2012-02-24
Price: Free
Edition: #
Previous Issues
Submit Article
Tycoon Times - MMA Magazine
Tycoon Times - The World's Premier Weekly Mixed Martial Arts Newspaper
Corner

BFFL 41

Event Preview: BFFL 41
Bloody Fist Fight League (xXx)
2012-02-25, London, The Underground - London
Author:Kurt Hustle

Bloody Fist Fight League is well on its way to hosting its 50th event and the march towards that carries on with BFFL 41 to be held in the 1000 seat Underground arena in London on the 25th of Feb. With what is looking like a great card topped by a title fight for the Welterweight belt in the Main Event this should be a great watch for everyone and so without further stalling lets see what’s going down on the main card

145lbs

"Italian Stallion" Marian Pozzollo (5-1-0) vs. "The Mighty" Marlin McCann (7-7-0)

Things begin at Featherweight and this fight see’s the debut of McCann in BFFL. Its hard to see many harder fights he could start with in the Org to be honest, Pozzollo is looking for another shot at the title after missing his chance to win it during his first challenge while McCann is looking to make a positive start to life in a new Org. As good as Pozzollo has been he may have come up against his match now, with his stand up being weak its usually his Purple belt in BJJ has been enough to see him to a win, infact all 5 of his victories have come via submission thus far despite his Wrestling not being that great either but McCann more then matches him, infact he surpasses him. Sporting a Brown belt in BJJ as well as superior Wrestling and Boxing McCann comes in ready for the challenge but despite having the better BJJ belt he is yet to put it to use and submit someone which may suggest its not an offensive weapon after all and that could give Pozzollo hope. If you look at the Event Discussion then you will see that Pozzollo was involved in a recent interview where he said he was looking to get his head right and come in with the correct game plan which he is going to need to overcome the stats differences but Pozzollo has shown in the past he can overcome the odds. McCann needs to be careful not to be too over confident especially as the winner here gets themselves in the mix for the title there is a lot to lose if you don’t win the fight!

170lbs

"The Desert Storm" Kareem al Rashid (15-8-0) vs. Roger "over 8 " Marsden (8-8-0)

Moving to Welterweight next and this one see’s two excellent fighters who have not had all the success they could have had face off. al Rashid is another BFFL debutant looking to make an impact and he has stats to die for to do it with, no primary under Wonderful with Elite Boxing as the main attack weapon is a dangerous man to take on but those ferocious looking stats won’t overawe Marsden too much. He himself has just one primary under Wonderful (his Muay Thai is very weak) and he is accomplished not just on feet with his Boxing but also on the ground as his 5 submission victories show. With the stats they have I would have expected both men to be in better positions then they are right now in terms of their career records, and it just goes to show you that stats are not the be all and end all of the game! But with them so evenly matched its hard to call who is a favorite here. On the ground I would give a slight advantage to Marsden despite both having a Brown belt given his record for submitting people while on feet its al Rashid who comes out on top with more (T)KO victories and higher primaries especially in Muay Thai. Since the fight starts on feet and their Wrestling is even I’d probably go for al Rashid as a slight favorite but it really could go either way and there is good reason for both to go all out for the win. Greg Frye owner of BFFL has told me the winner of this one will either get a contenders fight or a straight up title shot so there is a lot to fight for!

185lbs

Zulu "Mr Perfect" Chaka (8-4-0) vs. "Hunt" Begbie Franco (7-3-0)

Up again to Middleweight next and this is a super good looking fight. Franco is actually making his return to BFFL after having two fights a long time ago in the early days of the Org while Chaka is making his debut but this is not the first time these two have faced each other. A while ago in another Org they went head to head with Chaka coming out on top via a judges decision and now they face off again with Franco looking for revenge. Its not often you see a fighter with stats like Chaka’s. Sensational Muay Thai and Wrestling complemented by Exceptional Boxing and a Brown belt is about as good as it comes these days. Franco is no slouch though, Exceptional Muay Thai and Remarkable Wrestling are his main weapons but its his BJJ and especially his Boxing which are a let down, a Purple belt and just Mediocre Boxing will really hamper him you have to think. That said the last time these two fought Chaka was not able to finish him so don’t go writing him off yet and with the right game plan any skill disadvantage can be overcome. Both fighters are looking to make a big statement here and the winner is most likely going to get more then just a pat on the back, I have heard rumors of a contenders fight for the victorious fighter, but at the moment I find it hard to see past the skills of Chaka being too much for Franco to overcome but in this game you never know

265lbs

Chazz Michael Michaels (12-3-0) vs. "The Dorka" Jack Bauer (15-7-1)

Moving up again to Heavyweight next and this one see’s two more debuting fighters showing just how much of a change the is going on at BFFL right now in fighter quality. The main asset of both men is their stand up skills. Both have Sensational Boxing but its Michaels who boasts the better Muay Thai with his Exceptional outclassing the Superb of Bauer quite a bit. Wrestling is even and while Bauer has a better BJJ belt (Brown compared to the Purple of his opponent) I don’t think it will come into play. Both these two prefer to stand and bang and I can see this being the game plan here too which means it should be a very exciting fight for all those who like to see the stand up aspect displayed more prominently. With the Boxing being so well matched I can see the added Muay Thai of Michaels coming into play much more then it would if Bauer didn’t have equal skill with the hands. I can see Michaels possibly looking to tie up his opponent with a Clinch or two and avoid some strikes while outworking his opponent. Something that Michaels will have to watch out for those is his energy levels coming in to the fight, he is currently in Hilo and needs to get to London within a few days which even with a 1st class ticket will hit him where it hurts and this is not a fight where you want to not be at your best as the winner will be getting themselves into the top mix for the title and may even get a contenders fight which takes them just one step away from a shot at the big prize

170lbs title fight

"Smokey" Willy Pete (12-3-0) (Champion) vs. "The Beer Bellied Brawler" Christian Willemoes (7-2-0)

Main Event comes in the form of a fight for the Welterweight title. Pete is looking to defend his title for the second time since winning it at BFFL27. Willemoes is coming in looking to win the title in only his 3rd BFFL fight and at his first attempt. The fighters have very different styles, Willemoes is a straight up GnP machine using his Sensational Wrestling and Brown belt to get the fight down and just dominate. Pete favors the stand up more using his Wonderful Boxing to out strike his opponent and his Remarkable Wrestling to defend against takedowns. For Pete to keep his belt that is exactly what he will need to do, on the ground he just can’t hang with the challenger his BJJ is not as good and if it does go down he has little hope of getting it back up unless he can survive to the bell. On feet Pete should dominate things, he has done against much better strikers then Willemoes in the past so I can’t see him being afraid of standing toe to toe, infact that’s exactly what he will want to happen. Its going to be the takedowns that are critical here, if Pete can sprawl well enough to keep it upright for the majority of the fight he has every chance of retaining the belt but if Willemoes can score a successful takedown with enough time on he clock to really work then he has a great chance t become the new king of the Welterweight division, as with most things in life it all about location location location!

And that is it for another event here at BFFL and I am sorry to say this is it for me doing the previews too. Its been great writing here and I’d just like to say thanks to Greg for taking a chance on me as his writer! But real life is getting in the way at the moment meaning I won’t be able to write anymore for a while. Good luck to whoever takes over from me I’m sure they will do a great job and now all that is left for me to say is that for the last time here at BFFL I am Kurt Hustle saying stay safe and keep fighting!!!

 

Article views: 300
» Donate to this author

Editorial Staff
Tycoon Times Discussion
Tycoon Times - MMA Magazine MMA Tycoon
MMA Chat Room
MMA Forum