REVO 6 - Review

Editorial by Jolon Williams

REVO 6 - Review

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to REVO Access, where we present to you the rundowns of each and every REVO event before anyone else! REVO - 6 turned out to be one hell of a technical extravaganza, with six of the ten victories coming via submission! Per usual, REVO did not disappoint on the excitement front either, with nine of the ten fights ending via finish in one form or the other, maintaining it's impressive reputation as one of the premiere showcase orgs here in London! With nearly three thousand occupying the Hard Knocks Arena, REVO enjoyed immense success on the commercial and financial fronts as well, but that's enough jibber jabber from me. Let's get down to what you really want to hear about. The fights.

Mikhael Flannigan versus Carlos Von Sexron

There may have been several who viewed my previous comments about racial stereotypes regarding these two fighters as offensive, and that may or may not be the case, but one simply cannot argue the results. These two lightweights, who, if we continue the pattern of stereotyping, no doubt resent being called that ... ahem, anyway, these two lightweights brought their all in their respective REVO debuts in a strikefest which was destined to end early, considering the aggression on both fighters' parts. We mentioned that Flannigan was entering with a QFC victory beneath his belt, whereas Sexron was entering having suffered a loss. We also mentioned Flannigan had an overzealous tendency to throw strikes without seeming to exactly look WHERE he was throwing them, whereas Sexron boasted a more pinpointed accuracy. And while Flannigan's strategy may work in his local pub's nightly bar brawls, this is MMA, and Sexron would have his way with Flannigan, continuously evading any offense Flannigan might attempt and countering with impressive precision. Flannigan would also suffer from a terrible bout of indecision, unsure whether or not he wanted to grapple with Sexron, throughout the entire two minutes, only giving Sexron a further advantage. At two minutes and twenty seconds in, Flannigan would literally fall into an uppercut from Sexron, the impact dazing him in the process. Pressing his advantage, Sexron would follow up with a flurry of strikes which left Flannigan on the mat, without even knowing what had hit him.

Owner Gradings

Mikhael Flannigan - D-

He had the right idea attempting to take the fight into the clinch with Sexron. He had the wrong idea, then continously second guessing himself and breaking it off almost immediately after. Flannigan's grappling proficiency, whether clinch or mat, was a major factor coming into this fight, and his failure to utilise it ultimately cost him. His over aggression and lack of accuracy didn't help him either, playing right into Sexron's gameplan.

Carlos Von Sexron - A+

Excellent executed strategy, he pretty much picked Flannigan apart where he was weakest, and the early knockout speaks for itself as to the results. Absolutely nothing to fault, whatsoever.

Paul Pie versus Gavin King

In our preview of the fight between young Pie and his opponent, Gavin King, we predicted that if King stuck to the strategy he chose in his debut bout, that he could very well face trouble against an eager to impress Pie. The main question was, did he?

Yes. Yes he did.

Things looked bad for King from the get go, when he would eat a partially landing combination and suffer first blood, practically simultaneous to the first bell. However, King would recuperate, displaying his own competency in the stand-up field, later on landing a combination of his own and busting Pie open in a similar manner. Evenly matched on their feet, it would be King's overzealous attempts to try and take Pie down that would prove to be the deciding factor in this face-off. Continously trying, and failing, to sweep Pie off of his feet, he would tire himself out early on in the fight, too early on, and would eat yet another combination from Pie, similar to those he had previously been managing to avoid on a constant basis, and find himself in a daze. All it would take from Pie after that was a single straight through King's guard, and it would ultimately be Pie's hand raised in triumph, victorious in both his professional and REVO debut, and King left clenching his teeth in chagrin, wondering where he went wrong as he looked up at glazed over lights.

Owner Gradings

Paul Pie - C

Ultimately victorious, his eagerness to land combinations in this fight resulted in a less than impressive accuracy percentage, with far more strikes missing their target rather than landing. Despite this, he did make the ones that did land, matter, and it was this fact that made the difference. Pie would do well to tone down on those combinations though, and look to land with a little more precision.

Gavin King - D-

He had his striking game pat down, and was landing his shots well. Unfortunately, despite experts denouncing his grappling game, King still tried one too many times to go for that takedown. Actually, it might have been a lot more than one too many times. I counted nine attempts in under three minutes, that kind of overzealousness is going to tire even the most highly tuned athlete out. King was little more than a stationary target for Pie after his last attempt, and given the power Pie seems to have in those fists, that's the last thing you want to be. King either needs to improve his grappling, or focus more on his stand-up, but maintaining that strategy without doing the former is not going to do him any favours in future bouts either.

Tito Santana versus Steven Thompson

Thompson never wanted this fight to hit the mat. Unfortunately for him, Santana adopted absolutely zero pretense. He knew what he wanted, and he looked to take it. And take it he did. Thompson was clearly looking aggressive in the starting seconds of the fight, landing two heavy looking strikes that clearly were none too pleasant for Santana to eat, but eat them he did, determined as he was to get that takedown. Moving in close, he would manage exactly that, landing in Thompson's guard before transitioning to side control with ease. From there, it was just all Santana. Credit where credit is due, Thompson lasted a full two minutes on the mat with Santana, relatively impressive considering his white belt status as opposed to Santana's brown, but with Santana looking for an opening with a practically religious fervour, Thompson was never going to make it out of the round. Cinching in an arm triangle past the two minutes mark, Santana would force Thompson to tap, emerging victorious in his REVO debut and upping his professional record to 7-3.

