Oogway in Kung Fu Panda

Wise words indeed.

This weekend, it’s Cage Gladiators giving us a treat. With Cage Rage apparently on the ropes- the other UK MMA brands are flexing their muscles. Hot on the heels of the Cage Warriors mega card- the Liverpool promotion step up to the plate with their latest show.

Two title bouts, a host of other well balanced contests inBritain’s best venue. Looks good to me.

One of the saddest sights of the year was Colin Robinson after he was stopped early by Antoni Hardonk UFC 80. Big C’s face in extreme close up on the mega screens at the Metro Arena- a picture of desolation. The game was up and he knew it.

You don’t get rid of the big man that easy. Robinson told anyone who’d listen he was determined to fight his way back to the big time. A false start against the 70s porn star Dan Severn has raised the stakes even further.

Robinson will leave Liverpool with either a shiny new belt or a three fight losing streak. Standing in his way: the imposing Stefan "The Skyscraper" Struve. Last time out, he stunned the Olympia by slapping a triangle on local fave Tom Blackledge. A similar result on Saturday would push the dream of a UFC return even further away from Robinson.

The contest may well be decided in the clinch, where both men areexperts atbringing the pain.

A truly meaningful fight.

The British Featherweight title is also up for grabs. Steve “Taz” McCombe moves up a weight after his unsuccessful crack at Paul McVeigh for the Cage Warriors Bantamweight strap. Out of the frying pan- into the fire. McCombe was a huge bantam and looked good with his hands, but he was taken apart on the deck. Ronnie Mann has a rock solid Muay Thai background and a tidy sub game. Taz has guts to spare, but it’s hard to see him pulling off the upset.

There are attractive match ups down the card. Rob Sinclair has impressed in all departments and is unbeaten as a pro. He faces his toughest test yet in the shape of Greg Loughran. The wiry Irishman uses every ounce of his experience to win fights. He tends to outsmart his opponents and is particularly dangerous when working for subs off his back.

Mick Sinclair was DQ’d on his last visit to the Olympia after he delivered a kick to the grounded Aidan Marron. Before that, he dished out plenty of legal punishment to earn the nod from the judges after a three round war with Ian “The Mongoose” Jones. His opponent, AJ Wenn, toughed it out for three rounds against the highly rated Andre Winner last year. Neither will be expecting an easy night.

“Sass by triangle” is quickly becoming a Cage Gladiators catchphrase and the man himself will be going for his seventh sub in a row on Saturday. Martin Stapleton had been marching through the opposition, until he was pushed all the way by the ultra-game David Johnson in his last outing. In that fight, Stapleton showcased some mean takedowns- repeatedly slamming Johnson onto his back. If he does that to Paul Sass- he’d better watch out for those legs creeping up his back.

Lurking down the card is a gem. Unbelievably, Kam Atakuru and Lucasz Les both have losing records. Lucasz Les clocked up his 0s years ago in Poland. In his UK debut, he handed Lee Livingstone his only loss to take the honours in the LL derby fight. Les exploded backwards to sub the Rough House jiu jitsu coach via Achilles lock. Atakuru has hung with classy company from the beginning. Seek out film of his epic round against Jason Ball as an example of why people love MMA. Performances like that showcased Kam’s ability- and earmarked him as a man to dodge. The winner’s record will come out of the red. The loser will become President of the “one to be avoided” club.

There are another nine fights, making this a solid offering- but the fights are only half the story with Cage Gladiators. The Olympia is a unique venue in UK MMA: carved elephant heads, ace sound system, bang up for it crowd, flashing cage and built on a proper street in a proper area instead of some leisure park. What more could you want? Not only that- the fights are on a Saturday- opening up the special delights of Liverpool nightlife.

As we learn in Kung Fu Panda- there are no secret ingredients. Whether it’s martial arts or noodle soup: what you see is what you get.

