All fighters made weight for Invicta Fighting Championship’s fourth event, airing on online pay-per-view via Usteam this Saturday, Jan. 5 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET.(Click here for the full results and weigh-in recap.)This event will feature the company’s …
All fighters made weight for Invicta Fighting Championship’s fourth event, airing on online pay-per-view via Usteam this Saturday, Jan. 5 at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET.
This event will feature the company’s second title fight as its main event, a strawweight bout between Bellator veteran Carla Esparza and late replacement opponent Bec “Rowdy” Hyatt.
Co-main event fighters Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler and Alexis Davis also made the cut for their bantamweight match, with Davis weighing in a full pound more than her opponent at 135.8 pounds.
Only featherweight Veronica Rothenhausler had trouble making her 146-pound weight limit, tipping the scales on her first attempt. Rothenhausler eventually lost the additional weight, but will be fined 10 percent of her fight purse for her professional MMA debut.
Thirteen bouts across four divisions are scheduled for the card, featuring several veterans as well as plenty of prospects making their professional MMA debuts.
In a first-time experiment for Invicta FC, this is the first event that won’t be free to watch online, with the promotion testing a $7.95 PPV fee on their main website.
Anyone in the Kansas City, Kansas area will be able to attend the event live at Memorial Hall. Floor and arena passes are purchasable via Ticketmaster, with some seats currently available.
A few months ago, after I reviewed the UFC’s fifth show on FX, a fan who goes by the name of Ace James posted a very interesting reply to my piece. To cut a long story short, he said it would be great if the UFC held weekly shows, so fans would g…
A few months ago, after I reviewed the UFC’s fifth show on FX, a fan who goes by the name of Ace James posted a very interesting reply to my piece.
To cut a long story short, he said it would be great if the UFC held weekly shows, so fans would get to see UFC action on a more regular basis.
While this idea is all well and good it got me thinking. If people want to see regular MMA action, then why not look outside of the UFC?
Now while I can’t speak for other countries here in merry old England (and the rest of the United Kingdom) if you sift through the various digital television guides you’ll be able to find MMA action at least once a week.
So here now is my guide for those wanting more regular MMA action.
You will probably begin your search through the schedules with the crown jewel of television sporting action, Sky Sports (Sky 401-404). They’ve shown quite a few MMA promotions over the years, including the UFC, and these days British promotions Ultimate Challenge MMA and Cage Warriors currently call the channel home.
Ultimate Challenge emerged from the ashes of the highly-praised Cage Rage in 2008, following the demise of their parent company, Elite XC.
Fronted Dave O’Donnell, UCMMA (and Cage Rage before them) have promoted fights featuring some of the biggest names in MMA today. Anderson Silva is a former Middleweight champion, while the likes of current UFC alumni Michael Bisping, Paul Daley, Tom Watson and John Maguire have plied their trade under the O’Donnell banner.
Some people may not like O’Donnell’s style, but those who have seen him have to admit that he is perhaps the most charismatic man in British MMA. He’s also a jack of all trades. He’s a shareholder, a trainer, the host of their weekly Cage Fighter TV show and the host of their live events. He’s the ultimate showman, and has an infectious quality about him that makes you want to watch his shows.
The fights he promotes aren’t too bad either!
Compared to UCMMA, Cage Warriors may seem a little reserved in comparison. That doesn’t mean they’re not as good though. They’re one of Europe’s longest running MMA promotions, and having appeared on a number of channels over the years, they were a more than welcome addition to the Sky Sports schedules. It’s an example of how the MMA world is quite unlike the other world I regularly cover. You’d never see WWE sharing a British television channel with TNA, would you?
Like UCMMA/Cage Rage many UFC alumni have competed under their banner, most notably the aforementioned Bisping and Daley.
If you go a bit higher up on the Sky Digi-Guide and keep an eye on Premier Sports (Sky 428) you might get to see some Cage Contender action.
