2013-12-19
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SPFT 136: Pre Pay-Per-View Summary written by Furious Styles

Event Preview: SPFT 136: al Din vs Hearts 2
Steel Penn Fighting Temple
2013-12-13, Los Angeles, LA Memorial Colossuseum
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Greetings once again MMA fight fans, I hope all of you are well. This is Furious Styles and I’m at the Los Angeles Coliseum once again – I may as well have an assigned seat here at ringside – to bring you another Steel Penn ICON event review. Very soon the Coliseum will once again be packed with over ninety-thousand wild and crazy MMA fans who will be very energetically watching another tremendous night of fights that Steel Penn has put together!

 

The Friday night fights will not disappoint, I can guarantee that folks! There are two championships on the line: The Super Heavyweight Title as well as the Light Heavyweight Title, which is the headlining fight on the card! That’s right folks, it’s Round 2 between the two incredible fighters, Taj al Din and A J Hearts! Don’t get it twisted folks, Ernesto Oliveira and Ethelbart Takahashi are excellent fighters as well, and the other warriors who will battle are all very solid and skilled fighters! So, without further ado…let’s get down to business!

 

Since this great night of MMA action is kicked off with the Super Heavyweight Title, I’ll focus on that division first. As mentioned previously, Ernesto Oliveira (33-10) of The Goonies and Ethelbart Takahashi (24-6) of THE STEEL PENN ALLIANCE – let me hear you make some noise! – will be the first mammoths, the initial collision between two trucks, the heavy sides of beef to crash into one another, and there will surely be some memorable moments as well as some painful punishment unleashed!

 

Oliveira defends his title on a THREE FIGHT WIN STREAK, and he’s a fighter that doesn’t really need momentum or motivation as his great record proves! His history is simple: He wants to knock you out, bottom line. He doesn’t like to go the distance but obviously has that capability. His most recent victory was a Technical Knockout and he may very well be bringing that hard-hitting ability to the forefront in this fight! Takahashi steps into this Championship opportunity with a SIX FIGHT WIN STREAK, so there’s no doubt that his confidence level is extremely high! Very much like Oliveira, he likes to drop his opponents like fourth period French so I expect nothing short of someone kissing canvas.

 

The second Super Heavyweight battle pits Sean Ripgut (24-8-1) of Team Conquer and Trevor Price (16-6) in the cage across from one another! Ripgut, whose last name was meant to be for a mixed martial artist, is on a FOUR FIGHT LOSING STREAK and has had a bit of a rough time since coming out of retirement! He still has tremendous Muay Thai ability and maintains a strong work ethic, so he’s still capable of defeating anyone who stands across from him. Price is nine years younger and is also highly skilled in Muay Thai, while being solid all-around as well. Price may lean on his youthful energy to try and outwork the elder statesman in this fight.

 

Price recently had a THREE FIGHT WIN STREAK SNAPPED, so he’ll definitely look to try and earn that “W” again against the sage Ripgut! Very much like Ripgut, Price prefers to end fights quickly by knockout so this may very well be the case for one of these fighters.

 

The final Super Heavyweight battle of the evening takes place between “Panthera Onca” Joaozinho Gurgel (10-4) of THE STEEL PENN ALLIANCE – speak it loud and proud! – and “The Torpedo” Tore Rebo (27-14) of Polish Eagles’ Nest! Gurgel brings a TWO FIGHT WIN STREAK into this match so he has been fighting well as of late. Joaozinho…I wonder how long it took him to learn how to spell his name correctly. Honestly his name sounds like some new type of special mouthwash, but the dude can handle business so no disrespect. Rebo recently defeated French Toast by Technical Knockout in the first, so he may try to jump on Gurgel quickly in this fight!

 

Rebo has quite an advantage in terms of in-cage combat so he may be able to rely upon that experience at various times in this battle if the need arises. Rebo does have a large height advantage and weight advantage, so Gurgel will have to rely on speed and agility to keep himself out of trouble. Rebo has demonstrated top notch boxing and wrestling ability, so this will definitely be an arduous test for Gurgel.

 

The sole Light Heavyweight battle is also the remaining co-Main Event! This is Round 2 between two outstanding fighters in “The Tasmanian Devil” Taj al Din (44-8) – the man himself of Convicted Inc., and the fantastic A J Hearts (27-5) of THE STEEL PENN ALLIANCE – represent, represent! Neither of these men needs an introduction as they have earned their substantial reputations and respect through hard work, perseverance and downright brutality!

