GAMMA - The Rise of the Juggernaut

[CageRage]

Main Event

GAMMA Heavyweight Championship

Jeff Carlton (c ) (35-7) v Armen Sarkisian (26-3)

 

Co-headliner

Middleweight – Buddy Garner (14-2) v Matthew Dean (33-6)

 

Undercard

Light-Heavyweight – Niko Soldo (15-1-1) v Marku Mikkola (5-0)

Light-Heavyweight – Anthony LeToussier (15-1) v Kendall Tracey (9-2)

Heavyweight – Rav Kapur (10-0) v Paulo Sergio Parente (6-3)

Welterweight – Evan Gardner (5-1) v Gus Fitzpatrick (1-0)

Lightweight – Dana Delaney (8-4-1NC) v Xavi Castillejo (1-1)

Featherweight – Britt Dickering (3-1) v Gonkuro Miyagi (2-1)

[Thesnake101]

Main Event

GAMMA Heavyweight Championship

Jeff Carlton (c ) (35-7) v Armen Sarkisian (26-3)

 

Co-headliner

Middleweight – Buddy Garner (14-2) v Matthew Dean (33-6)

 

Undercard

Light-Heavyweight – Niko Soldo (15-1-1) v Marku Mikkola (5-0)

Light-Heavyweight – Anthony LeToussier (15-1) v Kendall Tracey (9-2)

Heavyweight – Rav Kapur (10-0) v Paulo Sergio Parente (6-3)

Welterweight – Evan Gardner (5-1) v Gus Fitzpatrick (1-0)

Lightweight – Dana Delaney (8-4-1NC) v Xavi Castillejo (1-1)

Featherweight – Britt Dickering (3-1) v Gonkuro Miyagi (2-1)

[batsnumbereleven]

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Armen Sarkisian might not have been able to topple Hassan Fezzik in his attempt to be crowned ALPHA-1 Heavyweight Champion, but he was more than good enough to ensure that he did the job against Jeff Carlton quite emphatically to take the GAMMA Heavyweight Title.

 

Rare as it might be, Carlton had little choice but to tap when trapped under a mounted Sarkisian and with the big man raining bombs down on him, which perhaps makes us question why referee Leo Behan hadn't already stepped in too call an end to the fight.

 

Sarkisian started the fight as he meant to continue, putting Carlton down in the first round with a beautiful right uppercut, hammering him with punches and forcing the defending champion to give up his back to avoid the onslaught. The challenger tried to finish things with a Rear Naked Choke, but Carlton was resolute in preventing him getting hooks in to secure the choke and managed to survive until the end of the round.

 

The second saw Sarkisian switch to the body and he floored Carlton with a vicious shot to the chest that saw the American clutching his chest as he fell to the floor, and you have to hope that he hasn't suffered a serious injury as a result. Sarkisian hammered down punches and shifted into mount, then landed a couple of heavy shots. With Carlton seeing no way of escape, he tapped and handed the Title over to the Armenian. Sarkisian's 24 power strikes on the ground are a record for GAMMA.

 

Challengers for Sarkisian's title will be lining up, with the likes of John Rivero and James Foster no doubt being in the mix, but the fight fans will be wanting to see will be a re-match with Hassan Fezzik, who submitted Sarkisian back in November 1998. The ease with which Sarkisian picked up the win here might call into question the real strength of GAMMA's Heavyweight division, but a real comparison will need to wait until we've seen how Fezzik performs here in America.

 

 

A tense Middleweight co-headlining contest between Buddy Garner and former GAMMA Middleweight Champion Matthew Dean that earned the fighters Fight of the Night bonuses was likely decided by Garner's more aggressive approach to pursuing a takedown. Garner managed to get Dean to the ground in the first and threatened a couple of times to lock in a kneebar, but Dean was able to defend successfully. The remainder of the fight remained standing, and it was a very close affair. Garner had perhaps the greater output, but neither man was able to land anything that seriously troubled their opponent. Garner was awarded the fight by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) though you could have argued that it could have gone the other way without too much trouble. Both fighters are now 2-2 in their last four, and will need to regain some momentum before they can be considered title challengers again.

 

Niko Soldo made his GAMMA debut with a successful, but not entirely inspiring unanimous decision victory over Markku Mikkola (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). After a close first round, in which Mikkola was more prolific but Soldo had the more impactful strikes, Soldo looked to improve in the second, and was much more varied in his striking. Perhaps sensing that the fight was in the balance, he pulled Mikkola into his guard in the final round, but was unable to ensnare an arm to get the submission finish he was after and had to leave it to the judges, who must have had a difficult job separating the fighters. Soldo will have to show more in his next fight if he wants to impress the GAMMA fans and come within touching distance of the title shot he declared as his intent when he signed terms.

 

The Light-Heavyweight bout between Anthony LeToussier and Kendall Tracey had an element of farce about it. Tracey had by far the better output and accuracy in striking in the first round, outscoring LeToussier 71-28, but for some reason abandoned his strategy and spent the rest of the fight trying to take his fellow Quebecois down. Seven failed attempts later, LeToussier then took the astonishing step of grabbing an arm and pulling Tracey into his guard, which made one wonder why he hadn't allowed any of Tracey's attempts to take the fight to the floor. LeToussier tried to lock up and arm, but was unable to threaten a submission. The final round followed a similar path, with LeToussier stuffing all six of Tracey takedown attempts, before putting him down with a crunching straight right to the jaw. Unfortunately for LeToussier, the round ended before he could capitalise. Somehow two of the judges saw enough from Tracey to give him two of the three rounds and take a split decision 29-28, 29-28, 28-29, but whilst he clearly won the first round, it is hard to see where they gave him a second, and LeToussier will have to feel as though he was robbed by the decision. Either way, both men seemed to show very poor strategic awareness, and against a less evenly matched opponent may well find that they rue that. Blurcat.com scored the contest 29-28 to LeToussier.

 

Former BCF Heavyweight Champion Rav Kapur made short work of fellow GAMMA debutant Paulo Sergio Parente to extend his undefeated record to eleven fights. A big right hook put Parente down, and Kapur's hammerfists ended the fight, with referee Kyle Crisp perhaps a little slow in calling for the stoppage. Kapur will have various options for his next fight, but will no doubt be expected to take on a big name in a headlining bout sooner rather than later.

 

Evan Gardner and Gus Fitzpatrick put on a good display at 170lbs, but it was Gardner that came away with the victory after a strong performance. He was able to take Fitzpatrick down with relative ease in all three rounds, using the cage to help him wrestle his man down, and Fitzpatrick was probably a little too eager to give up his back rather than fight out of side control. Gardner has attempts to cinch in a Rear Naked Choke fought off well by Fitzpatrick in the first two rounds, but was able to make sure he got an arm under Fitzpatrick's chin in the third and finished it at 4:26. Gardner suggested that Alan Kendall might be a good opponent next, though Kendall is coming off a recent defeat and may not be available.

 

At Lightweight, Dana Delaney managed to pick up his first win in four fights with a dominant display against Spain's Xavi Castillejo. Delaney was quicker throughout and his striking was crisper, putting Castillejo down in all three rounds, though being unable to finish the fight from top position once he got there. Indeed, in the second round, the Spaniard was able to scramble and reverse the ground position, and threatened with some heavy ground and pound himself towards the end of the round, but neither man ever looked in serious danger of finishing the fight once it hit the mat. Delaney took the unanimous decision, the scorecards reading 30-27 from all three judges.

 

To kick the evening off, Britt Dickering showed his excellent striking off against Tokyo's Gonkuro Miyagi, putting Miyagi down with a powerful right head kick in the second round and putting him down again in the third with a big right hand. Dickering was unable to put him away though, as Miyagi showed good composure in covering up and a good defense on the ground. Dickering took a deserved unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).

