I've said it before and I stand by it, the UK audience has it made right now for MMA shows. Between Extreme Brawl, Extreme Force and Ultimate Combat bringing over the best from American and Europe to face UK opponents, Cage Warriors building up a very solid card of fighters as well as bringing production levels to a new level and up and coming shows like XFC and UKMMAC the MMA fan is spoilt for choice.

Last weekend I went to the most show of the UK's MMA events, bringing the fight club to the nightclub (to steal John Lewis' phrase) Cage Rage.

The card spoke for itself, seeing the return to UK competition of Jean Silva and Mark Weir as well as Cage Warriors Lightweight champ Paul Sutherland taking on Dave "Speedy" Elliot, possibly the UK's fastest growing star Ross Pettifer as well as fighters such as Ricky Moore, Pete Tiarks and Paul Jenkins but what makes Cage Rage stand out from all the other UK shows right now is the work that Dave O'Donnell and Andy Geer put into making it just another MMA event but an MMA show.

Passing by the event the day before and seeing the Huge Chariot and horses above the entrance I knew straight away that everything Dave had told me about production and venue was going to be true, when we went inside for the weigh in and I saw the size and layout of the club itself I knew what was going to set Cage Rage apart from all other UK events.

When the show started I wasn't disappointed, each fighter was interviewed the day before their fight and a sound byte was broadcast on 2 huge screens on either side of the Octagon and a laser show and dance music helped to provide the atmosphere between fights.

As for the fights themselves, we weren't disappointed. Right from the start the matchmaking was great and the fighters put on excellent performances From young Mark Smith winning his semi Pro debut by submission after doing all he could to avoid Leon Dickens stand-up and Paul Jenkins going out and doing what he does to win by Knockout against a heavier opponent.

Pete Tiarks continued to impress with some excellent Thai skills in a tough fight against Ricky Moore, Ricky for his part showed little fear of standing with the Lumpini veteran after some failed attempts at taking Tiarks down. The hectic 5 minutes had it's effect on both fighters and Ricky opted not to come out for round 2 giving Pete a win and driving him a little further on his way towards a UK title shot.

Ross Pettifer earned himself the worlds fastest MMA victory in just under 3 seconds when he shin blocked his opponents low kick in the very first action of their fight snapping Evans tibia. Evans has since had surgery and is reported to be doing well and in good spirits.

In another match with a weight difference Jeremy "Bad Boy" Bailey took on William Elworthy giving away about 30kilos. Will took the fight to the floor quickly and managed to slip an armbar on Bailey from guard. Bailey picked up his much heavier opponent to slam him but the 30kgs extra was too much and he was forced to tap. After his fight Jeremy called out Leigh Remedios once again, due to the weight difference I don’t think this fight will ever happen.

Jean Silva surprised everyone by opting to fight in his 'Kimono' sporting his newly earned Black Belt, by the end of Round 1 he had found Andy Cooper to be a tougher challenge than was expected and stripped off the jacket before coming back out to win by sub. Andy proved to everyone why he's rated so highly in the UK by showing that he's a lot more than a KO artist and not letting Jean have it all his own way.

Dave Elliot showed us why he's earned a shot against Jean in the next CageWarriors by tapping out Paul Sutherland in the first, a little controversial as the Ref stopped the fight for what looked like a fully locked in reverse armbar, Sutherland protested not having tapped and the fight started back on the feet. Dave managed to get Paul to the floor again and tap him with a triangle before the end of the round.

The Main event saw Mark Weir return to action against Vo Thuat fighter from France Jean Francois Lenogue. Jean Francois charged out of his corner looking to strike and Mark took everyone, including his opponent, by surprise by taking the fight straight to the ground. Jean Francois moved well from the ground and managed to avoid Marks attacks and for a short while they both stood back up and threw bombs. With his back to the fence Jean François clinched and Mark took him down again and mounted. The Frenchman turned his back to get up but Mark slipped in the Rear Naked choke and got the tap with 30 seconds to go in the first. A great return to the scene for Mark who fought the perfect fight and got a well deserved win.