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HRP: Hello, Hello and welcome to the first ever broadcast of GAMMA: LVC NOW. I am “Honey” Roy Palmer and will be your host. I will be here with special guests to get to the bottom of the LVC: #62 Welterweight title fight between Point Fighter and Ray “The Raven” Lewis. I am lucky to be in such great company for tonight’s fight breakdown. Rogelio Cottonfloss and Furious Styles have agreed to take time out of their busy schedules to go over this fight together. Hello gentlemen…
RC: Hello Roy.
FS: Hello MMA world.
HRP: Let’s get right into this soon to be battle. First the challenger, Lewis… Cottonfloss, he has an impressive record at 11-1 but was he the right fighter to take on Point Fighter?
RC: While the casual observer may see that “The Raven” has only had two LVC fights before this title fight, those in the know are aware of the road he took to get this opportunity. “The Raven” secured a unanimous decision win in his first fight with Ruthless Bane’s League. That was their initial event and he stuck with the org through the reinvention as Sin City Fighter’s Underground.
HRP: When he left Sin City FU, he did so as the Welterweight Champ. In fact, I talked to Lewis this week and he explained that the move to LVC was a step up to fight better competition. He came over on a high and has yet to be stopped.
FS: This could be the fight that stops this run.
HRP: Well, if you think so why don’t you ask him yourself? Live from Las Vegas and LOD: Top Team Gym, it is Ray “The Raven” Lewis. Hello Ray, how is training going?
Ray Lewis: Ray has been training hard to keep this streak of first round KO’s going.
RC: How certain are you that you are going to win this fight?
Ray Lewis: You know Ray is a murderer.. it wont be different here. I am pretty confident if Point Fighter tries to stand and exchange he’s going to take a nap. Ray has hands of steel; Ray hopes his opponent has a good dentist.
RC: Ray, you usually are quick to admit that you were cut open in your only loss; however, do you actually feel cheated and really deserve to be undefeated?
Ray Lewis: You have no idea how pissed Ray is that the only loss came late in a fight Ray was winning, lost by doctor stoppage due to cut. The guy has since ran to 155, and if Ray can’t fight Duke Rance, Ray will just destroy anything in front of Ray with the anger from this flawed record. I hope they keep an ambulance near by. Point Fighter is going to need one .. Maybe a helicopter...
HRP: I think you are ready. Thanks for talking to us and good luck come LVC #62.
RC: Whatever his personal feelings are about his TKO (cut) loss to Duke Rance, he avenged that loss when they met up again with his quickest knockout to date. A hungry Lewis on a streak of four consecutive first round TKO wins will enter the cage on 3/22.
HRP: It is now time to talk about the champ. Furious, what can you tell us about how ready Point Fighter is?
FS: His manager is Romano Schoots and Point trains at the Mano's Elite BJJ Gym in Amsterdam where he has developed a very solid ground game.
HRP: I would say holding a Black Belt is solid.
FS: Fighter had a rough beginning to his MMA career with a loss by Unanimous Decision, but credit the young man for sticking with it despite the loss and how quickly he turned his career around. Two of his career wins have been by submission while the others were decisions, so if Fighter wants to defeat Ray Lewis, not the football player folks, though he does look an awful lot like him...then he's going to have to finish the fight in my opinion.
HRP: Has Point Fighter faced an opponent like “The Raven” before?
FS: Katurian “The Pillowman” Tupolski, though he doesn't stand as tall as Lewis does. Lewis' height will enable his punches to potentially land more accurately and that will be a problem for Point the longer the fight stays standing. Point fought the intelligent fight and took it to the ground as quickly as possible, looking for the submission victory.
RC: What about the John Jackson fight?
FS: Against John Jackson, a taller fighter with better boxing ability, Point got off to a slow start and I believe Jackson took the first round by keeping it standing and landing punches effectively. However, Point won the fight by taking the fight to the ground and keeping it there for the decision victory, which leads us to this fight.
HRP: Before we get to this fight, has Lewis fought a fighter like Point Fighter before?
