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 Hello everyone “Sunshine” Weston Markson here with Rudy “The Box” Knife. We have a great night of fights for you Saturday when HMMA brings you HMMA 77 in London’s Camden conference center, where near 7000 fans are expected to be watching the action unfold in the one the greatest fight cities of all time. The card is littered with Light-Heavyweight fighters looking to gain ground on their competition and improve in the ranks to ultimately earn a shot at the champion.
Rudy: Weston this card could bring us the next #1 contender at Light-Heavyweight, rumor has it if High Voltage wins his fight against John Conteh he will be the next fighter in line for a shot at Alexandrov’s title. When I look at this card the fight I am most excited for is the CO-MAIN event between two more great LHW fighters the winner of that fight will jump up and be very close to a title shot of their own. Its going to be a great night with a lot of high profile ranked fighters locking horns to see who is better.
MAIN EVENT
2nd High Voltage(28-13-4) v 9th John Conteh (10-2)
Weston: The main event of HMMA 77 is a LHW showdown between the 2nd ranked High Voltage, and the 9th ranked John Conteh. Their have been a lot of rumors backstage that if Voltage wins he will get the next shot at the title, Conteh could be all that stands in his way, but don’t expect Conteh to lay down and die after his last fight he asked for a high profile fight against one of the top 5 fighters in the division. He believes without a doubt he has the abilities to shock the world and end the title hopes of High Voltage.
Rudy: Both of these great LHW’s have been on a roll coming into this fight, but one man will continue rolling on while the other finds himself taking a small step back and possibly temporarily out of the title picture. These two fighters are excellent strikers, one has elite boxing and solid Muy Thai, while the other has solid boxing and elite Muy Thai. Conteh has the better ground game in this fight, but I don’t expect him to use it, both Voltage and Conteh come into this fight having won 70% or better of their fights by (t)KO . When these two step into the HMMA cage on Saturday and the door closes, expect these two fighters to go straight for the center of the cage and test each others chins.
Prediction: I think Conteh wins the biggest fight of his career and takes a huge step up in the division.
CO-MAIN EVENT
6th Kung Lao (12-5) v 5th Wesley "The Knight" Templar (13-4)
Weston: The CO-MAIN event of the evening, another LHW fight between two top 10 ranked fighters. Both of these men are making their second HMMA appearance but their first fights went differently Templar’s first fight was a disappointing decision loss to the 3rd ranked LHW Kaka Pheu Pheu, on the other hand Kung Lao’s HMMA debut couldn’t have went much better with a stunning TKO of rival Boris Konstantinov, Lao will look to keep the success going and jump to the front of the division and in to contendership, while Templar will look to show he belongs in the top 5 of the division and that the decision loss was a one time stumble one his way to the top. Which fighter prevails in this contender eliminator bout?
Rudy: Weston I have your answer but first lets take a closer look at what these two men bring to the cage. Kung Lao is the very well rounded, and has shown he can win the fight with Strikes, and submissions, he does normally try to keep the fight standing and look for the knockout, 9 out of his 12 wins have come by stoppage so don’t expect Lao to take it easy Saturday he will look to finish whether it be standing or on the ground. Templar is also a finisher having won 10 of his 13 fights by stoppage, he is a boxer and a wrestler, his vicious GNP and boxing skills have earned him 10 (T)KO wins, he also has a good overall ground game like Lao but the difference is he seems to use his BJJ to avoid submissions instead of attempt them.
Prediction: This fight is one of the closest fights to call I have ever seen I think Templar takes this one by late TKO.
MAIN CARD
Bob "Big Ana Bob" Large (16-7) v Rand "The Dragon Reborn" al Thor (16-8)
Weston: The last fight heading into the main events in another LHW fight between two guys just outside the top 10 looking to break in. For Bob Large its his HMMA debut and first fight in the LHW division, once one of the worlds top HW and p4p fighters 4 straight losses have sent him looking to change things up to reinvigorate his career. A move to LHW could give him the much needed change to make another charge towards the top, waiting to spoil his debut is Rand al Thor. Thor came to HMMA with a lot of expectations behind him a great fighter perched to take the next step in his career. His first fight did not disappoint when he finished a top contender Lech Throchmirski, his second fight was suppose to be his big break, a win would have put him in the top 5 of the LHW division and made him a serious threat to the title, a close and tough fight saw “The Dragon Reborn” run out of gas with 16 seconds left and losing the fight by TKO. Does Bob have a successful divisional and promotional debut, or does Rand al Thor take out his frustrations on him?
