Struve Retains His Belt at Cage Gladiators

Three titles were on the line on Saturday at Cage Gladiators 10: Clash of the Titans at the Liverpool Olympia.

Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve retained his Cage Gladiators Heavyweight title with a submission victory over jiu jitsu black belt Mario "Sucata" Netto. The Dutch youngster earned the tap with an arm triangle from behind in the second round. Under the tutelage of “Dirty” Bob Schreiber, Struve looks certain to be a massive star in the future.

Rob Sinclair took the Cage Gladiators British Lightweight title with an impressive performance. On the night, Aidan Marron had no answer for the relentless onslaught. The referee dived in to save the Irishman from taking anymore punishment in the second round of the contest.

The Vacant Cage Gladiators British Middleweight title was taken by John Maguire. His fight with Chris Rice was a technical affair that went the distance. After three hard rounds - the judges handed a unanimous decision victory to Maguire.

In the fight of the night, Paul Sass retained one of the most remarkable records in MMA. The Next Generation fighter defeated Jason Ball with a submission by way of triangle choke in the third round of an exciting contest. Including amateur and semi pro contests - this was the ninth time in a row that Sass has won a fight with a triangle choke.

Ball, in his second fight at lightweight since dropping down from welterweight, gave Sass the toughest test of his career. The Doncaster fighter was on top for long periods and landed some serious punches. In the third round, Ball looked the more likely winner before Sass snared him in his legendary triangle.

The under card was packed with entertaining fights. Crowd favourite David "CFD" Johnson demonstrated some sharp Muay Thai skills before finishing Colum Gillane in the first round.

Neil Fraser took a unanimous decision over Lee Barnes. Barnes has his moments - notably in the second with his explosive stand up at the start and later with a rear naked choke attempt but, overall, Fraser was in command. His long periods of good work from top position caught the eye of the judges.

Aaron Wilkinson dominated his contest with Murad Utsaev but never really broke through his opponents spoiling tactics. He comfortably earned the votes of all three judges.

Lee Chadwick defeated Jay Keiron by way of rear naked choke. Carl Noon simply blew away his Lithuanian opponent.

Within seconds, Noon scored with a huge knee to the head and it was clear there was no way back. The Lithuanian’s corner immediately threw in the towel.

Ashley Smith beat Marius Buzinskas in the third round, ending the fight with a submission by way of rear naked choke in the third round.

Cage Gladiators 10: Clash of the Titans was a star studded affair. At ringside, UFC stars: Paul Kelly, Michael Bisping, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Cheick Kongo enjoyed the action.

This was the final Cage Gladiators show of the year. 2008 has been a hugely successful year for the promotion. The quality of their shows has won them a TV deal with ITV 4. Their broadcasts, hosted by Tom Baxter and Rob Hallam, have been universally acclaimed for representing UK MMA in a positive light.