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Bantamweight Championship
(Champ) Darius Kasparaitis vs. (3.) Mark Bariga
DFC Bantamweight champion Darius Kasparaitis is set to defend his belt for the 2nd time this saturday against Mark Bariga. Bariga is walking to DFC title fight for the 3rd time in his career. He faced the former champion Kenshin Yamamoto twice in Destiny 31 and Destiny 46, but wasn't able to dethrone the champion. Bariga is coming from first round TKO victory over Bagong Buhay and that victory made him the first new challenger to the new champion. Bariga is known for his sensational boxing and that will probably be his biggest weapon against Kasparaitis. In other hand Kasparaitis is far better muay thai artist, but the ground game is pretty evenly matched.
Champion Darius Kasparaitis gave us long interview in pre-fight press-conference:
Q: Darius, this is your 2nd title defense at Destiny FC, and first time facing anyone other than Mr. Yamamoto. What are your thoughts on the upcoming bout with Mark Bariga?
D.K.: It will be an entirely different fight than my two previous outings, as Yamamoto was a grappler, and Bariga is a pure striker. Those two are polar opposites. My trainer and I watched some videos of Bariga and his game plan seems to revolve around throwing power shots, which is fairly predictable. I'd say his opponents have been of average quality.
Q: What will be your game plan coming in against someone who you describe as a powerpuncher? Will you try to take him down and test his ground game, or will you stand and bang?
D.K.: I'm confident in my striking and while I won't reveal my plan to you guys, I will say this: I won't shy away from trading.
Q: All of Bariga's fights ended in finishes--he was the victor 7 times, KO-ing his opponents all 7 times, while getting subbed twice, and being on the wrong end of a KO once. To Bariga's 100% finishing rate, you sport a 90% rate yourself, with 70% KO and 20% submission rate. Would you say the fans are in for a treat? Should we expect fireworks, and what is your prediction?
D.K.: I don't like predicting results, and as far as facing Bariga--I don't think he leaves opposition with many choices but to kill or be killed. I believe in my striking and physical abilities, and although I said I wouldn’t divulge my plan, I think it would be an interesting challenge to try to pick him apart using speed and precision. He reminds me a bit of Robbie Lawler, and standing in the pocket and trading with this guy could be costly. I'll utilize all of my striking, I'll kick him, I'll clinch him, I'll test his takedown defense, I'll test his chin, and I'll test his will to win. I think it will be a good fight, especially for those that say that styles make fights, as I'm looking to use my whole toolbox, which I think contains more tools than Bariga's, so I'm planning on weathering the initial blitz and going to work on this guy. He has never went the distance, and that's not a knock on him, but I want to take him into a territory that he has never been to and see how he fares with being in the deep waters.
Q: I wish both of you luck, and am going to keep my eye on this one, as it promises to deliver an interesting clash between two of the brightest prospects at Destiny, with much at stake.
D.K.: Thank you, I want to wish Bariga good luck, as well, he is a nice guy and we became friends while promoting this fight.
Welterweight
(2.) Dav Rolling vs. (7.) Josh Lebow
Former welterweight champion Dav Rolling is returning to action after his dissapointing title loss to Noob Saibot. The fight started just like Rolling had planned as he won Noob in the first round of the fight. In the 2nd round Saibot started to find his range and use his reach advantage and caught Rolling with big overhand right that ended the fight. Rolling is keen to get his rematch against Saibot, but first he has to get past Lebow this saturday. This isn't first time Rolling and Lebow are facing eachothers. Way back to Destiny 30, Lebow and Rolling faced for the first time and that time Rolling was able to get the W with first round arm triangle and to this date its still the only submission victory in Rolling's career.
Josh Lebow is coming from dissapointing loss in number 1 contender fight against David Tennant. Lebow had nice 3 win streak going before he got caught by brutal right hook by Tennant that knocked him out cold. Tomorrow Lebow has huge opportunity to get right back to title picture if he can conquer the challenge called Rolling. Lebow is underdog going to this fight, but all of his 9 fights has come via KO so "Punisher" is a guy that you can never count out and actually his boxing might be lil bit stronger than Rolling's so this should be a great fight. Lebow also has experience advantage so he wont freeze if he sees an opening for knock out.
Rest of the card
Lightweight: (9.) Moritsune Musashi vs. (10.) Bryan Lester
Heavyweight: (7.) Jakub Ketrzynski vs. (10.) Mophaf Bungradidoa
Heavyweight: (13.) Kuma Shiroma vs. (14.) Felippe Francisco
Featherweight: (13.) Matthew McConnell vs. (15.) Frank Benoit
Middleweight: (16.) Kazumi Okamura vs. (18.) Michal Materla
Welterweight: (14.) Lucien De Bray vs. (16.) Dennis Pegeant
Light Heavyweight: (13.) Loves To Spooge vs. (16.) Ramin Laulu
Light Heavyweight: (15.) Michael Rogan vs. (17.) Manny Fernando
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