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 Who doesn’t love to see heavyweights fight? It’s awesome. But for smaller fighters, it takes an entirely different skill set and knowledge of the game. More physical skills are on show and in demand in the Bantamweight division and tonight we’ll get to see every single one of them, headlined by the best of them all; Darth Vader, as he defends the belt against Dan “Bull” Sten.
Bantamweight
Long Wang (6-1) (2-1 HG) Vs Yolo Yolovski (6-3) (2-3 HG)
Sadly, it was one step too far for Long Wang when he clashed with Dan Sten last time out. Dropping back to the undercard, Wang wants to rebuild a run at the top, this time taking things a little bit slower. Yolo has struggled to impress since he made his debut in Highland Games, but his career was highlighted by two submission victories. A loss here could put his position in jeopardy so he needs to rise to the occasion on Saturday night.
Lightweight
Warren Parker (9-4) (2-2 HG) Vs Edgar Cano (5-1) (0-0 HG)
War Room has been a middle of the road fighter in Highland Games. He’s defeated two fleeting veterans, but been dominated by the rising challengers. Parker knows how to implement his gameplan and work against his opponent’s strengths and he’ll want to do that again tonight. This is a big chance for Cano who’s probably considered a slight underdog here. Cano has 5 submission wins to his name and will want to drag this to the floor, but Parker is no slouch on the mat either.
Bantamweight
Dan Phillips (6-0) (1-0 HG) Vs Luke Plouman Jnr (5-1) (1-0 HG)
Dan Phillips made an early statement with a submission of the night victory over Mikhail Golovkin at Highland Games 90. None the less, Dan had to overcome a very scary moment as he was crumbling under the barrage of Golovkin’s strikes. Plouman also won at HG 90 with a submission and looked a much more dominant in doing so. The fight lasted only 35 seconds before Luke won by way of kimura. Two jiu jitsu brown belts going toe to toe here, or chest to chest I guess, so let’s see who’s grappling is superior.
Lightweight
JJ Lycka (10-8) (2-5 HG) Vs Jason Smith (12-9) (2-5 HG)
Here we see two BJJ brown belts her…..wait a second how many BJJ brown belts are fighting each other on this card? It’s been a hell of a run for both guys, but I mean that in the bad sense. With a combined 3-8 since leaving The Island, these guys have fell behind the likes of Rama Udo and Taisto Anttila to fade into the background. Both guys are very dangerous submission experts, sharing 15 tap outs between them, but earlier in Lycka’s career we saw a bit more versatility with his implementation of ground and pound. The most surprising thing of both fighters for me is that Jason Smith is apparently a very talented boxer. We’ve never really seen that inside the cage so maybe this will be the fight for him to showcase it.
Bantamweight
Kusi Amuo (8-5) (2-2 HG) Vs Jack Stick (13-7) (4-3 HG)
Kusi was released from Highland Games after a 1-1 record, the first two fights of his career, but he was released due to a little bit of inactivity from his manager. He would then go on to have a solid career in World Combat, even challenging for the title and scoring a win over Bobby Bob Bob along the way before signing up with HG. So far he’s went 1-1, beating Tom Noisy and then losing to John Pinaglabanan. Kusi wants to make an impact in HG but he’ll need to start putting them together to become a contender.
Jack Stick split from his managed following The Island season. He then signed with JJ Media and had three fights inside World Combat. He then changed manager once again and fought twice in IFC, losing both fights. Stick was known inside HG as a dominant ground and pound expert and the highlight of his career was when he challenged Don Killuminati for the title at HG 3O. Stick comes to fight every time and I know he’s always enjoyed fighting in our organisation. Now managed by Andrew Rock, Jack wants to pick up right where he left off and start taking fighters down and beating them up once again.
Lightweight
Marx Bronson (8-1) (2-1 HG) Vs Roberto Silva (9-4) (1-0 HG)
Brown belt Marx is fighting brow…..okay this is getting to be ridiculous. How the hell do I keep writing about the stylistic match ups when every damn guy is a BJJ Brown Belt? Jeez. Well Marx got caught off guard against former champ Mustafa Shabazz but outside of that he’s won 8 of his fights, all by first round submission. While he’s outstanding with his submissions, you have to wonder if he might be open to getting caught again.