Cage Gladiators 8 looks pretty tasty to me.

for more info on Cage Gladiators, visit:

www.cagegladiators.tv

www.hurtbusiness.com
despatches from the frontline of UK MMA

His opponent, Bojan "Zelva" Kosednar, came to fight- but Daley dropped him early on- following up a huge knee with right hand to the ribs. The Slovenian did well to survive the furious onslaught that followed.

When the pair got back to their feet- the contrast was apparent: Kosednar intense with slightly mad eyes, Daley all business. The Rough House star connected with a sweet left hook and Kosednar ate the canvas again. A ground and pound stoppage looked inevitable- but referee Goddard stopped the action so Kosednar could replace his mouthpiece.

It was a temporary reprieve. With seven seconds of the first round left- Daley planted his feet and delivered another perfect left hook. Kosednar dropped like a stone. The fight was over.

On any other night- such a display of star quality would have guaranteed fight of the night honours. On any other night- you don't have Jim Wallhead v Fabricio Nascimento.

Look into the eyes of Nascimento and you see a window into a world of chaos. The Brazilian came out throwing accurate, single shots and looked to set up a takedown. On the deck- Nascimento went close with a leg lock attempt, but Wallhead kept his cool and rolled out of danger.

As the round wore on, Judo Jim began to take control of affairs with some slick boxing. Round two and three saw the pair trade punches. Once again, Wallhead impressed with his intelligent stand up. Fabricio Nascimento tried to draw his man into a brawl. With each passing second, Fabricio moved further away from sanity. He advanced forward in a stance that resembled a mechanical rooster that was desperate for a piss. He called Wallhead on- slapping his chest, grinning and keeping up a demented commentary. Judo Jim- responded with sharp blows, but kept his work organised and avoided taking unnecessary risks.

The crowd went crazy throughout and gave the local boy aroarwhen he took a unanimous decision. Nascimento also got a big ovation. A fantastic fight.

For rest of report and audio interviews with Johnny Nelson, Paul McVeigh and Michael Portillo (honest)go to:

www.hurtbusiness.com

Starting at the top- Paul Daley returns from his self imposed exile- hoping to re-establish himself at the very top of the UK pecking order. Semtex was making a big splash with EliteXC and Strikeforce before his shock retirement. On a five fight winning streak, he had smashed everything in front of him.

The first obstacle on the road back is Slovenian Bojan "Zelva" Kosednar. Unbeaten records don't always mean much, but when they belong to Balkan choke artists- you'd better beware. Kosednar has a judo background and is no doubt looking for a big scalp to thrust him onto the international scene. Due to his experience, Daley must be favoured to win- but he's fighting a hungry guy on the way up.

Down the card- the standard of the matches is unbelievable. Matt Thorpe fought at Cage Warriors Strike Force 4: Night of Champions 2005- arguably the previous best UK MMA card ever. That night, he pushed soon to be UFC star Dan Hardy to the limit for 5 rounds. Last time out, he looked as sharp as ever and will need to be against Simeon Thoresen. Cage Warriors don't do joke imports and the undefeated Norwegian has names like Chas Jacquier and "The Hands" on his CV.

Wayne Buck's career consists of a series of first round Nottingham demolition jobs. Matteo Minonzio is a huge, brooding hulk with dangerously fascist looking tatt's adding to the aura of menace. Kind of a cross between Paolo Di Canio and the Gruffalo. On his last trip to the UK- he was bombed out in just over a minute by Martin Thompson, but that's only half the story. Recently, "The Ox" Thompson has been making it his business to plough through the cream of the UK heavies. Early on, Minonzio stood and had a good old bang with him and did more than OK. Thompson showed his fighting brain and took the Italian down before pounding him out. Buck could do worse than following this example.

Jim Wallhead is the only person to fight on allthe Cage Warriors Rough House shows to date. He has won the last five of those with performances that have established him as a crowd favourite. His opponent, Fabricio Nascimento, was ranked the #4 welterweight in Europe by Groundandpound as recently as March 2008 and will hope to leapfrog back over Judo Jim in the prestigious ratings (Visit www.groundandpound.de for quality rankings and a generally ace site).

