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 Epicity Productions, in conjunction with the Vendetta fighting alliance, is proud to present EP 26: Essence of Excellence. This mixed martial arts extravaganza will showcase a middleweight title fight as two time defending champion "The Comeback Kid" Lotus Suzinuki faced the gravest challenge of his championship career.
Lotus Suzinuki has become a showcase attraction due to his incredible ability to persevere against insurmountable opposition. Early in his career, Suzinuki faced a series of hardships in and out of the cage; pundits wrote him off as yet another failed prospect that would remembered for what he lacked, rather than what he was capable of becoming. Despite the vicissitudes that had taken over his life, Suzinuki has staged a career resurgance; he has aligned himself with a proper manager, a superior training camp, and has returned to the pinnacle of the sport in spectacular fashion.
When he was given the opportunity to face an opponent to determine who would claim the recently vacated middleweight championship, he took a tremendous step up in competition to meet the challenge. Lotus Suzinuki would face great adversity in his battle for the gold. DeMarcus DeSilva was considered by many to be one of the top grappling prospects in the division at the time of their meeting; indeed, DeSilva would dominate much of the opening two rounds before being felled by the punching power of the soon-to-be middleweight champion of the world.
Lotus Suzinuki made his first bid to defend his newly anointed crown; at EP 18, he faced heavy hitter and former professional boxer Jeremy Smith. Smith was known as much for his knock out power as he was for his ability to talk trash before the fight. Indeed, the two began a war of words during the buildup to their title clash, with both men delivering memorable one-liners across social media. During the fight, the opening two rounds would go to The Challenger; Smith controlled the early goings with his technical striking and excellent footwork, keeping Suzinuki at bay. However, Lotus Suzinuki is always one strike away from altering his fortunes; two minutes into the third round, he would catch Smith with an absolute bell-ringer of a head kick that would put the brash brawler out for the count.
In his most recent championship fight, Lotus Suzinuki faced the reigning GAMMA: Contenders welterweight champion, Tyrone Biggums. A lifelong submission grappler, Biggums had earned his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu when he was only sixteen years old. In addition to his outstanding Jiu-Jitsu, Tyrone Biggums was an accomplished wrestler in his time as well.
The two would meet at EP 23; the Middleweight Champion would seem all but lost in the early goings, as the dangerous Biggums would continuously change levels between takedown attempts, clinch attempts, and heavy handed striking. Suzinuki would spend much of the opening two rounds riding his bicycle as Biggums stalked him across the cage. As is the norm for Lotus Suzinuki, he retaliated with a vengeance in the third round; he would batter, but ultimately fail to finish Biggums in that round. The fourth round would be a very evenly matched, albeit uneventful kick boxing bout, with Tyrone Biggums landing the heavier shots in between feinted takedown attempts.
"Expect the unexpected" should be the motto used to describe every Suzinuki battle. By the three minute mark of the final round, Suzinuki was well on his way to losing his championship to Biggums. But, just as he had done against Jeremy Smith a couple of months prior, Suzinuki proved that he was one swing away from stealing the show. Three minutes into the last round, Lotus Suzinuki connected with a monster head kick that put Tyrone Biggums on the bullet train to unconsciousness. Biggums went down and Suzinuki swarmed on him, forcing the stoppage, and retaining his legend.
Now, "The Comeback Kid" must face "The Next Big Thing", also known as Dublin's own Bobby Shamrock. Shamrock is the former Hilo Fight League welterweight champion with one successful title defense on his resume. Bobby Shamrock has won ten of his has eleven fights, with only two of those fights going the distance. He is known for his incredible stopping power on the feet, but he is an accomplished wrestler as well. His Jiu-Jitsu brown belt ensures that, if this fight goes to the ground, he will be more than capable of avoiding any surprise submission attempts from the champion. In addition, his ground and pound is among the very best in the sport.
Both men are capable of accomplishing great feats in the striking department, but you have to assume that the edge in that department goes towards the challenger, Bobby Shamrock. As for grappling, it remains to be seen; both men are brown belts that are known for their excellent transitions and reversals. Both have submitted an opponent in the past, but would prefer to stand and duke it out with fisticuffs.
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