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 MAIN CARD
Main Event
Welterweight #1 Contender Fight
#2 Alastair Gridlock (8-4, 5-1 NGF) v #1 Artur Ross (12-3 NGF)
This is a huge fight, this is a fight if you are a fight fan, you stop what you’re doing, you get out of the plans you might have and you get somewhere to watch this. Alastair Gridlock and Artur Ross will be battling to see who will go on to get the next title fight. Gridlock is landing 78% of his stand up head punches, 58% of his body punches and 65% of his leg kicks, he knows how to land strikes and he has good finishing power. His defense overall is excellent, some of the best in the entire division, but sometimes he can get taken down and lose rounds. He will fight in the clinch and he’s mostly a dirty boxer there, but his clinch defense is good. Artur Ross is quite, but his actions speak louder than words. He is a very smart fighter, he will adapt his game well and take what his opponents give him, but capitalize on mistakes. He has solid stand up with powerful kicks and he uses them to slow his opponents down and to prevent them from getting take downs. He has good counter striking ability and he is very good at counter clinching. In the clinch he does most of his damage, he can rock an opponent with his knees and he’s averaging 14.3 head punches while landing 81% of them. He isn’t great on the mat, but he has very good submission defense. I don’t think either one of these fighters will try and take this to the mat, if they do it would be a huge surprise to the other guy for sure. They like to fight in the clinch and I feel that this fight will be won or lost there. PREDICTION: Ross decision win
Co-Main Event:
Bantamweight Fight
#9 Rasva Jorma (11-5, 0-1 NGF) v #3 Park Doo Man (15-5, 1-1 NGF)
Rasva Jorma needs a win like the desert needs rain, he’s lost 3 straight fights and he is really searching for answers. One thing that needs to improve is his striking defense, he tends to throw a lot of power strikes and he’s paid the price with counter strikes. He is a strong and powerful guy with his punches and he’ll mix in a little kicking. He can wear himself out with all the misses he does, but he also can end fights when he lands them. He’s been good on top on the ground, but on the bottom he hasn’t shown much defense. Park Doo Man is a very good fighter with one major concern, his power has dried up and is gone, in his first 9 wins, he had 7 (T)KO’s now he hasn’t had one since 12/14/2012. What he has done is add a lot more leg kicks and has improved his accuracy with shorter, less damaging strikes; he is averaging 21.1 head punches and 24 leg kicks per fight. He has good, solid striking defense and he is the one setting the pace in most of his fights. He is not great on the ground, but he has pretty solid take down defense. Man is just a much more aggressive guy and he will overwhelm most fighters with the amount of strikes he throws. Jorma has got to be patient and try and land his big shots to hurt Man and get his respect. PREDICTION: Man decision win
Lightweight Fight
#8 Felix Sandoval (10-3, 0-0 NGF) v #15 Yoshihiro Imanari (12-4, 3-1 NGF)
We’ll get our first look at Felix Sandoval in this one and he comes in 4-1 over his last 5 fights, but loser of his last. Sandoval has solid stand up skills, but fighting on the ground is his first choice as he is attempting 6.1 take downs per fight. He does not land a high percentage of punches standing, as he’s at 42% for head punches and 22% of body punches, but his kicks are better. He has very good striking defense and he is a very difficult on the ground as he is strong and active and he also has 5 submission wins. The ground is also Yoshihiro Imanari’s 1st love, he does very little as far as offense goes with his stand up and he averages 6 take downs attempts per fight. On the ground he can be a beast, he is very strong and he controls very well. He is averaging 12.3 ground strikes per fight and he is landing 66% of them. He also has good submission and submission defense skills as he has not been submitted and he has 5 submission wins. This one is going to be a total ground battle I feel, they are both very equal in their skills and it is very difficult to pick a winner. I guess we’ll see which one makes a mistake first. PREDICTION: Sandoval decision win.