Rudy: With 32 wins between these two fighters its amazing to find out that only 5 of their wins have went to decision, equally impressive is out of the 15 losses only 3 have been by decision, both of these men have a finish or be finished leave it all in the cage attitude and I don’t expect anything different for this fight. These two are so equally matched on both the ground and standing that neither could have an advantage over the other, this will be a close back and forth battle that could end at any moment.
Prediction: Rand’s power will be to much for Large as he wins by TKO.
8th Aaron "Evolution" Edwards (9-3) v Leonidas "The Phenom" Sheynauvah (13-8)
Weston: Aaron “Evolution” Edwards has lived up to his moniker having an ever evolving game, watching the evolution of this fighter has been entertaining as he is starting to cause a stir in the LHW division. Since joining HMMA he is 3-1, but his last fight was the tale of his coming out party. Picking up a big win against a former champion and HoF legend Fu Manchu, now he looks to have another coming out party as he takes the next step forward and move into title contention. Leonida Sheynauvah is a great fighter that came to HMMA highly ranked and after his first win found himself ranked in the top 5 of the division and in contention for the LHW title. Since then he has had two suffered two KO losses on in a #1 contenders bout and another in a title eliminator bout, now just outside of the top 10, Sheynauvah looks to move back into contention and derail the hype of Aaron Edwards.
Rudy: What a great fight we have here that could tell us a lot about both fighters. Sheynauvah always puts on ultra exciting fights because you never know when the fight will end, he has fight ending power, but also has a questionable chin this has lead to only one of his 21 bouts going to a decision. What we have come to expect out of him is a balls to the wall finish him method. Edwards may very well hope that Sheynauvah comes out aggressive trying to finish the fight as quickly as possible his Muy Thai skills are top notch if Sheynauvah comes out overly aggressive Edwards could find an opening and put him to sleep.
Prediction: Tough one I think “The Phenom” has more power, but Edwards has never been finished, Edwards doesn’t have great power but “The Phenom” has been prone to knockouts…. so ill take “The Phenom” by TKO.
5th Jack Pott (13-5) v 9th Klaus Andersen (12-5)
Weston: The second fight on the main card is a welterweight fight between rising star Jack Pott, and 9th ranked Klaus Andersen. Not long ago Jack Pott was at a crossroads In his career. Two disappointing losses to start his HMMA career left him considering retirement, after careful consideration he decided it wasn’t time to hang up his gloves and gave his career another shot now he rides a 4 fight win streak against some of the best the division has to offer. With the turnaround in his career he now enters title contender status, but before he moves on to bigger and better things he gives Klaus Andersen an opportunity to turn his career around just like he did. Andersen enters this fight on a two fight losing streak. Klaus was once one win away from a #1 contenders bout but after some up and down times he finds himself close to being unranked. Will Pott move forward and take a huge step towards a shot at the champion? Or will Klaus get his career back on track?
Rudy: This fight will has a good story behind it, Pott is really picking up steam in the division and a win will certainly propel him towards contender status, if he wants to get there and get a win he needs to avoid the very dangerous ground game of Klaus, in a classic matchup between striker and grappler Klaus will attempt to garner the success of early style grapplers and wrestler Pott to the ground and assert his dominance there. Pott is equally as impressive as Klaus is on the ground Standing, if he has any chance in this fight he must keep the fight on the feet at all expenses.
7th Mike Hunt (13-12) v Brick Top (27-14)
Weston: If you havnt seen Mike Hunt, then you are in for quite the treat, because Saturday night everyone is going to see Mike Hunt when he takes on Brick Top in a light-heavyweight fight. Hunt is the 7th ranked LHW after losing to the most recent #1 contender Nate Barnes in his debut. In his second HMMA appearance he takes on Brick Top, Top came into HMMA with a considerable amount of expectations many thought he would be an immediate contender but after dropping his first two fights he started to live up to that status by getting a much needed win. Tonight he hopes he can make Hunt start his HMMA career just like he did by putting two consecutive losses on his record.
Rudy: These guys are really evenly matched, they both have well rounded skills either can win wherever the fight takes place and both men combined finish over 70% of their fights. The story of this fight will be the Olympic level wrestling that Hunt has vs the striking and ground defense that Brick Top has. Which style will prevail?
Prediction: I think Hunt takes this one by decision.
PRELIMINARY CARD
Joe Davis v Monte Christo
10th Mr Gray v 8th Lasi Kukko
Oleg Aschenbreaker v Mitsuyo Maeda
Bob Banks v Hunter Hearst Hogan
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