2014-01-30
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Lions Share MMA 1

Event Preview: LS 1: Heavyweight GP - Rd 1
Lions Share MMA
2014-01-20, St Petersburg, Micro Arena - St Petersburg
Author:Callum McGregor

 On Monday, 20th of January, St Petersburg gets treated to a heavyweight showdown as the 265 Grand Prix kicks off at Fight Night Project 1. 8 fighters will enter the cage, and just 4 will emerge victorious. Now, we will go over the rules of the tournament to ensure that everyone understands what they are getting themselves into.

- In the result of a draw, or double no contest, one of the fighters from the two alternate bouts will enter the tournament.
- A win in the first round of the tournament will see fighters move on to the compete at Fight Night Project 2, on the 3rd of March. 
- The winner of the 16 man tournament will be crowned the first FNP Heavyweight Champion.

Moving on to the fights, and we have some very interesting stylistic match ups for your viewing pleasure. First up are the two alternate bouts.

Rocky Barboa (0-1) Vs Viktor Grozny (0-0) - Alternate Fight
Barboa's debut took place little over a week ago, where he was defeated by Anderson Weidman by TKO in the 3rd round. Barboa seemed a little clueless in the fight, and despite wanting to take the fight to the floor, he gave his opponent the opportunity to stand up on several occasions. He will need a clear gameplan to win this alternate bout.
Viktor Grozny is a Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu fighter, and is one of our promoter, Callum McGregor's new eastern Heavyweight fighters. It will be difficult to defeat him for wrestlers without a high level of submission defence, because he will be able to control the fight on the feet, and then be dangerous when his opponent has had too much and takes the fight down.
Based on his last fight, it doesn't seem like Barboa will have what it takes to strategically take control of this fight. I think Grozny takes it wherever the fight goes.
-Grozny by Submission-

Holla "Holla" Holla (0-1) Vs Andrei Bragov (1-0) - Alternate Fight
Holla's MMA debut lasted only 59 seconds, when he was submitted by Maxim Sebraikov. Holla is a wrestler who wants to make the fight a grappling match, and perhaps land some ground and pound from the top position. In his first fight though, his opponent pulled guard and slapped on a triangle. He will have to brush up on his BJJ if he wants to become a legitimate contender.
Bragov steps into this fight as a late replacement for Kevin Taylor. Bragov is a solid all round fighter, although he prefers to take the fight to the ground and look to control the position. While there are no stand out skills that he possesses, this goes hand in hand with weaknesses. To defeat Bragov, you will have to specialise in one area of the game, because he should be able to handle you wherever you go if you are not.
This should be a good fight. Both are grapplers, and will look to take the fight down. If Bragov looks for submissions, I think he might get one, but I feel that he will be quite lazy off of his back and allow Holla to control the positions.
-Holla by Decision-


Lukas Zimmer (0-0) Vs Greg The Professor (2-1) - Heavyweight GP Round 1
Zimmer, a 20 year old German fighting out of Russia, brings solid Muay Thai and a blue belt in jiu jistu to the table. From the gym, we are hearing that he uses his kicks when the fight is standing, and is not afraid of being taken down and put onto his back, where he will actively search for a submission. Using this combo, he hopes the opponents will have to think twice about every action, allowing them to leave themselves open for a KO shot.
Greg The Professor almost mirrors his opponent exactly. Another 20 year old, fighting out of the the German capital, The Professor likes to take the fight down and look for ground and pound and submissions. Greg uses his boxing and head kicks to keep his opponents on their toes, but wants to do most of his work whilst grappling on the mat. All 3 of his fights have went the distance so far, so his punching power has some doubters.
There is really only two ways this fight will go. Either Lukas Zimmer will be able to finish the fight, or The Professor will be able to control from the top position for the 3 rounds. I think the safe money is on the latter.
-The Professor by Unanimous Decision-

Karl Karleon (1-0) Vs Tarec Malkovic (0-0) - Heavyweight GP Round 1
Karleon is a BJJ wizard with a very impressive brown belt in the art form. His gameplan will not confuse an opponent, as it's blatantly obvious that he will want to take the fight to the ground and search for a submission. His ground and pound is very impressive also, with him landing 13 out of 13 strikes on the mat in his debut, which he won by Armbar. Being on your back against this skilled fighter is not where you want to be.
Tarec Malkovic is no slouch on the ground either, with a BJJ purple belt to his name. Malkovic is a decorated wrestler, and was considered one of Belarus' top amateur wrestlers while he competed. Like his opponent, the gameplan will be to gain top position, land some ground and pound, and possibly wait for his opponent to leave a gap for him to sink in a lock or choke.
With the BJJ edge going to Karleon, I find this to be a huge factor in the fight. Malkovic will be in trouble for most of the fight, and I feel that eventually it will be too much for him.
-Karleon by Submission-

Grigoriy Skobolev (1-0) Vs Giro Grubaneiro (0-0) - Heavyweight GP Round 1
Grigoriy Skobolev is one of the 4 fighters on tonight's card from Viktor Grigoriev's fighting stable. Grigoriy is a very talented Muay Thai kickboxer, and demonstrated his skills to their full potential when he pummelled Demetrius Hamilton into submission in the very first round. Skobolev wants to keep the fight standing and use his kicks to keep the fight at the distance he prefers. When they get close, he wants to work his boxing and get out of the danger zone, also avoiding any opportunities his opponent may use to take the fight to the mat.
Giro Grubaneiro makes his professional mixed martial arts debut tonight, and has one thing on his mind; a knock out victory. The Polish boxer has heavy hands, and his camp has been telling us that he's turning sparring partners into jelly with some of the punches they've been subjected to. Giro also has a very strong base, and will use this to keep the fight up and stay away from any submission or ground and pound areas.
Both of these fighters want to stay on their feet, and both will be looking for a knockout victory. Because he has more tools in his arsenal, I think Grigoriy Skobolev will take this one.
-Skobolev by TKO/KO-

