“Judgement Day” for Cage Rage
Lisa James Apr 22, 2007
LONDON, April 21 -- Cage Rage's latest card was pegged around a
veteran performance, but ended up surprising, both in the choice of
veteran and the outcome of the newcomers.
Having stepped in at the last minute to cover missing headliner Bob Sapp (Pictures), David "Tank" Abbott's training regime was rumored to have owed more to barrooms than gym space, with the fighter himself claiming to have been half way through a vodka when he was called to compete.
The organizers might have only given him three-day's notice, but
Abbott's attack on his opponent lacked any kind of warning, as he
stormed straight in with a barrage of blows that knocked Gary Turner (Pictures) to the floor.
After raining down some shots in a horizontal position, a similarly one-directional beating continued against the side of the cage, until Turner, who had been training hard for his fight against the much heavier Sapp, seized a small chink in the torrent to readdress the balance in his own favor.
The referee's decision left Turner victorious over a man with a well-known record and a 30-kg body-weight advantage, and gave him more than enough reason to live up to his "Smiler" moniker. Tank also did his best to maintain his reputation, and was seen enjoying a beer before he had even left the ring.
The fight between Ivan Serati (Pictures) and Vitor Belfort (Pictures) also kicked off with a bang, as Belfort commenced with a high kick to his opponent's head. Both men then enthusiastically exchanged a series of blows, and battled unsuccessfully for a takedown. But Il Terrible's obvious emphasis on striking left him vulnerable on the ground. With a knee from the clinch, Belfort managed to bring Serati down to half-guard before taking his back and landing strikes to the head and body for a technical knockout at 3:47 into round one.
With a Cage Rage title up-for-grabs, the stakes were high in the battle between James Zikic (Pictures) and Evangelista Santos (Pictures). Having been largely out of the public eye for three years, "The Messenger" initially looked uncomfortable and out of his depth in the ring, with "Cyborg" appearing to be in physically much better condition.
Round one saw Santos on the attack, landing a succession of strong low kicks on the inside and outside of Zikic's lead leg, and bloodying his nose by the bell.
By round two, Zikic's leg was violently bruised, and his Chute Boxe opponent's ongoing focus on the limb made it clear that this was his strategy for success. But a shift in stamina and confidence saw Santos start to wane in terms of energy, whilst Zikic not only managed to ignore the obvious discomfort, but also to build up a succession of straight punches, hooks and uppercuts in the opposite direction.
Though both fighters were obviously tired, Zikic seized the chance for a shot in round three -- unsuccessful, it was still the first effort at a takedown between them, and despite being occasionally wild and untidy in his boxing technique, his perseverance earned him victory, and the title, by a majority decision.
The Zikic-Santos bout might have been inadvertently lacking on-the-ground action, but "Judgement Day" heralded another stand-up bout -- a kickboxing match between Michael McDonald (Pictures) and James McSweeney (Pictures).
The K-1 rules meant interruptions were frequent, as clinches were broken as soon as a single maneuver had been executed. McSweeney demonstrated a range of jumping knee moves, and managed to knock McDonald to the ground twice in the first round. Despite the latter fighter subsequently landing a number of straight punches and high kicks to the head, the judges ruled in favor of McSweeney by majority decision.
The weigh-in for Cage Rage 21 had seen Alex Reid (Pictures) rock up in full ninja costume, in homage to his opponent, Murilo "Ninja" Rua. Unfortunately, the dressing-up was to be the lengthiest part of the bout, as a flying knee collided with a roundhouse just seconds into the first round, and the resulting cut on Reid's shin caused the ref to call stoppage at 0:28, handing the win to Rua as TKO.
Despite Daijiro Matsui (Pictures)'s impressive armbar of Tom Watson (Pictures) at Cage Rage 20, the Japanese fighter was nowhere near form as he took on Mark Weir (Pictures).
Indeed, his main line of attack was to jettison to the floor through an elaborate series of forward rolls and cartwheels. In round one, the technique earned him the opportunity to reverse and slam Weir into the mat, and a subsequent attempt at a leg-lock, but by rounds two and three the ref was repeatedly forcing the action back to a standing position.
Weir's efforts included a number of high kicks to the head, and some strong holds of Matsui's back, replete with blows to the head and body. The judges' decision was unanimous, with the win going to Weir.
Roman Webber (Pictures) came to Cage Rage 21 a knockout virgin, and Mark "The Beast" Epstein was determined to change that. Despite a cut on his forehead, Epstein landed a couple of knees to the face, and went on to score the knockout with an uppercut at 4:27 of the first round.
