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![]() I, Ramblin' Red Stevenson, am standing outside the secret headquarters of the Gonzaitev/Zaitev camp which is located somewhere in the backstreets of New York, I cannot say exactly where it is as I was informed by the Gonzaitev/Zaitev camp that any information in relation to the headquarters actual whereabouts that is put in the media, that person will have to undergo 15 minutes of hell with some of the top fighters in the Gonzaitev/Zaitev camp. The plan for the day is t get an interview with the two young stars you could say of the Gonzaitev camp in Franky Young and Anthony 'Ace' Ventura, both of whom are currently signed to Immortals and are definite threats in their division, espeically Ventura who is the current 185 champion. However on a side note, I am looking to get a before word from Mr. Gonzaitev about the recent change/addition to his position at Immortals.
As I park out behind the complex I am greeted by the slightly muffled sounds of women and fists hitting the pads as I walk up to the entrance of the complex, as I knock on the door, Mr. gonzaitev answers the doors wearing a 3 piece Armani suit, obviously to reflect his change in status in the area as in previous meetings with Mr. Zaitev, or Mr. Gonzaitev, he was wearing regular work out clothes, somewhat beguiling his status as a long time manager. Mr. Gonzaitev greets me with a smile and lets me inside the complex the door slowly closing behind me. As I enter, I see a few benches lined up beside a boxing ring, the benches being crowded with young attractive ladies obviously the girlfriends of the Gonzaitev fighters.
Mr. Gonzaitev: Long time no see Red! How are the kids doing?
Red: Just Fine Mr. Gonzaitev, thank you. I heard some interesting news come across the ire in the last few days that you wear given a promotion at Immortals from Gym Owner to a co-owner per say, if not in title then in actual function, any comments on the sudden change.
Mr. Gonzaitev: Well, to be frank, Mr. Steel was looking for some help with Immortals in order to give him some more time for the, how we say, more entertaining portions of Immortals and considering that I was aldready a part of Immortals as the gym owner, I thought it would be most cost effective to given those poewrs to me considering I already work for the organization and Mr. Steel does not have to hire anyone new with the organization.
Red: Well, this is big news for the organization as Mr. Gonzaitev has so connections to the old Blitz conglomerate as he briefly worked as Ascension's media director and has been good friends with many of the top owners of organizations in game, not to mention running two profitable orgs in his own right. So, what are your plans for Immortals?
Mr. Gonzaitev: Well, the main plan is to fill out the cards we already have booked, then from there start moving our cards up an arena to the 3k arena in order to maximize our possible potential. Also, I think, given the talent in the organization, I believe that sometime in the future, we will strive to have a monthly/semi-monthly super card which will put on display the top talent in Immortals on display all on one big card. I believe Immortals has the potential to be a top organization in New York, its all a matter of continuing on the current path and slowly building up the needed numbers.
Red: Thanks so much for the brief interview Mr. gonzaitev, any chance I can talk brief with the two young guns you have at Immortals?
Mr. Gonzaitev: Sure, just let me get them over here.
Mr. Gonzaitev turns around and waves a hand over to the ring, bringing over the seemingly miniscule Franky Young and the giant Anthony 'Ace' Ventura.
Mr. Gonzaitev: There they are for you, don't take up too much time, they have some more sparring to do before Franky's fight this coming Saturday. I have some business to attend to so I will take my leave.
With that, Mr. Gonzaitev walks out a side door into what appears to be his office.
Franky and Anthony are busy chatting away while I try to get my wits about me and get back to my interview.
Red: Thanks for taking some time out of your busy fight week to talke to me Franky, and to you as well Anthony as you prepare for your fourth title defense.
Franky: Its cool, Alexi said I could take a few minutes off before going back to sparring.
Anthony: Its no big deal, as champ I have to occasionally do media appearances.
Red: Well those appearances are certainly appreciated by the Immortals fan base I am sure. so lets get the interview started, Franky, any butterflies over your first appearance in the Immortals cage?
Franky: I would be lying if I said I didn't, I recently moved to the states after spending some time in St. Petersburg for a tournament that I was a part of the winning team, so its not like I haven't been in fights where there is a lot of pressure, its just a change of scenary and getting used to the spotlights of an organization such as this.
