50kg-Junior Fight: Alex Vieru (Legends) defeated Jack Clear (RFA) via split decision – This fight was a great battle with both fighters making their debut. The first started with Clear securing a takedown after working in the clinch but Vieru sweeps and landed some shots to the body. Clear regained top position and fought off Vieru’s armbar attempts. The second round started with Clear showing good takedown defence early on to sprawl and wind up on top to initiate a back and forth ground battle with both fighters threatening with submissions. The third round featured some good stand up exchanges with Clear landing some crisp leg kicks and
Vieru using the clinch effectively. Vieru took the split decision in a very close and entertaining fight.

52kg- Junior Fight: Dylan Tuke (Kokoro) defeated Denis Krasnoruskis (RFA) via submission in Round 1.– This fight started with a brief exchange on the feet before a scramble on the ground in which Krasnoruskis ended up on top. He began landing some ground and pound but Tuke works for the triangle. Krasnoruskis attempted a spectacular slam to escape the position but to Tukes credit he showed great composure and wasn’t phased as he held onto the position, tightened the hold and earned the submission win.

Featherweight-C-Class Fight: Tommy Martin (SBGi) defeated Carl Kavanagh (Team Ryano) via TKO in Round 1. – Both fighters came out and looked very comfortable on the feet as Martin landed a nice left hook and Kavanagh responded with a solid straight right. Martin was then relentless in securing the takedown, from which he transitioned to mount. It appeared Martin had a deep cross face on Kavanagh as he positioned and he may have been out when Martin started landing his shots from the top; great stoppage from referee Dave Jones.

Featherweight-C-Class Fight: Dean Knight (Legends) defeated Dermot Byrne (RFA) via submission in Round 1. – This was the third time these two have faced each other, the first being on the Man of War card in October, both previous fights we’re closely contested. Both fighters showed good grappling skills in their third encounter, with Knight attempting a guillotine after being pressed against the cage. Byrne managed to escape with a powerful reversal and took top position. Knight worked a triangle from his guard and Byrne tapped after a tough battle.

Middleweight-C-Class Fight: Johnny Bowden (Kokoro) defeated Konrad Iwanoski (Ryano) via submission in Round 1. – Bowden came out and threw a kick which Iwanoski caught and then took him down. Iwanoski started unloading some punches from inside guard but Bowden slickly applied a deep triangle to become the third fighter on the card to win via triangle choke.

Featherweight Title Fight-C-Class: Sean Tobin (Boxing clinic) defeated Ian Cleary (Primal MMA) via TKO in Round 1 – The fight started with Tobin landing a big takedown but Cleary got back to his feet straight away and landed a good knee. Tobin managed to take Cleary down again and secured his back where he began to tee off landing punches. Cleary tried to escape but Tobin managed to position himself in mount where he landed heavy ground and pound until the fight was stopped 2.44 into the round. A good performance from Tobin but he will have no shortage of challengers for his title.

Lightweight Title Fight-C-Class: James “Sexual” Heelan (SBGi) defeated Dean Mitchell (RFA) via TKO in Round 1. – The fight started at an excellent pace as the fighters traded kicks with Mitchell landing the heavier. Unfortunately for Mitchell he slipped attempting a kick and Heelan capitalised taking his back, looking for the rear naked choke. Mitchell showed great ability on the ground as he fought off Heelan and looked to come close with a Kimura attempt of his own. Heelan battled to escape the submission and end up in top mounted position. From here he unleashed some big shots and was relentless until Dave Jones stopped the fight. This was a good fight with two young fighters who I believe have excellent futures ahead of them.

Welterweight Title Fight-C-Class: Stephen Owens (IFS) defeated Rob Wyne (Primal MMA) via Submission in Round 1. – Both fighters looked intensely focussed in this the last C-Class fight of the night. Owens came out and secured an early takedown but Wyne used his impressive strength to power his way back to his feet and took Owens down straight away. He starting throwing some heavy ground and pound and Owens was able to swiftly catch an armbar and showed great technique to force the tap from Wyne. Both fighters showed great respect and Owens thanked Wyne for taking the fight on short notice in his post-fight interview.

Co-Main Event: Pro Welterweight Title Fight: Ousmane Sidibi (Team Pythagore) defeated Vlad Malko (Boxing Clinic) via KO in Round 1 – Great atmosphere as the first of the pro fight begins as both fighters come out looking to trade. Sidibi looked to be enjoying his reach advantage early on but Vlad found the range with a crisp right hook and the crowd reacted with a huge cheer. Vlad tries another but Sidibi counters with a straight right and connects sweetly on the chin to earn a spectacular knockout victory as he extends his professional record to 5-2. His celebrations demonstrated just how much he enjoyed that and he said in his post-fight interview he looks forward to defending his belt.

Main Event: Pro Lightweight Title Fight: Yuri Malko (Boxing clinic) defeated Karim Kondua (Team Pythagore) via Submission in Round 1. This fight began with Kondua throwing some heavy leg kicks before Yuri caught one and took him to the ground. Malko immediately tried for an armbar while landing heavy hammer fists to try soften his opponent. In the end it was the long legs of Kondua that saved him as he escaped the initial attempt. However he was unable to return to his feet and Yuri Malko was relentless landing blow after blow to the head on Kondua until he gave up his back and allowed Malko to apply a rear naked choke. Kondua tapped meaning the Man of War Lightweight Title will go back to Cork with Yuri Malko.

Man of War III was a great event for the promotion in which they showcased some incredible domestic and international talent. They are healthily building a stable of champions and I am already anticipating Man of War IV as I’m sure they will produce another great card with more titles on the line. The production quality of the show was excellent, with an exceptional MC. I’d strongly encourage any MMA fan to attend the next Man of War card. Congratulations to all the fighters, coaches and everyone else involved.

Credit: Fergus O’Farrell

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Whatever your opinion toward Diaz, or  Penn for that matter, this still promises to be a very exciting fight. Both men are BJJ black-belts, both are excellent boxers and both have experience of holding title gold. However there are two other factors that could well settle this fight. The first is wrestling and the second is cardio.

Penn showed everybody in his fight with Jon Fitch that he is able to hang with this best when it comes to takedowns and in that fight he also showed he is perfectly capable of taking down and keeping down a much bigger man. Diaz may not have the skills necessary to keep the fight standing should Penn decide to take it to the ground. Could Penn employ a strategy of takedown and grind it out to get a decision? He could, but with Diaz being very dangerous off its back it could be unlikely. So, I think we can expect to it to stay largely on the feet and this where that second factor, cardio, comes into play. We all Diaz’s now cardio is absolutely phenomenal. After all, he does triathlons when he’s not training for a fight. We also know he punches in huge bunches, working an opponent’s body if he covers up, thus creating openings up top. Penn on the other hand, is an excellent counter puncher when he’s on the back foot and he also has one punch KO power that I don’t think Diaz can match. On the whole, I think Penn has too much for Diaz but it should still be a phenomenal fight. I see Penn winning by KO or, possibly a more conservative game plan involving boxing on the outside with the occasional takedown thrown in. On the other hand, Penn is just as unpredictable as Diaz (ask Jon Fitch) and we could end up with a no-gi jiu-jitsu bout.

