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 We're back! Hello and welcome to the first ever Highland Games event to be shown live from London, England. The Island was absolutely incredible and we had a blast, but The Island was just a dream. It wasn't the real thing, and here we are, ready to stand against some of the toughest organisations, both nationally and globally, and we couldn't be more excited. We have an insanely stacked card to kick off here, so let's get stuck into it.
Zakari Moss (9-5) Vs Dan Sten (8-2) – Bantamweight
This should be an interesting match of gameplans in the 135 division.
When Zakari Moss joined Highland Games, he was a former UltimateXC Champion with a very impressive record. Wins over two very capable opponents in Jomlong Kiapoity and Frank Pravola had him ranked amongst the top of the division, but an upset TKO loss in his last HG fight really stopped the momentum. If this wasn’t bad enough, Nikolai Medvedev cut his Island run short in just the first round. With this being one of Zakari Moss’s darkest moments, he’ll need to utilize his elite submission skills to win this fight. Dan Sten is a highly talented clinch fighter, and really it’s an absolute mystery how he’s never been in the right place at the right time for a Highland Games title shot. 7 Highland Games fights with a 6-1 record, with the one loss being avenged, Dan Sten has always been a very legitimate threat at Bantamweight. To add to this, a good run in the tournament with his only loss being to the eventual champ, Sten’s looking better than ever and will really be able to get a shot at some gold in the near future with a win here tonight.
Massimo Benvenuti (16-4) Vs Razor MuayThai (8-4) – Middleweight
This is a rematch of an encounter which took place at Highland Games 50. Although Razor took the opening round, Benvenuti’s ability to control the fight in the clinch was ultimately the deciding factor, with him winning the following 4 rounds. Yes, 4 rounds. This was also a championship fight. Massimo Benvenuti was the first ever Highland Games Middleweight Champion, defending the belt once before dropping it to Massa Hurmaaja. Razor came in at this stage, knocking Massa out and taking the title for himself. Just like Massimo, Razor would only defend once before losing it, this time to Benvenuti. Massimo would fail to defend against long time rival Grant Morisson and took losses to elite fighters in Massa Hurmaaja and Arnavut Sevket since. Razor would go on a bizarre run in World Combat, fighting at Heavyweight, Super Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight with a 1-2 record. This is a highly anticipated rematch, and we’ll see if these former champions can earn Fight of the Night once again.
Calvin Brooks (13-6) Vs JJ Lycka (9-4) – Lightweight
Calvin Brooks held the AFL title way back in November after winning his first 6 fights. It’s really been a rollercoaster for him since. While he seemed to defeat almost every guy he was the favourite against, he was also defeated by everyone he was expected to lose to. Going 1-2 in Highland Games, he appeared to be nothing more than a respectable gatekeeper. The tournament came around, then boom, everything changed. Brooks won the first two rounds, taking a second win over former HG Lightweight Champ Mustafa Shabazz in the process. He came in as a huge underdog Vs Jack Stick, who in turn had just defeated the champion, and walked out with yet another submission win. Papa Shango, the only man to ever submit Brooks, yet another to fall in this amazing run. It was only until the final fight that Calvin fell, losing to Zoran Jolevi. JJ Lycka wasn’t quite as fortunate. Yet another former champ in Attack Fight League, JJ fell from the tournament in the second round to an outstanding fighter in Hideki Higkiko. JJ was calling for a title shot in HG after he defeated World Combat Featherweight Champion Mamad Mouba, but unfortunately JJ couldn’t defeat the soon-to-be champ George Moshington for the number 1 contendership. I know personally that JJ is desperate to compete for the belt, but he has a big as in front of him here and will have to be razor sharp on the ground.
Alexey Juralev (9-4) Vs Keijo Virtanen (10-2) – Heavyweight
It’s great to have these two goliaths back with us post-Island.
