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 Hi there, fight fans, welcome to another edition of GAMMA Gossip with me, AC Jimbo. Boy do we have a packed show tonight. Reviews of the most recent GAMMA event and reports from Europe on a few recent super-fights, a sneak peek at the upcoming GAMMA events, 281 and 282, and also an interview with one of the current GAMMA stars. With that much on the agenda, we’d better get right down to business!
Let’s start, in time honored fashion, by going over the recent super fights!
A former GAMMA heavyweight champion, and former most-feared fighter on the planet, Anton Chigurh, was also in action recently. He fought at IMMA 110, where he headlined the show in a trilogy bout against Emeka Shakur. Unfortunately for GAMMA fans, and more importantly for Chigurh’s ambitions of regaining that number one pound-for-pound spot, he was disposed of very rapidly in the first round. Shakur now leads their head-to-head by two to one.
Our current light-heavyweight champion, Degen Gambler, was also in super-fight action in Helsinki. He was taking on Marko Torturo, the current NFC champion at 205 pounds. Sadly he, too, lost his fight. However, this one was a much more closely contested affair, and ended in some controversy in fact, as the judges awarded Torturo the win via a split decision. Some pundits who were ringside felt that Gambler had done enough to take the win back to the US but the men who mattered most didn’t agree.
Thankfully there was some good news from these latest super-fights, with former welterweight champion, Alan Bundy, picking up a comfortable win over former NFC middleweight champion, Alfa Uros. As I told you before, Bundy is certainly not over the hill, so we can expect to see him cracking skulls on GAMMA turf again in the future.
Looking at the most recent GAMMA results. GAMMA 280: Kuduro v Hannibal is now in the history books.
The co-main event went down exactly as I predicted last time, and the judges were required to make a call on whom out of Danny Tanner and Adis Djurdjevic should be declared the winner. In the end they unanimously plumped for “The Hammer”, Tanner. Tanner was the man needing the greater medical attention when the fight finished, though, and if this fight had been any longer then I doubt he would have been able to hang on. The fight wasn’t any longer than the regulation three rounds, though, so he notches up his second win against Djurdjevic.
The main event was over much more quickly, with Danza Kuduro knocking out Hannibal Die Rucksichtslos with a head kick in the first round. Kurduro was very vocal in the post-fight press rounds about his intentions to continue to rise through the ranks and in making demands of GAMMA management for better remuneration. Time will tell whether this was a sensible move or not.
Back onto more familiar territory, let’s take a look forward to GAMMA 281 and 282.
GAMMA 281: Thomas v Green focuses on the middleweight division. Sadly the champion, Fred Ettish, isn’t in action during this show but that’s because he’s defending his title at GAMMA 282, so more on that in a moment. Instead, this show is focusing on a number of the top contenders vying for the opportunity to be the next to take a shot at winning the title.
The under-card mainly features much younger guys looking to make their way in the world of MMA, in a clear sign of how GAMMA is trying to work on developing new talent at the moment. However, my tip for the best of the under-card fights to watch is the final one, as Tank The Razors Edge (30-15-3, GAMMA 5-4-1) looks to break a three fight losing streak against the up and coming Gareth Bale (5-1, GAMMA 4-0).
The co-main event is Brodie “Groundskeeper” Sinclair (15-9-1, GAMMA 4-0) against Frank “My Way” Sinatra (23-12-4, GAMMA 21-12-4). Sinatra is one of GAMMA’s longest servants and enjoys a decent record here, but has generally fallen short when facing the elite level competitors. Sinclair on the other hand had been struggling for motivation elsewhere but has since seen his fortunes improve since joining GAMMA but is perhaps yet to be truly tested. Perhaps one of the more odd things about Sinatra is that he has actually drawn four fights. Given that his last tied fight was over three years ago, chances are that he must be due another one soon – it’s certainly more likely than him knocking Sinclair out, since he’s only won two by knockout in 39 attempts!
Both are extremely talented jiu jitsu fighters, so fans of a technical ground battle could be in for a real treat. Louts only interested in a brawl need not stick around for this one, it would perhaps be a good chance to get another drink at the bar if they don’t fancy becoming a little more educated in the finer arts.
The fight that they will be waiting for instead, will be the main event: Doc “The Bone Breaker” Thomas (28-13-1, GAMMA 4-1) facing Keith Green (11-2, GAMMA 4-0). They made their GAMMA debuts within a couple of months of each other, but that is essentially where the similarities end.
“The Bone Breaker” is a veteran of the MMA circuit, now 35 years old he has fought around the globe, plying his trade and picking up experience as he goes. However, it would be wrong to assume that his older age indicated he was in the twilight of his career. Including his time at GAMMA, he has actually won seven of his last eight fights and has never been more highly regarded. He has a strong all-round game, and won titles with previous organizations he has competed for.
Green, in contrast, is a highly touted prospect who seems to now be finding his feet. Now 26 years old, he first tried out in the star-studded Syn Euro $2m tournament, when he had just a 2-0 record, with both fights being short notice, very low profile bouts. He drew Igor Glozman – a multiple organization titleholder and former top 10 pound-for-pound knockout artist – in the first round, though, and was sent packing, albeit only via a split decision. Since then Green has gone about his business a little more quietly, and is currently sitting on a five fight winning streak. His two most recent wins have come against former GAMMA middleweight title challengers, Nero Aurelius and Tank The Razors Edge.
Green is the slightly bigger man, having a couple of inches on Thomas. For someone of his age, Green’s skills are quite astounding, but that just means that the two of them are pretty much on a par, with the main difference being Thomas’s black belt in jiu jitsu. Will this one go the way of the old guard, or will the new generation see this as being their time? We’ll find out, but whoever does win should definitely find themselves at the front of the queue to be the next title challenger.
