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Steel Penn - ICON 2.0 (300K ID) |
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Rankings for June 2017 |
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Division 5: Welterweight
#1. Settakian Fett © (Marcus Crassus)
#2. Vinku Intianni (Jay Tycoon)
#3. Kyle Robson (Stu Mack)
#4. Wally Markberg (Skood Jedrzejczyk)
#5. Alonzo Trotter (Jeremiah Lukker)
Divisional Recap:
This division has been put in last place for a few reasons; one of them is that few things have changed. Fett is still the champion; and looked as good as ever in his last fight, knocking out the stud Vinku Intianni in the very first round. He will next face rising prospect Kyle Robson, who looks pretty deadly as well. Another aspect to this choosing is the division’s lack of depth. Marcin Vanna and Max Madwell are knocking on the door of the top 5 right now. This makes the division fun as those 2 are veterans who have been around since the start of the 300K restriction, it does mean that the division is lacking depth if those two are still close to a title run at this point. In addition to this you have a former champion; an absolute killer in Intianni, who looks to be in limbo as he just can’t beat Settakian Fett, however he beats everybody else in the division. It’s a complicated landscape; I’m not really sure what happens after the Fett vs Robson title fight is done.
Featured Fighter:
Alonzo Trotter (303084)
The case of Alonzo Trotter is a curious one. He was a great contender; when he met Settakian Fett in the final of Rumble on The Rocks, however he is inconsistent and it’s not currently clear where he stands in the division. He has only ever lost to Intianni and Fett; the 2 best in the division, but has beaten pretty much everyone else. This leads to the idea that he might be a gatekeeper in the long term. His biggest problem is perhaps a stylistic one; he is a great amateur wrestler with power in his hands, in a division full of excellent wrestlers who hit pretty hard. It is difficult for him to impose his style in a division of guys that do similar things to him. Regardless he needs to make some significant improvements; and these next 2 months will show us whether he is a contender or a pretender. His next fight is against Marcin Vanna; a low reward fight for Trotter in which Vanna is dangerous on the ground but very one dimensional. The fight is winnable; as long as Trotter can keep it standing; he is the superior athlete and wrestler, so he should be able to win convincingly there. However; after this he will likely have to go back to fighting the crème de le crème of the division. He could benefit from adding some new wrinkles to his game; maybe some submissions from top position as he needs to make better use of his takedowns once he scores them, if he is to be a dominant force in the division.
Division 4: Heavyweight
#1. Otto Dahl © (The Philosopher)
#2. Brutus Leagatius (Marcus Crassus)
#3. Heavy Rain (Pablo Spezziale)
#4. Master Blaster (Tony Scatero)
#5. Rayko Oswald (Bronko Buster)
Divisional Recap:
So Heavyweight has managed to shift itself from the bottom of the pile in terms of our divisions. The reason why I say that is that there has been a few significant signings over the past month. Fighters from notable managers such as Tony Scatero; Grant Brophy and Soyster Eighty-Nine have joined the ranks this month. This makes the division considerably more interesting and adds some much needed numbers into the mix. The long awaited rematch between Brutus Leagatius and champion Otto Dahl seems to finally be in place. Heavy Rain has picked some momentum back up after back to back losses to the aforementioned two; he will fight newcomer Master Blaster in what should be a pretty epic battle and could offer some clarity at the top of the division. Rayko Oswald suffered a setback in his most recent outing; but time will tell if he can get back on the horse and become a contender. Other exciting additions include Murdo Douglas and Toru Nakamura who should both be having fights in the near future. The division seems to be on the up; but we will have to wait and see what the future brings.
Featured Fighter:
Brutus Leagatius (303521)
Leagatius did well last month to overcome Heavy Rain; and in doing so has established himself as the no.2 in the division, having only lost to champion Otto Dahl in his career so far. The rematch however; is what will truly define him at this point in time; if he wins, he becomes a 2 time champion in the division, and in the process blows the division wide open. If he loses however; he gets put into a similar position to that of Jimmy Ryan or Vinku Intianni, in that he would have beaten more or less everyone, but didn’t have anything for the champion. Leagatius has improved a lot since that first fight; turning into a much more polished striker who still has savage power. Whether or not he can beat Otto Dahl could be the making or breaking of his career, but it will be an excellent fight for the division either way.
