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 Kalashnikov Combat MMA will be holding their 10th event on Saturday, December 24th 2016 at "The Underground" in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are 10 fights scheduled, so let's get to the breakdowns and predictions for this Christmas Eve event.
Justin Sider (2-1) vs Fabio McFly (1-1) *155 Pounds
In the first fight of the night we have two well rounded lightweight fighters looking for their next win. From Las Vegas, NV we have Justin Sider, who trains out of the highly regarded Kalashnikov MMA Gym. Sider is riding a two fight win streak after losing his first professional fight. Sider has very respectable boxing with decent mauy skills that are complimented with a competent wrestling game. Sider favors his striking skills as was demonstrated with his two wins that came by way of TKO/KO. Across the cage from Sider will be his opponent, Fabio McFly. McFly is from Compton, California and he is currently living and training in New York at the School of Hard Knocks MMA Gym. McFly is coming in to this fight off of a submission loss. He has competent boxing and wrestling skills, but with his moral and energy at low levels and having to travel across the country for this fight, I don't think his skills are going to matter in this fight. My prediction: Justin Sider wins this fight.
Askari Volkov (0-2) vs Maciej Latar (0-2) *155 Pounds
In the next fight of the night, we have two fighters looking for the first win of their young professional careers. Volkov is from Chernobyl, Russia and he currently lives and trains in Las Vegas, NV. He is coming in to this fight with a TKO loss and a submission loss. Volkov has wonderful wrestling and that is about all that he has. He appears to be one of those fantastic wrestlers who has failed to transition his freestyle wrestling to MMA wrestling. His opponent is Maciej Latar who is from Warszawa, Poland and he is currently not training anywhere. Latar is more well rounded than his opponent as he has respectable boxing and basic mauy thai skills that are rounded out with competent wrestling. He lost both of his two professional fights by KO and TKO, but I do not think he will have to worry about that in this fight. This fight is a hard one to call as both fighters have low moral and understandably so, but with Latar not training for this fight and Volkov being one dimensional, this fight could go either way. I think I will go with the fighter who is training for the fight. My prediction: Maciej Latar.
James Brown (0-2) vs Oscar Pressly (1-1) *185 Pounds
For the next fight of the night we have a middleweight contest between James Brown and Oscar Pressly. James Brown is from Texas, but he currently lives and trains in Los Angeles, CA. Brown has yet to taste victory in his young career losing both of his professional fights, one by submission and the other by unanimous decision. Brown has proficient boxing and a blue belt in bjj. He currently trains at The Shit House and that surely has something to do with his record. His opponent is the well rounded Oscar Pressly. Oscar is from parts unknown, Florida. He trains at the Cozad Gym in Los Angeles. He has gone 1-1 in his young career, both winning and losing by unanimous decision. Though Pressly is more well rounded and he has the slightly better record, both, his energy and moral are low right now and unless he takes some time off before this fight for some rest and recovery, he might lose. I think I have to pick James Brown in this spot as he seems to be taking this fight more seriously and he does train at the better gym.
Eddie Evans (0-1) vs Stipe Miocic (0-0) *265 Pounds
The next fight of the night is between two big boys! We have Eddie Evans from Wellington, New Zealand, who is currently living in Las Vegas and training at the Cozad MMA Gym. Eddie has wonderful boxing and a very respectable wrestling game. He lost his first pro fight via 1st round KO, so hopefully he has been working on his striking defense game. His opponent for this contest is making his professional debut. Stipe Miocic is from Cleveland, Ohio and he is currently residing in Las Vegas and he trains out of Tayne's MMA Gym. Miocic is the exact opposite to his opponent in skill set. He has wonderful wrestling and a respectable boxing skill set. This fight could go either way. If Miocic can get the fight to the ground, he will have the advantage, but if he can not do that, the advantage will be his opponents. Miocic trains at the far superior gym, but he is obviously over-training and not doing much rest and recovery as his energy level is very, very low. If he does not take the next 3-4 days off, he will not make it out of the 1st round. Because of that, I think I will have to pick Eddie Evans to win this fight. Though his morale is a bit low due to losing his debut fight, I think his takedown defense will prevail in this fight and he will keep the fight standing.
