuts. Foupa-Pokam scored with the early takedown, and Marshman looked helpless as Professor X began to grind his man down. He connected with a few ground and pound shots to open those cuts up again.

As the clock passed the three-minute mark the referee stood the fighters up, but it didn’t matter much because X soon took the fight back down to the ground so he could continue his good work until the final bell.

This meant more work for the judges, with Foupa-Pokam taking the split decision.

In conclusion: I have very mixed feelings about this broadcast.

I think it’s great that MMA action is finally being shown on mainstream terrestrial television, nearly 10 years after the UFC first appeared on our screens. In the long run it could be of great benefit to the sport—if it’s handled correctly.

Sadly, BAMMA 11 wasn’t. When they were bouncing around the television channels from the now-defunct Bravo to SyFy to Extreme Sports and so on, we were always treated to a two-hour broadcast a few days after the show. You always managed to get a good feel for what the show was about, and that’s what made their product entertaining.

But a show lasting 65 minutes (including commercial breaks) which featured only 20 minutes of action is kind of inexcusable. While it’s great to see the company trying to better themselves and take British MMA to a whole new audience, this wasn’t exactly a good advertisement.

As for the fights, or rather the fight, it was obvious that BAMMA were trying to cash in on the notoriety Alex Reid has garnered on the celebrity circuit over the past few years. He may have had his moments a few years ago, but as a fighter I wouldn’t rank him anywhere near the top talents in Britain at the moment; he was more than lucky to get the decision over Sam Boo.

It’s for these reasons that I’m going to have to give BAMMA 11 the thumbs down.

Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com. It’s been online in one form or another for over 12 years now!

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