Tag: Regional MMA

We’re making a quick return to the British MMA arena for our next review as we go back in time to last weekend and the St. David’s Hall in Cardiff for Cage Warriors 49, shown this past Wednesday night on Sky Sports here in Britain.

The broadcast began in the lightweight division as Paul Redmond went up against Lewis Long.

There was very little striking in this mainly ground-based affair. Long took control early on, turning Redmond’s takedown attempt into an impressive judo throw. However, his stint on the ground didn’t last very long as Redmond gradually worked his way back into the fight.

His comeback began with the first of many big takedowns as he slammed Long to the mat, and, although Long managed to get to his feet, Redmond quickly took him back down with the same sort of slam, exerting even more control on the action.

Redmond’s control continued into the second round, but this time around Long seemed almost defenceless against his opponent as Redmond gradually worked himself into position so he could take Long’s back and apply a rear naked choke. Long managed to defend at first before eventually succumbing, giving Redmond the submission win.

The lightweight action continued as Merv Mulholland took on Daniel Thomas.

This one didn’t last long. Mulholland came forward early looking for a strike, only to find himself on the receiving end of a Thomas takedown.

Thomas went to work immediately as he moved his man towards the fence. A few moments later, Mulholland went on the offence with a leg triangle. Thomas held out for as long as he could, but when Mulholland added a few strikes into the mix, that was it. Thomas was out of it as the referee stepped in to give Mulholland the submission win.

It was up to middleweight for the next fight as John Michael Sheil faced Faycal Hucin.

This proved to be a very competitive three rounder. As the fight began, Sheil’s intentions were obvious as he connected with some nice kicks. His hand work wasn’t too bad either, and while Hucin looked like he was looking for that one big knockout blow, Sheil looked a lot busier.

Hucin had some success with his takedowns, but the main problem he had was that Sheil, more often than not, managed to get back to his feet. He also didn’t do much work down there, but he did have some success with his strikes in the second, staggering Sheil, who immediately went on the counter with a takedown attempt of his own.

Sheil threw a few takedown attempts into his performance in the third round, adding to his continuing success with his striking as he opened up a cut near Hucin’s left eye, while the Frenchman continued with his tactics of choice, scoring with a few more takedowns.

With the fight going the distance the judges were brought into the equation. Their verdict was a split decision in favour of Hucin. I have to admit that this came as a surprise to me, because I had Sheil ahead because of his superior work rate.

It was back down to lightweight for the next fight as Greg Loughran faced Tim Newman.

This was the one with the controversial ending. Both guys got off some good strikes in this one, with Loughran having a little more success in that department.

But this fight will be remembered for it’s groundwork. Loughran scored with a series of takedowns, but each time they hit the ground, Newman went for a guillotine. Loughran survived the first two attempts, but when he scored with the third takedown, Newman synched in the guillotine even deeper, arching his back as he applied the pressure.

It wasn’t long before the referee stopped the action. Loughran was confused, disputing the referee’s decision that he’d tapped out. His mood wasn’t improved at all when the official told him that he’d tapped Newman’s hip once, and that was enough under the rules. His cause wasn’t helped at all when some folks in the front row and the video replays confirmed this.

The main event featured welterweight action as Cathal Pendred took on Bruno Carvalho.

The second three rounder of the show proved to be a very interesting affair. Pendred has some success in the striking department early on, but when he instigated a clinch against the cage, Carvalho took him down with a combined judo throw and trip, although Pendred managed to get back to his feet after a few seconds.

Carvalho’s best moments came on the ground in the second round. While Pendred was in top position, Carvalho went to work off his back with a number of submission attempts, moving from triangle to armbar with ease. However, although it looked like the fight was going to end, Pendred managed to survive, making this writer wonder if the Welshman was made of rubber.

The final round was fought at a slower pace. Both fighters had their moments in this one, with Carvalho gaining more success on the ground after a leg kick saw Pendred stumble down to the ground. Carvalho then followed him down for a spot of ground and pound.

Once again, the judges were called into action, and, once again, they left me scratching my bald head a little as Pendred took the unanimous decision.

In conclusion, this was another night of great action and of somewhat confusing decisions.

There were some really enjoyable fights here with some great performances. But some of the decisions left me a little perplexed, especially in the main event. I was left to wonder how Pendred, a guy who was on the end of some brutal submission attempts, could get a unanimous decision, especially with one judge giving him each and every round. I wasn’t alone in questioning some of the decisions, with the announcers commenting on some of the strange decisions made in the unaired fights.

But, rather than focus on the negatives, let’s turn our attention to the positives and the Fight of the Night. This time around the no-prize is going to Mulholland and Thomas.

So, with that out of the way, let’s end today’s business by giving Cage Warriors 49 a 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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In 2011, when I was living in Las Vegas, I began hearing rumors of a huge MMA tournament being organized by legendary kickboxing star and MMA trainer Ray Sefo. 