The other big fight on the card is a battle of heavy hitters with Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson and his belly taking on Mirko Crocop and his big left hook. Crocop is not the fighter he was now that he’s pushing forty. A KO loss to Frank Mir and another one to Brandon Schaub in his last two fights means the legendary Croat is probably staring at retirement if he doesn’t pull this one out. Oddly, Nelson too has a loss to Frank Mir in one of his last two fights as well as the decision loss to Junior Dos Santos. In those fights Nelson showed he needs to improve his cardio and that he has a chin like a rock. Ultimately, this will probably be a brawl but Nelson does have the submission skills on the ground should he wish to go there. We know both men have serious KO power and this could end in an instant and should not got three rounds. Despite Crocop’s claims that he wants to show the world ‘the old Crocop,’ I’m going for Nelson by KO, just because he’s brilliant entertainment. The winner of this fight could well face the winner of the next one I’m going to talk about, Matt Mitrione and Cheick Kongo. 

I fancy Mitrione to win this by TKO or possibly decision depending on Kongo’s game plan. Kongo did show a real fighter’s heart in last fight against Pat Barry but I think the ever improving ‘Meathead’ is unlikely to provide such an opening. Mitrione is quick and heavy-handed as well being a technically decent striker. I think he has too much for a confident Cheick Kongo and should win a brawl. A win for ‘Meathead’ will push him that little bit closer to the hallowed ground of  ’in the mix.’ At just 5-0 it might be premature to start calling for a title fight but a win against Kongo and then another in a  big match-up with someone like Travis Browne, or as I said above, the winner of Crocop and Nelson, and Mitrione will be knocking on the door of the elites in the heavyweight division.

Alan Keane.

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One thing that I found quite interesting after Ellenberger’s stunning win was the headline on the Facebook page of a popular MMA website. It begged the question, ‘What does Jake Ellenberger’s victory say about GSP?’ This of course refers to the fact that GSP won a five round decision against Jake Shields not so long ago compared to Ellenberger’s 53 second demolition job of the same opponent. The answer to that question is absolutely nothing. GSP, as is his want, fought a technically brilliant fight against Shields, avoiding going to the mat where Shields greatest skills lie and completely dominating the man Joe Rogan would have you believe is the greatest jiu-jitsu practitioner to have ever lived. Thusly, comparing the results of fights where two men have fought the same opponents often throws up false conclusions. It took GSP five rounds to beat Shields. Does this mean that Ellenberger would knock GSP out in seconds? No. It simply indicates a different type of fighter. GSP as we well know, places huge emphasis on tactics. Maybe he is too cautious – perhaps due to being beaten by Matt Sera at UFC 69. Indeed, 6 of his 9 career wins by decision have come since that fight. But anyone who thinks he couldn’t have knocked out Josh Koscheck at UFC 124 is frankly crazy. Instead, GSP stuck rigidly to a game plan that yielded results. Fighting is about winning, which ‘Rush’ does with almost monotonous regularity, and – being one of the greatest fighters on the planet and an incumbent champion – he does not need to make statements with flashy knockouts or a gung-ho attacking style. The guys who need to make statements are those like Ellenberger who want GSP’s belt. A similar comparison can be made if we look at Wanderlei Silva. He was knocked out by Chris Leben in 27 seconds. Chris Leben in his previous fight was viciously knocked out by Brann Stann. Does Wanderlei Silva then say to himself “I lost to a guy who lost his last fight in decisive fashion. Does this make me a terrible fighter?” No he doesn’t. Because (aside from the fact he’s a legend and will be remembered forever just for his stare-downs) when two men with different abilities and different states of mind enter the cage at different points in their careers, anything can happen.

Ellenberger to give him his due is naturally heavy-handed and he did make a most emphatic statement last night. 4 of the fights in his current 5 fight win streak have ended by KO or TKO and there is no doubt that he is going places. I sniffed an upset when I thought about this fight, thinking that Shields confidence could not be 100% after being dominated by GSP when he is used to being control. Another mitigating factor coming into last night’s bout was the sad passing of the man who was not only Shields’ manager but also his father. One can only wonder at the strength of character it takes to step into the cage just 3 weeks after such an event. Not to detract from Ellenberger’s victory but was Shields mentally prepared for his fight last night? I think it’s unlikely. Shields for his part has had a tough start to his UFC career, like a lot of fighters who come in from other promotions with a lot of hype. See Yoshihiro Akiyama and Kid Yamamoto for proof. He struggled past Martin Kampmann (who again shot himself in the foot by not staying on his feet) and he has now lost two in a row. Will he come back and make another run at the title? Undoubtedly. He has the skills and character to do so. But does such a decisive result mean that Ellenberger is destined to beat GSP or that GSP is a poorer fighter because of it? Of course not.

Alan Keane.

52kg-Teen Fight: Cianan Simpson (Rush) defeated Adam Maclean (Xtreme) via submission in Round 3 – This fight was a great battle with both fighters showing good takedowns and ground game. Maclean used his strength to secure a takedown in the 3^rd but Simpson worked the triangle to earn him a submission victory.

66kg- Teen Fight: Denis Chatari (PMA) defeated Ted Lisas (Legends) via split decision – This fight was definitely fight of the night. It started with a great pace as the fighters clinched, Chatari landed some good knees but Lisas was scoring overhand punches. The second round was mainly contested on the ground with Chatari looking more threatening with submission attempts but Lisas landing better ground and pound shots. The 3^rd round was an exciting slugfest with Lisas perhaps landing the cleaner shots but he lost a point for grabbing the cage. Well done to both fighters; very exciting match.

57kg-Teen Fight: Dylan McCauley (Primal) VS Eric Healy (Rush) ended in a draw – This was a very closely contested fight with some good exchanges on the feet and the ground.

65kg-Teen Fight: John Bradley (Evolve) defeated Carl McCann (DMMA) via split decision – Another entertaining matchup as both fighters showed good transitions between striking and takedowns. Bradley showed diverse striking skills mixing kicks and punches well throughout the fight and dropped his opponent and the end of the second. McCann got a good takedown and landed some shots from the top in the 3^rd.

66kg-C Class Fight: John Byrne (Kokoro) defeated Dermot Byrne (Rush)  John Byrne (Kokoro) via TKO in Round 2 – Dermot Byrne landed a couple of takedowns in the 1^st round and showed good submission defence as John Byrne attempted a triangle and arm in guillotine. In the second John Byrne caught a kick from the Rush man, took him down and landed some good shots.

57kg-C Class Fight: Ellis Dolan  (Ryoshin Lucan) defeated Michael O’Donoghue (Rush) via TKO in Round 1 – The fight started with O’Donoghue landing an early takedown but Dolan sweeps excellently and winds up on top. O’Donoghue does well to defend the ground and pound and blocks most shots, but he couldn’t get back to his feet. Dolan continues the ground and pound and the referee steps in with 2 seconds left in the round to give the Lucan fighter the victory.

