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 Malevolent 11: Hendricks vs. Barnes! PREVIEW
Welcome back to Vegas crackers and crackerinas! K-Rad here to call you crackers (and crackerinas) and to give you the rundown of 10 of the raddest mixed martial arts bouts you're going to see at least this weekend. Maybe even for the whole week, but only because Max Power and his Malevolent crew put on an event every week! The light heavyweight title is on the line tonight and it should be a real ripsnorter, cheered on by the 3000 fans which will be packing out the Hard Knocks arena to capacity. Come with me as I take you through all 10 fights on the card:
Django "Picado Rapido" Stochelo vs. Suzuki "The Swift" Hayabusa
Lightweight
The lightweights "Picado Rapido" Stochelo and "The Swird" Hayabusa get the action started for us in a bout that is showing some really extreme skills between two men who seem to have spent the first 8 years of their careers terrified to fight and just training, training, training. Fortunately for us they overcame their case of bitchitis and now are going to square off in the cage to see who has what it takes to be a professional fighter and who should just work security outside the local Hooters. Given I am paid to make these kinds of judgment calls, it seems to me that Stochelo is in big trouble as his opponent has brilliant striking, superior wrestling and a blackbelt in BJJ. All of these things add up to what I expect to be Hayabusa's 1st ever KO victory, unless he decides he wants to take it down and go for the sub because he really is just that much better trained he will be dictating this fight from start to end and I don't expect there to be a long time lapse between those two events.
Dwayne "Hillbilly Slammer" Jenkins vs. Romeo Sinclair
Light Heavyweight
In contrast to the last bout, two young fellows hit the cage to try to make a positive start to their professional careers as "Hillbilly Slammer" tries to turn around a loss in his 1st appearance and Sinclair looks to take a win from his debut. This will be an interesting clash of styles as Jenkings is not capable of standing and banging with the solid standup skills of Sinclair but he should have what it takes to take the fight to the floor and put his better grappling to good use. Sinclair is taller and heavier, which may allow him to keep distance with Jenkins but unless he can claim the KO early he will eventually be taken down and if Jenkins is even slightly capable then Sinclair will lose this fight. I am expecting a great fight which the more aggressive fighter should win and despite Jenkins being unsuccessful in his 1st appearance, he did show the aggression required to take out a win tonight so I am picking him to claim a submission victory.
Dean "Micky" McCallester vs. Bret "The Hitman" Hart
Light Heavyweight
Two more quality up and coming light heavyweights go primal as they look to improve on mixed starts to their careers. McCallester will be relying on top notch striking to get an early KO because if he is unable to do this then "The Hitman" Hart is going to just as quickly take him down and tear off a limb thanks to the latter's BJJ brown belt. It is concerning that McCallester was unable to finish a far less trained fighter in the form of Jenkins (featured in the previous bout!) in his last fight and I think this is all the evidence I need to give the advantage to Hart to take the early submission victory.
Opaki Ljevpo vs. "TC Haze" Tom Helm
Welterweight
More young blokes looking to find their groove with welterweights Ljevpo and "TC Haze" Helm trying to get a fight streak started on the basis of their last fights. Ljevpo looks poorly trained to stand and bang with "TC Haze" but even though he has the wrestling to take his opponent down Helm has the superior grappling which will mean Ljevpo is going to have to go all out with his ground and pound to snatch a victory here. So date Ljevpo has twice shown he has the ability to do this and although Helm has the ability also, I would expect submission skills would be more useful for "TC Haze" in this bout so I am going to back Ljevpo to overcome his disadvantages and claim a KO victory.
"The Grandmaster" Bushido Brown vs. Matthew Murdock
Lightweight
We're back to veteran level fighting in the last fight of the undercard with "The Grandmaster" Brown taking on Murdock in a fight which should be a contendor for a KO or FIGHT OF THE NIGHT award. Whilst Brown has the wrestling, Murdock is a black belt in the dark and forbidden arts of Brazilian jiujitsu so it is most likely in "The Grandmaster's" interest to keep this one standing where, despite being at a slight striking disadvantage, his knock out record speaks for itself. It is this very KO record as opposed to Murdock's tendency to go to decision which is making me back Brown for the KO win in what is otherwise a very evenly matched bout. Either way, Brown has 4 and Murdock has 6 fight of the night awards to their names so expect a real treat for the fans.