Another home fighter with a difficult night in store is Andre Winner. Winner oozes class- particularly when dispensing trademark Rough House knees in the clinch and his superb conditioning means he has no trouble going the distance. Against Abdul Mohamed- the full fifteen minutes is likely to be needed, but you never know which Abdul you're going to get these days. In his last five fights- he has ground out a couple of dour points wins, lost on an early cut and knocked out Ross Pointon with a spinning backfist. He's also been subbed in the first- but that is unlikely to happen to theace wrestler on Saturday. It could be stunning- or it could be a yawn fest. Two European top ten fighters- it is a significant match which needs to happen.

The whole show hasn't got an ounce of fat on it. Paul McVeigh, as exciting a fighter as you're going to see, is putting his title on the line and the bill is studded with names who you know will deliver. Eddie Podolski, Cliff Hall, Rocci Williams, Chris Cooper and Pete McGurk have all impressed the Nottingham crowd before and have interesting matches.

For me, the fight of the night could be Lee Livingstone v Wayne "Mayhem" Murray. Rough House v Ultimate Force. Both throw brutal leg kicks. Both have the capability to pull of spectacular submissions. A potential classic - and on the card I've seen it's seventh fight down.

If you are a fan of UK MMA- you must be at the Harvey Haddon on Saturday.
It's as simple as that.

Enter the Rough House 7
12th July 2008 6:30pm,

Harvey Hadden Sports Centre, Wigman Road, Nottingham, NG8 4PB

www.hurtbusiness.com

despatches from the frontline of UK MMA

As fans of UK MMA we are all used to this kind of nonsense. I don’t know the ins and outs of what happened- but you have to judge people on past records. Quannum have put on a couple of solid shows before. QFC 3 was promoted in partnership with Cage Warriors Fighting Championship. CWFC have a great history of professionalism and doing the right thing. All things considered- you have to suspect this is down to police intelligence (if that isn’t an oxymoron).

Boxing, house music and most other things that are any good in the world started out as activities that caused moral panic and attracted the attention of the constabulary. Rather than go over all the arguments again, I would urge you to read this feature from the hurtbusiness archive. Time for Heroes. It’s almost like going for a ride in the Delorean with the Doc.

******

A number of fights from the card will now take place at the next CWFC Rough House show on July 12th. This is massively significant. On the same night- Cage Rage 27 goes on at Wembley Arena- headlined by the Buzz v Neil Grove rematch. In Nottingham, Paul Daley tops the bill against a top European. The card features Jim Wallhead, Andre Winner, Matt Thorpe and Paul McVeigh. To my eyes, the Cage Warriors card beats Cage Rage hands down.

Cage Rage have traded on being the UK’s number one for years- but that could be over. The next Cage Gladiators also has a stronger card than Cage Rage. Strike and Submit 8 will be headlined by Colin Robinson v Martin Thompson. Total Combat has Buzz v the Big C. Both are more interesting fights than Buzz v Grove. Even Neil Grove has slagged Cage Rage in an interview.

Elite XC promised big things when they came in- but they have yet to deliver. No- one can be surprised that Sky have dropped live coverage. Cage Rage have put on some great shows. I thought Cage Rage 24- headlined by Ninja v Professor X (Buzz v Grove one didn’t make the live broadcast) was a step in the right direction. Next time out, Elite XC gave us a horribly shot Ken Shamrock and hyped him as a cross between Godzilla and Sugar Ray Robinson. I’m sure that casual viewers were less than impressed by the performance of the superstar.

July 12th is a big deal because one of the supposedly ‘lesser’ UK promotions is going head to head with Cage Rage and look to have a stronger show down the card. The hunter is becoming the hunted. Cage Rage are still the biggest name in UK MMA- but that name is becoming worth less with every gimmick. Take Cage Rage 26 as an example. The return of Ian Freeman to take a title was a superb story. My abiding memory of the night is not The Machine’s emotion packed victory speech. Cage Rage 26 is all about Ziggy from Big Brother putting on his best Lock Stock accent and telling the Great British Public he was going to be a cage fighter. They have further alienated core MMA fans by inexplicably stripping Tengiz and Abdul Mohamed of their titles. The only explanation I can think of the pair are difficult to market to people who don’t like A] Technically gifted wrestlers, B] Immigrants with foreign names.