77kg-C Class Fight: John Regan (Balance) defeated Cejay Bizzy (Ryoshin Lucan) via decision – Cejay Bizzy comes out looking to finish throwing wild and gets the fight to the ground. He loses a point for hammer fists as he attacks from the top. In the second Regan came very close to an armbar and also landed some good shots as he took Bizzy’s back. In the 3^rd Regan used great movement to avoid Bizzy’s big punches and lands a few shots of his own. He scored a late takedown to secure the decision victory.

77kg-C Class Fight: Henry Flanagan (Moy Valley) defeated Aaron Skelly (Rush) via KO in Round 3 – This fight was a great stand-up war. Skelly showed great footwork to apply pressure and land some good shots. Flanagan came close with spinning back fists on two occasions. Late in the 3^rd Flanagan caught Skelly going backwards with a highlight reel right hand to end the fight in spectacular fashion.

77kg-C Class Fight: Andrius Sokulaskis (Extreme) defeated John Coughlan (Kokoro) via KO in Round 1 – There was great striking ability shown by Sokulaskis as he came straight out the gate and landed a barrage of punches. Coughlan showed good heart to stay on his feet but Sokoulaskis was relentless in his strikes and earned the knockout 27 seconds into the fight.

Main Event- 84kg- Pro Fight: Henry Fadipe (Ryoshin Lucan) defeated John Redmond (Rush) via KO in Round 1 – Great atmosphere as both fighters enter the cage and the crowd look forward to the main event. Both fighters came out and meet in the middle of the cage. Both throw hands and Fadipe drops Redmond in the first exchange with a great right hand. The referee steps in and calls the fight. Huge punch from Fadipe but Redmond may have every right to feel aggrieved as the stoppage appeared to be a little early.

Overall it was a hugely entertaining card and I strongly recommend any MMA fan to attend the next Rumble in Rush card. Congratulations to all fighters and organisers.

Credit: Fergus O’Farrell (Fighthounds.com)

Comment from Peter Lavery (Rumble In Rush 6 referee)

“Nice review but can I clear up a few points.
firstly ceejay was not deducted points for hammerfists,he was deducted a point for grabbing the cage after being warned earlier about it.Hammer fists are used quite a lot in mma so there would be no point deduction.
On the Redmond fight,Henry caught John cold and dropped him had I not stepped in more damage would have been done to a fighter who was already injured.as for him being rightly aggreived,John understood why I stopped the fight and there was no complaints from either camp.

Thank you for your time
Peter”

The Cage Contender X event was being billed as the best Irish MMA card ever and if the prelims were anything to go by we weren’t going to be disappointed. The first fight on the main card saw Peter Queally (3-1) of Waterford MMA take on Rob Byrne (1-1) of Kokoro. The referee was Pete Lavery. I had quite a bit of interest in this fight because the last time I saw Peter fight he finished Sean Davitt in just 3 seconds with a devastating head kick. I jokingly asked Peter if he intended to better this and he promised me a stoppage. Peter was of course not underestimating his opponent but stating the confidence he has in his own considerable ability.

When the bell rang Queally came out with a hard leg kick and a straight right. Byrne shot for a takedown and Peter sprawled grabbing his opponent in a clinch. Byrne forced him back against the cage and Peter showed good strength to get under-hooks and reverse the position. He then got the Thai clinch a second time and landed several hard knees. Byrne fell to the ground and “The Showstopper” followed up with some big punches to a stunned Rob Byrne before the referee called a stop to the fight for a Queally TKO win. I didn’t get the exact time of the finish but it was under a minute. The combination of speed and strength Peter showed is a warning to everyone fighting at 155. Afterwards Peter said he will be fighting in approximately a month in the Boxing Clinic. Keep an eye out for that one.

The next fight was at 205 and Dave Reilly took on Mike Kukowski. What I found odd here was the fact that both men weighed in well under 205, Dave at 190 and Mike 191. One would imagine they would be better off cutting to 185 and fighting there but then again I am not privy to the stresses of cutting weight. Dave looked very confident on the ramp and no less so in the cage. Dave came out with punches and Kukowski responded with a leg kick and a big hay-maker that missed. Mike then took Dave down and landed in full mount. Dave got back to half guard but he was mounted again and gave up his back. Mike went for the rear naked choke which Dave defended well. Mike made several attempts at the RNC but Dave held out for the bell. The second round followed a similar pattern with an exchange of strikes and Dave rocked Mike with a big right hand. They tied up then and Mike was able to frustrate Dave’s attack until the referee separated them. Mike executed a takedown then going from side control to mount quickly. A tired looking Dave again gave up his back but Mike’s choke was not tight enough and Dave actually managed to reverse position to side control before the bell rang for the end of the round.

Round 3 and Dave went straight for a double leg. Mike sprawled and both men looked tired now, but Dave more so. Dave had a single leg and they went down. Mike got Dave’s back pretty quickly and sunk in the rear naked choke once again but this time an exhausted Dave Reilly had to tap. Mike was just as tired and had to skip the post fight interview, he was that gassed.

The next fight was at 155 with Philip Mulpeter of SBG taking on Sebastian Torres of Team Torres. Mulpeter was a

huge looking lightweight and also has one of the better nicknames I’ve heard – The Honey Badger. Philip was aggressive from the off looking crisp with his punches and much stronger than Torres when the latter looked for takedowns. Philip mixed it up with leg kicks and left/right combos. Torres ate a knee when he attempted a takedown. He did get Mulpeter down but the bigger man landed in Torres’ guard and immediately stood back up, beckoning Torres to do likewise. A pattern developed then with Mulpeter gaining his feet after each takedown and looking ultra confident in his striking. Between rounds I was reminded of KJ Noons not just because of the Honey Badger’s long hair but because of his crisp boxing and in-and-out style. In the second round he defended another takedown from Torres after landing several punches. The somewhat inevitable end came when Philip connected with several heavy shots. He then got a clinch and Torres started eating knees. Referee Pete Lavery called for the stoppage giving Philip the TKO victory. Torres simply had no answer to Mulpeter’s superior striking. I’m sure I wasn’t the only person thinking that a bout between Peter Queally and Philip Mulpeter would be a sell-out.

The next fight took place at 170 as Richard “Souza” Gorey of Pedro Bessa took on Kieran Davern of Tuatha de Dannan. Gorey looked eager to get going and after the opening bell he came straight across the cage putting Davern on the back foot. Two huge uppercuts later and Davern was rocked slumping against the cage where he was finished with heavy ground and pound after just 19 seconds. Hugely impressive from Richard.

