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 Good evening and welcome back to the Liberty Dome here in New York City for SPNY 140. Tonight’s 10 fight card will feature 3 very hyped Light Heavyweight bouts with the headline event featuring Joey Rodinerio Bravo looking to press his claims for a shot at the vacant title against Jimmy Yackey, the evenly matched Rokka vs Rose, and the SPNY 133 rematch between Austin Anderson and Richie McCaw. Early in the card we will see the 2nd Featherweight title defence of Malakai Semerkhet against Joaquim Antunes. Steel Penn NY Bookmaker as always has odds on all of this evening’s fights.
Main Event: Light Heavyweight
Joey Rodinerio Bravo 21-14-1 (2-2 SPNY) vs Jimmy Yackey 16-6 (2-2 SPNY)
While recent results suggest that Ballantine vs Billet will be the most likely match up for the vacant Light Heavyweight title Bravo will be one of the leading contenders to challenge the winner of that fight if he is able to win against Yackey tonight. Extremely popular with fight fans he is one of the best true submission grapplers in SPNY having finished 18 of his 21 wins by way of submission. Bravo will have an edge on the ground against Yackey, who is also known for his submission skills, but will be outmatched on his feet against Yackey’s kick boxing so expect to see Bravo look to take this down very early.
Yackey generally prefers to grapple his opponents to victory but also has very good kick boxing skills; tonight I expect to see Yackey look to keep this fight standing where he will have a much more distinct advantage over Bravo. Don’t forget that in his pre SPNY days he was Valhalla champion in Hilo where he successfully defended his title with head kick knockouts in 3 straight fights. I’m personally hoping for a kick boxing display to see how well the favourite Bravo can deal with being taken out of his comfort zone.
I’m all for an upset here with Yackey to win by KO my prediction.
2: Light Heavyweight
Antero Rokka 10-5 (1-0 SPNY) vs Jarred Rose 15-8 (3-3 SPNY)
With a lot of the leading contenders in the Light Heavyweight division clashing over the last few months a run of form from one of the mid level fighters like these two could very well present a dark horse for a title challenge in the next few months. At 24 years old Rokka has the makings of a long term champion if he can round out his technique a little; heavy handed knockouts from single punches and head kicks look good but he looked extremely vulnerable when taken to ground earlier in his career, we will have to wait to see if he has improved his ground defence at all against submission grappler Rose. Rose knows to win this fight he must get it to ground, whilst he has only been knocked out once in his career he has not fought too many opponents with the power of Rokka. Once on the ground I don’t see Rokka being able to resist the ground & pound and submission offence Rose will bring to the fight so it will be a matter of who can dictate where this fight takes place.
I like Rokka by KO which could set him up for a run to the title in the long term.
3: Light Heavyweight
Austin Anderson 9-6 (3-3 SPNY) vs Richie McCaw 16-11 (5-1 SPNY)
This fight was always going to be interesting given it is a rematch of their last outings but developments over the last week have left me bewildered by the implications of the possible outcomes. Firstly, when Anderson requested a rematch because he felt he could do better than his submission loss at SPNY 133 I didn’t expect McCaw to agree; for McCaw a second fight against Krutcher would have done far more for his title aspirations. This leaves Anderson the chance to pull off a huge upset and bring himself back into the contender rankings.
Of course the reason I hadn’t expected an Anderson rematch from McCaw was he statement declaring he intended to dominate the 205lbs division and Anderson isn’t ranked highly enough to make that happen. However, that declaration has led to McCaw being called out by SPNY Heavyweight champ Felipezoom Insano and the challenge has been accepted. So should McCaw win this, and Insano win his upcoming title defence against Kemp, McCaw will fight Insano for the Heavyweight title. But if McCaw loses to Anderson or Insano to Kemp, the fight will still go ahead as a non title match.
In terms of this fight, I still believe that Anderson probably has the skills edge over McCaw, but his lack of experience comparatively really shone through in their first fight. While Anderson in the top position has the ground & pound to make McCaw’s life difficult, McCaw showed his class to take Anderson’s back and submit him with the rear naked choke. Anderson should have the edge in the stand up, but showed that despite his strong wrestling background he may lackthe control to beat McCaw on the ground.
McCaw by submission.
4: Middleweight
Trey Anastasio 13-7 (1-1 SPNY) vs Evangelista Nunes 15-12-1 (8-9-1 SPNY)
Anastasio gives up a significant 5 inch reach disadvantage to the kick boxer Nunes and that may well determine the outcome of this fight. Anastasion will no doubt fancy his chances of getting Nunes into a bad position and submitting him should he be able to take the fight to the ground, but Nunes will look to knock him out without letting the fight hit the ground.
