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 SLAUGHTERHOUSE 8 REVIEW
UNDERCARD
Craig David v Verne Robinson – 205 lbs
David did nothing to dispel pre-fight predictions as Robinson delivered a quick takedown and proceeded to dominate on the ground. With Robinson clearly looking to work on the counter early on, most of David's shot found thin air and with barely forty seconds on the clock the black belt from Manchester had taken him to the floor. Robinson showed good activity, mixing in ground strikes as he sought to improve position and at just past the three minute mark he faked a shot, caught hold of David's outstretched blocking arm and executed the armbar. As expected, a debut victory for Robinson and we look forward to seeing him fight against tougher opposition.
Result: Robinson by first round submission.
Luan Oliveira v Fenton Hilton – 155 lbs
Hilton delivered a thoroughly dominant performance here, landing with 100% of strikes thrown and maintaining complete control of the clinch throughout. Hilton's plan from the beginning seemed to be keeping Oliveira up against the cage and it worked to perfection as he landed successfully with punches and elbows time and time again. Oliveira struggled to find the takedown with his back pressed against the cage and Hilton controlled his posture too well for the Brazilian to land any meaningful shots from within the clinch. Soon the damage was adding up and Hilton delivered a brutal elbow which knocked Oliveira to the floor and the referee was forced to step in and call this bout to a halt. A commanding performance from Hilton which earned him his first knockout of the night bonus and a place on his highlight reel. Discouraging for Oliveira, but the Brazilian is still young and he will have a much better idea now of the areas he needs to work on, namely his standup and work in the clinch – he is a skilled Jiu Jitsu practitioner so I think he still has time to develop into a more rounded fighter. Hilton's next fight is scheduled for Slaughterhouse 11 where he will take on skilled boxer John Armiger.
Result: Hilton by first round (T)KO.
Iain Anderson v John Armiger – 155 lbs
An interesting tactical matchup which was predominantly determined by the different styles adopted by the two fighters. Armiger's intention for this bout was to knock Anderson out cold with sheer aggression and willpower; while Anderson was looking to change levels and counter by any means possible. Of these two Armiger is the more skilled standup fighter, no question – Anderson's standup isn't exactly terrible but at the same time it's not anything to write home either. However, in this bout Anderson was more effective in landing strikes; Armiger landed five punches over the duration, Anderson landed six but also connected with numerous leg and body kicks alongside knee/elbow shots in the clinch. On top of that, Anderson successfully took Armiger to the floor several times over the course of the bout – his submission attempts proved ineffective but he maintained dominant positions and landed with the odd ground strike as well. Both of these fighters showed good durability to take this bout the duration and we went to the judges scorecards with all three scoring this contest 29:28 in favour of Anderson. A close fight but with Anderson landing with greater efficiency and scoring points from takedowns and his work within the clinch, it's fair to say he edged this one. Anderson's manager was reportedly unhappy with his activity on the ground and we heard strong words exchanged between the two in the locker room post-fight, which unfortunately cannot be printed here due to the amount of profanity it contained.
Result: Anderson by decision.
Markus Woodsmall v Karistokas Thereduuo – 135 lbs
We spoke beforehand about Woodsmall's plan to keep Thereduuo up against the cage for the duration of this bout, and that is exactly how this fight played out. Thereduuo started this fight by rushing in with a double leg takedown but Woodsmall showed good technique with his sprawl and immediately countered by clinching with his opponent. Working from the inside, Woodsmall proceeded to bombard Thereduuo with a series of uppercuts and elbows. Thereduuo desperately tried to take the fight to the mat but Woodsmall again showed good technique in securing underhooks any time it looked like the Greek might manage the takedown. Soon the strikes started adding up and as we approached the four minute Woodsmall dropped Thereduuo with an uppercut which sent him crumpling to his knees and the referee stepped in. A strong performance from the American on his Slaughterhouse debut, next up for Woodsmall is a matchup with another Greek, one Mr. Accurate, who is a skilled Muay Thai specialist – this bout will take place at Slaughterhouse Fight Night 2 on the 12th of December. Thereduuo's next opponent is yet to be confirmed.