Owner Gradings

Tito Santana - B

Santana took a lot longer than he could have once on the mat, no doubt predictability played a part in that, submission attempt after submission attempt tends to lend to that a little. But then again, given that his opponent was a white belt, it was always only going to be a matter of time, and I guess Santana knew that. His mat superiority gave him the victory against Thompson, but a more seasoned grappler could give him trouble in the future if he sticks with that strategy. Only time will tell. As it is though, solid debut for Santana, and he's no doubt a dangerous individual, one to watch out for in the welterweight division.

Steven Thompson - D

There wasn't alot Thompson could do once the fight hit the ground, it was all down to whether or not he could stop Santana from getting it there long enough to capitalise on his striking advantage that was the key for him in this fight. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to evade the takedown attempts, perhaps due to over aggression. A bit more of a cautious approach might have helped him, but then again, for all we know, it might have only prolonged his fate, so I guess that's not too fair to say. What is fair to say, is that MMA is full of grapplers, and Thompson will want to work on a way to defend against them in the future. Hopefully he'll have better luck next time.

Diskretni Jebac versus Muhammad Ali

Two pure blooded strikers, we knew this fight wasn't going to last long. What we didn't know was how short it would actually turn out to be! Perhaps still reeling from his loss against current middleweight champion, Jimmy Pistol, Jebac would find himself overwhelmed by a highly aggressive Ali. Ali would throw ten strikes in just over thirty seconds, catching Jebac completely off guard and, after busting him open early with a straight jab, would follow it up soon after with a massive uppercut and a devastating hook which would leave Jebac senseless. Jebac would manage to throw a couple strikes of his own somewhere between Ali's own offense, but with nothing meaningful landing, this would prove an easy victory for Ali, upping his professional record to 2-6 with his REVO debut victory, and dropping Jebac to 2-3, with two consecutive losses here at REVO. Jebac will want to score a victory soon if he wants to prove himself here, but can he pull himself together in order to do so?

Owner Gradings

Diskretni Jebac - C

Hard to say anything here, so I'll just stick with a C. He did manage to throw some strikes in there, it's just that he didn't foresee Ali's aggression. Honestly, who could have? If anything, his morale was the main detrimental factor here, and may have served to be the main reason for his speedy defeat in this one. Entering the cage with high morale is extremely important, I cannot stress this enough. Inability to do so will not lead to a successful career anywhere, let alone with us here at REVO.

Muhammad Ali - A

Being so damn aggressive doesn't always work, but it certainly did here. He caught Jebac completely off guard and, without any fears of being grappled by the pure blooded striker in Jebac, Ali was able to strike away as he pleased without fear of repercussion. He read his opponent well, and was rewarded for it. Nothing to fault.

Judeas Roberts versus Lucas Dias

The Williams camp's final bout of the night saw light heavyweights Lucas Dias and Judeas Roberts face off, in the only bout featured from the Williams camp to go past the first round! Now, with both fighters being ground oriented fighters, it wasn't surprising that this fight was quick to hit the mat, although throughout the first round, Roberts would be clearly loathe to be overly aggressive and give Dias any openings he would have no doubt been looking for to utilise his superior jiu jitsu skills. And while this would result in numerous forced stand-ups from the referee, Roberts' background in wrestling would serve him well, and he would take Dias down at will throughout the first round, content to simply control for the most part. Unfortunately, while this strategy did work to an extent, there is only so long a time that one can fend off a brown belt on the mat. Adopting the same strategy into the second round, Roberts would suddenly find himself in a highly unenviable position after giving up mount. With nowhere to go, and with Dias having every opening he needed now in such an advantageous position, Roberts would quickly succumb to a perfectly executed armbar, approaching the fourth minute into the second round. An unfortunate blow for Roberts, who would prove ultimately unsuccessful in his REVO debut, but with Dias notching his second victory here in REVO, the higher-ups must now be starting to take notice.

Owner Gradings

Judeas Roberts - B-

I know, I know, he lost. But his strategy was quite sound on the ground, and he got away with it for over half the fight before getting caught in an unlucky position. He had the right idea on the ground, I just wish he'd thought about mixing it up with strikes. While Dias is relatively competent in striking, he has never particularly shown much of an inclination in the past towards it, instead preferring to try and nab a takedown where he can, despite his own lack of wrestling proficiency. If he had let Dias tire himself out doing so, he might have had better luck when the fight did ultimately hit the mat. Still, Roberts showed some smarts here in this fight, whether born of his own mind or his manager's, and he no doubt has a bright future with us.

Lucas Dias - B

Once again, Dias obtains a win here at REVO, but once again, I'm forced to wonder how he might perform against an opponent who has no interest in the mat. Will he still be able to get the fight to the ground where he excels? We'll have to see, it's something I may very well test him on in the future.

Still haven't placed your bets? REVO - 6 is just around the corner! Visit REVO Betting today, and do so now!

*****BREAKING NEWS!

Glyde is said to be hard in training following his own manager's proclamation this past month at Camp Wars. Surprised to say the least, by the bounty now on his head, Glyde is training vigorously and will be looking to take no prisoners in his upcoming bouts. We at MMA Universal were able to grab a short quote from him during a quick break.

Owen Glyde :

'So my manager wants to put a bounty on his own fighter, huh? Well, that's just fine and dandy then. Let them come. I've never let a single victory go the distance anyway, and if people think this is going to change me in any way, they're mistaken. I'll simply continue to dominate all challengers, plain and simple. Guess the REVO Hall of Fame is going to remain empty for a while.'

With a HOF entry, as well as a substantial hundred thousand pound cash prize, to say that Glyde has a target now on his back is an understatement. Who will his first challenger be? Current pollings place the victor of the upcoming Ibarra/Powell fight as the favourite, but with a month's worth of fights ahead of us, it's still anybody's guess.

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