The co-main event at 185 was next and the arena had really packed up. The SBG support was huge and the chants were in full swing. John “The Wrecking Machine” Redmond of RFA was first out followed by defending champion Chris “The Killing” Fields (now there’s a historically controversial nickname). It is quite understandable that this fight began tentatively, each man circling and looking for an opening. A leg kick from John was caught by Chris and he attempted a takedown. John kept his feet but was pushed back against the cage where they swapped position a couple of times. These two fighters looked evenly matched I have to say with John defending well. Chris executed a leg trip takedown by the cage and John scrambled straight back up. A second takedown was stuffed and they jostled for position. Chris landed a knee to the body but a brief break followed when John landed an inadvertent knee to Chris’ groin. Chris finished the round in a good position getting a takedown at the second time of asking and moving form full to half guard either side of some ground and pound. He wasn’t quite able to gain the mount but landed a couple of solid elbows before the bell rang. In the second round Chris was more aggressive, possibly annoyed at having most of his takedowns defended in the first round. He soon had John down and went to work with ground and pound. Chris stood up in John’s guard looking for big shots before dropping down and moving to side control. He isolated an arm and advanced his position to lock in an arm triangle. John had no choice but to tap at 1:23 of round two. An obviously delighted reigning and defending champion, Chris “The Killing” Fields was presented with his belt by Bernard Dunne as the crowd roared their appreciation.

With the crowd keeping up a constant chant of “SBG! SBG!”, anticipation in the room was palpable as we awaited the entrance of another SBG champion – Owen Roddy. First to the ring for the featherweight title fight however was Benjamin “Son of Life” Davis (5-3) of PBS looking as composed and relaxed as only someone called “Son of Life” can look. “Rowdy” Owen Roddy’s (8-3) entrance was ever so slightly louder and the champion looked confident as he made his way to the ring. This fight began with mutual aggression as they met in the middle, tied up with a clinch and exchanged knees. Davis backed Roddy up against the cage and the champ executed a takedown landing in full guard. He picked his shots and Davis stayed composed before regaining his feet. Davis again went to work with knees before Roddy grabbed a single leg and they went to the mat. Davis threw punches while standing in guard and the ref then stood Roddy up. They were soon back on the mat, though, with Roddy on top and landing a couple of nasty elbows. I had a look up at the big screen as one elbow connected and Davis looked stunned. Roddy finished the fight with a rapid guillotine and Davis had to tap. His face betrayed his utter disappointment when during the official decision, announcer called the win at 4:59 of the first round. It’s simple to say he should have held out for another second but with the noise level through the roof at this point, I didn’t hear the ten second klaxon so it’s probably safe to assume Davis couldn’t hear it either. Then again I heard it every other time so maybe it wasn’t as loud as it should have been. Either way, Owen Roddy remains champion and advances to 9-3. GAA legend Jason Sherlock presented the belt to Owen signalling the end of a great card.

Cage Contender X will air on Setanta Sports on July 30th at 7pm. It’s most definitely worth watching. Congratulations to all the winners and commiserations to the losers. It was brilliant entertainment and an excellent advertisement for Irish MMA.

Alan Keane.

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The first fight on the prelim card saw David Garbanowski of Spirit take on Oisin Coburn of Legends MMA at 170. The action began with an exchange of punches in the centre of the cage. Coburn took advantage of a big right that missed to execute a takedown. Coburn looked slick on the ground, quickly moving from half guard to side control and gaining a full mount. Some ground and pound to the body was followed up an armbar attempt. It looked pretty tight but Garbanowski got his arm free. Coburn regained his mount shortly after and maintained top position until the end of the round. The second round was almost a carbon copy of the first with Coburn spending the bulk of the round on top on the mat. If it went to decision Coburn has this on the score cards after winning the first two rounds. However the third did see a finish. Coburn pulled guard early on and was looking for a guillotine. Garbanowski got out but couldn’t take advantage of top position and with nothing happening, the ref stood them up. They traded blows briefly but soon they were back on the ground with Coburn aggressively looking for a submission which he duly sunk in via armbar. This fight set the tone for the evening in terms of finishes and proved to be the second longest fight on the card.

Next up was a bantamweight fight between Blaine O’ Driscoll (1-2) of Lucan MMA and Joe Roche (1-1) of Spirit MMA. The referee in charge was Declan Larkin. The bell rang and these two men immediately went to work trading big punches before O’ Driscoll caught Roche in a Thai clinch and threw some heavy looking knees. Roche sensibly shot for a takedown but O’ Driscoll executed an excellent sweep and stayed in control for the rest of the round in top position. Roche did defend well off his back, with O’ Driscoll never actually gaining a mount but he stayed busy moving from half guard to side control and back, looking for an opening. He kept up a barrage of punches from every position and the only response Roche could muster was an up kick as Blaine just did not allow him the chance to get back to his feet. Blaine finished the round with armbar attempt. Round two began in a similar fashion to the first with both men again swinging with bad intentions (although there are probably never any good intentions in MMA cage). In this round Roche seemed to adopt a frustration tactic to nullify the intense aggression of O’ Driscoll by shoving him against the cage. Blaine was still getting shots in when possible, landing a hard body kick when they came off the cage before Joe pinned him back again and they went to the mat. Declan Larkin called for action and eventually stood them up with Roche unable to advance his position. Round 3 and Roche came straight out with a front kick. He absorbed a hard leg kick and responded with one of his own. Roche looked much busier now and after pushing O’ Driscoll back, he took him down and got a mount before being forced back to half guard and eventually full guard. Even off his back O’ Driscoll was attacking with punches while Roche was inflicting his ground and pound. They were stood up towards the end of the round with both men going on the attack, looking for vital points on the score cards. Two of the three judges scored it 29-28 to O’ Driscoll while the third judge scored it 29-28 to Roche giving Blaine the majority decision. I think it was a fair result and if the fight had gone on a little longer maybe Joe would have done better. He seemed to take a while to get going, perhaps put on the back foot by O’ Driscoll’s extra aggressive approach.

The next fight up was at 155 and Joe McColgan (3-1) of Tai Jutsu MMA took on Ciaran Kearney (0-4) from Lucan. I met Joe in the bathroom before his fight where he mentioned the difficulty involved in taking a whizz while wearing wraps. It didn’t seem to bother him unduly however as he got the win via armbar submission after just 33 seconds. He shot for a takedown and ended up in half guard. He immediately went for an armbar and Kearney tried to escape by slamming McColgan. It looked impressive but the impact only racked up the tension on his arm and he had to tap. Short and sweet for Tai Jutsu man.

Ken Young of Krause MMA took on Stephen Coll of Rillion Gracie. Ken took up an orthodox boxing stance almost immediately and I suppose it’s no surprise that a man who trains out of a Gracie gym went looking for a single leg at the beginning of the round. Young sprawled however and there followed a very entertaining ground battle. Young went from a north-south type position to side control before Coll got back to full guard. Coll then swept into full mount showing good balance to maintain his bridge as Young tried to escape with Ken getting back to half guard shortly afterwards. A scramble followed and they were back on the feet. After a brief struggle for position against the cage, referee Pete Lavery separated them before Coll got Young down again. He went from half guard to side control to mount almost seamlessly. He was trying to isolate an arm for what I presumed was an armbar but he moved off to one side and locked in an arm triangle at 4:18 of the first round. Afterwards he said he knew Young’s strength lay in his striking and he wanted it on the mat. Excellent display of jiu-jitsu form the Gracie man.