Result: Woodsmall by first round (T)KO.
Tank Radovan v Lee Lewis – 155 lbs Title Fight
The third matchup between these two went by in a flash. At the start of the round Radovan went for the clinch and Lewis quickly countered with a driving takedown into guard. Surprisingly Radovan, a Jiu Jitsu white belt, tried to submit the brown belt with a kimura which invariably proved unsuccessful, Lewis countered with a well executed kimura of his own and soon Radovan was tapping out. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong for Radovan here, perhaps a case of over aggression or simply his opponent was better prepared for him this time. In the last fight between these two Radovan had dominated the standup exchanges and showed excellent takedown defence; in this instance Radovan didn't have time to show his standup superiority and maybe that is down to improvements Lewis has made in the takedown department. Regardless, a big victory for Lewis as he celebrates being the first owner of the Slaughterhouse lightweight belt. The combination of technique and the sheer speed at which he implemented the submission also earned him a submission of the night bonus, his third in what has been a relatively short career thus far.
Result: Lewis by first round submission.
Igor Zadarozhni v Raziel Shan – 265+ lbs
Another remarkably quick finish in this wrestler vs. wrestler matchup. Unsurprisingly this fight immediately found its way to the floor with Shan being the one to implement the takedown. With Shan on the top, he began to work the ground and pound to great effect landing persistently with elbows and punches. Zadarozhni started trying to look for submissions on the bottom; a guillotine attempt followed by an armbar were easily evaded by Shan as he continued to inflict damage upon his opponent. Things were already not looking good for Zadarozhni but then Shan delivered massive right hand which put the Bulgarian out cold – an impressive KO which was in strong contention for knockout of the night; if Shan can continue to demolish opponents like that it is only a matter of time before that bonus money finds its way into his pocket. This will be a setback for Zadarozhni as he goes 5-7, but in fairness Shan did come into this bout as the favourite alongside a 33lb weight advantage. Shan will be pleased to go back to winning ways as he made a big impact on his Slaughterhouse debut – his next fight is unconfirmed but if he continues to perform like this he could be one to watch.
Result: Shan by first round KO .
Mashrafe Mortaza v Jimi Aldo – 145 lbs
Mortaza's first fight at featherweight was by no means a walk in the park. He secured the takedown at the start of every round but struggled to find the submission against equally skilled Jiu Jitsu practitioner Jimi Aldo. This fight can essentially be summed up by Mortaza maintaining top positions throughout (Aldo did manage one sweep but Mortaza immediately transitioned into full guard) while both opponents defended well against submission attempts from their opposite number. There was little to no variance between rounds, Mortaza had the added advantage of being able to work ground strikes from the top and it was this in combination with his dominance of top positions which enabled him to take the decision. A lot of what ifs for Aldo – perhaps if he had been the one to secure the takedown and land on top, or perhaps if that loose triangle he looked so close to applying near the end of the first had come off... but MMA is not determined by what ifs and ultimately he can have no complaints with the decision being awarded to Mortaza. Aldo will be eager to return to winning ways though and is perhaps hoping that his next matchup will suit him better stylistically; as skilled as he is in submissions it was always going to be difficult against another brown belt. An important victory for Mortaza on both his Slaughterhouse and featherweight debut, he now goes 7-4 in his career – a solid platform to build upon as he seeks to make his mark at the new weight class.
Result: Mortaza by decision.
Kuula Natsi v Adam Morley – 265 lbs
At the age of 39, Natsi still has it – as he submitted skilled wrestler and Jiu Jitsu brown belt, Adam Morley, in under two minutes. Morley went for the early takedown and was immediately on the lookout to work strikes from the top. However, Natsi showed excellent grappling despite his advancing years and managed to block or evade Morley's strikes with a solid defensive guard. The Finnish veteran began to trying to find the submission from the bottom and achieved precisely that when in locked in a loose triangle to end this bout at 1:32 on the clock. A big victory for a big man – this importance of this win cannot be underestimated, success on his Slaughterhouse debut but also a very strong message from Natsi to the rest of the heavyweight division that he is still a force to be reckoned with. Morley will want to bounce back from this loss, but at the age of 25 he still has time to make improvements although suffering such a quick loss against a relatively evenly matched grappler will be a knock to his confidence.
