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 Hello and welcome to this preview for Highland Games 77. The card is going to be headlined by the rubber match between Massimo Benvenuti and Arnavut Sevket. This is going to be a fight for the ages between two of the most technical and intelligent strikers in the game. Let’s take a look.
Michael Thigpen (3-1) Vs John Pinaglabanan (6-2) – Bantamweight
Michael is coming off the first loss of his career so he’ll be looking to kick his Highland Games run off to a good start. He will try and use a ground and pound based style in this fight, but his recent failures in training have led to him looking very bad on the scales. John Pinaglabanan was on an impressive 6 fight win streak when he joined HG. In the organisation, he faced two top guys in Dan Sten and Darth Vader. Unfortunately he lost both, but in going the distance with these he is sure to have a lot of confidence in a fight at this level.
Pat Rachi (3-0) Vs Narikaev Ruslan (4-0) – Middleweight
Pat had an incredible start to his Highland Games run with a Superman Punch knockout of Peter Green which earned him a post-fight bonus. Now he’ll look to continue the momentum with a stoppage in this fight. Ruslan has had four straight stoppages thus far, with his latest being under HG’s banner. As a top prospect in the company, he’s really got a lot of pressure on his shoulders and he’ll have a difficult challenge in this one.
Bernardo Goncalves (3-0) Vs Tom Hebster (3-0) – Lightweight
Another set of undefeated up and comers will clash on the preliminary card here. Bernardo is 1-0 in the company, going the distance with Filip Wieclaw. He likes to take the fight down, landing strikes and looking for submissions, so expect the same in this one. Hebster fought in KVT and was the Lightweight Champion when the company fell. He’ll be taking a big step up in competition over here, but if he can get past Bernardo he might just put together enough momentum to make a legitimate run.
Nobukiri Nakajima (4-1) Vs Jose Gatmaitan (3-0) – Heavyweight
Japan’s Nobukiri went into the final of an independent tournament before submitting due to strikes. While this would break some fighters, he came back with a 30 second stoppage, showing that he has the determination to overcome setbacks and give opponents hell no matter what. Jose Gatmaitan has not only not submitted to strikes, but he forced another man to during his undefeated three fight run. Jose has a lot of power in both hands and when he lands on opponent’s chins, he expects them to fall.
Gaius Octavius (5-4) Vs Rimario Gracie (4-3) – Light Heavyweight
Gaius entered HG with a big task on his hands; fighting Louis Gordon. As expected, he was unable to get the job done, but with Gordon fighting in the main card tonight, it’s no surprise that this happened. Octavius is a highly capable submission expert and he’ll look to put another submission win in the books here. Looking to oppose this is fellow submissionist Rimario Gracie. With an uninspired 1-2 in the company, Gracie will really need to focus in this fight if he wants to put together a legitimate run and ever hit the top of the division.
Rama Udo (7-1) Vs John Smith (7-2) – Lightweight
Rama is an extremely highly touted prospect, joining Highland Games after reigning as the Choke Lightweight and Welterweight champion. Although he’s coming off of the first professional loss of his career to Taisto Anttila, Rama is very confident that he is going to bring a lot to the table in this company and vows to bring his versatile kickboxing abilities with him. John Smith is also a new signing for the company, also being a new fighter in owner Callum McGregor’s stable. After an impressive run in both the independents and out in Brazil, Smith has joined our circle. He suffered a loss to Jordan Ellis in World Combat, and this is potentially an even more difficult fight for him.
Chiyono Fuji (10-4) Vs Garcia Vega (10-4) – Heavyweight
There aren’t many Highland Games veterans with the longevity of Chiyono Fuji. He kicked off his career with a 5 second KO at Highland Games 1, and quickly became the organisation’s go-to man for post fight bonuses. Although he hasn’t earned one in his last three outings, the potential is always there. Fuji has lost back to back fights for the first time in his career, but at the same time these losses were to two of the best fighters in the entire division. Fuji’s striking is something to be feared, but he has a hungry prospect across from him tonight.
Vega might not have had the same publicity on The Island as Fuji, but he had a nice career all the same. In his Highland Games debut, he scored a massive win over Sailele Lealofi which earned Knockout of the Night. A solid striker, Vega has the perfect fight for his style in this one, but the same can easily be said for his opponent. This has Fight of the Night written all over it.
Teuvo Loman (10-1) Vs Louis Gordon (10-5) – Light Heavyweight
This should be a clinch masterclass, and the perfect test for both of these guys to fight LightHeavy Weight in the future. Loman was the king of 205 on The Island for a short time but a long bout of inactivity cut his training time. Losing his first fight back to the champ, Loman has kept his name relevant with a big win over Matt Couture in his last fight. While Loman is looking to rebuild a shot at the title, Gordon is still searching for his first crack at the belt.
Gordon was an extremely impressive AFL fighter but didn’t have the same success over here. He recently rebounded against two lower level fighters but this is his first time stepping back up to the top level once again. A win would probably secure Gordon a shot at the 205 title which is what he’s been dreaming of for his entire career. This is going to be an extremely close fight and a complete pick em as to who is going to emerge victorious.
Rodrigo Gracie (14-5-1) Vs Jake Theodorou (14-4-1) – Light Heavyweight
This is the third time these two fight, but things just get more and more interesting. In their first clash, Jake destroyed Gracie on the ground instantly. In the rematch, Gracie managed to use some impressive ground sweeps to keep the scales even, with the fight going to a draw. There is unfinished business in the midst here and it’s going to be really interesting to see if either have been able to make the relevant adjustments in their game to tip the balance. Gracie is an absolute master of submissions while Jake is a wrestling phenom.
This seems like it would edge to Rodrigo then as the fight would fall into his wheelhouse quickly, but Jake is so tricky to put away that he has been able to maintain the top position and beat his foe up, avoiding submissions every time. The thing that’s most interesting to me is the idea that one of these two might change something up and work on some strikes. On paper, it appears that Gracie might be the better striker so if he can chip away with a few punches before the fight spills to the canvas, it might look good in the eyes of the judges.
Massimo Benvenuti (18-4) Vs Arnavut Sevket (15-2) – Middleweight Championship
And yet another rubber match main events for us this evening. Massimo Benvenuti looks to become the first three time champion in Highland Games history by fighting against Arnavut Sevket. When they first clashed, Massimo was able to use his tremendous clinch game to land the more effective strikes, making it difficult for Sevket to get too much offence off. In their next clash, Arnavut switched to a more wrestling based game and was able to finish the fight rapidly with ground and pound.
Both have looked really solid since the last time they fought, with Massimo defeating the likes of Jonah Sorentino, Rodrigo Rojas and Razor MuayThai and Sevket not only winning the end of season tournament, but also the Highland Games and World Combat Middleweight Championships. This fight is absolutely huge and will be extremely tactical. Massimo will probably have the advantage in the striking while Sevket is going to have the better wrestling. The clinch game will be very interesting but pundits seem to give the nod to the challenger in that game. The one who can dictate the pace of this fight will be the winner I think, so it’s one that can’t be missed.
So this card is going to be great. That’s the short hand. Yet another card we have is going to be filled with an interesting mix of prospects and veterans of the game. Championships are on the line and yet again Camden is going to be in for a night of some violent and entertaining mixed martial arts.
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