A few years have passed since the last Grapple and Strike event, since then Grapple and Strike have found a new home in Wales, and is here to stay. An event founded to showcase young and up and coming fighters. Names such as Mark Weir and Paul Jenkins have risen through the ranks of Grapple and Strike and have advanced to great success in their mixed martial arts careers. Everyone has to start somewhere and what better place to start.

All in all there was a kickboxing demo, two amateur fights, three semi-pro fights and four professional fights. The first fight got underway as Joseph Duffy of Falcons Martial Arts took on Tim Newman of Blaenavon & Newport Vale Tudo in an amateur rules fight. These two men gave it their all in what was to begin with an exiting stand up war, with both fighters trading kicks and punches to the body. Newman successfully utilised the takedown but unfortunately after a bit of a struggle Newman landed in Duffy’s picture perfect triangle, which forced Newman to tap out at the end of the first round. A great win for Joseph Duffy.

Up next we saw Darrell James also from Falcons Martial Arts take on G Vazintas who was the first of three Lithuanian fighters on the card. The fight was an amateur fight that went the distance with Darrell James picking up a decision victory.

The kickboxing demo began with the announcer laughing at the fact that both fighters were brothers that looked very similar. Both fighters displayed well-rounded stand up skills and kept the crowd entertained.

The first of three semi-pro fights began with local boy Richard Shore of Falcons Martial Arts taking on Lee Williams of Bristol Tai Jutsu Kai. Both fighters met in the ring revealing that Richard had a foot height advantage over his much shorter opponent. The bell rang as Richard threw a high kick and getting the better of Lee with strikes forcing Lee to go for the takedown with both fighters battling for position. In the second round Richard managed to get Lee’s back and sink in the rear naked choke for the submission win.

Sean George of Falcons Martial Arts met Adam Dix of Mizu Ryu who was a late replacement for Ryan Hannis. Sean put on a dominating performance to get the decision win.

Arron Parry of Falcons Martial Arts fought a two round battle with another Lithuanian import that was simply known as Mockeoicius. Both fighters were happy to earn the draw.

The first Pro fight of the night featured Tyrone Smith of Ren Bu Kai fighting the last of the Lithuanian fighters. The Lithuanians have already come off with a loss and a draw; can they go home to their native land with a win? The answer yes as Yazbutis won via decision.

Welsh Grapple and Strike middleweight amateur champion David Williams of Cardiff MMA steps up for his first pro fight against Paddy Durkin of Ainsdale Combat Club. David dominated the fight displaying his furious ground and pound techniques that went into the second round, the fight eventually got stopped by the ref who awarded David the victory. A bloody mess rose from the ring in the shape of Paddy Durkin who was on the wrong end of a callous beating.

Blaenavon Vale Tudo’s Andy Bridges faced off against Cardiff MMA’s Julian Davies. Both big men who like to slug it out, but halfway through the second round both men were gassing out. The fight went to the ground, out of nowhere Bridges found a new lease of life and locked in a kimura, Julian put forward his best efforts to fight it off from one end of the ring to the other, he eventually tapped out giving Andy Bridges the win.

Main Event

As far as I am aware this fight is the first time that two women have headlined any MMA event there for making history. Sabrina Cohen of Cardiff MMA who recently took part in a 101 round charity fundraiser raising over £800 for Macmillan cancer relief and other charities in honor of her father who fell victim to cancer. Sabrina looked confident throughout the night and was eager to get into the ring to get the job done.

Her opponent Cheri Buck who trains at the Trojan Free Fighters gym also couldn’t wait to get it on. In the run up to this fight there have been debates on whether females should compete in MMA and that fights between women lack the skill and excitement of their male counterparts.

For all those people who have doubted women’s MMA I have some news for you, this fight surpassed all expectations and had the sell out crowd going wild. There was plenty of action on the ground and on their feet; it was a close fight, too close for me to call. The Judges decided to give the win to Cheri Buck after a hard fought contest.

A job well done to Grapple and Strike who were on the brink of calling the show off due to many fights been cancelled, they managed to keep their cool and bounce back to put on a great show and the event as a whole was a success.