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 Featherweight Title Tournament – Round 1 Hard Knocks Arena – Helsinki 06/02/2016 – 6PM
With the title picture taking shape in many other divisions, tonight’s card sees the Featherweight contenders stake their claim to the Infinity Featherweight strap.
With Infinitys former Featherweight champ, Luis Carlos Linhares now fighting under the Synchronicity banner in Las Vegas, 8 of Infinitys top ranked Featherweights fill out most of the nights main card in what should be an explosive night of fights.
Let’s take a look at the match ups.
(2) Zander Harland – (W-7 / L-6 / D-0) Vs (10) Marcus Quinn (W-5 / L-5 / D-0)
Kicking off the tournament is Infinitys No2 ranked contender, Zander Harland, taking on No10 ranked Marcus Quinn. These guys have met before in the AXF organization back in June 2015.
That night, Harland come out on top in a fairly uneventful fight, earning a one sided unanimous decision that was fought mostly on the ground. With both fighters having fairly similar skillsets and fighting styles, tonights fight will probably play out the same way. Since then though, Harland has developed quite a devastating GnP game whereas Quinn seems to be pretty much the same fighter he was back then.
Though both fighters have alternated between wins and losses throughout their careers, both are coming in off the back of strong finishes in their previous fights, with Quinn earning a submission in just 32 seconds of his fight. Although both fighters like to fight on the ground, Quinn has the more varied style, utilizing the clinch to get the fight to the floor where he mixes things up with GnP and submission attempts. Harland on the other hand prefers a takedown heavy approach and once on the floor, likes to get to side control where he can work his GnP.
Harland has two failed attempts in title fights in the DFC organization, both against Jeff Gower and though he was finished early in his first, he took Gower the distance in the second fight so he knows how to fight a five round fight. This could give him the edge in the nights fight.
(6) Aaron Blood – (W-4 / L-0 / D-0) Vs (3) Gustavo Santos (W-19 / L-4 / D-0)
Possibly the biggest mismatch of the night. Only 4 fights into his career, No6 ranked Aaron Blood will be taking on K1 wrecking machine, Gustavo Santos who’s currently ranked No3. At only 23 years old, Santos is the most decorated and experienced fighter in the Infinity Featherweight division. With a combined 19 career victories, 8 of which came in K1 bouts, Santos could prove way too much, way too soon for 20 year old Aaron Blood. Although their skillsets seem fairly well matched on paper, Santos’ experience in big fights will no doubt be of concern to Blood and have Santos brimming in confidence.
Having already fought in no fewer than 10 title fights and winning 7 of them, been champion in 3 organizations, (1 of which being Legacy K1), has 13 1st round finishes to his name with 15 ‘Of The Night’ awards, its hard to see any way of Blood coming out victorious in this fight. An accomplished grappler, Blood has managed to submit 3 of his opponents in his 4 fights but in Santos, he’s coming up against a BJJ black belt with excellent wrestling skills. That being said, Blood is riding high on the back of his 4 and 0 record while Santos, despite previously going on a 13 fight win streak, now finds himself on a 3 fight skid. In his last 3 fights, Santos has had problems when his opponents have used the clinch and has also been cut in all 3 fights.
If Blood can gameplan around this, and plant the seeds of doubt early on in the fight, he may just do the unexpected. Santos has 14 finishes in his career, 6(T)KO’s and 8Subs so he has shown he can finish the fight anywhere, that being said, he has also been (T)KO’d twice, AND, subbed twice so that in itself should give Blood a little confidence.
Typically a counter fighter, if Blood fights this way against Santos, chances are he’ll get KO’d or subbed. However, confidence is a big part of the fight game and who knows what those 3 losses may have done to Santos. If Blood can exert himself in the clinch, possibly open up a cut, he could put Santos in an uncomfortable position and come away with his hand raised. Although he will be a massive underdog going into the fight, this is the fightgame, and anything can happen…..and usually does. Watch this space.
(4) Frederik Stenberg (W-6 / L-3 / D-0) vs (5) Vasili Komaroff (W-9 / L-6 / D-0)
In what could possibly be the nights closest fight, No4 ranked Frederik Stenberg takes on No5, Vasili Komaroff. Both have a similar style and are fairly well rounded, intelligent fighters. Both have been pretty inconsistent their last 5 fights, alternating between wins and losses and with neither of them taking too many chances during their fights, due to what’s on offer, we could be in for a chess match in the cage. Stenberg, an ADCC Champion and black belt in BJJ has excellent boxing skills, but seems to lack power and urgency. Methodically, he uses his boxing to set up takedowns and once on the ground, he rarely attempts any submissions from top position, preferring to use his GnP.
Komaroff on the other hand, is a lot more active on the feet, he is more willing to push the pace a little and keep the fight standing and if the fight does go to the ground, he prefers to control rather than look to finish. Komaroff has been a champion in the UPF organization and 2 of his 6 losses have come in championship bouts, whether or not this will give him an edge going into tonights fight remains to be seen.
Komaroffs best chance at victory would be to keep the fight on the feet and wear Stenberg down before attempting any type of finish, be that on the feet of the ground. He has 6 (T)KO finishes to his name so he does have the power to finish fights but Stenberg may be unwilling to get into too many exchanges on the feet. Stenbergs best opportunity would be to lull Komaroff into taking him down where he can apply his submission game from his back. If he looks to take Komaroff down and work from top position, chances are, Komaroff will just look to control him. With both these guys having the capacity and style to cancel each other out, a decision victory looks likely, but for who, I don’t know.
(1) Jesus Montalban (W-10 / L-3 / D-0) Vs (7) Sami Orgun (W-6 / L-4 / D-0)
This is a great match up between 2 aggressive fighters who both like to finish fights, and make no secret of the fact that they come into fights to knock their opponents blocks off. With Montalban having 7 (T)KO’s in 10 wins and Orgun, 5 (T)KO’s in 6 wins, you’d be pretty safe to say this one isn’t going to go 3 rounds. Montalban has previous experience in title fights, having won titles in 2 different organizations, and picking up 5 ‘Of The Night’ for his all out fighting style.
He utilizes excellent striking skills, mixing up punches and kicks to overwhelm his opponents, and is adept at using his size and reach advantage over smaller opponents. This has proven to be one of Orguns weaknesses. He has struggled before on the feet with reach advantage. However, Orgun has a far superior ground game to Montalban and if he can get inside and get the fight to the floor, he could have Montalban in all kinds of trouble, be that with submissions or GnP.
Getting the fight to the floor is easier said than done with Montalban who has excellent wrestling and takedown defence/sprawl skills. His statistics in defending takedowns are phenominal. If the fight does go to the floor, Montalbans lack of BJJ skills could prove to be a problem, although an accomplished wrestler, Orgun is too and he has far superior BJJ skills to boot. Fighters have often taken Orgun down only to find themselves unable to match his overall groundgame. Although a game opponent, and possibly causing Montalban problems, I can see Orgun being frustrated by Montalban and unable to negate his reach advantage.
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