The last prelim fight saw Tony Keane (4-2) of Waterford MMA take on Richie Edgeworth of Ryano at 135. The referee in charge was Dave Jones. Richie came out with a big left hook and Tony immediately tied him up against the cage. Richie had a standing guillotine locked in at this point but Tony got out and they began to bang. Richie moved in and out confidently but Tony used a good jab to keep him at bay. As they circled, Tony rushed his opponent, pushing back to the fence where Richie again locked in a standing guillotine. This proved to be end as he pulled guard and sunk in a deep choke leaving Tony with no option but to tap.

That’s it for the prelims. All in all, a great display of MMA, with some big punches and slick jiu-jitsu leaving the fans waiting impatiently for the main card.

Alan Kane.

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Walking into the arena tonight you could tell that there was something in the air. I’m not sure if it was the testosterone from the “HOW HARD CAN YOU PUNCH THIS BAG” machine, the hot dogs slowly cooking from the stand or the pure electricity that was flowing around the arena.

No event ever starts on time so first fight due at 7:00 and I was pleased we only had a 15 min delay. Oisin Coburn fighting out of Legends MMA took on David Garbanowski from Spirit. I’m glad that we have changed the rule classes for MMA because I was never around a lot of events for the old class C rules. I understand and support the fact teenagers cannot be in the new C Class rules but my god. Just because you can’t be GnP’d does not give you an excuse to have limited mount escapes, yet I’m probably wrong here. I’ve never fought and the pressure of fighting in front of 3,000 people will probably make you blank a little bit. Not to mention David took the fight during the week so to be honest I am in no position to be critical.Two solid arm bar attempts from Oisin in the first two rounds denied him the sub until he pulled another out from Guard in the third. Slick Armbar which got the crowd warmed up.

I don’t mind being biased but I am a fan of Blaine O’Driscoll who was fighting out of Lucan MMA. His opponent was Joe Roache from Spirit. Can I be the first to say I think Spirit MMA are located in Cork, confirmed now I was close it’s actually Kerry.. Either way the corner man is from the south!. You have never heard a good corner-man shout directives until you have heard it in a southern Irish accent. A good crowd warm up fight with some exciting stand up in the 1st. Blaine getting the better of those exchanges and tried a nice Armbar, Joe however was saved by the bell. Second round for me and you could tell this one was going to a decision already , Joe fought hard to win the round setting us up nicely for a third in which Blaine was the aggressive one, rocking his opponent once or twice who sought salvation on the ground only to be denied by good take down defence. Blaine got the victory via Majority Decision 29-28. 29-28 and 28-29.

Would you believe that was our only decision of the night.No ? Well it was…

Exciting lightweight bout up next and fair enough I have said before I don’t like guys wearing Thai shorts in MMA. I don’t know why, maybe it’s the same reason Thai guys don’t like people wearing MMA shorts in their classes. Who knows, either way I remarked to the guy beside me:”He has no ground game, wait for it” The fight didn’t last long enough for me to decide if I was right or not. Ciaran Kearney from Lucan vs Joe McColgan of Tai Jutsu MMA. I won’t make a joke at Kearney for wearing Thai shorts however as he came into this fight on Thursday so has all the respect in the world from me. He rocccccked ( a lot of C’s for affect ) Joe and dropped him early on. He swarmed with the scent of blood in the air yet Joe being a BJJ guy ( I can only assume after what happened ) got his Arm, was then slammed but that only helped his Armbar attempt. Surprised Joe did not take the arm home with him, fantastic sub and I was hoping to see something different than an Armbar.

My hopes were given to me in the next fight as it came in the form of a head arm choke by Stephen Coll representing Rillion Gracie as he defeated Glaswegian fighter Kev Young from Krause MMA. Fight was over before it really got everybody going as Stephen showed a reliance on take downs and ground work which in the end paid dividends for the ginger lad. I had ginger lad written down on my notes to help me.

A fight which almost happened yesterday at the weigh-ins was underweigh ( get it ) next. Richie Edgeworth vs Tony Keane. It really seemed that early on both of these guys had a point to prove in terms of swinging punches. Both connected early and both connected hard. Richie soon became the one pushing the pace. The Waterford MMA guys were urging Keane to both keep his hands up and his head and neck. This advice was not heeded as Richie locked in a standing guillotine choke before pulling guard to finish it off. A solid looking victory for the Ryano fighter.

Yet Waterford MMA ( nice logo! ) had a chance to redeem themselves next which they seized with both hands.. or should I say one closed Fist. Not much to write home about here at Peter Queally made short work of Rob Byrne with devastating stand up and finished on the ground. TKO victory for the Waterford man.

Excuse me for going out on a limb here but is Michael Kukowski, STAZ?
Either way he took on SBGi’s first solider of the night , Dave Reilly who took the fight this week after the Tallaght Ladies Man Jonathan Dargan missed weight (I heard by a stone) in which case, no sympathy required. Dave had good stand up and had he followed John Kavanagh’s Jab, Uppercut (I think !) directives he may have done better. Michael wanted it on the ground due to Dave’s stand up and Dave fought well over the first two rounds defending chokes and submissions attempts. During the break before the third round Dave sat on the ground against the cage, hardly good for air circulation but whatever works for you with a bloody nose. I thought it seemed he didn’t want to be there and before too long he was on his back and it almost seemed that be it fatigue or otherwise he just couldn’t defend another choke attempt as STAZ. Don’t care if it’s not Staz, still calling him that sunk in his RNC in the 3rd.

Here comes the bias. I’ve made a decision that I’m not going to comment on this fight. Sebastian Torres vs Phillip Mulpeter. Mulpeter won by round two stoppage. He played his game plan to perfection and I cleared it up with Barry Oglesby who is now “ON THE RECORD” for explaining to me a justified stoppage. After he did, I won’t say anything else on the matter and the fight was a justified stoppage. HOWEVER now it is 9:58 AM and I don’t think bias will be an issue. In fact I’ll be blunt. Phillip looked very good, Seb didn’t look too good. I think Sebastian’s skills are unquestioned he just had a poor fight and against a tough fighter. He had a reach disadvantage so Phillip was controlling early on with kicks and jabs of his own. Seb landed a few leg kicks and left a welt on Phillips leg. I assume Sebastian was trying to weaken the leg to shoot which then came and as Luke Corcoran said Phillip “The Honey badger” mulpeter had THE BEST sprawl I’ve ever come across in all my years training martial arts. By far the hardest person to take down in SBG. Honey Badger don’t give no shit and will have his hand raised tomorrow.
I guess Luke was right as his Sprawl and takedown defence were brilliant. Sebastian was getting tired from the shots he was taking going into the second round but finally did get a double leg and landed some nice shots while pressing Philip against the cage. It didn’t last too long however as later on that round Mulpeter tied Sebastian up in a nice clinch and landed some knees. My first biased reaction was early stoppage. However as I said above Barry later explained to me that while the knees may have been hitting his elbow and forearms with one or two connecting. All the shots thrown are counted as while it’s defending, it’s not active defending in which case the stoppage was justified and Mulpeter has claimed a major scalp for his career and for the second time in as many months I believe the SBG crew now have beaten two black belts in BJJ, proving more and more than one martial art will no longer dictate a fight.