 

 

 

 

 

GAMMA 49 Quick Results

 

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Pick Results

 

CageRage - 6/8 (117/181)

KnowYourEnemy - 6/8

TheSnake101 - 5/8 (78/103)

[batsnumbereleven]

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Anthony LeToussier

 

While I can't agree with how the judges scored it, it was my own fault for letting the fight go the distance. I was outwrestled by Kendall and knew I had to go away and work on that in order to come back a better fighter. I was pleased with my takedown defense though, and thought that I'd done more than enough to win things. Was I robbed? I dunno that I'd go that far.

 

 

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Kendall Tracey

 

I think I was as surprised by the decision as Tony was. Didn't think I'd done enough in rounds two and three to get credit, especially when he stuffed about a dozen of my takedown attempts. A re-match would probably have been fair, but I wasn't sure it would happen any time soon. Besides, a win's a win.

 

 

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Michael Frankley

 

I think we all feared the worst for Jeff when he went down like that, but it seems that afterwards he was okay- he got hit with a 4 month medical suspension, but that was what you would expect after a pounding.

 

GAMMA 50 was something of an oddity for the cards that I had put together at this point, because it featured a re-match, and that was something I had tried to avoid doing as far as possible unless there was a really good reason for it. In this case, I felt that there was. Thomas was, outside of Matthew Dean, the most highly ranked Middleweight that had fought in GAMMA over the previous couple of years, and when he had gone up against Petey the first time it was a close split decision, so there was certainly cause for thinking that it would be another close fight and one that the champion ought to be having. Dean's failure to rebound against Buddy Garner had left him out of range of a re-match for the title for the time being, and the other highly ranked fighters (Moura, Endo, Kanchelskis, da Costa) were all still waiting for their GAMMA debuts and, highly ranked or not, they weren't very well known to GAMMA's audience so putting them straight into a title fight would have been both a risky proposition and unfair to the other fighters on the roster.

 

 

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Petey Mack

 

I wasn't over-enamoured of giving Thomas a re-match, but they were right to give the shot to a GAMMA veteran rather than handing it to a newcomer.

 

 

 

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GAMMA 50 – Card for Picks

Main Event

GAMMA Middleweight Championship

Petey Mack (13-2) (c ) v Patrick Thomas (18-4)

 

Co-headliner

Welterweight – Julio Regueiro (23-1) v David Allen (15-3)

 

Undercard

Middleweight – Fjodor Kanchelskis (15-0) v Isaiah Monroe (5-0)

Lightweight – Seth O'Breen (15-0) v Tarcisio Dantas (4-0)

Middleweight – Kadonomaro Deguchi (4-0) v Braulio Moura (22-2-1NC)

Light-Heavyweight – Ken Peters (9-2) v Lawrence Herringbone (14-2)

Light-Heavyweight – Toby Sorkin (4-1) v Matthew Michael Kirby (1-1)

Featherweight – Heiko Pander (4-1) v Gregg Grable (19-10)

[CageRage]

Main Event

GAMMA Middleweight Championship

Petey Mack (13-2) (c ) v Patrick Thomas (18-4)

 

Co-headliner

Welterweight – Julio Regueiro (23-1) v David Allen (15-3)

 

Undercard

Middleweight – Fjodor Kanchelskis (15-0) v Isaiah Monroe (5-0)

Lightweight – Seth O'Breen (15-0) v Tarcisio Dantas (4-0)

Middleweight – Kadonomaro Deguchi (4-0) v Braulio Moura (22-2-1NC)

Light-Heavyweight – Ken Peters (9-2) v Lawrence Herringbone (14-2)

Light-Heavyweight – Toby Sorkin (4-1) v Matthew Michael Kirby (1-1)

Featherweight – Heiko Pander (4-1) v Gregg Grable (19-10)

[KnowYourEnemy]

Main Event

GAMMA Middleweight Championship

Petey Mack (13-2) (c ) v Patrick Thomas (18-4)

Usually, the rematch goes to the loser of a "close" split decision.

Co-headliner

Welterweight – Julio Regueiro (23-1) v David Allen (15-3)

Hm.. the Reguerio I remember is getting up in age, and a bit overrated. Allen with the upset.

Undercard

Middleweight – Fjodor Kanchelskis (15-0) v Isaiah Monroe (5-0)

Going with the safe bet, but not completely sold on Fjordor.

Lightweight – Seth O'Breen (15-0) v Tarcisio Dantas (4-0)

Seth arguably world's best lightweight -- rarely a save goes by he doesn't get six BCF defenses and walk away with the championship.

Middleweight – Kadonomaro Deguchi (4-0) v Braulio Moura (22-2-1NC)

Hmm.. If this is the "Deguchi" I remember, he is good, but not great -- and he needs to be great here.

Light-Heavyweight – Ken Peters (9-2) v Lawrence Herringbone (14-2)

Light-Heavyweight – Toby Sorkin (4-1) v Matthew Michael Kirby (1-1

MMK either starts at or start(ed) at Middleweight, Sorkin takes the victory -- MMK needs to rely on a good RNG roll.

Featherweight – Heiko Pander (4-1) v Gregg Grable (19-10)

"Mighty Mouse" is good enough to take down 19-10 guys.

Really enjoying this dynasty -- and usually love the write-ups but I have to question Frankly's decision. This is GAMMA 50 -- the 50th GAMMA show -- and Frankly settles on a match he isn't sold on. If he "doesn't like rematches", the best thing to do is move back the show until he can ME without a rematch. Have Dean/Thomas as the Semi-Main -- it's your equivalent of UFC 100(!).

But seriously, looking forward, and after "diversifying your roster" I know some of these guys -- I play mostly BCF/ALPHA with a little SIGMA thrown in there.

[batsnumbereleven]

Really enjoying this dynasty -- and usually love the write-ups but I have to question Frankly's decision. This is GAMMA 50 -- the 50th GAMMA show -- and Frankly settles on a match he isn't sold on. If he "doesn't like rematches", the best thing to do is move back the show until he can ME without a rematch. Have Dean/Thomas as the Semi-Main -- it's your equivalent of UFC 100(!).

But seriously, looking forward, and after "diversifying your roster" I know some of these guys -- I play mostly BCF/ALPHA with a little SIGMA thrown in there.

 

Thanks for the comments. Yes, there will be a little play on this a couple of posts down the line (based on my draft at the moment) but it was something that I thought stood out as well - why wasn't a "big" name headlining?

 

Results and write up coming tomorrow all being well...

 

Also, just to note quickly, you don't appear to have made a pick in the Light-Heavyweight fight between Peters and Herringbone...

[batsnumbereleven]

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/Thomas%20Grinds%20Out%20Victory.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>

<span style="font-size:14px;">The story in GAMMA's Middleweight division took a number of twists and turns tonight, but the biggest of them all was Patrick Thomas avenging his GAMMA 38 split decision loss to Petey Mack to take their re-match by unanimous decision and the GAMMA Middleweight Championship along with it.</span></p><p> </p><p>

<span style="font-size:12px;">On a night when two high-profile Middleweight imports made their GAMMA debuts, the pecking order in the division was completely shaken up, and the new champion put his stamp on the division with a dominant, if not completely convincing performance to take the fight 50-45 on all three judges cards and leave no doubt about the winner this time around. It's likely that at some point we will see a trilogy-completing fight between these two, but there are likely to be other challengers for Thomas's crown in the immediate future rather than an instant re-match, given the result here. Recent results would suggest that Adam White would be a prime candidate for the next title shot whilst other potential opponents either complete their currently scheduled fights or develop more momentum to justify a title match than they can currently offer.</span></p><p> </p><p>

The first round was dominated by both fighters trying and failing to get a takedown, with them going a combined 1 for 14 for the round, and demonstrating their excellent defence. Thomas achieved the only success in the round, getting Mack to the mat briefly as time expired.</p><p> </p><p>

