Paul Daley extended his reign over the welterweight division despite the division being invaded by a former middleweight. Mark Weir made the drop down to take on the British welterweight champion but found that youth doesn’t always bow down to experience.
Initially Daley looked a little tentative and slightly passive. It seemed like an odd decision to stay at long range with someone so adept at what he calls ‘Rangefighting’. However, midway through the opening round Daley opened up with high kicks and heavy combos. Weir responded in kind but lost the first round owing to a takedown he imbibed early on.
The second round continued much in the same vein as the first. Both landed well during the exchanges, with Weir’s hand speed enabling him to throw straight shots from his reverse hand. Yet it was the final exchange of the bout that was the most telling. Daley launched a Liddell-esque looping left hand that dropped Weir momentarily to one knee. Weir instantly raised himself to his feet only to be met with yet another looping left. The now prone ‘Rangefighter’ found himself mounted and subject to some of Daley’s trademark ground and pound. The referee interjected at 2:14 of the second round.
In what should have been the event’s headliner, arguably the two best heavyweights in British MMA went head-to-head for the CR British heavyweight title.
It was Al Turk who scored first, landing well during the standup exchanges and going on to assert his dominance on the ground also. Al Turk even managed to gain back control for a brief spell but found his attempts to gain a rear naked choke frustrated by a watertight Georgian defence.
During rounds two and three the pendulum began to swing in favour of Tedoradze, who enjoyed prolonged periods of dominance on the ground. However, positional dominance alone is not sufficient to win a bout and the referee brought the fighters back to their feet on several occasions.
Tedoradze was evidently taking the bout back in hand but remained frustrated by Al Turks relentless standup and damaging low kicks.
Eventually the judges were called in to make an assessment. They found in favour of defending Champion Tengiz Tedoradze. However, the result proved to be contentious as many in attendance booed at what they deemed to be an unjust decision. A rematch would be welcome.
Even before the event most considered that Julius Francis vs. Gary Turner was a bad choice of headliner. What transpired did little to change anyone’s mind.
Whilst Francis did display some wrestling skill that few expected of him, it remains that the bout lacked the kind of skills exhibited by those further down the card.
Fortunately, Turner was successful in highlighting that one-dimensionality will always be exposed in a forum such as MMA. After landing his second of two takedowns and a batch of welt-inducing low kicks, Turner mounted his pugilistic foe and pounded until forced to stop by referee Grant Waterman.
It is hoped that this will be Francis’ last foray into the world of Mixed Martial Arts. Although his humorous attempts at a low kick were entertaining, Francis showed little outside of his boxing. Perhaps a match-up with Neil Grove would have been better.
James Zikic allowed his grip on his Cage Rage World light-heavyweight title to slip against UFC veteran Vitor Belfort. The bout was a rather passive affair that saw little aggression or urgency from either man. That was until Zikic unfurled a stunning straight right that slapped the proverbial taste out of the Brazilian’s mouth. Severely wobbled and a little surprised, Belfort managed to recapture his senses and land a solid takedown.
Belfort maintained positional control throughout the duration of the bout whilst periodically attempting key locks from side-mount. Zikic defended well but added little more. The decision rendered by the judges went in favour of the Brazilian, and new CR world light-heavyweight Champion.
On paper this bout looked rather even. However, the smart money went on the Frenchman. Pokam (the only Frenchman of the two, despite the names) needed only sixty two seconds to find the winning combination; which in this case was a solid left body kick and stunning right hand.
Although the bout was recorded as a knockout win, it was in fact the kick to the ribs that ended the night for Guillet. In too much pain to continue, the prone and winded Guillet was rescued from further punishment by Waterman at 1:02 of round one.
If Alex Reid spent as much time training as he did worrying about changing his fight name he’d be a world champion. The only thing of note that Reid added to the bout was his mid-fight commentary.
Ewin took Reid down at will and proceeded to pound on him at every opportunity. To Reid’s credit his defence was pretty good and he did make life hard for the Mark Weir protégé, but still failed to mount a meaningful attack of his own.
Whilst on his back Reid could he heard taunting Ewin, stating that his punches tickled. The bout was also periodically broken up by Reid shouting “Woo Hoo”. Unfortunately Reid hadn’t learned from Matt Hamill and thought that perhaps this was entertaining. If only such tactics always worked when one under-performs.
Company Director: “Peter, why isn’t your report in on time?”
Peter: “Woo Ho!”
Company Director: “Yes, quite right. Good point. Carry on the good work”.
Unfortunately life doesn’t work like that. Therefore Matt Ewin was awarded the unanimous approval of the judges.
Last time Neil Grove fought in Cage Rage almost everyone bet against him. Yet despite his stunning upset over Pride veteran James Thompson, most thought that Ostich would come out on top. Most had presumed Grove’s last win to be the product of good fortune. Yet Grove managed to produce a carbon copy of his last bout in felling the experienced K-1 veteran. Mimicking his former-victim’s “gong-dash”, Grove sped across the cage unleashing a flurry of wild punches. After some heavy ground and pound, the bout was won on the 34 second mark of round one.
Veteran journeyman Chris Brennan enjoyed some success against Jean Silva in the early stages of their confrontation. However, Jean Silva thwarted Brennan’s attempts to keep the fight on the floor and attempted to land heavily during the stand-up exchanges. On one such occasion, Silva resembled his namesake Anderson Silva by utilising a Thai boxing style clinch and unleashing a series of nauseating knees.
The hardy American did not go down easily and even maintained the whereabouts to attempt a kimura before transitioning to an armbar. Silva’s well-roundedness served him well as he continued his dominance by pounding Brennan until forcing a stoppage by the referee. The Brazilian’s TKO was scored at 2:26 of the first round.
Roman Webber’s gameplan was evident from the start of the bout: avoid Smith’s heavy punching and achieve the takedown. He proved to be extremely successful in putting this mandate into action as Smith became more and more frustrated as the rounds past him by. It wasn’t until the final round that Smith began to enjoy success through landing a series of heavy punches and a spinning back-fist.
However, it was too little too late for “Smasher” as he had been forced to endure prolonged periods on his back, sustaining substantial damage in the process. Webber was duly awarded the unanimous approval of the judges.
Mills was evidently aware of Mason’s Thai Boxing prowess; he achieved a takedown within the first few seconds of the bout. Unfortunately for Mason he has found himself rather exposed when on the ground several times before and was sure to be experiencing flashbacks as Mills transitioned from outside trip to full mount. The writing was then very much on the wall.
Some solid ground and pound forced Mason to roll over and expose his back. This opening allowed Mills to take the back mount, insert his hooks and apply a rear naked choke. The submission was scored at 2:07 of round one.
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