In an event where costumes were commonplace, Paul "Hands Of Stone" Jenkins took things one further -- arriving ringside in a lime green Lycra number that left nothing to the imagination.
As Jenkins changed into something more modest, his opponent Paul "Semtex "Daley took over the task of humiliating him, landing kicks, knees, takedowns and ground-and-pound by the end of round one. Round two's liver shot gave Daley the KO at the 41-second mark.
The match between Ross Pointon (Pictures) and Abdul Mohammed started with an unsuccessful takedown attempt, followed by an escape from a guillotine as Mohammed slipped out of the submission and into side-control. But at 3:20 into the first round, the moves of the more experienced fighter started connecting, and Pointon's Cage Rage debut was brought to a shuddering close at the knockout end of a perfect spinning back fist.
There was no such hesitation in the match between Cyrille Diabate (Pictures) and Ryan Robinson (Pictures). The latter was quickly slammed to the mat in round one, and after an unsuccessful first attempt at an omoplata, Diabate quickly transitioned into an armbar for a submission tap at 1:16.
Brad Pickett (Pictures)'s work with American Top Team in Florida looked to have paid off, as he managed to land a couple of spectacular flying punches on his floor-bound opponent, Alex Owen (Pictures), early on in the fight. But by round three it was a different story. With Owen locked onto his back, and alternating attempts at a rear-naked choke with a rain of blows to Pickett's body and head, even a reversal at 10 seconds before the final bell couldn't avert the majority decision away from the Team Savage fighter.
Tom "Kong" Watson was apparently eager to take his entry routine to new levels for this event, making his way to the ring dressed as a gorilla version of Napoleon.
Unfortunately his showmanship was quickly given a knocking, as Xavier Foupa Pokam sent him floorwards in the first round. Despite a strong recovery, by the end of round one, Foupa Pokam was locking Watson into a triangle, which he regained in round two and worked into a Kimura for a submission by 2:27.
The jury was out on the first fight, as Sunnat Ilyasov (Pictures) dominated his first round against James E Nicolle, who seemed to be mainly working his defense. But by the second and third rounds Nicolle sprung back, taking the more aggressive role, and securing an armbar 10 seconds before the final bell, sealing his majority decision win.
Cage Rage 22, "Hard As Hell," will take place at Wembley Arena in London on July 14.
Having stepped in at the last minute to cover missing headliner Bob Sapp (Pictures), David "Tank" Abbott's training regime was rumored to have owed more to barrooms than gym space, with the fighter himself claiming to have been half way through a vodka when he was called to compete.
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After raining down some shots in a horizontal position, a similarly one-directional beating continued against the side of the cage, until Turner, who had been training hard for his fight against the much heavier Sapp, seized a small chink in the torrent to readdress the balance in his own favor.
Despite a double-leg takedown from Tank, Turner managed to take the
veteran fighter's back, and then move into mount, pummeling shots
into his head and face until the referee stopped the action on a
technical knockout at 2:31 in the first round.
The referee's decision left Turner victorious over a man with a well-known record and a 30-kg body-weight advantage, and gave him more than enough reason to live up to his "Smiler" moniker. Tank also did his best to maintain his reputation, and was seen enjoying a beer before he had even left the ring.
The fight between Ivan Serati (Pictures) and Vitor Belfort (Pictures) also kicked off with a bang, as Belfort commenced with a high kick to his opponent's head. Both men then enthusiastically exchanged a series of blows, and battled unsuccessfully for a takedown. But Il Terrible's obvious emphasis on striking left him vulnerable on the ground. With a knee from the clinch, Belfort managed to bring Serati down to half-guard before taking his back and landing strikes to the head and body for a technical knockout at 3:47 into round one.
With a Cage Rage title up-for-grabs, the stakes were high in the battle between James Zikic (Pictures) and Evangelista Santos (Pictures). Having been largely out of the public eye for three years, "The Messenger" initially looked uncomfortable and out of his depth in the ring, with "Cyborg" appearing to be in physically much better condition.
Round one saw Santos on the attack, landing a succession of strong low kicks on the inside and outside of Zikic's lead leg, and bloodying his nose by the bell.
By round two, Zikic's leg was violently bruised, and his Chute Boxe opponent's ongoing focus on the limb made it clear that this was his strategy for success. But a shift in stamina and confidence saw Santos start to wane in terms of energy, whilst Zikic not only managed to ignore the obvious discomfort, but also to build up a succession of straight punches, hooks and uppercuts in the opposite direction.