Subsequent rounds followed a similar pattern. Thomas managed to get takedowns in the second, third and fourth, but had to be especially wary of Mack's attempts to secure an arm and try for a submission attempt. Thomas's own strategy from top position seemed to include a large number of shoulder smashes, as Mack kept a tight guard and prevented him from posturing up, though in the third round he did make a brief attempt to secure a Kimura from top position that Mack easily defended.</p><p> </p><p>

Having worked his way into a decisive advantage on the scorecards, Thomas opened up a little in the final round, scoring with a nice jab and following it up with a vicious left cross that floored Mack in one of the few exchanges of strikes that we saw across the whole 25 minute fight. Thomas secured side control immediately, but was unable to pass guard, and after some significant stalling on the ground, Roger Bennett stood them back up again, in what was the last major action of the contest.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Julio Regueiro picked up his fourth straight win in the Welterweight division, and must now be in line for a shot at regaining his GAMMA Welterweight Title against the winner of Jack Humphreys and Rufus Stephens in his next outing, even though his latest performance wasn't the stuff that excites fans into looking forward to his next fight. A split decision score didn't tell the whole story of his fight with David Allen, but it did go to show how difficult scoring some of these fight is. Although Allen stuffed several takedown attempts in the first round, Regueiro outstruck him 65-27, and he was unable to prevent the Spaniard getting a single leg takedown in the second. Regueiro was unable to break Allen's tight guard though - despite several attempts to try and force his opponent into a position where he could grab a leg for a submission attempt, Allen kept his guard tight and eventually the referee had to stand the fighters up. In the third it was a similar scenario – Regueiro got the takedown, but Allen was able to pull guard and keep it secure until Harry Bierce was forced to intervene for the lack of activity and get the fight back standing. Neither man looked especially comfortable in the stand-up, which may well have contributed to the differences in the judges scorecards, which read 30-27, 29-28 and 28-29.</p><p> </p><p>

The wisdom of making some of the Middleweight division's new signings earn a title shot was demonstrated quite clearly tonight, as Russian Fjodor Kanchelskis, who had picked up five wins in TOP and SIGMA over the past two and a half years, and who boasted a 15-0 record, proved to be rather less of a test for Akron, Ohio's Isaiah Monroe. After some neat early exchanges of strikes between the two that saw both men landing crisply and cleanly, Monroe showed the power he had in his left hand, rocking Kanchelskis with a hook and a couple of straight lefts, before knocking the Russian clean out with a vicious left cross and extending his own unbeaten record to six fights, the last three of which have all ended by knock out. Monroe showed little sign that his near 18 month lay-off had let his skills atrophy and must be up for another high profile opponent next.</p><p> </p><p>

Irish Lightweight Seth O'Breen continued to show that his skills transfer across to GAMMA nicely, as he put another threat behind him in what seems like an inexorable march towards clashes with the very best in the Lightweight division. Despite suffering a cut early in the first round from an elbow to the forehead, O'Breen controlled the first two rounds of his fight with Brazilian Tarcision Dantas, and outworked him smoothly, to the extent that Dantas only managed to land three strikes in the second round, despite all his efforts. In the third, Dantas took the fight to the mat, but had to be very wary of O'Breen's constant threat of scrambling to grab a leg, and as a result had to be satisfied with a lengthy period of side control rather than being able to pass into mount. The judges scored the contest 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 in favour of O'Breen, who moved to 16-0 and will hope to be sharp enough to take on similarly skilled opponents in the near future.</p><p> </p><p>

Former FLB Middleweight Champion Braulio Moura's debut GAMMA appearance didn't go quite as planned, as Japan's Kadonomaro Deguchi extended his undefeated record to five fights with a split decision victory. Deguchi appeared to be by far the better fighter throughout, and easily outworked the more heralded Moura in the stand-up in rounds one and three, and showed that his wrestling was also up to par with a takedown in the second rounds that ended with him taking the Brazilian's back, though unable to threaten to finish. Somehow one of the judges managed to score the fight 29-28 to Moura, but Deguchi did take both the other two cards 29-28. Blurcat.com scored the contest 30-27 to Deguchi, who would have had significant cause for complaint had the decision not gone his way. Thoughts amongst GAMMA management about pitting Moura against the champion in the future will have to be shelved for now, though a marquee fight against a high quality fighter like Matthew Dean might still be a possibility.</p><p> </p><p>

At Light-Heavyweight, Lawrence Herringbone picked up another win, but although he was dominant over Ken Peters and deservedly took a unanimous 30-27 decision on all three cards, he never looked like finishing the fight. Herringbone outstruck Peters 2-to-1 throughout the first two rounds, and finished the second round with a trip takedown to put the exclamation point on the round. In the third, Herringbone got a takedown from the clinch and worked some ground and pound, but Peters was able to hang on for the remainder of the fight in relative comfort. Despite the victory the #8 ranked GAMMA Light-Heavyweight isn't looking like he'll be in the title picture any time soon despite his lofty ranking.</p><p> </p><p>

Toby Sorkin put the disappointment of his split decision defeat to Hyun-Shik Lim firmly behind him as he defeated 20-year-old Scotsman Matthew Michael Kirby by submission in the frist round of their Light-Heavyweight encounter with an armbar. Kirby looked to be the crisper with his striking in the early exchanges, but appeared to have damaged a hand with a right to the temple in the middle of the round. It wasn't clear from Sorkin's post-fight interview whether he knew about Kirby's injury, but he was quick to engage in the clinch and take the fight to the floor, where he swiftly moved from half-guard into mount and applied the submission.</p><p> </p><p>

In the Featherweight opener, Germany's Heiko Pander demonstrated that the smaller guys also have power of their own with a knockout of the experienced Gregg Grable at 3:53 of the first round. Pander looked to dominate from the outset, pushing Grable back against the cage, but when the referee brought the fighters back to the cage he wasn't shy own engaging, and showed neat head movement to evade a couple of shots from the 32-year-old American, and strike back with a quick left and a beautiful right uppercut that sealed the deal and earned him Knockout of the Night honours.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

</p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="font-size:14px;">GAMMA 50 Quick Results</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size:14px;">

</span></strong></p><p>

<span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/GAMMA%2050%20results.png</span></p></div><p></p><p></p><p>

</p><p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"> </span></p><p><span style="text-decoration:underline;">

Pick results</span></p><p>

CageRage - 7/8 (124/189)</p><p>

KnowYourEnemy - 5/8 (11/16)</p>

[batsnumbereleven]

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/LanceDecker.gif</span><p> </p><p>

<strong>Lance Decker</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>

I couldn't believe what Frankley was doing – he was handing away such a great opportunity to make a big deal out of it being GAMMA's fiftieth show, and he headlined it with both a re-match and a fight that he claimed he wasn't really all that keen on. It could have been like stealing candy from a baby with the marketing opportunities that he passed up!</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

</p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/MichaelFrankley.gif</span><p>

</p><p><strong>

Michael Frankley</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>

Lance Decker would have had the likes of Kanchelskis up against our champion straightaway, but GAMMA 50 showed everyone why that wasn't the greatest idea in the world. Patrick deserved a chance to even the score with Petey after their original fight went to a split decision, and he showed over five rounds that he was the better fighter. I would have liked to add a third fight between them, but neither encounter had been particularly special, so there wasn't a compelling argument for them to go at it again that soon.</p><p> </p><p>

Was GAMMA 50 a missed opportunity? Maybe, but maybe not. I was looking further ahead than 50 events, after all, and I don't know that going all out to make GAMMA 50 the absolute best show of the year would have helped with our aim of making all our shows as good as we could, without stepping away from the usual routine. I can see why people would think that though.</p><p> </p><p>