We need a strong MMA show in the capital and Cage Rage are best placed to deliver it. In the past- they have put on some of the most compelling fights on British soil. If they got back to that, co operated with other promotions and stopped pandering to some imaginary chav/ thug demographic- they would be untouchable. If they carry on as they are- they will not be around for much longer.

*****

UFC in brief.

Michael Bisping was ace. He’s continuing to develop and showed he has the potential to be up there with the very best.

Thiago Alves failed to make weight by 4 pounds then has the brassneck to demand a title shot. The UFC are the number one show on the planet and should be setting the standards. They had a nightmare with pullouts and losing the main event at short notice would have been a disaster. When Alves turned up with a beer gut and a story about hurting his ankle- he had Dana White over a barrel. (or, as it’s know in the trade- the Carano position). They did the right thing letting him fight- but he shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a belt.

*******

hurtbusiness recommends:

Live

14th June: Bad Company present World Championship Muay Thai at Leeds Town Hall.

In Liam Harrison, Richard Cadden and the rest- Bad Co produce some of the most stylish Thai boxers in the biz. Add a few ranked guys from Thailand and you’ve got a show not to be missed. Thankfully- West Yorkshire Police don’t seem concerned about this festival of shin and elbow strikes.

TV

Setanta

If you’ve not got it yet- why not?

Every UFC live from now on. Regular UFC chat on the news channel where they treat MMA like a proper sport. All the best in Boxing. An hour of Steve Bunce every week. What more can you want for £10 a month?

Mag’s

Boxing Monthly

Superb as always. This month’s has a great feature about the importance of matchmaking and how the obsession with padding records has hurt boxing.

Fighters Only

The best issue yet in my opinion. Packed with ace content (including my own article on MMA in the US Army).

Books

Ringside- A Treasury of Boxing Reportage.

A collection of the works of Budd Schulberg. Schulberg wrote the screenplay for On the Waterfront and loved boxing. As readers of the hurtbusiness- you are the kind of cultured fight fan who will lap this stuff up.

No Blackmail

www.hurtbusiness.com
www.myspace.com/thehurtbusiness

A top night of action at the Dome. Ross Pearson and Jason Ball took titles with displays that oozed star quality. Despite a ton of pull outs- there was solid action down the card and a series of hard fought home victories to keep the crowd happy.

As usual, the show ran like clockwork and the venue and production make Ultimate Force a top event.

Full report at www.hurtbusiness.com

Dan Hardy turned up and stole the show with another bravura performance. I believe that he has a chance of making a real impact in the UFC. He has bitten the bullet and gone abroad to train early in his career. The results are there for all to see. A real coup for Ultimate Force to get him on the bill in a significant European contest. [Check out his website www.danhardymma.com and to see his hilarious photo editing skills and great taste in fight reports]

The EFR team went 0-2 at Ultimate Force. Mark O’Toole and Aidan Marron both came up against formidable opponents and took some stiff punishment. Aidan Marron in particular had a tough night. Not only was he facing a late replacement he hadn’t prepared for- he was fighting a bloke who looks ready to fight and beat anyone at the moment. Last year- the Irish lads made a habit of flying over and beating up English opposition. This year, the results haven’t been as impressive- but the professional attitude and general good humour are still the same. They are a credit to the sport

I’ve seen a bit of hot air on the Internet forums about the behaviour of the crowd on Saturday and the actions of security at the Dome.  I didn’t put anything in my report about it because I didn’t see anything to write about. The Thompson fans were loud- like they always are. The Donny crowd were loud- like they always are. There was a bit of good natured banter. The security asked a few guys to sit down like they do at football every week. Nobody even got thrown out. A total non story.

