GAMMA: Icons of the MMA world

Paatero · August 8, 2011

I decided to try and start another dynasty of my current longest-running game as my previous save got deleted when my computer blacked out during a thunderstorm. I made a FLB dynasty once, but I never really had the passion for that save so it became very stale and boring. This one is my favorite save thus far, so I hope it'll be as enjoyable for you as it is for me.

It probably won't be anything special, you could accuse me of copying Scottie and I won't deny it - I think he makes the best dynasties around here, and there's no shame in copying the best .

Game details:

Date: Thurs Week 3, October 2004

Promotion: GAMMA

Game Time: 6 years, 9 months (default database, default starting time)

Events Held: 103

TV Shows: 37

Popularity: Mid Level International (55.2% USA)

Paatero · August 8, 2011

<div style="text-align:center;">Current GAMMA Heavyweight World Champion: Chuck 'The Laughing Man' Dooley</div>

<div style="text-align:center;">Title defenses: 1</div>

def. Renato at GAMMA Fight Night: Dooley vs Renato in September 2004 via TKO in round 3.

Heavyweights to watch in GAMMA:

Chuck Dooley (16-2, 4-0 GAMMA)

Coming into GAMMA in October 2003, Chuck Dooley immediately got a big fight as he co-headlined GAMMA 109: Regueiro vs Takeuchi, defeating Sylvester Collins via unanimous decision. Having had a strong winning streak in ALPHA-1 in Japan, he opened the year 2004 with a fight against the surging Sam Hoynes, defeating the young contender via TKO in the third round and earning a title shot against the then-champion Murilo Satinho. Dooley defeated Satinho via TKO in the third round via ground strikes to earn the heavyweight title, which he then went on to defend with a TKO victory over another Brazilian, Renato.

Steve "Ozzy" Bintley (16-3, 6-0 GAMMA)

A Brit on a hot streak, Bintley debuted inside the GAMMA cage in October 2002, defeating Otto Renner via decision. After an fairly unimpressive showing against Renner, he went on to knock out Fletcher Merman, Tank Manu'a and Terron Cabal in the year 2003. With following victories over former top contender Aleksander Ivanov and the great James Foster, Bintley is waiting for Dooley to recover for a title fight likely in late December.

"Grande Urso" Murilo Satinho (20-3, 9-3 GAMMA)

A former champion and a veteran of 12 GAMMA fights, many forget that the great Brazilian bear is just 27 years old, and still probably has about as many fights left in him as he has behind him. Satinho holds impressive victories over many of the world's top heavyweights, including Sly Twinge (twice), Jeff Carlton, and Hassan Fezzik, and is considered the rank #3 heavyweight by Blurcat.com. Rebounding from his title defeat at the hands of Chuck Dooley with a TKO victory over fellow Brazilian Vitor de Melo, Satinho probably needs one or two more big wins to be in title contention again, and will be looking to add one as he faces Sylvester Collins at GAMMA 129 in December.

Sly "Bully Boy" Twinge (17-4, 14-4 GAMMA)

A powerful, young heavyweight from Denver, Sly Twinge once had an opportunity for GAMMA gold, but was submitted by James Foster in an exciting fight back at GAMMA 63 in October 2000. He has since went on to establish himself as a true force at heavyweight, defeating the likes of Rav Kapur, Terron Cabal, Nate MacReary and Sam Hoynes. With two impressive, quick finishes under his belt since his previous loss, the 28-year old will look to add Aleksander Ivanov to his collection of big scalps at GAMMA 128 in November.

"The Beast of Birmingham" Rav Kapur (20-4, 10-4 GAMMA)

Another former champion, Rav Kapur has had his ups and downs in GAMMA, defeating the likes of Murilo Satinho to gain the heavyweight title, and dropping consecutive fights to Hassan Fezzik and Nate MacReary, being finished both times. Kapur has built a 3-fight win streak in 2004, defeating Tank Manua via decision, beating Lefter Oktay via TKO, and having a workmanlike decision victory over the Italian Vittorio Pescatelli. With none of his performances being overly impressive, he will most likely look to impress slightly more in his next fight to convince GAMMA brass to grant him a title fight.

Paatero · August 8, 2011

<div style="text-align:center;">Current GAMMA Light Heavyweight World Champion: Jin "Tsunami" Katou</div>

<div style="text-align:center;">Title defenses: 1 </div>

def. Marlon John at GAMMA 124: Katou vs John in August 2004 via KO in the third round.

Light Heavyweights to watch in GAMMA:

Jin "Tsunami" Katou (25-4, 6-2 GAMMA)

Having gone 2-2 in ALPHA-1, things didn't look especially bright for "Tsunami" as he went over to GAMMA and lost his debut fight against Affonso Villar via unanimous decision. He did impress some fans surviving against the Brazilian berserker, and even more when his follow-up performances included a hard-fought decision victory over former champ Junior Patinkin and a one-punch knockout of top prospect Joshua Hope. In what turned out to be a title eliminator in February 2003, Katou lost a decision to Valentin Taneyev, but came back like a man possessed, finishing all of his following fights to this day, Mike Watson, MacGregor Dare, William Harrison to win the title, and Marlon John in his first title defense. Katou will look to defend his title against former middleweight champion Isaiah Monroe in December.

Affonso "The Cyborg" Villar (34-6, 10-4 GAMMA)

The devastating Brazilian powerhouse Affonso Villar is known as the first man to ever finish former champion William Harrison, as well as one of the two men to defeat current champion Jin Katou inside the GAMMA cage. Villar previously lost his title fight, a rematch with William Harrison, but has since rebounded nicely with a first-round KO of Rafael van der Moot and an exciting three-round war against Osmosis Benn, and is waiting for the winner of Katou versus Monroe for his second shot at the GAMMA title.

Isaiah "Thump" Monroe (17-2, 14-2 GAMMA)

Starting his career out as a middleweight, Monroe actually captured the GAMMA middleweight championship in 2002, knocking out Bill Brown. Subsequently, he was knocked off his throne by current champion Jakuchu Abe, and after his rebound victory over Stuart Strange decided the landscape at 205 pounds looked more promising, and has since found his way to the position of number one contender, defeating Tamadasa Yamada and Nilton Fantoni.

"Major Damage" William Harrison (18-3, 15-3 GAMMA)

Holding the record for most title defenses at light heavyweight with 3, William Harrison is known for his physical superiority and his signature rear naked choke - the move he scored an unlikely fifth-round submission of jiu-jitsu black belt Nilton Fantoni, winning the Submission of the Year award in 2002. Since losing to Jin Katou, Harrison rebounded with a victory (Rear naked choke submission) over Christian Mountfield, and will face Valentin Taneyev in the main event of GAMMA 128 in November in a bout with strong title implications.

Jericho Stewart (14-5, 5-4 GAMMA)

A surprising ranking for the Puerto Rican, who was released by GAMMA in 2001 following four straight losses, Jericho Stewart has made his way back in the big show with eight straight victories in ALPHA-1 and BCF, winning the BCF title in the process. His second stint with GAMMA will most likely start against the Dutch Rafael van der Moot in late December or in the early 2005.

Paatero · August 8, 2011

<div style="text-align:center;">Current GAMMA Middleweight World Champion: Jakuchu Abe</div>

<div style="text-align:center;">Title defenses: 4</div>

def. Osmosis Benn at GAMMA 110: Abe vs Benn in November 2003 via armbar submission in the fourth round.

def. Neil Napier at GAMMA 114: Abe vs Napier in February 2004 via guillotine choke submission in the second round.

def. Gavin Marshall at GAMMA 121: Abe vs Marshall in June 2004 via triangle choke submission in the third round.

def. Matthew Dean at GAMMA 126: Abe vs Dean in October 2004 via armbar submission in the third round.

Middleweights to watch in GAMMA:

Jakuchu Abe (16-1, 15-1 GAMMA)

The 27-year old Japanese middleweight champion has been almost perfect during his title reign, showcasing impressive striking in addition to his well-documented ground game that could be the very best at 185 pounds (Abe vs Garner?). Abe has been so dominant that there is currently no clear-cut contender for his title, but he will be watching closely as Stuart Strange and Danny Akabaro face off at GAMMA 128 in November.

Gavin Marshall (14-3, 13-3 GAMMA)

The man to put Abe through most difficulty since JJ Reid defeated the current champion back in 2001, Marshall was able to land hard shots throughout the second round of their fight in June 2004, even knocking the champion down at the end of the round. He was eventually taken down to the ground and submitted, but he shouldn't be far away from a rematch with such an exciting performance - his rebound Knockout of the Night performance against Dexter Darling at GAMMA Fight Night: Dooley vs Renato couldn't hurt, either.

"Superstar" Stuart Strange (24-6, 13-5 GAMMA)

The "Superstar" hasn't been as active lately as he's used to, but with victories over Adam White and Bill Brown he's established himself as a contender, and will face the very dangerous Danny Akabaro next, and could find himself in a title fight next, should he win.

"The King of Memphis" Wesley Sneep (14-2, 5-1 GAMMA)

Coming in and losing a decision to Hunter Scribbins in early 2003, the start of Sneep's GAMMA career didn't look promising. However, with victories over Reed Howlett, Felix Mattherson Jr., Dwayne Alleyne, Ethan Sutton, and finally Neil Napier, Sneep has established himself as a force at 185 pounds. He doesn't have much of a following, however, and has been fighting mostly in preliminaries. He will probably need a couple more solid performances to grow his fanbase before having hope for a title shot.

