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 The day has finally arrived. This is it SPFT 100! In honor of this great organization, which has gone from humble beginnings in front of 458 people at Wild Bill’s bar kicked off by Ken Li’s knockout of Maluco Johnson, to just last week having a show in front of a near capacity crowd at the Tokyo Bowl, we will be doing a little something extra in this week’s preview. In addition to previewing the event’s fights, we will also take a look back at the ten most important fights in SPFT history.
The first fight we will look back at takes us all the way back to SPFT 10, between El Guapo and Jin Lieu. As we well know, El Guapo has since this fight gone on to fight the most fights for SPFT out of all of the fighters in the history of the organization, at this point 19, including some of our most notable fights, but he has had only one shot at a title. He entered the fight with a 6-1 record and a head full of steam after having knocked out Royler Bot with a head kick at SPFT 3, but he ran into the brick wall named Jin Lieu. Lieu was impressive through the fight, winning the first four rounds in the eyes of the viewers, before delivering a powerful short right hand which lead to the eventual TKO victory and Lieu walking away with the previously vacant Lightweight title. Sadly, Lieu would not go on to have a long reign as champion, losing in his first title defense and retiring shortly thereafter, rumor has it he now lives in The Bahamas, drinks all day, and tells everyone within shouting distance about how he once used to be a great fighter, sad.
After talking about El Guapo, and how many fights he has had in SPFT, it is only fitting we talk about another veteran of the octagon, Bang McGee. McGee will be entering his 13th fight for SPFT. Unfortunately for McGee, he has had a bit of trouble winning fights lately. He has lost his last three fights via unanimous decision. Some say his opponent, Juanito Sandoval, has had an even more unfortunate run of luck lately. It is disappointing to lose via decision, but it has to be even more disappointing to lose due to a cut, which is what has happened to Sandoval in his last two fights. Entering the SPFT cage for the first time, Sandoval, who has had issues with cuts throughout his whole career would be wise to do something to keep himself covered up, as a wily veteran like McGee can read an opponent’s record just as well as I can and see his largest weakness.
As I mentioned before, El Guapo has been a part of some of the most notable fights in the history of our organization, and for our second flashback fight, let’s look back to SPFT 35 when he fought Randolph Turpin. This fight was a major turning point in both fighters’ careers. Both entered in strong, putting up an heated stand up battle, with Turpin winning the first round on the judges’ scorecards, however, after the first round Guapo pulled away, putting forth an impressive striking performance, blending together beautiful punches and kicks. This impressive performance earned him a 29-28 victory, and an even more impressive 9-3 professional record. Since that fight, things have just not been the same for Guapo, though, as he has only been able to put forth a 6-7 record since then, losing 3 of his last 4. Turpin, on the other hand, who had slipped to a mediocre 6-4 after that fight, hit the gym hard, turned around his career, has had an impressive 8-4 record since then, and until recently was the champion of the Lightweight division, before succumbing to Severi Turpaansaaja.
Nathan Corbett, the 26 year old Australian BJJ black belt, started off his professional career with an impressive 12-1-1 record, but has recently hit a rough patch in career since taking a step up in competition, losing 4 of his last 5 including his SPFT debut via Kimura to Frank Martin. We shall see if he can crawl out of this rut against the ever tough Noah Cd. Cd, known for somehow having a last name which is nearly unpronounceable and having no vowels, will be making his 9th SPFT appearance (10th if you count the miscommunication where he accidentally went to fight at the completely wrong venue, and embarrassing experience, I’m sure). Cd is coming in off of a win over Anthony Joseph at SPFT 97, which he won by unanimous decision, and the experienced 36 year old will likely look to continue to improve his record despite being in what is likely to be the twilight of his career.
Since in our last SPFT history lesson we mentioned Turpin having lost his title to Severi Turpaansaaja, let’s take a look back at their first fight, a classic, which earned Turpaansaaja the immediate rematch to try to regain his title, which he did. Turpaansaaja entered the fight with a four fight win streak, his most recent win having been over Brian Maddox, via unanimous decision, for the Lightweight championship. Turpin, on the other hand, had recently fought a 4 fight run for our sister promotion, winning the title in that organization. In his first fight back at SPFT, Turpin was given a shot at the title, and he did not disappoint in his attempt. In the five round epic fight, both fighters simply stood in front of each other and dished out as much punishment as the other could possibly handle. In the end, both showed their incredible toughness, but Turpin proved to be the better fighter that night, and Turpaansaaja learned to never leave a fight in the judges’ hand.
Since I’ve been rambling on about past Lightweight fights, this feels like a perfect opportunity to talk about the third fight we have to look forward to on Saturday night, as the young 26 year old prospect, Cale Carter, who enters with an impressive 8-2 record, takes on SPFT newcomer, and 33 fight veteran, Miggery Sow. Carter was impressive in his SPFT debut, dominating the legendary Guapo to a unanimous decision victory, and showing that his 8-2 record is not just a product of overprotective managers. He will face an interesting test against the veteran Sow. Sow has lost his last two fights, but has entered SPFT to get a fresh start, and hopefully bring some life back to his career. While the young hot shot is a likely favorite, the underdog Sow is a very experienced fighter, and one should never underestimate experience in a fight.
