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FV #20 - The Beat Up In The Bay - Preview
Saturday 17th May @ Wandalay Bay (capacity: 12,000)
Each week I see the Forbidden Violence card come out and think, how does an organisation that is barely 6 months old provide such strong cards and great quality match-ups time and time again. With 3 championship title matches on display come this Friday, the landscape of the company will change drastically and new challengers will be given room to prove themselves, along with old ones, such as Jase Robertson, raring to prove they deserve another shot.
Main Event
“Bad Bad” Leroy Brown (34-15-2)(1-0) v Billy “The Really Good” Roberts (15-2-0)(1-0)
With both men being undefeated in Forbidden Violence and both men also taking commanding victories in their respective FV wins it is not hard to see why this fight is the main event of the evening despite their being three championship title matches when FV comes to the Bay. These two men are coming in off hot streaks and are both incredibly over with the fans, which cannot wait to see who will walk victorious from the arena. Roberts is undefeated in 6 fights and won by (T)KO in every fight one of those 6 victories. In fact the only way it appears that any opposition is able to stop Roberts is by taking him the distance as ALL 2 of his loses have come by decision; Something Brown is not familiar with either, seeing all bar 4 of his 51 fights have a finish before the final bell.
These fighters are very evenly matched but Brown may have a very slight advantage on his feet, with a strong amateur Muay-Thai background it’ll be interesting to see if Roberts can match the kicks of “Bad Bad” Leroy Brown or if that’ll keep Roberts on the outside. The key to victory for Roberts must be getting in close, pilling on the pressure and trying not to let those kicks, particularly to the legs, stop him from getting in his comfortable range. If these men get up close I see Roberts winning any exchanges but Brown has the advantage from range. It’ll be great to see which competitor takes the initiative and takes control early on.
Co-Main Event
Gegard Mousasi (25-9-1)(1-0) v “The Saviour” Philip Negan (11-8-0)(0-1)
If you’re looking for a fighter who gives it his all, has true love for his fans and is a genuine blue chip hard worker, then you don’t have to look much further than Gegard Mousasi. Despite his hard work, persistence and natural ability he is the first to credit his success to his fans and his humility is what makes them love him in return. On the other side of the cage from the fan favourite on Friday is a Philip Negan, a man branded as “The Saviour”, who after his current display looks in a little need of saving himself after taking a hard loss to Ramirezovic.
While it may appear Mousasi’s experience and skill makes this fight a bit of a miss-match, you need to take into account Negan’s confidence generally makes up for this, as this has been a case in a lot of his bouts across various companies. Negan looked to save various promotions from what he says are the scum of MMA and this outrageous confidence is what has got him this far, scoring surprise victories over various opponents such as Kasim Akande. The only concern I’d have if I was a corner man for Negan is he normally likes to look for the take-down and then follow with a submission, getting the take-down may not be impossible on Mousasi but the following submission will prove difficult as their aren’t many better on the matt than the 33-year-old Dutchman.
Main Card
Memento Mori (15-6)(2-0) v Jase Robertson (22-9)(2-1)
Memento Mori has finally moved on from the feud with fellow FV #20 card member, Cletus White, who he beat twice in succession to go 2-0 and in Forbidden Violence and now turns his attention to a very formidable competitor. That would be the last challenger to Abel Speed’s 185lbs title, the man who took part in what a lot of fans see as the most exciting fight in the history of the company and really put this man on the map. Robertson may feel had he won the fight he may well have been main eventing the card but after the loss, despite the impress fight with Speed, Robertson is back to square one and will be looking to impress to get himself right back into the title picture!
These guys are both relatively young fighters and both fighters share one more thing in common, they HATE decisions. They both fight by, “Knock Out or be Knocked Out” and that’s what the Forbidden Violence fans will love to see. It’ll be exciting to see which way this fight falls and what the fallout from the fight may be; If Mori could beat Robertson would he stake a rightful claim to be in with a title shot at Abel Speed? We will see at FV #20.
Eliod “Scooter” Bunkley Iii (17-4-1)(3-1-1) v “The lion of Matema” Baraka Simengwa (12-9-0)(1-0-0)
A battle of the submission artists will take place at Forbidden Violence #20 and the Bay will witness maybe not one of the more explosive bouts of the evening but it can certainly expect one of the more technical as Bunkley – 4 time submission of the night winner in his career – faces off against relative FV new boy Simengwa – BJJ Red Belt – in what may be one of the most complex bouts the organisation has ever seen. Both fighters normally just have to get their opponent to the ground before getting a beating and work their magic from their but Bunkley Lii and Baraka Simengwa will be in for a real test of their abilities as seeking control of the ground in this fight will certainly be a lot easier done than said. Two more potential challengers could be taken down to one for Abel Speed’s title but it’ll be interesting to see who takes the upper hand and if either tries to run their luck in the stand-up. This fight has a real air of uncertainty around it as it could end at any time or go to the decision (at least in the eyes of everybody I’ve spoken too) and it should be a bout to really keep your eye on even amongst the 3 title fights this evening.
Welterweight Title Bout
Champion Adam Duritz (3-0)(3-0) v Mikio “Flame666” Okita (37-22)(4-1)
On paper this bout looks like the ultimate ground vs grappler fight with Duritz having the advantage on his feet in this fight but challenger Okita being considered truly as one of the best in the world in terms of ground game ability. Only through hard work and dedication was Okita recently able to claim his Red Belt in BJJ and along with it become a serious contender and threat in Forbidden Violence for Duritz title. The champion will be on top of the world making his second defence since beating Avon Barksdale to win the title in only his second ever professional MMA bout. This young man is a phenomenal talent, especially considering how late he joined the sport but it should be interesting to see just what he is capable of against somebody with the 59 fight experience Mikio Okita has.