"Pretty Boy" Danny Akabaro (14-5, 11-5 GAMMA)

Up and down for the most of his career, Akabaro catapulted to instant stardom in his Fight of the Night defeat at the hands of Adam White at GAMMA 113, showing great hands and greater guts before eventually submitting to a kimura in the final round. The "Pretty Boy" quickly rebounded with technical knockout wins over Joaquim Fontes and Thomas Smith within a couple of months, and will face Stuart Strange in his fourth fight in 2004. If he wins, he could slip right through the open field that is the middleweight division's top and find himself in a title fight.

Paatero · August 8, 2011

<div style="text-align:center;">Current GAMMA Welterweight World Champion: Manuel "The Prodigy" Silva</div>

<div style="text-align:center;">Title Defenses: 1</div>

def. Kadonomaro Deguchi at GAMMA 122: Silva vs Deguchi in July 2004 via unanimous decision.

Welterweights to watch in GAMMA:

Manuel Silva (23-3, 10-3 GAMMA)

At one point one fight away from getting released, Silva was at the wrong end of a couple of split decisions to Sean Morrison and David Webb after being submitted by Julio Regueiro in a title fight back in November 2001 when Silva lost his title. In a do-or-die fight, Silva grabbed a decision victory over Darin Blood, and followed up that performance with an impressive first round flying knee-and-punches TKO of Datuk ong ka Ting. He then shocked the MMA world by submitting countryman and black belt Charles Stiles via D'Arce choke, the first one in GAMMA history, a result that earned him a title shot against then-champion David Webb. Silva avenged the split decision loss with a spectacular spinning back fist KO that won him thirty grand as the KO of the night.

"Spanish Silk" Julio Regueiro (31-4, 16-4 GAMMA)

Having become the first man to win titles in multiple weight classes after defeating countryman Luis Basora, Regueiro moved back to welterweight after being defeated by Tomohiro Takeuchi. With victories over contenders Datuk ong ka Ting and Bobby Brubaker he again finds himself in a familiar spot: challenging for Manuel Silva's welterweight title. Will he be able to capture the welterweight title once more in October, and become the first man to do it three times?

David "Spider Man" Webb (24-7, 8-3 GAMMA)

The former champion Webb rebounded from his devastating KO loss to Manuel Silva by submitting Sean Morrison in impressive fashion at GAMMA Challengers: Kitson vs Watson in Scotland. A rubber match between Webb and Silva would intrigue most fans, but Webb could have to win a couple more before getting the opportunity. A fight against Charles Stiles would make sense, as both fighters have recently lost to Silva but have got back on their winning tracks.

Charles "Rogue" Stiles (22-4, 4-2 GAMMA)

A man known for his lethal guillotine choke, Charles Stiles has finished every single one of his GAMMA opponents by that same submission, including highly regarded grapplers Datuk ong ka Ting and Vikram Sithalayan. Perhaps two more victories could make a case for Stiles' title shot, although he could find it sooner rather than later if Regueiro wins the title fight in October.

"Black Superman" Nathan Chambers (27-5, 12-3 GAMMA)

Former two-time GAMMA champion, Nathan Chambers only recently came back to America from his trip to Japan to fight for ALPHA-1 where he went 5-2. His second stint with GAMMA started with an impressive TKO victory over Carlos da Guia, and he will face the surging JJ Reid in his next fight at GAMMA 127. A victory there could put make him next in line for the belt, although he has previously lost to Manuel Silva in 2000.

Paatero · August 8, 2011

<div style="text-align:center;">Current GAMMA Lightweight World Champion: "Samurai Spirit" Tomohiro Takeuchi</div>

<div style="text-align:center;">Title Defenses: 2 </div>

def. Dominyas Jankovic at GAMMA 116: Takeuchi vs Jankovic in March 2004 via TKO in the fourth round.

def. Chan Kim Huat at GAMMA 125: Takeuchi vs Huat in September 2004 via TKO in the second round.

Lightweights to watch in GAMMA:

"Samurai Spirit" Tomohiro Takeuchi (27-5, 11-2 GAMMA)

A former featherweight, Takeuchi went up to 155 pounds after being defeated twice by the great Li-Kong Ho, and found success after defeating Tarcisio Dantas, and Julio Regueiro to win the lightweight belt. Being once considered a 'grinder', Takeuchi has finished his two challengers emphatically, but is still widely considered GAMMA's most boring champion because of his cautious methods. He will most likely face Fiyero Lermontov next in early 2005.

Fiyero Lermontov (21-3, 6-2 GAMMA)

The Russian Lermontov might be in the middle of his final title run, as the 34-year old has shown signs of slowing down. He has nonetheless put together three very impressive victories, knocking out former champions Brandon Sugar and Luis Basora, and submitting former number one contender Dominyas Jankovic. With Lermontov's popularity in America being fairly modest, rumors have been flying around of putting him in one more match against Tarcisio Dantas to determine the number one contender.

Tarcisio Dantas (16-4, 14-4 GAMMA)

The Brazilian grappler Dantas has had a consistent stay near the top of the lightweight division, although he did have a two-fight slide after losing to Takeuchi in June 2003. Perhaps best known for his powerful wrestling and the fact that he submitted elite black belt Manoel Cabral via crushing guillotine choke, Dantas has shown vast improvement in his muay thai skills, knocking out Coltrane Aaronson via knee strike, and landing some hard shots on the feet against Helio en route to a decision victory. With three straight impressive performances, Dantas could be close to a rematch with Takeuchi.

"El Diablo" Luis Basora (27-7, 7-4 GAMMA)

The 33-year old Basora is in a difficult spot in the lightweight division, as he has been defeated by many of the division's top contenders, but not the current champion. Should he find himself a good win or two, he could be matched up with Takeuchi for a fresh challenge, but GAMMA brass will need to find suitable matches for the Spaniard. A rematch against Bud Brockett, whom he lost to via split decision in December 2000, would make sense, should Brockett defeat Manoel Cabral in November.

Hamilton Fonseca Junior (15-3, 0-0 GAMMA)

After dominating at welterweight in his native Brazil, Hamilton was recently signed by GAMMA in the lightweight division. The FLB welterweight champion will debut against the very tough Gregory O'Hara at GAMMA 127 preliminaries, and will obviously need a couple of impressive performances to boost his fanbase in America before considering a title fight.

Paatero · August 8, 2011

<div style="text-align:center;">Current GAMMA Featherweight World Champion: "Little Dragon" Li-Kong Ho</div>

<div style="text-align:center;">Title Defenses: 11</div>

def. Philip Ziskie at GAMMA 50: Ho vs Ziskie in December 1999 via kimura submission in the third round.

def. Kenji Akita at GAMMA 57: Ho vs Akita in May 2000 via guillotine choke submission in the second round.

def. Masahiro Maeno at GAMMA 64: Ho vs Maeno in October 2000 via guillotine choke submission in the first round.

def. Philip Ziskie at GAMMA 77: Ho vs Ziskie II in August 2001 via technical submission (rear naked choke) in the fourth round.

def. Tomohiro Takeuchi at GAMMA 81: Ho vs Takeuchi II in December 2001 via arm triangle choke submission in the fourth round.

def. Nuno Valentino at GAMMA 89: Ho vs Valentino in June 2002 via armbar submission in the fourth round.

def. Jason Dalglish at GAMMA 97: Ho vs Dalglish in November 2002 via unanimous decision.

def. Frank Romita at GAMMA 101: Ho vs Romita in February 2003 via americana submission in the first round.

def. Yagi Jokichi at GAMMA 106: Ho vs Jokichi in July 2003 via kimura submission in the fifth round.

def. Manish Khan at GAMMA 112: Ho vs Khan in December 2003 via arm triangle choke submission in the first round.

def. Markus Waller at GAMMA 123: Ho vs Waller in August 2004 via unanimous decision.

Featherweights to watch in GAMMA:

"Little Dragon" Li-Kong Ho (32-0, 14-0 GAMMA)

With zero doubt the greatest MMA fighter on the planet, Li-Kong Ho is a man who will be talked about for thousands of years as the small, unassuming person who made all the ferocious-looking, muscular guys cry for mercy on the ground. Undefeated in 32 fights, with an astounding 11 GAMMA title defenses, and a reign of five years and counting, GAMMA management are struggling to find contenders that don't feel like a rerun to the champion. It seems GAMMA seem intent on keeping Philip Ziskie active, and if he is to gather a convincing winning streak, have the "Kid" fight Ho for the third time.

Philip "Kid" Ziskie (27-5-1, 8-4 GAMMA)

One of GAMMA's most popular fighters, Ziskie is always an exciting fight, and has staid near the top of the 145-pound ladder consistently. Losing to Ho twice by submission has made it difficult for him to look like a legit challenger, despite his impressive four straight wins, and he is slated to fight Jason Dalglish at GAMMA 127. Should he win, and should he be in no danger of Dalglish's submissions, Ziskie definitely has the strongest case for a title shot.

"Kid Britain" Manish Khan (20-6, 10-5 GAMMA)

Another featherweight "Kid", Manish Khan seems to destroy most everyone at the weight, but was submitted in just under three minutes against Ho. With two straight TKO victories over top contenders Yoshiro Makamori and Yagi Jokichi, Khan is definitely in the mix, but needs to look impressive at least once more before having a second chance at the title.

Kanji Togo (22-11, 10-6 GAMMA)

Up and down in GAMMA, Togo has an interesting case for the title shot after four straight victories: he is the man to lose least convincingly to the champion, a three-round decision in the GAMMA featherweight tournament in 1999. Having lost a controversial split decision to Wallace Everett, a rematch could be in the works for 2005.