Larry Alexander (1-0) Vs Hamish Macintosh (0-0) – Heavyweight GP Round 1
Alexander, nicknamed "The Will", is the personification of modern mixed martial arts. Seeing his punching power would have you believe that he is a pro boxer, when in actuality his main strength is on the mat. Larry holds an impressive purple belt in BJJ, and was able to use this to defeat his last opponent in the last round of a difficult fight. Alexander will look to fire off some combos, and if his opponent wants to shoot in for a takedown, it will make his day.
Hamish Macintosh made his name as in the Scottish Highland Games, where he was a well respected Caber Toss champion. From throwing telephone polls to throwing punches, the transition is certainly drastic. The big man from Fort William will use his experience to allow him to control grappling exchanges. As well as this, Hamish is a very heavy handed puncher, and opponents don't want to stand and trade with him.
This is the toughest fight to call yet. Both will stay standing, and both will be swinging heavy. Alexander relies a little too much on combos, and that could cost him majorly in this fight. Unless he changes, that will be his downfall.
-Macintosh by TKO/KO-

Dmitry Gromov (2-0) Vs Tvooi Stury (1-1) – Heavyweight GP Round 1
In his first two fights, both against Rudolf Deer, Gromov managed to avoid getting hit once. This is always an impressive accomplishment, but more so impressive in how he finished both fights by first round stoppage. Gromov is a ground and pound specialist, and spends to time trading shots on the feet before hunting a takedown. With a BJJ Blue Belt, he is not bulletproof when he takes it down, so an opponent might have an opening to throw up his legs and search for a lock or choke.
Like Dmitry, Tvooi Stury has faced the same opponent in both of his fights. Stury took on Anderson Weidman on the 30th on December, winning by Decision. The two met again TWO days later, where Weidman won by KO. 1-1 isn’t the worst imaginable start, but Stury will want to build momentum once again with a victory here tonight. Stury looks to get a clinch going, and work over opponents with punches to the head and body.
Stury isn’t a great wrestler, and doesn’t have a huge BJJ pedigree. I believe this is going to be the difference in this fight. Especially in Tvooi looking to clinch, I think Gromov will take the fight down, beat his opponent with heavy leather, and we will see a stoppage victory (which may also be the result of a cut).
-Gromov by TKO-

Harry Balls (1-0) Vs Maxim Sebriakov (2-0) – Heavyweight GP Round 1
“Big” Harry Balls’ parents must not much have cared for the wellbeing of their child with a name like that, and you can only imagine the playground taunts of harsh school kids inspired Mr. Balls en embark on his MMA career. Balls comes into this fight on the heels on an impressive KO victory over James Reiner. Harry is an all-round stand up fighter, mixing punches and kicks together and using his wrestling to keep the fight where he wants it to be.
Maxim Sebriakov is a BJJ specialist with a purple belt in the art to his name. With a 2-0 record, Maxim has submitted both of his former foes in the first round, one of which being Lions Share’s Holla Holla. There isn’t too much to be said about Sebriakov because we’ve seen so little. He has taken fights down and finished them every time, without having anything coming back at him.
This is a very difficult fight to call, and all comes down to the takedown defence of Harry Balls. I have a feeling that he will be able to keep it standing, which will allow him to take control.
-Balls by TKO/KO-

Vasile Crudu (3-1) Vs Evgeny Tarasov (2-0) – Heavyweight GP Round 1
Vasile Crudu entered the MMA world by entering an open Quick Fighting Championships tournament. Against all odds, Crudu made it all the way to the final before losing out on points. Crudu wants to take opponents down and beat them up with ground and pound. Instead of rushing for a finish, he wants to ride the top position and look to keep control. His main flaw is being kind of out of his depth is his takedowns aren’t working.
Tarasov is a ridiculously heavy handed boxer, and has spent less than 2 minutes inside the cage in his 2 fight, 2 TKO career. This Russian native has landed less than 20 punches in his two fights, showing how little it takes him to put his adversaries away. His wrestling has held up so far, but is relatively untested against very strong wrestling competition.
Once again, this is a fight decided by takedown defence. If Tarasov keeps it standing, the fight wont last long. I think Crudu has enough to take the fight down, but I don’t think he’ll be able to keep it there for too long, which makes it only a matter of time.
-Tarasov by TKO/KO-

Sayan Sever (5-2) Vs Billy Aziz (4-2) – Heavyweight GP Round 1
Sever, billed as the “arm collector”, is a submission specialist, winning four of his five victories by armbar. One thing to note is that his two losses are from submission as well, so sometimes he may get a little bit too overzealous and allow himself to get caught in search of the finish. His wrestling is pedigree is very high, and opponents had better be prepared to get put on their back because not many will be able to defend.
Billy Aziz is a former boxer, and has competed in the Pit Fighting League’s Golden Gloves tournament. His takedown defence has not always looked great inside the cage, but when he manages to keep the fight standing, you know someone is going to get knocked out. With that kind of ability, stepping into the MMA cage in this Grand Prix will be a big change, and a very interesting watch.
This is an amazing fight. A former boxer Vs a jiu jitsu master. While it’s intriguing on paper, I feel it may be slightly a mismatch. I think the wrestling of Sever will be way too much for Aziz, and will allow the BJJ master to finish the fight, preferably by his trademark manoeuvre. 
-Sever by Submission-

 

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