Red: Any thoughts on your opponent, Dre Johnson?
Franky: Well, I can say that I certainly have the experience advantage in this fight, given that I have appeared in the cage 9 times in my young career while Johnson has only about 3 minutes of actual cage experience under his belt. However, he does have some very good wrestling and that will certainly be difficult to overcome as I really haven't faced a wrestler as good as Johnson yet in my career. However, I am confident in my jiu jitsu and I have been working on my take down defense for this fight.
Red: How do you think the fight will go?
Franky: My guess is he will go after the take down hard and will try to put me on the defensive right away as he has a perfect % for take downs attempted, so I will probably be on my back at some point in this fight. However, I don't believe that he will be able to have the kind of success that he had in his first two fights when he gained top position against me. I am a threat off my back and can end the fight at any time with my submissions, as I already have 3 of them in my career, two of those by armbar off my back. So my guess is that I will win by second round submission.
Red: Well if you pull that off that will definitely put you in the running for a shot at the first 135 title at Immortals.
Franky: Well, I certainly don't feel as if I have earned that right yet, I am moving to a new weight class as well as a new organization and I feel as if I need more fights in the organization in order to be considered for a title shot. But if a shot for the title should come, I won't turn it down.
Red: Very true, Franky, and now you Anthony, any thoughts on your next opponent, Tyler Richards?
Anthony: Well he certainly likes grappling thats for sure. (Anthony chuckles a bit)
Red: Well that is certainly true, but seriously now, how do you see him trying to attack you?
Red: Well, given his history, he is not that much of an aggressive fighter going by the tape despite having a lot of multi round wars under his belt. so my guess is he will sit back, throw a few punches and kicks and look to set up a take down. His ground game is very lethal no doubt about that, he has 3 of his 14 career wins by finish, 8 by strikes 5 by submission. So he isn't your lay and pray style of grappler, he is looking to make you scream in pain. However, its not like I have not fought grapplers before, I have fought Taco Bueno who is almost as good a grappler as Richards is on paper and I beat him up over 3 rounds though in the last round he did manage to control me on the mat. I fought Melton Sr twice who is a very good grappler in his own right and he couldn't manager much offense despite gaining a very dominant position in the last round of our last fight. i fought Bowman Rook who was arguably the best wrestler in Immortals and I ended up domianting him from start to finish before finishing him with strikes in the second round. His ground game does not worry me, is it a threat? Most certainly, however, I am very confident in my ability to defend on the ground off my back and may try a few things here and there that will surprise him.
Red: A very thorough break down, however, you sound a bit condesending towards your opponent, as if your overlooking him.
Anthony: I am not the spring chicken who called out all of Immortals because he wasn't in the top 5 of the division despite being one of the most talented fighters in said division. I am a fighting and humble champion, the oppoennt in front of me is always the toughest opponent I have faced so far and this situation is no different.
Red: Any chance of getting an insight into your game plan for the fight?
Anthony: Not much to say, I will do what I do best and that is strike, I have a very significant reach advantage over Richards in this fight, I plan on exploiting that by loading up a bit more on my strikes, as well as not being as aggressive as I normally am, I don't want to be caught off balance and end up on my back. As confident as I may be in my ability to get up off my back, any time the fight hits the mat, I can lose.
Red: Last question, how do you see the fight going?
Anthony: The fight will go one of two ways, Richards will take me down early and quickly try to work for a finish before my striking can test his chin and most likely crack it. Or, I will stuff his take downs early, putting a slight hole in his gas tank, and I slowly chip and chip away at that gas tank over the first 3 rounds, then finish him in the 4th. However, with my recent performacnes, a decision is not out of the question sadly. I know the fans want finishers and I haven't been able to produce that consistently in Immortals.
Red: Well it will certainly be a great fight between you and Richards come Feburary 16. You won't want to miss this one folks! Thanks again for the interviews Franky and Anthony, I need to get back to the shop in order to get these inputted into the magazine database and up online.
Franky and Anthony: Anytime Red, see ya.
As I turn to leave, Anthony and Franky return to the boxing ring and continue their padwork as I walk back out the door and proceed out to my car.
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