Winner Once Again
Nov 24, 2007
READING, England, Nov. 24 -- Andre Winner (Pictures) turned up the heat on Saturday
with his already vicious clinch game to maul talented German
fighter Mario Stapel
(Pictures) over three rounds. With the
victory in front of a packed house, Winner successfully defended
his FX3 lightweight title.
Starting well, Stapel pushed forward and landed some inside low kicks and solid knees. However, the champion had other ideas, scoring on the inside with spiteful elbows and uppercuts that soon opened a nasty cut above the German's left eyebrow.
Stapel tried his best to battle his way back into the contest. He
seemed to hurt the Roughhouse fighter in the second round with a
hard body kick, followed immediately by an accurate left hook to
the exact same spot.
Winner, though, shook off the pain and soon made it clear that Stapel's boundless reserves of fighting spirit would not be enough to unseat him as the lightweight titlist. Overall, Winner put on an impressive boxing display and stifling the German's attempts to pull guard en route to a clear unanimous decision.
Surprisingly, it was the smaller German who dominated position as the fight went to the floor. He punched away at Adams as he held him on his back.
However, a change of fortunes in the second round allowed Adams to seek bitter revenge and dish out a barrage of hammerfists that forced Baron to cover up and absorb the blows, giving the referee no choice but to step in.
Unflappable veteran Peter Angerer needed every ounce of his famed composure to hold off a vicious early attack from FX3 favorite Nigel Whitear (Pictures). After Angerer swept his way off the bottom, he scored a beautiful takedown.
Landing directly in mount position, the German hammered away and soon found an opening that he immediately exploited by straightening out Whitear's arm for the tap.
Fighting for the FX3 lightweight kickboxing title, Damien Hamilton landed some hefty bodyshots in the first round of his bout with Matt Harris and bulled his way forward with power punches.
In the later stages, Harris had some success with his low kicks that at one stage knocked the local fighter to the floor. However, the judges felt Hamilton had done enough to squeak through to claim a very close split decision.
Former kickboxer Glen "The Militant" Johnson had a successful, if not controversial, MMA debut as he beat opponent Kev Simms to the floor in three and a half minutes. After landing a heavy accidental low blow early, Johnson later had a point deducted for an illegal downward elbow that landed while his 40-year-old opponent steamed in for a takedown.
Despite taking time to recover, Simms was shaken and disorientated as the fight resumed. He soon found himself on the end of a beautiful flying knee from "The Militant," who proceeded to bash his foe into the floor to claim his first win.
MMA photographer and fighter David Swann came back from a long layoff to put in an audacious performance. He battered opponent Jay Gilbey (Pictures) relentlessly from all angles.
Gilbey seemed to be doing everything right, moving the fight to the mat and taking his opponent's back. Yet Swann just seized on the fleeting opportunity to strike, blasting his way out of trouble before slamming and punching his way into the win column.
In the most shocking fight of the night, Pancrase London fighter Ashleigh Grimshaw (Pictures) smashed Phil "Billy" Harris with a thudding right hand and chased after him with a series of brutal punches to snatch victory in only 46 seconds.
Grimshaw regained his feet after an early takedown to land a hard right hand that let out a shocking crack as it sent Harris crashing to the deck. The stream of follow-up shots only added to an extremely bad night for the Portsmouth fighter, prompting the referee to stop the contest.
Tim Radcliffe (Pictures) demonstrated some fantastic ground skills in his match with Lee Ambrose (Pictures). He constantly threatened to sweep his way off his back. Ambrose was unable to take advantage of his early takedown and was soon fighting off a sudden omoplata attempt.
Adjusting his weight to stave off the submission, Ambrose plunged straight back into danger as Radcliffe transitioned effortlessly to ensnare his opponent in a tight triangle and bag an impressive win.
The crafty and resilient Lloyd Clarkson (Pictures) slid out of numerous early guillotine attempts from Adam Greener (Pictures) to take control of the ground battle and bash his opponent for a first round referee stoppage.
The Poole Jiu-Jitsu fighter battled valiantly to stay in the contest. Before passing to side mount, he subdued his larger opponent in a tight crucifix to hammer out an impressive victory.
Bearded wildman Greg "Mendingo" Knapp put in a very solid performance to come back from a first round beating at the hands of Simon Gill (Pictures) to claim a decision in a true standup war. Waking the crowd up early in the night, the two slick grapplers ignored the ground game, instead choosing to slug it out on their feet.
Gill landed an array of low kicks throughout the first half of the bout, but Knapp's patient boxing game sealed the win after opening up a number of cuts on his opponent's face while he pulled ahead on all three of the judges' cards.
Steve Baggaley (Pictures) overcame his nerves in his second FX3 outing. He took down and submitted Dion Oakes (Pictures) in little more than a minute.
Dropping back for an ill-fated leglock attempt, Baggaley was caught on his back in a tight spot. However, the local fighter soon turned the situation around by securing a tight guillotine that forced the submission.
Pancrase London fighter Guy Hennequin tasted victory in his featherweight bout with Damon Wright. Laying into his opponent from the opening seconds, Hennequin delivered a series of vicious punch combinations that put Wright on the floor.