Shane One Punch (1-0) vs Ryiah Kilbas (1-0) *265 Pounds
At the half-way point of this action packed event, we have two more heavyweight fighters clashing. These two fighters nearly mirror each other in every aspect of the matchup. Shane Carwin is from Las Vegas, NV and he trains at the #1 MMA Gym (as Voted on by ESPN panel of independent MMA Analyst) Kalashnikov MMA Gym. Carwin won his first fight via TKO due to the gaping cut that he opened up on his opponent's head. Shane has a strong boxing skill set that is complimented by a mediocre, but rapidly developing wrestling game. His opponent tonight is Ryiah Kilbas. Kilbas is from Death Valley, Marriage, Ruins A Man. He is currently living in the fight capital of the world, Las Vegas, NV and like his opponent, he trains at Kalashnikov MMA Gym. Training at the same gym surely made for some awkward moments over the past few weeks. Kilbas won his debut fight via 1st round KO. Like Carwin, Kilbas has strong boxing skills, but his wrestling is a level above Carwin's. This fight should be a barn burner and it really could go either way. Both fighters moral and energy are nearly identical and beings that they train at the #1 MMA gym of all time, I think this fight is going to come down to who lands the big shot first. I think the safest prediction for this contest is UNDER 1.5 rounds.
James Burrell (2-1) vs Rami Roisi (1-1) *265 Pounds
... And we have another heavyweight clash. James Burrell is from Corner Brook, Canada and he is not training for this fight. Hmmm, this is interesting as he has a healthy bank account. Maybe he thinks that his opponent will be an easy win? Burrell is coming in to this fight off of a 1st round RNC submission win. Burrell is purely a ground fighter as he possesses respectable wrestling and a brown belt in bjj. His opponent, Roisi, is a bit more well rounded. He has been working hard to develop his boxing skills and currently, his boxing is very proficient. He compliments his striking skill set with a bjj brown belt. After losing his first professional fight via unanimous decision, Roisi came back to win his second fight by 1st round armbar submission. I think these fighters grappling skills will cancel each other out and I think that Roisi's proficient boxing skills, along with his gym affiliation, will be the difference in this fight. My prediction: Rami Roisi to win this fight.
Merf Murphy (2-0) vs Lyle Chipperson (5-0) *205 Pounds
Now this is going to be an interesting fight! We have two undefeated rising prospects competing in the light heavyweight division. Merf Murphy is from Reading, PA and he currently lives and trains in Las Vegas, NV. Murphy is on a two fight win streak, winning both fights via 1st round KO/TKO, which is not surprising with the boxing skills that he has. He possesses very proficient boxing skills and a strong wrestling base. Across the cage from Murphy will be New York's own Lyle Chipperson. Lyle is 5-0 winning four of his five professional fights by various submissions. Lyle is a grappling based fighter and if Murphy can not keep this fight standing, he will be in trouble. Lyle has very competent wrestling and a purple belt in bjj, so if he can get this fight to the ground, he could win by submission. That said, Lyle's morale and energy levels are low. It appears that he is over-training and like the others mentioned above, if he doesn't take the next 3-4 days off, this fight will be Murphy's to lose. Murphy has very high moral and he seems to be taking his rest and recovery much more serious than Chipperson. These fighters need to learn that sometimes, less is more when it comes to training. My prediction: Merf Murphy to win this fight.
