Live in:
Brawl Britannia: Busy Summer for UK MMA
This Saturday sees the second arrival of the UFC to British shores
in three months, as the organization puts on UFC 72 for the Irish
fans at the prestigious Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern
Ireland.
The announcement of the main event has been met with some dismay from many fans that hoped to see something equivalent to the weighty names that appeared on the recent UFC 70 card in Manchester's M.E.N arena.
Rich Franklin (Pictures) continues his comeback from a crushing loss to Anderson Silva to take on Yushin Okami (Pictures), who looks to build on his convincing win over talented Canadian Jason MacDonald (Pictures).
With a fantastic 20-3 record, including an impressive streak of four straight wins inside the octagon, Okami is a formidable opponent on paper, with wins by submission and knockout. But many observers have complained that as a headliner, he lacks the name value to bring a storm of interest to the main event.
However, bolstering the card is the always-entertaining Forrest Griffin (Pictures), a returning fighter who will be hungry for redemption after his unexpected loss to Keith Jardine (Pictures). He takes on East Los Angeles' KO specialist Hector Ramirez (Pictures) in what promises to be an exciting match-up. Ramirez is also looking to bounce back from a stoppage loss in his last UFC appearance.
One of the UK's best kept secrets, kickboxer and jiu-jitsu fighter Jason Tan, has his work cut out for him as he faces Marcus Davis, who recently made the step up from Wild Bill's Fight Night to appear in the UFC, where he tore through such tough opposition as Forrest Petz (Pictures), Shonie Carter (Pictures) and Pete Spratt (Pictures).
Irish fighter Stevie Lynch may only have a verifiable record of 4-0 and his appearance on the card against comparative veteran Dustin Hazelett (Pictures) may seem a touch questionable. However, representing the local Ultimate Fighting Revolution fight team in Antrim, Northern Ireland, you can be sure that he, alongside teammate Colin Robinson, will be keen to put on a show for their fans, as the big man takes on former "Cro Cop" victim, Eddie Sanchez.
On the very same evening, Cage Rage Contenders puts on its fifth London show, this time moving away from the Hammersmith Palais to the recently restored Troxy in East London -- a venue that can be arranged to seat over 2,000 people.
One thing you can always say for the Contenders events, whilst they may not have an array of jiu-jitsu masters on the card, they do have 14 well-matched fights between hungry up-and-comers and wily veterans eager to get back onto the Cage Rage main card.
This show is no different as Mark Weir (Pictures)'s cousin, Ch'e Mills, continues to try and make a name for himself. He takes on the determined Afnan Saeed in the main event. Both fighters are aggressive and multi-dimensional, so this could well be one of those up-and-down, back-and-forth fights.
In the chief support bout, struggling welterweight Darren Guisha will look for an important win to boost his career after three straight defeats, as he faces fellow veteran Gaz Roriston, who by all accounts has been virtually living in the London Shootfighters gym, training hard for his return after a three-year absence from the sport.
Two middleweights looking to stamp their authority on the Contenders event are Dorlan O'Malley and "Brutal" Jake Bostwick, who both return from ground-and-pound stoppages. Both have shown real potential in the past but have rough matches ahead, taking on Rob Powell and John Maguire respectively.
Other up-and-coming fighters to watch out for on the card include main Cage Rage show veteran Francis Hegany (Pictures) who takes on Wesley Murch. Also, the impressive ZT Fight Skool product John "The Hitman" Hathaway takes on unbeaten Tarcio Santana.
Cage Warriors promotion soldiers on
As reported recently, the two top figures behind Cage Warriors promotions, Dougie Truman and Andy Lillis, have been arrested and are being held on remand, awaiting trial for unrelated charges.
Though the news initially threatened to rock the UK organization to its very foundations, day-to-day running of the business and all matchmaking responsibility has fallen to Ian Dean, who recently played an integral role in securing matches for Danny Batten (Pictures) in Japan, as well as Matt Thorpe and Rosi Sexton in Bodog.
Dean recently confirmed that background members of the promotional team Jason Dimmock and Dean Griffiths are now taking a more hands-on role as the promotion looks forward to its third installment of the popular ‘Enter the Roughhouse' on July 21 in Nottingham.
"Business as usual," Dean told Sherdog.com. "It is a setback in some respects, but it's nothing to stop us and this show is definitely going ahead."
FX3 featherweight title bout
FX3 puts on an intriguing featherweight title fight on July 7 when Frenchman Emmanuel Fernandez (Pictures) attempts to take the FX3 title away from Alex Owen (Pictures) and take revenge for the Englishman's victory over Emmanuel's brother, Frederic, on the last event. Both are absolutely phenomenal grapplers, so this has the makings of a ground classic.
As if by contrast, supporting bouts on the card feature two of the UK's best lightweight strikers: Andre Winner (Pictures) and Ian "M16" Butlin. "Big" Brian Adams (Pictures) also takes on the fearless Mark O'Toole in middleweight action.
Cage Rage 22 "Hard as Hell"
On July 14 the Cage Rage main show returns boasting a headline fight between wrestler Tengiz Tedoradze (Pictures) and Eric "Butterbean" Esch. This match, along with the rest of the card featuring Mario Sperry (Pictures), Herb Dean (Pictures), Wesley Correira (Pictures) and James Thompson (Pictures), will be previewed in detail over the coming week.