Featherweight Fight
#9 Marcos Silva (12-7, 4-3 NGF) v #12 Meat Beater (10-5, 2-1 NGF)
Marcos Silva wants back at that title, but he’s just 1-2 over his last 3, but a win here would move him very close to consideration. Silva is more of a counter fighter, his style hasn’t been a judge’s favorite, but he does a nice job of counter take downs. He is an exceptional wrestler; he is extremely strong and can control very well, he is landing 51% if his ground strikes and he has 4 submission wins. Meat Beater’s base is defense, he uses quick feet and smarts to both avoid and block his opponent’s strikes. He is aggressive as he is averaging 34.9 stand up punches per fight, but he will often get into slugfests with his opponents. On the ground he has no offense, but his defense again is exceptional. This is going to be one of those stand up fighter vs ground fighter battles. I like Silva if he gets it to the mat, which he probably will, but Beater is very good at controlling. I just wonder if Beater can do enough to win this fight in the judges eyes. PREDICTION: Silva decision win
Heavyweight Fight
#7 Troy Glover (7-1, 3-1 NGF) v Stevie Gonzales (13-3, 2-2 NGF)
Troy Glover will try and make it 4 wins in a row and continue his march up the ranks. Glover has just been dominating in his fights, he is aggressive and he has amazing striking defense. He is creative and has power in his hands, feet and knees to end fights. He’s just been so dominating so far, he has out stuck his opponents on average of 22.9 to 2.3! Wow! Glover is excellent standing and he is also very strong on the mat. Stevie Gonzales came into the NGF 11-1, he’s found the step up in competition to be a little more difficult here as he’s gone 2-2. Gonzales has fantastic power with his punching and his kicks as he has 11 (T)KO’s with 7 straight KO’s. He is a very accurate and powerful puncher and his striking defense has been very good. He is not a great fighter on the ground, but he has good escaping skills that gets him back to his feet very well. I think this one should be an excellent fighte, Glover is more talented all-around, but Gonzales has so much power he is a danger to end this with a flash KO at any point. PREDICTION: Glover 2nd round TKO
PRELIM CARD
Bantamweight Fight
#8 John Keel (9-3-1, 4-1-1 NGF) v #4 Hakan Juholt (3-1 NGF)
John Keel has been getting better and better, having won his last 3 fights, but Hakan Juholt is a huge step up and maybe his biggest test in his career. Keel is a super aggressive fighter as he averages 38 stand up punches per fight, he also has good stand up defense and elite clinch defense. He lands a very high percentage of clinch strikes and he is powerful enough to rock opponents standing or in the clinch. Keel has one big weakness and that’s his ground game, he’s been terrible and he will have to keep this one standing at all costs. Hakan Juholt is a nightmare matchup for Keel, because Juholt is a fantastic ground fighter, he has beast like strength as he can flip opponents and control them with ease and he’s holding opponents to just a 19% success rate when trying to improve. Now his striking defense isn’t great, so that’s a concern, but he is so good at getting a fight to the ground that you can be sure that this fight gets there. Juholt has shown some of the best ground and pound in the organization, so Keel has got to do everything in his power to keep off his back, I don’t know if he can do that, we’ll see what his training has been like. PREDICTION: Juholt 2nd round TKO
Lightweight Fight
Gabriel Rua (10-7, 0-0 NGF) v Dean Winchester (9-2, 1-2 NGF)
Gabriel Rua will make his NGF debut in this one and he will try to think his way to a victory. Rua is said to be a student of the game, an extremely intelligent fighter who uses his brain instead of his brawn to win his fights. Rua is fantastic everywhere, he has elite striking defense and he is landing over 70% in stand up head punches, leg kicks, body kicks, clinch head punches, clinch body punches, elbows and knees. Dean Winchester to me is still trying to figure out his identity, is he a stand up fighter, will he fight in the clinch or is he a ground fighter, he spends a little bit of time in each area, but isn’t a stand out in any of them. He may try and be a Jiu Jitsu fighter because he is excellent with his grappling and he does have 3 submission wins. One thing about Rua, he goes into a defensive shell at times, he lands a very high percentage and his defense is great, but if you just play defense the entire fight, you will lose decisions, he has 6 decision losses out of the 10 fights that have gone to the judges. PREDICTION: Winchester decision win
Lightweight Fight
Jack Fry (14-8, 3-3 NGF) v Ryuken Yanagi (8-8, 3-3 NGF)
Jack Fry will try and break his current 2 fight losing streak. Fry has amazing kicking, he averages 29.6 leg kicks, 12.5 head kicks and 8.7 body kicks per fight. He has good stand up striking defense, but he has not been good in the clinch or on the ground. Ryuken Yanagi is a pure wrestler, he has almost no stand up to speak of, but he averages 8.4 take downs per fight. His striking defense is better than most pure wrestlers, which makes him difficult to out point. On the mat he is strong and aggressive, sometimes he’s too aggressive and he can easily be swept as opponents are improving at a 57% success rate. He is not good at all from the bottom and he has been submitted 3 times. Fry has got to keep this standing and he has got to land heavy shots when Yanagi misses a take down. PREDICTION: Yanagi 2nd round TKO
Bantamweight Fight
Shinji Tanaka (9-7, 1-3 NGF) v #13 Jon Erik Andersen (13-11, 7-7 NGF)
Shinji Tanaka I think will enjoy fighting his last fight in the NGF, he needs a fresh start in a place that is a step down in competition to try and get his career back on track. He is average standing, terrible striking defense, is horrendous in the clinch, but he is very strong on the ground as he’s landed 46% of his ground strikes and he has 7 submissions. Jon Erik Andersen seems to have evolved into that top 13-15 guy, someone who can put on a great fight, but someone who probably will never be a title contender. JEA just has never improved his game much since coming to the NGF, he has solid power, but he just has no defense to speak of. He’s allowing opponents to land 77% of their stand up head punches, 99% of their clinch head punches, 96% of their clinch body punches and 75% of ground strikes. Andersen can push the pace well which has helped him in decisions. PREDICTION: Andersen decision win
Featherweight Fight
Stefan Burczymucha (3-4, 2-4 NGF) v #7 Mark Reynolds (6-2 NGF)
Stefan Burcymucha has just looked outmatched in his last 3 fights and he has also shown a very suspect chin going 0-3. Burczymucha tries very hard and he does have good power, but he has no defense and he is awful on the ground as he has yet to defend a single ground strike. Mark Reynolds has a odd matchup here, he goes from fighting for a title to fighting a guy holding onto the bottom rung. Reynolds should really have no problems with this fight, he has the power to end this early and his defense, although not great, is solid and he should be able to avoid strikes from Stefan. PREDICTION: Reynolds 1st round TKO
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