RC: Lewis probably hasn't faced anyone as well balanced in all facets of the game as Point Fighter. Nonetheless, perhaps the closet matchup to what Lewis will face in Fighter was in Lewis' last decision victory. Even though his opponent in that fight, Gabriel Bergasmarchi, took him down in each of the three rounds of the fight, Lewis met the challenge by being aggressive. Lewis knocking down and rocking Bergasmarchi seconds into the fight certainly left an impression on the judges and on Bergasmarchi.
HRP: So, if this fight gets to the ground Lewis has a history of getting off his back and winning. Wait a minute… We tried to reach out to Point Fighter but he was busy with his final preparations for the fight. I am getting word though that the Champ’s manager, Romano Schoots, is on the phone and is willing to talk about this upcoming fight. Romano, do you have anything to say to “The Raven?”
Romano Schoots: Yeah, that my fighter is not afraid to stand with him. Lewis be knocking out other guys but that wont happen with my fighter.
HRP: From what I hear that might not be the best choice, are you not going to try to get this on the ground?
Romano Schoots: I am not sure if Point Fighter can take him down so that is not in the game plan because it will just cost energy if the takedown gets stuffed. My fighter is currently focusing on his stand up 100% so Lewis can count on a brawl.
HRP: You definitely have the confidence of managing a champion and you have executed many successful game plans coming into this fight. We wish you the best.
Romano Schoots: All in all I wish Lewis good luck.
HRP: We have heard from both camps, now let’s break down this fight… Cottonfloss, how does the challenger win this fight?
RC: Lewis' strengths are his boxing ability and penchant for rocking his opponents early in the fight. This obviously leads to a good deal of knockout victories, but even when it doesn't he is able to get into the heads of his opponents.
Lewis' weakness is likely being cut. While it only happened once and he may have matured enough to handle it if it happens again, his being cut in the loss to Duke Rance seemed to affect his confidence in that fight.
Lewis is going to want to come out aggressive and get a knockdown early. He will then gauge from that knockdown whether to go for the knockout or to go for a decision victory. With that being said, Lewis is likely going to strive to keep the fight standing and go for a finish.
HRP: Furious, the champ is not going to go away easy. If he is going to stay champion, how is he going to do it?
FC: I'm certain his management team has told him he doesn't want the fight left in the judge’s hands. Finish the fight and there's no room for controversy.
For this fight, Point may opt to use his Muay Thai to establish his striking defense should Lewis decide to throw some kicks. Fighter has shown that he heavily favors punching, but in this fight against Lewis, that may prove to be quite a problem as Lewis has shown tremendous boxing ability.
Point's strengths as I see them: Championship experience, granite chin, powerful takedowns, good ground control, excellent submissions and damaging ground-and-pound. His weaknesses as I see them: Cuts pretty easily, struggles in the clinch, could struggle against defending kicks, susceptible to punches by superior boxers, and lacking a bit of overall speed
HRP: Great and if you were in his corner what advise does he get from you?
FC: If I were Point's management team, my game plan would be simple: Take the fight to the ground and test Lewis' ability to protect himself from Point's excellent BJJ ability. Not only does this keep Point from taking the risk of eating punches and possibly getting in trouble, but also he can use his slight weight advantage, as well as Lewis' slight height advantage, to try and end this fight by submission.
HRP: The end of the fight is upon us, who is getting their hand raised?
RC: With what Point Fighter did in his two fights against John Jackson, I honestly would not be surprised if he wins by decision. However, my prediction is a second round TKO win for Ray Lewis. Whatever the case, I know we have an exciting fight as both fighters are hungry for the belt.
HRP: That is one for Ray. Furious, do you feel the same way?
FC: Prediction… this is always an adventure for me. So, here it goes: Furious Styles' Prediction: Point Fighter by Split Decision.
HRP: This sounds like a split decision. There is only one way to find out what is going to happen and that is to catch the action of LVC #62 on March 22nd. From everyone here at GAMMA: LVC NOW, we thank you for listening and we will see you next time.
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