 

After losing one of the most epic battles anyone has seen against “The African Assassin” Smokudju Womba, al Din turned things around against Antonio Manoel with a first round Technical Knockout. After losing to al Din on October 19, Hearts has turned things around as well by WINNING HIS PAST TWO FIGHTS by Technical Knockout and Knockout!

 

It’s not often MMA fans are treated to a title shot of this magnitude with a history of excellence between two fighters of this caliber, so I know numerous fight fans, myself included, will be watching this rematch very carefully! I have a suspicion that this fight, like the first, will end with a knockout of some sort. Time will tell!

 

The lone Middleweight battle of the night will take place between Chicken “And” Beef (27-17) of Legion of Doom and “The Deity” Angelos Bellanova (4-1) of Children of the Law of One! Beef is on a TWO FIGHT LOSING STREAK and he will definitely want to slow that as quickly as possible! Bellanova steps into battle with a recent Technical Knockout victory over Barry Manilow – no, not THAT Manilow – and will look to extend that streak. However, he has a difficult task at hand as the fighting experience factor is heavily in favor of Beef.

 

Bellanova has shown very good standup fighting ability and he may very well try to use his height advantage in keeping this fight at a distance. However, Beef has battled against taller opponents and has been able to get in close range to take them to the ground. If he’s able to take this fight to the ground, Bellanova’s height advantage actually becomes a disadvantage because Beef’s BJJ skills would enable him to potentially lock in various submission holds. Either one of these fighters could land a quick, strong strike to either turn the tide of the fight or just end it right then and there, so this will be a calculating contest as I see it.

 

The first of two Lightweight battles on the night will take place between Zophiel Furfur (20-9) of Evolution Fight Clan, a man I’m very familiar with since his last battle was against Severi Turpaansaaja, one of the fighters I manage, and Patrick Tiernan (28-11), yet another man I’m familiar with due to his battle with Severi recently. This fight will be of great interest to me because I want to see how the conflicting styles, as well as physical statures, match up. Tiernan is only slightly taller and both warriors are highly skilled in Muay Thai, so I wonder if either of these combatants will try to take this fight to the ground, or if they’ll test one another’s standup ability.

 

Both fighters have had numerous Unanimous Decision victories as of late so this may very well become a battle of attrition because they are both very skilled all-around and the fighting experience is also solid, though Tiernan has been involved in more battles. If this fight doesn’t go the distance, I’ll be a bit surprised but anything is possible with either man.

 

The other Lightweight battle on the card pits El Guapo (18-15) of Legion of Doom and Raul Portugis (19-10-1) of THE STEEL PENN ALLIANCE – baaalllliiiinnn’ – in the cage! Guapo recently SNAPPED A THREE FIGHT LOSING STREAK with a Technical Knockout victory over Rocco Kailea, so there’s no doubt he’ll want to continue building on the win. Portugis is on a THREE FIGHT LOSING STREAK and will want to get over the hump in this fight! Portugis has the height advantage and may choose to rely on his excellent boxing ability.

 

Both fighters have been involved in Unanimous Decision victories recently, though Portugis does have more recent victories by Technical Knockout, so he still has the ability to land a flurry of strikes if the opportunity is there. Guapo may rely on his solid Muay Thai ability should the fight stay standing. This may be a struggle for both fighters and the game planning of their respective management teams will probably be the difference maker.

 

Last but not least, the Featherweight division is represented by Haiki Masatupo (26-28) and Marty Laguna (27-16) of The Black Hand! Masatupo is on a THREE FIGHT LOSING STREAK, so he has an opportunity to push himself closer to the .500 mark! Masatupo has the height and weight advantage in this fight so it remains to be seen if he tries to keep this fight in close quarters and weigh that extra weight on Laguna, or if he opts to try and keep the fight at a distance and punch from the outside. Laguna is on a FOUR RIGHT LOSING STREAK and I see that, unfortunately, his management team didn’t take my advice of changing him out of that Batman suit, but hey, that’s their decision.

 

Laguna has proven that he has World Class boxing capabilities and he may not mind if Masatupo tries to strike from a distance, but the height advantage may be difficult to overcome. In addition, though they both have a lot of in-cage fighting experience, Masatupo does have the edge there. If the fight goes to the ground, one would assume that Masatupo would have a major edge there due to his very sound BJJ skills. I think this fight concludes with a Unanimous Decision victory.

 

All right good folks, that’s my time and that’s the conclusion of this summary.  Thank you as always for joining me for another pre pay-per-view look at the upcoming Steel Penn ICON event. Steel Penn ICON is proud to work diligently to bring you the very best quality in all of its endeavors and is always looking to expand upon its solid foundation.  Take care, be well…and I’ll see you at the fights!

 

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