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 SFL 04 | HALLI VERSUS SITSONGRIT PREVIEW
209 ARENA, AMSTERDAM
Xavier: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the 209 Arena in Amsterdam!
Styles: Not to be that guy, but wasn’t there a CNN report the other day that said Amsterdam is falling apart at its foundation near water-laden areas?
Xavier: Actually, yes, Styles. That’s correct, but this excellent arena isn’t near those areas, plus the finances generated by this outstanding night of fights, as well as by this very reputable organization, will greatly assist the local community with addressing those issues.
Styles: Oh, I see. We’re magnanimous and kick ass? How awesome is that?
Xavier: Very. Tonight, not only do we have an explosive card filled with potential brutality and punishment, but the Featherweight Championship is on the line! That will absolutely be intense and nasty, and the fans will eat it up!
Styles: Of course they will! They know what the Stoner Fight League brings to the table!
Xavier: Indeed they do! Although we’re slated to review the Top 5 fights of the night, let’s give our quick opinions about the first five fights. Shall we?
Styles: Let’s!
Xavier: The first fight of the night is a Light Heavyweight battle between Habi George (2-0 MMA; 3-2-1 KT; 2-fight win streak) versus Ruben Ruiz Mangas (2-1; 2-fight win streak). In a nutshell, Styles, if this fight stays vertical, Habi George scores the knockout, and he may pull that off with a nasty knee to the head!
Styles: Mangas wins this fight by taking George to the mat and making him lament while tapping out furiously!
Xavier: The next fight is a Heavyweight battle between Blanco “El Guapo” Domingues (3-4) versus Brian “Super Brian” Nielsen (1-2). Overall, I think Domingues will be quite comfortable in this fight due to his overall abilities, but specifically, I think keeping this fight vertical is the key to victory for him tonight and the knockout.
Styles: Nielsen is just one happy looking dude, maybe so happy that it’s disturbing, and he could throw Domingues off his game with that odd smile of his. I say Nielsen wins with a counterstrike because he’s going to trip Domingues out too much with that weird smile!
Xavier: The Featherweight division sees Gareth Keenan Jr. “Investigates” (3-2; 2-fight winning streak) and Brandan Quiniou (3-1) go at it. Even though he wears a very unique outfit when not fighting, Keenan Jr. is an effective fighter. If he keeps this fight vertical, he wins by knockout, plain and simple.
Styles: Despite having a 3-fight winning streak snapped recently, I say Quiniou, which sounds like some type of yogurt or seed, wins this fight by dragging Keenan Jr. to the horizontal plane and making him tap out from there.
Xavier: The big boys clash as Tembo Laibon (6-3) and Jeronimo “Pinoy Savage” Puno (5-1; 2-fight winning streak) lock horns. When I saw the 27-year-old Jamaican backstage, Laibon didn’t look like he wanted to fight. I’m not sure if there’s a personal issue he’s dealing with but I hope for his sake he gets it together before this battle or it’s going to be a very short one. The odds are stacked against him anyway, and the only way he defeats the highly-skilled 23-year-old Puno is to catch him with a counterstrike that rocks him badly or a counter-takedown he doesn’t see coming then lock him in a submission immediately.
Styles: Usually, I get amped when there’s an inter-alliance fight, X, but in this one, I can only hope that Puno doesn’t completely wreck the other dude! They may as well call this fight the “Manila Mauling” because that’s what it’s going to be! Hopefully, Puno puts Laibon out of his misery quickly by knocking him out quick!
Xavier: The Lightweight division takes the stage with Grigoriy Petrov (3-3) and Egill “the Demon King” Skallagrimmson (5-3). To put it simply, the tattooed warrior from Saint Petersburg needs to keep this fight in the standup, and he could even take the chance of clinching with Skallagrimsson to keep it that way. He does that and he wins this fight by knockout.
Styles: The dude with an SAT word for a last name looked a little butt hurt when I saw him, X, but I don’t think he’s upset enough to render him less effective. Avoiding the clinch and getting this fight to the mat as fast as possible is the key to victory for the Icelandic warrior. Dude definitely looks pissed and I won’t upset anyone that carries a war axe, so I expect him to win this battle by submission!
Xavier: All right, we’ve now reached the Top 5 fights of the evening! The party gets started in the Welterweight division.
WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION: LEON “VIRTUOSO” LOUIS (10-4; CURRENT STREAK: NONE)
VERSUS
MELDRICK TAYLOR (10-5-1; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS)
Xavier: The shorter warrior from Philly steps into the cage representing La Familia, and the 26-year-old carries solid boxing, good Muay Thai, world class wrestling and a purple belt into this battle. The bottom line for Louis, and his flashing multi-colored aura, which is kind of cool, actually, is to get this fight off its feet as soon as possible! To do that is his choice, so to speak. Either he feels he can withstand the punching power and prowess that Taylor possesses. Louis has shown the ability to withstand power strikes and keep right on moving so that’s a definite possibility. Or, he counterattacks the assumed aggression from Taylor to shoot in and land the takedown he seeks to then float immediately into a dominant position and try to finish this fight early via ground-and-pound!
Styles: The 26-year-old warrior from “The Big Apple” represents the Syndicate as he steps into battle tonight. He knows full well that he has to use his height advantage to its utmost and he could quite possibly live with using a high volume of accurate punches as opposed to trying to knock Louis out, especially with the very tough chin Louis has displayed. Additionally, questions have been raised about his ability to withstand power strikes so he doesn’t want to open his defenses for Louis to test his chin! Keeping this fight vertical and out of the clinch is the meal ticket for Taylor tonight, and he’s going to have to use a hell of a lot of energy to keep Louis off of him. He’ll dig deep and do exactly that to win this by unanimous decision!
PREDICTIONS: Styles – Taylor by Unanimous Decision; Xavier – Louis by TKO
FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION: TREE “AGENTDOUBLEONINE” FORTAY (13-3; CURRENT STREAK: NONE)
VERSUS
“THE ORIGINAL RUDE BOY” AZACCA TROUNVOUCHE (9-2; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS)
Styles: The 26-year-old Bay Pines product represents the Keyboard Warriors tonight, and, if my wits are working, his name is a play of words referencing South Park. The old man who says, “About tree fiddy” is what I think is being mocked and I dig it. Poking fun at a crazy cartoon like South Park is always funny to me so kudos to Fortay! He has a bit of an experience advantage over Trounvouche along with a very slight height advantage, but in this fight, that won’t prove to be much of anything. I say that because he wants to get this fight on the ground so he can exploit his black belt advantage. In order to do that, I suspect that he’s going to counterattack Azacca and he should be able to do that successfully. With Golden Gloves boxing, solid Muay Thai, and outstanding wrestling to support the black belt, he should be all right as long as he stays away from Azacca’s kicks and clinch! Also, he’s fueled by recently having a 6-fight losing streak snapped by Obi Wan Kenobi at UnderGround FC 132. It will be a struggle, but Fortay eventually gets this fight to the ground where he forces the tapout by Trounvouche!
Xavier: YABAI is on the board as the 25-year-old Jamaican from Kingston steps into battle. Slightly shorter but heavier in this fight, look for Azacca to keep this fight in the standup as much as possible, and if he feel it’s necessary, he can lock Fortay into a clinch and keep him close in an effort to thwart his takedown attempts while landing his own power strikes. Azacca has proven that he has the knockout power to stop any fighter in his tracks, but Azacca also has to be wary to not get overconfident and forget to keep his chin tucked. As we all know, anyone can get dropped like a sack of rocks in the blink of an eye if they leave their chin exposed too long! Azacca had a 7-fight win streak snapped by Third Eye and then he lost the next fight against Anthony Cirelli by TKO, but he’s obviously managed to turn things around with the 2-fight win streak he’s on so he’s definitely wanting to carry that momentum over into this scrum. Sinking his weight into his strikes will be key tonight, along with obviously not being taken to the mat, but if that happens, he has enough skills to avoid being tapped out. Azacca takes this one home by knockout!
PREDICTIONS: Xavier – Trounvouche by KO; Styles – Fortay by Submission
BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION:”THE TINY TORMENTOR” JUAN KEMONITO (12-6; CURRENT STREAK: NONE)
VERSUS
ANDRES BONIFACIO (16-3; CURRENT STREAK: NONE)
Xavier: Quite a bit shorter and lighter than Bonifacio, Kemonito, who wears a rather…unique outfit when he prepares for battle, is going to have to use agility and speed to avoid Bonifacio’s striking prowess. The La Familia representative from Mexico City wants to get this fight to the ground as quickly as possible, so he can use his speed and diminutive stature to manipulate the longer limbs of Bonifacio, and Kemonito is stronger than one would suspect so he’s able to twist body parts in ways they aren’t normally supposed to. He has solid boxing and Muay Thai, but his bread and butter are his world-class wrestling and brown belt. He’s accustomed to battling men who are taller and heavier than he is so that’s nothing new, and there’s no experience disadvantage for either man here, so a battle of will is going to determine the outcome of this battle. If Kemonito feels he can’t get the tapout then he can go wild in an effort to ground-and-pound Bonifacio into submitting or until the referee decides enough is enough! Despite the physical odds stacked against him, I think Kemonito takes this victory home by way of TKO!
