2013-04-27
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LFL 2: James vs. Rich - Preview

Event Preview: LFL 2: James vs. Rich
Lightning Fight League
2013-04-27, New York, Wild Bob's Bar - New York
Author:Chris Dewing

Welcome to the preview of the second Lighting Fight League show "LFL 2: James vs. Rich" scheduled to take place on Saturday 27th April at Wild Bob's Bar in New York. It's a significant rise in venue from the first show with an extra 350 seats available, the LFL have also lowered their ticket prices to ensure most, if not all of the seats will be filled. Three new champions will be crowned during the event with a title up for grabs in the final three matches of the night.

The first fight of the night will be in the Welterweight division between Boby Lee (23-14) and Chris Irvine (0-0). This quite horrendous mis-match came about thanks to a scheduling error, Lee was in fact meant to be facing another high ranking Welterweight but Irvine's name was selected by mistake. Lee has the advantage in every part of MMA so Irvine's chances of winning are slim, however it's thought Irvine is going to be financially compensated for the error. Lee is a former New Age Fighting and Ultimate Proving Grounds Welterweight champion. Irvine is not.

Two debutants square off in the Weltweight division when Lloyd Conan (0-0) takes on Jose Torres (0-0). In a stark contrast to the opening bout this fight couldn't be much closer, both fighters have their advantages but they balance each other out well. Conan has the advantage in Boxing and Wrestling, Torres has the advantage in Muay Thai and BJJ, so this fight is pretty much impossible to predict without knowing what gameplans are going to be executed.

In the Lightweight division Al Bundy (3-0) will take on Jon Penn (1-1) in a match that could also go either way. Bundy has a very strong wrestling game which will most likely allow him to dictate where the fight takes place, however Penn will likely be the stronger fighter both in striking and on the ground. This might not be the most entertaining of fights if Bundy is able to negate all of Penn's attacks. Penn fought on the first LFL card in a losing effort to Alberto Rodriguez, Bundy formerly fought in Armageddon Fight Promotions where he won his last fight with a first round TKO.

In another Lightweight contest Javier Vasquez (0-0) makes his professional debut against Clark Griswold (1-0). I'm told that Griswold is absolutely terrible at striking and much better on the ground so Vazquez's tactic will no doubt be to keep the fight standing at all costs. That said, Vazquez may be better at BJJ so Griswold will need to be careful if he is able to get Vazquez to the ground using his superior wrestling. The only fight either of these two have had belongs to Griswold who won via TKO thanks to ground and pound rather than stand-up striking.

Two experienced fighters collide looking to end losing streaks when Bret Hill (18-14) takes on Edilberto Nestuta (9-5) in another Lightweight match. I'm pretty sure the entire LFL Lightweight division is on this card. Hill is a three time champion in various Featherweight divisions so will have a weight disadvantage here, Nestuta is a feared striker with several KO victories, Hill is very strong on the ground and Nestuta is a beast in the clinch. I can't predict the winner here, but both need to win after losing at the first LFL show.

In the Light Heavyweight division we have the standard striker vs. grappler contest with Du Frukost (1-2) taking on Lucas Hill (0-0). Frukost is coming off a TKO victory over Arm Bar at the first LFL show so will be riding a wave of confidence, his striking is by far his strongest element so he will want to keep the fight standing. That may be difficult against Hill who is a very good wrestler with decent submission skills to use if he does get the fight to the ground. Once again this fight will come down to which fighter can implement the better gameplan.

Hayden Venn (0-1) is being sacrificed to THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR (8-4) in a Heavyweight division clash which may be very similar to Warrior's match against HHH at WrestleMania 12. Warrior holds an advantage over Venn in everything except Muay Thai so it's hard to think how Venn has any chance of winning. We're told that Venn's manager isn't very impressed with him, a stand-up fighter who gets knocked out in his first fight is never a good sign. WARRIOR has fought in several companies, Team Thomas Fight Club, SPFC and LA Combat to name the three of them.

The first champion to be crowned in the LFL will be the Middleweight champion when Ben Hutch (9-0) takes on Kova Naama (3-3) for the vacant strap. On paper Hutch looks like the favourite, he's undefeated and has an advantage in several areas, however Hutch has only fought once since November 2011 due to fighting a serious addiction to maple syrup. This addiction caused Hutch to isolate himself from the world only making occasional trips to Canada to get the product he required and his promising MMA career came to a sudden halt. Naama earned this title shot by defeating Dalip Rana in the fight of the night at LFL 1, he's a well-rounded fighter but will have a significant mental advantage going into this fight.

The co-main event will crown the first LFL Heavyweight champion when Barriston Selmy (7-3) takes on Dean Walker (7-2). This fight favours Selmy greatly due to him having a very big advantage in striking and also being better at Wrestling and BJJ for good measure. Walker's main chance of victory will be if he can get the fight into the clinch and batter Selmy from there. Selmy has mainly fought in Team Thomas Fight Club and Immortals New York prior to joining the LFL, Walker only fought in Empire QFC before moving up to the big leagues.

The Main Event will see two of LFL's top fighters square off for the Welterweight title as Jesse James (13-6) takes on Rick Rich (10-5). Both fighters are very popular in the New York area and are both on winning streaks coming into this fight. Again it's a striker vs. grappler, most of James' wins have come via TKO while most of Rich's wins have come by submission, however both fighters have enough talent to adequately defend themselves if they're in a situation that doesn't suit their styles. James comes to the LFL having spent most of his career in Helsinki for Black Hand Fight Club and in Amsterdam for xXx, Rich has only fought in Los Angeles before this for Epic FC and LA Combat.

That's the card so join us at Wild Bob's Bar (seriously, we need people to buy tickets) on April 27th for a night filled of action with titles on the line everywhere. Buy now and receive a complimentary "Wild Bob Onion Cocktail" on the night of the show.

 

 

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