In other news at that point, we also re-signed Thomas and Herringbone to new deals that would keep them with GAMMA – either or both would have been real bookmark signings for Decker even with Herringbone's recent performances, but it was especially key that we held on to the Middleweight champ, and I was delighted that Patrick felt able to sign for a relatively modest sum across his next five fights.</p><p> </p><p>

One guy we had to say goodbye to was Bryan Van Den Hauwe. After four straight losses and even failing to make things happen by dropping down a weight class, I couldn't see any other realistic option. He might thrive if MMC signed him up, but on the other hand if all they were doing was signing fighters we no longer wanted I felt there was little chance of Decker ever making MMC the kind of organisation that would be able to stand up next to GAMMA</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

</p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/PeteyMack.gif</span><p> </p><p>

<strong>Petey Mack</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>

I was desperate for a re-match. I couldn't believe that Frankley wasn't up for it when I'd been so generous in agreeing to the second fight with Thomas. We were split one win apiece, so surely there had to be money in getting it on again. I really wanted that title back, and that seemed the best way, and the fairest way to me.</p><p> </p><p>

</p><div style="text-align:center;"><p>

<span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/Patrick%20Thomas.gif</span></p><p>

</p><p><strong>

Patrick Thomas</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>

I didn't see much point in another re-match. Mack only won the first fight 'cos o' some dodgy judgin', so to my mind the win was vindication that I shoulda been given the first fight an' all, not a sign that a third one wuz in the offin'.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<em>Mean Machines Cagefighting finally held their first event (MMC1) in Las Vegas on 6th June, and in the headliner Christopher Sharp outweighed Carl Ratcliffe by 77lbs! Ratcliffe lasted into the fourth round before being TKOd by the bigger man. In the only other contest of note, Alex Cole extended his record to 11-0 with a fourth round arm triangle submission victory over Joe Hinchcliffe to take submission of the night. For some reason MMC chose not to air it through any broadcast medium, and around 2000 attended in person.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

</p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/MichaelFrankley.gif</span><p>

</p><p><strong>

Michael Frankley</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>

It seemed as though Decker was staying true to his principles, even if it meant making less money than he might have done if they'd actually broadcast the show. Either that or there was one big foul up over there, and that wouldn't have surprised me either. Obviously I didn't go myself, but it seems from the reports we got back that the title match was absolutely fantastic, so they certainly didn't do themselves any favours by not exposing it to a wider audience. </p><p> </p><p>

In the meantime, we were doing our best to up the level of recruiting from some of the better known foreign organisations, and at GAMMA 51 we were about to see some of the results of that again. Not only was the GAMMA debut of the legendary Hassan Fezzik co-headlining the pay-per-view, but we also had other recruits from FLB, ALPHA-1 and SIGMA making their GAMMA Welterweight debuts...</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

</p><div style="text-align:center;"><p>

<span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/Eigenberg%20v%20Ziskie.jpg</span></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<span style="text-decoration:underline;">GAMMA 51 - Card for Picks</span></p><p>

<strong>Main Event</strong></p><p><strong>

GAMMA Featherweight Championship</strong></p><p>

Shuler Eigenberg (13-2) v Philip Ziskie (19-1-1)</p><p>

</p><p><strong>

Co-main</strong></p><p>

Heavyweight – Hassan Fezzik (28-0) v Frank Sheedy (21-9)</p><p>

</p><p><span style="text-decoration:underline;">

Undercard</span></p><p>

Welterweight – Manuel Silva (15-0) v Yevgeni Sipatov (29-9)</p><p>

Welterweight – Carlos da Guia (19-1) v Noach Van Der Capellen (25-3)</p><p>

Featherweight – Yagi Jokichi (10-0) v Ryota Sugimoto (8-0)</p><p>

Middleweight – Tony Legg (1-0) v Mac Fuller (32-10)</p><p>

Lightweight – Moss Gilbert (6-1) v Brandon Sugar (25-5)</p><p>

Middleweight – Osmosis Benn (15-1) v JJ Reid (24-7)</p>

[Thesnake101]

<p>GAMMA 51 - Card for Picks</p><p>

Main Event</p><p>

GAMMA Featherweight Championship</p><p>

Shuler Eigenberg (13-2) v <strong>Philip Ziskie (19-1-1)</strong></p><p> </p><p>

Co-main</p><p>

Heavyweight – <strong>Hassan Fezzik (28-0)</strong> v Frank Sheedy (21-9)</p><p> </p><p>

Undercard</p><p>

Welterweight – <strong>Manuel Silva (15-0)</strong> v Yevgeni Sipatov (29-9)</p><p>

Welterweight – <strong>Carlos da Guia (19-1)</strong> v Noach Van Der Capellen (25-3)</p><p>

Featherweight – <strong>Yagi Jokichi (10-0)</strong> v Ryota Sugimoto (8-0)</p><p>

Middleweight – Tony Legg (1-0) v <strong>Mac Fuller (32-10)</strong></p><p>

Lightweight – Moss Gilbert (6-1) v <strong>Brandon Sugar (25-5)</strong></p><p>

Middleweight – Osmosis Benn (15-1) v <strong>JJ Reid (24-7)</strong></p>

[CageRage]

GAMMA 51 - Card for Picks

Main Event

GAMMA Featherweight Championship

Shuler Eigenberg (13-2) v Philip Ziskie (19-1-1)

 

Co-main

Heavyweight – Hassan Fezzik (28-0) v Frank Sheedy (21-9)

 

Undercard

Welterweight – Manuel Silva (15-0) v Yevgeni Sipatov (29-9)

Welterweight – Carlos da Guia (19-1) v Noach Van Der Capellen (25-3)

Featherweight – Yagi Jokichi (10-0) v Ryota Sugimoto (8-0)

Middleweight – Tony Legg (1-0) v Mac Fuller (32-10)

Lightweight – Moss Gilbert (6-1) v Brandon Sugar (25-5)

Middleweight – Osmosis Benn (15-1) v JJ Reid (24-7)

[batsnumbereleven]

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/Ziskie%20Stuns%20Eigenberg.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<span style="font-size:14px;">Philip Ziskie and Shuler Eigenberg managed to show the world tonight that the lighter weight classes aren't just a sideshow, but that they can deliver on the big stage, with a great fight for the inaugural GAMMA Featherweight Championship. In fact, they managed to put on a much better show for the fans than several previous title bouts featuring heavier fighters and more prestigious names, justifying Michael Frankley's decision to headline GAMMA 51 with the Featherweights.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:14px;">

</span></p><p>

<span style="font-size:12px;">This was a battle that stayed on the feet for almost all of the three minutes it lasted and it was characterised by Ziskie's greater speed and ability to get his shots off first, despite the movement and striking from his opponent. Eigenberg went toe-to-toe with the American, but when Ziskie landed his big shot, he made sure to make it count. A right jab was followed by a vicious left cross that put Eigenberg down, and Ziskie swarmed down on top of him, landing several hard left hands, and forcing referee Stanley Wright to call the fight over, quite correctly.</span></p><p> </p><p>

Eigenberg will no doubt come up against less formidable opponents and look much better than he did tonight, but Ziskie showed exactly why XCC were so unwilling to let him go, and why GAMMA fought so hard to bring him into the company. The next challenger for Ziskie could be the winner of the forthcoming Gunnarsson versus Takeuchi fight, or GAMMA could thrown an exciting but less heralded prospect like Lito Alcala into the mix. One thing is for sure, there won't be a shortage of challengers with the signing spree that GAMMA have been on in recent months, and we can look forward to many more fights of the caliber of this one.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