Styles: Bonifacio is six years older than Kemonito and that means he doesn’t want to play the game of trying to match the younger warrior’s energy. That being said, Bonifacio knows he has a solid height advantage in this fight and he’ll be able to use that to his full advantage despite, technically, having the same abilities in boxing as Kemonito. Bonifacio does want to avoid taking too many kicks from Kemonito because that could be used to set him up for being taken down and he wants to avoid that like the plague! The 32-year-old Filipino from Tondo, Manila, has respectable wrestling and a purple belt, so if he is dragged to the ground, he should be able to defend himself long enough to either get back to his feet by standing on his own or holding on until the referee decides to stand the fight up. Early in his career he was a feared striker and he may still possess enough pop in his fists to make a lot of trouble for Kemonito, so Kemonito can’t throw caution to the wind and keep his chin exposed. If Bonifacio can keep this fight vertical and on the outside, even if he doesn’t score the knockout, he’ll be able to land a multitude of accurate strikes to score the vital points on the scorecards and win this fight by unanimous decision. However, I think he has enough power to score the knockout win!
PREDICTIONS: Styles – Bonifacio by KO; Xavier – Kemonito by Submission
CO-MAIN EVENT OF THE EVENING
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION: JACKSON “BANG BANG” TRIGGER (14-4; CURRENT STREAK: NONE)
VERSUS
JOHN “F-16” MAKRES (10-3; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS)
Styles: Hey X, you know that I love inter-alliance battles, but a close second? Revenge tours! These two crossed paths at RFC: Makres vs. Trigger on April 18th of this year, and Trigger won that by TKO in the second round! You better believe that fight, though some time ago, is very fresh in both of these fighter’s minds, and Trigger will more than likely use that as motivation to gain the upper hand in an attempt to duplicate that victory. Representing The Guardians, the 26-year-old from Cairns, Australia, steps into this battle with a very balanced skill set. Golden Gloves boxing, excellent Muay Thai, Olympic-level wrestling and a brown belt are his tools of the trade. He’s slightly taller than Makres but not enough to be a major difference maker in my opinion. His calling card is aggression, pressure and power! That’s one hell of a mix, X, and it can overwhelm any opponent at anytime. The downside of that approach? He exposes his chin too often and every single loss on his record has been a TKO, twice to Giuseppe Hopkins! So, in a nutshell, with Trigger he either puts his opponent to sleep or he gets put to sleep. He had an 8-fight win streak at one point in time so he knows what to do with momentum when he has it. The struggle will be snapping back into winning form after being lambasted early in the first round by Lenny Kowalski at RFC Live in Sydney 4! As the SFL president buzzed, Trigger has a “kill or be killed’ mentality and the fans love it, plus it put him in the Light Heavyweight Hall of Fame by amassing 13 or 14 wins by knockout. Trigger gets back on the winning track by knockout out Makres tonight!
Xavier: Makres gives up the mental edge in this fight, at least from my perspective, Styles. Thinking as opposed to knowing you can defeat an opponent makes a world of difference, especially with the level of confidence a fighter has knowing he can defeat someone. Both of these warriors are very confident, as they should be, because they’re devastating in the cage and they both know that very well. The 25-year-old Greek from Larissa represents The Stepdads in this fight and he brings solid boxing and Muay Thai skills, along with very good wrestling and a brown belt. Along with those skills, very much like Trigger, he has stones for knuckles, though Makres opts to make opponents lament while tapping them out, so he does have options available. Trigger looks to have more pure striking power than Makres does but that doesn’t mean Makres can’t drop Trigger where he stands with one clean shot, especially since we’ve all seen Trigger’s chin get rocked pretty brutally. The difficulty for Makres in this fight will be getting it horizontal where, despite not having the wrestling skills that Trigger has, he can make the most of his skillset in an effort to try and make Trigger tapout. Naturally, Makres can opt to try and land crushing strikes by counterattacking the aggression that Trigger is sure to bring into the cage, plus Makres can use counterattacking methods to shoot in and take this fight to the ground if and when he makes Trigger miss a power strike that causes him to lose his balance long enough to take advantage of. Makres gains vengeance by winning this battle by knockout!