While it is clear Okita sacrificed some of his stand-up so he could perfect his technique on the mat, he should not be underestimated as he has only every been KO’d 3 times in his career and he’ll want to make sure that number doesn’t become 4 in his 60th professional career fight. It will be interesting to see how the champion approaches this fight, in both title fights he finished with some amazingly executed strikes and one must be wondering how such a high level of confidence will affect him; Will the champion suffer from being over-confident and leaving him exposed or to make simple errors – something he CANNOT afford against an opponent of the experience of Okita.
Featherweight Title Fight
Champion Jimmy “BabyFace” Brooks (7-2)(3-0) v “Jesse” James Jameson (18-9)(2-0)
23 year old Jimmy “BabyFace” Brooks has been on something of a run of recent, picking up the title and becoming the youngest champion in Forbidden Violence, overachieving in the eyes of everybody excluding himself. Jameson has also looked fantastic since joining FV, going unbeaten and winning both his fights in the first round so he was clear choice to be the first challenger for Brooks’ title. Brooks has been a true rising star as he has shot up not only the P4P rankings but also in popularity with the fans, the only question mark over Brooks is can he go the distance, both these men like to finish so we may not find out on Friday night but it will be a question asked of him in the future whether he’s champion or not.
Once again on paper it does appear as if the “BabyFace” will be completely out matched by his opposition but as eluded to earlier, this is something of a regular occurrence now, as he won the title in shock fashion beating Volk Kruth in the first round of the fight. The questions will begin to be asked as the fight goes deeper, with Brooks losing 2 of his 3 decisions – all unanimously. Normally Jesse Jameson loves to go for the finish and knock his opponents out but one could pose the question, should he play more defensive and look to take Brooks the distance.
Undercard
Hannibal “The Cannibal” Die Rücksichtslos (33-19)(2-0) v Oleg Karev (29-14)(Debut)
Oleg Karev may have lost his last two fights in MMA, but they were in top promotion Ascension and one was for the title, once his contract came up he decided it was time for a change of pace and he came to FV to dominate another division. His first challenge will be the so-far-undefeated Die Rücksichtslos, “The Cannibal” has been loving his time in FV and will be looking to take another victory to make it three straight but both these men know the other won’t be a walk over.
These men are both happy to see a fight out to the finish and are in superb condition, although they are equally happy to throw haymakers and try take their opponents block off. Both men also have a phenomenal head kick which could come from anywhere to finish an opposition and end the fight. The real question will be which fighter takes the initiative, comes out the aggressor and looks to put their opponent away with exposing themselves to a quick counter that will put them on the back foot for the rest of the fight or finish it there.
Diego “The genetic jackhammer" Diaz (13-10-1)(Debut) v DeAngelo Suggs (8-3-0)(Debut)
Two more debutants go head to head in the third match-up of the night and both will want to put in a strong showing as “The genetic jackhammer” faces a young man that doesn’t need or want a nickname as he wants “the fans to remember my name not a gimmick”. Suggs is fortunate as manager Matt Mac is considered one of the top 100 managers in the Tycoon world and will have made sure not only the time but also the money into preparing Suggs for a debut against a former GAMMA competitor goes according to plan and launches his client to new heights. Diaz will really be looking to glaze over unsuccessful stints in GAMMA and TTFC with a victory on his debut fight for FV. Vegas odds have Suggs down as favourite to continue his win streak to 5 in a row but Diaz is a whole another level to the 4 previous victims of Suggs and he’ll have to find some extra gears to finish this fight in the way he did those, with victory.
New Lightweight Title Match
Nycky Downtime (28-24-2)(Debut) v Ring Vinayagamoorthy (4-5-0)(Debut)
Two debutants will face off this Friday for a vacant lightweight title; the title itself will be on the line for the first time in the history of Forbidden Violence as they have begun to develop their 155lbs lightweight division. The two new boys facing off for the title are Downtime and Vinayagamoorthy, who both look set to kick start the titles history with a bang. Some argue that the Dutchman doesn’t deserve the title shot and it should be given to a more successful fighter in the division but owner Frank King is very much about “what have you done for me lately” and Vinayagamoorthy did a great job going the distance and dominating Porter until the last round where his performance began to tail off. The fans will be hoping this one doesn’t need a last round though as these warriors go full out to grab the belt, it’ll be interesting to see whether the underdog can rise up or if experienced submission artist Downtime can break his opposition before the end of the fight.
Opener
Cletus “The All-American” White (15-15)(0-2) v Macadam Baird (10-5)(3-2)
“The All-American” White will be wanting to forget about his last two Forbidden Violence bouts as he looks to gain a victory over a so far impressive Macadam Baird, who was unlucky in his last outing to lose to Simengwa with such little time remaining in the round before he tapped. Ironically the man with the collegiate wrestling background may be out-wrestled in this one as Baird is a fantastic wrestler in his own right and more than able to hold his own when exchanging holds. This bout will not have the fans captivated in the way any of the other fights will on the night but it is more than good enough to open the card and get the fans pumped for the events later in the evening.
As said through-out this report, us here at Championship Press Association could not be more excited about Forbidden Violence’s 20thweekly event as it truly does have some real talent and class on the card, 3 amazing title matches will happen on the night and the rest of the card is so strong one of them is in the undercard and the other two didn’t make the main or co-main events. This bodes well for the future of the company as their will be a lot of talents emerge from the bouts tonight as potential challengers for titles. You have to imagine that, in particular, Abel “Amazin” Speed will be live and have his eyes on several fights tonight with 4 key contenders for his title facing off to make themselves stand-out in the eyes of owner and matchmaker Frank King. Join us live in person or watch this space for the review following the event for all of the action and fall-out coming from this stacked card.
Report by,
Dan “TheMould” Milner
Championship Press Association.
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