The story is: the security acted like they should at a high end venue like the Dome. Calm and professional- maybe a little fussy, but that goes with the territory. The Thompson fans are proper MMA fans. Unlike at boxing, when often a fighter’s mates turn up and stay in the bar until their man is on, they always watch every fight. I suppose they have to do this to get value for money as the average Thompson fight last about twenty seconds before the opponent goes to sleep.

For me – Saturday night’s crowd was a good news story. From a sporting point of view, another major UK show with no booing and full respect for all fighters. If you dig a bit deeper, it gets better. For the last week, there have been a number of pieces in the press labelling the people of South Yorkshire as racist thickos because the BNP won a couple of council seats in Rotherham in the local elections. Any of the mainstream press turning up at an Ultimate Force would have seen a big hall full of South Yorkshire folk cheering on an Eastern European immigrant in the main event. Of course, you won’t read this in the papers because it is a good news story about UK MMA and they were all too busy covering important events like the women’s FA cup final and the gripping climax of the world snooker championship.

Any regular readers will know that the hurtbusiness would like to get rid of the whole demeaning and sexist concept of ring card girls.
Having said that- if you’re got to have them- you may as well go the whole hog. What’s the point in getting some decent looking young lass to squeeze into a sponsors T-Shirt and look faintly embarrassed as she skulks round the cage. 
You may as well book Katie and Lindsay- two lasses who certainly left their mark on Ultimate Force. Girls who built up their parts to such an extent – they virtually had to be dragged out of the cage for the start of every round. Even a miserable old git like me has to admit they added something to the show. More brassy than classy for sure- but they made me laugh.

www.hurtbusiness.com

For the second time in a fortnight- Dan Hardy left a top class international opponent on the deck with a sore head, after pounding his way to victory over Daniel Weichel. The Outlaw then announced he was joining the UFC on a four fight deal.

The German showed he is back to his best with an aggressive first round display- but against Dan Hardy- the best Europe has to offer probably isn’t good enough anymore. Early on, the jiu jitsu specialist looked to have secured a winning position- a rear naked choke with both hooks in. Hardy bridged his way out- but Weichel continued to make the running. Although he was under constant pressure- the Rough House fighter never appeared worried. His confidence was justified when he managed to get back to his feet at the close of the first.

Fighting Dan Hardy is like playing Man United. If you get a chance- you’ve got to take it, because they have the fire power to make you pay. The second started with some stinging kicks. The fight hit the canvas again- but this time it was Hardy bossing the action. Once the jackhammer left elbows started landing- it was only a matter of time before the fight was stopped.

Dan Hardy is the best British fighter to step up to the UFC. If he continues to improve, he may be headlining Stateside soon.

But who needs the Ultimate Fighting Championship when you’ve got Ultimate Force.

In the main event- Martin Thompson pulled defied the odds to take the Heavyweight strap from Tengiz Tedoradze. The Ox did well to resist the champion’s takedown attempt. The action moved to the centre of the ring. Thompson took the opportunity to start throwing his bombs. Not for the first time in his career; Tengiz decided to trade with a renowned banger. Predictably, the Cumbrian landed and Tengiz went down. Tedoradze did well to haul himself back onto his feet- but the floodgates were opening. He went down as second time and was followed by a hungry Ox. A new champion is crowned- due to ref’s stoppage: Ground and Pound.

Jason Ball retained the Welterweight belt, defeating Leslee Ojugbana in spectacular fashion.

Leslee probably edged the first on the judges' cards. Using his impressive upper body strength, he kept Jason pinned against the fence and scored with knees. Towards the end of the first- a series of uppercuts in the clinch from Jason suggested the shape of things to come.

Ball came out for the second, determined to get his shots off. A big right and lead had Leslee rocking- the big left that followed it put him down. A couple for good luck on the floor and it was all over. “Daddy Cool” Ball retains his belt.

