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T145 London is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by ~* Trinity *~, in conjunction with Hellbent Clothing and Hoarseplay Writing Productions, on June 3rd, 2016. This showcase attraction will take place at the Wombley Arena in London, England.
(Welterweight Championship bout) Rustam Kersikov(c) (28-11) versus Chief Tappenahomma (16-4-2)
(Preview)
Rustam Kersikov is one of the very few true elites in the world of mixed martial arts; he started out as an amateur wrestler that was simply looking for an extracurricular method of training to stay in shape between Olympic trials. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu became a natural fit for the lifelong collegiate wrestler, and it didn't take long for Kersikov to begin training in boxing as well. It was quickly found that Kersikov, a consumate athlete, was an absolute natural in striking; his sense of timing and distance had training partners accusing him of having a background in boxing.
With two years remaining until the next Olympic games, Rustam decided that he may as well try his hand at professional mixed martial arts; what could it hurt, right? What was supposed to be a temporary hobby turned into an addiction for Rustam Kersikov, and he soon found himself looking to compete on the world stage in a new art.
Rustam made his MMA debut in a QFC bout, where he defeated Davy Arnaund via unanimous decision. He immediately joined the Ring of Fire promotion, with no real intention of going further than a few fights on the undercard. Always looking to expand his abilities, Rustam put a special stamp on his ROF debut when he knocked out Jackson Rivera with a head kick just forty-eight seconds into the first round.
Due to his wealth of prior experience in other sports, Rustam was given a very high profile, albeit declining veteran in Tim Story. Tim was a former college wrestler that had obtained a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu; to call his ground game elite would be a tremendous understatement. Story dominated the fight with tricky takedowns before submitting Kersikov with a second round triangle choke. Rustam Kersikov vowed to never submit to another man as long as he lived, dedicating a great deal of his free time to Jiu-Jitsu practice.
Rustam went on a three fight winning streak, putting his ever improving striking skills on display with brutal stoppages; his explosive wrestling base provided more than adequate power for smashing opponents into the ground, and gave him an extra push to his attacks as well.
At ROF 24, Rustam was given the rematch that he so sorely desired: he would face Tim Story once again, but this time the bantamweight title would be on the line.
After surviving an early takedown from Story, Kersikov pushed him against the cage when back on the feet, hammering the former college wrestler with short punches, hurting him badly in the process. Tim Story survived the round on shakey knees and came back to dominate the second round via an early takedown. In the third round, Kersikov began to take over the match, battering Story on the feet. In the final round, an exhausted and concussed Tim Story succumbed to a constant barrage of strikes against the cage, covering up as he fell to his butt, forcing the referee to step in to protect him. With this win, Rustam Kersikov solidified himself as the ROF bantamweight champion.
Rustam wouldn't renew his contract with Ring of Fire, instead leaving the promotion in search of a greater challenge in the sport of MMA. He fought in the Eternal Rivals promotion, winning one of three bouts in that time. He cited the tremendous cut to bantamweight as the primary antagonist in his awful training camps.
After firing his shoddy management, whom had pushed the cuts on him, he signed with a new team. After attempting a series of trial weight cuts, Rustam decided to fight at his natural weight of 170 lbs; he knew that he wouldn't have such a size advantage, but he felt that he was strong enough to dominate the welterweight landscape.
Under his newest management team, Rustam felt on top of the world; he fought twice for The Evil Empire, going 1-1 with two unanimous decisions, and then fought three times for Cornell Cage Fighting, winning one of three bouts. Following a disagreement with his new management, Rustam Kersikov once again changed teams to a more likeminded management group, whom he would remain with for the rest of his career.
After going undefeated across three fights in the Honor FC promotion, Rustam was ready to dive back into the deep waters; he signed to fight for Ascension, and after a rocky start, went on a four fight winning streak, tearing through the welterweight division.
Rustam challenged reigning Ascension welterweight champion Shinichi Onizuka for the right to sit on the throne. The fight took place at Ascension 334, and Onizuka would dominate virtually every facet of the fight, with Kersikov only winning one of five rounds.
Despite the devastation of losing in his bid to claim a champion's gold, Rustam was not dismayed; he knew that the opportunity would come around again. He finished out his contract with Ascension and signed up with EVOLUTION, a promotion which was considered a rival to Ascension.
Although he went through an awkward phase of winning two and losing two, going 2-4 in that window, he remained unfazed as he continued to hone his skills and perfect his craft. He ended his run with EVOLUTION on a three fight winning streak, including victories over former world champions in Bobby Digital and Igor Yakovchenko.
Next, Rustam Kersikov signed with Trinity, besting Omar Boulami in his promotional debut. Due to his five fight winning streak and championship history, Rustam was given the next shot at four time Trinity welterweight champion of the world Carlos Centurion.
The opening round was essentially a kick boxing match, with Kersikov edging the reigning champion very slightly on points. Centurion absolutely dominated the second round, in which he turned up the aggression, looking to finish. The third and fourth rounds were both very slow and calculated, with the two fighters each claiming one round a piece. The final round slightly went towards the challenger, who won the fight via majority decision to become the new welterweight champion of the world.
The fight between Kersikov and Centurion was so close that two judges scored different rounds as being draw rounds, making it a very confusing fight for the fans at home to score. Depending on who you preferred, you might have declared one man the winner over the other. One thing is certain: a rematch between these two men will be a fight for the ages.
