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 This is going to be one of the most incredible cards Highland Games has ever put on. We have two razor close title shots which are set to go down in history for years to come. I can’t even describe how good this card is going to be, but read on as I give it my best shot.
Dino De Brouwer (0-1) Vs Choby Boqdjiev (1-0) – Heavyweight
Dino had a very difficult first round in the tournament, fighting LHWs Buddy, and unfortunately the Italian Stallion was stopped in the opener. This is Choby’s first fight in the company, bringing an 8 second knockout of his debut opponent into the cage with him. This should be a good striking match up that will almost certainly end in a stoppage.
Viktor Jones (3-0) Vs Yolo Yolovski (4-0) – Bantamweight
Two undefeated prospects butting heads in this contest. Viktor will be looking to take this fight down and land some ground and pound. He does just enough to keep the fight on the mat, but isn’t really taking any changes with his strikes. Yolo won an independent tournament, bringing his record to 4-0. All of his fights have ended in submission, all in different and original positions. Viktor will have to be on full alert if he wants to avoid being tied up in a submission in this fight.
Phillip Peralta (2-1) Vs Manny Pacquiao (2-0) – Lightweight
Peralta is an all-rounder, capable wherever the fight goes. A submission loss in his lasting outing marked the fight time he’s been defeated since becoming a professional, but you can expect Peralta to keep his opponent guessing with his diverse gameplan. Pacquiao is a big Lightweight and this will aid his talented striking game when he enters the cage. Manny can keep the fight on the feet and has a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blue belt as well. We can expect Manny to want to keep this one standing nd will be looking to land accurate combinations, hoping for a late stoppage.
Yann Kerrec (2-0) Vs Narikaev Ruslan (3-0) – Middleweight
With a powerful muay thai background behind him, it’s surprising that we’re yet to see a more kicking based style from him. With punches in the clinch in his last fight and a debut which sported several takedowns, Kerrec has kept everyone guessing thus far in his career. Ruslan, a Russian boxer, has been knocking out foes since he first stepped into the cage. With three broken bodies being left in his wake, Narikaev is a highly touted prospect who could have a bright future in the Highland Games Middleweight division.
Tyson Silva (2-0) Vs Bratt Nardello (3-1) – Heavyweight
Tyson is a destructive boxer, fighting out of The Armory gym in New York. With his fight time lasting under 4 minutes in his two professional fights, we’re not expecting to see too much of Silva because he appears to finish fights rapidly. We don’t know how he’ll progress when he faces a challenge, but Bratt Nardello will be looking to give him just that in this contest. Nardello also has an impressive collection of quick finishes, defeating 3 of his adversaries with first round knockouts. Pietr Oblamenko scored a victory over Bratt, showing that he could have a weakness in the clinch, but I reckon that this fight will be a straight up shootout with Fight of the Night written all over it.
Cain Velasquez (5-1) Vs Shy Boy (5-5) – Heavyweight
Cain’s MMA career has been diverse so far. He’s been able to submit opponents, TKO them, and knock them out straight. Coming off of his first professional loss is sure to get to Cain but his talent is easily visible based on his 5 fight winning streak which came before it. He’s taking on a veteran here though so we’ll really see what he’s made of.
Before the Island tournament, Shy Boy managed to put together an impressive three fight winning streak. Although this was a great notch on his belt, he never really stepped up out of the bottom of the division. This changed in the tournament when he took on Mase Force, losing in the first round. He was also stopped by Benny Askren in a rebound fight, so this is important for him to keep himself away from the bottom of the rankings.
Chioyno Fuji (10-3) Vs Alexey Juralev (10-4) – Heavyweight
These are two of the longest Highland Games fighters, and man can they throw down. Two sluggers with near unparalleled power who have been wreaking havoc amongst the 265 fighters since Highland Games 1 and 2 respectively. Fuji’s three losses are all results of cuts, two being against Mase Force and one with Mib Louie. He’s arguably hit a new level recently, getting all the way to Round 6 of the Island tournament, knocking out Keijo Virtanen and Jimmie Craig along the way.
