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SPNY 144: Niemen vs Danze Preview
Welcome to the Liberty Dome here in New York City where we await the start of SPNY 144, a 10 fight MMA card tonight headlined by the Heavyweight clash between the ever dangerous Czesio Niemen and an SPNY newcomer in the brilliant grappler Billy Danze. The other highlights on tonight’s card will be Winston McCall making his first defence of the Lightweight title against Tarquin Fortune, and the battle between in form Middleweight contenders Vartan Mamikonyan and Robert Van Winkle.
Main Event: Heavyweight
Czesio Niemen 22-18 (4-3 SPNY) vs Billy Danze 14-7 (SPNY Debut)
Niemen remains one of the most dangerous Heavyweight contenders in SPNY despite a few recent losses. One of the most powerful punchers in the division Niemen enters fights with a crowd pleasing all or nothing attack which has led to him winning or losing almost every fight in the 1st round. A pure boxer he will look to avoid letting this one get to ground as he attempts to punch his way back to another shot at the title.
The arrival of Danze adds a rare world class grappler to an SPNY Heavyweight division dominated mainly by hard hitting strikers. Danze is going to be badly outmatched on his feet in this fight, but he has a reputation for being able to take a punch so he may well be able to withstand the early flurry we expect from Niemen to fight his way to the ground. While he may struggle in the opening exchanges the longer this fight goes the more I fancy Danze’s chances.
Danze’s 4 inch reach advantage will offer him some protection from the heavy hands of Niemen and once this fight goes to ground he should dominate; Danze by submission.
2: Middleweight
Vartan Mamikonyan 12-6 (3-0 SPNY) vs Robert Van Winkle 21-9 (4-1 SPNY)
In what I expect to be an eliminator for the Middleweight title two of the better grapplers in SPNY clash tonight. Mamikonyan is a submission grappler who I believe underutilises his striking skills. While he does like to throw a flashy head kick most fights his low kicks are accurate and underused, and his skills in the clinch are rarely shown as he attempts to get fights to ground quickly. Given that he may well struggle to control Van Winkle in this fight I hope to see Mamikonyan use a more versatile attack than I am used to seeing from him with either clinch offence or ground strikes being his best bets.
Van Winkle is one of the more dominant grapplers in SPNY and what makes him so dangerous is his willingness to keep the fight standing and exchange strikes making a takedown less predictable and more effective once he decides to take the fight to deck. Given Mamikonyan allows opponents to take him down before attempting to sweep or submit them, tonight I’d like to see Van Winkle keep this standing and fight it out of Mamikonyan’s comfort zone where a 4 inch reach advantage would set up Van Winkle a straight forward decision win.
Van Winkle should be too good for Mamikonyan tonight but may struggle to finish it; Van Winkle by decision.
3: Light Heavyweight
Mason Archer 42-13 (1-0 SPNY) vs Jonny Bones 17-8-4 (8-5-3 SPNY)
Archer may be past his prime at 35, but nothing can change the fact that once upon a time he was one of the most dominant fighters on the planet at both Middleweight and Light Heavyweight. One of the best strikers in the world on his day, he may be exposed if Bones can take him down. It will be interesting to see how he is able to deal with Bones given that Archer is used to being able to use his height and reach as an advantage but Bones is the same height.
I am tempted to rename Bones “Mr Draw” after his drawn vacant title fight against Ballantine at SPNY 138 leads him to have drawn more fights than any other registered professional in New York. Many of us expected to see Bones and Ballantine given another shot at the vacant title, but with the good form of Billet and Krutcher they will now have to prove their form before they are given a shot. Bones needs to fight this on the ground if he is to have a chance to win this with his ground & pound his best weapon.
I don’t see Archer being able to put Bones away early enough to prevent this fight from going to ground; Bones by KO.