Then we can move onto GAMMA 282: Ettish v Matazz II. Despite GAMMA 281 being, in theory, the middleweights’ night, this event sees the top two at 185 pounds slug it out for the honour of calling themselves the division’s best. Most of the card aside from this is filled with welterweights, though, and some highly talented prospects at that. I understand there are still some tickets available for sale, and at a very reasonable price so I advise you to get out there and get yours if you haven’t done so already!
The co-main event pitches the talented boxer, Leandro “The Paratrooper” Rodrigues (19-10, GAMMA debut) against the more balanced Leandro “Jiboia” Podogo (14-7-1, GAMMA debut). I’m unsure whether this has been booked as a novelty battle of the Leandros, or whether they are truly here to stay. This is the stereotypical clash of styles – the boxer looking to knock his opponent the hell outta there, and the mixed martial artist with the nickname taken from a type of constrictor.
14 of “The Paratrooper’s” 19 wins have been knockouts, yet none of them have won him a fight night award. This is perhaps because they have finished too quickly to really merit that accolade, with many finishing inside the opening round. “Jiboia” on the other hand has an impressive nine submission victories on his resume, and so we can be sure of where he will be looking to take this contest. I’m going to call this one for “Jiboia”, as I think he simply has too much variety for Rodrigues to handle.
The main event at GAMMA 282 is a much-anticipated rematch. “The Atom Smasher” Raz Matazz (36-8-1, GAMMA 34-7-1) is one of GAMMA fans’ long-time heroes. Last time out, though, things didn’t go his way and he was downed by “Coquettish” Fred Ettish (20-10, GAMMA 10-7). Will Ettish be able to overcome the odds again and hold onto that title? Well I’m delighted to say that we now have the man himself on the line, taking time out from his training camp to give us his thoughts on the fight.
AC Jimbo: Hi Fred, welcome to the show. Before we get started, perhaps you can clear up for our viewers where your nickname first originated? Obviously it is a rhyme with Ettish, but why “Coquettish”?
Ettish: Hi Jimbo, thanks for having me. I am happy the GAMMA brass finally stopped hiding me like some bastard child they were ashamed of. I got that particular nickname from my manager because I've always been very gifted at luring people in with my doe eyes and well-groomed mustache before blasting them in the face.
AC Jimbo: Okaaaay – well I’m relieved this is just a telephone interview in that case. You’ve had a fairly up and down career with GAMMA, but your recent form is markedly better, is there anything in particular you can put that down to?
Ettish: I recently discovered that sacrificing a small child to the great god Nyarlathotep before my fights greatly boosted my success rate. Now, I do realize that sacrificing children to eldritch horrors is technically illegal in the United States, but there's more at stake than laws and decency, damn it.
AC Jimbo: *AC Jimbo looks flustered, shuffles through his notes and seeks to move swiftly on* At GAMMA 276 you surprised a lot of people by coming out on top. Did it surprise you?
Ettish: Nope. The only people who didn't see that coming were either stupid or blinded by Matazz's Wikipedia page. If I didn't think I was the best fighter on the planet I'd go back to competitive air hockey instead. I stomped that can crusher and I'm going to do it again. Then I'll hopefully get a f*ckin' raise. I fight for peanuts.
AC Jimbo: When people saw the Fight Imperial stats afterwards they were commenting especially on the all-action style with which you overwhelmed Raz Matazz. Was that a tactic you went in expecting to follow, or was it a case of just going with the flow?
Ettish: My game-plan is always to pound them until they scream “uncle”. That's what happened and that's what's going to happen again. This time he won't make it out of the second round, though.
AC Jimbo: A bold claim there. Seeing as you brought it up already, let’s turn our attention to the more important matter at hand – the rematch. Although the GAMMA fans will, no doubt, be excited to see the two of you duke it out again, were you at all surprised, even disappointed, that an immediate rematch was granted when you won the first fight so convincingly?
Ettish: Mentor didn't expect me to beat up his golden boy, something he's made very clear in every press release since the fight. Give me some goddamn credit, man. I wanted to beat up someone I hadn't steamrolled before, but hey, I'm not one to turn down a free paycheck. I need money for mustache pomade.
AC Jimbo: One final question before you go, Fred. If you had the choice, would you rather be attacked by a dozen duck-sized horses, or a single horse-sized duck?
Ettish: Yeah, I bet YOU'RE horse size-- I'm sorry, I mean I'd take on the horse-sized duck. I'm really hungry.
AC Jimbo: Great, thanks Fred. I’ll let you go then, so that you can sort yourself out some food. Please don’t tell us what that might be, I think we’d rather not find out.
So that was Fred Ettish there, and as we know there is never a dull moment when he’s around, as that interview just proved. As for the fight itself, we’ve seen on so many occasions in the past that “The Atom Smasher” has phenomenal skills, and most observers would conclude that this makes him the odds on favorite to regain his belt. However, Ettish has a certain “je ne sais quoi” that makes him extremely difficult to write off. The last three men to have been Raz Matazz have found that they might perhaps have had an easier life if they had not gone to that trouble in the first place, as they found themselves being turned into just a short-term minder for the belt before Matazz came to reclaim it.
The obvious weakness that everyone knows about Matazz is that he is a bleeder. The guy has had more blood transfusions than he has had women. Can Ettish exploit this? He didn’t need to in the first fight. However, that is how I expect this rematch to go down, and the legions of Matazz fans will be going home disappointed, as may be the GAMMA bigwigs. Not the result that we...um, I mean they, were hoping for.
Okay, that’s all we have time for today, but worry ye not, I’ll be back before you know it with more of the latest news from GAMMA and around the MMA world. Good night!
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