Cyborg entered the cage draped in an all black cloak with his hood up and his face shrouded.  Shutting out the world around him, Evangelista Santos maintained eye-contact with the floor only, as he made his solemn entrance to what was the most anticipated fight of the evening.  Cyborg was the last-minute replacement for the absconding Vitor Belfort, who noted his reason for non-attendance as “overtraining”.  Belfort was the catalyst behind many of the ticket sales prior to his disappointing announcement, but his replacement was set to put on quite a performance of his own.  Cyborg’s gaze only ventured a look skywards once his opponent, the impressively built Melvin Manhoef, had entered the cage.  A steely and unwavering stare-down ensued.

The bell for round one rung out and the two combatants closed in on each other.  The expected stand-up exchanges followed, albeit a little tentatively at first.  Cyborg began his game-plan with some range finding leg-kicks, whilst Manhoef endeavoured into short range; his comfort zone.  The early stages of the round saw some strikes landed by both until the pair eventually clinched.  Referee Grant Waterman interjected on one occasion as neither attempted to use the clinch for anything other than resting.  As the two parted the pace of the fight took a steep rise upwards as both men began to exchange once more.  The combination of a frenetic pace, coupled with a number of accurate blows began to take its toll on Cyborg, who attempted a single-leg takedown to obviate any further punishment.  Yet just as the fight went to the floor, the ten second warning sound could be heard.  The resourceful Cyborg then attempted to finish the fight in the opening stanza by slamming himself backwards and attempting a heel hook… luckily for those in attendance, the fight went into round two.

The pace of the first round was written across the tired faces of the two fighters.  Manhoef’s corner had obviously told him to increase his aggression and let his hands go, because that’s exactly what he did.  Although landing a mixture of strikes in creative combinations, many of these combinations were thwarted by Cyborg’s use of the Thai clinch.  Manhoef’s pace slowed dramatically as Cyborg’s knees landed with increasing frequency.  The champion’s enthusiasm for the fight faded from him as he stood, hands on hips, before the equally exhausted Cyborg.  Several shots were landed to the unprotected face of Manhoef, before being taken by an adrenalin rush that surged him forward, throwing alternate haymakers.  Manhoef landed sufficient leather to put his challenger on the mat, who then had to suffer a series of Dutch hammerfists before Waterman put an end to the bout at 3:51 of round two.

Post-fight there was some speculation as to whether Manhoef was ‘playing possum’.  This speculation was unfounded and short lived- Manhoef was out on his feet.  In a Rocky-esque come back, Manhoef showed his worth as a true champion and demonstrated his willingness to defend his title with bloody hands.  His performance topped an excellent night of fighting, and many agreed that the fight was probably one of the best they’ve ever seen.

The bout between Daijiro Matsui and Curtis Stout went all the way to the judges’ scorecards and to a result that not everyone agreed with.  The course of the bout saw the predictable fight-plans of the two play out with mixed success.  Stout was able to neutralise some of Matsui’s takedowns and get some of his trade-mark hooks to hit their target.  However, not all of Matsui’s takedowns were avoided and Stout had to suffer short periods of ground ‘n’ pound for failing to dispense of his opponent while standing.  All three rounds took this course in varying degrees, until finally the judges were called upon to pass judgement.  Their opinion swung in favour of Matsui; although not unanimously.  This conclusion was reached despite the fact that midway through the second round Matsui dropped to the floor claiming that he had been struck in an illegal area.  It was suspected by many in attendance that he might have been faking.  The reaction did, at the time, look rather suspect, but MMA Universe photographer Ryan Little managed to take a photograph as the shot went in.  It did indeed catch Matsui’s protective cup.  There were many at the event that doubted Matsui’s integrity- hopefully this account of the fight has helped to restore it.

The split decision exemplifies the difficulty of scoring a bout where two fighters have different aims in the fight.  For the judges, the decision became a question of whether more weight should be given to an effective takedown or an accurate strike.  In this bout, the takedowns won. 

Unfortunately for Dave Legeno, his ring entrance was much more successful than his in-cage exploits.  Entering to the sound of Carmina Burana, to a backdrop of the St. George flag and sporting a sword; Legeno pulled an effigy of a Japanese head, dripping with blood and with a rising-sun bandana on it from behind his back- much to everyone’s excitement (except the Pride representatives, who didn’t look too impressed).  Unaffected and donning his typical red pants Ikuhisa Minowa readied himself for the as yet un-victorious Legeno who started the bout on a record of 0-1-0. 


