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(Heavyweight Division, Championship bout) Ashley Harrington (29-14) versus Nickey Spillane(c) (22-6)
(Preview)
To call say that Ashley Harrington is a credible threat to the championship reign of Nickey Spillane would be a monumental understatement; Ashley Harrington is among the very best in the world at both striking on the feet, and grappling on the ground. In addition to a world class striking game, Ashley is an accomplished Jiu-Jitsu black belt with multiple grappling tournament victories to his credit.
Ashley Harrington actually started out as a super-heavyweight, fighting for Forbidden Violence. After going on a four fight winning streak, he hit a rough patch in his career; during this time, he only won two of five bouts, with his victories often coming by way of unanimous decision. This dry spell was interrupted by a remarkable five fight winning streak, punctuated by a KO of the night bonus against Vladislav Munchkin and a big win over Tio Malone. The good times didn't last, however, and Ashley quickly found himself back where he started: winning two of five consecutive bouts.
After parting ways with his long time management team, Ashley Harrington signed a lengthy contract with EVOLUTION; he still struggled to piece together victories, however, and soon found himself back on the free agency market, looking for a new home to fight in. This new home would come in the form of Ascension, a London based MMA organization.
During his tenure in Ascension MMA, Ashley Harrington also did a little moonlighting in the world of EFFA K-1 kick boxing, where he won two of his three matches on the side. After a rocky start with Ascension, Harrington went on a sizable winning streak, knocking out former world champions in: Kyle Carlton, Edward McLauglin, Bobby Newmark, and Gymer Alexandersson.
At the end of his Ascension contract, with six consecutive wins behind him, Harrington took a one-off fight with Grigori Rasputin, a man he had been defeated by prior; this time, the fight would take place at Syn 440. Much like their first meeting, Harrington would be defeated within the opening round of this ill fated match-up.
As a regular in the smaller shows, Irish Nickey Spillane earned a steady reputation both for his insurmountable aggression in the ring, and for his extremely heavy hands.
After making several appearances in the smaller shows, Nickey signed with Insanity MMA, knocking out Diego Strecha in the opening round of their meeting. Next, Nickey faced off against the technical striking prowess of Steve Stricker, who would surprise Nickey with his wrestling ability. In the end, Nickey would take home the victory with a narrow split decision.
In his third Insanity fight, Nickey Spillane faced off against three time defending heavyweight champion Cyril Makarenko to claim the undisputed title. Spillane would spend the majority of the fight searching for takedowns, and finding many of them; he landed nine of his twenty three attempted takedowns en route to a unanimous decision victory.
With the belt around his waist, Nickey had a gigantic target on his back; in his first title defense, he faced former Insanity heavyweight champion Jeremy Perosh. After a back-and-forth opening round, Nickey hurt Perosh with punches in the second round, and finished him just two minutes in. After besting Flex Plexico via unanimous decision, Nickey was defeated in a rematch with Cyril Makarenko. After defeating Roosevelt Coleman, Nickey rematched Makarenko, but was defeated via majority decision in this third meeting. Cyril Makarenko retained his heavyweight crown, and Nickey Spillane went back to the drawing board.
Clearly out of the title picture for the time being, Nickey Spillane fell in line among a pack of hungry contenders; he felt not unlike a prison guard that found himself standing as one of the prisoners in an ironic twist of fate. There were a lot of hungry fighters that wanted to make a name for themselves off of the back of a fallen former champion.
The first in line to seek his vengeance was Jeremy Perosh, who had been petitioning for a rematch since their meeting at Insanity 64. Their second fight took place at Insanity 89, with Spillane dropping Perosh with a looping right hand. Still on rubbery legs, Perosh went to defend the punches, so Spillane grabbed his waist and hoisted him over his own head, slamming him to the canvas and knocking Perosh out cold.
After knocking out John Paul Wani, Nickey knocked out former two time Insanity world champion Castor Rollins. This fight earned the “Mad Man” the opportunity to challenge the new heavyweight champion for the title. The new champion was Flex Plexico, who had gone on to win the title from the man who had bested Cyril Makarenko recently. Plexico was rightfully considered a sizable underdog in this championship clash, and Spillane was happy to prove why that was: Spillane put the pressure on Plexico early, scoring a takedown into half guard on top. Plexico did throw up a triangle choke that had Spillane briefly in trouble, but from there it was only a matter of time. With more than a minute to go in the opening round, Spillane piled on the pressure, hurting Plexico and forcing the stoppage.
Nickey Spillane faced Cyril Makarenko in his first title defense attempt, and was once again defeated via unanimous decision. This would be the final Insanity fight for Spillane, who signed with Trinity next. After fighting in three ITFL Trinity events, Spillane made a steady career fighting within the organization.
With three consecutive victories behind him, Nickey Spillane challenged Diego Bustamante for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world at T144: Battle Lines. With all of the marbles on the line, the question became: could Spillane hang on the feet with the heavy handed Bustamante? Would the wrestling of Spillane be enough of a problem to keep him in this fight?
As a matter of fact, Nickey Spillane dominated the opening round; both on the feet and on the ground, Spillane proved to be much too much for the reigning champion. In the second round, Spillane dropped Bustamante with a big right hand, and followed him down to work him over with ground and pound for the remainder of the round. In the third round, Spillane caught him with a big overhand right, once again diving in guard to finish. On top, Spillane swarmed the undisputed champion with strikes, pushing the pace on him! With thirty seconds left in the round, the referee jumped in when Bustamante covered up on his side, cowering below the onslought of the soon-to-be, once again world champion: Nickey Spillane.
[A closer look]
(Ashley Harrington)
Age: 35
Started Fighting At: 25
Record: 29-14
Knockouts: 23
Submissions: 3
Trinity Record: 0-0
Total Opponent Record: 1247-733-17
Rank (Division): 1
Rank (Organization): 6
Style: Kick Boxing, Jiu-Jitsu
Accolades or Accomplishments:
-Former #1 Ranked Super-heavyweight Fighter in the World
-Former Death Squad MMA Super-heavyweight Champion
-Knockout of the Night (x2)
(Nickey Spillane)
Age: 29
Started Fighting At:
Record: 22-6
Knockouts: 13
Submissions: 0
Trinity Record: 17-6
Total Opponent Record: 458-265-5
Rank (Division): 2
Rank (Organization): 1
Style: Kick Boxing, Wrestling
Accolades or Accomplishments:
-Reigning Trinity Heavyweight Champion of the World ( No Defenses)
-Former Two Time Insanity Heavyweight Champion (Two Defenses)
-Fight of the Night (x4)
-Four Fight Winning Streak
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