Wallace "All Night Long" Everett (14-3, 6-3 GAMMA)

The only man to ever knock out Philip Ziskie, Everett is also one of the few featherweight contenders never to fight Li-Kong Ho. He lost his opportunity at the title against Markus Waller, but rebounded with an impressive TKO victory over Reza Afshar, and should be in the title picture with another good win.

Paatero · August 8, 2011

Upcoming Fight Cards:

GAMMA 127: Silva vs Regueiro II

In Los Angeles, California on Saturday, Week 4 of October. Live on Pay-Per-View.

Main Card:

Welterweight Championship Bout: Manuel Silva (23-3) vs. Julio Regueiro (31-4)

Welterweight Bout: JJ Reid (34-13) vs. Nathan Chambers (27-5)

Heavyweight Bout: Nate MacReary (13-4) vs. Sam Hoynes (14-4)

Welterweight Bout: Kadonomaro Deguchi (14-5) vs. Josh Aldarisio (24-7)

Featherweight Bout: Jason Dalglish (26-11) vs. Philip Ziskie (27-5-1)

GAMMA Featured Preliminaries Card:

Middleweight Bout: Dwayne Alleyne (14-6) vs. Alex Cole (15-7)

Featherweight Bout: Jay Dorridge (12-6) vs. Ashihey Bando (11-2)

Unaired Preliminary Card:

Middleweight Bout: Hunter Scribbins (13-8) vs. Thomas Smith (17-6)

Featherweight Bout: Ikeda Kenkichio (12-6) vs. Shuler Eigenberg (17-9)

Light Heavyweight Bout: Lawrence Herringbone (18-9) vs. Nilton Fantoni (16-5)

Featherweight Bout: Heiko Pander (12-7) vs. Fernando Peragon (17-9)

Lightweight Bout: Hamilton Fonseca Junior (15-3) vs. Gregory O'Hara (15-6)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GAMMA 128: Harrison vs Taneyev

In Newark, New Jersey on Saturday, Week 2 of November. Live on Pay-Per-View.

Main Card:

Light Heavyweight Bout: William Harrison (18-3) vs. Valentin Taneyev(18-4)

Heavyweight Bout: Sly Twinge (17-4) vs. Aleksander Ivanov (17-4)

Light Heavyweight Bout: Ken Peters (20-8) vs. Mike Watson (20-5)

Middleweight Bout: Danny Akabaro (14-5) vs. Stuart Strange (24-6)

Lightweight Bout: Manoel Cabral (16-6) vs. Bud Brockett (20-6)

GAMMA Featured Preliminaries Card:

Middleweight Bout: Billy Russell (12-5) vs. Joaquim Fontes (31-10)

Heavyweight Bout: Roope Kuqi (10-3) vs. Matheus Sousa (7-1)

Unaired Preliminary Card

Featherweight Bout: Kenji Akita (18-7) vs. Rafael Tavares (23-8)

Lightweight Bout: Harald Hubner (13-6) vs. Elvis Milissis (14-5)

Heavyweight Bout: Vitor de Melo (17-3) vs. Tim Boyer (31-12-2)

Featherweight Bout: Shinsui Sakata (12-0) vs. Masahiro Maeno (27-9)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GAMMA Fight Night: Patinkin vs. Sorkin

In Toronto, Ontario on Saturday, Week 4 of November. Televised.

Main Card:

Light Heavyweight Bout: Toby Sorkin (14-5) vs. Junior Patinkin (24-8)

Light Heavyweight Bout: Curt Kitson (18-7) vs. Jiroemon Hasegawa (15-6)

Welterweight Bout: Kenneth Toadspew (15-7) vs. Tyler Lass (14-6)

Featherweight Bout: Easton Frye (22-9) vs. Yagi Jokichi (14-4)

Light Heavyweight Bout: Adrian Pascal (14-8) vs. Christian Mountfield (17-8)

Preliminary Card:

Lightweight Bout: Bosco Curbeam (10-5) vs. Kyle Sagal (8-2)

And no, I'm not expecting you to predict all of them at the same time, I just threw a couple them up since I have shows booked until the end of the year. If you want, you can predict the earliest one, but I won't force you to. All I need is happy readers and if possible, feedback. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

Paatero · August 8, 2011

Prediction key for those who want to predict, I'll try and figure out some sort of a prize for the best predictors <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/wink.png.686f06e511ee1fbf6bdc7d82f6831e53.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />.

GAMMA 127: Silva vs Regueiro II

Manuel Silva © vs Julio Regueiro

JJ Reid vs Nathan Chambers

Nate MacReary vs Sam Hoynes

Kadonomaro Deguchi vs Josh Aldarisio

Jason Dalglish vs Philip Ziskie

Dwayne Alleyne vs Alex Cole

Jay Dorridge vs Ashihei Bando

Hunter Scribbins vs Thomas Smith

Ikeda Kenkichio vs Shuler Eigenberg

Lawrence Herringbone vs Nilton Fantoni

Heiko Pander vs Fernando Peragon

Hamilton Fonseca Junior vs Gregory O'Hara

Paatero · August 8, 2011

<div style="text-align:center;">GAMMA 127: Silva vs Regueiro II Preview

by Albert Browning, Oct 21 9:29 am</div>

One week from now, GAMMA will return to Los Angeles for GAMMA 127: Silva vs Regueiro II. The event will probably mark the promotion's twentieth venture into one of America's best MMA cities. Or thirtieth.

There are several interesting matches and storylines on the card, both on the Pay-Per-View portion and the undercard. How did Nilton Fantoni, a former champion, fall into the lower portion of the prelims? He is coming off a decision loss to Isaiah Monroe, who is fighting for the title next, and before that he submitted Junior Patinkin and Christian Mountfield back to back.

He should've at least mentioned the times when his opponent, Lawrence Herringbone, came in overweight for fights and the fact that he got released for it, or something. Maybe he could've had the main card slot with a couple of well-chosen words.

Silva looks for revenge, Regueiro for historic achievement

But let's talk about the main card for a moment. The main event has interesting dimensions to it as it is a rematch, Silva lost his title to Regueiro via guillotine choke in the third round back in 2001, and went on to slide three straight fights.

Also, Regueiro has a chance to make history (once again), as with a win here he would become the first three-time GAMMA champion in a weight class. He is 34 years old, so it's a good time to start making history as fast as he can. And money.

After his losing streak, Silva has shown improvement in many areas, most notably the ground. He has shown that he's capable of not only surviving against high level grapplers, but beating them. In his 42 second knockout of Datuk Ong Ka Ting he didn't get to show much of his ground skills, but next he submitted black belt Charles Stiles via a beautiful D'Arce choke, winning thirty grand in the process.

Both men are black belts, but even with the improvement Silva has shown, Regueiro will most likely have his best chance on the ground. It's difficult to say who will have an edge there come fight day, but on the feet Silva is much more versatile and dynamic. One thing that could tip the scales in Regueiro's favor is Silva's takedown defense statistics: he has been taken down at a 53% success rate. He was taken down twice out of two attempts by Kadonomaro Deguchi in his last title defense, but Deguchi is an enormous welterweight and a world class wrestler. Regueiro's takedowns aren't as quick, and they're unorthodox more so than powerful.

Regueiro is 34 years old, while Silva is 31, and the 'Spanish Silk' isn't as quick or athletic as Silva,who appears firmly in his prime. That could make completing takedowns difficult for Regueiro. It would seem as though Silva has the tools to avenge his only loss via finish, but Regueiro shouldn't be counted out by any means.

Title shot up for grabs as Chambers and Reid face off

The pick of the co-main event is ingenuity on GAMMA's part, as it will be interesting to see a mini-tournament of sorts - the winner of the co-main event could very well be next in line for the welterweight title, as Nathan Chambers and JJ Reid duke it out.

Now, it isn't written in stone that the winner gets the winner of Silva / Regueiro, but with an impressive performance it's hard to deny them. JJ Reid is on a winning streak, having submitted four opponents in a row, and scoring just the second D'Arce choke submission in GAMMA history. He is also 35, and it will be one of GAMMA's last chances to put the Canadian in a title fight, unless he's going to follow in Dan Halvorsen's footsteps and fight ten more years.

Chambers coming back from ALPHA-1 was undeniably a great thing for GAMMA's welterweight division, which was lacking a little depth for a while. Chambers' victory would follow an impressive stoppage of Carlos da Guia, and would set up a rematch in either case - he was knocked out by Manuel Silva in 2001 in a KO of the year performance ('the kick'), and he is 1-1 against Regueiro in two title fights.

The toolkits of the two fighters match up interestingly. JJ Reid is probably slightly better on the feet in terms of technique, but would love to get the fight to the ground. Unfortunately for him, the only likely way for him to get the fight to the ground is if Chambers decides to take it there, or knocks him down with one of his cinderblocks. Chambers has serious power in his hands, and is the more dangerous of the two when the fight remains standing. If he gets on top, he could also finish JJ with ground and pound.

Heavyweight's two best wrestlers collide

Nate MacReary is one of Canada's best heavyweight wrestlers. Sam Hoynes wrestled in high school and college, but wasn't considered the cream of the crop by any stretch of the imagination. However, in MMA he's convinced people that he's one of the finest wrestlers in the game: his takedown defense ratio is 80%, and he has taken down great wrestlers like Lefter Oktay and Jeff Carlton and controlled them for long stretches of time. Word from Hoynes' camp has been for a long time that the cowboy has some serious submissions, but he has yet to show them since he submitted Otto Renner in 2000. MacReary, on the other hand, has submitted six of his GAMMA opponents.

