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 As the latest and greatest Aggressive Damage Event creeps up on us, MMA fans across the globe were thrilled to find out AD78: All Choked Up is being beamed into homes from Burnaby to Brisbane. Yes sir/ma'me, it’s PPV3 from your good friends at AD and with the bar having been set so high with our previous pugilistic productions, you KNOW it’s gonna be a barnburner.
The 13,000 seat Montreal Sportsplex is the place to be for this momentus Event, where three of our now prestigious Titles will be on the line and all bouts besides the opening match-up are certain to contain explosives. We’re starting with a dud since one of the manager’s has gone awol on us before advising his fighter to rest up from his last defeat, end result is a strong wind should be able to knock him out. Putting that one aside, we’ve got killer fights between highly hyped pros and some of the rewards reaped by impressive finishers will be astronomical.
Anaconda Anaconda vs Simon Lluoma, HW Title: With 55 wins between them and 47 by T/KO, the Main Event of the evening reunites the two most consistently popular combatants our Heavyweight Division has ever known. In the early days of the org they fought twice, with Lluoma coming out on top both times via T/KO. I take it the second beating knocked some sense in to double A because at age 34 he proceeded to fire off a 7 fight win streak with 4 of those being for the Title (two of them against Lluoma). After taking that hit, Simon’s gotten back on his KO track by finishing the next three, very capable opponents he faced and stated his intentions of showing AA why he made it to the AD HoF ahead of him. So this it folks; best out of 5, with both guys proven, capable finishers who are game as hell to prove who's boss- can’t wait.
Leandro Alves vs Ted Grant, WW Title: New Kid on the Block meets the Face of the Franchise here, with recent Brazilian belt grabber, Alves, defending for the first time against the Welterweight HoF legend. No easy task, for sure, as former Champ Grant going 11-2 since coming on board at AD6, with 10 of those ending via T/KO. With his only early loss with us being the result of a tap-out against Pablo Santos and Alves having won all 5 of his fights with us via Submission, I don’t think we’re passing on state secrets in saying that will be his avenue to continued success. Lee’s worn his Beastly nickname well, getting all over guys and not relenting until the ref pulls him off. His striking abilities are advanced enough to buy him some time to instigate the grappling, though he may be surprised by the Wildcat’s abilities to stave off elimination and get back to his feet. Not to mention, crack foes with a missiles that send them to the canvas.
Charlie Luciano vs Phantom Menace, MW: Big interest building around this Superfight that fans on both sides of the border wanted to see. Having successfully run the gauntlet through our Middleweight division with nary a blemish, Lucky Luciano's been campaigning for bigger fish to fry and your hosts have been doing their utmost to accommodate him. Currently the #9 ranked MW on the planet, Luch has gone on record as saying the realistic goal is to be #1. With his stellar Muay Thai, ability to keep it standing and knack for overcoming adversity, he believes he’ll get there sooner rather than later. New York import Phantom Menace is having none of it, convinced our Champ is overrated and that he’s the guy who’s going to take the wind out of his sails. Although submissions haven’t been a big part of his game since the early days of his illustrious career, you know Menace still wears that Blackbelt with pride and will be more than willing to pounce on any openings Luciano may provide him. Special thanks to Team Thomas in NYC for making this one possible, we still owe you one.
Alejandro Mora vs John Connor, LW Title: After winning the gold from eventual HoF’er David Cross, the new kingpin went on a bit of a hiatus, with information sketchy at best as to his whereabouts and plans. When he did come back, it was in a defence for the ages against his previous nemesis, Flavius Aetius, as they went back and forth on everyone’s scorecards for the first four rounds before Mora showed the heart of a Champion to dominate the final one. This avenged the only AD defeat he hadn’t already evened, with Cross being the other fighter to beat him in 9 fights with us. This guy is no joke and would see his popularity soar by staying as busy as possible. His worthy challenger on this night lost a decision to Mora early on in their tenure with us but a lot of training time’s transpired since then. Depending on Connor’s gym conditions and propensity for improvement, the gap between them may have slimmed considerably.
Trang Troc vs Flavius Aetius LW: Speaking of the ever-dangerous Aetius, he gets an excellent opportunity to vault himself back under the contenders' spotlight in this top of the heap eliminator. Standing across the cage is a technically precise MT striker who’ll be looking to put his kickboxing to good use while nullifying Flav’s advantage on the ground by not letting it get there. With Aetius desperately looking to halt a 2 fight losing skid and Troc out to make a statement that it’s his turn now, the intrigue runs high for fans of our fantastic LW division.
Hutch Gibson vs Felix Basilan WW: Hutch, our longtime stalwart in the division was appalled when newcomer Basilan was granted a title shot after only one fight in the org and had called him out repeatedly after Felix was handed a Split decision loss. Be careful watch you wish for, says Basilan, who’s done an amazing job of honing his skills at a young age and demonstrated them ably in the cage since his debut. Do not underestimate Gibson, however, he’s only lost to Ted Grant and fellow recent champion, Tony Parts during his lengthy association with us and is currently riding the momentum of a 3 fight win streak.
Hades Hug vs Igor Tatov SHW: Hug has steamrolled both opponents he’s faced since signing on, with the first being no surprise (Mark “the Stepping Stone” Caloway) but the other pummelling dropped a lot of jaws besides multi-talented veteran and fan favourite, Slade Wilson. The new stud in town won over a lot of new fans himself with that scintillating 1st round TKO and looks to duplicate the feat against one of Montreal’s most beloved SHW’s who’s star is fading fast. Tatov desperately needs to stem the tide here before a once promising career crumbles around him.
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Now back to the pending action:
Don Hall vs Tommy Avila, FW: In perhaps the biggest shocker in Aggressive Damage tournament history, veteran Montreal conquistidor, Don Hall bowed out in Rd. 1 of our Featherweight Grand Prix after getting outworked by Diego Sanchez. They’re calling it an anomaly after he bounced back from that defeat in fine form, showcasing the skills everyone was amped up to witness when we announced his signing. This outing has him taking on the under-hyped, Avila, who is very capable in all areas of the game and should provide an excellent indicator to management on who’s ready to be our first 145lb Title challenger once our GP concludes.
Moosh LooLoo vs Ryan Hughes, HW: This is one of those bouts with little hype involved where readers may think I’m laying it on thick when I say how pumped I am for the cage doors to close. Like George Washington, I tell you no lie; as the lead recruiter from day 1, there’s a special affinity that accrues between myself and the fighters we bring in. In the case of Ryan Hughes, he was one of the first HW’s to sign on and stepped up against much steeper competition in the early going before seeing a more level playing field and stringing together 5 wins. Once he’d worked his way into title shot talk, it was time to put up or shut up and after a bad run of 4 losses, no one was saying much. All is not lost, as he’ll try to extend his current winning streak to 3 against recent signing and oddly named, LooLoo, who’s held his own in two of the city’s better run org’s and looks to take things to the next level with AD. Based on Hughes’ recent form, that may take a bit longer than planned.
So add on the previously mentioned dud of an opener and that’s gonna be a wrap on the biggest show in town. I know I’m not alone anxiously anticipating this one, as the pundits far and wide are tapping up a storm of predictions and previews on these stupendous fights.
As always, find out who the favourites are and get your bets in at the Official AD Bookie, A Good Cause, link below:
http://www.mmatycoon.com/bookmakerpublic.php?bid=7380
Take care ‘til next time, gang and don’t forget- keep it Aggressive.
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