4: Middleweight
Vic Thory 14-5 (12-5) vs Jonathan Moxon 21-18-2 (3-1-1 SPNY)
At 24 Thory is already an SPNY crowd favourite and can’t be far off demanding a shot at the Middleweight title soon if he can keep up his current form. He gives up an enormous experience edge in this one, but his heavy handed boxing has served him well through his career so far and will be confident of a win tonight. The veteran Moxon has a decent chin that has allowed him to withstand a lot of damage to get his opponents to ground and submit them. However, at 39 he is no longer the consistent threat he was earlier in his career and we will have to see if he can deal with the power of Thory tonight.
I like Thory to win, but probably not finish it; Thory by decision.
5: Lightweight Title
Winston McCall 12-3-1 (1-0 SPNY) vs Tarquin Fortune 6-3-1 (3-2-1 SPNY)
McCall justified the surprise decision to give him a shot at the vacant Lightweight title on debut by dominating Mac Hansen across 4 rounds before finally submitting him in the 5th. A capable boxer with good submission skills on the ground throughout his career to date has only truly been weak in the clinch, but can rest easy knowing that Fortune is not known at all for his clinchwork. Expect McCall to bring his usual fight plan with a lot of body punches before landing a takedown and moving into position for his submission.
Fortune has made the most of the Lightweight division lacking a lot of depth at the moment by picking up a key win over Rockzo to unexpectedly claim the No. 1 contenders spot. A hard worker who relies on his ability to outwork his opponent rather than his natural power to win fights, he may have trouble maintaining that work rate over 5 rounds and I feel that his inability to stop fights with a single punch may count against him tonight, especially if this one goes to ground.
McCall by submission.
6: Heavyweight
Jonah Hex 19-10 (0-1 SPNY) vs Matt Mattews 8-3 (2-2 SPNY)
This Heavyweight match up puts together Hex, a Muay Thai clinch fighter with no other real offensive skills, against Mattews, similarly one dimensional in his offence relying entirely on taking down his opponent and using either ground & pound or submissions to finish the fight. I think that Hex has a good chance of tying this up in a clinch early and finishing Mattews early.
Hex by KO.
7: Heavyweight
Viljo Laine 40-20-2 (1-1 SPNY) vs Rex Richards 19-26-1 (0-4 SPNY)
Veteran Laine will be looking to put back to back wins on the board against submission fighter Richards. Formerly one of the best Heavyweights in the world Laine in now a little past his best and rumoured to be in financial difficulties. He showed against Nelson though that he still has a lot of power in his hands and will be looking for the knockout when he enters the cage tonight. Richards is a capable submission exponent when he can get a fight to ground, but I don’t rate his chances against Laine’s power having been knocked out on 21 previous occasions.
Laine by KO.
8: Featherweight
Dean Hall 4-4 (3-3 SPNY) vs Thelonius Skunk 4-2 (4-2 SPNY)
Hall has been very one dimensional since making his professional debut with his offence restricted to almost nothing but dirty boxing in the clinch. Skunk has shown a little more diversity, while very reliant on taking his opponents down and working ground & pound but also able to use a Muay Thai clinch. Skunk however lacks the knockout power that we have seen from Hall which suggests that even if Skunk can take Hall out of his comfort zone, Hall will remain the bigger threat.
As long as Skunk can avoid a big shot he will make his way though to an easy decision win.
9: Featherweight
Tommy Rudabaker 1-1 (SPNY Debut) vs Jerome Pierre Louis 1-0 (SPNY Debut)
Rudabaker has rudimentary skills in wrestling and boxing but has shown he has not yet established a fight plan to suit his skills. When taken to ground and put on his back he has looked extremely vulnerable, and his extremely tall lanky frame is screaming out that he will be caught in a limb lock against BJJ brown belt Louis tonight. Louis will no doubt approach this fight much like his pro debut looking for an early takedown before advancing into position to submit Rudabaker.
I like Louis by submission.
10: Featherweight
Ryan Blankinship 1-1 (1-1 SPNY) vs Joshua Zieg 1-0 (SPNY Debut)
Two boxer clash in this one with vastly different styles; Blankinship will look to strike at range and finish the fight, Zieg will throw more combinations and look to clinch while mainly throwing light strikes to score than power strikes to finish. With a 2 inch reach advantage and the stronger power punches I have to side with Blankinship adding a second win to his career record.
Blankinship by KO.
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