The hype that surrounded the debut of former ALPHA-1 superstar Hassan Fezzik appears to have at least had some justification, as he demonstrated clearly that the lower reaches of the GAMMA Heavyweight division are well below his standard. Fezzik took just two minutes to knock out the unfortunate Frank Sheedy, with a beauty of a straight right forcing the Texan back and wobbling him, before a big right hook nailed him and he was out before his back hit the mat. Sheedy managed just one jab before winding up on the floor, and surely GAMMA management will now have to put Fezzik up against a serious contender – or potentially fast-track the Turk into a title match against Armen Sarkisian and let American audiences see why Fezzik has already beaten the current GAMMA Heavyweight champion.</p><p> </p><p>

Brazilian Manuel Silva made an impressive GAMMA debut in the Welterweight division with a second round stoppage victory over veteran Russian Yevgeni Sipatov. The first round saw the action taking place mostly on the ground, with Silva getting a takedown from the clinch and a number of scrambles on the floor leading to some entertaining exchanges of position. Silva ended the round with a kimura attempt that saw Sipatov's arm bent backwards at a nasty angle, but the hooter saved him from having to tap. Silva made sure in the second round though, staggering Sipatov with a nice left head kick, and following it up with a left hand to the jaw that sent the dazed Russian to the canvas. From there he hammered down with big left hands until Harry A. Bierce stepped in to stop the fight. Silva indicated an interested in taking on skilful Spaniard Julio Regueiro next, though that might have to wait for Regueiro's next bid at a title fight before it occurs.</p><p> </p><p>

Two more GAMMA debutants made a great fight in the Welterweight division and lined themselves up for future high profile contests. The first round was a very close striking battle, with Carlos da Guia being slightly busier, but Noach Van Der Capellen hitting the sweeter punches. The second saw Van Der Capellen knock da Guia down with a fantastic right cross, and start to unload, but it appeared as though he injured his right hand in the process. Da Guia was eventually able to get back to guard, having absorbed the best that the Dutchman could throw at him. The third round took place mostly in the clinch, with both fighters looking for a good quality control, but neither really able to get it. A slashing elbow from da Guia opened a cut up below Van Der Capellen's left eye, and the end came with both men swinging for the fences. All three judges scored the contest 29-28 to Van Der Capellen, a score with which blurcat.com concurred. Da Guia would make an interesting opponent for the loser of the title fight between Rufus Stephens and Jack Humphreys, whilst Van Der Capellen could be a next opponent for Manuel Silva (see above) or Julio Regueiro.</p><p> </p><p>

In an exciting Featherweight fight, we saw an interesting combination of styles. Ryota Sugimoto was obviously comfortable either in the stand up or in top position, whilst his opponent Yagi Jokichi was equally comfortable on his back, so much so that he attempted to pull Sugimoto into his guard at one point in the second round, only to be met with a brutal slam from his Japanese compatriot. Jokichi certainly seemed active off his back on the two occasions that Sugimoto did get him to the floor, trying various choke attempts, but Sugimoto defended them well. After a scramble in the third round saw both men back to their feet, they finished the contest with some brutal dirty boxing up against the fence. A difficult fight to score was rendered in Jokichi's favour by a score of 29-28 on all three cards.</p><p> </p><p>

Veteran Middleweight Mac Fuller fell to his third straight defeat with a comprehensive unanimous decision loss to newcomer Tony Legg. Legg showed his superiority in both the striking and grappling game over the three rounds, and outstruck his opponent 248-75 over the course of the fight, of which 56 strikes came on the ground in the first round after he had secured mount, but he was unable to put Fuller away decisively when he had the opportunity and left the result in the hands of the judges, who showed no hesitation in awarding him a 30-27 score on all three cards.</p><p> </p><p>

Brandon Sugar wasted no time in showing that his defeat to Manoel Cabral at GAMMA 44 was merely a blip in the road, as he took just 43 seconds to take Cleveland's Moss Gilbert down, secure side control and crank on a Kimura that had Gilbert tapping hard and fast. Sugar's win puts him back into contention for a high profile encounter next time out, with the likes of Sukarno, Sean Morrison and others no doubt in his sights.</p><p> </p><p>

In the Middleweight fight that opened the evening, JJ Reid put two disappointing losses behind him to get a first round submission victory over Osmosis Benn. Reid utilised the cage to help him get the takedown, and neatly managed to pass his way into mount, from where he made a couple of unsuccessful attempts to lock up and arm triangle, but managed it on the third attempt and forced the tap out as he slid across into side control to tighten the hold up.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

</p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="font-size:12px;">GAMMA 51 - Quick Results</span></strong></p><p> </p><p>

<span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/GAMMA%2051%20results.png</span></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Pick results</span></strong></p><p> </p><p>

CageRage - 7/8 (131/197)</p><p>

Thesnake101 - 6/8 (84/111)</p>

[batsnumbereleven]

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/MichaelFrankley.gif

 

Michael Frankley

 

And wasn't it a delight to see how well the crowd reacted to the Featherweight Title fight? We'd been riding the coattails of some really good performances from the Featherweights and to be able to reward them with the main event was great, especially given how well it turned out. Fezzik's debut was as impactful as we could possible have hoped for, and set up a more testing opponent next time around, and all that meant that the Welterweights in the middle of the card got the chance to establish themselves without having to take the pressure of a GAMMA main event.

 

 

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/Hassan%20Fezzik.gif

 

Hassan Fezzik

 

Big Frank Sheedy no real challenge. Hassan Fezzik big, too, but faster, stronger. Have fists of steel, no?

 

 

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/Hughes%20v%20McDonald.jpg

 

 

GAMMA on ECT 8 Card for Picks

 

Main Event

Heavyweight – Raul Hughes (15-5) v Kurt McDonald (7-0)

 

Co-main

Featherweight – Kei Maki (9-0) v Lamont Banner (3-0-1NC)

 

Undercard

Heavyweight – Chuck Dooley (5-2) v Harvey Loeb (9-3)

Light-Heavyweight – Christian Mountfield (14-5) v Nicolai Mickiewicz (24-5)

Lightweight – Nicholas Bretton (11-5) v Benny Danare (9-2)

Welterweight – Datuk Ong Ka Ting (5-1-1NC) v Iain Fussell (3-0)

[eskimo38]

GAMMA on ECT 8 Card for Picks

 

Main Event

Heavyweight – Raul Hughes (15-5) v Kurt McDonald (7-0)

 

Co-main

Featherweight – Kei Maki (9-0) v Lamont Banner (3-0-1NC)

 

Undercard

Heavyweight – Chuck Dooley (5-2) v Harvey Loeb (9-3)

Light-Heavyweight – Christian Mountfield (14-5) v Nicolai Mickiewicz (24-5)

Lightweight – Nicholas Bretton (11-5) v Benny Danare (9-2)

Welterweight – Datuk Ong Ka Ting (5-1-1NC) v Iain Fussell (3-0)

[CageRage]

GAMMA on ECT 8 Card for Picks

 

Main Event

Heavyweight – Raul Hughes (15-5) v Kurt McDonald (7-0)

 

Co-main

Featherweight – Kei Maki (9-0) v Lamont Banner (3-0-1NC)

 

Undercard

Heavyweight – Chuck Dooley (5-2) v Harvey Loeb (9-3)

Light-Heavyweight – Christian Mountfield (14-5) v Nicolai Mickiewicz (24-5)

Lightweight – Nicholas Bretton (11-5) v Benny Danare (9-2)

Welterweight – Datuk Ong Ka Ting (5-1-1NC) v Iain Fussell (3-0)

[Thesnake101]

<p>Main Event</p><p>

Heavyweight – <strong>Raul Hughes (15-5)</strong> v Kurt McDonald (7-0)</p><p> </p><p>

Co-main</p><p>

Featherweight – Kei Maki (9-0) v <strong>Lamont Banner (3-0-1NC)</strong></p><p> </p><p>

