|
 Vice Versa (5-2) Vs Yuki Masakazu (7-3) - Bantamweight
Been quite hard to get Vice a fight recently, but he's always there and he's always game to fight. After his HG debut put him in the green, he's gonna have a tough time against a guy with a lot of Highland Games experience. Like many guys,Yuki seems to be destined to be a lower card guy. He's a good fighter who has beat a lot of guys, but he's fell every time he's been the underdog. He should be the favourite here so we'll see if that makes a difference.
Dan Sten (14-8) Vs Zakari Moss (14-11) - Bantamweight
Two time title contender Dan Sten had never lost two in a row in his career. He's lost his last 3. It's been a harsh taste of reality for the clinch expert who 's still been fighting at a solid level but hasn't really been having any success. Some may be calling for retirement in the near future for Sten, but he's got a winnable fight here to keep himself relevant. Moss lost to Sten at HG 64 as he couldn't deal with the clinch. Moss will be trying to pull guard to get this on the mat where his submissions skills will come in to play, but Moss has won just twice at this level; against Jomlong Kiapoity at HG 49 and against Nikolai Medvedev for the UXC Title. It's been a long time, so we'll see if Moss has a big win left in him.
Edgar Cano (7-4) Vs Tim Woods (12-7-1) - Lightweight
Cano's a solid submission guy, but in his last two fights he was outmatched by superior grapplers. This is his first time facing a decent striker in a bit so that might be good for him. Woods isn't too far removed from a career high performance against Ska Asap, but throughout his career he's never been able to take a step up. If Woods has a weakness, it'd be on the mat, so he'll have to be intelligent to keep this one on the feet and work his reasonable boxing abilities.
Ty Semerad (13-4) Vs Clark Kent (10-7) - Middleweight
Two fights who are fairly uninspiring inside the cage. Ty has proven himself to be a capable jiu jitsu player but smart opponents have been able to nullify everything he brings to the table with relative ease. This has only happen when he's stepped up though, and Kent is certainly not a step up. When Clark was sent a renegotiating contract after his fight with Frank Lopez in which he was victorious, he was surprised to even still be on the roster. He's made the most of it though and is coming off of a first round TKO win over Walter Mattos. With a 33% win percentage inside the Highland Games cage, Kent is really gonna have to refocus his game if he wants to ever become a contender.
Jakub Stepniewski (6-0) Vs Cordell Walker (6-2) - Middleweight
Two brighter talents here. It's taken Jakub less than two minutes to earn two Submission of the Night bonuses under the HG banner and he's starting to make a name for himself. If he can pull off a W in this fight, he'd be expected to be edging towards contendership in the near future. Walker is no stranger to awards either. With 3 fight of the night bonuses and a KO of the night in just 5 contests, Walker is a must see competitor. Walker likes to knock people out, but with a BJJ Purple Belt he won't be a push over if it spills to the floor.
Dave Kopp (9-1) Vs Dale La Grande (12-6) - Bantamweight
Two strong imports from other organisations. Kopp is a former ECFC and undisputed LGP Champion, the latter being at Featherweight, while La Grande is a Hall of Famer and two time champion from SPI Helsinki at Lightweight. It's difficult for him in HG, with a 1-4 record in his last 5, along with a switch in management, La Grande's been struggling to make a spalsh in the division. Coming off of his first win, he'll have regained a bit of confidence, but we'll need to see how good Kopp really is to know how far he'll go.
Leonid Panteleev (13-5) Vs Harry Holiday (8-0) - Light Heavyweight
Leonid, managed by the team team as Alexey Juralev, Pyotr Korobeikin, Itshak Rabinovitch, Eugene Sandov and Carl Sheppards, has been on our radar for a very long time. A former SFC champion, Panteleev will be looking to bring his wild brawling style to the HG cage and make a splash early in the division. After Skunk Asap failed to respond to the fight offer, Harry Holiday stepped up. Holiday is fairly new to the game, but has made a big impact in his early moments in the organisation. With 4 straight wins, 4 KOs, and his most recent being over a big name in Black Coleman, if he can pull the upset out of the bag here, we might see Holiday secure the death wish that is a title shot against LightHeavy Weight.
Louis Gordon (15-9) Vs Jimmie Craig (17-10) - Light Heavyweight
Two really experienced guys here looking to get back on winning ways. Gordon recently dropped two for the first time in a long time, but in his defence it was to two really talented fighters. Gordon doesn't have anything to prove. We know he's right up there in the division and his record tells the whole story. Jimmie Craig has tasted gold, something Gordon never has, but to be fair it was against weaker opposition. He is a former World Combat Champion and challenged for it once more after losing it. His last two fights have been against the Highland Games elite and it's much of the same here. Craig won't be released off of a loss because of the level of guys he's fighting, but you have to think he'll want at least a crack at the title after having such a long and successful career outside of the org.
Jake Theodorou (19-6-1) Vs Texas Pete (13-1) - Light Heavyweight
BEAT HIM TEXAS...BEAT HIM! Jake's a constant thorn in my side. A guy with tonnes of hype, but much more talent. He faces up and comers and potential challengers, beats them, and we're stuck with no one to fight LightHeavy Weight. While at first glance, people might think "That's just because they're both managed by Ivan Drago and can't fight each other". That would be true, but Jake had fought LHW THREE times before switching management, losing all 3 easily to the champ. None the less, Jake's on a destructive four fight winning streak and I'm begging for someone to take a bit of that hype away haha. Texas was streamlined to the title after being a long time champion in LGP. He was unsuccessful against LHW, but he bounced back with a really impressive first round TKO of Louis Gordon. Beating Gordon was probably the best win of his career, but Jake is another level up as well and he'll be dying to get back in the cage and look for another title shot in the near future.
Vinnie Longworth (14-4) Vs Darth Vader (23-4) - Bantamweight Championship
Just looking at those records, you can see a clear difference in experience. That being said, Vinnie's put four together and recently stopped Neil Drake. This is a pretty big thing because Vader has clashed with Drake twice, exchanging victories and going the distance both times. Vinnie has done something Vader hasn't, so that means we could be in for an upset win here. Vinnie left ECFC as the Featherweight Champion and although he stumbled in his debut against Jack Stick, he's undefeated since. Vader came out of nowhere for us. After is was established that he couldn't get past Serge Ibaka, he came in as a huge underdog against BJ Arnold. He completely outclassed Arnold, and even though he'd previously defeated BJ it wasn't expected that he'd do it again. Since then, it's just been pure domination for Vader who's not only a brilliant kick boxer, but he's also extremely capable off of his back. A win in this fight would level Vader up with Ibaka's all time Bantamweight Title Defence record. How amazing would it be to do Ibaka Vs Vader after this if that situation comes about? Let's not think too far ahead :D. Most likely Ibaka won't be around and BJ Arnold will get his trilogy rematch with Vader, still a great fight. Wait, did I just rule out the dude who KOed Neil Drake in one round out? How foolish am I?
Article views:
206
» Donate to this author |