Division 3: Middleweight
#1. Otto Dahl © (The Philosopher)
#2. Neyman Gariniho (Rocco Mediate)
#3. Archibald Knox (Marcus Crassus)
#4. Vicenzo Nibali (Marcus Crassus)
#5. Mace Blackwood (Scotty JoeC)
Divisional Recap:
I am always unsure of how I truly feel about this division; the top of it is awesome, and there are great fights to be made all over. The title fight coming up between Oscar Stolt and Vicenzo Nibali for the belt is mouth-watering. Nibali is one of the most well rounded guys that the champ will have fought and also has a penchant for submissions and ground game. He tapped out submission ace John Chester in the 2nd round of their fight so he must fancy his chances of doing the same against Stolt should the fight hit the ground. Stolt will be a big favourite on paper; but that won’t stop the hope of an eventual shakeup in the division which Stolt has ruled with an iron fist for months now. Lower down the division; Archibald Knox continues to reign supreme amongst everyone not named Oscar Stolt, as he dusted off the respected Publius Sestius in less than a minute. We have up and comers like Nibali; Mace Blackwood and Miodrag Cleve, in addition to the always tough Trevor Lawson who has just moved up in weight from the Welterweight Division. Things look good guys; we’ll almost certainly see some exciting matchups in this division in the very near future.
Featured Fighter:
Neyman Gariniho (302108)
So the last LFC middleweight champion came in to fight Oscar Stolt; the dominant kingpin of the 185lbs division. He was probably a slight favourite going into the fight; and it did turn out being a closely matched fight for the first 2 rounds. Then in the 3rd round he was hurt by a big combination by Stolt; the champ followed up, and then that was all she wrote for Gariniho. Now he is in a slightly precarious position as it is hard to see what is next for him. There are certainly exciting fights in the division for him; but he would likely be a heavy favourite in most of them. He has nothing to gain other than fighting Stolt for a 2nd time. It would be exciting to see a rematch at some point between the two; just to see if Gariniho was able to do anything different next time around. Only time will tell if he will live up to the initial hype as an undefeated champion of another org.
Division 2: Lightweight
#1. Mnajdra Sheze © (Juice Box)
#2. Froyo Hoyo (Mickey Hart)
#3. Jallu Pesonen (Marky Mark)
#4. Grogory Damkratov (Maxim Serebryakov)
#5. Widar Blixt (The Philosopher)
Divisional Recap:
This division is full of absolute killers at the top of it; and there are exciting fights to come in the next month or so. Mnajdra Sheze faces relative newcomer Widar Blixt; who everyone seems to be avoiding; in a showcase fight which consists of 2 10 minute rounds. The belt will be on the line; and whilst Blixt is inexperienced, he is surely the best striker Sheze will have faced in his MMA career. Blixt has shown to have serious power and great technical striking skills; and rumour has it he has also wrestled to a high level, so this could be a tall order for the champ to get it to the ground. You cannot count Sheze out of course; his ground game is quite possibly the best in the org, the way he beat Jallu Pesonen showed yet another wrinkle he has developed when he sat in the guard/half guard and was able to deliver GNP for 5 straight rounds. You have to think he’ll be looking for a submission against Blixt though. Jallu Pesonen was looking great leading up to that title fight with Sheze; he had destroyed Grogory Damkratov and breezed past Ephram Urani, but his undefeated record was smashed by Mnajdra Sheze. He was taken down repeatedly and simply had no answer on the ground. He has a chance to rebound against the always tough Froyo Hoyo. Even though Pesonen is the better all-around mixed martial artist; Hoyo is a deceptively tricky stylistic matchup for him, as he has an excellent clinch game and scrappy stand up skills which can cause many guys problems. Of course Grogory Damkratov is still lingering around the top 5 as well; he faces a tough battle against grappler Peter Smith Jr in his next fight, it could be a tough one as his ground game has rarely been tested.
Featured Fighter:
Froyo Hoyo (302371)
Froyo Hoyo is a really good fighter; like really really good. The thing is; he lost to the champ; and the champ is one of the best grapplers in the org; whilst Froyo might be one of the worst, his ground game is non-existent, so as long as Sheze is the champ, Froyo will be playing catch up in the ground game element of the fight. Luckily for him; he has a fight against Jallu Pesonen, which is a matchup perhaps more well suited to his skillset as they will both be looking to stand and bang. It should be close and will be an indicator of whether or not Froyo Hoyo can keep up with the evolution of this division.