Alexey Juralev was once considered the scariest man to compete against in the company. When he went on a destructive 5 fight winning streak, he earned 4 post-fight bonuses in the process. One thing that’s unfortunate is that the man to beat Juralev twice, Thor Heyerdahl, announced his retirement earlier today, so the two cut losses Juralev suffered to Thor will never be avenged. This could demotivate Alexey, or could force him on his most terrifying rampage yet. The jury’s out on that, but I think one interesting thing to note is that Alexey has only ever been defeated by extremely talented kickboxers, specifically ones who threaten with high kicks. Someone who will offer no such threat is Keijo Virtanen, who prefers breaking limbs to jaws. Keijo was my personal pick to win the heavyweight tournament had Barney Gumble fell, but it was infact the only guy to defeat Keijo, Pedro Lazaro, who walked away with such honours. Keijo’s submission skills are absolutely incredible, with an emphasis on locking in kimuras and armbars. In the tournament’s third round, Keijo took a much unexpected loss to Chiyono Fuji. We don’t know what state his jaw will be in coming into this fight, but if he can take the fight to the mat, I can assure you that it won’t matter.
Renato Laranja (12-4) Vs Darth Vader (13-4) – Bantamweight
For me, as someone who kept their ear to the ground on The Island, I couldn’t be more pleased that we have been able to put this fight together. Renato Laranja, former Attack Fight League Champion who also challenged for the HG Belt at Highland Games 51. Darth Vader, two time former Attack Fight League Champion who challenged for the World Combat belt at Tsunami. These guys are absolute bonified Island veterans, and the fact that we get to put this on is incredible.Both Laranja and Vader clashed once before. After Serge Ibaka, the current champ, left AFL, the title was vacated. It was Renato and Darth who were selected to compete for it. Vader walked out and immediately rocked Laranja, which many critics believe was the key moment in the fight. Laranja never looked the same, and never looked like he could compose himself. Renato has since defeated Ronald Raygun, Josh Miller and Thaddeus Fitzgerald, three talented fighters. He also traded results with Neil Drake in two contests, and has a pair of defeats at the hands of Serge Ibaka. Darth would go on to be the only man to beat BJ Arnold to date, but dropped his title to Neil Drake in the next fight. He would later win the rubber match against Neil in the fourth round of the Island, but for the second time in his career Vader was defeated by Serge. These guys will be wanting to make a run at the title, and it’s believed that the most impressive victory of all 3 Bantamweight fights on the card will earn the winner the next shot at Ibaka’s championship belt.
Rodrigo Gracie (13-4) Vs Louis Gordon (9-4) – Light Heavyweight
Gracie is another of the multiple former AFL Champions that we have on the roster here tonight. Rodrigo Gracie’s jiu jitsu is tried and tested to the highest level. 13 submission wins, defeating the likes of Alfonso Bebeto, Lock Down, Wo Fi, Bunaidi Pakpahan, Michael Coleman and Eirikur Adalsteinn, Gracie has a gameplan and he is very good at executing it. Outside of an early loss which was later avenged, Gracie has only suffered defeats to fighters at the absolute top. Infact, all three fighters feature later in this card; Jake Theodorou, LightHeavy Weight and most recently Matt Couture. Rodrigo Gracie is going to want to keep himself at the top of this division, and a lot of people think he’ll be able to do it. Louis Gordon plans on putting a spanner in the works here tonight. Gordon’s Highland Games record currently stands at a low 0-2, but if you look at the fights he’s won outside of the org, we can easily see that he has some very dangerous striking. Gordon likes to take the fight into the clinch, and that could be a great gameplan for him as that style trumped Gracie when he clashed with the 205 champion. Gordon will be the underdog in the fight tonight, but emerging victorious will help his stock raise significantly.