Speaking of young hot shots taking on experienced veterans, who can forget back at SPFT 31 when Mijail Bakunin entered the cage to shock the world in his fight against Master Shuai jiao? Bakunin was at the time the Mike Tyson of the MMA world. Up to that point he had only six fights on his record, all of them had been won by first round knockout, however. This impressive streak had earned him a shot at the Light Heavyweight gold. Despite this impressive run, not many gave Bakunin much respect, and many believed that Shuai jiao, who was entering the cage to defend his title for the second time, would expose the weaknesses in the youngster’s game. Then it happened, a minute and a half into the fight, Bakunin dropped Shuai jiao for the first time. Shuai jaio was obviously rocked, but Bakunin summoned him back to his feet, and all in the crowd knew it was only a matter of time before the final knockout blow was delivered, which it was, at 3:51.
Leopold Scotch is another fighter known for his heavy hands. In his 14 career wins, he has won 12 of them via knockout. It should be interesting to see if he is capable of continuing his impressive run at the highest level here at SPFT. Head Sparring Coach is not a stranger to SPFT, in fact he fought Brian Maddox for the Lightweight championship only three fights ago. He is, however, new to the 145 pound division. Some are whispering that the change may not have been a positive one, though, after being dominated by Alexander Lansing in his last fight. This fight against Scotch should be an excellent litmus test for Coach as to whether or not he should continue at this lighter weight.
Let’s take it back to the old school again, and back to another Master Shuai jaio fight, his fight back at SPFT 16 against Boris Ivanovic. Ivanovic entered the fight with an impressive 15-1 record, a 3 fight win streak, the Light Heavyweight title, and a successful title defense under his belt. Not many thought too highly of Shuai jaio’s chances entering the fight, especially considering it was his first fight under the SPFT promotion. For the first round, the fans were not surprised to see Ivanovic dominate, then something happened. Shuai jaio’s corner must have said something to amp him up, because for the next four rounds, he dominated Ivanovic, to go on and earn himself the championship.
Schedules do not come much harder than what Bigfoot Silva has had to endure lately. In his last three fights he has won one, and lost to Matt Lisser, who will be fighting pound for pound great Elry Kleinschmidt in the main event, and lost to Silver Boo, who just won his fight for ‘who is the best Heavyweight not named Kleinschmidt?’. Silva has nothing to be ashamed of with those losses, but I’m sure they don’t feel good anyway. He will look to take out his frustrations on newcomer Rico Willis. Willis joins SPFT with an impressive 11-4 professional record. Known for his Muay Thai skills, Willis should be an interesting addition to the already strong Super Heavyweight division.
Few fighters have been as dominant as Sergiy Skylar has been over the SPFT 135 pound division. The two time champion, with 5 successful title defenses has had some very noteworthy fights, none more noteworthy, however, than his victory over Meat Loaf at SPFT 69. This was the second meeting between these two fighters, the first won by Skylar via majority decision. In this ground battle, Meat Loaf looked as though he may have it in him to pull off a historic upset over Skylar in the first two rounds, dominating the incumbent. However, Skylar showed the heart of a champion, regrouped, and summoned an impressive comeback victory. After the fight, Meat Loaf moved up to the 145 pound division, where he is now king, having had an impressive run at that weight class. This fight, in retrospect, was a battle between two of the best pound for pound fighters in the world.
With the unfortunate leaving of Skylar from SPFT, there has been a lot of battling in the bantamweight division to see who will rise to the top to gain the title now that the long term reign of terror is over. Marty Laguna and Kevin Bishop are two fighters who stand very well to make a splash. Laguna, winner of 8 of his last 10 fights, will be joining SPFT for the first time at SPFT 100. Marty is known for his top level boxing ability, and he will look to employ it in his game plan trying to beat Bishop. The well rounded Bishop will be entering his 10th career SPFT fight against Laguna, and I would imagine we can expect to see Laguna with his freak-like wrestling skills and BJJ Black Belt, will try to bring this fight to the mat, neutralizing Laguna’s boxing technique and grinding his way to victory.
We would be remiss if we did not include in our discussion of classic fights Hall of Famer, and two time Lightweight champion, Toshihiro Kai. Kai joined SPFT with a mediocre 9-6 record, but quickly caught fire once joining us. He won two straight, and earned a shot at Jin Lieu. Lieu, as you probably remember from earlier in this article won his title by knocking out El Guapo at SPFT 10. A couple months later he would enter the ring to defend his title for the first time against Kai. In a fight that was closer on the judges’ scorecards than the minds of the viewers, Kai did what he does when he fights for SPFT. He dominated. This fight was important in both men’s careers, since, as we know, Kai went on to greatness, and Lieu went on to retirement, drinking, and yelling at beautiful women about how he used to be champion of the world.