Based in Belfast, Cage Contender recently revived the one night tournament format with the first of their Fight Stars series. It was refreshing to see MMA go back to its roots as it were, although this particular tournament had more in common with boxing’s Prizefighter and Bigger’s Better series.
One word of warning though. Although Cage Contender shows are usually broadcast free-to-air on this subscription channel, you’ll probably only get one chance to see them as repeat showings are normally encrypted.
Another promotion you might want to look out for is the Jersey-based Rumble on the Rock promotion. I must admit that I know very little about this particular company, although I did record a couple of their one hour highlight shows.
If you’re still interested in seeing a national MMA promotion here in Britain you’d probably be interested in the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts. Having bounced around various television channels, BAMMA recently made history when they were shown live on Channel 5 (Sky 5), the first time a British MMA promotion has been shown live on one of the major channels here.
BAMMA has its good and bad points. They seem to have been a kind of stop-start promotion since their inception in 2009, and while their earlier television shows on Bravo, Extreme Sports and SyFy were well presented, their move to mainstream television have left a few people, including this writer, scratching their heads a little. Hopefully the Channel 5 executives will realise how to handle MMA coverage in the future.
If you look a bit deeper you’ll find some of the lesser known MMA promotions on some of the lesser known channels.
Extreme Sports (Sky 419) have shown countless promotions over the past few years, including Strikeforce, King of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge, WEC, the aforementioned BAMMA as well as a few other British companies as well. They recently added Africa’s Extreme Fighting Championship to their schedules, and most of these shows are regularly rotated on their schedules.
And if you like a spot of kickboxing they also show Chuck Norris’ hybrid World Combat League as well.
If, like me, you’re something of a couch potato you may have skipped past The Active Channel (Sky 281).
Alongside programmes where bodybuilders tell you how to build up your muscles and reduce your fat and The Cheeky Girls teaching you how to dance, you’ll find numerous British MMA promotions on there.
Like Extreme Sports, these shows seem to be on a regular rotation. The likes of Shock ‘N’ Awe, Knuckle Up (fronted by former boy band member Dane Bowers), World Fighting Championship, Universal Cage Fighters and my local promotion East Coast Fight Factory (I really must go to one of their shows one day) have made appearances there recently. You can also catch a bit of kickboxing action with the Fight Force promotion as well.
I think I’ve covered everything here, although I get the feeling that I may have forgotten a couple of promotions. Hopefully you’ll be inspired to seek out non-UFC action. If you do I must give you this piece of advice.
If you’ve only ever watched the UFC’s brand of MMA action you may be a bit disappointed by the quality of some of the fights shown on these channels. If you are, then please stick with these shows. Not every fight you see will be a five-star classic. There is, however, the possibility that you might see a star of the future on one of these shows, someone who, one day, will challenge for a UFC title. And if they do you can sit back and fondly remember watching them in the formative years of their careers.
I’m going to end my guide for British viewers with a few website links for those who don’t want to spend hours browsing through their Sky Digi-Guide. Keep an eye on their TV schedules for upcoming MMA action.
Minnesota MMA prospect Zach “Juice” Juusola was victorious in his K1 kickboxing debut this past Saturday night when he defeated Deangelo Curtis in Minneapolis. Juusola, primarily known as a wrestler, used his ever-improving skills in the …
Minnesota MMA prospect Zach “Juice” Juusola was victorious in his K1 kickboxing debut this past Saturday night when he defeated Deangelo Curtis in Minneapolis.
Juusola, primarily known as a wrestler, used his ever-improving skills in the standup game to control and ultimately decision Curtis, fellow MMA fighter, in one of the more lopsided fights of the night.
Though he got the win, Juusolawasn’t entirely satisfied with his performance and saw some areas where he could improve.
