Tuesday 26 April 2011

Cage Control 4 and the best of times

Cage Control 4 on Saturday was my first commentary gig in the month of April but it marks the first of four straight gigs that culminates with Ultimate Challenge: Fists of Fire on May 14th which should be an absolutely crazy event.

Mark, Dave and I (L-R) made the trip back to Shrewsbury for Cage Control 4 and were all impressed by one of the best shows in the short history of the promotion.

There were a selection of very even and well matched fights, a venue with a good family atmosphere and some of the nicest Bombay Mix I've had in a long time.

This is my recount of the evening from bell to bell.


Ross Jones vs. Kurt Jones

I was blown away by this fight simply because Kurt Jones picked up Ross Jones and, Vader style, power bombed him to the canvas. The follow up was even more amazing as Ross Jones, undaunted, locked in an audacious Tepee choke to take the win in the first round.

Pete Hatfield vs. Adam Robinson

"Texas" Pete Hatfield was quite clearly bat shit crazy; you could tell by the look in his eyes but he got a few points taken off him in the first round for some wayward strikes to a downed opponent. In the end Robinson struggled to deal with the aggression of his foe and he wilted under a barage of strikes in the first round.

Danny Suter vs. Jake Barrett

Danny Suter impressed me in this one with his grappling. I'd seen him steamroll Ben Braund back at CC3 but he'd come unstuck at Lockdown against another grappler and it's good to see that Spartan had drilled him accordingly. He took the bout with a great guillotine in the first round and showed class in victory which is always good to see.

Alister Hawke vs. Shane Roeton

Another Spartan product who showed good evolution was Alister Hawke who simply had too much on the deck for his foe. Hawke could have landed more in the last as he caught his man with a good body kick but opted to go for a takedown and take a well earned decision victory.

Xander Davies vs. Adam Bousiff

Adam Bousiff looked slick from bell to bell and had too much grappling talent for Davies. Xander landed a nice few leg kicks but was unable to stop Bousiff working relentlessly and got caught in a textbook triangle in the first round; impressive work for sure.

Adrian Dimblerline vs. Jake Kettle

Adrian Dimberline looked Donkey Kong strong in this one as he took down Jake Kettle with some huge huge slams. I honestly felt when he had him up for the third he may have put him, Tank Abbot style, over the side. He chose, however, to lock up a horrific standing guillotine that made his foe air tap without a second thought.

Nick Bradley vs. Jordan Brown

Rematch from Lockdown when Brown took Bradley out with knees but this time Bradley showed a great gameplan by taking his man down and locking on a textbook D'arce choke for a first round win. Very impressive technique and good sportsmanship from Jordan Brown for taking the rematch in the first place.

Ben Hodge vs. Cliff Meeks

We were speculating, on commentary, about Meeks because he had ankle supports and thai shorts on whether he was going to be a brutish kickboxer. We never had chance to see because he showed some real slick grappling before wrapping up a tight, tight triangle in the opening round. Great fight.

Jason Scott vs. Ste Molyneux

Jason Scott, for the smallest guy on the card, probably showed some of the craziest heart I've ever seen. He never stopped against Ste Molyneux but, in the end, he was giving up too much weight against a dangerous foe who bullied him from the clinch before submitting him with a nice Kimura/Triangle with only seconds left.


Dave Llewellyn vs. James Woodruffe

Knockout of the night for sure and probably one of the craziest things I've ever seen. Dave Llewellyn looked sharp striking before Woodruffe closed the distance and clinched up. Ever seen a heavyweight with a damaged arm go Urijah Faber with a flying knee and get the KO? Trust me, you've never lived. Crazy, crazy, crazy.

Ross Houston vs. Mark Wheeler

I really don't know what they're doing up there at Team Colosseum but their roster is quickly turning into the biggest bunch of savages I think I've ever seen and Mark Wheeler showed the kind of grinding top game that would give anyone fits.Ross Houston is no slouch either but he was made to look ordinary. Mark dominated throughout with his powerful wrestling and looks yet another chip of the old brutish block.

Onur Caglar vs. Andy Elliot

Onur Caglar was clearly a phenomenal grappler but Elliot came up with a perfect game plan and proved that high level grappling and effective grappling for mma are two very different things. It was close throughout but Elliot put a stamp on it with a dominant third round in which he landed some huge shots to take home the ICO title.

Reflections.

Don't think I'm lazy but I've written a hundred round ups of late and just wanted to write one as I saw it for a change. It'd be the same but with more ridiculous metaphors anyhow ;)

Thanks to Doug & Andy for the hospitality and for moving the show forward by ensuring a noticeable security presence were around to create a much more family friendly atmosphere and for hooking me up with the gig.

Big shout out to Texas Pete for walking in to Axel F and for the bit of MC/Judge's table rocking out that happened when Number of the Beast kicked off.

It was a pleasure as always and also, while I'm thanking people, thanks to Dave (the Baron of the Brabo) Lethabdy and Mark Milward for driving, judging and generally being one of the nicest guys I know.

Next blog'll be HUGE I promise you!

Take Care
Ben

Monday 11 April 2011

WCMMA: The Caveman vs. The Cavalier

Nobody likes it when friends fight. It makes everything difficult and you're forced to take sides.

I guess I'm lucky in that most of my friends are quite grounded so they don't have to fight each other to prove anything, even the mma fighters ironically.

That, however, is all about to change on June 4th when my friends Andy Sledge and Bret Freeman will be taking to the cage at WCMMA.

The caveman vs. the cavalier? Probably accurate in some respects, though Sledge is a lot more articulate than most think, but these two are getting in shape for a battle of MCs that doesn't feature shit rapping and clothes that are 10 sizes too big.

As well as honour, this one's for charity and I implore you to follow this link and give generously to the Katie Piper Foundation.

Keys to victory

Sledge needs to make this fight uglier than an all you can eat buffet at a strip club. He needs to keep the crazy stuff to a minimum and give Hollywood a horrible time in the clinch before getting it to the mat.

Hollywood, by contrast, needs to keep on the outside and pick his man to pieces with jabs and, if he's feeling harsh, probably some leg kicks. If Bret keeps it cleaner than Patrick Bateman's business card then he's got all the tools to take it.

What really matters, all jokes aside, is that these two are making the steps that so many others wouldn't and doing it for a good cause as well.

Both of them will go in there and give it everything they've got while also being safe in knowledge that if Ian Freeman would have got involved then this MC party would have got brutal in a hurry.

I wish them all the best of luck and hope that you good people will get involved.

Take Care
Ben