Eric Cartman is a legend in SPFT. He has submitted Hall of Famers, he has won two titles in two different weight classes, and has had a total of six championship fights in the organization. There is only one problem; Cartman does not seem to know how to defend a title once he wins it. Most recently, he got knocked out by current Welterweight champion McGuillicuddy Jones. To cement his legacy as a top level SPFT fighter Cartman will need to earn his title back, and maintain as champion. Samuraimo Rassi only seems to have one thing in common with Cartman; he got knocked out by the champion in his last fight as well. Since this is the only experience we have of seeing Rassi in SPFT, it is hard to tell how he will perform at this high level. Fighting Cartman will not be an easy challenge, but if Rassi is up to fighting at this level, he will have to beat fighters like him.
So a little fact about Eric Cartman, he was the first man in SPFT to defeat Hall of Famer, Cajun Xander. And, since we’re talking about Xander, let’s talk about his first ever title defense. Back at SPFT 52, the young Cajun Xander was the newly crowned Middleweight Champion, looking to make a run on the division. His first test was not easy. SPFT brought in 28 fight veteran, Stelios Xenos from his home country of Greece to challenge Xander. The two men battled hard for all three rounds (at SPFT the main event was 3 x 10 minute rounds for those of you who don’t remember), eventually falling into the hands of the judges, who awarded the fight to Xander. Xander of course would go on to be one of the great Middleweight Champions of SPFT history, and Xander would only fight a few more times in his career.
Andreas Ottosson and Avon Stringer made their presence known with their debuts at SPFT 96 and 97, respectively. Ottosson, the Swedish grappler, dominated his fight with relentless ground and pound. With his impressive wrestling and non-stop cardio, he is a fighter many in the 170 pound division have their eye on. Stringer, an old veteran, with 52 fights on his resume, showed the heart of a champion in his last fight. After being dominated in the first round, and in many people’s eyes drawing the second round, he came out the third round, and dominated his opponent, earning himself a majority decision. A man with a heart like that deserves respect, and will undoubtedly go far.
Since we mentioned Xenos losing in his SPFT debut to Cajun Xander, it would be only right to talk about his legendary last fight. On the undercard for SPFT 78, one of the most entertaining fights in SPFT history took place. Xenos walked into the cage to square off for the second time against Riley McCollins. Xenos had won the first match by unanimous decision, but this fight would have an even more definitive outcome. Midway through the first round Xenos knocked down McCollins with a vicious head kick. Somehow, McCollins was able to hang on after that horrific shot, and maintain for the rest of the round. After the rest, McCollins came out of his corner like a new man, and rocked Xenos with a solid punch. McCollins was unable to finish the fight at this time either, and both men continued to battle through the second round. Then the coup de grace, halfway through the third round, Xenos finished McCollins delivering the most devastating head kick I have ever seen. I have never seen a man hit the ground as fast as McCollins did. This was a thrilling fight with an incredible conclusion, which served as a great possible final chapter for Xenos, who has not fought since.
Speaking of Riley McCollins, the challenger in Saturday night’s Co-Main Event, Raul Portugis, made his debut for SPFT by knocking McCollins out. Portugis will hope for a similar ending when enters the cage Saturday night, as he hopes to earn the Middleweight championship. Nero Aurelius, however, will be doing his best to prove that he is a true champion when he enters to defend his title for the first time since winning it at SPFT 95 defeating Hall of Famer Cajun Xander. Aurelius dominated Xander in just his second SPFT fight, with his smothering and powerful ground and pound. He will likely look to employ the same techniques in his attempt to run through Portugis and the rest of the Middleweight division.
And now for our last trip down memory lane. In the final fight to round out the top 10 fights in SPFT history, which have been in no particular order if you did not notice, we look at SPFT 29 and the battle between Tony Davis and Dummy Jones. In this fight, Dummy Jones entered as a relative unknown with a solid 9-1 record to challenge Davis for the title. This was Davis’ second title defense. Davis put forward and excellent effort in this fight, and many thought he might pull out the victory, but he simply gave up too many rounds at the beginning of the fight. Jones’ reign, as we know, was short lived, but this fight will always be remembered for the excitement and nail biting drama throughout.
Matt Lisser enters the SPFT 100 main event on a 4 fight professional win streak, and sporting a spotless 3-0 SPFT record. Lisser is a very high level fighter, with few weaknesses. This is good, because when you go up against one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, you can’t have too many ways for your opponent to exploit. We shall see if the 26 year old Canadian has enough skill to topple a living legend.
Elroy Kleinschmidt has fought 7 times in SPFT. None of them have made it past the second round. He has also not lost any of those fights. He also owns titles in two separate weight classes. He has knocked out a Hall of Famer. What more do I actually have to say about this man? He very well could be the most dominant fighter in SPFT history. I’ll admit it, he’s my favorite fighter, and I sincerely hope the 27 year old continues to reign with an iron fist upon two divisions.
That’s it for this week’s preview, until next week, remember to check out our partner, STEEL PENN'S 160 OF STEEL $50 Rio, and more importantly, remember- don’t drink and park- accidents cause people.
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