|
 GAMMA rolled into Wombley Arena in London for its 397th show. The 93135 fans in attendance and the 213,065 fans that bought the PPV witnessed 7 finishes in 10 fights and some all-round great MMA. Let’s get to the top 5 fights of the evening and see how they panned out.
Glenn Carson vs. “Koroshiya” Ichi Ijima
Representing the Legion of Doom alliance and managed by John McGuirk, Glenn Carson held a record of 26-15 and a 1-1 record in GAMMA before his fight against Ijima. He brought some of the best grappling in GAMMA, possessing a red belt and some top notch wrestling as well as being a world class boxer, the one thing he lacked however, was a good Muay Thai game. If he was to be exposed it would be in the clinch. Ijima is managed by Ed Soreass and is not part of an alliance. He held a record of 18-12-1 and a 2-1-1 record in GAMMA. Ijima is an Olympic level wrestler as well as a black belt in BJJ with respectable stand up skills.
Now the fight itself was an interesting one as in the first round it was Ijima who tried to take the fight to the floor on three occasions but Carson showed great takedown defense, that was until Ijima shot in but got the clinch instead, after taking a few shots he landed a beautiful hip toss into side control. He didn’t really do much on the ground and after a while the ref was forced to stand them up, Carson then instigated a clinch and scored some nice little hooks to the head and body of Ijima until the round ended. Round 2 was more of the same, Ijima looking for a takedown with Carson happy to clinch up. After a referee stand up again from the floor and some more clinching, Carson began to unload with damaging shots in the clinch and kept striking him until the ref was forced to step in and call an end to this fight.
To take away from this fight Ijima needs to find a way to make his takedowns less predictable as from 4 shot takedowns he scored none and in 15 attempts to drag the fight to the ground from the clinch he only scored 2. If he plans on fighting on the ground he will need to improve in that area for his next fight. Carson showed great control from the bottom and improved his position 4 times from the bottom. He also showed a powerful clinch game as he scored 12 head strikes and 6 body shots eventually finishing the fight from there.
Result: Carson via TKO (punches) 4:44 round 2
Ejnar Thorsen vs. “The Hammer” Semmy Kasteel
Coming, into this fight Thorsen had a 17-4 record with 13 (T)KO wins with a 9-4 record in GAMMA, showing great power for a middleweight. He is one of the best boxers currently competing in MMA, and his wrestling is good enough to keep him upright. He is managed by Mike Thomas from the Legion of Pain alliance. Kasteel, managed by James Listerman from The Corporation,came into this fight with a 22-9-1 record and a 3-0 record in GAMMA. He brought a Muay Thai game to rival most people with good boxing and wrestling as he has picked up 13(T)KO wins.
The fight itself was an absolute 3 round barn burner. It started with both guys getting in some good shots and one of Kasteel’s punches cut Thorsen. Both guys were doing a good job of landing when they went aggressive but still both were managing to stick and move avoiding a lot of shots. Kasteel managed to secure a clinch that was maintained until the end of the round, both guys were trying to end it early inside the clinch but they were failing at landing anything significant, it was a very close round but Kasteel probably took the round. Round 2 starts with Thorsen missing a body shot but then securing a clinch that lasted over 4 minutes with, again, both of them trying to do damage, Throsen with his punches and Kasteel with an 8 pointed Muay Thai attack. After 4 minutes Thorsen broke the clinch only to immediately secure it again. Thorsen comfortably took this round. Round 3 starts with a brief exchange in which Thorsen lands a good shot to the body before securing the clinch but breaking it fairly quickly, both guys missing a fair few of their shots. The fight ended with likely Kasteel winning the stand up exchanges with a higher hit percentage, landing 19 shotsto the head and body combined and Thorsen landing only 6, but hitting 5 leg kicks. The clinch was almost even as Kastell landed 7 knees and 13 punches and Thorsen landing 20. The decision was read and 2 judges scored it 29:29 draw and Phil Scholfield scored it 28:29 Kasteel, ruling the bout a Majority Draw.
Result: Majority Draw(29:29, 28:29, 29:29)
Keast Kann vs. Daiju Kikuchi
Kann coming into this fight had a very strong grappling background with a black belt, but he also possessed a good standing game with some crafty boxing. Managed by Hendry Andria and having a 2-0 record in GAMMA with a 32-26-1 record with 24 finishes. Kikuchi, managed by Per-Åke Fagerström, also possed a 2-0 record in GAMMA and a 10-4 record overall. He had a very strong Muay Thai game also with a black belt but prefers to stand evidenced by his 7 (T)KO wins.
