Event Title: Cage Rage Contenders 2
Event Date: 20 August 2006
Event Venue: Ceasars Nightclub
Event Location: London
Date submitted: 23 August 2006
Submitted by: Benedict Dewhirst
Staged in Streatham’s Caesars Nightclub on August 20th, this bout of Contenders was set up to find the most promising new talent in the Country and it succeeded, identifying Jake Bostwick, Jason Young and Che Mills as new fighters with the potential to go far.
The first bombs of the night were to fall on the Terry Bostwick, older brother to Jake Bostwick who would be competing later on in the card. Both men started aggressively, with Marvin Arnold-Bleau landing a nice right low kick to the outside of Bostwick’s left shin. Bostwick kept on charging forward, eventually getting the clinch and then securing the take down with a huge slam.
Bleau quickly reversed the situation and ended up in Bostwick’s guard. Referee, Leon Roberts didn’t hesitate to stand them up as Marvin couldn’t improve his position or land any blows.
After that, Bostwick continued to charge forward but Bleau used his superior range to land a nice straight right hand. Half way through the round it was clear that Bostwick’s relentless charges had taken their toll as he was beginning to gas.
Bleau stayed composed throughout the round until he eventually managed to reverse one of Bostwick’s take down attempts and fall in to mount. He pinned Bostwick’s right bicep down with his left knee and proceeded to ground and pound until the referee stepped in to call an end to the fight.
Luke Smith showed an impressive performance by stopping his opponent in just over a minute. Both men tied up quickly, with Smith landing some nice knees to Gisby’s body. As soon as referee, when they separated from the clinch Smith’s hands flew and put Gisby down.
As Smith relentlessly followed up, the referee was quickly forced into action to stop the fight.
John Gisby was one of the few to see the cut man as Luke Smith had landed a sweet right hand on the bridge of his nose.
This was definitely the most impressive performance of the night as Jason Young forced his opponent to tap-out due to ground and pound in less than half a minute.
Coming out of the Elite Gym after training with established stars like Brad Pickett, this young fighter has a promising career ahead of him.
Jason started the fight with three beautiful leg kicks, all of which produced thundering slaps that could be heard loudly despite the wild support that was coming from his large fan base. The first two kicks landed perfectly on Paul Phipps left thigh, the third on the inside of his left shin. These three hammer blows felled Phipps backwards.
He followed up with a barrage of punches, not all landed cleanly but their speed and intensity simply proved too much for Paul as he tapped out after only 26 seconds.
The second of the Bostwick brothers produced the fastest knock out of the night by landing a looping right hand after just 19 seconds.
Nick Porter landed the first blow with a nice front kick. This didn’t seem to faze Jake Bostwick as he continued to press forward and swing for the fences. As Porter backed up against the cage, Bostwick landed the big right, and left Porter slumped up against the fence.
First Interval
As none of the fights had lasted more than one round, there was time during a 20 minute break for the organisers to promote for the next Cage Rage Contenders in November. The two of the most promising newcomers, Jake Bostwick and Marvin Arnold-Bleau were summoned into the ring to let the crowd know that they would facing each other on the next card. This gives Jake a chance to avenge his brother’s loss but also to compete against another of the up and coming fighters looking to progress onto the main Cage Rage even.
After the break the biggest name on the card didn’t disappoint in terms of his usual showmanship and also skilled BJJ technique. From the bell at the start of round one, Berik utilised unorthodox footwork akin to that of the great [Genki Sudo.
Initially, the footwork didn’t throw Steven Elliot as he secured the clinch and managed to work a takedown.
Then Elliot landed a nice blow to Berik’s right eye before he was caught in a tight triangle choke. He tried to slam out but Berik refused to let go and cranked it tighter forcing Elliot tap out.
This fight was bound to be explosive after the intense stair off. Afnan Saeed started with a nice leg kick but Wesley Murch countered by taking him down.
Murch got in a few good blows from before Saeed made his first attempt for the armbar. Murch reversed brilliantly and transitioned into Saeed’s guard where he continued to ground and pound.
Saeed managed to temporarily gain side control but was quickly reversed and shoved up against the cage again. By now the fighters began to slow down as the constant transitions had taken their toll. Murch continued to ground and pound but many of the shots did not land cleanly. That gave Saeed a chance to throw his legs up and go for the armbar for the second time. This time he was successful as Murch tapped out at three minutes in to the first round.
Second Interval
The second interval produced an entertaining moment of comedy as Paul "Semtex" Daley and Sol "Zero Tolerance" Gilbert entered the cage to promote their fight at Cage Rage 18 in September. We all knew we were never going to see a square off like that between Tito and Ken but one could never have expected what would happen next.
