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 Welcome to the Credit Card Center, New York, for SPNY 112. Tonight’s fights will be headlined by the Light Heavyweight title rematch between Daniel Vieira Moreira and Toby Le Rone. 9 fights grace the undercard with my pick being the match up between 2 Middleweight contenders in Kenny Monday and Robert Van Winkle.
Main Event: Light Heavyweight Title
Daniel Vieira Moreira (c) 18-9-1 (4-0 SPNY) vs Toby Le Rone 18-5 (4-2 SPNY)
Since these two first met for the Light Heavyweight Title at SPNY 78, Vieira Moreira has only fought in SPNY once, with a series of super fights keeping him away. On the other hand Le Rone has hit a 3 fight winning streak against other top ranked Light Heavyweight contenders to demand another shot at the title.
In the first fight between these two, Vieira Moreira showcased his almost perfect Muay Thai background landing 67 kicks over the 5 rounds. His ability to dominate the position while on the feet completely took the fight away from Le Rone.
Le Rone has usually been able to rely on his crisp and active striking to win fights, however, he was out struck and out worked last time these two met. If he has learnt anything from his first loss, hopefully it will be that he cannot afford to be the less aggressive fighter tonight giving up 3 inches reach against a fighter who can keep the distance with his brilliant kick boxing.
We know this one will stay on its feet; it now becomes a matter of who can strike the more effectively. Across the course of their careers Le Rone would appear to be the one who can do that, but in the previous fight between these two, not only did Vieira Moreira throw more strikes, he also landed a higher percentage. Le Rone can push this the distance, but I can’t see him taking the title; Vieira Moreira by decision.
2: Middleweight
Kenny Monday 23-12-1 (11-3 SPNY) vs Robert Van Winkle 17-8 (SPNY Debut)
Van Winkle joins SPNY’s very strong middleweight division and has immediately been pitted against 2 time former champion and leading middleweight contender Monday. Both fighters are true grapplers, but Monday is the more accomplished at getting a finish, which in the eyes of the fans makes him a more attractive prospect.
Whilst I expect the offensive skill sets to be almost perfectly matched, I suspect that the defensive grappling of Monday may be enough to avoid damage and get ahead in this fight if it goes to ground early as predicted. Whilst he is known almost exclusively as a grappler, it may well be in Van Winkles best interests to keep the fight on its feet and outscore Monday. I predict Monday to take a decision, but Van Winkle may spring a surprise.
3: Welterweight
Avon Barksdale 16-9-1 (8-4 SPNY) vs Jon Leloup 16-7-1 (3-4 SPNY)
Some of you may remember that Barksdale vs Leloup was the Welterweight title match up back at SPNY 70. That night Barksdale dominated the first two rounds only to have Leloup secure a massive upset and snatch the belt from him with a magnificent one punch KO. Since then, Barksdale is 3-1, Leloup 1-3, and it appears that it would take another big upset for Leloup to win tonight, especially as he isn’t in fulltime training at the present time.
Expect it to stay standing, and expect Barksdale to look for a big finish to avenge losing his title to Leloup. Barksdale KO in the 2nd round.
4: Super Heavyweight
Po Panda 18-6 (5-4 SPNY) vs Rex Richards 19-23-1 (0-1 SPNY)
Panda remains the supremely popular knockout specialist despite coming off his 3rd unsuccessful attempt at the SPNY Super Heavyweight title; looking for a win tonight that will solidify his spot as one of the top contenders. Richards is a journeyman whose record doesn’t fairly reflect his skill level, and tonight he could have the chance to pull off a massive upset and gain some much needed respect. Both fighters prefer to grapple but expect Richards to have the edge if it stays standing. This is unlikely to win him the fight as his comfort zone is on the ground working for submissions.
If you like watching brutal KO’s this could be worth watching, because as much as I like Richards I don’t think he will last more than a few seconds if Panda gets on top. Panda by KO in the first.
