2013-03-08
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Part 1 of the Preview

Event Preview: ITFL - Week 1/1
International Team Fighting League
2013-03-15, London, Hayashi's Lounge - London
Author:Sean McDonnel


The Groups are made and the first fights have been selected. In Group A, we have Reaper Combatwear, Dinooo’s Donkey’s, Aces of Spade’s and Team Hells Balls. In group B, we have Team Kaiser, Team Syndicate Nutrition, Team TFP Graphics, and last but not least Team Misfits.


International Team Fighting League will come to you live from both the Hayashi’s Lounge and the Cameron Conference Center out of London, England on March 15th, 2013. We’ll start with the opening bout on Event 1 out of the Hayashi’s Lounge….


Dragon Slayer (4-2-1) vs. I.P. Daily (7-5)


Our opening bout is the first ever in International Team Fighting League history, and will be remembered for that no matter how things turn out in this one. Representing Team Reaper Combatwear is Dragon Slayer and boy does he have a dragon to slay in this one as he will square off against I.P. Daily, who represents Team Aces of Spades. Daily comes into this fight the more experienced fighter having almost double the amount of professional fights as his counterpart. He should look to use his edge in experience and boxing, and his 7cm reach advantage to keep this one at a distance where he can pepper his opponent from the outside in hopes to score another knockout victory. Dragon Slayer will look to close the distance and probably tie Daily up in his clinch, where he has been very effective throughout his career. On paper Daily should win this fight, he has the edge in experience and in skills, but fights are not won on paper and Slayer is coming from a tough camp and with 1 of the break-out managers of 2012 in his corner I think he has every chance in this one.


Rage Blade (28-14-2) vs. Boy Bubby (9-3-1)


Up next, we have another Team Reaper vs. Team Aces match-up as Boy Bubby takes on Rage Blade. Bubby comes into this fight at a tender age of 23, which is a dozen years younger than his opponent Rage Blade. At 35 years old, and having lost 5 of his last 7 fights many are wondering if Blade shouldn’t be hanging it up instead of joining this shark pit that has entered into the team tournament. Blade feels as though he has the skills and the knockout power to keep things interesting. Durability may be an issue for him as he was stopped two times due to strikes during that 7 fight span. Boy Bubby knows that he is coming in as the underdog and that his opponent is the more decorated striker, but he feels his chin is good enough to trade shots with Blade and that his power will be too much for Blade to handle. I expect both fighters will come out and try to implement their game-plan on their opponent and enforce their will. This one could get interesting, don’t blink!


Edward Richtofen (4-0) vs Jax Teller (9-3)


Edward Richtofen comes from the famed Swan Song camp. Song has always been known for his ability to develop young promising strikers, and Richtofen seems to be no different. One of the younger and more inexperienced guys in the tournament, Edward comes in with only 4 professional fights but all have ended inside the 6 minute mark of the fight. Jax Teller is another up and coming young star. With a record of 9 wins and 3 losses, Teller has shown some vicious knockout power finishing 7 of his wins by knockout. Both of these guys like to stand and bang, Richtofen’s chin is, for the most part un-tested, but you won’t be able to say that after this fight. I expect both of these guys to stand and bang and this to be an exciting fight. Teller does have a massive advantage in his BJJ game but so far it has appeared to be mostly defensive. If he does have any submission skills, he might look to switch it up here and test Richtofen’s submission defense, either way this one should be a war!


Bam Boon (12-5) vs. Richard Lightfoot (16-7-1)


This next fight is quickly turning into a bit of a grudge match as both fighters trading verbal jabs. It started off right after the fight announcements were made when Bam Boon was quoted as saying "Who? Sorry I don't know that guy is, but his chin will get to know my fist and he probably won't even know his own name by the end of the fight.”


When word got back to Richard Lightfoot what Boon had to say, here is some of his response…


“….His face will meet a few knees and elbows, i'll kick him in the nuts also just for good measure. After i am done with him in the clinch he will be scared to cuddle his mother after it. He might have a bright future ahead of him but in this tourney he is a nobody, a big ol nothing….”


Not sure what sparked the bad blood between these two fighters but the trash talk has continued over the last few weeks, and I know that all the fans will be sitting on the edge of their seats when these two touch gloves. It’s no secret what Richard Lightfoot is trying to do. He hasn’t even tried to hide his game-plan. He told Boon that he will take him right to the clinch, where he will unload vicious knees and elbows in hopes for a finish. Boon will look to try to keep this fight on the outside and land heavy leather on Lightfoot’s jaw in hopes for another brutal knockout victory. Whichever fighter can impose his game-plan on his opponent is the one who will come out victorious here, but the fans will be winners either way.


