Following on from December’s first Rough House event, Cage Warriors return to the Harvey Haddon centre for more Midlands Mixed Martial Art madness. I caught up with the Media Manager, Ian Dean who as always was working flat out to insure everything ran as smoothly as possible. Also backstage was Dan Hardy who looked like he was on holiday, keen for his fight against Willy Ni from Holland, a big player in the Shooto circuit making his first visit to fight in the Cage Warriors.
The arena soon filled up, and the atmosphere rose, particularly when the UFC’s very own Michael Bisping made an appearance, fresh from his victory over Elvis Sinosic at UFC 70 last Saturday. This time he was here to watch the action from the other side of the cage, enjoying a few beers and the fights lined up.
Sticking with the usual format Ian Freeman was the MC, Mark Goddard head referee and Leigh Remedios providing the commentary.
FIGHT ONE
Making his debut in MMA was Team Rough House’s Eddie Podolski against Rocci Williams from 3rd Wave Combat. This was to be the first of 2 B Class fights, meaning no elbows or heel hooks.
ROUND ONE
Both fighters come out of their corner, feeling each other out for the opening moments when Eddie attempts a high kick which whistles over Rocci’s head, unlucky not to have KO’d his opponent. They exchange low kicks and enter into a clinch, working shots to the body and head. Eddie looks like he wants the takedown where as Rocci wants to keep it on their feet.
Round one ends with Eddie taking some big shots off Rocci which go unanswered, the bell saving him from damage.
ROUND TWO
Eddie comes out and drops Rocci with a big head kick, following his man to the ground and unloading against the cage. Eddie looks keen to get the fight over with, as he lands a knee on Rocci’s tired body followed by another head kick, how he wasn’t KO’d I will never know.
The fighters go to the ground again with Eddie closing the guard on Rocci, knowing he’s done enough to secure his first win.
The referees give their decision, and it’s a unanimous one in favour of Eddie.
FIGHT TWO
Last of the Class B rules sees Edwin Junior, an independent fighter matched against Rob Askew from Tap or Snap.
ROUND ONE
Edwin comes out meaning business, catching Rob with a heavy kick which leaves its’ mark immediately on his body. Looking for the finish Edwin unloads with his heavy accurate hands, one catching Rob’s nose, and Referee Neil Hall steps in to stop the fight to save him from further damage.
Rob is still down way after the fight is stopped, and the Paramedics are called in to tend to his presumed broken nose.
Edwin gets the victory in the first round.
FIGHT THREE
ROUND ONE
Pretty much all Dylan’s round, with him in side control for the majority, to be expected from someone trained in BJJ, he manages to keep Chris busy but fails to capitalise with his position. They eventually scramble to their feet, Chris looking for body shots, Dylan wanting to take it back to the ground. It becomes apparent that Dylan has nothing left in his tanks as the first of scheduled 3 rounds comes to a close.
ROUND TWO
Both fighters come out, gassed from the first round’s action. Dylan leads with a shot to Chris’s face, but it is to be Chris’s night, as the two fighters go to the mat he drops bombs onto the head of Dylan who is powerless to stop them. His corner throw in the towel, and Chris gets the win in the opening minute.
FIGHT FOUR
Making a welcome return to the cage local Rough House fighter ‘Psycho’ Steve Tetley was to face Italy’s Christian Binda.
ROUND ONE
Both fighters come out swinging, but it is Steve who catches Christian with a sweet spinning back kick sending him down to the mat. He immediately gets back to his feet and replies with a flying knee. Steve hunts down Christian with high kicks, looking good on his feet you can tell he’s from the same stable as Dan Hardy. They go to the mat and Steve switches from striker to grappler as he looks for the rear naked choke, then switches to the armbar. Christian slips out and catches Steve in a guillotine choke which he easily escapes.
ROUND TWO
Steve comes out with a huge overhand right, dropping Christian to the mat, how he was not KO’d from that I will never know. The crowd are on their feet as Steve finishes the round early with some ground and pound stopping the action.
Hats off to this fight being matched up, two very closely fought rounds of non-stop action, Steve looks set for the big time for sure.
FIGHT FIVE
ROUND ONE
A fairly even matched opening round, with some good takedown attempts from Jay, but couldn’t get past Christian’s excellent takedown defence and sprawl!
Christian was unlucky to get caught by an unintentional low blow which kept him down for a good while. Once the fight is restarted it is all Jay as he drops Christian with a big shot, the bell saving him from an early victory.
ROUND TWO
Both fighters come out swinging, with plenty finding their target. Christian gets caught again by the low blow, for which he receives a warning from the law that is Marc Goddard. From being caught Christian appears wary to come in close, where he should be making use of his longer reach. Jay continues with big overhand shots which have knockout power, but none find their target.
ROUND THREE
Jay comes out of his corner and takes Christian to the mat but cops for some big shots with Christian looking for the finish. Seeing a rear naked opportunity Christian goes for the underhooks then at the last minute changes his mind, instead opting for some ground and pound which sees the fight stopped in favour of Christian who takes the hard fought victory in the final of the scheduled 3 round battle.
Another excellent match-up, both fighters evenly matched, a rematch would be very welcomed.
