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Welcome fight fans to Warrior Fight League. On December 28th, 2013 tomorrow’s future starts! WFL-1 Haarmann versus Stevenson live from the Micro Arena in Helsinki, Finland is shaping up to be a great fight card. The WFL is pulling out all stops on their initial show, with fights from the top ranked welterweight and top ranked light heavyweight.
It will be cramped, crowded and loud as the Micro Arena squeezes in a maximum capacity of only four hundred people. Never the less thousands of people will end up seeing some of these great fights on boot legged I-phone videos, due to some of the classic match ups we are going to see. Let’s dive right into the action.
The opening preliminary bout will be contested at the Heavyweight class.
Alexander “The Great” Dezhnyov (1-0) versus John “Alien” Johnson (2-1)
Alexander is the heavier and more well-rounded fighter in this contest, and it’s no secret that Johnson is going to want to keep his distance. Johnson should be using his leg and body kicks to keep the distance and pace of the fight on his side. While in return Alexander should be doing anything he can to close the distance to use his weight to his advantage. Both fighters have a low success rate with take downs, so this should be a stand up war to open the card. Alexander has good defense standing up or on the ground but his weight could be his downfall. Dezhnyov will need to cut roughly fifteen pounds and that could give the Alien all he needs to get the upset. My prediction on the fight will be a round two TKO for the underdog John “The Alien” Johnson.
Preliminary bout number two is going to feature the Light Heavyweights.
Kevin “The Grinder” Stevens (1-0) versus Marcelo Aurelio (1-0)
The wrestler versus the submission artist usually favors the BJJ expert, but with each of these fighters only having one fight under their belts it may be different. “The Grinder” is a superb wrestler with great ground control and good ground and pound. In his only fight Stevens did not look to advance ground position as he chose to control and pound away to a first round knockout from full guard. His opposition is very comfortable being on his back. Aurelio has good ground defense and he is very aggressive with his submission attempts. Aurelio holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and will be very happy if Stevens wants to take it to the ground. If this fight stays standing Nostradamus wouldn’t be able to tell you who was going to win. With three five minute rounds though this fight is sure to end up on the ground in which I believe the underdog picks up a submission victory. My guess would be this will happen in the very first round.
Preliminary fight number three will be competed at Welterweight.
Chiamaka “Vuvuzela” Congo (5-0) versus Tyrecous “The Terror” Michaels (1-2)
Congo has been a beast in the cage with four of his five wins coming by way of knockout. Congo won a four day tournament with only one fight going past two minutes and fifty five seconds. After the tournament Congo made short work of fellow WFL fighter “Savage” Swanson. Congo is a wonderful boxer and a mediocre wrestler who loves to clinch and dirty box his way to victory. Standing in his way of getting is first win the WFL is Tyrecous “The Terror” Michaels. Michaels is a wonderful Muay Thai fighter with a deceptive record. Both of his losses came via submission but that does not mean he can’t bang with the best of them. Michaels is the taller lengthy fighter, and he should use his Muay Thai to stay away from the clinch and keep a distance. All though “The Terror” loves to clinch he needs to stay away from it this time around. The way I see this fight going is a first round knockout for Congo, and that could set him up to fight some of the top ranked guys in WFL.
The final preliminary fight we will be staying in the Welterweight class.
Cadillac “The Engine” Johnson (0-0) versus Joshua “Savage” Swanson (2-2)
Cadillac has remarkable Muay Thai skills as well as being a respectable wrestler. While facing a submission artist such as “Savage” Swanson “The Engine” should be looking to clinch up and do some damage from the inside. Never the less in close quarters Cadillac will need to shut down any advance on a take down from Swanson, the Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The inside tactics have worked on Swanson in the past as in his last fight Chiamaka “Vuvuzela” Congo used that style of offence to knock out Swanson in less than two minutes. Joshua Swanson had a great start to his career picking up two wins via submission. Swanson needs to get Johnson to the ground and get a quick submission to get his career back on track. If Swanson can get a win here it just might set up a rematch against Congo in a future WFL bout. Prediction, Johnson is able to stop Swanson’s takedowns and ware down “Savage.” Cadillac will be “The Engine” that could in a third round TKO.
To the main card we head for the opening bout. Light Heavyweight is the name of the game, while undefeated will be the rules.
Don Schmidt (2-0) versus Jon “Iron Will” Waldteufel (1-0)
The wonderful boxer Don Schmidt has had two fights, with two violent knock outs in his short career. Nobody knows if Schmidt has any sort of takedown defense, submission defense, or the conditioning to last more than one minute into a fight. His only strategy seems to be to walk forward and knock people out. “Iron Will” Waldteufel seems to be a well-rounded fighter who likes to take his opposition down and score points. Jon will throw bombs or clinch in the standup game. He has good work from his back, and great work while on top. “Iron Will” might try some ground and pound, go for a submission, or even let you stand up just to score more points with a takedown. My fight prediction is simple steel fists destroy iron chin and will early in the first by knock out. With that being said if this fight slips out of the two minute range we know “Iron Will’ has the conditioning but it’s all up in the air for Schmidt.
Our next main card attraction slides down to the one hundred and seventy pound Welterweight division.