Rumors fly everywhere in Las Vegas, especially when you live and operate in the MMA scene. You really never know what to believe. And from what I’d heard of Sefo‘s idea, I wasn’t sure it could ever be pulled off. 

I’d heard Sefo wanted to organize a big MMA tournament, to be held over the course of a few days at Caesar’s Palace, with the winner awarded a $1,000,000 prize. It seemed too good to be true. It also seemed remarkably similar to the plot of the movie, “Warrior.”

But most of all, it seemed completely outlandish; the Nevada State Athletic Commission would never sanction such an event. 

It was a pipe dream, albeit one that held plenty of intrigue for longtime fans of mixed martial arts. It was like the old days with the crazy PRIDE tournaments, a throwback to the days when fighting was still something of an underground thing, followed closely only by those who frequented mixed martial arts message boards.

Sefo‘s old-school dreams eventually became the World Series of Fighting, which makes its debut this Saturday night at Planet Hollywood. It’s not the tournament Sefo originally envisioned, but rather a simple and traditional MMA card, albeit one with some of the biggest names available outside the UFC. Andrei Arlovski headlines the event. Miguel Torres takes his first post-UFC fight on the main card, and superstar kickboxer Tyrone Spong makes his MMA debut.

But Sefo told me last week that he’d still like to see the tournament format utilized by WSOF at some point.

“That was 100 percent WSOF. We were looking at tournaments at that point in time. We signed a lot of fighters, but we couldn’t uphold our end in terms of dates, so we had to release a lot of fighters,” Sefo said. “It obviously changed with time. We’re going with the format we’re using now because it works, and we’ll create our roster from there and then eventually look at the tournament style.

“I would have loved for the tournaments to happen. But that was something we would need to have approved before finalizing anything,” he said. “It was never anything outside of talks in the office. But it would be kind of cool if it did happen.”

Sefo is everywhere in Las Vegas. I used to see him at every local fight card, at Xtreme Couture and at the UFC offices. If a location had something to do with martial arts, Sefo would be there. And so I wonder aloud if Sefo has the time on his busy schedule—he’s a prolific trainer of fighters while still maintaining his own fighting career—to manage the responsibilities that come with promoting events. 

But World Series of Fighting isn’t Sefo‘s first foray into the promotional end of the sport. Few people realize it, but Sefo and his business partner promoted K-1 events in New Zealand. To hear Sefo tell it, WSOF is a natural progression from his career as a fighter and trainer.

“It’s definitely the next chapter in my long life in martial arts. It’s what I wanted to do,” Sefo said. “I wanted to stay in MMA and also share these experiences with fans and fighters.”

How will Sefo fit WSOF into his already busy schedule?

“Right now I don’t have a problem doing it. I’m just one of those guys that stays busy,” Sefo said. “My only concern is traveling. But with WSOF, everything is in Vegas. It’s good because I’m getting to spend time with my son. It’s all possible to do, and I love doing it.”

Sefo‘s role with WSOF is much like Dana White‘s role with the UFC. He’s the figurehead. He’ll take the lead at press conferences and do all of the interviews promoting the event. His business partner in WSOF has remained silent and hidden behind the scenes, leaving Sefo to handle the brunt of the publicity work. It’s a role he’s not used to, but he says he’ll gladly do it.

“The crazy thing is that I don’t see myself as that guy. I am that guy as the President of WSOF, but I don’t see myself being pressured to be that guy. I love it and I enjoy it, and everything works,” Sefo said. “I love coaching, competing and being president of WSOF.”

“Everything is moving the way it’s supposed to. There may come a time when it’s too much, when I’m too busy,” he said. “If that happens, I’ll take a look at it and make adjustments.”

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British MMA is on the agenda once again, and with the help of Premier Sports’ free-to-air weekend, we’re going back in time a week or so to the King’s Hall in Belfast for Cage Contender 15.

Cage Contender 15 was shown this past Saturday night in two parts, with part one concentrated on the preliminaries. The first three fights were amateur encounters, fought over three three-minute rounds, beginning with Gerard Gilmore against Conor White in the welterweight division.

This certainly proved to be an action-packed opener. They began with a couple of exchanges, and it was apparent from these that White was the more technical striker.

This was more evident when White began to connect with a series of knees in the Thai clinch, a sequence that caused Gilmore no end of trouble, particularly in the first round.

Everything White did just looked so good, from his striking to his ground work, and he came close to ending the fight on a couple of occasions towards the end of the first and second rounds, but as the old saying goes, Gilmore was saved by the bell.

Sadly, the only thing missing from this fight was a finish, which meant a bit of work for the judges as they gave everything to White.

Then it was down to flyweight as Paddy Copeland took on Darren Watkins.