It will be interesting to see whether or not the wrestling skills cancel each other out and it will become a stand up fight. Usually with wrestlers of this high caliber, however, somebody is going down. At heavyweight the fight could be over as soon as one man is on top, raining down bombs.

Aldarisio looks to climb, Deguchi to rebound

Josh Aldarisio needs to win. And he needs to do it quickly, and repeatedly, or he will never see a GAMMA title fight again. He's been very much up and down as of late, and although he is a crafty, skilled veteran, the new crop of young, super-athletic fighters have been too much for him on more than one occasion. Since April of 2001, he has followed a steady pattern of win one, lose one, and he'll need to make it two in a row here against Deguchi if he wants to remain relevant.

Deguchi is coming off his title loss against Silva, where he was outclassed, but nonetheless looked quite impressive in the fact that he was able to take down and control Silva, winning a round in every judges' card. The other rounds, however, were him taking shots from Silva and covering up as best as he could. He wasn't finished, so he is one of only two people to survive the full duration against Silva.

Aldarisio has the experience factor, and is always in great shape, but so is Deguchi, who is also considerably younger and more explosive. A 37-year old Aldarisio will need to use all the tricks in the veterans' playbook to match the speed and power of the 28-year old Deguchi. And don't think of the fight as a compelling case for "American wrestling versus Japanese wrestling". Unless Aldarisio wins, of course.

Ziskie looks for fifth straight against always game Dalglish

Philip Ziskie probably should be fighting for the featherweight title, if it wasn't for his good friend Li-Kong Ho who is currently holding the title, and who holds two decisive victories over him. Ziskie looked good early in their first encounter, and if he can show a lot of that form against Dalglish, to avoid going to the ground and hurt Dalglish early and often, then maybe he could make a case for a third shot.

Dalglish only has a single loss to Ho, and that one was a five-round decision where the Brit showed all kinds of heart and grit, as well as pure courage, going after Ho with submission attacks of his own. Dalglish probably isn't technically even close to Ho's level in jiu-jitsu, but has some slick and fast moves on the ground, if he can get Ziskie there. With two straight submissions in his past two fights, he needs to build on that momentum if he wants another shot at Ho. The odds are much in Ziskie's favor, though, who is younger, bigger, stronger and more well-rounded.

Paatero · August 9, 2011

GAMMA 127: Silva vs Regueiro II Results: Regueiro wins fourth GAMMA title, Chambers stuns Reid for likely rubber match
By Albert Browning, Oct 29 11:36am

LOS ANGELES - On Saturday night, Julio Regueiro became the first three-time welterweight champion in GAMMA history.

The fight was much as expected, with a hint of surprise in the fact that Regueiro was landing very well in the first round, making it a close contest, although he wasn't able to take Silva to the ground.

The second round opened like a nightmare for the Spanish fighter, as Silva knocked him off his feet with a spectacular flying knee strike that had the crowd in LA jump off their seats.

The Brazilian went to follow up with strikes and found his way into full mount and tried to finish with an armbar submission, but that was where Regueiro's thousands and thousands of hours on the mat came into play, as he escaped and got on top. Clearing his head for a while, Regueiro came close to submitting the champion twice.

Regueiro surprised most watching by outworking the winded Silva on the feet in the third round, scoring with jabs and crisp boxing combinations. He kept pushing the pace in rounds three and four, before eventually getting his first takedown in the final round.

It was obvious that Silva had punched himself out in the second round, as Regueiro easily got past the champion's guard and forced him to tap out due to americana submission with little less than three minutes left in the round.

After the fight, Regueiro (32-4) was interviewed and asked who he wanted to face next, and the champion congratulated Nathan Chambers for his performance earlier on the night and said that he deserved the next shot. With no other clear-cut contender, Chambers is likely to get the rubber match.

Chambers blitzes Reid, gets big paycheck on short night

It took Chambers just 48 seconds to dispatch the Canadian JJ Reid, as he landed a five-punch combination early that dropped Reid and followed up with strikes on the ground for a quick stoppage victory.

Reid didn't get to showcase much of anything in the fight, but it seems like the 35-year old's reactions aren't where they once were, as Chambers seemed to catch him completely off-guard.

The victory makes Chambers (28-5, 13-3 GAMMA, 2-0 on his second stint) a strong case for the rubber match against the newly crowned Regueiro, while Reid (34-14, 17-10 GAMMA) loses his biggest winning streak in a long time, and could have a hard time finding new momentum with such a devastating defeat under him.

Hoynes pounds out MacReary in Fight of the Night

Sam Hoynes (15-4, 14-4 GAMMA) wasn't a star wrestler in college. He was a solid competitor, but never won any notable accolades, unlike his opponent Nate MacReary (13-5, 11-5 GAMMA), who is one of the best wrestlers coming out of Canada present day.

Still, it was Hoynes who came out on top with his wrestling skills on Saturday night, as the two young heavyweight contenders wrestled and scrambled in the first round, proving that back-and-forth wrestling can be very exciting indeed. The first round ended with Hoynes on MacReary's back with the choke in deep, but the Canadian was saved by the bell.

In the second round MacReary shot in quickly, but Hoynes defended excellently and managed to spin to the back and force his hooks in. With MacReary defending the choke valiantly, Hoynes took the opportunity to unload with big punches, forcing the referee call a stop to the contest at 3:38 of the second stanza.

Hoynes (15-4, 14-4 GAMMA) rises up considerably after a Fight of the Night performance against a very tough contender, but will probably look for one or two more wins in 2005 to make a case for the title shot. MacReary (13-5, 11-5 GAMMA) falls to the bottom of the food chain, and will be looking at a lower level opponent next.

Deguchi returns to winning ways, edges Aldarisio

The former middleweight, and previous welterweight title contender, Deguchi was widely expected to dispath of Aldarisio with relative ease on Saturday night.

What he got, however, was a fight. Deguchi looked great in the first round, taking down Aldarisio twice and landing some hard shots on the ground. He also seemed to take the second round, although one judge scored it for Aldarisio, but the surprising bit was the third round - Aldarisio took down Deguchi early, advanced to full mount and started wailing on the 28-year old Japanese with sharp elbows, drawing several warnings from the referee for Deguchi to start defending himself.

Deguchi managed to survive the one-sided beatdown in the third, and earned the split decision victory in the end. It probably wasn't the kind of rebound he was looking for, but it gets him back in the winner's circle, and Deguchi would be an interesting fight against the new champion Regueiro, if he can string together a couple of wins.

Ziskie baffles in victory over Dalglish

Philip Ziskie has always been known for his explosive striking and spectacular knockout victories. On Saturday, however, it was Ziskie that decided to grapple with the jiu-jitsu specialist Jason Dalglish, taking the Brit down three times inside the duration of the fight.

In the first round the decision almost cost him, as Dalglish managed to sweep Ziskie and wind up on top, but Ziskie was dominant in the following rounds, avoiding Dalglish's takedowns and landing two of his own. He did little damage, but controlled the pace and position of the fight, getting the 30-27 from each judge.

The win does Ziskie (28-5-1, 9-4 GAMMA) little in terms of title hopes, as he has already twice unsuccessfully faced the current champion, but it extends the American's winning streak to five. The 35-year old Dalglish (26-12, 9-7 GAMMA) falls hard, as he didn't look impressive at all in defeat, and has been very much up and down in his GAMMA career so far.

Prelim action: Herringbone disappoints on several levels, Alleyne grinds down Cole, plus Fonseca Junior arrives

Although it wasn't one of GAMMA's featured prelims, the biggest story on the undercard was definitely Lawrence Herringbone (18-10, 8-9 GAMMA) . The 30-year old American missed weight again at light heavyweight, and had to forfeit 20% of his purse to opponent Nilton Fantoni.

Herringbone looked good early, landing strikes and controlling the clinch game and probably outscoring Fantoni in the first stanza. It was in the second round that the troubles began, however, as Herringbone appeared already gassed, and Fantoni (17-5, 13-5 GAMMA) took him down and got the American's neck, tapping him out via guillotine choke in just under two minutes of the second round. The loss could send Herringbone packing, whose second stint in GAMMA has started with zero and two.

In middleweight action - the word action used very loosely - Dwayne Alleyne notched back-to-back wins as he took the unanimous decision against Alex Cole in a featured prelim. It was probably the least convincing effort on the entire card; although Alleyne was dominant, winning every round on two scorecards, he was in no hurry to achieve a good position or to finish the fight.

Alleyne (15-6, 11-6 GAMMA) is undoubtedly a top level middleweight, but should start to excite people soon if he doesn't want to be called 'Decision' Dwayne. Cole is 2-3 in his last five, and is probably around the GAMMA chopping block.

Brazilian lightweight Hamilton Fonseca Junior (16-3, 1-0 GAMMA) announced his arrival in impressive fashion, defeating the very tough Gregory O'Hara (15-7, 14-7 GAMMA) via unanimous decision.

Fonseca Junior showed very little GAMMA debut 'jitters', although O'Hara was able to take him down and win round one. Hamilton came back in the second round in spectacular fashion, knocking down O'Hara via left high kick and spending the rest of the round on top. O'Hara showcased solid boxing in the third, but was eventually picked apart by the superior, more versatile striker.

