Live in:
Rice Victorious at Angrrr Management
KIDDERMINSTER, England, March 29 -- The main event of Angrrr
Management's Octagon Club card Saturday had all of the makings of a
winning fight -- two professionals with respectable records behind
them and a title elimination in the offing.
Middleweights Chris Rice (Pictures) and Chris Smith had identical heights and weights and a similar standup skillset. Round one saw Smith initiate with a series of low kicks before Rice took him to the mat and waded in with some forceful elbows to the face. A brief stint of standup ensued, along with some respectable blows from Smith, but the action soon headed to the floor once again.
A looping right hand from Rice knocked his Tap or Snap opponent horizontal, and by the end of the round, Smith was looking weary while his corner tended to a selection of cuts.
The second round started on a more balanced note, with the upright action allowing both parties to exchange a series of heavy punches and low kicks. Smith even scored a takedown and some elbows before Rice managed to break his mount and stand the action up. Continuing his offensive tack, Smith unfortunately collided with his opponent's defending hand and collapsed to the floor with an injury to his eye.
After a short stint with the medics, the battle remarkably resumed. Both parties landed and countered head shots. Smith continued to be plagued by his eye injury, however, and despite landing a smashing takedown as the bell sounded, the medic's decision to stop the fight after the second round gave the TKO to Rice.
The winner's post-fight comments revealed that the outcome was in no way a foregone conclusion.
"I did get a little bit worried when he was in mount because he was raining down some big elbows on me," Rice said. "And a few of them connected, and when I turned over I saw the blood and I thought, ‘Sh--, this could be it.' I just kept going. When I knocked him down, I thought that might be it, but he was tough. He kept coming back."
If the top fight was all about stamina, the next owed its success to explosive energy. Jay Gilbey (Pictures) and Harvey Harra (Pictures) both started off sporadically, with bursts of movement betraying an occasional lack of targeting or balance.
Harra's takedown allowed him to let loose a barrage of ground-and-pound and some heavy low kicks on his floor-based opponent. Gilbey soon countered with his own takedown, and he avoided an armbar before Harra flipped the position and rained down some extra blows before the end of the round.
Action resumed on the ground in the second, as Harra attempted to catch Gilbey with a guillotine. Despite a skillful escape and swift defense against an attempted axe kick while still on the ground, Gilbey's flip against a rear-naked choke left him vulnerable, and he was forced to tap at 2:50 of the round.
Alec Mead's Gracie Barra background was in full effect as he stormed into a succession of takedown and guillotine attempts against Nathan Beer. His attempt to jump guard backfired, however, when Beer slammed him to the mat and gave him some brutal blows to the ribs.
By the second round, Beer had a strong arm triangle. After holding it for some time, a duplicate hold on the other side won him a tap to side choke at 2:13 of round two.
The fourth fight might have been short, but it was packed with action. Joseph Duffy marked his move to pro with an immediate high kick that knocked Mic Broster flying. The fighters countered each other with continuous attempts at arm bars, guillotines and mutual heel hooks. However, an effective bout of ground-and-pound gave the win to Duffy, as an inch-long cut to Broster's head caused a ref stoppage at 2:33 of the initial round.
Adam Stanton lived up to his Angrrr Management heritage with a smashing takedown in the opening seconds and an easy step into mount. Pinning opponent Matt Hendrick against the cage, his vicious tirade of ground-and-pound was curtailed just 52 seconds into round one.
Hywel Knight also relied heavily on the ground game, taking lofty Ashley James straight into a guillotine for the tap at 1:58 into the match.
Thomas Koslowski also demonstrated an offensive bias, hitting John Jones with takedowns as fast as he could stand up again. A final onslaught of blows sent Jones' mouthguard flying, and a win via ground-and-pound was awarded 4:04 after the initial bell.
It wasn't a good night for Gracie Barra Swansea. Their second fighter, Zack Abdullah, failed twice to complete the takedown, and a good old-fashioned high kick gave Barry Mairs a TKO at 1:39 of the first.
John Dowd (Pictures) didn't even get a chance to sample the upright action, as Chris Debieux (Pictures) continuously slammed him to the floor. A rash attempt to turn away from his opponent gave Debieux the mount, and at 1:07 of round one Dowd was forced to tap out to a tight arm-triangle.*
It might have been his professional MMA debut, but 19-year-old Eugene Fadiora certainly confirmed his "Sniper" moniker. A takedown from Neil Huntley was foiled with a swift reverse, as Fadiora trapped his arm, scored with strikes and secured a ref stoppage just 1:55 into the first round.
