Szafranski Submits Greig at FCFN 5
Matthew Freeman Feb 24, 2008
PORTSMOUTH, England, Feb. 23 -- A number of quick finishes and an
all-out war between Richard Griffin (Pictures) and Andy Snelling highlighted a
night of great bouts between up-and-coming fighters.
Cage Rage referee Grant Waterman's recent return to managing the south coast promotion Full Contact Fight Night brought a massive boost in interest, resulting in a venue packed with roughly 1,000 fans.
In the main event, recent Cage Rage Contenders victor Chris Greig (Pictures) of Team Elite had his work cut
out against the impressive ZT Fight School debutant Rafal Szafranski.
Greig shot in under a probing jab at the opening of the round and looked for a single-leg takedown but found his efforts thwarted. Szafranski reversed and began to punish his opponent from the half guard. Working into side control and then mount while laying down a barrage of punches, Szafranski forced Greig to give up his back and then secured a rear-naked choke after 2:28.
From the outset both men looked to impose their wills, engaging in a power struggle in the clinch that eventually saw Griffin get the takedown. After landing some hard knees to the body, Snelling escaped and worked his own strikes in the clinch. The game then went to the ground, where Griffin tried a number of submissions.
In the second stanza, both rushed out with flying knees. A terrific scramble ensued on the mat, and both men landed shots. In the last round, with both fighters equally fatigued, a series of transitions took place on the ground with Snelling avoiding Griffin's submissions and vice versa. Snelling's ground-and-pound tactics from inside the guard seemed to swing the split decision in his favor, giving him the win in what was the fight of the night.
Featherweight Trevor Birmingham dispatched Spe McMorris with relative ease after a feeling-out period that ended with a nice rush and takedown. Moving swiftly from half guard into mount, Birmingham connected with a series of strikes that forced the referee to halt the match at 1:24 of round one.
Local favorite Colin Gough defeated Roy Hales in their light heavyweight matchup. Gough bull rushed his opponent, only for Hales to execute a fine hip toss. But the local man used it to his advantage, letting the momentum of the throw reverse the position. After landing in side control, Gough transitioned into mount. As Hales turned to escape, Gough sank in the hooks and a rear-naked choke for the tapout in 44 seconds.
In the featherweight division, Mark Adams racked up another victory in front of his home crowd, this time against Elite fighter Davin Binfield. After exchanging blows, Adams succeeded in taking his man to the mat off a scramble. Binfield continued to work his game, slamming out of an armbar attempt and escaping a nasty guillotine to regain his feet and trade leather with Adams.
In the second, Adams rattled his opponent with a big right hand before working to the clinch. Binfield gained some distance and landed a number of leg kicks, but Adams' combinations started to take effect and he quickly reversed a takedown attempt by Binfield. From the half guard, Adams' started to rain down punches before moving into mount and dropping bombs that forced the ref to call the fight at 2:45 of the second round.
Dave Chandler sank a wicked-looking armbar after a manic opening burst by Aaron Player. Chandler charged his man and both clashed in the center of the ring before Player, who took the fight on short notice, dropped his foe with a right. Diving in to pound his opponent, Player left himself exposed and Chandler kept his head well enough to take the arm and crank on the submission after a mere 15 seconds.
In a catch-weight fight at 74 kilograms, Sam Rocha dropped Jack Miles with his first punch. Miles rushed out, yet Rocha stepped to the side and landed a clean shot. He then followed the stricken man down and finished the fight with strikes in just 10 seconds.
Team Bloodline's Sean Folan impressed the crowd with a controlling ground game in his featherweight match against Kaan Sencer. Sencer landed a front kick at the start of the round, but it only seemed to anger Folan, who shot in, picked his opponent up and slammed him to the floor. From here the round was Folan's. He transitioned to pass the guard, easily avoiding a triangle attempt and dropping several punches and shoulder strikes. Folan also worked for a Kimura from side-control after scoring with knees to the body, but Sencer proved flexible and tough.
Sencer came out in the second and looked to shoot. Folan sprawled and controlled his opponent, getting top position and moving slickly into mount. Folan then pounded Sencer and forced him to give up his back. A rear-naked choke followed, giving Folan the victory at 1:27 of the second round.
In other fights, Andy Foreman knocked out Mark Brown just 24 seconds into a heavyweight boxing match. Pete Brake broke his losing record with a definitive stoppage over Dan Movahedi (Pictures) 1:41 into the first round of a K-1 match. John Healey took a very close and hard-fought split decision over Aaron Blackwell (Pictures) in their second meeting, which had the crowd on its feet throughout and delivered some great K-1 action.