Juralev didn’t get quite as far in the tournament, but he also has his fair share of top level knockout wins. Like Fuji, a high percentage of his losses are by way of cuts. The other two were by headkick, something I highly doubt Fuji will bring to the table.
This has FOTN written all over it, and with 9 post fight awards between them, this is gonna be a barn burner.
Ludko Struja (12-5) Vs Hanjong Mc Vetrol (7-7) – Light Heavyweight
Another fighter to recently hit his stride is Ludko Struja. Ludko upset the MMA world when he defeated Jake Theodorou in under 3 minutes, and an equally impressive 1:27 TKO over Rodrgio Gracie has him firmly secured in the position of a title challenger. Struja competed for the belt once before; at Highland Games 33, but we’ve seen him come a long way since then and he fully believes he’s made all the relevant adjustments to defeat LHW if they ever clash against one another again.
Perhaps the biggest underdog of the night, Hanjong Mc Vetrol knows the full extent of what he’s going up against tonight. We’ve seen Mc Vetrol destroy lower ranked fighters, while he’s had trouble whenever he steps up. This is arguably going to be his biggest step up tonight, and this is really his biggest chance to put himself in title contention that he’s ever faced.
Gottlieb Hiebknecht (14-4) Vs Zoran Jolevi (16-1) – Lightweight Championship
I’ve just received the word that Gottlieb will split from his current management after this fight. If he can go into the free agent market as the brand new Highland Games Champion, we’re going to see an intense bidding war ensure between some of the biggest managers in the business. A former Attack Fight League Champion, a former Highland Games Champion, Gottlieb has every opportunity to win this, his third HG 5 rounder. If this isn’t enough, Gottlieb is the only man in history ever to defeat the champion. When they competed, it was Gottlieb’s Attack Fight League title on the line. Jolevi took the first round, utilizing his superior wrestling to take the fight down and control early. Gottlieb slowly battled back, landing strikes at distance which gave Zoran a hell of a problem. Jolevi failed to cut the distance for the rest of the fight and two of the judges had it 49-46. Now, Zoran is on top of the world while Gottlieb isn’t too far off of a 5 second knockout loss in the Island tournament. Zoran’s submission game is amazing, his striking game is solid and he can wrestle with the best of them. You can’t possibly have a favourite in this fight in my opinion and it’ll be amazing to see how it plays out.
Arnavut Sevket (13-2) Vs Grant Morrison (16-4) – Middleweight Championship
And what another incredible fight between two incredibly similar fighters. Both have taken losses to Massa Hurmaaja and Massimo Benvenuti, both have since avenged them. Really, if you want to count each victory over someone who has a win over each man, they are essentially undefeated. The only great Middleweight fighter in Highland Games to not fight Grant Morrison, is Sevket. The only great to never fight Arnavut, Morrison. We have a best of the best competition going on here and it couldn’t be more intriguing. Morrison’s streak going into the tournament was incredible. He was knocking out top contenders, avenging losses, winning titles and taking bonuses. Unfortunately, he was tagged by Aleksandar Mihaylov in the tournament and his run came to an end. Although he has since avenged the loss, you know he’d have liked to have won the tournament and avoided that L amongst the Ws. Grant’s loss was Sevket’s gain. Arnavut went into the tournament with a huge upset win over Massimo B, and then lay the smackdown for 5 tournament rounds, ending with a dramatic knockout win over the Massa. He’s never been stopped inside that cage, but Grant Morrison has the kind of power that comes along once in a life time.
Another uncallable competition here. The only thing to point out for me is that Arnavut Sevket’s current manager (me) is a lot less experienced than his former one. I’m not sure how that will play into the fight but it could change everything.
Well what a night we have ahead of us. Our final venture in Hard Knocks before we make the Camden Conference Centre our new home, and what a way to end the run than with two incredible title fights? I’m sitting on edge waiting for these to go down, and I’m sure all 3000 in attendance will be doing the same thing.
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