All was pretty regular until Andy Gear asked Sol Gilbert what was his prediction for the fight. Unsurprisingly he went for the "Big KO" option which led to the outrageous reply form Paul Daley,
‘’If you knock me out, you can all f*** my Mum’
Later showing his determination in stating that he would do anything he could to win including sticking his toe in Sol’s mouth.
Sol could hardly turn down the opportunity and came back with “You stick your toe in my mouth and I’ll stick my c*** in your mum’’
Possibly what you would expect to hear between street gangs across Britain but the event needed moments like these as many of the fights were over so quickly the crowd needed some light entertainment.
Both of these fighters have appeared on the main Cage Rage card and were looking to return there quickly. Jason Barrett came with his usual larger than life personality.
Both fighters came out tentatively, with Barrett eventually firing four vicious leg kicks that left Whitear’s left thigh black and blue. Whitear forced the takedown but Barrett swiftly stood up and burst back with a bunch of punches but little connected. Whitear took advantage of Barrett’s low hands and landed a heavy left hook. Barrett was rocked but managed to compose himself and return the fight to the ground where he landed some good shots.
This was the first fight of the night to go past the first round. Both fighters had spent a lot of energy already Whitear appeared to bleeding from the bridge of his nose.
Whitear came out strongly in the second round and landed some good shots and nearly managed to take Barrett’s back. By now Whitear looked completely exhausted and could not stop Barrett rolling straight in to his guard. Whitear threw his legs up and trapped Barrett in an armbar. Whitear although having the arm fully extended did not have the strength left in him to finish his opponent.
Barrett pulled out and backed away to let Whitear stand up, but before long the exhausted Whitear had secured another takedown. Barrett continued to land blows from the bottom. Referee, Grant Waterman stood the fighters up and Whitear appeared unable to continue. It was unclear exactly why the fight was stopped but it was obvious that he had no complaints.
Che Mills, cousin of Mark Weir finally got his chance to show his own skills with a clean knockout late in the first round.
Marios Zaromskis came out with an attempted high kick that narrowly missed which was followed up by the takedown. Ch’e Mills looked comfortable on the ground as he easily reversed the situation and rolled in to full mount.
Zaromskis did well to stop Mills from raining down strikes but the referee soon stood them both up. Mills came back with a high kick of his own and then attempted a flying knee. Zaromskis caught the knee and took Mills back down to the mat. Mills slapped on a triangle choke that seemed to be tight but Zaromskis fought well to escape and step away.
Once the fighters were back to their feet Mills knocked Zaromskis out with a huge right knee. Zaromoskis was fully out before he hit the mat and Mills was already celebrating.
Che is clearly another memorable name for the future.
Andre Winner completely dominated his opponent Jeff Lawson through a mixture of good kicks, fast punches and even a flying stomp to add to the mix showing that Paul Daley is not the only great striker that the Ruffhouse Gym can produce.
After an initial onslaught of punches from Winner, Jeff Lawson instigated the clinch but Winner took him down with ease. Winner landed some good shots before backing out and standing back up to his feet. Lawson seemed reluctant to stand up so Grant Waterman called the open guard. Winner needed no invitation to pile in with a flying stomp but lacked accuracy as Lawson managed to cover up well.
The referee stood the fighters up after Lawson managed to suppress Winner’s fire power on the ground. Lawson was looking weary as Winner advanced towards him. Winner came out with some fine combos as Lawson backed up against the cage. The round was easily won by Winner and Lawson had a lot to do to reassert his authority. He came out in the second round more positively by attacking Winner with some Capoeria skills and then into a flying leg lock.
Winner sat up whilst in the leg lock and punched his way out of it. Once again referee, Grant Waterman stepped as it was clear that Lawson’s nose was broken and was not in a position to defend himself.
Billed as the main event, it wasn’t the highlight of the night but it nevertheless produced some good technical ground and pound via Jess Liaudin.
Although he ate a right jab, Jess Liaudin took Lee Doksi down with ease. For nearly the whole of the first round Liaudin was locked in Doski’s tight guard and was unable to cause much damage. Eventually the referee stood them up but there was little time left in the round for any sparks to fly.
The second round provided much more of the same as Liaudin went straight for the takedown. This time he posted up to gain greater power to his strikes. It proved to be successful as he open up a cut just above Doski’s left eye. Doski attempted some up kicks but Liaudin was in complete control the whole time.
As the round ended Doksi’s head was bleeding quite heavily and he looked both frustrated and exhausted. As the third round was just about to be announced Grant Waterman waved in hands to show that the fight was over, deciding that Doski was not fit to continue.
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