2011-12-15
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London's Brawling

Editorial by Bricktop McKenzie

London; capital of Britain, home of the worlds greatest football team, birthplace of the worlds greatest writer (yours truly) and now, more importantly than anything else, subject of a (hopefully) regular series of articles in Tycoon Times. I’m hoping to shine a spotlight on goings on in the many orgs which call London their home, keeping everyone up to date with the big news stories and hyping up some of the big fights.

No article about the fight scene in London could be taken seriously if it didn’t start with the number one company in the city, Troid. I’m therefore going to ignore Troid completely this time around and talk about some of the orgs snapping at their heels.

Bloodsport Fighting League

Bloodsport are a long established company, having opened their doors in April 2010, and are current number 2 in London. All fights are held in a cage and are judged on the whole fight system across 3 x 5 minute rounds with 5 rounds for title fights. They have an impressive roster of fighters across eight divisions.

At the time of writing they’ve held a massive 163 events and have three planned for today (10th December) featuring five title fights! I’m not going to write about any individual champions as it could all have changed by the time you read this.

Having run so many cards there are plenty of people who have made a name for themselves in the org and the Hall of Fame contains five fighters, including two current champions. Star among them is Hasan Al Aziz, with a whopping 15 title defenses under his belt Al Aziz has earned his place in the Hall of Fame. His next title defense is against Cloud Strife, a fighter who somehow earned it by losing to Tarzan Taborda and I expect him to make it 16 in a row. Will anyone step up and challenge the undisputed king of Bloodsports Super Heavyweight Division?

With such a busy schedule it looks like they are really gunning for that top spot, I’ve got to wonder though if their finances and roster can sustain such a hectic schedule?

Invidious Combat

Ranked number 3 in the city and 33 in the world Invidious stick very much to the standard recognized rules of MMA with all fights taking place in the cage, with standard fights getting 3 x 5 minute rounds and title fights going for 5. Rounds are scored on a 10 point must basis. They feature the traditional five divisions. Devoid of gimmicks they try to attract fans by using a solid core product and good quality fights.

Invidious have a long history to draw on and recently inducted their first fighter into their Hall of Fame. Viktors Bricis is a long standing IC fighter, appearing at IC 2 and staying with the org ever since. He challenged for the title on two occasions coming up short both times and people started to think that this fan favorite was destined never to quite scale those peaks. However on 17th July 2011 he proved the doubters wrong, beating Daniel Ruanti on points. He defended the title once before losing it back to Ruanti. A recent 3 fight losing streak had him talking of retirement but a recent win over John Zoidberg proved there is life in the old dog yet. Does he have what it takes to make one final run at the top?

Their most recent card saw Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi seeking to defend his title against Jay Z. The fight, which didn’t make it past the first round, saw Gomi take his opponent down early on. Z was aggressive from his back and made several attempts to submit the champion. He should have concentrated more on defense though as, after fighting off all attempts, Gomis secured the mount late on and took the ground and pound win. Great defence for Gomi who looks like he could hold this title for a long time.

IC 78 falls between me writing this and it getting published so I’ll ignore it for now, and move right onto Invidious Combat LXXIX which takes place on 18th December. This card is headlined by a Welterweight Title fight between Forrest Ortiz and Mike Adamsky. Despite the big ID difference this looks like a fairly even match between two good strikers. My money is on the champ but this could go either way.

London Fight Night Club

The third and final of the orgs to be profiled in his inaugural edition of London’s Brawling is London Fight Night Club. This is an org that I have a few fighters in and as such I have a bit more of inside information on this org than the other two.

LFNC run a eight divisions, although the Super Heavyweights look lime it may be defunct at the moment. They also run a cage format with the standard 3 x and 5 x 5 format, scoring on the 10 point must system. They aren’t afraid to experiment though as their recent King of the Ring Tournament and older fight night series showed.

Their Hall of Fame currently features two fighters, Lenny Mclean and Hades Underworld, what’s that I hear you all cry, Bricktop are none of your fighters in there? I understand your shock but when you see the quality of the two guys who have made it in you’ll understand. Lenny Mclean has a record of 20-2 with 15 KO’s. Current holder of both the Heavyweight and Super Heavyweight title, Mclean’s last fight was a KO win over fellow Hall of Fame member Hades Underworld. What’s next for this wrecking machine?

Underworld is coming off the back of his loss to Mclean but still holds his Middleweight Title, with a record of 17-2 with 13 KO’s he is also a brutal fighter to face. His next fight is currently under offer and hopefully I’ll be able to reveal his next opponent next time around.

LFNC’s next card is on 16th December and is headlined by Tessin v Koultun III. Koulton is 11-0-1 and already holds a win and a draw against the champ. This is a massive test for Tessin and it will be interesting to see if he can come out on top.

The title fights don’t end there however as the co-main event sees Sean Quinn defend his title against Tirawit Kokin. Quinn has compiled a record of 13-1 and reclaimed the title in his last match. Quinn has good boxing skills and heavy hands. He also seems to have rocks in his head as he has never been KO’d. Sadly, as his manager, I can tell you that those rocks are there in stead of his brain meaning he learns incredibly slowly. Kokin has better all round skills and it may be time for Quinn to pass the torch.

That’s it for my round up of the London scene for this week. Hope you enjoyed the article, appreciate it is a lot more lengthy that the usual articles on here so if you made it this far down thanks. I’ll appreciate any feedback and Org owners, if you want you org featured in the next edition, drop me a line letting me know about any big news or events you may have.

 

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