“I thought that I was going to knock him out but I didn’t get that,” Juusola told Bleacher Report MMA. “I didn’t connect cleanly like I wanted to with my boxing. I kind of got heavy on the knees and for the K1 fight, our rules were that there were no knees or elbows to the face. So he was bending down and his head was down there. I was trying to knee him in the shoulder and collarbone, trying to get as close to his face as I could without hitting it.”
In hindsight, he wishes that he would’ve been a little more loose with throwing his hands versus the knees, which did damage but were unable to finish the fight.
A member of The Academy gym, Juusola trains with a number of high level strikers but has been improving his boxing specifically at the Circle of Discipline gym with former multi-time Golden Gloves national champion Robert Brant.
Juusola and his opponent both took the fight on just a few days’ notice, which certainly played a part in him not being quite as strategically prepared as he otherwise would have been.
“Usually I would just be doing Muay Thai sparring and kickboxing sparring, with some additional pad work. But for this fight, I really didn’t have time to prepare too much differently than I do my MMA fights,” he said. “It doesn’t go against my MMA record, so I was just out there having fun.”
The K1 experience was definitely positive for Juusola, who said he would recommend giving it a shot to other young fighters who are looking to improve their craft.
“It’s awesome. Especially for guys who come from a wrestling background, it will help you stay comfortable on the feet and not just automatically shoot in for that takedown,” he said. “I think taking a kickboxing fight is really beneficial. I want to do more kickboxing fights, I even want to take some boxing fights. All of that. I need to do it while I’m still in organizations that will allow it.”
While smaller promotions will typically allow their fighters to compete in other martial arts, the UFC historically hasn’t allowed that, even from their top-level competitors. For Juusola, competing on the national stage of the UFC is his ultimate goal.
“I know the UFC probably wouldn’t allow me to do boxing or kickboxing, but that’s my goal…to be in the UFC in the next year,” he said.
After an impressive victory over Billy Christianson in September, Juusola now sits with an impressive 9-2 pro record. His next fight is being worked out for sometime in early March, with the CFA in Miami, Fla.
“I don’t know who I’m going to be fighting yet, but I just want tough opponents,” Juusola said. “I’m trying to get to the big show.”
Prior to his victory over Christianson, Juusola actually went through a two-fight losing streak in the second half of 2011 when he fell short against Trent McCown and recent UFC The Ultimate Fighter cast member Mike Rio. At just 25 years old though, Juusola feels that his best days are still ahead of him and that he is currently the best he has ever been.
“I feel like I’ve just started getting good and my fight game’s really started to click in the past seven or eight months,” Juusola said. “[In 2011], I kind of was just a tough wrestler that just kind of knew how to fight. Lately, everything’s been clicking. My wrestling, my boxing, my kickboxing, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu…Coach Greg Nelson has been helping me a ton with my ground game and of course my standup.”
In addition to Nelson’s world renowned skills as an MMA coach, Juusola and his teammates at The Academy recently welcomed one of the highest-profile fighters in the sport to their gym when Pat Barry started training there.
“Pat Barry is a great addition to The Academy,” Juusola said. “He just knows everything there is to know about striking. He can read everything, he can tell you different things. The way he looks at things is a little different than everybody else. I really like his style.”
With his gym now better than ever and his skills ever-improving, Juusola looks like a fighter to watch in 2013. If he can string together a couple wins, fans could be seeing “Juice” achieve his goal of competing in the Octagon in the very near future.
Cage Warriors stepped up to the plate and took their 50th show to Glasgow a week after three of our major promotions held shows on the same night. The event was shown Dec. 8 on Sky Sports. The broadcast began in the middleweight division as Denniston S…
Cage Warriors stepped up to the plate and took their 50th show to Glasgow a week after three of our major promotions held shows on the same night. The event was shown Dec. 8 on Sky Sports.
The broadcast began in the middleweight division as Denniston Sutherland faced Scott Askham.
This was a great way to begin the night’s action. They didn’t wait to get started, but when Askham rocked his man early on, his domination began. Sutherland tried for a takedown but Askham easily countered and he soon went to work on the ground.
