Lightweights to Star at Cage Gladiators 11

The first major UK MMA event of 2009 takes place at the Liverpool Olympia on Saturday March 7th Cage Gladiators 11 features some of the hottest talent and will answer a lot of questions about the state of the lightweight division in the UK.

Topping the bill for the first time is Paul Sass. Sass has one of the most remarkable records in Mixed Martial Arts. The unbeaten youngster has won his six professional fights by triangle choke. Including amateur and semi pro bouts, he has a sequence of nine consecutive victories by triangle choke. Sass has defeated tough campaigners such as Martin Stapleton, Will Burke and David "CFD" Johnson along the way. The Next Generation fighter is highly regarded by Greg Jackson, the man regarded by many as the world’s top trainer. Paul Sass has travelled to Jackson’s gym in Albuquerque, New Mexico to take his game to improve his game.

At the Olympia, Sass will take on Harvey Harra in a Lightweight title eliminator. Harra is a tough test for anyone. He has victories over Ian Butlin and Greg Loughran on his record. The winner will be in line for a crack at current Lightweight champ Rob Sinclair.

The clash between Mick Sinclair and Jason Ball has the potential to be one of the fights of the year. Sinclair has a solid all round game, but it is his spectacular striking that has made him a crowd favourite. At Cage Gladiators 9: Beatdown he dropped Ashleigh Grimshaw with a head kick that had the Scouse audience on its feet.

Jason Ball has all the tools to establish himself as a major player at 70kg. “Daddy Cool” previously operated at Welterweight, winning the Ultimate Force belt and the Total Combat 18 tournament. Since going down a division, Ball has continued to impress. The Doncaster fighter defeated former Cage Gladiators champion Aidan Marron then took on Paul Sass at Cage Gladiators 10: Clash of the Titans. Jason came close to putting the first defeat on Sass’s record. He took control of the fight and almost forced a stoppage with some heavy duty ground and pound before the inevitable triangle was applied. Ball bounced back with a TKO win over American Top Team’s Glenn Mincer at Cage Warriors USA: Destruction. His all action performance won over the crowd at the UCF Arena in Orlando, Florida. As he now fights out of the famous Wolfslair Gym, he is guaranteed a good reception in Liverpool.

A strong card features solid names such as Mick Bowman, Lukasz Les and Eugene Fadiora. Two fighters will be hoping to snap three fight losing streaks. Kam Atakuru and Leslee "Hollywood" Ojugbana never seem to pick an easy fight. Atakuru’s second career fight, against Jason Ball at Ultimate Force 5: Fight Factory was one of the most exciting UK contests in recent history. In his last fight Atakuru was caught in a guillotine by the highly tipped Lukasz Les. Kam will be hoping to get back to winning ways against Russell Burns.

Despite being winless in 2008, Leslee Ojugbana put in some pleasing performances. His back and forth struggle with Wayne Murray at Ultimate Force: Nemesis was one of the fights of the year. At Cage Gladiators 11, he will face the durable Brazilian Julian "Jaba" Soares.