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Honour Fighting Championships presents:
HFC 23 Johnson vs Brogue (874126)
On November 16th, 2016
At The Underground - London (1000)
In conjunction with Versus merchandise
Author: Master Po
HFC 23 Johnson vs Brogue (874126)
Undercard:
Jiann Jatt vs Luke Owen
Jatt is a phenomenal boxer from Hyderabad, India. He comes into the the first fight of the night at 1-1 with 1 KO. At just 19 years of age he's a youngster with a high ceiling. How much he'll be able to achieve in MMA is yet to be determined. Next on his agenda is this 170 lb match with Englishman Luke Owen. Owen is 0-2 in the organization and struggling to get his bearings. On paper Owen seems to have every advantage other than boxing skill. But, I'm afraid his skill and training may be too generalized and not specific enough. We all know how those "well-rounded" fighters do in the MMA game. Sooner or later, someone who specializes in...something or anything, will exploit that advantage with inordinate success. Jatt will lean on his refined skill in boxing and borderline ridiculous reach advantage. Owen's only chance in the contest is to catch one of Jatt's long limbs in some sort of submission. Jatt is actually coming off such a loss to Demian Maia, and doesn't appear to be actively training. The problem is Owen is a lot less skilled than Maia was, but at least Owen is currently training at the Kung Fu Fighting Club.
Prediction: Jatt TKO (strikes) first round.
Wo Kung vs John Cooper
Kung is 2-1 in quick fights and 1-2 within the organization to bring his MMA record to 3-3. On paper this looks to be a perfect opponent for Kung to bring his record to 4-3. Cooper has never had a quick fight and started his MMA career in the Honour organization. He has yet to break his maiden and sits at 0-2. To his credit he hasn't been finished losing both by decision. He seems to be well conditioned and over at Double XX where he is currently training they say he has obvious KO power. Wo Kung is heavy handed as well so these two can bring the pain. The questions are in training and tactical strategies. I believe Cooper's manager may want to take a hard look at pre-fight game plans and see if they may be able to do some things differently and get that elusive win. Kung was apparently released by his manager and going at it himself at the moment. We'll see how that pans out for him.
Prediction: Cooper unanimous decision.
Daniel Hayden vs Boney Maroney
The second of five fights in the Super Heavyweight division on the card sees Daniel Hayden vs Boney Maroney. Two Brits squaring off here looking to get experience and get their names out there. Hayden has a bit more experience inside a cage, but at 18 he may actually be less experienced than Maroney who is 25 years old. Hayden at 2-1 with 1 KO is no stranger to the cage and 1-1 in the organization. Maroney at 1-0 is primed for his first fight in the organization and will look to gain some popularity with fans and matchmakers alike. On paper Hayden should be the favorite. Maroney seems to be a more popular fighter with the fans around London. Being the MMA analyst I am, I have to go with numbers, and my algorhythms project Hayden as the favorite in this one, but deep down inside my inuition feels that Maroney can, and will pull off the upset.
Prediction: Boney "Moneymaker" Maroney via unanimous decision.
Leo Barklong vs Freddie Adam
The last fight on the undercard and by this point I'm sure everyone in the venue, other than the fighters and their fight teams, hopefully, will be tanked up and belting out profanities and pleasantries. Barklong has been struggling with professional MMA. Upon entering the scene he went 0-3 with three successive quick fight losses being finished in all by 1 KO and 2 Submissions. His management decided to try their chances in the Honour organization in which he has went 1-1 moving his record to a dismal 1-4. It could be said that there has been some suspicious decisions in regards to his tactics and training regimens, but he has finally managed to secure a victory in his last appearance. He's another one of those "well-rounded" fighters and oddly enough on paper looks to have some skill advantages over his next opponent Freddie Adam. Adam is a youngster who at this point has only shown prowess in BJJ, which he has brown belt level skill in, although he does show promising KO power. Adam has never taken a quick fight. Instead he started his career in the organization and is at 1-1 with 1 KO. In his last fight Adam was taken down and displayed an excellent ground game which he grounded and pounded his opponent managing to open a cut and then focus on it until the doctor had no choice but to call the fight due to the serious laceration.
Prediction: Adam Submission (Armbar) second round.
Main Card:
Thickski Brickhackski vs Takomi Saka
Getting into the main card we have a fight in the 170 lb division. Brickhackski of Russia is at 3-2 in MMA. He took a quick fight to start out in MMA where he won a KO victory. Then he signed a deal with Honour and has went 2-2. He is coming off a submission victory where he showed a good level of ground game skill and managed to land a heel hook against an opponent that more or less had identical BJJ skill. Brickhackski has nice speed which was probably the determining factor in that contest. Things are definitely more hazy with the Japanese Muy Thai fighter Takomi Saka. All we have to go by is 18 seconds of MMA fighting from him where he pummeled his opponent on his way to a KO victory. I like the way this kid looks with several achievements at college level in wrestling and a training program focused in Muy Thai. Physically these guys are mirror images. Brickhackski should be favored here with more experience, but with that being said, I think the Japanese guy moves to 2-0 after this event.
Prediction: Saka TKO (Strikes) round 1.