Jomlong Kiapoity (11-3) Vs Neil Drake (13-5) – Bantamweight
This is the third of our three amazing Bantamweight fights on the card tonight. Jomlong has so many incredible submission victories and was heavily favoured to be the next title contender before the tournament intervened. During which, Jomlong defeated former HG contender Kip Ruell and former World Combat 135 title holder Bobby Bob Bob. Jomlong’s submission offence is outstanding, but I think there is a real glaring aspect of this fight that he’ll need to tighten up on. Kiapoity has submission losses to both Dan Small and Zakari Moss, and tonight he’s going in there against one of the most dangerous ground fighters in the Bantamweight Division today. Neil The Snake Drake; final AFL Champion, former HG championship contender and submission expert. Drake has some great rivalries with Darth Vader, whom he is now 1-2 against, and Renato Laranja wo currently holds an even record against Drake. Neil is so talented on the ground, and a recent streak of 4 straight armbars shows that no matter if he’s on the top or the bottom, he can end anyone’s night at any time. There’s no secrets where this fight is going to take place, but the question is; which fighter will be able to utilize their submission game quickly enough, and who is the more complete grappler?
Jake Theodorou (13-3) Vs Ludko Struja (10-5) – Light Heavyweight
How many times can we talk about how good Jake Theodorou is, but in the same moment mention his inability to take home the big one? To date, one man has stood in his way; LightHeavy Weight. Jake has easily destroyed 13 opponents, but has 3 cut losses to LHW, two for the title and one in the semi final of the tournament. It’s so unfortunate because to date, it really appears that no one in the world will be able to contend against Jake outside of the champ. You have to think that Jake will be tuning in to the co-main event tonight, dying to be given the opportunity to face Matt Couture for the title as opposed to LHW. Looking through the timeline now, it’s amazing that these men haven’t faced off before. While Jake was inactive for a while, Ludko dominated Highland Games, TKOing five straight to earn a title shot which he was unsuccessful in. Following that chance, Struja was struggling to put two together, defeating great fighters in Rice Aroni and Eirikur Adalsteinn but also losing to Skunk Asap and Mairbek Krylov. The interesting thing about this fight to me is that we’ve never really seen Ludko defeated on the ground. Outside of his debut loss, Ludko has been able to control the ground game against everyone, only showing some slight signs of weakness on the feet. While Jake is certainly the more proven of the two, we don’t actually know how Ludko will look in this one so we’ll sure be tuning in to find out.
Matt Couture (10-1-1) Vs LightHeavy Weight (18-2) – Light Heavyweight
WHAT THE HELL?!?!?! Sorry, I’m still in shock after the tournament. Before we get into how insane everything is, I just want to have a look at Matt Couture’s tourney run. He came into the tournament with two wins over mediocre opponents in Hulk Hogan and Patrick Dean, a draw and a win against Timothy Segura and a decision loss to Talon Axel. While he would likely have been sticking around, no one really thought he would make anything of himself in the division. For example, his coach, the current manager of Renato Laranja and Massimo Benvenuti, dropped him after the loss to Axel. Under new management, he went into the tournament as an underdog. First, he took on Matheus Dubin who keen observers might remember from Highland Games 4 and 9. Dubin was a decent guy but wasn’t really favoured for the fight. None the less, Matt won by TKO in 20 seconds. Next, he was to fight Sergey Vasilyev, a tough guy with a lot of experience in Chaos, Attack Fight League and World Combat. Couture was probably slightly expected to win, but Sergey could have pulled it off. If round 1 wasn’t impressive, Couture landed a spinning back fist just past the first minute to take the fight. It was a nice run, but unfortunately Couture’s luck ran out. He was fighting Rodrigo Gracie, a big favourite. Just 1 minute and 18 seconds passed, and Rodrigo Gracie was looking up at the lights. HUGE upset, but did it stop there? Ludko Struja lasted just 3 minutes, Saintly Fish just over 1 minute, and then came the final; against LightHeavy Weight. LHW joined the tournament at 13-0 and had destroyed absolutely everyone in his run. Joel Nicola, Wo