Roberto Silva, who needed just 45 seconds to tap out John Smith in his promotional debut, has never been submitted but he’s been TKOed twice. We aren’t really expecting to see Bronson look to land too much on the feet so Silva will be happy to fight a fellow jiu jitsu practitioner. Silva was the ROV featherweight champion back in the promotion’s early days and is looking to recreate that success inside the Highland Games cage. Bronson will be one of the hardest challengers of Silva’s 13 fight career so he’ll relish the opportunity to raise his game.
Middleweight
Razor MuayThai (11-7) (10-4 HG) Vs Itshak Rabinovitch (8-3) (2-0 HG)
The old guard clashes with a brand new up in comer in this fight. On one side we’ve got Razor MuayThai, a former Middleweight Champion who’s defeated some names like Aleksandar Mihaylov, Piotr Wyspianski, Massa Hurmaaja and San Terra throughout his 18 fight career. He’s fought at Middleweight, Light Heavyweight, Heavyweight and Super Heavyweight, challenging for titles in 3 of the 4 weight classes. Against him is Russia’s Itshak Rabinovitch. Itshak joined Highland Games on a two fight losing streak, but wins over Marcus Warring and former Light Heavyweight Champion Rodrigo Rojas has put him instantly into an extremely advantageous position and a win here could well secure him a title shot on Highland Games’ biggest card ever.
Razor came to Highland Games as part of an elite stable of fighters who were managed by ZyD XyD. Despite losing his debut, he put together an incredible 7 fight win streak before dropping his belt to the man who currently holds it, Massimo Benvenuti. Razor’s career is litted with knockouts and stunning head kicks. His striking is one of the best we have ever seen, but it wasn’t enough when he recently lost to Jon Askren and Rodrigo Rojas. A comeback KO over Clark Kent brings him into this fight, but a loss would be devastating to Razor’s hopes of every competing for the belt again.
Itshak is about as well rounded as it gets. His kickboxing is brilliant and as we saw in the fight with Rojas, he can get up off of his back extremely well and he can break the clinch like a counter wrestling phenom. While Razor is more about the knockout, Rabinovitch uses leg kicks to work his opponent down and set up some straight shots on the chin. It’s all about control for the Russian, but he’ll want to keep himself out of distance of MuayThai tonight.
Middleweight
Rodrigo Rojas (12-7) (8-6 HG) Vs Jon Askren (10-2) (3-1 HG)
The two men to put RazorMuayThai behind them on the card going toe to toe to see who can remain at the top of the division. Razor could well be the biggest win Rojas has scored since he won the 205 title at HG 18, but his momentum was stifled when he failed to out grapple Itshak Rabinovitch last time out.
Askren, a training partner of the champion, is a very small Middleweight but utilizes his lower centre of gravity to get under his opponent’s legs and drag the fight to the floor. Askren has looked incredible in Highland Games, uses his ground and pound to pummel the competition. His last fight saw him defeated by Massa Hurmaaja, who’s probably the best submission fighter the division has, so we’re coming into this fight off the back of a few questions.
Rojas has 5 submission of the night victories and is always extremely dangerous both on the top and off of his back. Only Jack Sock and Massa Hurmaaja have ever out grappled him, but tonight could see that happen again. Askren is the best wrestler we’ve seen at Middleweight and although he was caught by Massa, his ground control is usually as controlled and dominant as it gets. We have also seen toughness from Jon like we haven’t seen from many others as he was dropped hard by Razor MuayThai and still managed to get the takedown and win in the first round.
So like the fight that came before, it’s a chiselled veteran against a new generation of Highland Games fighters. Askren is right there with Rama Udo and Taisto Anttila in the best new faces we’ve seen in HG, but he’s going to be taking the fight to the floor against a capable submission expert which is never a safe place to be.
Bantamweight
Renato Laranja (15-6) (5-4 HG) Vs BJ Arnold (15-3) (1-2 HG)
Annnnnnnnnnd it’s the co main event of the evening. The 135 division brings us Renato Laranja, a comedian and joker by day but one of the most dominant and effective submission practitioners in the world by night. He will take on BJ Arnold, one of the most dominant Bantamweights The Island has ever seen with the most impressive kicking ability you’re going to see live.