5: Welterweight
Glenn Benton 19-11 (SPNY Debut) vs Phan Tran Le 12-5 (2-1 SPNY)
New boy Benton is a boxer against rising prospect Le, a kick boxer. I would expect this one to stay on its feet for the duration, where Benton must attempt to use his height and reach advantage to negate the extra range of Le’s damaging kicks. Expect both fighters to go for a big finish, and both to have the ability to produce it. To me this one will come down entirely to whether or not Le has shaken off his recent loss, if he bounces back well from that it will be a good sign for the future, but if he comes in low on confidence he may well be found out. I back the new boy Benton KO in the 2nd.
6: Heavyweight
Frenchy Fuqua 25-22 (1-0 SPNY) vs Billy Pilgrim 13-10-1 (2-1-1 SPNY)
In what may be a cruel joke from the match makers a knockout specialist in Pilgrim (12 KO’s from his 13 wins) comes up against a man with the unfortunate nickname “Glass Jaw” in Fuqua (19 KO losses out of 22 losses). The twist in the tale of course is that if Fuqua takes the fight to the ground he will probably win. So that’s the question for tonight, can Fuqua get a takedown early enough in each round that he can do more damage than he will take on his feet, or will Pilgrim dominate him early with his speed on KO power? I’d like to back Fuqua here but I really think Pilgrim will take him down and do it early, Pilgrim KO in the 1st.
7: Welterweight
Alysian Karalis 17-16 (1-1 SPNY) vs Also Zarathustra 19-13 (SPNY Debut)
Zarathustra arrives at SPNY with a solid reputation, mixed recent form, and an allegef weakness against good Muay Thai. While I wouldn’t say that Karalis is the best Muay Thai fighter in the org, he will no doubt take that as an invitation to throw a few more kicks and spend a little more time in the clinch than maybe he usually would. With both these fighters being versatile on their feet or on the ground, its difficult to predict where this one will end up, but I have big hopes for the debutant Zarathustra to claim a decision.
8: Featherweight
Ahmed Christopher (Professional Debut) vs Gawain Orucai 0-2 (SPNY Debut)
The debutant Christopher has decent boxing and trains at one of the best gyms in Las Vegas, he may be far from the finished product, but if what I’ve heard is correct in a few years may well be the real deal. Orucai has solid jujitsu but that didn’t stop him being submitted on his pro debut, he isn’t currently training fulltime, and this is his first fight at featherweight having fought as a bantamweight in his opening fixtures. I hate to say it but I see Christopher dominating this one, I just hope Orucai puts up enough of a fight to make it worthwhile for the fans.
9: Featherweight
Nicholas Diaz (Professional Debut) vs Kevin Finnerty (Professional Debut)
Diaz is another of the young fighters who take up MMA because they are a fan rather than a fighter, with no upbringing in martial arts; they learn the fundamentals of bits and pieces and accept a fight mainly on guts rather than talent. With a year or two decent training under his belt he may well be ready for professional fighting but I can’t see that happening with his current training set up. Finnerty, who I’m petitioning to have nicknamed “The Role Model”, dropped out of highschool where he was a state champion wrestler to train MMA full time and takes his first pro fight at age 16. Finnerty will dominate this fight with his wrestling skills, and as long as his young body doesn’t take too much punishment too early could turn into a long time prospect. Finnerty to win convincingly.
10: Featherweight
Silent Manner 0-2 (0-1 SPNY) vs William Sosipater (Professional Debut)
Manner has struggled in his opening fights give he has grounding in boxing but little else; in both his fights he has been submitted rather easily once he has been taken down. Tonight though, we should see the best out of Manner as he takes on fellow boxer Sosipater. Sosipater I don’t know a lot about other than his decent amateur boxing record and that he is training solidly. It’s hard to call a winner here, but I daresay Manner needs to be more aggressive than he has been to date to get a win, so I’m going to go for Sosipater by decision.
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