Fi, Aroni, Struja, Theodorou, Adalsteinn, Von Sprockets, Rodrigo Gracie, Scott Mcginty….name after name after name. Things weren’t quite as impressive for LHW as they were for Couture, why? Because we expected him to do it. He easily blew through Kimo Kamino, Hulk Hogan and Chocolate Mousse, entering the Quarter Final. He was taking on Scott Mcginty, whom he had just beat before the tournament began. He was supremely confident, then BOOM. Not even a minute into the fight and Scott tagged him hard. This was the first real time LHW was hurt in his career, but did he crumble? Hell no he didn’t. He responded by instantly clinching and doing what he does best, finishing the fight in the first round. Some felt his confidence might have been shaken, but then he easily defeated Jake Theodorou for a third time. Now we’re back to what we spoke of earlier; the finale. Matt Couture, on an amazing run, Vs one of three absolutely dominant kings of Highland Games, LightHeavy Weight. Couture came out more active on the feet, but LHW threw some shots back to set up his clinch. One minute into the fight, and BOOM. LHW gets hurt once again, does he get the clinch for a second time? NO! Matt Couture lands shot after shot and finished the fight! LightHeavy Weight has been dethroned, Matt Couture reigns supreme. Now, we’re here, it’s the rematch, with the Highland Games title on the line. LHW feels that he made a mistake that he made once before, in his only other loss, and is sure he can defend his belt, and more importantly his reputation, when they clash here tonight. Will Matt Couture do it again, or will LightHeavy Weight exact his revenge?
Mase Force (14-4) Vs Barney Gumble (18-1) – Heavyweight
And now we arrive here at the main event of the evening.
In the preview for their tournament fight, I mentioned how I felt the first fight was insanely close, and how Gumble doesn’t like me saying that because he won 3 of 4 rounds before finishing it in the final one. I think there is no dispute now however. Mase Force was able to put on a striking clinic in their tournament fight, and while Gumble dominated the clinch exchanges, it was Mase who was able to keep the strikes landing. Gumble had a cut forming, one which took some serious damage in their first fight, and by the first round it had exploded, forcing the referee to put a stop to the action. The Island stood still as its greatest fighter to date was defeated. Mase would go on to defeat Chiyono Fuji before losing out to Pedro Lazaro in the final. Like LHW, Gumble didn’t want to sit around and train for months for the rematch. Gumble is absolutely positive that he’s the better fighter, and he wants to put his championship on the line in this rubber match and asset his dominance over the only man ever to contest him. Mase Force is actually an incredibly underrated competitor. He probably was underrated for quite a while. Although his QFC run was fairly good, he took a loss to Andrei Alexeyev just before joining Highland Games, then was submitted by Stefan Struve in his debut for us. He seems like an alright fighter but these two losses didn’t give him a bright future. Next thing you know, he goes on a give fight tear, knocking out Dimentio Boychello, Sailele Lealofi, Chiyono Fuji, Amine Nesquik and Benny Askren, all talented competitors. He would then challenge Gumble for the time, becoming the only man ever to last 4 round against the champion. Although losing out in the tournament has hurt Force bad, he has the confidence that he can beat the best now, and he’ll have to do just that tonight. I think the main question for this fight is; how will Gumble change his gameplan? He has shown to have amazing striking in the past, but really looks outmatched on the feet in trying to box with Force. He is much more comfortable in the clinch where the majority of his fights have been won. So how does Barney Gumble take the fight into the clinch without spending too much time on the feet? Will he switch to a more wrestling style? Maybe focus heavily on countering his opponent and predicting his strategy? I really don’t know what he’s going to change, but I feel he’ll have to do something if he wants to walk out of this fight with the level of dominance he intends to.
This night could be our greatest to date. Some incredible performers will be in action, headlined by two tournament rematches where underdogs were able to upset the champions. All is on the line, so make sure you're right here with us as it enfolds.
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