Ogmundur Girsurrson (10-1) vs. Karl Thomas (18-6)


If there is one thing I cannot stand as an analyst it’s guys with names I cannot pronounce, and it looks like Girsurrson will be my Achilles heel for this season. Ogmundur is a well-rounded fighter who has shown that he’s pretty comfortable no matter where the fight takes place. He comes out of a tough camp with Dana Fight as his manager, and we all know he’s a BAMF. He will be getting a late fight replacement as Karl Thomas is taking the place of Domingo Perez. Unfortunately Perez got himself into some contractual issues with his organization and is currently tied him in court trying to get free. Karl Thomas is a vicious Muay-Thai striker with pop in his hands, and a good chin to back it up. He will look to win this fight with his kicks, or by closing the distance and using his vicious clinch-work. Ogmundur will probably try to keep this fight on the outside and hope his power can bring him home, as it usually does. If he is not finding success on the feet, do not be surprised if he mixes it up and tries to work his submission game.


Deangelo J. Vickers (8-5) vs. Artie Lange (14-7-1)


Up next, we have our third bout between Team TFP Graphics and Team Misfits as Deangelo J. Vickers squares off against Artie Lange. These two fighters come into this fight as some of the most exciting guys in this tournament. In a total of 35 combined fights between these two, they have only been the distance exactly 3 times. Both fighters have vicious knockout power, and they like to come out swinging to end the fight. Vickers has been stopped by strikes in 4 of his 5 career losses, and Lange has been stopped via strikes in 6 of his 7 career losses, so durability is an issue here for both fighters. This fight has potential FOTN written all over it, as I expect both guys to come out swinging trying to touch their opponents chin before their chin is touched. Vickers will likely try to close the distance and mix in his vicious MT game, while Lange will try to keep this fight on the outside and use his boxing in hopes to finish yet another fight by knockout. All I can tell you is don’t blink in this 1, I expect this fight takes 2 of the OTN awards with the FOTN and KOTN.


Pete Damato (19-13) vs. Dryden Mitchell (27-10-1)


Pete Damato was once one of the rising stars of MMA. In his 2nd professional fight he took on tycoon legend Earl Lee Swagger. In Syn Euro’s BRBR millionaire’s tournament he made it all the way to the final 4, and is the only man to ever defeat the best fighter on the planet Victor Creed. Then his manager and trainer Cus Damato went among the missing, and his career went into a spiral. He lost the will to train, and is only a shell of his former self. Dryden Mitchell is looking to make a name for himself in this tournament. Early in his career, Dryden was a CFC champion. He has since enjoyed varied amounts of success in several organizations. He recently hired trainer Dean Sutherland to turn his career around, and so far the two really have things moving in the right direction. While Mitchell knows that a victory over Damato doesn’t mean what it once did, he is looking to get his team off to a good start and show his opponent that he is the more skilled fighter. On paper, this one is a landslide.


Pete Wentz (23-13) vs. Garrick Ballantyne (21-12)


In our next contest, Pete Wentz takes on Garrick Ballantyne in a striker vs. grappler match-up. This will be the 3rd fight between Dinooo’s Donkey’s and Hells Balls Fight team. Garrick Ballantyne is an elite level striker. There is no denying that fact. One thing he will never be accused of is having the best chin in MMA. Nine out of his 12 career losses have been due to strikes. I don’t think Wentz will be looking to stand too much in this fight however, as he has a serious skills advantage on the ground. When asked how his submission defense was leading up to this fight, Ballantyne was quoted as saying “BJJ is for pussies.” If he can keep this fight on the feet, I like his chances but with 10 career wins by submission and the advantage he has over Ballantyne on the ground; Wentz has the equivalent to a knockout punch with his submission game. The fighter that can dictate where the fight takes place will be the one who is victorious here.


Latka Gravas (21-10-1) vs. Geralt of Ravia (10-2)


Geralt comes in as one of the hometown favorites, getting to fight out of his home base of London. He is also one of my sleeper picks for the individual tournament prize. Geralt has elite level MT skills, and a ton of knock out power. He has also never been finished in his career. Latka Gravas is also an elite level MT fighter, but he also has elite level boxing. It will be interesting to see if he tries to keep this one on the outside, if he will test himself against Geralt in the clinch. Rumor has it, there is a lot of money on the line as both of these managers are very confident in their fighters ability to get the victory. This will be an important fight in the match-up between two of the team favorites in Kaiser and Syndicate Nutrition.


Nick Fury (21-4) vs. Kron Gracie (25-17)


In our Main event of the evening, Nick Fury will take on Kron Gracie. Fury is the early favorite for individual glory, and his team Dinooo’s Donkey’s is the favorite in the team tournament as well. Fury has elite boxing and MT skills and a ton of knockout power in all of his limbs. He is also very durable having never been finished in his 25 fight career. He comes in as the reigning CWFC champion and 10 title victories under his belt, so he’s been fighting top competition for a long time. Kron Gracie was once 1 of the most promising prospects in all of MMA. His career never quite matched the hype that surrounded it, but he has joined the ITFL team tournament to get a chance to fight guys like Nick Fury. Guys he always expected he would be facing at the highest level. Fury is the heavy favorite, but Kron is pretty durable and can keep things interesting if he can get this fight to the ground.


 

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