2013-06-22
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NGF 55 | Bennet vs Tikkanen

Event Preview: NGF 55 | Bennet vs Tikkanen
New Generation Fighters
2013-06-15, St Petersburg, Ice Box
Author:Chad Didion

MAIN CARD 


Main Event

Light Heavyweight Title Fight

#1 Esa Tikkanen (16-2-1, 0-0 NGF) v C-Scotty Bennet (15-0, 2-0 NGF)

This amazing card finishes with the single highest hyped fight in NGF history between Esa Tikkanen and Scotty Bennet.  Esa Tikkanen left Rivals as current champion, no word on why, but NGF adds a fantastic fighter and one that gets an instant title shot.  Tikkanen doesn’t have as much power as most fighters in the light heavyweight division, but he has some of the best jiu jitsu skills in the entire MMA Tycoon world.  Tikkanen does have good kick boxing skills, he is aggressive, but he won’t finish many fights with strikes.  He is landing 56% of his averaged 11.3 head punches per fight while allowing just 2.7 head punches to land per fight from his opponents.  On the ground he has been amazing, he’ll control, he’ll improve, and he will lock in a submission when it’s time to finish, he has 9 submission victories.  Once he gets a fight to the mat, he can simply control and win rounds also.  He does have a slight weakness in the clinch, he hasn’t been great there.  Champion Scotty Bennet has never lost in his MMA career; he in a word is a GOD!  I don’t know what you do to beat this guy, nobody has done it yet, so there is no game plan that we can say works on Bennet.  He is a good puncher and a good kicker; he is landing 63% of his head punches and 58% of his leg kicks.  He likes to work over legs early and take away his opponents spring than he’ll take a fight to the clinch where he can dominate.  He has deadly elbows in the clinch and is extremely effective with his Thai punching.  He doesn’t take fights to the mat…because he doesn’t have to, but he does have very good take down defense.  This fight is something like Godzilla vs Mothra or Godzilla vs King Kong, its two monsters that will destroy everything in sight trying to claim the belt.  PREDICTION: Bennet 3rd round TKO


Co-Main Event: 

Bantamweight Title Fight

#1 Gim Ruut (19-5, 1-0 NGF) v C-Andrzej Gajewski (16-2-1, 4-0 NGF)

I am speechless about this fight…seriously, this is one amazing fight.  Gim Ruut enters a winner of his past 5 fights where he has showcased his black belt bjj skills with 3 submission victories.  Ruut easily disposed of former champion Arthur Pirozhkov in his NGF debut, a win that sent Piroshkov right out of the org.  This fight will be different, Pirozhkov looked uninterested in that fight, Gajewski is not only supremely skilled, but super focused in keeping his belt.  Ruut does very little other than try and get the fight to the mat, he will land punches, he is averaging 4 punches per fight, but he uses them as set ups for take downs.  He’ll get the fight to the mat, he has good take down skills, so eventually he’ll do it, and once he’s got his fighter on the mat, he goes to work.  He’s not the most exciting guy, but the way he controls and works over his opponents on the ground with his jiu jitsu skills is like reading poetry.  He averages 12.3 submissions per fight and he is just WAY to skilled to not lock up one eventually.  Gajewski has beaten some stand up fighters and a fighter in Pirozhkov that has a similar style as Ruut.  Gajewski is giving up size and weight in this fight, but he’s a faster fighter.  He is very smart in the way he fights and he’s a complete fighter, he can defend and attack from all areas of a MMA fight.  He is averaging 11.8 head punches, 8.5 body punches and 14.6 kicks from standing, 14.7 strikes in the clinch and 4.9 ground strikes.  He has excellent take down defense successful on stopping 88% of them while having excellent take down skills, he’s getting 50% of this take downs.  He can submit an opponent and he can keep someone on the mat to grind out points.  This is going to be a battle, not sure how fun it will be, but it’s going to have a lot of skilled grappling and position changes from two very talented and smart fighters.   PREDICTION:  Gajewski decision win

Lightweight Title Fight

#1 Heraldo Magnifico (13-5, 3-1 NGF) v C-Tolek Banan (13-1, 6-0 NGF)

The 3rd of 3 title fights on this card is one HELL of a matchup.  Heraldo Magnifico and Tolek Banan will put on a show for this crowd of nearly 12,300.  Manificio is coming off a KO win over Lance Rock at SNF 5 and has won 2 straight fights.  Magnifico is a fantastic stand up fighter; he stays standing with great take down defense where he’s defended 91% of take downs from standing.  He is aggressive and will pressure his opponents right from the opening bell; he is averaging 14.1 head punches and 6.1 body punches from kick boxing range.  Magnificio is magnifico in the clinch as well, he has outworked and out struck all his opponents and he will wear guys out in the clinch.  He isn’t much of a ground fighter, but he has shown amazing ground defense.  Tolek Banan is maybe the single most dominating champion that the NGF has seen.  He has won all 6 of his NGF fights and this will be his 5th title defense.  A 7 OTN award winner, Banan is very creative and fun to watch.  He is aggressive, he looks for powerful punches, he avoids things well, he is quick, he has great defense and he’s fantastic on the ground…yep, I don’t see any holes.  He averages 32.2 head punches per fight and lands 56% of them, his 18.1 averaged head punches landed per fight is more than a lot of people, including Magnifico even attempt in a fight.  Banan is a fantastic champion, he doesn’t land a real high percentage of his strikes, but he lands a ton of strikes per fight and can just dominate.  Magnifico may attempt to attack in the clinch against Banan, but Tolek has skills there too, he just doesn’t fight in the clinch often.  I can’t wait for this one, I mean, I could say that about this entire card, but this one is amazing.  PREDICTION:  Banan 3rd round TKO

