Cage Rage 13 – No Fear
Saturday 10th September
Wembley Conference Centre, London, England

Line-up:

Jean Silva vs. Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro (CR World Lightweight title)
James Thompson vs. Andy Costello
Melvin Manhoef vs. Fabio Piamonte (CR World Light Heavyweight title)
Mark Weir vs. Kyosuke Sasaki
Jorge Rivera vs. Marcelo Azevedo
Anthony Rea vs. Jason DeLucia
Darren Little vs. Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos
Alex Evans vs. Tulio Palhares
Brad Picket vs. Ozzy Haluk (CR British Featherweight title)
Jeremy 'Bad Boy' Bailey vs. Dean Bray
Abdul Mohamed vs. Alexandre Izidro (CR British Lightweight title)
Ross Mason vs. James E-Nicolle
Paul Daley vs. Hassan Muridi
Mark Beucannon vs. Kuljit Degun

Cage Rage World Lightweight title: Jean Silva vs. Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro

Many felt CR World Lightweight champion Jean ‘White Bear’ Silva (11-3-3) was lucky to escape with a draw after his match with Oliver Ellis at CR7.  He seemed equally lucky to have been given a draw against Leigh Remedios in their rematch (Silva KO’ed Remedios with a stunning high kick in their first fight) at CR10.  Sandwiched in between those was an impressive triangle choke win over French battler Sammy Schiavo at CR9.  Silva, who now represents Chute Boxe, has been battling injuries for a while now and that seems to have been hampering him in some of his fights.  He was, though, on top form against Takanori Gomi at Pride: Bushido 8 in July.  Silva lost by decision in a fight Gomi dominated but the Brazilian’s stubborn resistance and fighting spirit ensured he at least heard the final bell.  Before the Ellis fight, Silva had been in excellent form, winning 7 fights in a row (with just one by decision over the talented Danny Batten) against quality fighters like Robbie Oliver, Dave Elliot, Remedios and Gerald Strebendt.  Blending his Capoeira background with slick BJJ skills, Silva has one of the sport’s most unique fighting styles.  He is certainly capable, when fully fit, of being a very entertaining fighter.  Against ‘Shaolin’ though, he needs to be more concerned with somehow leaving the cage with his title around his waist than entertaining the crowd.  You won’t find many people who realistically expect Silva to win this fight.  And with good reason.  Nova Uniao grappler, and Shooto star Ribeiro (12-1) is one of the most gifted fighters around.  Competent on his feet and truly excellent on the mat, ‘Shaolin’ is likely to just be too good for Silva.  Only Tatsuya Kawajiri (one of the game’s very best 155 pounders) has beaten Ribeiro, and ‘Shaolin’ won the first fight between the two.  Ribeiro has scored decision wins over Kawajiri, Ryan Bow, Ivan Menjivar and Mitsuhiro Ishida and tapped out Joachim Hansen and Tetsuji Kato (a commanding performance at Rumble on the Rock 7 in May).  Most recently at CR12 he needed just 73 seconds to guillotine Eddie bravo protégé Gerald ‘The Finishing Machine’ Strebendt.  The same Strebendt who choked out Silva in February 2003 and lost by triangle choke to Silva in May 2004.  The likeliest outcome here is that Silva will simply be beaten by a better fighter.  There’s no shame in that and ‘Shaolin’ is certainly one of the best in the business.  Look for Ribeiro to take Silva down early (thereby avoiding those flamboyant and dangerous kicks of his) and control the action until he finds the slightest opening that will give him the submission victory.

PREDICTION: ‘Shaolin’ Ribeiro by submission midway through the second round.

James Thompson vs. Andy Costello

Few British heavyweights match up physically with ‘the Colossus’ and Andy ‘The Rock’ Costello is no exception.  Built like a WWE wrestler at 6’5” and some 270 pounds, Thompson (8-2) is still developing and improving as a fighter and as his skills improve, he will be less reliant on his physical advantages.  Costello (3-2) could give him a decent test, though I doubt he can actually beat Thompson.  A tough, technically able fighter, ‘The Rock’ has, like Thompson, defeated Marc Goddard and Will Elworthy.  Costello has lost his last two fights, being tapped out by Dan Burzotta at CR10 and being memorably taken apart by the monstrous Robert ‘Buzz’ Berry at CR11.  Former Ultimate Combat headliner Thompson’s only losses have come against quality opposition: former World Junior Greco-Roman Champion Tengiz Teoradze and Aleksander Emelianenko.  The UK based Georgian gave Thompson a right pasting in June 2004 and a bored looking Emelianenko KO’ed him in 10 furious, farcical seconds at Pride 28 last October.  Judged on that performance alone, many dismissed Thompson as a joke but he’s much better than that.  As he showed at Pride: Bushido 8 in July, punching out Henry ‘Sentoryu’ Miller in impressive style.  Sentoryu may not be the most highly regarded fighter around but he’s a decent brawler and Thompson’s performance there was a better measure of his real abilities.  Costello is a good fighter but Thompson’s size and greater experience should see him walk away from this with an impressive win.

PREDICTION: Thompson by KO midway through the first round.

