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 Welcome to the Credit Card Center, New York, where SPNY bring you midweek fight week as Jumo Sudo defends his Super Heavyweight Title against highly rated SPNY newcomer Rai Leonardo. The undercard sports 9 fights including No. 1 Middleweight contender Anti Satosari up against Boris Ivanovic.
Main Event: Super Heavyweight Title
Jumo Sudo 20-10 (2-0 SPNY) vs Rai Leonardo 14-3-1 (SPNY Debut)
Jumo Sudo lines up his first title defence against an SPNY newcomer tonight in Rai Leonardo. Apparently very evenly matched on their feet, where Sudo will look to exploit his 9 inch reach advantage, Sudo also may have an advantage on the ground where he is a black belt compared to Leonardo a purple belt in jujitsu.
Leonardo won’t mind being told that Sudo is expected to have the edge, as he comes in with an imposing record and fully confident he has the goods to take the title. Only one fight in his career has gone the distance with that fight ending in a draw, while his hands have been heavy enough to beat each of his opponents by knockout. He will be looking to give Sudo the same treatment.
Expect hard hitting and both fighters to go out looking for the finish. Sudo will look to use his huge height and reach advantage to keep Leonardo away from him, but expect the smaller Leonardo to be more mobile and to try to use his lighter legs to get in and away safely. Both fighters are brilliant offensively, but I rate Sudo as having the better defence, so I predict Sudo by KO in the 3rd.
2: Light Heavyweight
Joey Rodinerio Bravo 19-12-1 (SPNY Debut) vs Clay Wilkinson 16-7-1 (6-4 SPNY)
Bravo arrives at SPNY with a reputation for being a brilliant grappler and hyped as being a possibly title challenger in the very strong Light Heavyweight division. He has an amazing 16 submission wins to his credit but has very basic striking abilities which leave him exposed when he is unable to get fights to the ground early.
Wilkinson has been given the task of testing out just how good Bravo is, and this should be a good match up as Wilkinson is primarily a grappler, though not as accomplished as Bravo, but has better stand up skills. Should Wilkinson keep this fight standing he should have the ability to win it.
I’d expect Bravo to have the ability to end Wilkinson’s run of for and to finish this by submission in the 2nd round.
3: Middleweight
Anti Satosari 25-11 (5-1 SPNY) vs Boris Ivanovic 24-10-1 (0-3 SPNY)
Satosari has won his last 3 in a row and forged his way to the top of the Middleweight rankings and will be looking to finish the badly out of form Ivanovic to ensure he is given a shot at the title. Before he can declare himself truly the best he is looking to dispel opinion that he struggles against good boxers, and that is where Ivanovic fits into this picture.
In a career that has sported a 10 fight winning streak, title fights at two different orgs, and 15 KO stoppages, Ivanovic now finds himself on the wrong end of a 4 fight losing streak and up against a guy rated dramatically stronger than him. For Ivanovic this may represent a final chance to have his career taken seriously, stop Satosari and he will shoot up the rankings, fail again and he will drift into obscurity.
Ivanovic will know that while he keeps this fight on its feet he will have the edge and that he has the skills to make things difficult for Satosari on the ground and in the clinch, whether he has the confidence to execute his game plan is yet to be seen. As much as I rate Ivanovic’s skills edge, I can’t look past Satosari. Satosari by 1st round KO.
4: Light Heavyweight
BJ Andrews 12-9 (2-2 SPNY) vs Haloti Gnata 14-5 (11-5 SPNY)
Two very well rounded and evenly matched fighters meet in the Light Heavyweight battle. Andrews is a submission specialist who has the kick boxing ability to match it on his feet with most opponents. Gnata is a heavy handed boxer and wrestler who secures most wins by KO. Watch for Gnata to use his 4 inch reach advantage to do some damage early, with Andrews looking to take the fight to the ground where he can use his better jujitsu.
I expect this one to go the distance, and I fancy Andrews to take the scorecards.
5: Light Heavyweight
Kara Hiri 24-13-1 (SPNY Debut) vs Jonny Bones 14-7-3 (5-4-2 SPNY)
Former professional boxer Hiri joins SPNY and is matched against veteran Bones, possibly the only BJJ black belt in MMA history never to have submitted an opponent. I get the feeling for Bones to extend himself to a rare 3 fight win streak tonight he will need to fight this one on the ground, and I don’t know if he has it in him to take Hiri down early in each round. I predict Hiri to win by KO in the 3rd.
6: Heavyweight
Jacob Moonra 15-2 (4-1 SPNY) vs Hoy Nelson 24-18 (0-3 SPNY)
While this may look like somewhat of a mismatch based on recent form, Nelson has the ability to match it with, perhaps even exceed the abilities of Jacob Moonra. Why Nelson has hit such a poor patch of form is beyond me, but I suspect that having 14 career fights by KO may suggest he cannot take the punches that are thrown at him. Moonra will look to exploit this as his 11 KO wins suggest that he may have the heavy hands needed to deal with Nelson tonight. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict the upset though, Nelson to get his first SPNY win with a 1st round KO.
7: Welterweight
Bradley Boston 14-8-2 (2-0 SPNY) vs Calvin McCork 11-13-1 (SPNY Debut)
The exciting form of Boston, 2-0 since joining SPNY, sees his match up against SPNY debutant and journeyman McCork attracting more attention than some would expect. Boston is bubbling away under the title challengers and would like another win to push his name amongst them. McCork is a jujitsu guy who struggles when he is kept on his feet going up against a fighter in Boston who has very good grounding in boxing and Muay Thai. I wish McCork luck in his debut, but Boston should have the goods for a KO finish.
8: Light Heavyweight
RJ McLovin 25-15 (0-2 SPNY) vs Johnny Thunders 17-7 (10-5 SPNY)
McLovin represents another of the veteran fighters who have the skills to continue but their recent form and confidence suggests perhaps they shouldn’t. He meets SPNY fan favourite Johnny Thunders tonight, who technically speaking isn’t as skilful, but has the form and confidence to suggest he is on his way to an easy win tonight. If McLovin can take this one down, he should be able to dominate Thunders who has never developed as a ground fighter as many expected him to, but Thunders should be good enough to sprawl and keep this one standing. I give Thunders the thumbs up for a KO finish.
9: Featherweight
Simon GM 1-0 (1-0 SPNY) vs Tony Frank 1-1 (1-0 SPNY)
Two of the more exciting Featherweight prospects meet in this on, boxer GM against wrestler Frank. Personally I expect to see GM keep this standing long enough to inflict some serious damage on Frank, but I would like to see how GM goes if Frank can take it to ground after his entire debut was on its feet. For mine, Frank was too eager to get his first few fights to the ground, and looked exposed against good stand up. GM to record a KO, Frank to use his grappling to mean it happens in the 3rd not the 1st.
10: Featherweight
Kal Hunda 0-1 (0-1 SPNY) vs Jason Aldean 2-1 (1-1 SPNY)
Hunda may have lost his first fight, but is showing good signs of improvement in training and I have high hopes for the kid. Aldean has been impressive so far in amassing a 2-1 record and will definitely have the edge on the feet in this one. This one is a question of where it will be fought; if Aldean gets his way and keeps it standing he may well move to 3-1. We are yet to see Hunda showcase his skills on the ground after being knocked out before landing a takedown on debut. If he gets his takedown this week Aldean has looked very vulnerable on his back and that may be all she wrote. Hunda to win by decision.
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