Eventually Sutherland managed to wall walk back to his feet, but this didn’t do him much good when he ate a few knees from Askham’s Thai clinch.
Sutherland looked like a beaten man when the second round began. His legs looked like they were made of jelly, and his best moment of the fight came when he ended up in the top position after Askham executed a judo throw.
However, it wasn’t long before Askham regained control, and Askham‘s dominance continued into Round 3.
The only blot on his copybook was the that Sutherland was there for the taking, but Askham just couldn’t put him away. The judges were called into action as Askham took the unanimous decision.
It was down to featherweight for the next contest as Nathan Beer went up against Graham Turner.
This proved to be an exciting affair. Turner scored with a takedown within the first few seconds, but it wasn’t long before Beer managed to get to his feet. For the next few minutes the two fighters engaged in a back and forth grappling battle around the cage.
Turner took the fight to the ground in the final minute of Round 1 and began to rain down a torrent of right hands from side control. Beer managed to stand up, but the barrage continued and the referee soon stepped in to give Turner the TKO win.
Welterweight action followed as Aaron Wilkinson took on Alan Johnston.
This was one for the technical purists. It began with Wilkinson taking the fight to the ground, and continued for three rounds of great ground fighting.
For the first two rounds Wilkinson was the submission hunter. He was always looking to put his man away in one form or another, no matter what position he was in. It wasn’t all one way traffic though, and Johnston had his fair share of success as well, particularly from the top position in the second and in the third as well, although Wilkinson ended the fight with a kimura attempt.
The judges had to be called upon again as Johnston took the unanimous decision. You couldn’t help feel sorry for Wilkinson though after his stellar performance.
It was down to bantamweight for the next fight as Wilson Reis faced Owen Roddy.
This one was fought at a frantic pace throughout. It was a joy to watch as they exchanged blow after blow, and when the action went to the ground it was just as frantic.
Both guys put in good performances. The striking exchanges were top notch, the ground work was just as good and after two rounds of great action it looked as if the fight could go either way, especially as neither man seemed to slow down.
The end came early in the third round. Reis connected with a big right that sent Roddy crashing, and it wasn’t long before Reis applied an arm triangle before he took his man’s back and synched in a rear naked choke. The referee stepped in when Roddy passed out to give Reis the submission win.
The main event saw Brandon Hempleman taking on Paul McVeigh in a catchweight bout made at 130 pounds.
This proved to be an intriguing three round affair, and while we didn’t have any ground work to speak of, the striking was well worth watching.
Both fighters kept up a good work rate throughout the 15 minutes, with McVeigh getting the better of the exchanges early on and drawing first blood when he opened up a cut above Hempleman’s left eye.
It wasn’t all one way traffic though. As the fight progressed Hempleman seemed to be getting the better of the exchanges, and his work rate got even better in the third as his one-shot-at-a-time tactic looked as if it was having a great deal of success.
Neither man was able to get in that one big blow, which meant a final assignment for the judges as Hempleman took the unanimous decision.
In conclusion, Cage Warriors 50 proved to be a quality show. All of the five fights shown over the two hour broadcast delivered big time, and the performances of those involved was top notch and another example of the dearth of talent we have on these shores at the moment.
As for my fight of the night, all five of them were in with a strong chance this time around, but I eventually went for the Aaron Wilkinson/Alan Johnston encounter, a great exhibition of ground fighting if ever there was one.
So with all of that out of the way it’s time to wrap this thing up by giving Cage Warriors’ penultimate show of 2012 the big 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!
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 &…
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. MihailKazaku.
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. UcheIhiekwe.
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.UcheIhiekwe.
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!
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 acti…
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 TautvydasLileikis 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 JamaineFacey.
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 AurelijusKerpe 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 TomaszCzerwinski 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!
A few months ago, after I reviewed the UFC’s fifth show on FX, a fan who goes by the name of Ace James posted a very interesting reply to my piece.