Anthony Joshua vs Willem Van Der Weegh
Joshua came into the MMA scene on a 4-0 tear winning every fight by KO in the first round. The decision was made to join Honour considering his success and he won his first fight there in a similar way although it took him 3 rounds to seal the deal. With all that going for him the next step was a title shot. Sadly, he suffered his first and only loss then by a disheartening first round KO. I am sure he will look to get back on his original course here facing Van Der Weegh from the Netherlands. Some in MMA circles have questioned whether Van Der Weegh's management demonstrated good decision making fighting him so early in his career but he has had success for such a young fighter. He's at 1-1 only fighting in the Honour organization. He is coming off a grueling decision victory showing flashes of skill in just about every category and as well as great conditioning. This is a big test for the 18 year old Van Der Weegh. On the other hand, although I'm sure Joshua views him as a stepping stone to get back to his usual impressive self, he most definitely isn't taking him lightly.
Prediction: Joshua first round TKO (Strikes).
Matthew Fang vs Karl Wick
This should be an extremely entertaining ground war. Neither has a striking game that would amount to anything more than a distraction to take things to the mat, but if there were an advantage there, it would go to Fang. The 25 year old Submission Artist, Fang, has a mixed martial arts record of 4-2 with 4 Submissions. He is a former champion within the organization in the 205 lb division. His 2 losses are KO losses leaving his chin in question, but those close to the fighter swear his chin is chiseled out of granite. These fighters have been introduced before when Wick defeated Fang and removed him of his belt with what was surely a devastating TKO loss back in Honour IV. Karl Wick is in his element grounding and pounding. Fang will look to sneak a submission win in, while Wick will be all about top control and hammer fists and elbows. Without question there is bad blood between these two warriors and there is a lot to be gained or lost here. Both fighters are working to get back to contender status with only the man across the cage in the way. Tough one to call. Add it to your Spoiler list folks!
Prediction: Fang Submission (RNC) round 2.
Twist Calypso vs Cody Ruttenum
In the final fight before the co-main and main events we have the New Yorker Calypso who is coming off the only loss, on an otherwise unblemished record, where he lost his belt to Dwayne Johnson, the headliner on tonight's card. Opposite him is the British Ruttenum who is working his way up to contender. Ruttenum has a long way to go and this may be a little too ambitious of a move for him. Calypso is the real deal, with 5 title fights on his 5-1 record. He has the edge in experience, level of opposition, management, and skill. He is a slightly smaller man and I'm sure he will have morale issues to overcome, but I feel that will be water off a duck's back for a fighter of his caliber. The 2-1 Ruttenum at 23 years old may be biting off a bit more than he can chew, but that's why we have the fights. Anyone has a puncher's chance!
Prediction: Calypso round 1 TKO (Punches).
Co-Main Event:
265 lb Title
Random Fighter Three vs Antonio Silva
These two headlined HFC 15. During that fight Random Fighter Three (facepalm) gashed Silva early and proceded to put pepper and a splash of mustard on it until the cageside doctor had no choice but to stop the contest. It was a bloody mess. My sources tell me that Silva has had some sort of experimental surgery to remove some of that scar tissue to make cuts less likely. We'll see how that works out for him. Three has a historied background in wrestling in his country Algeria. With that wrestling he usually gets a takedown with little resistance. Then, the usual scenario is top control and dropping bombs until opponents are out cold with his obvious KO power. In a rather shocking twist of events, though, he won his last fight with a quick and agile Kimura adding submissions to his repertoire and moving him to 4-1 with 3 KOs and 1 Submission. Silva is a decent boxer and wrestler fighting out of Brazil. He currently stands at 4-1 with his only loss coming to the guy who has parents that think they are funnier than they really are, otherwise known as Random Fighter Three. I managed to speak briefly with Silva after HFC 20 where he KO'ed Daniel Hayden and he seemed to hold a high level of animosity toward....Three. He muttered something about revenge being a dish best served cold. I think this young man has a chip on his shoulder. I talked with his team and they also mentioned switching a few things around to try and utilize his substantial reach advantage.
Prediction: Silva KO (Punch) round 1.
Main Event:
170 lb Title
Dwayne Johnson vs Donal Brogue
Dwayne Johnson is a dirty boxer that seems most at home throwing tight short shots inside of the clinch. He captured the 170 lb title in his last fight against a great fighter in Calypso. He's the champion for a reason, but he is somewhat inexperienced with only 3 fights in MMA. Out of the UK we have Donal Brogue with a MMA record of 5-1 with his only loss coming to aforementioned Calypso in a title fight where he intially thought he could do something in the clinch only to quickly realize that may not have been such a good idea. Calypso kept returning to the clinch outscoring Brogue through 3 strenuous rounds, defending his title by decision. This is Brogue's next chance to win a title against an eerily similar fighter in Johnson. With this fight the question may be if Brogue can manage to get out of clinch situations with minimal damage and strike at a distance. He has a nice reach advantage and if it were up to me I'd try to have him keep Johnson at the end of some doubled up jabs. Conversely Johnson will want to immediately take the fight to the clinch and work over Brogue with some tight shots to the solar plexus and kidneys early and often to wear down the taller and somewhat more experienced fighter. When "The Rock" has him sucking air a well placed uppercut should be curtains for the challenger. I can't wait to see how it plays out!
Prediction: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson KO (Punch) mid-late second round.
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