MAIN CARD:

- Julio Regueiro def. Manuel Silva via submission (americana) - round 5, 2:28 - GAMMA welterweight championship fight, Submission of the Night
- Nathan Chambers def. JJ Reid via TKO (punches) - round 1, 0:48
- Sam Hoynes def. Nate MacReary via TKO (punches) - round 2, 3:38 - Fight of the Night
- Kadonomaro Deguchi def. Josh Aldarisio via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Philip Ziskie def. Jason Dalglish via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

GAMMA FEATURED PRELIMINARY CARD:

- Dwayne Alleyne def. Alex Cole via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Ashihei Bando def. Jay Dorridge via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

UNAIRED PRELIMINARY CARD:

- Thomas Smith def. Hunter Scribbins via TKO (punches) - round 3, 3:09 - Knockout of the Night
- Ikeda Kenkichio def. Shuler Eigenberg via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Nilton Fantoni def. Lawrence Herringbone via submission (guillotine choke) - round 2, 1:55 - catchweight bout
- Heiko Pander def. Fernando Peragon via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
- Hamilton Fonseca Junior def. Gregory O'Hara via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

---

Paatero · August 9, 2011

GAMMA 128: Harrison vs Taneyev Preview

By Bill Jordan, Nov 8, 1:15pm

On Saturday November 15th, GAMMA returns to Newark, New Jersey with a stacked card of MMA action.

Although there is no title fight on the card, the main card holds five very interesting and important bouts, each having title implications of some degree in their respective weight classes.

The main event pits former champion William Harrison (18-3, 15-3 GAMMA) against Russian Valentin Taneyev (18-4, 6-3 GAMMA) in a fight the winner of which is very close to a title shot.

Harrison's last loss came in his title defense against current champion Jin Katou, but rebounded by choking out Christian Mountfield in August. Taneyev previously dropped a decision to Marlon John in a title eliminator bout, and came back also in August, knocking out Jiroemon Hasegawa in impressive fashion.

Taneyev actually holds a victory over the current champion, and is thus the more marketable challenger, but Harrison is an All-American hero and a fan favorite, so the marketing wouldn't be a problem in either case.

Taneyev and Harrison mirror each other in many ways; both are great boxers, Taneyev might have a slight edge on the feet with his hands, and he has also shown some good kicks, more so than Harrison who mostly relies on punches.

Both men are also accomplished grapplers, with Taneyev having a strong wrestling background and Harrison being a great judoka. With that, the fight could remain standing for the most part, but with strikes mixed in either man could have a takedown at some point, as well.

Harrison is athletically the superior fighter, he has never shown fatigue in his fights, although he's gone to the fifth round three times. He is also probably the physically stronger fighter, so that could play a factor in the clinch and on the ground.

Both men are known to be capable of taking punishment, so it wouldn't be a surprise if the fight went the distance.

Heavyweight contenders collide as Ivanov faces Twinge

Aleksander Ivanov is coming off a grinding decision win over Wilson Franklyn after he was edged by current number one contender Ozzy Bintley. He faces Sly Twinge, who has notched two straight TKO victories over Sam Hoynes and Terron Cabal, and could be very close to a title shot.

The fight is almost a mirror match: both men are great, strong wrestlers with KO power and an iron jaw. Ivanov is a bit more accomplished on the ground in terms of submissions and technique, but Twinge has devastating power on top.

It seems unlikely that the fight will go the distance, even though both men can take a punch - it's probably going to be a fast-paced fight with lots of strikes thrown both on the feet and on the ground. If Ivanov can get in a dominant position, he could finish Twinge by submission, and either man is capable of finishing via ground and pound from the top position. Twinge is the physically stronger man, which could make the difference if the fight becomes a grapple.

Two big name Canadians face off as Watson looks to derail Peters

Ken Peters is on a hot streak after beating Toby Dingleberry, Norman Pike and Matti Kurri in a row, finishing the last two fights. Normally known as a grinder, Peters has shown improving ability to finish on the ground with 2 of his last 5 victories coming via submission, and one by TKO.

Mike Watson was one loss away from getting released when he faced Anthony LeToussier in May, and he managed to defeat the fellow Canadian via second round stoppage. He followed up that victory with an impressive knockout of the very tough Curt Kitson in London, and will look to add a third victory back-to-back.

It is essentially a striker versus grappler match-up, with Peters wanting it on the ground, but Watson is no slouch on the ground, having trained with the likes of Bud Brockett and Buddy Garner at Team Desire. If Peters does manage to take Watson down, it'll be interesting to see what kind of a guard Watson has - he has only been taken down five times in his GAMMA career out of 34 attempts.

Peters will struggle if it stays on the feet, as his striking has been sloppy in past fights, used only to set up takedown attempts, and he doesn't seem to take punches all that well. The advantages seem to be on Watson's side, but in MMA it's never for sure who will win.

Strange looks to stop 'Pretty Boy' Akabaro

The middleweight division is wide open right now, with champion Jakuchu Abe decisively beating most contenders. Stuart Strange and Danny Akabaro are among the few top level 185-pounders that the Japanese champion hasn't faced, and so the winner of this fight could find himself in a good spot.

The 24-6 Strange grinded out two decisions in his last two fights - over Bill Brown in December 2003, and over Adam White in May 2004, his only fight this year so far. Although he would probably be the best contender for Abe if he won the fight by decision, an emphatic finish would make a stronger case.

"I'm looking to finish Akabaro, that's for sure", Strange said in an exclusive interview with Blurcat.com. "He's got nothing for me on the ground, so I think I can almost choose what I'll finish him with."

In response, the 25-year old Akabaro said: "He [strange] won't have to worry about finishing me. We're not going to go to the ground, we're going to stand up and I'll punch the *expletive* out of him."

Akabaro (14-5) holds two back-to-back TKO wins over Thomas Smith and Joaquim Fontes after losing in a Fight of the Night performance to Adam White. A finish of the very tough veteran Strange should earn him another very big fight, if not a title fight.

Brockett, Cabral fight for lightweight grappling supremacy

The Brazilian Cabral (16-6) has recently gathered momentum, submitting three opponents in a row, the most recent of which was hot prospect Elvis Milissis in August.

Brockett (20-6), meanwhile, was submitted by former top contender Chan Kim Huat, but rebounded nicely with a submission over H.M. Menzel, utilizing the same technique Kim used to beat him. Perhaps the very best wrestler at lightweight, Brockett has also become a fantastic submission specialist while training at Team Desire in Springfield under Greg Atteveld with partners Buddy Garner and Benny Danare.

Brockett will likely be able to decide where the fight will be contested, and has showed good power in his hands as of late, knocking out Benny Danare in May last year in what was the Fight of the Night. Cabral could be the quicker, more technically proficient striker, but probably lacks the power to finish Brockett on the feet.

It will be interesting to see if the fight goes to the ground, and who will be able to impose their game when there. Brockett is physically much bigger and stronger, and can do a lot of damage with strikes from the top position, but Cabral has a slick, dangerous guard with amazing sweeps and triangles.

Saturday 15th could very well result in some very exciting matches, and more than likely a couple of future title contenders, so there is a lot on the line, even if there isn't a championship fight on the card.

Paatero · August 9, 2011

Akabaro plans on knocking out Strange, talks Abe

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/84/dannyakabaro.gif

Blurcat.com's own Stuart Teacher caught up with GAMMA 128 contestant, middleweight Danny Akabaro who faces Stuart Strange on the main card. Here is a transcription of the exclusive interview that followed:

Teacher: I am Blurcat.com's Stuart Teacher pre-fight alongside GAMMA middleweight contender 'Pretty Boy' Danny Akabaro. Dan, it's a pleasure to talk to you, and I appreciate you taking the time before your big fight on Saturday.

Akabaro: No problem, man. Always a pleasure to talk to you.

Teacher: Thank you. With your next fight just two days away, can you tell us a little about what you've been focusing on for this fight against Stuart Strange, and what has been the most difficult part on preparing for him?

Akabaro: The weight cut. I started at 200-something pounds two weeks ago, and now I'm around 190. For Strange I worked my footwork and hands, lots of uppercuts because the guy wants to take me down.

Teacher: Strange recently said that he thinks you have nothing for him on the ground, and I'm quoting here. He says he's going to be able to finish you easily if it goes to the ground.

Akabaro: If, that's if. He won't have to worry about finishing me. We're not going to go to the ground, we're standing up and I'll punch the *expletive* out of him.

Teacher: You've been on a good run lately, you had that loss against Adam White but that was actually a fight that gained you more fans, and in a sense could you say it was a blessing in disguise, since you came back to win two in a row?

Akabaro: It would've been nice to win for sure, but I guess it was something of a learning experience for me. I got him good a couple of times, but I kind of rushed and got reversed, I should've kept my distance and picked my shots more.

Teacher: If you win on Saturday, where do you see yourself in the division?

Akabaro: I think I match up perfectly with [Jakuchu] Abe, so I think I should get a title shot next after I beat up my guy on Saturday.

Teacher: Would you mind elaborating on matching up perfectly against Jakuchu Abe?

Akabaro: Well, the guy is supposedly a ground specialist, but doesn't have takedowns. You saw his last fights right? He bangs with guys until they fall down and follows them. He's good on the feet, but I'm better, so I think I'm the perfect match up to beat him.

Teacher: He does have a judo background, and he took down a great wrestler in Gavin Marshall in the last round of their fight, didn't he?

Akabaro: Yeah, but he beat him up on the feet first. He punched all the wrestling out of his head. I did the same to Thomas [smith] and that Brazilian guy [Joaquim Fontes, whom Akabaro beat via TKO in May]. I punched them a couple of times and they forgot how to take me down.