Ike "Beat Yo A$$" Turner vs. Markus Mikkelson
Lightweight
In lightweight "Beat Yo A$$" Turner's own words, "After a long music career and beating Tina's big booty from coast to coast i decided to take up mma" and we're all thankful he did. Firstly, we get to see some big Turner KOs, secondly and most importantly, we got The Nutbush, a truly ground breaking and paradigm shifting song and dance that will transend the ages. A nice battle of striking styles here as Turner looks to continue his head kicking trail of destruction against the undefeated boxer Mikkelson. One way or another, one of these men is going to sleep early tonight and with both men the same height and weight it is going to be a matter of chin and gameplan as to which this happens to. A tough fight to pick but given that Mikkelson is undefeated and Turner has shown that a well placed punch can knock him out I am going to tip Mikkelson to go 3 in a row via KO.
Clay Castro vs. Damein Sheilds
Welterweight
Two men who have had pretty ordinary records in recent time match up next in a fight I wouldn't be surprised to see changing in order on the card before it is finalised. Both men have tried to round out their skills across the board but it is Castro who holds the advantage in boxing and and Sheilds who holds the wrestling. This should be a better fight than many would anticipate as it has the potential to take place across all aspects of the cage as both men will be feeling they have the ability to stand and bang but neither has a KO to their name which means the submission angle will not be neglected either. A difficult fight to pick but I am going to go with experience in this fight and give Castro his first even KO win.
"Tough Warrior" Corey Otool vs. "Golden" Eron Silva
Middleweight
Two men who have been looking good lately are "Tough Warrior" Otool, who is undefeated from 3 appearances, and "Golden" Silva who is riding a 2 fight win streak and looking to make it 3. This is another fight with potential to showcase all of the different styles available in modern day mixed martial arts as Otool's boxing will be met by Silva's average kickboxing and Silva's wrestling will look to be countered by Otools superior jitsu. A real chessgame here as the two men will look to make their gameplans work to their contrasting styles and Silva will be hoping his 10cm height advantage allows him to work an effective kicking game to create some distance between himself and "Tough Warrior's" big punches. With Otool having all 3 wins via submission and Silva having a solid mixed record of KO and sub wins I am going to tip the latter to take a decision win as he controls the fight to keep it standing.
"From Planet X" Virgil Donati vs. Curtis "The Horse" Longface
Light Heavyweight. Co-Main Event!
The first of two 205lbs fight to bring the night to a crescendo sees "From Planet X" Donati, lesser known for his being Australian and an outrageously good drummer of the likes who is friendly with Steve Vai, is taking on "The Horse" Longface. Those of you who follow my writeups regularly will know I am a fanboy of "The Horse" and given that he is now 8 wins from 8 appearances it is no longer just because I like the guys name. Donati has made a name for himself thanks to some elite boxing and given his superior wrestling in this bout I think this is going to be the end of Longface's reign of submission terror, his absolutely awful morale will not be helping any either. I have written Longface off before and he has always proven me wrong and I'd like that to be the case again, if just for his sake, but I am expecting Donati to unleash a break beat upon "The Horse's" face tonight and claim the KO win and quite possibly go on to contend for the title very shortly.
Ricardo "The Grave Digger " Hendricks vs. Clifton "Bones" Barnes
Light Heavyweight. Main Event TITLE FIGHT!
Here it is boys, girls and those somewhere in between. Fresh off the back of a rematch win to defend his title against Thor Skank in a bout which resulted in a draw first time around, "The Grave Digger" Hendricks is up for his 3rd title defense under the Malevolent name and this time it is against the highly formidable and undefeated "Bones" Barnes. Both men are great strikers, Hendrick's slight Western boxing disadvantage is made up for with a slight Thai advantage, ensuring plenty of fireworks on display tonight although Hendrick's certainly has the wrestling aces which will allow him to take this fight down for a ground and pound session if he desires. I think this is really going to be the trump card which allows Hendrick's to control this fight and I expect him to claim another KO win and retain his title.
That's the good word from Malevolent 11: Hendricks vs. Barnes. I am K-Rad, she is naked and time's a fleeting. Cya at the show! Peace.
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