Division 1: Light Heavyweight
#1. Jonas Lofmark © (Rocco Mediate)
#2. Jimmy Ryan (NorthernNinjas)
#3. Charley Hanagan (Buff Minion)
#4. Joao De Silva (Bradley Burns)
#5. Albert Pulkinnen (Jorma Oltsu)
Divisional Recap:
Long the best division; could the 205lbs division be in need of a clear-out relatively soon? The champion; Jonas Lofmark has been the champion for so long, and has beaten near enough the entire division. The org was looking at having Quintus Octavian get a title shot if he got past Jimmy Ryan. Unfortunately; he got smashed in the 2nd round which put paid to that idea, so now we are left with Charley Hanagan, possibly the greatest challenge of Lofmark’s career as the next opponent. Hanagan is a black belt with excellent wrestling; and supposedly good striking as well, so he should be able to make Lofmark work really hard for the win. Going down the list; Jimmy Ryan has a deceptively difficult matchup against a guy with a similar style; Kassim Magufuli I V. Rankings wise; Magufuli is nowhere, so it doesn’t do anything for Ryan in that way, however it will be another high level opponent he has beaten if he were to win. It is a great opportunity for Magufuli; and if he were to win, he could be catapulted into contention quicker than expected. We also have the Brazilian Joao De Silva; who since losing a title shot at PINNACLE has submitted both of his opponents, including renowned submission artist Anthony Johnson. JDS is a handful for anyone in the division; if he can be a little more active, he stands a chance of making it back to fight for the title again. Albert Pulkinnen also makes the rankings this month; as it seems nobody wants to fight him, we can’t get him a fight. He is a dangerous striker with excellent anti wrestling skills who is clearly tough as nails, so it’s not surprising, but he makes the list here by default as much as anything else. However; that’s not to say he won’t be a contender in the future, he is an excellent fighter with one of the better managers in the game, expect him to be knocking on that door soon.
Featured Fighter:
Jonas Lofmark (300290)
So Lofmark has been taking some much deserved time off after his last fight; which resulted in his second victory over Jimmy Ryan. With that victory he equalled an org record for most consecutive title defences in a single title reign. He currently shares that record with both Virgil Cid (118680), a former SP ICON Lightweight Champion and John Conteh (143769) a former Light Heavyweight Champion. All 3 men are currently on 6 defences of the belt. Given that both the other 2 fought in the unrestricted ID time in the org; it is arguable how comparable the achievements are. However; it would still be an org record were Lofmark to win his next fight and take his defences to 7.
It would be a massive moment for Lofmark that would all but secure his HOF induction when the time comes in September. To do this he must go through talented BJJ fighter Charley Hanagan; and it is difficult to envision his normal path to victory here. Taking Hanagan down is a really bad idea; that’s assuming he doesn’t get taken down himself; striking may not be easy either; although we do not know what Hanagan’s striking is like. The one thing he may be able to exploit is cardio; Hanagan is a short; thickly set Light Heavyweight who has a tough cut to make 205lbs; if Lofmark can wear him out, this may be his best path to victory. It has the makings of an absolute classic, no-one would wanna miss this one!
P4P Top 10:
#1. Jonas Lofmark © 205lbs (Rocco Mediate)
#2. Oscar Stolt © 185lbs (The Philosopher)
#3. Settakian Fett © 170lbs (Marcus Crassus)
#4. Mnajdra Sheze © 155lbs (Juice Box)
#5. Otto Dahl © 265lbs (The Philosopher)
#6. Jimmy Ryan 205lbs (NorthernNinjas)
#7. Brutus Leagatius 265lbs (Marcus Crassus)
#8. Neyman Gariniho 185lbs (Rocco Mediate)
#9. Archibald Knox 185lbs (Marcus Crassus)
#10. Charley Hanagan 205lbs (Buff Minion)
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| Division |
Fighters |
Avg. Age |
Avg. ID |
Avg. Hype |
Notes |
| 135 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Division Disbanded |
| 145 |
1 |
25 |
314283 |
24 |
Division Disbanded |
| 155 |
18 |
23 |
308094 |
52 |
Need fighters |
| 170 |
14 |
23 |
305300 |
58 |
Need fighters |
| 185 |
16 |
21 |
304179 |
57 |
Need fighters |
| 205 |
17 |
22 |
303185 |
65 |
Need fighters |
| 265 |
16 |
23 |
306162 |
47 |
Need fighters |
| 265+ |
2 |
39 |
187973 |
123 |
Legends Division 35+, fair fights with similar weights, super fights if they arise |
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