While Kersikov was fighting in the lower weightclasses, Chief Tappenahomma has fought almost exclusively at welterweight, and has even fought at middleweight for special occasions. (On an unrelated note, it's REALLY hard for me to put on my serious face and write an MMA preview when I have to keep looking at Chief's dopey fucking face. This is going to be a test of my willpower.)
Chief Tappenahomma started with a Muay Thai base; while his peers were busy screaming out a simple “Aish!” when practicing Muay Thai kicks, or expelling air loudly, Tappenhomma would quickly scream “KillWhitey!” with strike. Some say that this is because he believes that he is a Native American from the late 1800s, others say that he is simply playing up a charade, not unlike a Cowboy Cerrone type. Regardless, Tappenhomma is among the most elite of the strikers in the Trinity welterweight division.
Chief T. started his mixed martial arts career in Los Angeles, California, where he took a kick boxing bout on short notice against Leopold Stotch, losing via unanimous decision. Immediately afterwards, the long time wrestling enthusiast Toppenahomma made his debut in professional mixed martial arts.
The Chief started fighting in MMA at Insanity 48, stopping Blake Blazing with an early barrage of strikes, a la young Vitor Belfort. After besting Charles Grace, Toppa made short work of Johnny Charco. For whatever reason, a rematch with Charco was booked, and Charco pulled out a first round guillotine choke.
Following another atrocity from the White Man, Chief T. decided that the immediate rematch was reason enough to leave Insanity and begin fighting for Imperial MMA; he made his Imperial debut at Imperial 15.
In his Imperial debut, Chief Toppawawa knocked out Kangi Ojoos, giving him the opportunity to face yet another fighter with a name that I don't want to type more than once in Okkuke Jiizu Okunaba, aka OJO. Okunaba, an elite level wrestler, had just won the Imperial welterweight title; Toppanagga knocked him out late in the second round to become the newest champion; unlike his predecessor, Chief Tummyknocka defended his belt, stopping Ceaser Gracie and Pernell Karl with ease.
Chief T-Rex fought a non-title match, taking on reigning middleweight champion Brock Rumlow. Rumlow would fight to a draw in the opening round, according to one judge, but it was unanimously agreed that Chief Trapperkeeper soundly defeated the bigger, stronger champion in this non-title match.
Chief Toppenahomma returned to the welterweight division, stopping Dre Still with a second round TKO. After going to a majority draw against Justin Cider, Chief T. knocked out Chiku Maneno to defend his title once again.
Chief Toppenahomma fought a non-title about, in the middleweight division, under the LEGACY banners, stopping Patrick Brody late in the third round.
In his final fight for Imperial MMA, Chief Toppenahomma fought to a hard draw against George Pedro; Toppenahomma signed with Trinity immediately after. In his debut Trinity fight, Toppenahomma faced Carlos Centurion in a bid to claim the welterweight championship of the world, and to unify his former belt with that of Trinity.
Although two judges said that Toppenahomma had won the final round, all three judges agreed that Centurion had dominated every other moment of the hotly contested match; Centurion retained his world title, and Toppenahomma would return to life as a hungry contender.
Chief Toppenahomma took out his newfound aggression on the face and the body of Alexander Schelokov, hurting him with punches before knocking him unconscious late in the opening round. Although he would his next about via unanimous decision, Toppenahomma would win two consecutive fights with brutal stoppages, bringing him back into range of a title shot.
At T135, Toppenahomma faced a recently dethroned Carlos Centurion, who would dominate the opening two rounds of the match. Toppenahomma badly rocked Centurion with seconds to go in the fight, and put on the pressure in an attempt to finish, but it would be too little too late for the former Imperial MMA welterweight champion, who would have to accept a moral victory this time around.
Most recently, Toppenahomma has stopped Chet Lamare, and won a big, big match against the legendary Bobby Shamrock.
[A closer look]
(Rustam Kersikov)
Nickname: “Mother Russia”
Age: 37
Started Fighting At: 19
Record: 28-11
Knockouts: 13
Submissions: 0
Trinity* Record: 2-0
Rank (Division): 1
Rank (Organization): 2
Style: Muay Thai, Wrestling
Accolades or accomplishments:
-Reigning Trinity Welterweight Champion (x1, No Defenses)
-Former Ring of Fire Bantamweight Champion (x1, No Defenses)
-Fight of the Night (x9)
-Knockout of the Night (x1)
(Chief Tappenahomma)
Nickname: “”
Age: 27
Started Fighting At: 20
Record: 16-5-2
Knockouts: 13
Submissions: 0
Trinity* Record: 8-4
Rank (Division): 2
Rank (Organization): 4
Style: Muay Thai, Wrestling
Accolades or accomplishments:
-Former Imperial FC Welterweight Champion (x1, 4 Defenses, 1 Draw)
-Former Trinity Welterweight Title Challenger (x1)
-Fight of the Night (x5)
-Knockout of the Night (x1)
To visit the ~* Trinity *~ organization page: http://mmatycoon.com/orgpublic.php?oid=1893
To vew the entire T145 Londo event: http://mmatycoon.com/orgupcomingeventpublic.php?EvID=858784
To read the ~* Trinity *~ smack talk page, on which this preview will be posted (along with the preview of the remaining nine fights): http://www.mmatycoon.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=46034&page=16
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