Nunes by KO.
5: Welterweight
Sir Jecht 17-14 (0-1 SPNY) vs Yusuke Urameshi 11-7 (1-0 SPNY)
After establishing himself as a genuine contender at Welterweight early in career, Jecht made an ill advised move to Middleweight where he went 0-8 before dropping back to his more natural weight. Urameshi doesn’t have quite the historical record of Jecht, but I feel he is improving as a fighter and may be a bigger prospect for the future. Expect Jecht to do everything he can to take this to the ground and work his ground & pound to look for a knockout, Urameshi on the other hand will use his brilliant boxing and kick boxing to look for a knockout while its standing.
I think Urameshi should have the ability to KO Jecht before he is taken down.
6: Featherweight Title
Malakai Semerkhet 5-1 (5-1 SPNY) vs Joaquim Antunes 4-0 (4-0 SPNY)
Semerkhet became the first SPNY Featherweight champion to successfully defend his title when he beat Simon GM in his first defence. Tonight he will match his Muay Thai skills against unbeaten wrestler Antunes. What will be interesting is how well Semerkhet manages to defend the takedowns we know Antunes as a wrestler will be attempting; in his career to date defending takedowns has been the biggest weakness apparent in Semerkhet’s game. If Semerkhet can keep this fight on its feet he will retain his title.
Antunes is yet to show any offensive skills other than takedowns and ground & pound. This has been enough for him so far in his career, but two problems present themselves tonight; one is that he has never truly had his chin tested and Semerkhet has shown some awesome power in his 5 knockout wins to date, and the second is that Antunes is now experienced enough that Semerkhet will have known to prepare for the one dimensional style shown by Antunes to date. Tonight may have to be the night that Antunes expands his fight plan.
Semerkhet’s struggles to defend the takedown in his previous fights makes me think tonight will be Antunes night; Antunes by decision.
7: Welterweight
Kadian Aitkens 7-5 (2-1 SPNY) vs Nawal Chekhemani 17-15 (10-9 SPNY)
Aitkens has pulled off back to back wins and I feel he is a lot better fighter than the SPNY fan base currently realises. Tonight he has been given the task of beating SPNY veteran and crowd favourite Chekhemani in the 20th SPNY fight of his career. Aitkens is a heavy handed boxer and at 25 has a few years left before we will see him truly reach his prime. Chekhemani is a submission grappler primarily, but entering the fight as unfit as he is I don’t see him being able to drag Aitkens to ground to finish him.
Aitkens to win by KO and hopefully win over the SPNY fans who are yet to take to him.
8: Featherweight
Jay Pettis 1-2 (SPNY Debut) vs Will Beacon 5-1 (1-0 SPNY)
Pettis is a boxer who is also a purple belt in BJJ, I was very impressed with his debut but his two follow up fights were not as impressive. Beacon comes into tonight on a 4 fight winning streak and has fought as a submission grappler primarily in his fights to date despite not having any formal background in grappling. This may make it hard for him against top level opponents, but Pettis is horribly out of shape for tonight’s fight and a win should only be a formality for Beacon.
Beacon by submission.
9: Middleweight
Klas Ondahl 16-14-2 (0-2 SPNY) vs Duke Ellington 12-9 (0-3 SPNY)
Two fighters who failed to make an impact in SPNY will meet on this early fight before leaving the org. Ondahl is an honest fighter but has never been world class. Too reliant on takedowns and ground & pound with occasional submission wins his striking defence has always made him vulnerable and his ground defence is nothing to write home about either. 37 year old Ellington has always been too reliant on a knockout to win and is routinely outworked by all of his opponents. Tonight I see nothing to suggest at his age he will have improved to the point that he will win this fight.
Ondahl by KO.
10: Featherweight
Raion Coutinho (Professional Debut) vs Apollinaris Serpico 0-2 (0-1 SPNY)
The debutant Coutinho is hyped as a boxer but I will admit I know very little about the Brazilian born, Helsinki trained fighter. His opponent tonight is a jujitsu brown belt but in his two fights to date we haven’t seen any of those skills because he hasn’t managed to get a fight to ground, or land a single strike. I can’t see Serpico winning, but I don’t know enough about Coutinho to be sure of the result.
Coutinho by decision.
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