Teacher: Good point. Well, thanks for your time Danny, we know you're busy trying to get on weight for Saturday, so good luck with your fight!

Akabaro: Thanks.

Sons of Kohral · August 9, 2011

Love the insights. I was going to copy Scottie too and do a dynasty lol. Good luck with this and try not to get burned out.

Paatero · August 9, 2011

Thank you for the kind words! It's nice to get a comment every once in a while to know somebody else is reading . And I won't get burned out, I'm actually holding back right now, I love the save so much I'm excited to see how the fights play out and everything.

I'm thinking of posting the GAMMA 128 event tonight (Finnish time, approx. 7 hours ahead of you Americans), or perhaps tomorrow morning.

Rebby · August 9, 2011

Looks good, certainly inspiring and makes me want to go for a dynasty myself. Keep it up.

Paatero · August 10, 2011

GAMMA 128: Harrison vs Taneyev Results: The American edges the Russian in main event, vice versa in co-main event
By George Jenning, Nov 16, 12:39pm

NEWARK, NJ - It was an interesting pair of headliners, as the United States faced Russia in the main event and the co-main event of GAMMA 128.

In the major headlining act, William Harrison took home a decision over Valentin Taneyev. The victory was impressive in a way, but not the most exciting fight in the history, as Harrison looked to score points more than to hurt his opponent.

"To be perfectly honest with you", Harrison said during the post-fight press conference, "I knew the fight would go all three. I didn't go out of my way to finish, because who finishes that guy? Mike [Watson] didn't knock him out, [Affonso] Villar had a decision against him, [Jin] Katou didn't knock him out, he lost to him. That guy is tough, and I'm just happy I took home the win."

The American did have his opponent in trouble early, however, as a failed takedown resulted in a grappling exchange where Harrison was able to take Taneyev's back standing up, and at that moment many people in the audience were saying, "Here we go again", as Harrison looked for his fourth rear naked choke submission in six victories. Taneyev staid calm and defended valiantly, however, and survived the round.

In the second round Harrison had good success on the feet, landing clean punches, although nothing too significant, and putting Taneyev on the back foot. In the final round Taneyev found his rhytm and started to land hard body kicks and punches, but Harrison stole his momentun with a quick trip takedown, and spent the rest of the fight on top.

All three judges gave Harrison (19-3, 16-3 GAMMA) the victory and thought he won all three rounds. With the win, 'Major Damage' returns into title contention, but with Jin Katou defending his title against Isaiah Monroe in December, and Affonso Villar already in line, he will likely have to fight at least once more before getting another crack at the strap.

The defeat does Taneyev (18-5, 6-4 GAMMA) nothing negative in terms of peer respect and fan support, as he was very game and has fought top level opponents consistently during his stint with GAMMA. A bout with another high level light heavyweight coming off a loss would make sense, perhaps Osmosis Benn, who lost to Affonso Villar in October.

Ivanov stops Twinge, shows improved hands

'The Great Bear' notched a second straight victory in the co-main event with a quick TKO over American Sly Twinge.

Twinge was aggressive early, muscling Ivanov to the cage and landing some elbows and dirty boxing, before disengaging and throwing a combination that Ivanov countered with a single big right hand that dropped the 'Bully Boy'. From that moment, Ivanov waited for his opportunity and swept Twinge's legs away and got on top in side control, where he finished the fight with a barrage of strikes.

The victory is Ivanov's second in 2004 and puts him back into the upper echelon of the heavyweight division. The Russian (18-4, 12-4 GAMMA) will likely have to wait for the heavyweight bouts in the near future to shake out to know his next opponent.

The loss halts Twinge's (17-5, 16-5 GAMMA) winning streak and title hopes for now, but the American is still only 29 years old and has plenty more fights left in him.

Watson crushes Peters in Canadian showdown

'The Calgary Assassin' looked almost unstoppable in his victory over fellow Canadian Ken Peters, as Watson shrugged off the wrestler's takedowns as if they were in slow motion. He quickly caught Peters with a left hook coming in, flooring 'the Man of Steel'. Watson followed him to the ground, but Peters showed his toughness in scrambling on top, but the round was over before he could get a payback.

The second round got barely started as Peters already shot in for a takedown - the following sequence happened so quickly that the people in attendance jumped out of their seats, but remained quiet. A lightning-fast uppercut heaved from the waist up, cracked into Peters' jaw, who fell face-first to the mat. Watson was about to jump on him, but stood back and lifted his arms in the air. His opponent wouldn't get up.

The referee looked dumb-struck, as he stood there and waved his arms to call the fight, about ten seconds in delay. That was when the crowd erupted, as they had witnessed a true highlight-reel knockout, one that will be in contention for the Knockout of the Year.

Watson (21-5, 15-5 GAMMA) moves into title contention after three straight knockout victories, but has to wait for the light heavyweight title queue to clear up. In the meantime he has time to fight at least once, and will probably be looking at an early 2005 fight against another top contender.

Peters (20-9, 13-9 GAMMA) loses his three-fight winning streak that he built in 2004, and will undoubtedly have to return to the drawing board in order to refine his sloppy striking that has led to more than a few defeats.

Strange ending for Akabaro, who taps quickly

Danny Akabaro appeared to be looking past Stuart Strange before Saturday night, but will definitely not be doing so anymore.

The bell rang, and Strange immediately closed the distance with no difficulty whatsoever - it seemed as though Akabaro was confused by the American's quick feet - and hoisted the Nigerian-native up into the air, and slammed him to the mat.

From there it was a clinical display, as Strange passed through the guard like a hot knife through butter, and locked Akabaro's far arm in a straight armlock from the side control, forcing the tap in just two and a half minutes.

Strange (25-6, 12-4 GAMMA) will probably be looking at a title shot with the impressive victory, currently being one of the few top middleweights with good momentum running. Akabaro (14-6, 11-6 GAMMA) probably needs to gather a bit of velocity from the undercards, as he was clearly outclassed.

Overweight Bud Brockett controls Cabral for the victory

A large 155-pounder, Bud Brockett missed the weight limit by two pounds, and paid 20% of his fight purse as a result.

Cabral accepted the fight regardless, and was defeated by Brockett's size and wrestling skills, as the American bullied the smaller man, utilizing dirty boxing and stellar takedown defense. Brockett did get taken down once at the end of the second round, but Cabral didn't have the time to get any offense going.

GAMMA president and matchmaker Alan Batrosch was not happy with Brockett missing weight, and he was even less complimentary about Brockett's performance as the opening bout of the Pay-Per-View.

"People buy the event and want to see good fights", Batrosch said in the post-fight press conference, "and they see a fight like Brockett had at the beginning of the Pay-Per-View, you know how that feels? That feels like you've been cheated, man. Fortunately the rest of the card was great."

Brockett improves to 21-6, and is definitely near the top of the lightweight division, but will have to work hard to impress his boss in his next fight, or he could find himself on Batrosch's eternal list of short-leash fighters.

Cabral falls to 16-7 with the loss, but didn't quite lose all of his momentum, considering how the fight went. Plus, he got 20% of Brockett's winning purse, so that's a positive.

Enter Sousa, and Tavares' comeback of the night

In a featured preliminary bout, Brazilian heavyweight Matheus Sousa defeated Finn Roope Kuqi via unanimous decision. Sousa is 8-1, and has showed strong wrestling, big power and dangerous submissions in his past fights. His GAMMA debut was not overly dominant or impressive, but he won two clear rounds against a very tough Kuqi.

On the unaired portion of the prelims, Rafael Tavares (24-8, 7-5 GAMMA) came back to win what seemed like an inevitable decision loss to Japanese star Kenji Akita. Akita used his superior wrestling skills to control Tavares in the early rounds, taking his opponent down in the second half of the last round, almost as if to secure the win.

What happened, though, was that Tavares desperately started moving his hips on the bottom, looking for a miracle, and he found it rather quickly in the form of a triangle choke that Akita couldn't fight his way out of. The choke resulted in a 30,000$ Submission of the Night bonus, as well as an unofficial 'comeback of the night' bonus.

MAIN CARD:
- William Harrison def. Valentin Taneyev via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Aleksander Ivanov def. Sly Twinge via TKO (punches) - round 1, 3:28
- Mike Watson def. Ken Peters via KO (punch) - round 2, 0:40 - Knockout of the Night, Fight of the Night
- Stuart Strange def. Danny Akabaro via submission (armbar) - round 1, 2:33
- Bud Brockett def. Manoel Cabral via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) - catchweight bout

GAMMA FEATURED PRELIMINARY CARD:
- Billy Russell def. Joaquim Fontes via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Matheus Sousa def. Roope Kuqi via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

UNAIRED PRELIMINARY CARD:
- Rafael Tavares def. Kenji Akita via submission (triangle choke) - round 3, 2:24 - Submission of the Night
- Harald Hubner def. Elvis Milissis via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
- Vitor de Melo def. Tim Boyer via TKO (punches) - round 2, 4:12
- Masahiro Maeno def. Shinsui Sakata via submission (armbar) - round 1, 4:57

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Paatero · August 10, 2011

With GAMMA Fight Night: Patinkin vs Sorkin in the books, what did we learn?
By Bill Jordan, Nov 30, 10:11am

TORONTO - On Saturday 29th, roughly 2 million North Americans tuned in to watch another installment of GAMMA Fight Night, and the card offered excitement, but also a fair bit of disappointments.