The announcement of the main event has been met with some dismay from many fans that hoped to see something equivalent to the weighty names that appeared on the recent UFC 70 card in Manchester's M.E.N arena.
Rich Franklin (Pictures) continues his comeback from a crushing loss to Anderson Silva to take on Yushin Okami (Pictures), who looks to build on his convincing win over talented Canadian Jason MacDonald (Pictures).
With a fantastic 20-3 record, including an impressive streak of four straight wins inside the octagon, Okami is a formidable opponent on paper, with wins by submission and knockout. But many observers have complained that as a headliner, he lacks the name value to bring a storm of interest to the main event.
However, bolstering the card is the always-entertaining Forrest Griffin (Pictures), a returning fighter who will be hungry for redemption after his unexpected loss to Keith Jardine (Pictures). He takes on East Los Angeles' KO specialist Hector Ramirez (Pictures) in what promises to be an exciting match-up. Ramirez is also looking to bounce back from a stoppage loss in his last UFC appearance.
One of the UK's best kept secrets, kickboxer and jiu-jitsu fighter Jason Tan, has his work cut out for him as he faces Marcus Davis, who recently made the step up from Wild Bill's Fight Night to appear in the UFC, where he tore through such tough opposition as Forrest Petz (Pictures), Shonie Carter (Pictures) and Pete Spratt (Pictures).
Irish fighter Stevie Lynch may only have a verifiable record of 4-0 and his appearance on the card against comparative veteran Dustin Hazelett (Pictures) may seem a touch questionable. However, representing the local Ultimate Fighting Revolution fight team in Antrim, Northern Ireland, you can be sure that he, alongside teammate Colin Robinson, will be keen to put on a show for their fans, as the big man takes on former "Cro Cop" victim, Eddie Sanchez.
On the very same evening, Cage Rage Contenders puts on its fifth London show, this time moving away from the Hammersmith Palais to the recently restored Troxy in East London -- a venue that can be arranged to seat over 2,000 people.
One thing you can always say for the Contenders events, whilst they may not have an array of jiu-jitsu masters on the card, they do have 14 well-matched fights between hungry up-and-comers and wily veterans eager to get back onto the Cage Rage main card.
This show is no different as Mark Weir (Pictures)'s cousin, Ch'e Mills, continues to try and make a name for himself. He takes on the determined Afnan Saeed in the main event. Both fighters are aggressive and multi-dimensional, so this could well be one of those up-and-down, back-and-forth fights.
In the chief support bout, struggling welterweight Darren Guisha will look for an important win to boost his career after three straight defeats, as he faces fellow veteran Gaz Roriston, who by all accounts has been virtually living in the London Shootfighters gym, training hard for his return after a three-year absence from the sport.
Two middleweights looking to stamp their authority on the Contenders event are Dorlan O'Malley and "Brutal" Jake Bostwick, who both return from ground-and-pound stoppages. Both have shown real potential in the past but have rough matches ahead, taking on Rob Powell and John Maguire respectively.
Other up-and-coming fighters to watch out for on the card include main Cage Rage show veteran Francis Hegany (Pictures) who takes on Wesley Murch. Also, the impressive ZT Fight Skool product John "The Hitman" Hathaway takes on unbeaten Tarcio Santana.
Cage Warriors promotion soldiers on
As reported recently, the two top figures behind Cage Warriors promotions, Dougie Truman and Andy Lillis, have been arrested and are being held on remand, awaiting trial for unrelated charges.
Though the news initially threatened to rock the UK organization to its very foundations, day-to-day running of the business and all matchmaking responsibility has fallen to Ian Dean, who recently played an integral role in securing matches for Danny Batten (Pictures) in Japan, as well as Matt Thorpe and Rosi Sexton in Bodog.
Dean recently confirmed that background members of the promotional team Jason Dimmock and Dean Griffiths are now taking a more hands-on role as the promotion looks forward to its third installment of the popular ‘Enter the Roughhouse' on July 21 in Nottingham.
"Business as usual," Dean told Sherdog.com. "It is a setback in some respects, but it's nothing to stop us and this show is definitely going ahead."
FX3 featherweight title bout
FX3 puts on an intriguing featherweight title fight on July 7 when Frenchman Emmanuel Fernandez (Pictures) attempts to take the FX3 title away from Alex Owen (Pictures) and take revenge for the Englishman's victory over Emmanuel's brother, Frederic, on the last event. Both are absolutely phenomenal grapplers, so this has the makings of a ground classic.
As if by contrast, supporting bouts on the card feature two of the UK's best lightweight strikers: Andre Winner (Pictures) and Ian "M16" Butlin. "Big" Brian Adams (Pictures) also takes on the fearless Mark O'Toole in middleweight action.
Cage Rage 22 "Hard as Hell"
On July 14 the Cage Rage main show returns boasting a headline fight between wrestler Tengiz Tedoradze (Pictures) and Eric "Butterbean" Esch. This match, along with the rest of the card featuring Mario Sperry (Pictures), Herb Dean (Pictures), Wesley Correira (Pictures) and James Thompson (Pictures), will be previewed in detail over the coming week.
Related Articles