It took three attempts for The Punk to get the tough Englishman to the ground but once there, an effective Achilles-hold was slapped on that had Legeno tapping at 2:28 of round one.  Despite being outweighed by 7kg, the Japanese fighter demonstrated how skill and technical ability will always overcome aggression and size- the only two attributes Legeno brought with him to this bout.

The American Travis Lutter had a very successful fight against his opponent Jose Landi Jons a.k.a “Pele”.  It took Lutter only four minutes to implement a flawless game-plan that made Pele look average and outmatched.  Lutter used the combination of a right upper-cut and knee to distract Pele from defending the inevitable takedown.  Lutter resembled a wrestling manual as he moved from half, to side and then full mount.  Once in the mounted position, Lutter threw heavy shots that encouraged Pele to straighten his arms to protect himself.  A quick swing of the hips and Lutter was putting on a precise and well worked arm-bar.  Pele tapped seconds later.  Lutter finished the bout with great aplomb at 4:00 of round one.

Jason Delucia, who boasts of a style derived from “Combat Aikido”, failed in his attempt to hip-toss his opponent Fabio Piemonte.  Piemonte, obviously unflustered by the poor takedown pulled guard seconds before landing an inch-perfect arm-bar from his back.  DeLucia’s Cage rage debut lasted all of 1:04 before he found himself tapping to a self-proclaimed striker.  DeLucia’s only success of the night was in making his self proclaimed record of "33-19-1" look rather dubious.

The only fight of the night that brought even an inkling of disappointment was the greatly anticipated match-up between Jean Silva and Paul “Semtex” Daley.  Semtex is a plastic explosive that reacts extremely violently when struck- the same could not be said of the fighter carrying the word ‘semtex’ as his moniker.

The first round was constructed of stand-up exchanges exclusively, with both fighters enjoying limited success.  Despite the pre-fight hype and abundance of Daley’s smack-talk, the respect that each fighter had for their opponent was evident.  Daley was tentative and tight; Silva’s punches were looping and often off the mark.  The opening round concluded with little damage sustained by either fighter.  Although the nerves did begin to ebb away towards the end of the round, neither fighter had really begun to open up.

The beginning stages of the second round saw much the same as the first.  Both fighters slowly began to come out of their shell and exchange some meaningful blows.  Sensing that he may experience more success on the ground, Silva landed a double-leg takedown but suffered a cut to his eyebrow on the way down.  After having allowed Silva to move to his side-mount, Daley could be heard calling out to referee Grant Waterman.  After bringing the fight to a pause in order to establish what the problem was, Waterman put an end to the fight- to the massive disappointment of those watching.  It was then announced that Daley had called an end to the fight owing to a dislocated thumb.  Jean Silva was awarded the victory at 4:40 of round 2.

Ross Mason is one of the UK’s most talented fighters and a chance at taking on a world-class fighter has been long overdue.  The world-class fighter supplied by Cage Rage came in the shape of Chris Lytle; who Mason would be fighting for the vacant welterweight belt.  Although Mason was obviously ready for a step-up in competition, unfortunately Lytle represented one step too far.

Although Lytle is able to boast a 13-1-1 professional boxing record it quickly became evident that news of Mason’s striking ability had made it across the pond.  Within the opening moments of the first round Lytle landed a solid takedown landing him straight into the side-mount.  From there Lytle trapped the arms of Mason and began pounding his face. Although Lytle wasn’t in a sufficiently stable position to rain down punches with knock-out power, the shots that were landing were plentiful and there effect was cumulative.  Mason, through sheer grit and stubbornness, lasted to the end of the round.

Round two saw a lot more ground fighting than was anticipated by many commentators prior to the event.  The bout was not a stand-up war but a ground ‘n’ pound mauling by Lytle, punctuated with some submission attempts including a guillotine.  In one of Mason’s attempts to escape the bottom the scramble went in favour of Lytle who was able to take Mason’s back.  From then on the result was a foregone conclusion: hooks in and choke on.  Lytle won the bout via rear naked choke at 4:57 of round 2.