In the main event, the 38-year old Junior Patinkin looked in very good shape, overpowering the Olympic level judoka Toby Sorkin early, probably picking up two 10-9 rounds. In the third, however, Sorkin managed to close the distance quickly and land an important takedown, that eventually led to him submitting his opponent with an armbar from the mount.

The comeback win came with less than a minute left in the round, and Sorkin gets his second straight victory over a very tough veteran. The 15-5 Sorkin will likely be looking at a step up next, as he has defeated both Patinkin and Norman Pike in 2004.

Hasegawa shows new weapons, but disappoints fans

Jiroemon Hasegawa defeated the well-respected contender Curt Kitson via unanimous decision, winning every round on the judges' scorecards.

Although Kitson is known for his highly technical boxing, he was not able to implement it, as Hasegawa alternated between takedowns and effective leg kicks. He was able to control rounds one and two on the ground, but did little damage. In the third round he picked up the tempo, almost overwhelming the winded Kitson with kicks to the legs.

Hasegawa (16-6, 13-6 GAMMA) comes back from a devastating KO loss to Valentin Taneyev, and looks set to get back to contender status. Kitson (18-6, 9-6 GAMMA) loses for the second time back to back, and will need to win his next fight if he is to have any job security.

Lass earns second straight win, outwrestles Toadspew

The 30-year old Tyler Lass picked up a decision win over Australian judoka Kenneth Toadspew in what turned out to be a disappointing match. Neither man got much offense going, but Lass was able to take Toadspew down seemingly at will, winning the first and third rounds on every judge's scorecard.

The victory doesn't bring Lass (15-6, 10-6 GAMMA) much closer to a title shot, but it does follow up another decision win over Agustin Gonzalez in July.

Frye back in top form, overcomes Jokichi

Easton Frye was once very close to being released by GAMMA as he dropped three straight fights. A TKO win over Graeme Spark put Frye back on the winning track, and on Saturday he earned an unanimous decision over former top contender Yagi Jokichi.

Frye was able to take down and control Jokichi in the first two rounds, but got knocked down in the third. It looked bad for Frye, who was taking shots, but he managed to impressively reverse the situation and take the Japanese fighter's back and finish the round with hard shots from the top position, bloodying and almost stopping Jokichi.

Pascal earns sixty grand in bonuses, taps out Mountfield

Adrian Pascal (15-8, 13-8 GAMMA) was the bonus hog of the night, winning both the Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night bonuses with his armbar victory over Christian Mountfield.

A quick double leg brought Pascal down to the canvas, but Mountfield found himself quickly reversed as his opponent scrambled on top. Pascal swiftly moved to mount and rotated into a fight-ending armbar with just over two minutes gone in the round.

Curbeam vs Sagal bores audience

In the only unaired fight of the night, Bosco Curbeam defeated 'Guillotine' Kyle Sagal via unanimous decision. The fight was something of a stalemate for the most part, with both men having a hard time bringing the fight to the ground.

Curbeam edged the victory in two rounds with effective strikes from the clinch that he should've probably utilized some more instead of continuously going for the takedown. The 11-5 Curbeam has usually been a decently entertaining fighter, and disappointed the fans in attendance with his performance in victory.

For Sagal (8-3, 0-1 GAMMA), the loss could be a disaster - he left the worst possible first impression on GAMMA brass and the fans in his debut - and he can in a way be thankful the fight wasn't aired on TV.

MAIN CARD:

- Toby Sorkin def. Junior Patinkin via submission (armbar) - round 3, 4:05
- Jiroemon Hasegawa def. Curt Kitson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Tyler Lass def. Kenneth Toadspew via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Easton Frye def. Yagi Jokichi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Adrian Pascal def. Christian Mountfield via submission (armbar) - round 1, 2:13 - Submission of the Night, Fight of the Night

PRELIMINARY CARD:

- Bosco Curbeam def. Kyle Sagal via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

___

Paatero · August 10, 2011

Upcoming Fight Cards:

As published on GlobalMMA.com

GAMMA 129: Katou vs Monroe

In Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday December 19th. Live on Pay-Per-View.

Main Card:

Light Heavyweight Championship Bout: http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/5549/22pxflagofjapansvg.png Jin Katou © (25-4) vs. http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/781/22pxflagoftheunitedstatj.png Isaiah Monroe (17-2)

Heavyweight Bout: http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/4263/22pxflagofcanadasvg.png Sylvester Collins (16-4) vs. http://img862.imageshack.us/img862/3592/22pxflagofbrazilsvg.png Murilo Satinho (20-3)

Welterweight Bout: http://img862.imageshack.us/img862/3592/22pxflagofbrazilsvg.png Carlos da Guia (24-6) vs. http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/781/22pxflagoftheunitedstatj.png Sean Morrison (33-10)

Featherweight Bout: http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/1870/22pxflagofportugalsvg.png Nuno Valentino (13-3) vs. http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/781/22pxflagoftheunitedstatj.png Markus Waller (11-3)

Lightweight Bout: http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/5549/22pxflagofjapansvg.png Kei Maki (15-7) vs. http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/781/22pxflagoftheunitedstatj.png Benny Danare (20-6)

GAMMA Featured Preliminaries:

Light Heavyweight Bout: http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/781/22pxflagoftheunitedstatj.png MacGregor Dare (14-5) vs. http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/781/22pxflagoftheunitedstatj.png Rupert Dreck (14-6)

Middleweight Bout: http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/8058/22pxflagofenglandsvg.png Ollie Castle (10-4) vs. http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/4263/22pxflagofcanadasvg.png Ethan Sutton (15-8)

Unaired Preliminary Card:

Welterweight Bout: Domingo de Vivanco (10-5) vs. Felix Mattherson Jr (9-6)

Lightweight Bout: Alan Kendall (22-12) vs. Gerardo Diez (15-5)

Featherweight Bout: Newton Reis (12-2) vs. Yo****ora Ouchi (12-2)

Lightweight Bout: Goncalves Cassaro (9-4-2) vs. Henry Baldwin (16-10)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

GAMMA 130: Dooley vs Bintley

In Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Sunday December 27th. Live on Pay-Per-View.

Main Card:

Heavyweight Championship Bout: http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/4263/22pxflagofcanadasvg.png Chuck Dooley © (16-2) vs. http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/8058/22pxflagofenglandsvg.png Ozzy Bintley (16-3)

Welterweight Bout: http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/8058/22pxflagofenglandsvg.png David Webb (24-7) vs. http://img862.imageshack.us/img862/3592/22pxflagofbrazilsvg.png Charles Stiles (22-4)

Lightweight Title Eliminator Bout: http://img862.imageshack.us/img862/3592/22pxflagofbrazilsvg.png Tarcisio Dantas (16-4) vs. http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/6607/125pxflagofrussiasvg.png Fiyero Lermontov (21-3)

Middleweight Bout: http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/781/22pxflagoftheunitedstatj.png Wes Hersch (13-4) vs. http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/781/22pxflagoftheunitedstatj.png Wesley Sneep (14-2)

Featherweight Bout: http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/781/22pxflagoftheunitedstatj.png Wallace Everett (14-3) vs. http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/5549/22pxflagofjapansvg.png Kanji Togo (22-11)

GAMMA Featured Preliminaries:

Middleweight Bout: http://img862.imageshack.us/img862/3592/22pxflagofbrazilsvg.png Thais Antonio Taffarel (23-6) vs. http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/781/22pxflagoftheunitedstatj.png Thomas Smith (18-6)

Welterweight Bout: http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/781/22pxflagoftheunitedstatj.png Evan Gardner (14-6) vs. http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/8058/22pxflagofenglandsvg.png Martin Cupples (12-5)

Unaired Preliminary Card:

Featherweight Bout: Georges Nouri (16-7) vs. Hisamitsu Sasaki (10-0)

Light Heavyweight Bout: Matti Kurri (14-2-1) vs. Norman Pike (22-14)

Middleweight Bout: Ramon da Silva Ramos (12-5) vs. Mochihito Yamazaki (15-7)

Heavyweight Bout: Wilson Franklyn (14-9) vs. Jesus Stanley (9-2)

Chris2K · August 10, 2011

Forgive my cowardice but I'm not going to try and predict, the amount of differences between what I'm used to and where you're up to is far beyond my level of understanding. Plus I'd just pick people that work for the BCF in my game .

It's interesting though to see what happens in your version of the future, some of the guys struggling in my game are doing superbly in yours. I guess it just shows how different WMMA can be with the default data from just two separate games.

Writing wise, I like the way the shows are presented. It's not too detailed that it becomes hard to read, and you pick out the important things that matter the most so they're easier to remember. Plus you don't throw in a million graphics to distract readers from the lack of interesting writing .

Paatero · August 10, 2011

Thank you for the compliments! And you don't have to worry about the predictions, I am making the dynasty for my own entertainment as well, I'll be happy as long as other people enjoy reading along.

smurphy1014 · August 10, 2011

Liking what you've done so far with GAMMA. Looking forward to see where you go from here.

Pineappleman · August 11, 2011

Totally just registered to tell you that you're awesome and that you should keep writing.

Paatero · August 11, 2011

GAMMA 129: Katou vs Monroe Results: Katou retains title in comeback of the year, Satinho dismantles Collins
By George Jenning, Dec 20, 11:27am

LAS VEGAS - For two rounds, it looked inevitable that Isaiah Monroe would become only the second man in GAMMA history to win titles in two different weight classes.

That was, until Jin Katou's right hand said "no".

