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 The Hard Knocks Arena will once again open the its doors to the fighters of Gladitaor Fighting Championship and its raving fans on Saturday night. This week's fight card is all about the contenders. Each fighter on the card will be looking to climb one more rung on the ladder towards championship gold.
The evening will start off with a welterweight battle between Damian Roshan (26-15-2) and Koby Stott (6-10). Roshan will be taking part in his third fight with GFC. So far he has had mixed results, with one win and one loss. Most recently, Roshan came away with a unaniomous decision loss. He is a very strong boxer who has also shown a willingness to take his opponents to the ground and work them over with ground and pound. Six of his fifteen career losses have come by submission, so he has shown himself to be somewhat susceptible to being overtaken on the ground. Stott comes in on a three fight losing streak and has yet to collect a win in GFC. Stott tends to throw a lot of punch combinations with power but unfortunatley has little accuracy. He has found some success in the clinch and like Roshan is not afraid to go to the ground and excercise his wrestling skills.
The second fight will be a ligthweight matchup between Rocco Kailea (4-2-1) and Anthony Kiedis (17-10-2). Kailea is a fearsome striker who has nice boxing and Muay Thai skills. He is coming off a very impressive knockout win and is sure to be swinging for the fences. Kiedis has a style much like that of Kailea but tends to rely somewhat more on his feet and less on his hands. Kiedis uses his knees well in the clinch and can control his opponents if he can get them locked up close. Kiedis is somewhat on the small side for a lightweight and will likely be encouraged to move down to GFC's new featherweight division after this fight.
In our third fight, Lee Atkin (5-3) will be making his GFC debut in the heavyweight division, taking on Kalle Kaataja (1-0). Atkin enters the fight as a pure, powerful striker. He has earned Knockout Of The Night honors in three of his five career wins. He is a boxer who throws with tremendous force and clearly looks to knock his opponents silly. Kaataja only has one career fight and came away victorious. His style is very different from Atkin as he will be looking to put his opponent on his back and pound him out. Ground and pound is Kaataja's specialty and it will be interesting to see which fighter can impose their will on the other.
Dave Hawkins (25-16) will be trying to shake off a two fight losing streak when he goes up against Raul Bonaza (11-8) in a light heavyweight match up. Hawkins is a fiercly powerful puncher who is dangerous from a distance or dirty boxing. Ninteen of Hawkins' career wins have come by KO or TKO, so he is a threat to end the fight at any moment. Bonaza will be making his first GFC appearance and will not be afraid to stand and bang with Hawkins. He too is a striker but is much more well rounded than Hawkins. Bonaza makes effective use of his kicks as well as his punch combinations to confound opponents. His power is not quite on the level of Hawkins' but we can expect and entertaining stand up war between these two competitors.
In another lightweight contest, Angel Castile (15-11) will be opposed by GFC new comer Les Paul (15-12). Castile narrowly came away with a victory in his GFC debut and will be looking to make a much more definitive impression on the fans against Paul. Castile has shown flashes of power throughout his career and is very dangerous with his feet. His kicks can be lethal but he has the endurance to go the distance if necessary. Paul enters GFC as a submission specialist who has picked up thirteen of his fifteen career wins by submission. The BJJ brown belt is not a very proficient striker and will throw a heavy dose of takedown attempts at his opponents. These fighters have very different styles that should lead to a compelling matchup.
In the first of several middleweight fights on the card, Fabricio Dos Nikkos (13-10) will enter the octagon to take on Cru Jones (19-28). Dos Nikkos is a BJJ red belt and clearly the most accomplished grappler in all of GFC. He has recorded twelve of his thirteen career wins by submission and is sure to be looking to get Jones on the ground early. Jones is the most senior fighter in GFC and brings a wealth of experience to the cage. He too is a very proficient grappler, but is not likely on the same level as Dos Nikkos. It will be interesting to see if he choses to roll with Dos Nikkos or if he will take a different approach to this fight. Jones has recorded fifteen career wins by submission but it is rare that he finds himself in the cage with an opponent who posesses superior BJJ skills.
In another middleweight battle, George Junior (18-9) will take on the veteran Cris Dorh (15-9). Junior has looked good of late, reeling off three straight wins. Junior is a pure boxer who throws a lot of punches and has shown the power to knock an opponent out. He has resorted more to a grinding style of late, taking his last two wins by decision. It wll be interesting to see if that is the result of a strategic change or if those fights simply didn't yield knockout opportunities. Dorh has lost his first two fights in GFC, but came back strong in his last outing, picking up a first round TKO win and earning his first career Knockout Of The Night award. Dorh tends to be more of a grappler and will very likely be looking to take Junior down and go to work looking for the submission.
Two middleweights making their first GFC appearances will face off in the eight fight when Mikey Capone (20-11-1) battles Richard Cullen (17-11). Capone is a great boxer who clearly relies on his fist and is not ashamed of his sprawl and brawl style. He is a well traveled fighter who has been all over the globe to fight the best that the world has to offer. He has now settled down in Vegas and is intent on making his mark in GFC. Cullen has likewise done his share of traveling and has had a great deal of success of late. Cullen is also a very good boxer but his style tends to differ from that of his opponents. Cullen rarely goes into a fight looking for a knockout but rather prefers to punish his opponents and wear them down with body punches and strong clinch work. He is a very technically sounds and accurate striker with excellent dirty boxing skills.
Carson Mile (12-9-1) comes to GFC looking to rescue his career after dropping five straight fights. Mile is a pure puncher who is just as comfortable boxing from a distance as he is in the clinch. Mile has heavy hands as his eleven career wins by KO or TKO will stand as proof of. Mile is desperate to discover what has gone wrong with his career of late. Six of Mile's nine career losses have come by KO or TKO and there have been whispers that he has a glass chin and can't stand up to the power of elite fighters. Looking to add to Mile's misery will be another newcomer to GFC, Doc Holliday (11-6). Holliday has emerged victories in six of his last seven fights and is really shaping up to be a dangerous fighter. Holliday can hold his own standing and trading blows with his opponent, but is in his comfort zone when he can take his opponents to the ground and pound them out. Both fighters are eager to show GFC officials that they should be in the middleweight title pictures.
The main event will be a light heavyweight war between two of the best that the division has to offer in Dick Tanner (13-5) and Sam Anderson (22-11). Tanner came into GFC and scored a victory that shocked many when he beat Tony Masters via TKO by cut in the very first round of their battle. Tanner is an exceptional Muay Thai practitioner with razor sharp elbows. His clinch game is one of the best in the business and he likes his chances of finishing the fight when he gets his opponent in the clinch. If there is any fighter in the light heavyweight division who may be able to hang with Tanner in the clinch it is Anderson. Anderson also brings tremendous clinch skills into the cage and has finished his share of opponents with his elbows as well. Anderson also boasts solid skills from a distance, with good punches and debilitating kicks. Both fighters had been on tough losing streaks but won their latest fights. Each of them will most certainly want to keep up the momentum. An impressive performance by one of these fighters could potentially earn them a date with the new GFC light heavyweight champion, Ansgar Axelsson who is waiting for his next opponent.
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