Jason Ball pulled off the most amazing comeback since Lazarus to beat Kam Atakuru, stunning the packed Doncaster Dome into silence. On a night of great action in front of a mad for it crowd, this fight stood out. It was pure drama. Four minutes twenty four seconds of action - four minutes twenty seconds of Atakuru dominance. Up against the cage, in the centre: mount, back, side control. Think of any position and at some stage of the fight, Kam was battering Jason from it. No wild shots - just thoughtful, measured punishment.
A lesser ref would have jumped in to save the apparently desperate Ball from further harm, but Marc Goddard hovered above the action. He could see signs of resistance us lesser mortals missed. With one final effort, Jason slipped a triangle choke on Kam. It was good and tight and Atakura had no option. Tap out.
For a second, both fighters stayed on the canvas. The crowd, for once, were quiet.
Breathtaking. Stunning. Keep your Cup Final: this was real sport.
It was the same story in the main event: minus the twist. Ian Jones came out guns blazing. The pair went down and Berik showed all his experience to stay in the fight against such an onslaught. Jones would not be denied. After a failed guillotine attempt, he let his hands go. The speed and accuracy of the barrage was too much for Berik. An exciting finish to a night of gutsy performances.
Normally, I don’t cover amateurs or juniors on the basis they are only learning, but this was that rarest of events: the eagerly awaited Junior Amateur contest. Both lads came into the cage unbeaten, but it was Andrew who left with his perfect record intact. McQueen took charge from the start and was rarely out of top position. Although he never managed to put Scraps in serious trouble, he bossed the action. Against the run of play, it was Saville who came closest to pulling off a stoppage with a rear naked choke attempt at the close of round one. Despite this, there could only be one winner and the judges unanimously went for McQueen. Something tells me that we will see this match up a few times more over the coming years.
“Old School” Wain did what you’d expect. Charged in, knocked the Pole down then bombarded him with punches and elbows. All over in 34 seconds. Devastating.
In the night’s other Poland v South Yorkshire clash, Rafal Dziubaude put in a solid performance. A display of relentless efficiency. Takedown – Side - Back - Rear Naked Choke. The guy is slick.
Mills has the stance and the moves of guy who knows his way round a boxing ring. When it became obvious that Kurt was willing to trade with him, it looked like there was only going to be one winner. This seemed even more likely when Mills dropped Warburton early, but he failed to capitalise on the canvas. As the fight progressed, Kurt relaxed, showed impressive cardio and began to take over. He took the honours courtesy of a lovely straight punch to Mills’ chin. Right on the button. A classy end to an enjoyable contest.
Punshon was all over Chadwick from the start. The sheer force and speed of the attack was irresistible, including a right hook that would have knocked out plenty of horses. Somehow, Chadwick not only stayed up, he caught Andrew with a couple of decent shots of his own. Nothing was going to stop Punshon though, and he sent his already wild fans even wilder when he applied a guillotine to force a tap a minute in.
Pro’s - The Rest
Pick of the Semi- Pro’s
As MMA moves forward, it is important to have more people with hair. Whenever the sport is on TV, all you get are baldies. David Hill has good hair - it looks like hair from the future and stands a good few inches above his head. On a less serious note, he looks to have bags of potential as a fighter. He oozed confidence in his win over Lee Wilton and finished with a beautiful triangle.