Tim “Lazy 11” Crain (2-2) versus Josip “Pijani Zagoree” Horvat (6-5)
Crain while only have four fights under his belt is no stranger to fighting at promotions events. Crain’s last three fights ended with a submission in the first round. The respected wrestler and BJJ brown belt picked up two wins out of those three fights. Crain knows what is needed to be done against Horvat. Get him early and aggressively. Josip Horvat was off to a promising career with a six and two record, but tragedy struck. With a string of opponents that had a better stand up game Josip was at a loss. Confidence starts to fade and everything else goes with it. Coming off the three loss streak Josip has something to smile about. Crain will have no chance as long as Josip can keep it standing. All of Josip’s wins have been in the form of submission, but the Croatian’s stand up is overpowering in comparisons to Crain. The safe prediction is what I will go with here; Crain wins by submission in the second round
We will close out the Welterweights for tonight in the third bout of the main card.
Terzo “The Real” Vjadenek (5-3) versus Alexander “Mother Russia” Dubrovsky (1-2)
Terzo has a name behind him. Competing on The Island and receiving a title shot in a losing effort. Terzo has shown up in the WFL to try and dominate the Welterweight division. With good and aggressive wrestling and a purple belt his most important goal must be get him to the ground and swarm WFL fighter Joshua Swanson beat Dubrovsky not to long ago. “Mother Russia” has better boxing and wants to keep this fight standing up. Dubrovsky is a wonderful boxer with decent takedown and submission defense and standing could give the heavy favorite Terzo a good run for his money. Dubrovsky had a great fight to start off his career proving his skill set and conditioning, but he has hit a bumpy road losing his last two fights, which is something that sticks with you for a while. Terzo on that same bumpy road, but his luck in my opinion is going to turn around, prediction Terzo “The Real” wins by submission in the second round.
In the featured fight a big time heavyweight clash.
Nikolaev “Polish Punisher” Kodveinko (2-0) versus Jack “Jackhammer” Vickers (1-0)
The “Polish Punisher” Is a superb wrestler with great takedowns. Once Kodveinko gets you down he lives up to his nickname. Very aggressive on the ground and always looking to finish by any means necessary. Quick and aggressive will need to be his game plan going into the fight with Vickers. On the other side of the cage stands “Jackhammer” Vickers. Vickers is a mediocre wrestler with a strong boxing game. In his only fight he used his wrestling to get into the clinch and dominated the fight with dirty boxing. Winning by TKO just under the two minute mark proves he can execute a great game plan. I think a carbon copy of that game plan is exactly the way to take care of the heavily favored Kodveinko. Prediction for this one Vickers jackhammers the “Polish Punisher” in the clinch game picks up the upset with a knock out in the first round.
On to the main event of the evening, a Light Heavyweight showcase.
Fritz “The Butcher of Hanover” Haarmann (5-0) versus Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (2-0)
Both of these guys are submission style fighters. “The Butcher of Hanover” is five and o with all of his wins coming by way of submission. Fritz holds a brown belt in BJJ and is incredibly aggressive with his submission attempts. “The Butcher” struggles with take downs as well as take down defense. He is truly a beast on the ground, and proving that with his last four fights winning all of them in the first round. This will not be Everest, never the less it will be challenging. The opposition Adonis “Superman” Stevenson is near the same level of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and also maintains a slightly better wrestling game. In Stevenson’s only two fights he has picked up the win, both by submission as well. Stevenson also struggles with take down offence and defense but that is where the similarities stop. Instead of wildly grabbing for loose limbs and trying to get out of there quick Adonis stays calm, cool, and collected. Regardless of top or bottom position he looks like he has been there a million times. He is patient waiting for his opportunity to strike. “Superman” wants this fight to go to the ground so he can pound past or counter into a submission. Call me mister underdog here but I once again have to predict the least favored here. I have “The Butcher of Hanover” extending too much for a limb and getting tapped out himself in the second round.
That will wrap up the night other than few minor predictions. I calling submission of the night will be won by Adonis “Superman” Stevenson. Knockout of the Night going to Chiamaka “Vuvuzela” Congo. Last but not least Fight of the Night being handed out to Fritz “The Butcher of Hanover” Haarmann versus Adonis “Superman” Stevenson.
If you would like any more information about this fight card, its fighter, or Warrior Fight League please visit there home page. If you strongly agree or disagree with anything on this preview please discuss it on the event discussion page for WFL-1 Haarmann Versus Stevenson.
News:
Thank you to Tony Rossi for an amazing preview! On to WFL News and Notes: WFL 2 has been announced, and is taking place Monday, January 6th. The main event is currently scheduled to be a featherweight clash between Andrzej Rostowski and Artie Lange, with the winner getting a shot at the inaugural featherweight title! Speaking of titles, the inaugural WFL Welterweight title will be determined by an eight man welterweight tournament, with the majority of the 1st round taking place at WFL 1. 2nd Round matchups will likely be announced shortly after the event. As for the Light Heavyweight division, the title picture will likely clear up following WFL 1, with the winner of the main event, Haarmann vs Stevenson, being a clear frontrunner for a shot at the belt. If anyone has any questions about anything regarding the WFL or if you are interested in a contract for one of your fighters, feel free to message me! Best of luck to everyone fighting at WFL 1 and everyone have a happy holidays!
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