Undercard</p><p>

Heavyweight – <strong>Chuck Dooley (5-2)</strong> v Harvey Loeb (9-3)</p><p>

Light-Heavyweight – Christian Mountfield (14-5) v <strong>Nicolai Mickiewicz (24-5)</strong></p><p>

Lightweight – Nicholas Bretton (11-5) v <strong>Benny Danare (9-2)</strong></p><p>

Welterweight – <strong>Datuk Ong Ka Ting (5-1-1NC)</strong> v Iain Fussell (3-0)</p>

[batsnumbereleven]

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/McDonald%20puts%20Hughes%20to%20the%20sword.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>

<span style="font-size:14px;">As a fan of the fight game it is painful to see the way that former great Raul Hughes has lost his way in the cage, and tonight's KO defeat to New Zealander Kurt McDonald was just the latest in a series of disappointing performances that lead one to think that the time when Hughes calls it a day has to be coming very soon indeed.</span></p><p>

</p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">

The 36-year-old has lost four of his last five fights, and with the last two of these coming against up-and-comers rather than GAMMA's very top fighters, you have to think that his best is now long past. His one victory during that period – a second round KO of Fatuma Roy at GAMMA 40 – showed that he still has the power, but he seems to have lost all of his defence and has developed what can only be described as a glass jaw.</span></p><p> </p><p>

Tonight's main event saw McDonald outstrike the veteran American as well as hitting the better shots, and when he finally landed a big left hand, it dropped Hughes to the mat, and with McDonald landing multiple powerful shots, referee Roger Bennett had to pull the Kiwi away and save Hughes from a further beating.</p><p> </p><p>

McDonald's eighth straight win will continue to propel him up the GAMMA rankings, and he may get a date with another of the rising stars of the division, such as Pai Cheng, Kanezane Fujii or Ozzy Bintley.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

GAMMA's Featherweights continue to impress the fans with some exciting fights, and tonight it was the turn of Columbus, Ohio's Lamont Banner to show off his skills, as he made short work of previously undefeated Japanese kick boxer Kei Maki. Banner staggered Maki with a left jab and right cross midway through the first round, and followed it up with a big right hand that put Maki on the floor. Banner wasted no time in hammering down on Maki with some powerful shots, and referee Harry Bierce was quick to step in before Maki suffered further undue punishment. GAMMA will certainly be looking to match Banner up with a high quality opponent next, despite his inexperience, and will be hoping that his previous drug issues are behind him.</p><p> </p><p>

Canadian Chuck Dooley showed his chops in putting 27-year-old Harvey Loeb in his place and looking to atone for two surprising defeats in his GAMMA career so far. The only surprise about this fight was that referee Roger Bennett didn't step in during a first round pounding that saw Loeb eat more than 50 ground strikes, some of them really heavy, after being floored by a fantastic Dooley right cross. Dooley made sure that Bennett had no option in the second round though, putting Loeb down with a crunching right to the jaw and absolutely unloading on him from mount to end the fight. Dooley picked up the big bonus for KO of the Night from GAMMA management for his efforts.</p><p> </p><p>

Veterans Christian Mountfield and Nicolai Mickiewicz fought out a tame draw at Light-Heavyweight that saw the fight stay on the feet for the entire 15 minutes. Mountfield was probably more active in the first round, but otherwise there was little to separate them, and the judges felt the same way, scoring it 29-28, 29-28, 28-29 for a split decision victory by Mountfield. As a showdown between the #5 and #10 ranked Light-Heavyweights in GAMMA it lacked anything that would suggest either man would move up.</p><p> </p><p>

A decent lightweight contest saw former GAMMA Lightweight Title contender Nicholas Bretton coming out on the wrong end of a unanimous decision against Benny Danare, a result that was justified by the action in the cage. Danare was able to take Bretton down in both the first and third rounds, and had a very slight advantage in the striking, but never looked like finishing the fight early. The judges scored it 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 to Danare.</p><p> </p><p>

GAMMA officials will be hoping that the drug test results from Datuk Ong Ka Ting come back clean this time, as he took his second straight Kimura victory in the Welterweight division, and will want this one to stand up. Opponent Iain Fussell was by far the more impressive in the first two rounds, notching up some really good strikes that rocked the Malaysian, but failed to take advantage of a second round knockdown that saw him take side control. Ong Ka Ting's victory came when needing the stoppage in the third round, he took Fussell to the mat and although an armbar attempt from side control was well defended, Fussell could do nothing to prevent a transition to the fight-ending Kimura.</p><p> </p><p>

</p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="font-size:12px;"><strong>GAMMA on ECT 8 - Quick Results</strong></span></p><p> </p><p>

<span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/GAMMA%20on%20ECT%208%20results.png</span></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Pick Results</span></strong></p><p> </p><p>

CageRage - 6/6 congratulations! (137/203)</p><p>

Thesnake101 - 4/6 (88/117)</p><p>

eskimo38 - 3/6 (7/12)</p>

[batsnumbereleven]

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/Iain%20Fussell.gif

 

Iain Fussell

 

I was intensely disappointed to have succumbed to a Kimura after all the hard work I'd done during the first two rounds. I should have been more aware, and obviously both my takedown defence and submission defence needed some serious work before I was going to make a serious mark in GAMMA.

 

More than anyone else though, I was delighted when the drug testing came up all clear for Ong Ka Ting – I wouldn't have wanted to have the record expunged of the defeat when I knew that he'd proven to have the more dangerous weapons on the night. I wasn't fooling myself when I said to the press that I had serious work to do.

 

Some of the guys who had fought for BCF were amused by events over in Japan, where the old bulldog Harry Milne defeated Kunimichi Kikuchi to pick up their Heavyweight championship. Fair play to the old guy! They were even more amused when Blurcat.com announced that they now had Milne rated the #1 Heavyweight in the World.

 

 

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/MichaelFrankley.gif

 

Michael Frankley

 

East Coast Today had been delighted with the shows we had put on for them over the last year, even though we had something of a shaky start. Sukarno's debut apart, the shows hadn't blown people away in terms of commercial or critical output, but they had put GAMMA firmly on the map and into peoples homes and helped to support the brand through cross-promotion with the Pay-per-Views. We picked up the phone to ECT in early July and they didn't take long to approve a further set of 12 shows. Euro Cable Sports swiftly followed suit – we considered asking them to upgrade us to their number one channel, but in the end had to settle for what we already had, again, for another 12 shows.

 

 

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/JamesFoster.gif

 

James Foster

 

So, GAMMA 52 was coming up and I was already seething – I should have been main eventing at GAMMA 50 with all the hype and hoopla we could have mustered to get the show promoted, and we ended up with a crappy Middleweight fight. I certainly didn't buy the talk about Raul Hughes not being prepared to fight that quickly – he would have been an ideal opponent for me, and we would've ended up making an absolute fortune out of it. Meanwhile, I'm shoved out here against a Chinese guy nobody's ever heard of, and I'm left to try and sell GAMMA 52 off my own back! Utter lunacy!

 

 

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/MichaelFrankley.gif

 

Michael Frankley

 

Just when I thought the injury jinx had finally gone away, we lost a fight between Josh Aldarisio and Nathan Chambers the day before GAMMA 52. There was absolutely no time to get someone else to sub in for Aldarisio, who pulled up with some form of stomach injury, so we went ahead with the other seven fights and looked to try and re-arrange the Welterweight clash for a later event.