Copeland put in a dominating performance in this one, taking the fight to the ground early on and controlling the action from there. Watkins briefly went for a gogoplata, but Copeland quickly moved to side control so he could deliver a largely unanswered display of ground and pound.

The end came in the second round. Copeland scored with another early takedown before quickly transitioning to his man’s back so he could lock in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

The flyweight action continued as Daniel Thompson took on Karl McNally.

This one lasted just over a minute. The action quickly went to the ground, and as soon as they arrived there, McNally went looking for a choke with a power guillotine attempt. When that didn’t work, he switched over to a regular guillotine, which Thompson quickly tapped out to.

The professional fights began with bantamweight action between Stevie Kilbin and Luke O’Neill.

This one lasted under a minute. After the initial feeling out period, Kilbin took the fight to the ground. A brief moment of grappling followed as they both went for submissions before Kilbin applied a heel hook for the submission win.

Middleweight action followed as Ronan McKay faced Rich Gorey.

This was a very enjoyable encounter. We had a brief feeling out period at the beginning before Gorey scored with the takedown. However, McKay soon reversed the positions, going on to dominate the rest of the round with some sound grappling, and although Gorey went looking for a kimura at one point, McKay didn’t look like he was in any danger.

It was the same story in the second round as McKay dominated on the ground again. It looked like he was going to get the win with a rear naked choke at one point until Gorey managed to escape.

It appeared all over again a few moments later when McKay took the high mount looking for some ground and pound.

Things began to look up for Gorey when he managed to reverse the positions, but that proved to be a bad move on his part as McKay locked in a triangle choke for the highly impressive submission win.

The main show began with bantamweight action between Steve McCombe and Barry McGuigan. (No, not that one!)

We had quite an extensive feeling out period in this one, and it wasn’t until nearly two minutes into the fight when the action really got going as McCombe scored with the takedown.

It was then that McGuigan played the part of the spoiler perfectly, showing sound defensive skills from the bottom. Whenever McCombe moved from half guard to full guard, McGuigan nearly always managed to put him back in his original position, basically shutting McCombe down and stopping him from doing anything meaningful.

After the referee stood the fighters up, McGuigan quickly scored with a takedown of his own. It proved to be the beginning of the end for him though, as McCombe immediately locked in a guillotine with McGuigan tapping out just three seconds from the end of the first round.

Then it was up to featherweight with Ricky Edgeworth taking on Alan Philpott.

His was another one that lasted less then a minute. They began by swinging for the fences before a slip from Philpott saw Edgeworth follow him down to the ground.

Philpott quickly went to work with the submission attempts, going for various holds before synching in a triangle for the submission win.

Championship action followed as Arni Isaksson faced Wayne Murrie for the interim welterweight title.

This proverbial game of two halves saw Murrie putting in a sound performance in the first round. A series of kicks reddened the Icelander’s thigh early on, and whenever Isaksson went for a takedown from the clinch against the cage, Murrie showed sound defensive skills.

When the second round began, though, it was an entirely different story. Isaksson began to look the better striker of the two, and it seemed as if he’d abandoned his plan to take the fight to the ground, as his crisp striking rocked Murrie on more than one occasion.

Murrie tried to counter with a takedown at one point, but it wasn’t long before Isaksson was swinging again, a big right sending Murrie crashing. Isaksson followed him down for a spot of ground and pound before the referee stepped in to give Isaksson the TKO win.

The final fight of the show featured middleweight action, as Conor Cooke went up against former UFC star Ross Pointon.

To say that this fight was action packed would be an understatement. As soon as the bell sounded, these two went at it full pelt, and it made for an amazing spectacle.

This was one of those fast-paced back-and-forth encounters you couldn’t take your eyes off in case you missed something.

First, Pointon had some success with a couple of submission attempts, then Cooke would come back into it with his striking, and then Pointon would counter with more grappling.

It was as if the action was going round in cycles until Cooke began to unload with the heavy leather for the final time. Pointon was against the fence on rubber legs when Cooke connected with a right kick to the head. Pointon crashed to the ground like a sack of spuds as the referee quickly stepped in to give Cooke the TKO win.

In conclusion, it’s been a while since I’ve seen any Cage Contender show, mainly because I don’t subscribe to Premier Sports and they’ve hardly appeared on Sky Sports. I was glad I caught this show, though.

The amateur bouts were all quite impressive, and the performances from those involved showed that they’ve all got bright futures ahead of them.

As for the professionals, they certainly delivered big time. There were some excellent fights there— encounters that could easily have graced the bigger stages in the MMA world—and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of those fighters on those stages in the future.

As for my fight of the night, it was a close call going into the final fight, but then Cooke and Pointon gave us one of the best fights outside of the UFC I’ve seen this year. Giving them my No. 1 prize was kind of a no brainer.

So, with that being said, it’s time to wrap this review up by giving Cage Contender 15 the thumbs up.

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

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