First I want to acknowledge the men who have beat Renato. Darth Vader took his Bantamweight title at AFL Tie Her Down some time back. He’d then lose to Serge Ibaka in a title fight for the HG 135 belt. Neil Drake would tie up the record between the two and then Ibaka and Vader would get another win each. Renato dropped his third loss to Vader at HG 87, his last fight, which was for the 135 title. If you’re wondering why I’m just throwing out names here, it’s because of the quality. Darth Vader is our champion, so 3 losses to him is nothing to be embarrassed about. Serge Ibaka was even more dominant than Vader, so there’s no shame in two Ls to him either. Lastly was the Neil Drake fight, which really is a complete pick um since both are incredible submission fighters. Renato Laranja is as legit as it gets. If you’re not the best, you shouldn’t be in the cage with him. He even scored a win over our main eventing number one contender Dan Sten tonight, proving how legit Laranja is.
Then you’ve got BJ Arnold. We’ll take a look at his losses as well. Darth Vader fended him off at AFL The Rapture in his first title shot of the promotion. After winning the HG title at HG 75, Vader would again score a win over him in a title fight. The most surprising, and perhaps the most important coing into this clash, is his last outing. No one believed it when Dan Small scored one of the biggest upsets in Highland Games history, submitting Arnold in just 4 minutes. Arnold is PISSED about this loss. He was okay with the Arnold fights. He isn’t too bothered about the Vader fights because it’s a fighter who just had his number at times, but Small never should have been able to take him down in BJ’s mind so he’s really out to prove a point here against a more proven jiu jitsu competitor.
Renato wants to take this down and submit him. It’s simple. Dan Small could do it, Renato Laranja could do it. BJ Arnold however has a lot more tools at his disposal. He is strong in the clinch but no way he wants to risk being pulled guard on. BJ wants to keep on the outside and sap Renato’s energy with the body kicks. From there, he’ll try to incorporate his hands or maybe a head kick. I’m so excited for this fight because both are looking to make a major statement and are probably the hungriest guys on the card tonight.
Bantamweight Championship
Dan Sten (13-4) (11-3 HG) Vs Darth Vader (18-4) (5-0 HG)
And now it’s here. Dan “Bull” Sten competes with Darth Vader for the Highland Games Bantamweight Championship.
If I was to pick someone I didn’t want to fight out of everyone we’ve seen, it’d be Dan Sten. Sure, Jason Barrett or Chiyono Fuji are gonna knock me out, but Dan isn’t. That’s boring to him. What Dan Sten wants to do is stuck your back on the cage and knee your ribs through your back. He absolutely destroys a fighter’s cardio level with those knees and he’s been so effective throughout his entire career at landing them. He’s picked up a few losses, such as a TKO to BJ Arnold or a Triangle against Renato Laranja, but his current 3 fight win streak is what’s brought him here to this second title opportunity of his career. Dan didn’t feel he was ready when he got the Serge Ibaka fight and he was completely right, but now it’s different. Now Dan Sten is confident and believes in his techniques. Perhaps the absolute domination over Jomlong Kiapoity, Long Wang and Dominance Zelditeez are what’s made Dan Sten believe in himself a bit better, but either way he’s coming into this cage and fully expects to leave as the new world Bantamweight Champion.
*Deep Breath*…..Jet Hemi, Tom Franks, Neil Drake, Renato Laranja, BJ Arnold, John Pinaglabanan and Jomlong Kiapoity. Two time AFL Bantamweight Champion. World Combat Bantamweight Championship challenger and current Highland Games Bantamweight Champion. Need I say more? I guess I have to. Darth Vader and Dan Sten have some similarities in their approach, it’s all about control. 11 of Vader’s victories have come by way of unanimous decision. He hasn’t been TKOed since November last year, he hasn’t been submitted since January, and he can do absolutely everything inside that cage. Brilliant kickboxing, great ground and pound and a fantastic clinch, you really need to be something special to outshine the champion. Even if you think you’re going to submit him, he’s got a BJJ Purple Belt so how exactly do you go about going that? Darth Vader, who has 5 wins and no losses inside the Highland Games cage, is as legitimate as it gets.
This card is absolutely nuts folks. The Bantamweight division will particularly be on show and I’m excited as hell to see how it pans out. As a promoter, I’m thinking of what fighters are worthy of the honour of being at Highland Games 100, our first PPV event, so man I’m excited as hell to see who stands out.
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