At one minute and four seconds of the third round, the Japanese champion managed to plant his feet for the first time and throw his trademark right hook that flattened the challenger, who fell down head first in what could've been the nastiest fall in GAMMA history.

The American challenger had achieved fantastic success in the previous two rounds, where he managed to take Katou down and land strikes while avoiding the champion's submission attempts. In the second round he came close to stopping Katou via strikes from the back mount, but the champion persevered.

Katou (26-4, 7-2 GAMMA) completes his second title defense, and wins his third fight in 2004. With all of his 2004 bouts (including wins over William Harrison, Marlon John and Monroe) ending in a knockout or technical knockout, Katou makes a case for Fighter of the Year.

Monroe (17-3, 14-3 GAMMA) impresses in defeat, as he exposed the light heavyweight champion's weaknesses, and showed the way to defeat 'Tsunami' - with better execution next time around, he is a big threat to Katou in a potential rematch down the line.

Satinho effective in quick finish of 'the Big Show'

Murilo Satinho improved to 21-3 (10-3 GAMMA) with a quick TKO finish over former top contender Sylvester Collins (16-5, 13-5 GAMMA).

Collins came in aggressive, perhaps even too much so, as he managed to lanch a good, hard right hand early, but was countered with an even harder right hand from the Brazilian that clearly rocked him, and Satinho swarmed for the quick finish at 1:04 of the first round.

The win is Satinho's second since losing his heavyweight title to Chuck Dooley in May. With a dominant performance over a top contender 'Grande Urso' shows there's not many people at heavyweight he can be challenged by other than the champion, and will be looking closely as Dooley defends his title against Steven "Ozzy" Bintley in a couple of weeks.

Collins picks up a three-month suspension for the damage he received, but it was reported by his camp and management that he was not injured in the fight, and will be looking at a late first quarter return in 2005.

Carlos da Guia outworks Sean Morrison for a decision

Brazilian welterweight Carlos da Guia returned to his winning ways with a decision over veteran Sean Morrison.

The first two rounds followed a pattern similar to da Guia's most fights, with him picking apart his opponent with kicks and punches. In the second round he landed a turning side kick to the solar plexus of Morrison, knocking him down. Morrison managed to scramble on top when da Guia followed him to the ground, and landed some good ground and pound at the end of the second round. He was unable to generate much offense in the third, and was forced to pull guard, where da Guia sat and utilized effective ground and pound for the rest of the fight.

The victory for da Guia (25-6, 8-4 GAMMA) follows a defeat at the hands of Nathan Chambers in July, and puts him back near the top of the 170-pound division. The Brazilian will likely need to win a couple more before he is in line for a title shot, however.

The 37-year old Morrison (33-11, 16-7 GAMMA) shows grit and resilience, but also looks rather slow and tentative. A drop back down to lightweight could be in the cards, or if not, he will probably be looking at fighting 'veteran fights' for the rest of his legendary MMA career, as he doesn't seem to have an answer for the younger, more dynamic contenders.

Waller edges Valentino in battle of BJJ black belts

It wasn't the submission clinic everyone expected to see, but Markus Waller (12-3, 11-3 GAMMA) was very effective with his hands and utilizing his apparent wrestling advantage to control the fight.

It was clear from the get-go that Waller wanted to strike, while Valentino looked for the takedown. He managed to land two takedowns inside the duration of the bout, but got swept quickly as Waller got back up to his feet.

The aggression gave Valentino the third round, but wasn't enough to win him the fight.

Danare chokes out Maki

Benny Danare is mostly a gentleman in and out of the cage, not known for punishing his opponents when it is not necessary. On Saturday night, in the opening bout of the Pay-Per-View, however, he looked vicious in a choke out victory over Japanese Kei Maki.

The first round looked promising for Maki, who managed to keep his distance and land strikes, although nothing that visibly hurt Danare. In the second round Danare landed a quick takedown and managed to pass Maki's guard. From the side control he locked in an arm triangle, hopped over to mount and through to the other side, and choked Maki unconscious in a fifteen second sequence.

Danare (21-6, 14-6 GAMMA) picks up his fifth straight victory, and his third in 2004, and is definitely close to a title shot. Next up for him is probably a big name fight that could propel him up to contendership level.

Maki (15-8, 12-8 GAMMA) has looked impressive as of late, edging former champion Brandon Sugar in a September bout, after knocking out Gerardo Diez via head kick in April. It is evident, however, that Maki would benefit from fighting at a lighter weight class, as Danare appeared much bigger and stronger than the Japanese fighter.

Prelim action: Dare dispatches of Dreck, Castle knocks out Sutton

The featured preliminary bouts live on GlobalMMA.tv were as successful as ever with two exciting finishes in two bouts.

In light heavyweight action, MacGregor Dare (15-5, 14-5 GAMMA) walked through the very tough Rupert Dreck, showing that he is a contender at 205 pounds. Dare showcased superior wrestling and striking in the fight, dominating Dreck on the feet and on the ground, finally putting him away with strikes in the third round.

In a middleweight fight, Ollie Castle needed just three minutes to put out Ethan Sutton with a huge uppercut to the chin. The fight was very much a do-or-die situation for the Englishman, as he had lost two fights prior to the fight with the Canadian Sutton.

Castle improves to 11-4, and picks up his first GAMMA victory. Sutton falls to 15-9, and loses for the third time back to back. A release could be likely, but Sutton has also hinted at dropping to a lower weight class, which could give him a clean slate.

MAIN CARD:

- Jin Katou def. Isaiah Monroe via KO (punch) - round 3, 1:04 - Knockout of the Night, Fight of the Night
- Murilo Satinho def. Sylvester Collins via TKO (punches) - round 1, 1:04
- Carlos da Guia def. Sean Morrison via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Markus Waller def. Nuno Valentino via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Benny Danare def. Kei Maki via technical submission (arm triangle choke) - round 2, 1:43 - Submission of the Night

GAMMA FEATURED PRELIMINARY CARD:

- MacGregor Dare def. Rupert Dreck via TKO (punches) - round 3, 3:10
- Ollie Castle def. Ethan Sutton via KO (punch) - round 1, 3:18

UNAIRED PRELIMINARY CARD:

- Felix Mattherson Jr def. Domingo de Vivanco via submission (armbar) - round 3, 4:57
- Alan Kendall def. Gerardo Diez via KO (knee) - round 2, 4:56
- Newton Reis def. Yo****ora Ouchi via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Henry Baldwin def. Goncalves Cassaro via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

___

Paatero · August 11, 2011

Ziskie gets Danare in lightweight debut, Ho awaits challenger
By Bill Jordan, Dec 24th, 9:40am

It was announced Wednesday evening that Philip Ziskie (28-5-1, 9-4 GAMMA) and Benny Danare (21-6, 14-6 GAMMA) had verbally agreed to fight each other on a future GAMMA Pay-Per-View in early 2005.

The bout would be Ziskie's lightweight debut. Both men are on impressive five-fight winning streaks, and the winner clearly has a strong case for a lightweight title shot. Danare is coming off a great showing on Saturday, finishing Kei Maki in the second round via arm triangle choke. Ziskie defeated Jason Dalglish in October via unanimous decision.

GAMMA matchmaker Alan Batrosch also commented the fight: "This should be a very exciting lightweight match. Ziskie is obviously one of the most popular fighters to ever enter the cage, and Danare is on a roll right now. Both guys are finishers, both guys are well-rounded, and the winner could fight for the title next."

Many fans were confused about the move up in weight by Ziskie, who was widely considered the number two featherweight in the world after champion Li-Kong Ho.

Ziskie answered in an interview on the subject: "Well, I've already had my chance twice. Plus I've been training with Ho for a bit these last years, and we're good friends. My dream is to win a GAMMA belt, but I think the lightweight belt is at a better place for me right now. Of course, I can't look past Danare, he's a dangerous guy and he's got crazy momentum right now."

Batrosch explained the matchmaking after the announcement as he was interviewed by Blurcat.com's own Stuart Teacher: "The thing with Ziskie is, he's already fought for the 145-pound title twice, and lost. He couldn't beat Li-Kong Ho, but he destroys almost everybody else, I mean who else have you seen destroy Frank Romita, dominate Kanji Togo, beat down Rafael Tavares in two minutes, knock out Nuno Valentino with one punch? The list goes on and on. I think it's a good, fresh look to put Ziskie with these guys at 155 pounds."

With Ziskie moving up, there is still no contender in the horizon for the Indonesian Li-Kong Ho (32-0, 14-0 GAMMA), who last defended his title in August, winning an unanimous decision over Markus Waller. When asked whether Batrosch had somebody lined up for the featherweight kingpin, he shrugged his shoulders.

"The guy destroys everybody, and many guys twice", Batrosch said. "There's this one guy he hasn't beat, and that's [Wallace] Everett, but he's going to have to win his fight next Saturday against Kanji Togo. If he looks good, he could get the shot."

"Also, there's this one Malaysian you've probably heard of", Batrosch added, "we've booked him to make his featherweight debut at [GAMMA PPV] 131 against [Yoshiro] Makamori. Neither guy has fought Ho before, and both guys are amazing submission specialists, so we'll see what happens."

Batrosch did not elaborate, but likely meant perennial lightweight contender Chan Kim Huat (17-3, 11-2 GAMMA), who has talked in the past about making the move to 145 pounds, should he not hold the lightweight title. Huat was defeated by lightweight champion Tomohiro Takeuchi in September.

Blurcat.com will keep you updated on the situation.

___

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