*Sherdog.com incorrectly reported that John Dowd (Pictures) defeated Chris Debieux (Pictures)
Middleweights Chris Rice (Pictures) and Chris Smith had identical heights and weights and a similar standup skillset. Round one saw Smith initiate with a series of low kicks before Rice took him to the mat and waded in with some forceful elbows to the face. A brief stint of standup ensued, along with some respectable blows from Smith, but the action soon headed to the floor once again.
A looping right hand from Rice knocked his Tap or Snap opponent horizontal, and by the end of the round, Smith was looking weary while his corner tended to a selection of cuts.
The second round started on a more balanced note, with the upright action allowing both parties to exchange a series of heavy punches and low kicks. Smith even scored a takedown and some elbows before Rice managed to break his mount and stand the action up. Continuing his offensive tack, Smith unfortunately collided with his opponent's defending hand and collapsed to the floor with an injury to his eye.
After a short stint with the medics, the battle remarkably resumed. Both parties landed and countered head shots. Smith continued to be plagued by his eye injury, however, and despite landing a smashing takedown as the bell sounded, the medic's decision to stop the fight after the second round gave the TKO to Rice.
The winner's post-fight comments revealed that the outcome was in no way a foregone conclusion.
"I did get a little bit worried when he was in mount because he was raining down some big elbows on me," Rice said. "And a few of them connected, and when I turned over I saw the blood and I thought, ‘Sh--, this could be it.' I just kept going. When I knocked him down, I thought that might be it, but he was tough. He kept coming back."
If the top fight was all about stamina, the next owed its success to explosive energy. Jay Gilbey (Pictures) and Harvey Harra (Pictures) both started off sporadically, with bursts of movement betraying an occasional lack of targeting or balance.
Harra's takedown allowed him to let loose a barrage of ground-and-pound and some heavy low kicks on his floor-based opponent. Gilbey soon countered with his own takedown, and he avoided an armbar before Harra flipped the position and rained down some extra blows before the end of the round.
Action resumed on the ground in the second, as Harra attempted to catch Gilbey with a guillotine. Despite a skillful escape and swift defense against an attempted axe kick while still on the ground, Gilbey's flip against a rear-naked choke left him vulnerable, and he was forced to tap at 2:50 of the round.
Alec Mead's Gracie Barra background was in full effect as he stormed into a succession of takedown and guillotine attempts against Nathan Beer. His attempt to jump guard backfired, however, when Beer slammed him to the mat and gave him some brutal blows to the ribs.
By the second round, Beer had a strong arm triangle. After holding it for some time, a duplicate hold on the other side won him a tap to side choke at 2:13 of round two.
The fourth fight might have been short, but it was packed with action. Joseph Duffy marked his move to pro with an immediate high kick that knocked Mic Broster flying. The fighters countered each other with continuous attempts at arm bars, guillotines and mutual heel hooks. However, an effective bout of ground-and-pound gave the win to Duffy, as an inch-long cut to Broster's head caused a ref stoppage at 2:33 of the initial round.
Adam Stanton lived up to his Angrrr Management heritage with a smashing takedown in the opening seconds and an easy step into mount. Pinning opponent Matt Hendrick against the cage, his vicious tirade of ground-and-pound was curtailed just 52 seconds into round one.
Hywel Knight also relied heavily on the ground game, taking lofty Ashley James straight into a guillotine for the tap at 1:58 into the match.
Thomas Koslowski also demonstrated an offensive bias, hitting John Jones with takedowns as fast as he could stand up again. A final onslaught of blows sent Jones' mouthguard flying, and a win via ground-and-pound was awarded 4:04 after the initial bell.
It wasn't a good night for Gracie Barra Swansea. Their second fighter, Zack Abdullah, failed twice to complete the takedown, and a good old-fashioned high kick gave Barry Mairs a TKO at 1:39 of the first.
John Dowd (Pictures) didn't even get a chance to sample the upright action, as Chris Debieux (Pictures) continuously slammed him to the floor. A rash attempt to turn away from his opponent gave Debieux the mount, and at 1:07 of round one Dowd was forced to tap out to a tight arm-triangle.*
It might have been his professional MMA debut, but 19-year-old Eugene Fadiora certainly confirmed his "Sniper" moniker. A takedown from Neil Huntley was foiled with a swift reverse, as Fadiora trapped his arm, scored with strikes and secured a ref stoppage just 1:55 into the first round.
*Sherdog.com incorrectly reported that John Dowd (Pictures) defeated Chris Debieux (Pictures)
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