Light Heavyweight Fight

#2 Dragon Warfist (5-1-1 NGF) v #5 Brett Riverboat (12-3, 7-3 NGF)

#1 contender on the line in this one?  We shall see because both of these guys are great, exciting and deserving of a title fight with a win.  Dragon Warfist is 4-0-1 in his last 5, a guy who has been described as a slow learner, seems to have learned one thing, and that’s how to win.  He has deadly kicks and he likes to use them, he is attempting 6.7 head kicks and 11.9 leg kicks per fight.  He has very good striking defense and he is skilled in Muay Thai so he can escape problems there.  He does get taken down 43% and he hasn’t been great on the mat, but he has shown very good ground striking defense and he has improved his position at a nearly 50% success rate.  Brett Riverboat, the “Knifeman” is looking to get back into a title fight and try and get back what was his, the light heavyweight belt.  Riverboat has a talent or whatever you call it to cut his opponents, he does on nearly all his fights, the problem now is he’s been getting cut too.  He’s a puncher and a guy who can rock his opponents at any moment.  He is average in the clinch, but he has done well in a few occasions.  He has no ground attack, he does not attempt take downs and if he is taken down, he only tries to get back to his feet, which is can do pretty well.  His game is to land quick short, cutting strikes that will tear up his opponents, he will finish a fight, he has 12 (T)KO’s.  This one will be great, I would say this will be in the running for FOTN.  PREDICTION:  Warfist 3rd round TKO

Heavyweight Fight

#10 Eric Cooke (6-5, 0-0 NGF) v #3 Vadim Kalashnikov (14-5, 3-1 NGF)

This fight is such a bad ass fight I don’t know if I can describe it well in print.  Let me try…Eric Cooke and Vadim Kalashnikov are BAD ASS!  Cooke is a monster; he goes into fights looking for one thing, blood and a victory, a victory by KO.  Cooke really isn’t the typical heavyweight though, he has good power, but he likes to use his sensational wrestling skills to get a fight down and then get into mount and use a monster ground and pound game to end fights.  He doesn’t have very good stand up, kick boxing skills, so he often takes a lot of shots while he’s attempting to get a fight down.  He has a very questionable chin at this point being KO’ed 4 times.  There is no denying he’s fantastic once on the ground.  Vadim Kalashnikov is a finisher too and did I mention he’s a bad ass?  He has 13 (T)KO victories including 7 by straight KO’s.  He is very clever and creative with his attacks, often attempting spinning back fist and flying knees.   Kalashnikov’s fights don’t last long, he has had 12 straight 1 round fights.  Kalashnikov uses his elite Muay Thai skills to land heavy kicks and to control fights in the clinch.  He lands a very high percentage of strikes standing and clinching, with 90% of his leg kicks, 80% of his body kicks, and 76% of his head punches in the clinch.  The way you have a chance with Kalashnikov is to get him to the ground and this is the exact area Cooke will attack.  PREDICTION:  Kalashnikov 1st round KO

PRELIM CARD


Welterweight Fight

#8 Andry Andrianampoinimerina (7-2, 5-0 NGF) v #7 Allan Starsky (11-3, 3-2 NGF)

Huge welterweight fight here between 5-0 Andry Andrianampoinimerina, AKA “AA”, and title contender Allan Starsky.  AA has disposed of every fighter that the NGF has put in front of him, he started with a questionable debut by winning by split decision, but he has improved and now faces his biggest test yet.  AA is a wrestler, so everything he does is to set up take downs and get a fight to the mat.  He is successful on 38% of his take downs from standing.  He is a beast on the mat, one of the best ground and pound games in the division if not the entire org.  He is averaging 21.7 ground strikes per fight and he lands 61% of them.  He can get a little sloppy and it has caused him to be submitted a couple of times, but overall, he controls a fight pretty well on the mat.  Allan Starsky has 2 loses in the NGF, both of them were title fights.  He is a very skilled fighter and is a flat out killer, he has 11 (T)KO finishes out of his 11 wins and he looks to put people out violently.  Starsky is very aggressive, he is often overwhelming with the amount of pressure he puts on his opponents, he lands on average, 8.9 head punches and 3.2 body punches, compared to his opponents 1.9 head punches and .7 body punches.  He is nothing in the clinch, he can be beaten up there, and he has been submitted 2 times.  If you want a chance with Allan and you don’t want your face rearrange, you need to get him to the mat.  I am very exciting to see this one, and I CAN NOT believe that this is a prelim fight, wow what a card!  PREDICTION:  Starsky 2nd round TKO

