BIRMINGHAM, England -- U.K. legend Ian Freeman (Pictures) turned up in excellent shape at the weigh-ins Friday for his Cage Rage British light heavyweight title clash tomorrow night with Paul Cahoon (Pictures).
The Sunderland fighter trained alongside grappling wizard Daniel Buzzorta and appears to have defied his 41 years of age by whipping himself into top condition.
"You're only as good as you train," Freeman said, "and believe you me, I've trained good."
Champion Paul Cahoon (Pictures) spoke with similar confidence.
"Hopefully tomorrow I'll showcase a few more skills," he said. "Ian looks in great shape, so I know it's going to be a tough fight."
Cage Rage British middleweight champion Matt Ewin (Pictures) had a sarcastic reply to Mark Epstein (Pictures)'s claim that he will be the first London Shootfighter to defeat a member of the Range fighting gym in Gloucester.
"Well, we'll see how you're going to do it," Ewin said. "We'll see tomorrow."
Bouncing up and down at the prospect of fighting Ewin, Epstein could hardly contain his damaging intent. "There's no beef," he remarked. "It's strictly business. It's on tomorrow!"
Thai boxing specialist Ross Mason (Pictures) simply wished opponent Ross Pointon (Pictures) good luck ahead of their scintillating clash. However, his opponent was keen to play some mind games.
Every part the friendly aggressor, Pointon smiled and shouted confidently across the room, "See you tomorrow, man! See you tomorrow. Let's give everybody a good show, yeah? Entertainment!"
Later, Pointon was caught at traffic lights as he left the arena. He wound down his window and added that he has no problem going toe-to-toe with the popular local fighter.
"I haven't got two left feet, you know what I mean? If he wants a standup fight, let's dance!" Pointon said with a laugh. "Ross is a good fighter, but I believe that I've got better technique than him and I'm going to win this fight. I know he's trained hard, but he hasn't trained as hard as me. We'll find out."
Looking back on his incredible high-kicking display against Marius Zaromskis (Pictures), Pointon also pointed out that he has taken on board a few extra skills since that explosive fight at Cage Rage 24, where a horrible gash forced him out of the contest.
"I was winning," Pointon said of the fight. "It's made me even more determined this time. Everything that I did to make me the machine I was that night, I've kept doing. And I've incorporated a load of s--- that's a lot harder. It's taken me to the same level, or better. I want it bad and I'm going to be the champion. Losing is not an option, man."
Following a stint of training in Brazil, James Zikic (Pictures) was a paradigm of understated confidence.
"I've definitely improved my game," the London Shootfighter said.
He will be looking to employ every bit of his grappling savvy against Dutchman Rodney Faverus.
Asked if his main strength lies in his standup, Faverus spoke openly to the assembled media. "Everybody knows," he said. "It's not a secret, but I feel confident on the ground also."
As usual, Che Mills (Pictures) turned up in fantastic condition.
"I think it's going to be a standup war, personally," he said of his rematch with Marius Zaromskis (Pictures). "Anyone who's seen the last fight knows how exciting that fight was. Whatever the decision is, me or Marius, it's going to be a good fight. Pointon showed the blueprint of how to beat him. He doesn't like it when it's not going his own way, especially when he starts getting hit."
In reply, Zaromskis kept it simple: "What can I say? Good luck for tomorrow and we will see what's happening."
Polish tough guy Popek Rak (Pictures) suffers from no shortage of supporters.
"There will be 300 Polish people there," he said. "Last time, I had 500 supporters. I need that. My fans help me when I go to the cage. I feel like I've got big support."
The heavily tattooed fighter faces Kevin Simms (Pictures) on Saturday.
"I've seen a lot of his fights," Rak said. "He's a good grappler, but he's an old guy. He's 41 years old, and I have a good chance of beating him. I want to do it standing in this one. I can beat this guy in the standup. I want to knock him out in the first round -- that would be awesome."
Paul Reed (Pictures) went through some torture in the sauna to reach the featherweight limit, but he appeared to be suffering no ill effect as he assessed opponent Brad Pickett (Pictures).
"He's game," Reed said. "I don't think he's brilliant at anything, but he's pretty similar to me really. He's got good boxing, good wrestling and good jiu-jitsu."
Asked whether he intended to honor a gentleman's agreement made between the two fighters to have an MMA-style boxing match, Reed was quick to answer: "Definitely. I'm going to be looking to throw down with him. I reckon I might be a better boxer than him. … I've been boxing for 20 years. If he thinks he can just walk in and throw a left jab, straight right, left hook, thinking he's going to hit me, he's got another thing coming. He's going to be eating jabs all night."
The U.K. scene has recently been alight with discussion about the resurgence of light heavyweight prospect Marc Goddard (Pictures). As he looked forward to his rematch with Henrique Nogueira, the grappling expert assessed his opponent's skills.
"I respect him," Goddard said. "He's dangerous, and I don't want to make a mistake, but I'm going to fight like I've been let off the leash. If I'm pushed for a prediction, this ain't going past the first round."
Newcomer Edgeleson Lue (Pictures) admitted that he doesn't know a great deal about opponent Chris Rice (Pictures).
"I'm feeling very confident that I can give a good fight," Lue said. "I'm a standup fighter, and that will cause trouble for any of my opponents, but my ground game is not bad. I'm hoping to show that as well."
Rice, however, was unconcerned.
"I've read a little bit about his background and watched a couple of his fights," the Birmingham fighter said of Lue. "I wasn't too worried when I saw the DVDs. I'm going to try and keep it standing for the fans, get a good standup war going and hopefully finish it in the first round."
Another first-timer on the main stage, Harvey Harra (Pictures) gave his thoughts ahead of his contest with Wolfslair fighter Gary Kelly (Pictures): "I know he's a good striker. He's dangerous. But being a good standup guy as well, I hope I can stand there and give the crowd a good show. One of us is going to get stopped. Best of luck to him. I'm going to bring my best game."
Lineup:
Ian Freeman (Pictures) (205lbs/93kg) vs. Paul Cahoon (Pictures) (200.6lbs/91kg)
Che Mills (Pictures) (169.7lbs/77kg) vs. Marius Zaromskis (Pictures) (169lbs/76.7kg)
Rodney Faverus (204.1lbs/92.7kg) vs. James Zikic (Pictures) (202.7lbs/92kg)
Ross Mason (Pictures) (169.7lbs/77kg) vs. Ross Pointon (Pictures) (169.7lbs/77kg)
Mark Epstein (Pictures) (185lbs/84kg) vs. Matt Ewin (Pictures) (184.2lbs/83.6kg)
Henrique Nogueira (200.6lbs/91kg) vs. Marc Goddard (Pictures) (205lbs/93kg)
Paul Reed (Pictures) (145lbs/65.8kg) vs. Brad Pickett (Pictures) (145lbs/65.8kg)
Kevin Simms (Pictures) (240.2lbs/109kg) vs. Popek Rak (Pictures) (228.1lbs/103.5kg)
Chris Rice (Pictures) (184.5lbs/83.7kg) vs. Edgeleson Lue (Pictures) (180.7lbs/82kg)
Harvey Harra (Pictures) (154.3lbs/70kg) vs. Gary Kelly (Pictures) (154.3lbs/70kg)