For the 1st minute of the first round Kikuchi was having his way standing with Kann as he stuffed a takedown and countered very well. After 1 minute Kann shot in and got a great takedown straight into side control, Kikuchi managed to get back into guard before the round ended but Kann was throing a lot of ground and pound. The round ended with Kikuchi trying a triangle which Kann avoided but in the ensuing scramble Kikuchi managed to get on top in guard. An easy round for Kann with 4 minutes of top control. Round 2 starts with Kann swinging 7 punches but landing only 2 before he secured another takedown. Again he wanted to work ground an pound but only landing about 1/3 of his shots. Kikuchi then got into butterly guard which he used to land a great sweep into half guard, Kikucki stalling from the top made the ref stand them up. It wasn’t long before Kann got another takedown, he stayed in top position until the round ended. 2-0 so far in favour of Kann, Kikuchi had to finish. Under a minute in, Kann got another takedown, throwing less than damigin ground and pound. Kikuchi trying for and armbar to no avail then trying a triangle that was very tight but Kann picked him up and slammed him to the floor. Now it was Kann trying for a kimura which Kikuchi defends. Kann then closed out the round landing ground and pound. Judges score it 30:27 for Kann in a fight he dominated on the ground. Hitting 4 of 5 takedwons and landing 21 shots on the ground out of 65 and kept a good base on top of Kikuchi throughout. Kikuchi was to tentative in the stand up landing only 6 standing stikes but his accuracy was very good as he threw 10 shots.
Result: Kann via UD(30:27)
“The Chosen One” Usain Watts vs. “Kraven the Hunter” Sergei Kravinoff
Watts, holding a 12-8 record in GAMMA and an overall record of 40-18, is managed by Tycoon Legend and is a world class boxer with 20 wins via (T)KO. Kravinoff, managed by the great Lance Templeton representing Convicted Inc was making his second appearance for GAMMA where he held a 1-0 record and a 10-3 record overall with all wins coming via finish. He holds a stand p game to be feared with some of the best mix of boxing and Muay Thai, he also isn’t too shabby at the whole grappling thing as he holds a black belt.
Early on, Kravinoff was hitting the body with success with kicks and punches. Watts tried to shoot in for a takedown but was deinied. They exchanged and felt each other out for a while but then Kravinoff showed great power as he landed a left then a right that sent Watts tumbling over onto the floor, Kravinoff let him back up but Watts was wobbly and had been cut. Kravinoff showed great patience not rushing in for the kill as he went back to the body before clinching. He then proceeded to land a lot of head punches. The end came when Kravinoff landed a huge knee before landing another before the ref waved off the fight. Kravinoff landed 13 body shots including kicks that seemed to wear Watts right down and landing 12 head shots in the clinch befoe landing 2 brutal knees in the clinch that finished the fight.
Result: Kravinoff TKO(strikes) 4:58 round 1
Simon Williams (champ) vs. “The Power” Willy Stoppers
This was the main event for the 265+lbs title in which Willaims was the defending champion. Williams had a 12-3-1 record in GAMMA, and he has held both the 265lbs and the 265+lbs title in his time in GAMMA as all but 4 of his fights in GAMMA weren’t for a title, before the fight his overall record stood at 35-8-1 with 32 finishes by (T)KO. Williams is managed by Lance Templeton, a legendary manager representing Convicted Inc. Stoppers was making his GAMMA debut in this fight but his record stood at 35-14 with 33 finishes by way of (T)KO. Managed by Jesse Wolf in the alliance Children of the Law of One. Both fighters have shown in their careers almost identical fight styles with both being excellent boxers with an all round good skill set, but boxing being their main weapon of choice.
The fight began with Williams trying a low kick but Stoppers with a three punch combo that had Williams backing up. Williams got cut by Stoppers with an uppercut. Both fighters were throwing good punches and kicks then Williams got an excellent takedown into side control. Stopper worked from the bottom with a nice escape and taking Williams’ back then Williams reverses position and lands back on top in Stoppers’ guard. Stoppers was controlling from the bottom which made the referee step in to stand them back up. Stoppers the went to work on Williams using a mixed attack of power sots to the head and kicks to the legs and body, all this while avoiding Williams attacks. After hitting some nice body punches on Williams, Stoppers unloaded a huge right hand that sent Williams flying and then hit another massive overhand right that sent Williams down and out. Stoppers showed great accuracy throwing 23 strikes and missing only one and showed good position awareness on the ground. Williams didn’t look himself as he was out maneuvered at each turn and struggled to land any head punches. Williams hinted at retirement in his post fight speech but all eyes are now on Stoppers to see if he can defend his new belt.
Result: Stoppers via KO(punches) 4:08 round 1
That’s all from me folks, until next time,
Michael “The Wolf” Brakeley
Article views:
219
» Donate to this author |
