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 Welcome to midweek fight night for SPNY from the Hard Knocks Arena in downtown New York City, tonight features 10 MMA bouts with the headline pitting highly ranked Heavyweight contender Sadaharu Tanikawa up against in form Bariga Cocainich. Our semi-main event sees Middleweight contender Berric Dondarrion take on Nick Folingus.
Main Event: Heavyweight
Sadaharu Tanikawa 16-4 (6-2 SPNY) vs Bariga Cocainich 15-7 (9-5 SPNY)
Tanikawa comes into this one after an upset loss at his last start cost him a shot at the Heavyweight title. Arguably the best grappler in SPNY’s Heavyweight division, he remains almost inept in the stand up department, but makes up for it with his vicious ground and pound abilities when he is able to take his opponent down. Tanikawa has only been past the first round 3 times in a 20 fight career, with every single fight ending in a knockout.
SPNY old boy, and former Heavyweight champion, Cocainich has a similar reputation as a dominant grappler, but relies more on submission techniques rather than pure power. Cocainich comes into tonight’s fight on a 3 fight winning streak, interestingly all 3 have been knockout victories rather than the submissions for which he is better known.
Tanikawa’s ground only style has always made him vulnerable against stand up fighters early in a fight. Whilst Cocainich has better stand up technique, it is probably not going to be enough to keep this fight standing given he too is a grappler. Once this fight hits the ground it should be an interesting affair, with Tanikawa known for his dominant displays from mount, and Cocainich having submission abilities from almost every position. I would put my money on Tanikawa recording a KO from mount in the 1st round.
Semi-main Event: Middleweight
Berric Dondarrion 28-11-1 (3-2 SPNY) vs Nick Folingus 10-7 (1-0 SPNY)
Dondarrion enters this fight knowing that a win may put him in line for a shot at the SPNY Middleweight title. Dondarrion is fairly well rounded, but if he has a weakness it is his BJJ; this should make tonight a tough test for him as Folingus is a submission specialist, with 9 of his 10 wins coming by way of submission.
Dondarrion would have to enter the fight as the favourite, and the longer the fight remains standing the higher the chance he will record a KO. While Folingus has solid stand up, his only chance to win the fight is to take it to ground. Once there he must be careful as Dondarrion can wrestle, but the submission skills of Folingus may come to the fore. Either way, I predict Dondarrion by KO.
3: Heavyweight
Toni Manel 13-2 (10-1 SPNY) vs Andy Chick 6-1 (SPNY Debut)
Manel has won 10 of his 11 fights in SPNY but is still yet to reach the top such is the depth of the Heavyweight division. One of the strongest wrestlers in the division, he has been slowly developing his stand up game, but relies heavily on taking the fight to the ground in order to win. 21 year old Chick comes to SPNY on the back of a 6 fight winning streak, but he is moving up from Light Heavyweight where he has fought to date to contest SPNY’s strongest division and will be up against it tonight. This should be a good test for the more fancied Manel who will receive the majority of the crowd support, as Chick is a Muay Thai specialist which is really the weak point of Manel’s repertoire. Should Chick manage to keep the fight standing he could inflict a lot of damage in the clinch, but to date Chick has struggled to finish an opponent, because of this, as soon as this one hits the ground I expect Manel to add another KO to his impressive record.
4: Light Heavyweight
Taylor Norton 19-7 (SPNY Debut) vs Zachery Rey 24-13-1 (3-3 SPNY)
Taylor Norton has had an impressive career before joining SPNY; a few years ago he recorded a 13 fight winning streak becoming known worldwide as one of the best Light Heavyweights in the game. However, he joins us having lost 4 of his last 5 fights, having split with a long term manager, and reportedly down on confidence. Rey is a world class kick boxer who will hope that Norton’s recent troubles will allow him a victory to propel himself back into title contention. I back Rey by KO in the first.
5: Heavyweight
Al Al Kaholic 33-17 (0-1 SPNY) vs Mitch Rapp 18-14 (2-3 SPNY)
Despite a long and successful career Kaholic has never quite mastered the skills of wrestling, and tonight will be up against one of the most well rounded fighters in all of SPNY on Mitch Rapp. Although Rapp is without a doubt the better wrestler of the two, it will be interesting to see if he attempts to use that to his advantage as he is primarily a stand up fighter. Should it remain standing as I expect, I would expect the crisp striking of Kaholic to outscore Rapp and take the win.
6: Welterweight
Nawal Chekhemani 15-13 (8-7 SPNY) vs Tony Hendricks 12-10-2 (6-3-2 SPNY)
These two old boys met back in SPNY 46, which resulted in an amazing fight. Both fighters are best known for their ground fighting and submissions and both attempted to take the other out of their comfort zone by keeping the fight standing, which resulted in Hendricks recording an impressive head kick KO. Should this rematch follow the same path Hendricks huge height and reach advantage should see him again prevail. If the fight goes to ground Chekhemani would be favoured to tangle Hendricks long limbs into a submission, which is exactly what I’d put my money on tonight.
7: Lightweight
Amazing Game 10-10 (SPNY Debut) vs One Turd 22-19 (8-6 SPNY)
It’s only fair that an SPNY new comer going by a fighting name as bizarre as Amazing Game should be matched against SPNY’s long time odd ball One Turd, a man he lost to much earlier in their careers. Turd is a former SPNY Lightweight champion who frustratingly followed up losing his title with 5 successive losses. He has since then recovered to win 4 of his last 5 and move back into range of securing another title shot. Game comes to us having won just 2 of his last 9 and off a very long lay off between fights, and whilst his individual skills don’t suggest he is a pushover, his record to date suggests he may be outmatched tonight. It would be upset of the year to back Game to win tonight, but I see an ambush in the offing; Game to win on the scorecards.
8: Lightweight
Kazna Futzchag 9-13 (0-1 SPNY) vs Jamal White 8-12 (4-9 SPNY)
Futzchag will be hoping the rumours of White training poorly and without confidence are true as he comes into a fight at a skill set disadvantage in every aspect of his game. White, an SPNY old boy, is a quality fighter who struggles to put opponents away, and his recent form includes just 1 win from his last 8 starts. Futzchag is a scrappy fighter with no clear strengths, but willing to try anything to record a win, and it may be his enthusiasm and determination that sees him take the cards tonight.
9: Super Heavyweight
Swizzy Bone 6-3 (4-3 SPNY) vs Tony Lopez 8-6 (3-5 SPNY)
Two grapplers who met back at SPNY 90 with Lopez taking a decision over Bone. Lopez is a one dimensional wrestler whose only aim is to take a fight to the ground and dominate from one top. All of Bone’s wins have come by submission in the first round, and he has not shown that he has the ability to defend effectively against strikes or continue a fight to the length of a decision. Neither fighter enters this one with a recent run of form to suggest they will have the confidence edge going in, but I’d suggest Lopez should have enough to take the decision again tonight.
10: Featherweight
Tits McGee 0-1 (SPNY Debut) vs Freddie Sargent 2-2 (0-1 SPNY)
These two are both Jujitsu specialists with nothing more than rudimentary skills outside of that. Sargent perhaps has shown he has a better aptitude for wrestling, but for some bizarre reason has not been in training leading into this fight which suggests he may not be in prime condition come the opening bell. But what might save him is that McGee will be arriving from his training base in Las Vegas immediately before weigh in, leaving him no time to adjust to the time zone shift or recover. Sargent by submission.
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