2015-07-27
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SPNY 269: Semerkhet vs Lopez 2

Event Preview: SPNY 269: Smerkhet vs Lopez 2
Steel Penn - ICON
2015-08-01, New York, Empire Indoor Arena
Author:James Isaac Abraham

SPNY 269
Semerkhet vs Lopez 2
 
PREVIEW
 
We all enjoyed another night of MMA in the NY Liberty Dome last July 25, 2015 (Saturday) in SPNY 268. We witnessed 9 great MMA matches, 6 of which ending with a finish. On August 1, 2015 (Saturday), let's all head to Empire Indoor Arena, NY to see another series of SPNY matches. Book your tickets now so you won't miss a chance to see 2 title matches in a single event and a bunch of great fighters, mostly featherweights competing against each other. 
 
Now, let's go over the card for SPNY 269
 
PRELIMINARY CARD
 

Lightweight bout

Darren "Vampire" Bloodlust (3-0-0) vs Luke "Low Morale" Milner (5-1-0)
 
Two purple BJJ grapplers with winning records will try to outclass each other in this one with Milner having a slight wrestling advantage. This one may go either way.
 
Prediction: Milner via 2nd round sub

 
Featherweight bout

Andrew Olson (3-4-0) vs Sean Robinson (11-11-0)
 
23 year old underdog Andrew Olson will test his talents as he faces a superior fighter in Sean Robinson. Olson's chances depend if the fight goes to the ground.
 
Prediction: Robinson via 1st round TKO
 

Featherweight bout

Desean Bryant (7-7-0) vs Sean "Winger" Richards (13-9-0)
 
Bryant's 5 losing streak got cleared and now he faces Richards who is now 5-1 in his recent matches. Richards' got the slight skill advantage, specially in MT.
 
Prediciton: Richards via decision
 

Light Heavyweight bout

Stromile Farseer (24-14-0) vs Terry "The Mercenary" Smith  (23-23-0)
 
Both skilled fighters are evenly matched but Farseer's morale problems might pose a problem in this one
Prediction: Smith via 2nd round TKO
 

 
Middleweight bout

Dave Klincko (18-12-1) vs Emory Majors (21-22-0)
 
These are two very experienced fighters that are proficient in the ground but Klincko's got a superior MT over Majors so that will be key in this one. 
 
Prediction:: Klincko via decision
 

MAIN CARD
 
Featherweight bout

Nick "Fundamental" Evans (15-7-0) vs Ceasar Morgan (16-8-1)
 
Both fighters are used to winning but Evans' got a better chance in this one as he is a purple belt BJJ submission specialist with a better standup game against Morgan who only has his brown belt BJJ. Evans can grab some points with striking and try to grapple if he gets taken down. Morgan's chances are not slim though as he's a proven submission artist (12 of 18 subs).

 
Prediction: Evans via decision
 
Featherweight bout

Ichabod "Hessians" Crane (16-10-0) vs Alexandr "Mean Machine " Nikitin (8-6-0)
 
We've surely got a significant popularity and hype gap in this one as Ichabod Crane, who's got tremendous KO power (16 of 16 KOs, never been to round 3) will face a low profile fighter in Alexandr Nikitin. If Crane avoids Nikitin's takedowns, he can own the match with his superior striking (despite his 0 TKO loss record) but if Nikitin manages to do so, he can very well outclass Crane with his wrestling and red belt BJJ and submit him (Crane's been submitted 7 times). This will result to a significant hype boost if Nikitin wins.
 
Prediction: Crane via 1st round TKO

 
Featherweight bout

Keiran "Corky" Corkhill (14-11-0) vs Burley "Black Bart" Haines (17-5-2)
 
Corkhill is obviously the underdog in this one as he faces Haines, who's superior in both wrestling and BJJ. Both fighters have proven to submit opponents (Corkhil 13/14 subs, Haines 13/17 subs) but Haine's has never been submitted before, surely because of his black belt in BJJ. What are Corkhill's chances in this one? Not sure but it's certainly low. 
 
Prediction: Haines via 1st round sub

 
CO-MAIN EVENT
 
Light Heavyweight Title Match
 

 
Randall "Cobra" Cunningham (26-14-1) vs Alexandr Romanov (32-13-0) 
 

   VS   
 
And now for the Co-Main event of the evening, the SP-ICON NY Light Heavyweight Title Match! The champion Randall Cunningham looks to defend his title for the first time since winning it SPNY 265. The challenger Alexandr Romanov, also a former SPNY Light Heavyweight champion will try to regain his belt since losing it in SPNY 253. By the looks of each fighter's form, Cunningham looks splendid as he's on a 9-0 feat. Romanov's got some ups and downs recently as he is 6-4 in his past matches. 

 
Romanov is a double elite standup fighter but the champion is not that far with elite boxing and sensational MT. They could either have a striking/clinching match or Cunning could opt to use his superior wrestling over Romanov. If we talk about KO power both fighters have it (Cunningham 16/26 TKOs, Romanov 26/32 TKOs) but Cunningham seems to be tougher as he's only been TKO'd thrice in his career compared to Romanov's 8. Will there be a new champion or will Cunningham achieve a 10-0 feat and successfully defend his title?
 
Prediction: Cunningham via 2nd round TKO

 
Featherweight Title Match
 
Malakai "Scorpion King" Semerkhet (21-4-0) vs Pedro "The Monster Of The Andes" Lopez (13-5-0) 
   VS   
 

For the main event, we present one of the best featherweights of the world, Semerkhet (Ranked 4 among featherweights in the world, 50 P4P). He's a familiar face in the featherweight throne in SPNY (He's spent his whole career in SPNY). Semerkhet is a 3 time SPNY featherweight champion and he's defending his title for the 6th time since winning it in SPNY 237. His opponent on the other hand, Pedro Lopez has been a long time SPNY fighter and got a title shot once but failed to grab the belt.
 
Both fighters have met way back when Semerkhet defended his title against Lopez. In their last match, Lopez was too aggressive and Semerkhet found an opening for a guillotine in the 3rd round. However, that may not be the case now because  Lopez earned his BJJ black belt, which means submitting him again would be difficult. How the champ plays the standup game will be his key in winning this one, while Lopez's key will be taking the champ down and try to submit him using his superior BJJ.
 
Both fighters are finishers (Semerkhet 18/21 finishes, Lopez 10/13 finishes) so we can expect a great fight ending in a finish. However, both fighters are also tough, since Semerkhet has never been finished before, and Lopez was finished only once in his career and it was by Semerkhet's submission. You surely don't want to miss this one!

Prediction: Semerkhet via 3rd round TKO
That's all for SPNY 269! See you there!

 

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