READING, England, July 7 --
Andre Winner (Pictures) claimed the vacant FX3 Lightweight title with a mature performance as he handled UFR fight team representative, Aidan Marron, to earn a unanimous decision. Showing some polished striking, the Roughhouse fighter consistently outscored Marron standing, but had to work hard to avoid some wily submission attempts from "Snake Hips" on the floor.
Keeping his head under pressure, Winner pounded the Irishman and stayed out of trouble in the final round to cap off a solid performance and bring back another title to the Roughhouse.
Brian Adams (Pictures) put in an impressive showing against
Mark O'Toole (Pictures), taking "Manslaughter" down and working him over on the floor. The Irish fighter did have some success in the second round, dropping Adams with a beautiful left hook, but a perfect sweep from the Gosport fighter saw him regain control and hammer O'Toole with elbows from mount position.
Often blowing hot and cold, you never know what to expect from
Sami Berik (Pictures), but on this occasion the crowd was treated to a ferocious display of aggression, as "The Hun" smashed UFC veteran,
Dave Lee, in just over a minute. Wobbling Lee early with a wild left hook, Berik seized his advantage, following with a barrage of ground-and-pound that forced the referee to step in.
In the first of the night's title fights, Frenchman,
Emmanuel Fernandez (Pictures) calmly dominated the previously unbeaten
Alex Owen (Pictures), submitting him with a rear naked choke two minutes into the second round. Showing off some impressive judo skills, Fernandez controlled the fight from top position, at one point, slinging the Bristol fighter around the cage with a Kimura, before sinking the choke to earn the FX3 Featherweight title.
After the crowning of the new champion,
Leigh Remedios (Pictures) entered the cage to announce his return to the sport and challenge him for the title at the November FX3 show. Fernandez accepted the fight immediately, setting up an interesting third encounter between the two fighters.
Chippenham Vale Tudo fighter
Paul Reed once again displayed an awesome ground game as he took
Wesley Felix out of his element and finished him with punches in the second round. Slamming his way out of a slick armbar attempt, Reed completely shut out the Pancrase London fighter, moving to mount position and blasting away with punches for the referee stoppage.
Kev Simms turned up in a buoyant mood, dancing his way into the arena. Once the cage door closed, however, it was all business as the Gorilla Academy fighter took down and bashed the bewildered
Theo Theodouloa in just over 90 seconds with a storm of ground-and-pound abuse.
Brendan Flannigan had, by all accounts, been giving his sparring partners fits in the run up to his fight with
Dion Oakes. Predictably, Flannigan tore into his opponent with effective dirty boxing, keeping up a frenetic pace on the floor and battering Oakes into submission just ten seconds before the end of the first round.
In B-class pro match ups,
Tim Radcliffe and
Rocci Williams (Pictures) staked their claim to the fight of the night award, going to war in a toe-to-toe battle that had the crowd on their feet. After a shaky start that saw him absorb some heavy shots, Radcliffe came back in spectacular fashion to hammer Williams with a series of punches, eventually bludgeoning him to the canvas mid-way through the second round.
Greg Knapp applied a perfect high-pressure ground game as he took down
Rob Neesham, submitting him with a rear naked choke just over two minutes into the contest.
Stuart Rickman gave
Ed Howard the shock of his life, taking him down and banging him out in less than 30 seconds, whilst
Simon Gill put on a submission clinic in his match with
Matt Smith, transitioning from various submission attempts before catching the Team
Bad Boy fighter in a triangle choke 2 minutes into the contest.
In kickboxing action, Pete Mercer made short work of his opponent, Marlon Thomas, catching him with a brutal left hook and knocking him out after only 28 seconds.
Popular local fighter, Nathan Ward put on an impressive performance against FX3 veteran, John Healey, with the fight going to a hotly contested 4 round draw.
Aaron Blackwell (Pictures) put up a spirited effort in his decision loss against the flashy and unpredictable, Damien Hamilton.