Though both fighters were obviously tired, Zikic seized the chance for a shot in round three -- unsuccessful, it was still the first effort at a takedown between them, and despite being occasionally wild and untidy in his boxing technique, his perseverance earned him victory, and the title, by a majority decision.
The Zikic-Santos bout might have been inadvertently lacking on-the-ground action, but "Judgement Day" heralded another stand-up bout -- a kickboxing match between Michael McDonald (Pictures) and James McSweeney (Pictures).
The K-1 rules meant interruptions were frequent, as clinches were broken as soon as a single maneuver had been executed. McSweeney demonstrated a range of jumping knee moves, and managed to knock McDonald to the ground twice in the first round. Despite the latter fighter subsequently landing a number of straight punches and high kicks to the head, the judges ruled in favor of McSweeney by majority decision.
The weigh-in for Cage Rage 21 had seen Alex Reid (Pictures) rock up in full ninja costume, in homage to his opponent, Murilo "Ninja" Rua. Unfortunately, the dressing-up was to be the lengthiest part of the bout, as a flying knee collided with a roundhouse just seconds into the first round, and the resulting cut on Reid's shin caused the ref to call stoppage at 0:28, handing the win to Rua as TKO.
Despite Daijiro Matsui (Pictures)'s impressive armbar of Tom Watson (Pictures) at Cage Rage 20, the Japanese fighter was nowhere near form as he took on Mark Weir (Pictures).
Indeed, his main line of attack was to jettison to the floor through an elaborate series of forward rolls and cartwheels. In round one, the technique earned him the opportunity to reverse and slam Weir into the mat, and a subsequent attempt at a leg-lock, but by rounds two and three the ref was repeatedly forcing the action back to a standing position.
Weir's efforts included a number of high kicks to the head, and some strong holds of Matsui's back, replete with blows to the head and body. The judges' decision was unanimous, with the win going to Weir.
Roman Webber (Pictures) came to Cage Rage 21 a knockout virgin, and Mark "The Beast" Epstein was determined to change that. Despite a cut on his forehead, Epstein landed a couple of knees to the face, and went on to score the knockout with an uppercut at 4:27 of the first round.
In an event where costumes were commonplace, Paul "Hands Of Stone" Jenkins took things one further -- arriving ringside in a lime green Lycra number that left nothing to the imagination.
As Jenkins changed into something more modest, his opponent Paul "Semtex "Daley took over the task of humiliating him, landing kicks, knees, takedowns and ground-and-pound by the end of round one. Round two's liver shot gave Daley the KO at the 41-second mark.
The match between Ross Pointon (Pictures) and Abdul Mohammed started with an unsuccessful takedown attempt, followed by an escape from a guillotine as Mohammed slipped out of the submission and into side-control. But at 3:20 into the first round, the moves of the more experienced fighter started connecting, and Pointon's Cage Rage debut was brought to a shuddering close at the knockout end of a perfect spinning back fist.
There was no such hesitation in the match between Cyrille Diabate (Pictures) and Ryan Robinson (Pictures). The latter was quickly slammed to the mat in round one, and after an unsuccessful first attempt at an omoplata, Diabate quickly transitioned into an armbar for a submission tap at 1:16.
Brad Pickett (Pictures)'s work with American Top Team in Florida looked to have paid off, as he managed to land a couple of spectacular flying punches on his floor-bound opponent, Alex Owen (Pictures), early on in the fight. But by round three it was a different story. With Owen locked onto his back, and alternating attempts at a rear-naked choke with a rain of blows to Pickett's body and head, even a reversal at 10 seconds before the final bell couldn't avert the majority decision away from the Team Savage fighter.
Tom "Kong" Watson was apparently eager to take his entry routine to new levels for this event, making his way to the ring dressed as a gorilla version of Napoleon.
Unfortunately his showmanship was quickly given a knocking, as Xavier Foupa Pokam sent him floorwards in the first round. Despite a strong recovery, by the end of round one, Foupa Pokam was locking Watson into a triangle, which he regained in round two and worked into a Kimura for a submission by 2:27.
The jury was out on the first fight, as Sunnat Ilyasov (Pictures) dominated his first round against James E Nicolle, who seemed to be mainly working his defense. But by the second and third rounds Nicolle sprung back, taking the more aggressive role, and securing an armbar 10 seconds before the final bell, sealing his majority decision win.
Cage Rage 22, "Hard As Hell," will take place at Wembley Arena in London on July 14.