With his opponent in trouble, Hennequin didn't need a second invitation and went to work, pounding his way to a first round stoppage.
Starting well, Stapel pushed forward and landed some inside low kicks and solid knees. However, the champion had other ideas, scoring on the inside with spiteful elbows and uppercuts that soon opened a nasty cut above the German's left eyebrow.
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Winner, though, shook off the pain and soon made it clear that Stapel's boundless reserves of fighting spirit would not be enough to unseat him as the lightweight titlist. Overall, Winner put on an impressive boxing display and stifling the German's attempts to pull guard en route to a clear unanimous decision.
In the penultimate fight of the night, the middleweights collided
when "Big" Brian Adams
(Pictures) took on the colorfully
tattooed Sebastian
Baron (Pictures) in a closely fought battle. Baron
showed some surprising speed as he lashed out with stiff low kicks.
Adams was less than impressed, surging forward to land his own left
hooks and a series of knees in the clinch.
Surprisingly, it was the smaller German who dominated position as the fight went to the floor. He punched away at Adams as he held him on his back.
However, a change of fortunes in the second round allowed Adams to seek bitter revenge and dish out a barrage of hammerfists that forced Baron to cover up and absorb the blows, giving the referee no choice but to step in.
Unflappable veteran Peter Angerer needed every ounce of his famed composure to hold off a vicious early attack from FX3 favorite Nigel Whitear (Pictures). After Angerer swept his way off the bottom, he scored a beautiful takedown.
Landing directly in mount position, the German hammered away and soon found an opening that he immediately exploited by straightening out Whitear's arm for the tap.
Fighting for the FX3 lightweight kickboxing title, Damien Hamilton landed some hefty bodyshots in the first round of his bout with Matt Harris and bulled his way forward with power punches.
In the later stages, Harris had some success with his low kicks that at one stage knocked the local fighter to the floor. However, the judges felt Hamilton had done enough to squeak through to claim a very close split decision.
Former kickboxer Glen "The Militant" Johnson had a successful, if not controversial, MMA debut as he beat opponent Kev Simms to the floor in three and a half minutes. After landing a heavy accidental low blow early, Johnson later had a point deducted for an illegal downward elbow that landed while his 40-year-old opponent steamed in for a takedown.
Despite taking time to recover, Simms was shaken and disorientated as the fight resumed. He soon found himself on the end of a beautiful flying knee from "The Militant," who proceeded to bash his foe into the floor to claim his first win.
MMA photographer and fighter David Swann came back from a long layoff to put in an audacious performance. He battered opponent Jay Gilbey (Pictures) relentlessly from all angles.
Gilbey seemed to be doing everything right, moving the fight to the mat and taking his opponent's back. Yet Swann just seized on the fleeting opportunity to strike, blasting his way out of trouble before slamming and punching his way into the win column.
In the most shocking fight of the night, Pancrase London fighter Ashleigh Grimshaw (Pictures) smashed Phil "Billy" Harris with a thudding right hand and chased after him with a series of brutal punches to snatch victory in only 46 seconds.
Grimshaw regained his feet after an early takedown to land a hard right hand that let out a shocking crack as it sent Harris crashing to the deck. The stream of follow-up shots only added to an extremely bad night for the Portsmouth fighter, prompting the referee to stop the contest.
Tim Radcliffe (Pictures) demonstrated some fantastic ground skills in his match with Lee Ambrose (Pictures). He constantly threatened to sweep his way off his back. Ambrose was unable to take advantage of his early takedown and was soon fighting off a sudden omoplata attempt.
Adjusting his weight to stave off the submission, Ambrose plunged straight back into danger as Radcliffe transitioned effortlessly to ensnare his opponent in a tight triangle and bag an impressive win.
The crafty and resilient Lloyd Clarkson (Pictures) slid out of numerous early guillotine attempts from Adam Greener (Pictures) to take control of the ground battle and bash his opponent for a first round referee stoppage.
The Poole Jiu-Jitsu fighter battled valiantly to stay in the contest. Before passing to side mount, he subdued his larger opponent in a tight crucifix to hammer out an impressive victory.
Bearded wildman Greg "Mendingo" Knapp put in a very solid performance to come back from a first round beating at the hands of Simon Gill (Pictures) to claim a decision in a true standup war. Waking the crowd up early in the night, the two slick grapplers ignored the ground game, instead choosing to slug it out on their feet.
Gill landed an array of low kicks throughout the first half of the bout, but Knapp's patient boxing game sealed the win after opening up a number of cuts on his opponent's face while he pulled ahead on all three of the judges' cards.
Steve Baggaley (Pictures) overcame his nerves in his second FX3 outing. He took down and submitted Dion Oakes (Pictures) in little more than a minute.
Dropping back for an ill-fated leglock attempt, Baggaley was caught on his back in a tight spot. However, the local fighter soon turned the situation around by securing a tight guillotine that forced the submission.
Pancrase London fighter Guy Hennequin tasted victory in his featherweight bout with Damon Wright. Laying into his opponent from the opening seconds, Hennequin delivered a series of vicious punch combinations that put Wright on the floor.
With his opponent in trouble, Hennequin didn't need a second invitation and went to work, pounding his way to a first round stoppage.
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