Result: Natsi by first round submission.
CO-MAIN EVENT
Johann Kessler v Franklin Jackson – 170 lbs
Well we had hoped this would be an entertaining fight and it certainly lived up to its billing as both fighters earned themselves a fight of the night award. Both of these warriors looked to trade blows throughout and we were treated to three rounds of spectacular back and forth action. Rather than write a blow by blow account of this matchup, because that would take pages and pages such was the nature of this fantastic fight, I will seek to summarise it as best I can. The first round featured Jackson loading up on punches as Kessler sought to counter strike; both fighters showed excellent defence but with the sheer number of strikes being thrown some invariably manage to find their target. Jackson connected with several big right hands, barely focusing on the body as he tried to finish this fight early; meanwhile Kessler looked to circle away and landed effectively with several leg kicks alongside some well timed punches of his own. Jackson made adjustments for the second round, his strikes became slightly less wild and he mixed in the jab to good effect, in turn Kessler looked to step his activity levels up even higher. With the bout reaching a frantic pace, Jackson feinted a jab which caused his opponent to duck right into a big uppercut which clearly rocked Kessler.
The younger fighter reacted immediately with some ring intelligence that we would expect from veteran boxers – he swung a hook to the body to back Jackson off before launching into a clinch to regain his feet. Jackson soon managed to push his opponent away but not before he had got his breath back. We resumed the standup action and now, with the sheer amount of punches thrown by both fighters, strikes began to find their mark with more regularity. The bell for the third round came, and despite both fighters visibly perspiring they resumed their standup war – Kesser started strongly and looked the more active fighter, but his hands started dropping low and suddenly a brutal right hook from Jackson dropped him to the floor. Jackson quickly dived into to side control and pounded out his opponent for a victory by TKO. This was truly a sensational fight and a massive win from Jackson but both fighters can be thoroughly proud of themselves for their performances here. A potential fight of the year candidate right here.
Result: Jackson by third round (T)KO.
MAIN EVENT
RP McMurphy v Imperiex Prime – 265 lbs
How do you follow up a fight like that? Well how about pounding your way to victory against one of the biggest names in the heavyweight division? Because that is what RP McMurphy, the underdog in this instance, did as he faced off against Imperiex Prime – a man famed for his ability to knock opponents out cold with barely seconds on the clock.
We knew that McMurphy didn't want to trade blows with Prime from before this fight, that much was obvious but what we didn't know is that when he puts his mind to it McMurphy can pull of some sensational upsets. He evaded a straight right and hook to the body from Prime and immediately countered with a takedown. McMurphy initially started off just trying to improve position but with Prime showing a strong guard he instead started to work the ground and pound. Prime quickly decided he would rather get back to his feet but McMurphy's superior grappling enabled him transition first into half guard and then side control.
Prime desperately tried to return to half guard but in doing so inadvertently allowed McMurphy into mount. From there the Canadian wasted no time and connected with massive shot to the head. Another big strike landed for McMurphy and Prime turned his back in pain – that was all the encouragement the Canadian needed and he continued to fire away with abandon forcing the ref to dive in and drag McMurphy away. After sprinting around the ring in jubilation we managed to get a hold of McMurphy for his thoughts on the fight, barely able to contain his excitement he said: “thank you everybody for coming. My opponent, hats off to you, thanks for the great fight, all respect. My coaches and Team Burns helped me so much, thank you. I will continue to shock and inspire nations”
A huge victory for McMurphy, a man both talented and humble – perhaps he will go on to shock and inspire nations, either way it makes for a great storyline and we look forward to seeing much more of him in the future as he continues his rise in the heavyweight division. A frustrating loss for Prime but no doubt he will back to his ways of knocking the living daylights out of opponents in no time. Next up for McMurphy is a well earned shot at the title as he takes on Magnus Cross at Slaughterhouse 11; Prime's next fight is yet to be confirmed.
Result: McMurphy by first round (T)KO.
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