 

 

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/Foster%20v%20Cheng.jpg

 

 

 

GAMMA 52 Card for Picks

Main Event

Heavyweight – James Foster (34-6-1) v Pai Cheng (7-0)

 

Co-main

Middleweight – Heiji Endo (15-1) v Edgar van den Hoogenband (8-0)

 

Undercard

Middleweight – Dexter Darling (18-4-1) v Rob Baines (31-10)

Middleweight – Fernando Amaro (56-13-4-2NC) v Dwayne Alleyne (7-2)

Featherweight – Hans Christian Bloch (5-0) v Lito Alcala (5-0)

Heavyweight – Nate MacReary (5-0) v Percy Catcher (11-3)

Lightweight – Bobby Brubaker (11-6) v H.M. Menzel (11-4)

[CageRage]

GAMMA 52 Card for Picks

Main Event

Heavyweight – James Foster (34-6-1) v Pai Cheng (7-0)

 

Co-main

Middleweight – Heiji Endo (15-1) v Edgar van den Hoogenband (8-0)

 

Undercard

Middleweight – Dexter Darling (18-4-1) v Rob Baines (31-10)

Middleweight – Fernando Amaro (56-13-4-2NC) v Dwayne Alleyne (7-2)

Featherweight – Hans Christian Bloch (5-0) v Lito Alcala (5-0)

Heavyweight – Nate MacReary (5-0) v Percy Catcher (11-3)

Lightweight – Bobby Brubaker (11-6) v H.M. Menzel (11-4)

[eskimo38]

GAMMA 52 Card for Picks

Main Event

Heavyweight – James Foster (34-6-1) v Pai Cheng (7-0)

 

Co-main

Middleweight – Heiji Endo (15-1) v Edgar van den Hoogenband (8-0)

 

Undercard

Middleweight – Dexter Darling (18-4-1) v Rob Baines (31-10)

Middleweight – Fernando Amaro (56-13-4-2NC) v Dwayne Alleyne (7-2)

Featherweight – Hans Christian Bloch (5-0) v Lito Alcala (5-0)

Heavyweight – Nate MacReary (5-0) v Percy Catcher (11-3)

Lightweight – Bobby Brubaker (11-6) v H.M. Menzel (11-4)

[batsnumbereleven]

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/Foster%20blows%20his%20chance.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<span style="font-size:14px;">After all James Foster's protestations about the way that he has been booked to fight, the opponents he has had to face and the lack of a re-match for the title, it would have been realistic to expect him to be trying to prove a point in tonight's headliner against Chinese youngster Pai Cheng, but the only thing that he seemed to prove was that GAMMA management have been correct all along in not giving in to his demands.</span></p><p> </p><p>

<span style="font-size:12px;">A poor fight saw Foster unable to use his decent striking for anything more than short periods, as Cheng was able to control and dominate in the clinch and force Foster back to the cage, from where he maintained even tighter control. Not that Cheng's own efforts were especially entertaining; his smothering style is unlikely to win him many plaudits no matter how many victories he picks up, something that previous GAMMA champions like Yevgeni Sipatov and Matthew Dean might well attest to.</span></p><p> </p><p>

Cheng dominated all five rounds, by our scoring, and the fact that one of the judges awarded the fight 48-47 to Foster was an absolute travesty, since Foster did little to warrant winning even one round. You have to wonder whether the veteran's reputation and high profile had some of the judges seeing things his way without him having to even throw a punch, in the same manner that Foster himself seemed to believe his own hype without actually backing it up in the cage over the last three years.</p><p> </p><p>

Cheng scored takedowns in the first, third and fourth rounds, from which he maintained top position for as long as referee Kyle Crisp permitted, and did some work on the ground as well, scoring with over 40 strikes. Cheng also outworked Foster in the clinch with his dirty boxing, and on the few occasions in the fight when Foster was able to break free and demonstrate some crisper striking, Cheng was able to close him down and work from a tight clinch after only one or two shots. Neither man looked close to taking the fight to a finish – there were no submission attempts and only one real power strike, a knee in the clinch from Cheng that had Foster wincing. The full scores were 50-45, 49-46, 47-48, giving Cheng the split decision verdict.</p><p> </p><p>

Foster's next opponent is likely to be another youngster, given this showing, rather than the crowd-drawing fight with a veteran that he seeks, unless of course GAMMA management can find a way to get Foster and Raul Hughes into the cage together for one last hurrah to satisfy the nostalgia freaks. Cheng too could be facing a contemporary next, depending on how other fights fall, but it wouldn't be out of the range of possibilities to see him going up against someone like </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Heiji Endo showed GAMMA fans what those back home in Japan already knew from his ALPHA-1 days, which is that he is extremely skilled on the ground and can threaten from both top and bottom positions. The first round saw Endo get a quick takedown of opponent Edgar van den Hoogenband and get down into half-guard from which he slid into mount with great ease and set up an armbar attempt. Van den Hoogenband showed good defense in stacking the veteran up though, and was able to use his defense to reverse position and attain side control himself. Endo swiftly pulled back to a solid guard and secured and arm, looking to force a tap from his back, but although he got a triangle choke locked in the end of the round prevented him finishing the fight in the first. The second rounds was almost identical – Endo's takedown saw him slickly gain mount, and van den Hoogenband again stacked him up and reversed position, only to fall prey to a slick triangle submission that forced the tap with plenty of time remaining this time. Endo might have expected to fight the likes of Fernando Amaro or Fjodor Kanchelskis next, but their defeats have ruled them out of such a match-up and it is unlikely that Dexter Darling would have the answers to Endo that he did tonight (see below), so it will be interesting to see where he goes next.</p><p> </p><p>

Erstwhile GAMMA Middleweight title contender Dexter Darling showed further signs of his movement back towards the upper reaches of the rankings with a convincing victory over former BCF Middleweight Champion Rob Baines. For a fighter with as much experience and grappling skill as Baines, it was a huge surprise that he was never able to get the fight to the floor, and was relegated to fighting Darling's style of fight with swinging fists. After a first round that was fairly even, Darling rocked Baines a couple of times in the second, but the Englishman's chin stood up well. However, when Darling unleashed a massive left hook in the middle of the third round, it got through and put Baines on his back, and he looked like he was in trouble. Darling unloaded with some big left hands from side control and added some knees to the ribs, but as soon as he took a moment to take a breather, referee Harry A. Bierce inexplicably stood the fight back up, and the momentum was lost. Baines survived to the end of the round, but two of the judges scored the third 10-8 to Darling, and all three awarded all rounds to the American.</p><p> </p><p>

Former SIGMA veteran and GAMMA #7 Middleweight Fernando Amaro found it hard work in his GAMMA debut against Dwayne Alleyne, who did more than enough to convince the cage-side judges that he deserved the unanimous victory (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). Alleyne took Amaro to the ground in the first round, and though the Spaniard was quickly back to his feet, he wasn't easily able to escape Alleyne and spent much of the fight with his back against the cage. The second round was very tight, with a lot of hand fighting in the clinch and very few clean shots thrown, but in the third Alleyne was certainly the crisper striker and was able to easily stuff Amaro's one desperation attempt to take him down. Both men will now be in something of a limbo status in the middle of the GAMMA rankings and will probably have to wait for their next opponent to become clear.</p><p> </p><p>

In a cagey Featherweight affair, Hans Christian Bloch put fellow unbeaten fighter Lito Alcala his back in both of the first two rounds, but was unable to make any real impact, and Alcala probably had the better of the stand-up in both rounds, and would have been ahead on the scorecards. The Philippino made it moot in the final round though, following up a jab with a massive right head kick that knocked Bloch clean out. Again the Featherweights demonstrated some exciting work, and the crowd loved this enough for GAMMA to award it Fight of the Night.</p><p> </p><p>

Canadian Nate MacReary moved to 6-0 with a unanimous decision victory over British Heavyweight veteran Percy Catcher. All three rounds took place almost exclusively on the mat, as MacReary was successful with early takedowns in all three rounds, and constantly threatened with slick guard passing and submission attempts. Catcher's submission defence was excellent though, fighting off numerous Kimura and Armbar attempts, and indeed using the armbar efforts to stack MacReary up and work to gain side control himself. Catcher's top game was fairly uninspiring though, despite outstriking MacReary on the ground 29-23 in the limited time he had control he never looked like a threat to finish the fight. All three judges awarded the fight to MacReary by a score of 30-27, which Blurcat.com concurred with.</p><p> </p><p>