Cage Rage referee Grant Waterman's recent return to managing the south coast promotion Full Contact Fight Night brought a massive boost in interest, resulting in a venue packed with roughly 1,000 fans.
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Greig shot in under a probing jab at the opening of the round and looked for a single-leg takedown but found his efforts thwarted. Szafranski reversed and began to punish his opponent from the half guard. Working into side control and then mount while laying down a barrage of punches, Szafranski forced Greig to give up his back and then secured a rear-naked choke after 2:28.
Debuting Andy Snelling also gained a victory. He defeated Team
Elite member Richard
Griffin (Pictures) in an extremely hard-fought match
that had the crowd on its feet.
From the outset both men looked to impose their wills, engaging in a power struggle in the clinch that eventually saw Griffin get the takedown. After landing some hard knees to the body, Snelling escaped and worked his own strikes in the clinch. The game then went to the ground, where Griffin tried a number of submissions.
In the second stanza, both rushed out with flying knees. A terrific scramble ensued on the mat, and both men landed shots. In the last round, with both fighters equally fatigued, a series of transitions took place on the ground with Snelling avoiding Griffin's submissions and vice versa. Snelling's ground-and-pound tactics from inside the guard seemed to swing the split decision in his favor, giving him the win in what was the fight of the night.
Featherweight Trevor Birmingham dispatched Spe McMorris with relative ease after a feeling-out period that ended with a nice rush and takedown. Moving swiftly from half guard into mount, Birmingham connected with a series of strikes that forced the referee to halt the match at 1:24 of round one.
Local favorite Colin Gough defeated Roy Hales in their light heavyweight matchup. Gough bull rushed his opponent, only for Hales to execute a fine hip toss. But the local man used it to his advantage, letting the momentum of the throw reverse the position. After landing in side control, Gough transitioned into mount. As Hales turned to escape, Gough sank in the hooks and a rear-naked choke for the tapout in 44 seconds.
In the featherweight division, Mark Adams racked up another victory in front of his home crowd, this time against Elite fighter Davin Binfield. After exchanging blows, Adams succeeded in taking his man to the mat off a scramble. Binfield continued to work his game, slamming out of an armbar attempt and escaping a nasty guillotine to regain his feet and trade leather with Adams.
In the second, Adams rattled his opponent with a big right hand before working to the clinch. Binfield gained some distance and landed a number of leg kicks, but Adams' combinations started to take effect and he quickly reversed a takedown attempt by Binfield. From the half guard, Adams' started to rain down punches before moving into mount and dropping bombs that forced the ref to call the fight at 2:45 of the second round.
Dave Chandler sank a wicked-looking armbar after a manic opening burst by Aaron Player. Chandler charged his man and both clashed in the center of the ring before Player, who took the fight on short notice, dropped his foe with a right. Diving in to pound his opponent, Player left himself exposed and Chandler kept his head well enough to take the arm and crank on the submission after a mere 15 seconds.
In a catch-weight fight at 74 kilograms, Sam Rocha dropped Jack Miles with his first punch. Miles rushed out, yet Rocha stepped to the side and landed a clean shot. He then followed the stricken man down and finished the fight with strikes in just 10 seconds.
Team Bloodline's Sean Folan impressed the crowd with a controlling ground game in his featherweight match against Kaan Sencer. Sencer landed a front kick at the start of the round, but it only seemed to anger Folan, who shot in, picked his opponent up and slammed him to the floor. From here the round was Folan's. He transitioned to pass the guard, easily avoiding a triangle attempt and dropping several punches and shoulder strikes. Folan also worked for a Kimura from side-control after scoring with knees to the body, but Sencer proved flexible and tough.
Sencer came out in the second and looked to shoot. Folan sprawled and controlled his opponent, getting top position and moving slickly into mount. Folan then pounded Sencer and forced him to give up his back. A rear-naked choke followed, giving Folan the victory at 1:27 of the second round.
In other fights, Andy Foreman knocked out Mark Brown just 24 seconds into a heavyweight boxing match. Pete Brake broke his losing record with a definitive stoppage over Dan Movahedi (Pictures) 1:41 into the first round of a K-1 match. John Healey took a very close and hard-fought split decision over Aaron Blackwell (Pictures) in their second meeting, which had the crowd on its feet throughout and delivered some great K-1 action.
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