Equally impressive was new Lightweight champ Ross Pearson. In Brazil , they have a term for quitters. They say they are the kind of fighter who asks for the bill. Pearson spent two rounds alternating between going close with rear naked choke attempts and punching the Hell out of Aidan Marron. The Irishman didn’t ask for the bill. He stayed for pudding, coffee and a couple of brandies before Pearson threw him out of the fight.
The end came in the third with a main course of bruising hammer fists followed by an armbar for afters.

If, as is rumoured, Jason Ball is going to drop to Lightweight- a fight with Ross for the belt would be a great future main event.

Local favourites Wayne Murray and Lanus Jones warmed the crowd up with deserved victories. Murray took a unanimous decision over the popular Irishman Mark O’Toole. Murray looked confident and dictated the tempo throughout, but “Manslaughter” O’Toole got through with the odd single shot. Both men seemed to enjoy the gruelling battle and the judges came to the only possible decision. Lanus Jones impressed with a composed all round performance- topped off with a first round stoppage.

Scott Askerm v Avi Jack. Scott came out throwing a lot of clean, accurate shots. Jack had his gloves up and his back against the fence as Askerm showed off his impressive stand up arsenal. You could hear the fat lady gargling. The fight went to the ground and, after a lively exchange- Avi Jack executed what looked like a perfect armbar. Scott hung on for a ridiculous amount of time before finally tapping. Great stuff.

Lawrence Neale submitted Danny Mitchell by way of armbar. Jules Willis forced Rob Freeman to tap with a guillotine in the second round. James Martin took a majority decision against Dave Bridges.

Crowd

When they get going- the Ultimate Force crowd are the loudest in the UK . Add to that the contingent from Whitehaven backing Martin Thompson and you’ve got an atmosphere.
Also- more genuinely sexy women than any other show.

Best Ring Walk Music

Dan Hardy- Nowhere to Run : Martha Reeves and the Vandellas

Runner up (for pure naffness)

“Manslaughter” O’Toole – Jump : Van Halen

Man of the Night

There may be more obvious choices- but I’m going for Daniel Weichel. Over on a hiding to nothing- he showed why he is highly regarded on the European scene. On the comeback trail after dome crushing KOs , he asked Dan Hardy some tough questions.

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Random Observations on                     Cage Warriors:Enter the Rough House 6
 
for a full report, go to

www.hurtbusiness.com

Dan Hardy and Chad Reiner was everything you could wish for from a main event.
 
A quality import. Chad Reiner has talent and showed a great deal of heart and guts. Cage Warriors brought over some one who is a real threat to push the local hero to his limit. If Dan Hardy hadn’t brought his A game, the result would have been an early night due to an away win. I know the bold matchmaking was influenced by events at Cagewarriors USA .
All I can say is- God bless the clockwatchers of the Florida State Athletic Commission.
 
Dan Hardy: Great resistance early on, great composure and a stunning finish. He really does look the real deal and must be ready to mix it on the world stage.
 
Crowd: The first round was a gripping ground war with the local boy under the cosh. The crowd at the Harvey Haddon were well into it. No booing- no abuse- just encouragement and appreciation. LOUD encouragement and appreciation.
Obviously, the success of the Rough House fighters has increased interest in Nottingham , but the promoters deserve a lot of credit. They have built the event over six instalments. Sometimes there have been wide open spaces- but last night, the stands were rammed. Many of the fighters on the card were making their second or third appearance- and they were as warmly received as the Rough House team.
 
This is how you build a SPORT. You put on well matched events that produce compelling fights. Contrary to popular belief- the public are not thick. You might get someone to turn up once to watch a mate or a Butterbean once- but to get people coming back- you need to provide some thing meaningful. Down the card, the fights answered questions and raised others for the next time. What questions does a Butterbean crowd raise for the audience? (Apart from- Have I got any razor blades at home?)
 
If MMA is going to have any kind of future in the UK- it will be because of the work put in by Cage Warriors and other committed home grown shows. Enter the Rough House 6 was a great night. Congratulations to all the fighters and everyone behind the scenes on your efforts.