The step down in weight class seems to have done Bobby Brubaker the world of good, as he pulled off his second straight win at Lightweight, with a sick head kick finish of veteran HM Menzel. The first round had seen Brubaker demonstrate his willingness to utilise his kicks, and Menzel attempted to defuse them by dragging him down into guard, but after an initial attempt to secure an arm was well defended, there was little else of note in the round. Menzel made an effort to utilise quick in-and-out strikes in the second, but missed his timing and left himself open to Brubaker's power shot to finish things that earned the 27-tear-old KO of the Night honors.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

</p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:12px;">GAMMA 52 Quick Results</span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p>

<span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/GAMMA%2052%20results.png</span></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Pick results</span></strong></p><p> </p><p>

eskimo38 - 7/7 - well done! (14/19)</p><p>

CageRage - 4/7 (141/210)</p>

[batsnumbereleven]

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/MichaelFrankley.gif</span><p> </p><p>

<strong>Michael Frankley</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>

To say I was disappointed was an understatement. Foster had been giving me grief for months about getting another shot at the Heavyweight title, and he put on a performance like this against someone he would have rolled over back in his heyday. All I could think was that, like some of his Heavyweight contemporaries, his time had passed, and we needed to get what remaining value he had left out of him, either by finding the one or two remaining headlining fights there might be, or by putting some of the best youngsters up against him to test their mettle against someone they would have looked up to as a great when they were starting their careers.</p><p> </p><p>

</p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/JamesFoster.gif</span><p> </p><p>

<strong>James Foster</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>

No way did I lose that fight! I don't know what those judges were on, but all Cheng did was lay on me! I had him turned around no end of times, and when we were out in the open my striking was much better than his. I easily won the second round, when I stuffed all his takedown attempts, the fourth where I had much the better of the striking, and the fifth where he wasn't able to keep me pinned to the cage. In the other two rounds he didn't do anything apart from get the takedown, and he was never a threat to me at all!</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

</p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/MarkWallace.gif</span><p> </p><p>

<strong>Mark Wallace</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>

For all the sympathy I might have had towards James, and all the respect he had earned as a veteran and stand-out performer in GAMMA, I can truly say I don't know what fight he was watching if he though he deserved one round, let alone the three that he claimed. The media were all over him in the post-show interviews, but he wouldn't back down and was adamant that he'd been the better fighter and should have been awarded the victory. What can you do?</p><p> </p><p>

Losing here did open up the possibility that we might have him fight Raul Hughes or Tim Boyer if we could get all parties to agree to terms, but it wasn't really the result we were looking for, and fights against both those guys would have drawn much bigger money a few years back when all were at the very top of their game. I guess that was a drawback of the style of booking that Decker preferred, keeping these guys away from one another until they absolutely had to fight, and then only for the title...</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

</p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/MichaelFrankley.gif</span><p> </p><p>

<strong>Michael Frankley</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p>

All the hype at the start of August was about a Light-Heavyweight brawler by the pseudonym of “Big Magic” who had some sort of internet following and had folks going crazy about him, so had announced he was turning pro as an MMA fighter. He was already 32 at this point, and I guess you could say that there was a whole heap of interest in him, but I really wasn't sure. He didn't seem to have much beyond his striking, so I was happy to let Decker take a shot at him if he thought it worthwhile, rather than signing him for GAMMA. I was much more interested in another newcomer, a Middleweight by the name of Tom Essy. He had a good background in amateur wrestling and a hard right hand as well, and looked the type to be a serious ground and pounder given the chance.</p><p> </p><p>

And then we lost another match to injury – this one at GAMMA 53 about a fortnight out when Easton Frye suffered a pectoral injury. Once again it was too close to the event to get a legitimate replacement for Yoshio Makamori but at least this time we managed to find an additional fight to replace them, as Yagi Jokichi and Markus Waller gamely stepped up to fill the slot on short notice and we re-arranged Makamori and Frye for GAMMA 56 in November. Then 8 days away, Stuart Strange pulled out of his fight with Danny Akabaro, and this time there was no hope of getting a reserve in or a new fight, so it was just as well that the Featherweights had agreed to go for us.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

</p><div style="text-align:center;"><p>

<span>http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/batsnumbereleven/Humphreys%20v%20Stephens.jpg</span></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

<span style="text-decoration:underline;">GAMMA 53 Card for Picks</span></p><p> </p><p>

<strong>Main Event</strong></p><p><strong>

GAMMA Welterweight Championship</strong></p><p>

Jack Humphreys (c ) (26-6) v Rufus Stephens (19-2)</p><p>

</p><p><strong>

Co-main</strong></p><p>

Lightweight – Fiyero Lermontov (13-1) v Sukarno (25-1)</p><p> </p><p>

<span style="text-decoration:underline;">Undercard</span></p><p>

Heavyweight – Leon Banks (33-12) v Fatuma Roy (20-11)</p><p>

Light-Heavyweight – Nilton Fantoni (5-1) v Dag Kreuger (6-1)</p><p>

Welterweight – Jim Carpenter (50-10-2) v Rich Robinson (2-0-1NC)</p><p>

Lightweight – Jamie Hewitt (10-3) v Min-Soo Sik (2-1)</p><p>

Featherweight – Yagi Jokichi (11-0) v Markus Waller (2-1)</p>

[CageRage]

Main Event

GAMMA Welterweight Championship

Jack Humphreys (c ) (26-6) v Rufus Stephens (19-2)

 

Co-main

Lightweight – Fiyero Lermontov (13-1) v Sukarno (25-1)

 

Undercard

Heavyweight – Leon Banks (33-12) v Fatuma Roy (20-11)

Light-Heavyweight – Nilton Fantoni (5-1) v Dag Kreuger (6-1)

Welterweight – Jim Carpenter (50-10-2) v Rich Robinson (2-0-1NC)

Lightweight – Jamie Hewitt (10-3) v Min-Soo Sik (2-1)

Featherweight – Yagi Jokichi (11-0) v Markus Waller (2-1)

[eskimo38]

7 for 7 on the last card! Nice! This one is much more troubling, though - several fights I have no gut feeling on.

 

Main Event

GAMMA Welterweight Championship

Jack Humphreys (c ) (26-6) v Rufus Stephens (19-2)

 

Co-main

Lightweight – Fiyero Lermontov (13-1) v Sukarno (25-1)

 

Undercard

Heavyweight – Leon Banks (33-12) v Fatuma Roy (20-11)

Light-Heavyweight – Nilton Fantoni (5-1) v Dag Kreuger (6-1)

Welterweight – Jim Carpenter (50-10-2) v Rich Robinson (2-0-1NC)

Lightweight – Jamie Hewitt (10-3) v Min-Soo Sik (2-1)

Featherweight – Yagi Jokichi (11-0) v Markus Waller (2-1)

[Freakywwe]

Main Event

GAMMA Welterweight Championship

Jack Humphreys (c ) (26-6) v Rufus Stephens (19-2)

 

Co-main

Lightweight – Fiyero Lermontov (13-1) v Sukarno (25-1)

 

Undercard

Heavyweight – Leon Banks (33-12) v Fatuma Roy (20-11)

Light-Heavyweight – Nilton Fantoni (5-1) v Dag Kreuger (6-1)

Welterweight – Jim Carpenter (50-10-2) v Rich Robinson (2-0-1NC)

Lightweight – Jamie Hewitt (10-3) v Min-Soo Sik (2-1)

Featherweight – Yagi Jokichi (11-0) v Markus Waller (2-1)