Bantamweight Fight

#7 Chuck Norris (9-3, 0-0 NGF) v #4 Yngwie Malmsteen (8-3, 7-3 NGF)

Just another huge fight on this card, a top 10 bantamweight fight between NGF rookie Chuck Norris and longtime NGF’er Yngwie Malmsteen.  Norris started his career winning his first 7 fights, but now finds himself 2-3 in his last 5 including 2 loses in a row before this fight.  Norris is a very skilled guy and he is clearly one of the better Muay Thai fighters in the division.  He is solid with his punching, but his kicks are what make him deadly, he will average more kicks than punches and he also lands them at a higher percentage.  Where his can dominate a fight is in the clinch, he is averaging 17.1 head punches in the clinch and he is landing 80% of them.  One of his best weapons is his elbows, he can slice someone open with them, he averages 6.5 elbows per fight and lands 86% of them.  Malmsteen is in a bit of a holding pattern right now, with a L, W, L, W in his last 4 fights and in his last fight, he won a controversial decision over Lutz Knitter.  Malmsteen is a very thin guy, he’ll often weigh in under 120 lbs.  He’s super aggressive and is averaging 45 punches per fight.  He has decent striking defense, but he is allowing 55% of his opponents averaged 19.5 to land.  He can fight in the clinch, but does nothing on the mat.  This will be a pure stand up fight and one that could be one of the most exciting on the card.  PREDICTION:  Malmsteen decision win

Super Heavyweight Fight

#3 Sergei Svetlakov (8-3, 4-2 NGF) v #5 Shavo Odin (9-5, 1-0 NGF)

I mean look at this card, a huge top 10 battle is the 3rd fight, wow!  I am so pumped for this fight; this could very well produce the next super heavyweight contender.  Sergei Svetlakov had a title shot and lost in his last fight at NGF 51, but a win here could get him another title shot.  Svetlakov is so exciting; he has 6 NGF fights and 4 OTN awards.  He has huge power with 5 KO’s in his career, but his black belt bjj skills make him so dangerous.  He can 1 punch KO someone, but he can also quickly have an opponent tapping due to a triangle submission.  Shavo Odin enters this one on a 2 fight winning streak.  He’s a wonderful boxer with exceptional wrestling skills, which he’ll have to use to try and defend take downs.  He is doing a fine job at kick boxing, but he allows a higher of percentage of strikes to land than he’s landing.  His defense will have to be top notch in this one, he doesn’t want Svetlakov to land many punches or his nose might be in a different location on his face at the end of this fight.  Odin is a very good ground fighter; he’s landing 60% of his averaged 9.3 ground strikes, so this will be interesting to see if the fight goes to the mat.  This is going to be a very interesting fight, Svetlakov has the standup advantage and the bjj advantage, but Odin has a slight advantage in the clinch and wrestling.  PREDICTION:  Svetlakov 1st round KO

Welterweight Fight

#13 Pavel Petrov (7-6, 3-4 NGF) v #9 Zeddicus Starburst (9-3, 5-3 NGF)

Exciting Pavel Petrov will try to get on a winning streak by beating former champion Zeddicus Starburst.  Petrov is aggressive, but his problem has always been he isn’t accurate and he hasn’t developed vital skills to be consistently good.  He has no kicking skills, he hasn’t landed a single kick yet in his career, even though he is averaging 6.7 kicks per fight.  He lands a very low percentage of strikes, standing and on the mat.  He is getting kicked to pieces also, 96% of body kicks have landed and 81% of leg kicks have landed against him.  Zeddicus Starburst is trying to make another run to the top, but 2 loses in a row have moved him down to #9, so he’ll have to string some wins together to get back to a title fight.  Starburst has pretty good kicking, he is averaging 24.4 kicks per fight and he lands 65% of his leg kicks, that will certainly be a place he’ll attack in this matchup.  He has been good in the clinch, but not so good on the ground.  Starburst will certainly have a more counter style in this matchup since Petrov is the more aggressive fighter, but Petrov might finally want to attack someone on the ground in this matchup.  Great fight, one that both fighters need.  PREDICTION:  Starburst 2nd round TKO

Middleweight Fight

Jon Targaryen (0-0 NGF) v Andrej Kavelin (7-5, 5-5 NGF)
We’ll get this amazing card started with a couple of nobodies, ok, not nobodies, but two guys who are unranked, the only matchup without at least 1 top 15 ranked fighter.  Jon Targaryen will make his MMA debut in this one.  Based out of New York, 22 year old Targaryen is said to be a ground fighter with a brown belt in bjj.  Andrej Kavelin is a NGF veteran, but finds himself just 1-4 in his last 5 fights and his days in the org are very close to being done if he can’t start winning.  He may try and keep this standing where he lands 84% of his head punches.  They are both brown belts, so we could see a ground battle as well.  PREDICTION:  Targaryen 2nd round TKO
 

 

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