Finally, thank you Joey Breslin for showing me the light. This is where Phillip’s nickname comes from. My god what an animal.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Signed Cage Contender fighter making his MMA Debut ( d’oh! ) Rich “Souza” Gorey fought Kieran Davern. This for me was a tough one to call. Davern imposed his will against the smaller Mullen in his last Cage Contender fight with good wrestling. Yet Grappling is Richard’s bread and butter in being an excellent Judoka. However in hindsight I would say that Davern made the wrong choice as he was not rewarded for that decision. Gorey’s stand up just looked a notch above Davern’s and this fight was over very very quickly. Not a Judo throw in sight which disappointed my new , swastica chested , face to username friend Makikomi.

Now the fight I had been waiting one, we had the weigh in arguments, we had the argy bargy. We HAVE copious amounts of dudes wearing tap out shirts saying WE CAN GO RIGHT HERE in the car park. Now I want to see this fight.

Chris came out to Jailbreak as per usual. I’ve just put it on there! One thing I knew before the fight was Chris would be very strong in the clinch. He was not as imposing as he usually was tonight as Redmond showed some very good clinch work , knees included while not getting to excite us with his stand up. Redmond had some great takedown defence but again I think we were fooled. Chris had no intention of taking him down, just getting close enough to stop a takedown and instigate a clinch. Very smart ( I think ? ) by the SBG Fighter. Rd1 was close and I would probably have edged it to Redmond as I was sitting amongst his camp so heard the good parts shouted out. Similar to how during the Mulpeter fight I heard some lovely, well educated fans shout :” F*CK JIU JITSU ” and :” YOU CAN SHOW HIM WHERE TO SHOVE THAT BLACK BELT HONEYBADGER ( or was it bear ?) “.

Round two and while Redmond didn’t gas like the last time he wasn’t looking as fresh as he should have been. Fields ended up winning the fight via Darce choke and thanks to our friends at fightireland.com who caught the finish.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The atmosphere was electric and while SBG is a big family, while Rush annoyed them with the t-shirt on the punch bag. I don’t care but the way the SBG guys rushed that cage (security ?) was a little bit hard to swallow especially while Redmond was still in the cage.

If that atmosphere was hot then the crowd were burning in magma for Owen Roddy and Benjamin Davis. I actually hoped Roddy would win otherwise it seemed that all of Ballymun was going to storm the cage and take over; a riot would have broken out otherwise. Two great featherweights who to be honest I wanted neither to lose. The fight quickly turned into the battle of the knees as both were exchanging vicious knees that would make your stomach churn. Benjamin showed some great leg strength with one particular escape from his back and even was working hard when he got top position. This card officially topped off my nostalgia factor as Owen Roddy pulled off a submission win at 4:59 of the first round via Guillotine Choke and when I say it went on quick I mean it went on almost as quick as you would turn on a light. Benjamin did not know where he was and I know how easy it is to say he should have held on one extra second. I also know when your being choked very hard that extra second seemed like ten normal ones. The nostalgia factor of course reminds of me Paddy Holohan ( spell that right ? ) when he choked out Milan Kovac last year.

That was that! Fantastic night of MMA had by all, I got to put some names to faces and meet some potentially brilliant contacts and people in which I am looking forward to. The event was brilliant, the five euro hot dog was lovely but just one thing John F. You promised / told/ informed us that we would be finding out who the mysterious heavy weight fighting for your title on October 8th would be tonight. You cannot keep us in the dark for much longer however after a fight card like that tonight. I think I’ll let you a week or two worth of holidays.

Credit: Andrew Mc Gahon

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No review of the preliminaries this month as ESPN had technical problems (again), so it’s on to the main show, beginning with middleweight action as Brian Stann faced Jorge Santiago.

The All-American is really starting to come into his own. After a somewhat cagey start from both men Stann connected with a left that sent Santiago down. Stann followed him down for the ground and pound but couldn’t quite get the job done.

Stann continued his great work in the second, and a big right to the temple sent Santiago down again. A brief period of ground and pound followed before the referee stepped in to give Stann the impressive TKO win.

It was down to welterweight for the next fight as Thiago Alves faced Rick Story.

This was a very good encounter. Story put on a great display of grappling for the first two rounds, neutralizing Alves’ superior striking ability. Alves got in some good strikes, but Story was able to respond in kind.

We saw more striking from Alves in the third, as well as some exciting exchanges, with Alves rocking his man a number of times, the fight ending with both men swinging for the fences.

So with the fight going the distance it went down to the judges, with Story getting the unanimous decision.

The big boys of the heavyweight division were up next as Stefan Struve faced Travis Browne.

This battle of the big men began with both fighters connecting with a series of kicks. A clinch against the cage was followed by a brief foray to the ground before they returned to the striking game.

Seconds later and it was all over. Browne connected with a Superman punch that sent Struve crashing, the referee quickly stepping in to give Browne the great knockout win.

The heavyweight action continued as Frank Mir went up against Roy Nelson.

This battle of home town boys proved to be a highly entertaining affair. We also got a lesson about conditioning.

Mir dominated the majority of the fight, putting on a performance that was far superior than his effort against Mirko Cro Cop.

Big Country had his moments, but as time went on Nelson’s lack of physical conditioning showed, and as he sat on his stool between the second and third rounds he had the look of a beaten and exhausted man, with Mir once again dominating with his grapping and his ground and pound.

No surprise with the judges decision as all three gave the fight to Mir. A great performance from the former champion, and an example of how Nelson really needs to go back to the drawing board.

The main event saw Quinton Jackson taking on Matt Hamill in the light heavyweight division.

Rampage seemed to have Hamill worked out from the start. Whenever Hamill went for a take down Jackson was able to defend easily. It was the same whenever Hamill went for a clinch.

As for the striking Rampage had that department covered as well, out striking his opponent and connecting with some hard knees and shots to the body.

So with another fight going the distance it went to the judges again, with all three giving the fight to Rampage. It may not have been pretty but it was effective.

The show rounded out with filler material in the form of the lightweight encounter between Gleison Tibau and Rafaello Oliveira.

This all Brazilian affair was a nice way to end the show. Things looked pretty even in the first as both men got off some crisp strikes and showed some good work during the brief trip to the ground.

It was pretty much the same in the second until Tibau connected with a big left that sent Oliveira down. Moments later Tibau took his man’s back and synched in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

In conclusion – they’ve done it again.

Even though this was devoid of a title fight after both Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar pulled out injured it was still a very good show, and although a couple of the performances were a little disappointing that didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment . So in all UFC 130 gets the thumbs up from me.

Let’s hope ESPN don’t screw up any more shows though!

Credit: Julian Rodbourne www.twoshedsreview.blogspot.com

Yesterday I covered the co-main event and the main event itself and now it’s time to turn our attention to the spectacular undercard. IT began with an a kickboxing exhibition between John O’ Connor and Sean Furlong. After two 3 minute rounds, in the spirit of an exhibition, the bout was ruled a draw. Then it was time for our fist mixed martial arts contest between Rob Win from Primal MMA versus Tony O’ Toole from PHK. The bout took place at middleweight and because I had most of Rob’s team sitting behind me I was almost deaf by the time this fight was over.

