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On May 22nd DMMA returns to London with a wild card at the H20 Arena. 20,000 people are expected to be present to enjoy a 10 fight card featuring some of the biggest names in MMA.
Preliminaries
Carbon Wolfe 2-5-0 vs. Ruben Flijers 4-12-1
Rich Voss 8-8-0 vs. Lue Randle 7-2-0
Arturo Del Torro 5-2-1 vs. Patrick Slinger 8-10-0
Joshua Floyd 6-0-0 vs. Patrick Kearney 8-6-0
Nate DeBramalo 5-2-0 vs. Brock Hardman 7-8-0
Main Card
Charles Bukowski 8-8-0 vs. Ilya Muromets 10-5-0
This middleweight contest brings together two fighters that have struggled to find consistency since joining DMMA. Bukowski, 7-6 since joining the organisational, is currently riding a two fight win streak. His improvement has coincided with an improvement in terms of his finishing. After going to decision 8 times in a row, Charles has finished 4 in his last six opponents. His opponent, Ilya Muromets has gone 5-5 since joining DMMA is the more impressive finisher, having stopped 90% of the opponents he has beaten. It is a close contest in terms of skill sets and will likely be decided by who has the better gameplan. Realistically the fight will be decided by whether Muromets can keep the fight standing, as if he can, he will be the more dangerous.
Galen Dall Jnr 10-6-0 vs. Pate Murhapuro 9-7-3
The second Main Card fight is likely to be a bruising encounter. Serial fight of the night winner, Pate Murhapuro, has 4 FOTNs and 2 KO of the nights to his name, and brings the pain every time he steps in to the cage. Murhapuro has won his last two for the first time in almost a year. Strategically he is quite straight forward to breakdown. He loves a slugfest and is at his best when swinging for the fences. It leaves him open leg kicks in particular, and he has shown a vulnerability in the clinch. His opponent, Galen Dall Jnr has one obvious advantage. The question is whether he will be willing to deploy it. A BJJ black belt that has submitted 50% of the opponents he has beaten, is certainly more savvy on the ground. It isn’t quite a question of turning the fight into a war attrition, but rather fighting smart. Dall is also a decent clinch fighter, and I suspect that is exactly where the fight will be decided.
Ivan Kamenev 11-5-1 vs. Bruce Lee 7-3-0
The third fight of the night is the classic striker versus grappler match. Ivan Kamenev is an elite level wrestler and BJJ black belt who started his career with an 8 fight win streak. However, he has found the level of competition in DMMA somewhat more taxing, amassing a record of 5-5-1. Given his skill set it is surprising that he only completes 44% of his takedowns, meaning that he is not insurmountable. Lee however, is a different kettle of fish. A striker, that prefers to let his fists do the talking, seems to be overmatched. An elite Muay Thai striker that tends not to use his feet is much like a gun with no bullets. Both fighters have some superb tools in their armoury but need to figure out how to use them more effectively. The good news is that Ivan Kamenev is a serial award winner. Four fight of the night awards, and three sub of the night awards, couple with the fact that he has submitted eight of his eleven victims suggest that is going to be a long night for Bruce Lee.
Co-Main Event
Hassan Fezzik 12-7-0 vs. Hjallis Kalske 7-2-0
The Co-Main Event of the evening big hitting Hassan Fezzik taking on the thoroughly unpronounceable Hjallis Kalske. “The Big Bad” Hassan Fezzik has slept ten opponents in his career and carries the kind of power that gives grown men nightmares. He is an elite level Muay Thai striker that can hurt you with any part of his body. The clinch is where he does his best work, turning his knees into chisels that carve his opponents into oblivion. Despite his foursome striking, he does have a habit of leaving his head on the centre line, and not moving enough, and this bad habit can be enough to cause him to lose fights.
Kalske is a well-rounded 25 year old fighter that has put together an impressive five fight win streak. Hjallis is comfortable in all areas of the fight, has looked particularly impressive on the ground. With strong, effective ground and pound, he has the capability to hurt his opponents and wrap things up rather quickly. However, he has had problems when he has been reversed. Opponents have landed 97% of ground and pound strikes against him, average out around 7.2 a fight.
Common sense dictates that Fezzik being the stronger man will look to dictate the fight in the clinch. The question is whether Kalske can force takedowns from this position. It’s hard not to feel that it is a dangerous fight for the Finn, as Hassan Fezzik is a walking, punching, nightmare.
Main Event
Devonte Pinks 12-3-0 vs. Vitali Kersikov II 7-2-0
Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to the Main Event of the evening. The perennial nearly man, Devonte Pinks has twice clawed his way to a Light-Heavyweight title shot, and twice fallen at the final hurdle. He is an elite wrestler with powerful hands, demonstrated by the six KO’s in his career. He is a tremendously entertaining Light-Heavyweight. He is very much a jab and leg kick kind of guy, that inexplicably avoids using his grappling to dominate opponents. It makes for entertaining fights for sure, but leaves him opponent to the odd upset. A self-described boxer, it is surprising how little he moves his head, and how easy it is to counter him sometimes.
Questions have been raised around Vitali Kersikov’s commitment to the sport. A self-described model first, and fighter second, he is a walking contradiction inside the cage. Kersikov, winner of his last four, may well be in the fast lane for a title shot. He is an elite Muay Thai fighter that relies on a chopping leg kick to manage distance, and is incredibly active in the clinch. It is interesting to note that Kersikov has been taken to the ground from the clinch in his nine fight career, suggesting that he has some solid defensive chops. The son of Vitali Kersikov senior has proven vulnerable to decisions suggesting that his gas tank matches his commitment to MMA.
This is a fight that will be fought by snipers. It is probably that it will be a stand up shoot out, that will be won by the more active fighter. There will be leg kicks aplenty as both fighters will try to impact each others movements. It is a huge test for Kersikov, and we will certainly find out if he is championship ready.
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