In one of only two fights to go the distance Robbie Olivier challenged Brad Pickett for the Cage Rage featherweight title.  Each of the three rounds of the fight took a similar course, with neither fighter able to cause much damage to their opponent.  The fight consisted largely of Olivier’s takedowns followed by some ground ‘n’ pound from a standing position within the guard.  None of the periods of domination lasted very long however, as Pickett proved to be particularly versed in ground defence- a necessity for any would-be striker.  “One Punch” was all too eager to live up to his name during the stand-up exchanges and found himself unable to construct any damaging combinations.  It was not until the third round that Pickett began to use his sprawl tactics to neutralise the ever increasing number of Olivier takedowns.  The bout ended before either fighter was able to sufficiently impose their will- the decision was left in the hands of the judges.  To some surprise, Pickett was awarded a majority decision.

Although it was clearly evident that not everyone in attendance agreed with the decision, there is sound rhyme and reason for why the judges may have come to such a conclusion.  Olivier, in his status a challenger, would need to have beaten Pickett beyond all doubt before the judges would be willing to relieve the champion of his belt.  A champion’s belt must be taken from him- not given to a challenger by generous judging criteria. 

The decision in this bout may be likened to the recent Wanderlei Silva – Ricardo Arona bout at Pride: ‘Shockwave’ in December.  Many believed that Arona had won the bout until the Pride judges, following the above rationale, awarded the victory to Silva.  This result, although a little contentious, was not disputed at great length because commentators were aware of the judges reasoning in coming to such a conclusion.  Although many may not have agreed with the result, there is valid argument in suggestions that the judges at Cage Rage merely used that same marking parameters as their Pride counterparts.

The highly anticipated heavyweight rematch between Robert Berry and Tengiz Tedoradze did not go as the crowd had hoped for.  Buzz was clearly the home favourite as he came out to a chorus of cheers, yet it was Tengiz who walked away as the victor, for the second time.  Buzz managed to land two stiff shots on Tengiz’ chin before being taken down, from then on Tengiz dominated and schooled Berry on the ground.  Tengiz manhandled “Buzz”, moving him from position to position, even using a belly-to-back to control his large opponent.  Buzz eventually found himself on all fours awaiting the onslaught.  That onslaught was short and sweet as Tengiz threw a cheeky uppercut between the arm and leg of Buzz that seemed to hit the sweet-spot in Buzz’s chin.  After being on all fours Buzz was laid out flat by a conscious separating shot from Tengiz.  The K.O was timed at 1:53 of the first round.

That victory achieved Tengiz what was once the vacant British Heavyweight Cage Rage title.  Hopefully this win will lead to big things for the Georgian-born UK fighter.  After having walked the road to the heavyweight title, Tengiz now finds himself at the end of a cul-de-sac where he can now turn and face whoever makes the wrong turn into the Cage Rage heavyweight division.  Perhaps a second fight with James Thompson is in store for Tengiz.  Tengiz was the victor in their first encounter- but that was a long time ago and “The Colossus” has now become quite the journeyman.

In the rest of the evening’s action:

Sol Gilbert disposed his opponent Sami Berik in a bout that ended at 1:05 of the second round.  For just over six minutes Gilbert persistently took down, and on some occasions slammed down, the Turkish fighter.  The bout was peppered with small stand-up exchanges where both fighters enjoyed some success.  However, Gilbert proved too strong for Berik in all areas and ended the bout with a vicious left hook that sent Berik reeling.

Mark Epstein forced a referee stoppage at 1:26 of round one in his bout against Darren Little.  Little looked unconfident and nervous and proved to be no match for the aggressive and journeyed Epstein.

Zelg Galesic also forced the referee to interject after he soundly demolished UK fighter Michael Holmes.  The Trojan Free Fighter was in a different class and picked his opponent apart with a variety of artistic combinations.  The bout was stopped at 1:41 of round 1.

Ryan Robinson demonstrated that a fighter doesn’t have to be small to utilise good Jiu Jitsu skills, in his fight against Brian Adams.  Robinson remained in control throughout, looking for the opening he needed.  It came at 1:05 of the first round, at which point an arm-bar from the bottom was placed on Adams- who later needed assistance to exit the cage.

 -Peter Hugh Jones for MMA Universe

To view the full CR15 Photo Gallery By Ryan Little Please See:
http://www.mmauniverse.com/eventgalleries/SS88