The first round of this bout was the perfect MMA fight in miniature with trading on the feet, takedowns and submission attempts. Rob was 0-2 coming into this fight and he must have been itching to get the win. Tony was 1-1 and I’m sure he was no less desperate than Rob to get the “W”.  After the opening bell Rob opened with a hard leg kick and Tony responded with one of his own. Rob then executed a double-leg takedown and landed in half guard. Rob looked very slick on the ground, quickly moving into position for an arm triangle before getting into what was almost a crucifix position.  Tony managed to escape this but Rob moved to full mount and postured up before going to work with his ground and pound. Rob’s teammates were screaming instructions to “Big Lad” but Rob looked in control.  Tony managed to get free of Rob’s mount and back on the feet he attempted a back fist with Rob responding with a superman punch.  Tony did manage to take down Rob down and get in some ground and pound of his own but Rob won the round and finished strong with a guillotine attempt after Tony shot for the takedown.

Between rounds Mark Kearns described Rob as “powerful on the ground”  and it was hard to disagree with that.  After the bell for round two sounded Tony looked to take the initiative with a leg kick and Rob responded with another superman punch. A straight right from Tony was answered by a head kick and Rob then executed another takedown, landing in side control. Tony got back to half guard but Rob wasn’t to be denied as he transitioned to the side again and locked in a head and arm choke at 1.40 of the second round earning the first win of his MMA career.  It was a brilliant start to the night and if the rest of the card lived up to this fight we were all in for a treat.  A jubilant Rob Win said “bring em’ on” and no doubt he’ll have no shortage of opponents willing to answer that challenge.

Next up was a welterweight fight. Dave Hanny of Primal MMA took on “Bazooka” Joe Murphy of the Wexford Warriors, who was making his debut.  Dave dominated the first round on the feet from the outset opening with two hard leg kicks and landing a solid knee to Joe’s body. He continued his assault with left and right hooks and Joe responded with punches of his own which allowed to Dave to execute the takedown and quickly transition from full to half guard and then gain full mount. Joe powered his way out and scrambled back to his feet. Dave closed the distance on Joe and pinned him to the cage. His teammates sitting behind me called for knees and Dave duly obliged and landed four hard knees to Joe’s head.  Somehow the Wexford man stayed on his feet and actually recovered to drop Dave in the closing seconds of the rounds.  He landed a couple of shots from a standing position before referee Dave Jones called for the end of the round. In the second round Dave was not as aggressive on the feet and seemed happy to counter punch. He did land several leg kicks as he and Joe circled but his corner were getting impatient and called for him to let his hands go. The second round was not as eventful as the first but it did produce the finish. Towards the very end of the round with Joe in top position on the ground Dave locked in a tight triangle choke. With the seconds ticking down to the end of the round Joe didn’t tap but when the bell sounded and Dave Jones separated them – though I at first thought Joe had been saved by the bell – it was clear he had gone to sleep rather than submit. Dave Hanny was awarded the win via submission.

Another welterweight bout was next up with Rafal Dziudziela (1-0) fighting out of Husaria taking on John “The Hitman” Halligan (0-1) fighting out of Xtreme Fitness. The majority of the first round was spent on the mat with Rafal going on the offensive with a leg kick before a big time slam put John on his back. John defended himself well off his back but the round was Rafal’s as he imposed his ground and pound and finished with some hammer fists. No huge damage was done but the effort of defending off his back for most of a round must have taken a toll on John’s cardio. The second round was far more even. Again Rafal opened with a leg kick only to be forced back by a couple of hooks from John. Rafal shot for the takedown but John executed what Greg Jackson calls “a last resort hip bump” and reversed the takedown attempt to land in full guard. He went to work with body shots but was unable to advance his position so Dave Jones stood them up. Rafal went to work on John’s legs again with two outside leg kicks followed by a shot to the inside of John’s knee that looked like it really hurt. That’s probably why I’m not a fighter though as John responded with hooks and a knee to the body that rocked Rafal and allowed John to get the mount and use his ground and pound.

Round three and this was proving to be the longest fight of the night so far. John absorbed two more leg kicks while his team called him to check them. His lead leg was being punished but he seemed unconcerned. John took Rafal down with a double leg and landed in half guard with Rafal managing to get back to full guard. This was a very interesting fight so far and extremely difficult to call a potential winner. I had it one round each so far. After some ground and pound from John they were again stood up by Dave Jones. John had scented blood however and followed up a stiff jab with a knee to the body and a straight left. Rafal was rocked and John quickly got him to the mat and gained the mount before going to work with his fists. He landed a series of big shots and Dave Jones called a stop the contest at 2:41 of the third round.

A lightweight fight was next with Peter “The Showstopper” Queally taking on judoka Sean “The Caveman” Davitt who was making his debut.  The bout took place at 155. Now there are many, many reasons to love MMA and one of those is flash knockouts; where one fighter ends the fight in an instant with a single punch or kick. If Peter wasn’t already known as the “Showstopper” we’d be calling him “The Flash” after he took just three seconds to knock Sean Davitt out with a head kick. With every previous fight having started with a leg kick I had expected this one to be no different. A leg kick is good way to land an early blow and settle the nerves. However after touching gloves Peter decided that was far too boring and executed a text book head kick with his right leg. He barely had time to land a follow up punch before Dave Jones waved him off as Sean was completely out. It’s the fastest KO I’ve ever seen and as far as I know the UFC record is 7 seconds. I asked Peter afterwards if he practised head kicks much in training and he said, “Yeah I practise them a lot, that’s why it worked. A quick look at the lead leg to sell it and then hit it upstairs!” No one can argue that Peter’s training must be going pretty well. Have a look at the spectacular KO below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video Credit: Big Irish MMA Magazine

Next up were the big boys, the heavyweights. Wojciech Antczak from Husaria took on John McAllister from the Tuatha De Denann. Wojciech opened with a jab in the middle of the cage before being pushed back by John. Against the cage John dropped for a takedown but Wojciech stuffed it, locking in a front headlock before dropping down for a guillotine. John escaped and was now in full guard but as he was unable to advance his position the referee stood them up. Wojciech attacked with a front kick and John responded with a series of big punches. Wojciech took advantage of John having his hands high and executed a huge takedown. He gained the mount position and landed some big shots to the body but John defended well and avoided any major damage. However between rounds he was favouring his right arm. His corner was right in front of me and I could see he seemed unable to bunch his fist.  Referee Dave Jones came across to have a look and he immediately waved the fight off when he saw John did have full mobility. John was furious at the decision but Wojciech was awarded a TKO due to John being unable to continue. I thought this was good refereeing from Dave and it emphasised the care that MMA shows its fighters.