FIGHT SIX
ROUND ONE
Andre comes out meaning business, adopting a Thai boxing style as he works well in the clinch, connecting with knees. They briefly part, and Hitman just misses with a knee of his own before they are back in the clinch, grappling for position. Andre switches the round’s pace, and drops Hitman to the mat. But it is to be Hitman who capitalises on the ground looking for the submission, going for the guillotine. The end of round buzzers stops the action.
ROUND TWO
Hitman comes out with a head kick which narrowly misses and ends up on the mat. Andre jumps on him and Greg pulls guard. Both fighters scramble to their feet, Andre making the mistake of keeping his head down where Hitman cranks on the guillotine tight, forcing a tapout by a dazed Andre. After the win is secured and the choke released Andre doesn’t know where he is, but I imagine happy to see the friendliest face in the cage, that of Marc Goddard.
Hitman deserved the win, looking for a submission throughout. Andre gets the first blemish on his record but will be back soon, that I have no doubt about.
FIGHT SEVEN
Kicking off later than planned due to Eduardo Mahal from Wolfslair loosing his mouthguard and having to mould another was his fight against Lee Livingstone from the Rough House stable. Eduardo was lucky enough to have Michael Bisping in his corner.
ROUND ONE
Sporting Thai shorts and a mean Thai style Lee was the master of the clinch work in this opening round, looking hungry for the finish throughout against the more experienced fighter. Briefly going to the mat at the end of the round Eduardo’s armbar attempt from the bottom is caught short by the buzzer.
ROUND TWO
Aware of Lee’s furious style, Eduardo comes out immediately looking for the takedown. With a stalemate situation the fight is restarted stood up, Lee immediately capitalises and lands a textbook high kick sending his man crashing to the mat. Lee follows him down and gets side control, dropping in elbows and forearm smashes. Eduardo is saved by the bell.
ROUND THREE
Showcasing his stand up skills, Lee dominates the third and final round of his Pro debut landing knees and elbows Eduardo has no answer for. Feeling confident, Lee attempts a flying armbar which lands and is pulled on tight. As the pair go to the ground Lee pulls guard only to be caught by some elbows himself.
Over to the judges there can only be one winner and none more deserving than Lee Livingstone who looked good from the off, showing a variety skills, able to work both on his feet and on the ground.
FIGHT EIGHT
ROUND ONE
From the buzzer both fighters wanted to clinch. Jim takes Lewis to the mat, dropping big shots, elbows and bombs to the downed fighter.
Lewis is powerless to stop Jim’s onslaught and the end of the round falls in Jim’s favour.
ROUND TWO
The two exchange shots in the centre of the cage but Lewis never gets out of first gear as Jim fires in some heavy elbows as they take to the mat. Lewis taps out and Jim punctuates his win with some ground and pound.
If Jim’s tattoo is anything to go by, then it is only God who can judge him, as he looked unstoppable!
FIGHT NINE
Making his return to Cage Warriors, Karl Ammasou from France was matched up against Mark O’Toole from Ireland’s UFR.
ROUND ONE
Coming out smiling ready for war, manslaughter is quickly took to the mat by his skilled opponent. Pulling guard Ammasou looks for the early finish but Manslaughter slips out to get mounted position. Ammasou closes the guard and puts on the armbar. Just as manslaughter escapes once again the underhooks go in, and Ammasou gets his win via rear naked choke in the first round.
In good humour and in response to Ammasou donning a balaclava for the post fight pictures, Manslaughter puts a towel on his head, loving every minute of his time in the famous Cage Warriors cage. I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of him by no means, a real crowd favourite.
FIGHT TEN
The fight I had been looking forward to, Rough House’s Dan Hardy, the current Welterweight champion against Holland’s Willy Ni fighting out of their Budo Academy.
ROUND ONE
Knowing what Dan is capable of, Willy quickly takes him to the mat to remove his arsenal of kicks.
He is unlucky to fall into a choke which Dan cranks on tight. Willy pops his head out and jumps back into a heel hook attempt. Dan looked worried as Willy does the death roll with his knee, shin and ankle at risk. Dan manages to escape much to the relief of the crowd and they get to their feet. Willy closes the distance knowing he’s in Dan’s world now. Dan unloads only to be stopped by the end of the round.
ROUND TWO
A carbon copy of the start of round one, Dan opens with a head kick and Willy gets the takedown falling into Dan’s waiting guillotine. This time though he is unable to escape and Dan cranks it on tight until Willy taps.
Dan gets the win early in the second round. Seeing a different side to the Dan Hardy of old I was expecting a win via strikes, but good to see him working the submissions. A very entertaining bout, I wonder who will challenge him for his belt?
FIGHT ELEVEN
ROUND ONE
Wayne rushes out of his corner keen to get down to business. David’s only involvement in the fight sees him attempting to take Wayne to the mat, only to be met by shot after shot to his head and face. Marc jumps in and Wayne wins yet again.
A shame it had to end so early, coming from a boxing background Wayne possesses some heavy hands capable of doing real damage, as he proved in his first fight against Will Coonie in December.
And that was that, 11 excellent fights, some finishing a bit early than they should have done, but that’s MMA, decisions, KO’s, stoppages and tapouts. It is what makes our sport the exciting beast that it is.
A mention as always to the unsung hero, Ian Dean. Hard working as ever, the match-ups were perfect.
The show would not be what it is if it wasn’t for all your hard work.
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