Left Cheek (1-0) vs Mike Stevens (2-1) *185 Pounds
This fight is guaranteed to end in a finish! First up, we have Left Cheek. Left Cheek is from Cervix, Qatar. Currently, he resides in Las Vegas and he trains out of the Aliens Only Spa, which is reportedly a homosexual members only, MMA Gym. Left Cheek won his professional debut by 1st round TKO. Cheek has wonderful muay thai and a very respectable wrestling base. His opponent is basically a grappling based fighter. Mike Stevens has very strong wrestling and he also has a bjj purple belt. He is just learning to clinch, so his muay thai is very, very basic, but starting to develop. Mike lost his professional debut by 1st round TKO, but then he rebounded to win his next two fights by TKO and a submission. Though Mike Stevens has won two in a row and appears to be starting to try to develop his stand up game, he is training at one of the worst gyms in Las Vegas. His morale is being depleted for this. I think this fight is going to end in UNDER 1.5 rounds and I think the fighter that trains at the superior gym, has higher morale and good energy (though he should rest 1-2 days before this fight) is going to win this fight. My prediction: Left "Speedy" Cheek to win this fight by (t)KO.
Gavin Keogh (2-0) vs Charles Salvador (1-0) *205 Pounds
In the co-main event for the evening, we have two undefeated prospects. From Chicago, Illinois we have Gavin Keough. Gavin is currently training at The Axis of Evil MMA Gym in New York, NY. He is a very well rounded fighter with competent boxing, mediocre muay thai, mediocre wrestling and he has a blue belt in bjj. Though he is well rounded, he has won both of his professional fights by (t)KO. His opponent for tonight's event is Charles Salvador. Charles is from Luton, England. Currently, he trains at the famed Kalashnikov MMA Gym in Las Vegas, NV. Charles is a well rounded fighter as well as he has competent boxing, very strong wrestling and a blue belt in bjj. He won his professional debut via 1st round TKO. These two fighters are about as evenly matched as they can be. I think I will have to go with the fighter who trains at the far superior gym, with a far superior coaching staff. My prediction: Charles Salvador to win this fight.
Mike Matthes (3-0) vs Salva Gomez (3-0) *155 Pounds
In the main event of the evening, we have two undefeated grappling based fighters clashing in the middle of the cage. First, in the red corner we have Mike Matthes who is from Berlin, Germany. He is currently training at the Hybrid Fighting Academy in Las Vegas, NV. Mike is a National High School Champion in wrestling as his wonderful wrestling skills display. He seems to be transferring his freestyle wrestling in to MMA wrestling very well. He compliments his superior wrestling skills with a blue belt in bjj and he has just started training in boxing last month. Mike has good hype and popularity and his energy is 100%, so he is resting and recovering very nicely after his hard training sessions, but I am left wondering why his morale is so low? Maybe because his gym is not in Excellent condition or maybe he needs some fresh new clothes? Either way, if he wants to keep his record undefeated, it will only help if he has high morale. Maybe he needs to check out the Kalashnikov MMA Gym, which is always in Excellent condition and filled with Elite coaches! His opponent for this fight is undefeated Salva Gomez. Gomez is from Mexico City, Mexico and he is currently training at Rabid Dog MMA Gym. As mentioned above, Gomez is a grappling based fighter. He is a brown belt in bjj and he has very basic wrestling skills, complimented with very basic boxing and muay thai skills. Gomez won all three of his professional fights by submission. I think this fight comes down to who can implement their game plan better. If Matthes can implement his takedown game and maintain top control while using his ground and pound to beat up Gomez, while not getting caught in a submission, he can win this fight. But if he makes one mistake, he will find himself in a submission. I think that both fighters basic striking skills will cancel each other out, so this fight will depend on who strikes first and implements their game plan the best. This fight is hard to call, but with Matthes morale being low, I think I will have to give a slight lean to Gomez here. My prediction: Salva "Arma Letal" Gomez to win this fight.
Ok fight fans, my official prediction record is 7-1. Let's see how well I do tonight. Hopefully, some Sports Books will list lines for this event so the readers of this Preview can cash in. Enjoy the fights!
Merry Christmas
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