A featherweight contest between Alan Kavanagh (making his debut) of Husaria and Liam Heffernan (1-0) of SBG was the penultimate fight on the undercard. Liam was fighting southpaw and not too long after the opening bell he took Alan down. Most of the first round was spent on the mat with both fighters showing excellent ground skills. Alan defended with a rubber guard, perhaps trying to execute a triangle choke. He managed to reverse into Liam’s full guard but Liam was soon back on top and Alan was defending with butterfly guard. Dave Jones stood them after this exchange. Liam executed another good takedown but Alan showed great awareness to trap his opponent’s arms. Liam stood up to reassert his position and went back into full guard. Alan gave up his back and Liam quickly had hooks in and used some good ground and pound before the bell sounded. 10-9 to Liam. Round two began with an inside leg kick from Liam before he secured a double leg takedown and quickly got to full mount. Alan gave up his back to try and power out but Liam utilised some effective ground and pound consistently landing shots to either side of Alan’s head. Dave Jones intervened and Liam was awarded the TKO victory in the second round.

The final fight on the undercard took place at a catch weight of 62Kg between Richie Ivory out of Next Gen Arklow and Mihai Fiskow (4-0) out of KTP. There was a moment of controversy at the very beginning. As they touched gloves, southpaw Richie threw a sudden left hook that caught Mihai off guard. He was immediately on the back foot and the crowd voiced their displeasure at the punch. There is nothing at all in the rules to say what Richie did was illegal (and I know afterwards Mihai said he had no problem with it) but the crowd were unhappy and got behind Mihai for the rest of the fight. After the left hook, Richie forced Mihai to the floor where he gave up his back and Richie sunk in a rear naked choke. It looked pretty deep but when Mihai reversed into full guard the crowd went ballistc. The roars were mighty and got even louder when Mihai started swinging from top position.  When Richie locked in a triangle, Mihai tried to get free with a couple of Rampage style slams. They were stood up soon after and they went straight back at it, exchanging punches to the head before Richie pushed Mihai back. Mihai landed some good body shots before the round ended. 10-9 to Richie. In the second round a swelling below Mihai’s eye was visible and he was bleeding from it as well but he showed incredible toughness for a seventeen year old. He came out with a head kick that Richie caught and used to take Mihai down. Richie’s ground and pound was heavy and Mihai used a rubber guard to defend, pulling Richie’s head down. Richie was firmly on top and Mihai was in a slightly awkward position against the fence. Dave Jones stepped in at 1:51 of the second round deeming Mihai unfit to continue.

Both guys were very classy after the win with Richie holding up Mihai’s hand who showed no ill will towards the victor.

That’s it folks, a cracking card with some brilliant mixed martial arts on display. Congratulations to all the winners and we look forward to seeing all these fighters again in the very future. I haven’t written anything this long since college.  Good luck!

Credit: Alan Keane

Coming to end of an absolutely action-packed card, the penultimate fight and co-main event took place at featherweight between Tony Keane (3-2) and Wexford’s own Levi Kehoe who was coming off a big win last time out in Cage Contender IX in Belfast.  The crowd were not shy in making their allegiance known with Levi getting a huge roar when he stepped in into the cage in the red corner.  Tony was not without his own fans though with his teammates from Waterford MMA making themselves heard.  Like Brian Moore who was fighting in the main event for the TUFFNUT featherweight title, Levi fights out of SBG.

With the opening bell both fighters took to the center of the cage, trying to gain the measure of the other.  Levi made a tentative takedown attempt that Tony defended and followed up with a leg kick.  Levi caught the kick and again went for the takedown but Tony was on his toes and defended well again pushing Levi back against the cage. The crowd was deafening but settled down to see what became of the tactical battle against the fence. After jostling for position Tony executed a perfect hip throw but Levi scrambled and they were back on the feet. Tony threw a searching left that landed but did no great damage and Levi then rushed in swinging only to be stopped in his tracks by a huge right hook that rocked him back on his heels. Tony followed in and kept throwing forcing Levi to the floor. After two more big shots referee Dave Jones leapt in and stopped the fight at 1.35 giving Tony Keane a KO victory, advancing his record to 4-2. Afterwards Tony was class itself saying it was “an honour” to fight a man the calibre of Levi Kehoe.  He added “not much fazes me but when I heard I was fighting Levi I was fazed!” Even so, Tony leaves TUFFNUT with a noteworthy victory.

Then came the main event for the vacant TUFFNUT featherweight title between Gary “The Dumptruck” Morris, fighting out of Rush Fighting Academy and Wexford’s own Brian “The Pikeman” Moore, again of SBG. Given that I had arrived way too early and been waiting about five hours to see this fight, I was very excited. Having interviewed both fighters I knew they were both confident but one had to wonder if Gary’s greater experience would be a factor. Gary was 8-8 in his MMA career while Brian was 1-0. Gary entered first in the blue corner looking focused and ready. Brian came second and kissed a cross around his neck before entering the cage. With the referees instructions out of the way we were ready to go to war. After the bell both fighters advanced to the centre of the cage and circled. Both men started to throw and a after a brief exchange Brian threw an inside leg kick and landed an inadvertent shot to Gary’s groin.  The referee Dave Jones called for a break but we were back on after just a few seconds.  Again they went right too it with Gary picking Brian up and, living up to his nickname, slamming him on the mat right in front of me.  Gary landed in Brian’s half guard but Brian defended well and got back to full guard. Gary tried to pass but with Brian defending well Dave Jones decided to stand it up.

There was a moment of controversy to come with Brian throwing a leg kick that Gary caught. After the ensuing takedown attempt Brian got in a good position on Gary’s back and went to work with some ground and pound. After several shots Dave Jones pulled Brian off and the crowd, assuming it was a stoppage, began to roar for the new champion. However Dave Jones had actually pulled Brian up for a shot to the back of the head and deducted a point from the Wexford native.  Gary recovered quickly and went on the offensive, missing with a flying knee and following up with a leg kick. Brian caught the kick and took Gary down, landing in half guard and landing a decent left.  Brian kept up the shots and Gary gave up his back. Brian got one hook in and managed to pull Gary back into a rear naked choke. Brian was on his back now with a body scissors locked in. Gary was not giving up the fight and sensing his opponent’s tenacity Brian tried to kick to the stomach with his heel. However this resulted in a second accidental groin shot and Dave Jones stood them up. After Gary took a few minutes to recover they locked horns again with Brian landing a good right hand at the very end of the round.

Round two and both fighters were slightly more wary of each other now. After a struggle against the cage Brian secured a takedown into the full mount and started dropping some shots. Gary showed great cage awareness to walk the cage and fully reverse the position into Brian’s full guard. Gary was eager to land some shots of his own and went for a big right. Gary seemed to slip as he threw the punch though and Brian took advantage locking in a watertight triangle choke leaving his opponent no option but to tap. The official decision came just moments later with Brian Moore announced the new TUFFNUT Featherweight Champion by way of submission at 2.38 of the second round.

The cheers from the largely Wexford based crowd were thunderous and I can honestly say the fight was worth the wait. But these guys have great futures in MMA and we wish them the best of the luck in their next fights. Both men are fighting for title gold again soon With Gary in action In Battle Zone 3 on June 11, and Brian in September against Ben Davis for the Chaos featherweight title.  Stay tuned to Fighthounds.com for details.

A full report on the entire undercard will follow.

Credit: Alan Keane