PREDICTIONS: Xavier – Makres by KO; Styles – Trigger by KO
MAIN EVENT OF THE EVENING
FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE: REIJO HALLI (10-2-1; CURRENT STREAK: 4 WINS)
VERSUS
SAMKONGKOI SITSONGRIT (9-0-1; CURRENT STREAK: NONE)
Xavier: This promises to be one hell of a clash, Styles! Sitsongrit has never lost and Halli has only dropped two fights, plus he’s feeling a good amount of momentum heading into this fight, so the proverbial immovable object against the unstoppable force can be utilized for this battle! Halli is a submission specialist while Sitsongrit is a standup devil, so we have the classic standup versus ground fighter here, Styles. What this boils down to is desire and will. The man who wants to keep this fight in their realm the most, so to speak, will walk away the winner, plain and simple. Yes, there’ll be strategy and perhaps some luck, but sheer will is the deciding factor in a fight of this magnitude with skillsets such as these men possess. The FinnFighters representative is slightly taller and heavier than Sitsongrit, the 25-year-old Finnish fighter from Helsinki can try and land effective and damaging counterstrikes against Sitsongrit in an effort to set him up for the takedown that Halli wants to land, but he’s going to have to be extremely cautious of Sitsongrit’s nasty kicks! If Halli doesn’t literally keep his head tucked and chin moving, he may eat one brutal head kick and rattles his teeth, loosens his jaw and send him to the mat for a little sleepy time. Getting Sitsongrit to the math won’t be an easy task because technically, both of these men are pretty even in terms of wrestling ability, and that’s where the desire kicks in. Halli has very good boxing, good Muay Thai, outstanding wrestling and a black belt, and it’s obviously imperative he utilize that black belt as early and as often as possible. Even if he doesn’t score the tapout, getting Sitsongrit to the ground and keeping him there will allow him to score very vital points on the scorecards plus keep his chin from getting popped time and again. In what proves to be one hellacious fight, Halli emerges as the new Featherweight champion tonight by making Sitsongrit tapout!
Styles: The undefeated member of YABAI brings a world of confidence along with his world class boxing and Muay Thai skills, supported by outstanding wrestling and a brown belt. With Sitsongrit, who holds the UnderGround Fight Club Featherweight championship, by the way, where he defeated the man to technically put a blemish on his outstanding record, Juan Pique. Pique managed to battle Sitsongrit to a draw when they first locked horns at UnderGround FC 126! That was one hell of a fight but Sitsongrit took it to Pique in their rebound battle at UnderGround FC 134 by unanimous decision, and now this is his first fight in the SFL. He obviously wants to show the other Featherweight fighters, as well as all of the SFL fighters, staff and fans, that he’s the real deal and wants to put to bed any doubters. He’s not a devastating striker in terms of power, though he obviously has enough of that to put an opponent to sleep, but he’s a thinker in that cage. He understands that sometimes fights are more games of chess as opposed to checkers. If he feels he can’t get to Halli’s chin enough or can’t seem to cause him substantial damage then he can use his world class standup fighting skills to push ahead on the scorecards and stay there while ensuring he doesn’t get taken to the mat or get cracked by an unsuspecting strike. He also has the option of taking this fight into the clinch where he can be very effective with knees and elbows plus feel any attempts Halli makes to try and trip him to the mat. If he locks Halli into a clinch, expect him to keep the fight there as long as he can land damaging blows and maybe even try to cut Halli open with slicing elbows and brutal knee strikes! Sitsongrit emerges with the Featherweight championship by knocking out Halli and adding to his championship haul!
PREDICTIONS: Styles – Sitsongrit by KO; Xavier – Halli by Submission
Styles: All right good people, that’s our time for tonight! Thank you very much for tuning in and allowing us to kick our insight and knowledge to you about the fights tonight. We greatly appreciate all of you and the time you give u!
Xavier: Yes, we’re very thankful to all of you and the SFL for allowing us to do what we enjoy a great deal, and a shout out to Conquer for being an excellent merchandise partner. Check out their gear and hook it up! On behalf of Furious Styles, I’m Esiah Xavier, signing off, and we’ll see you at the fights!
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