Vacant Cage Rage World Light Heavyweight title: Melvin Manhoef vs. Fabio Piamonte

This could be explosive.  Scary looking Dutch kickboxer Manhoef makes his second Cage Rage appearance after impressing everyone on his debut with his merciless battering of brave but outclassed late substitute Mathias Riccio at CR10.  Manhoef (9-2-1) may be a predictable fighter – his ground skills and wrestling are lacking a little and his stamina has been questioned but the things he does, he does very well.  Manhoef is squat, immensely powerful, built like a tank and has some very good handspeed.  He’s been impressive in his last 3 fights too.  First was his dismantling of Riccio, then came a decision win over Bob Schrijber (who beat Manhoef by TKO in 2003) where ‘Marvellous’ Melvin dominated the action, surviving well on the mat and having the old warhorse in real trouble on at least 4 different occasions in the 10 minute fight.  True, Manhoef couldn’t finish his opponent but ‘Dirty’ Bob is notoriously tough and Manhoef was giving up significant height, weight and experience but used his crisp boxing skills, elusiveness and some beautiful leg kicks to claim a well-earned victory.  Most recently, Manhoef battered Paul Cahoon (who he also beat in 2002) with a barrage of punches for a first round win in early July.  Manhoef’s only other loss came against Rodney Faverus, a very talented striker, in May 2004.  Chute Boxe fighter Piamonte (1-1) is a very different to the likes of Schrijber and Faverus though.  A skilled ground fighter, as he showed in his fast submission win over Cyrille Diabate at CR12 his only previous MMA fight was in 1999 when he was quickly overwhelmed by Gilbert Yvel.  A decent striker who should have a decent height advantage here, Piamonte will want to get the fight to the mat as quickly as possible.  Manhoef badly needs to keep the fight standing up.  With his strength and kickboxing skills he should be able to keep Piamonte at bay for a while.  But eventually the fight will likely hit the ground and Manhoef could be in real trouble.  His defence has improved on the ground though and Manhoef is pretty good at dictating the pace on his feet.  He’s also a fast counter-puncher and will make Piamonte pay if he tries to stand and trade.  It won’t be easy for him, but I think Manhoef will land enough shots top keep Piamonte away and grind out a TKO win, just as his own stamina starts to fail.

PREDICTION: Manhoef by TKO early in the third round.

Mark Weir vs. Kyosuke Sasaki

38 year old striker Mark Weir (15-9) may well have revitalized his flagging career with his CR12 battering of Sol Gilbert to claim the vacant CR British title.  Before that fight, Weir had lost 4 in a row and seemed to be on an irreversible decline.  Predictably outwrestled and elbowed by Matt Lindland at CR9, laid and prayed for 3 rounds by Gabriel Santos at CR10, choked out 3 weeks later by the Alex Serdyukov in California at WEC14 and quickly blasted out by Curtis Stout at CR11, Weir seemed to be nearing the end of the line.  But the Gloucester man answered his critics by dominating the younger Gilbert from start to finish, forcing him to quit after the second round.  Sasaki (3-6-3) was stopped on cuts by Alex Reid at CR12 in a highly controversial fight.  Amidst talk of illegal knees on the ground by Reid, blown calls by the usually excellent referee Grant Waterman and general chaos, what was forgotten was Sasaki’s performance.  Brought in as somebody for original opponent Lee Murray to knock out, Sasaki did far better than most expected.  He’s a real survivor too.  A veteran of RINGS, GCM, DEEP, Pride: Bushido and Pancrase, Sasaki has only ever been stopped once in 6 defeats (by Reid) and has gone the distance with Yoshin Okami (decision loss) Kousei Kubota (a draw), Eiji Mitsuoka (again a draw but if there had been judges he would have lost) and Jutaro Nakao (another decision loss).  He certainly has some skills but at just 5’7”, the Kiyoshi Tamura protégé will have some serious physical disadvantages against the tall, lean, Weir.  As he proved against Gilbert, Weir remains one of Britain’s best middleweights.  He’s beaten Alex Reid, destroyed a faded Johil de Oliveira and choked out the dangerous Jean Francois Lenogue.  His UFC days are far behind him (that stunning KO of Eugene Jackson, a great fight which he lost, against Phillip Miller, and a pasting from David Loiseau) but Weir is still too good for Sasaki.  He needs to use his reach, height and still considerable striking skills to hurt Sasaki with punches and low kicks.  Whether he can stop Sasaki inside the three round distance is uncertain.  But he should win the fight comfortably.

PREDICTION: Weir by a clear, unanimous decision.

Jorge Rivera vs. Marcelo Azevedo

‘El Conquistador’ Rivera (10-4) returns to London for the first time since he was dismantled by Anderson Silva at CR11.  That was Rivera’s first Cage Rage defeat as at CR7 he pounded Mark Weir on the ground and score a TKO win due to a horrific cut and at CR10 he obliterated Alex Reid in 41 seconds.  Since the Silva fight, where the Brazilian’s speed and incredible technique saw him dominate from start to the finish when Silva dropped him with a flurry of knees and followed up with some viciously accurate punches for the TKO win late in the second round.  Rivera pressed forward throughout the fight but Silva was simply masterful at picking him off with a variety of strikes.  Since then Rivera has scored a fairly meaningless 47-second win in a confidence boosting fight with unknown debutant Danny Vega last month.  Rivera fought a real war of attrition with Rich Franklin at UFC 50, having the future UFC Middleweight king in real trouble at times before eventually being caught with an armbar just 32 seconds from the final bell.  And his only other losses have come against Lee Murray at UFC 46, where the Londoner shocked Rivera with his ground skills, and a TKO defeat in his professional debut against Branden Lee Hinkle back in 2001.  Rivera is brutally strong in the clinch and loves to throw short punches, knees and elbows against the fence.  He also has excellent stamina and is seemingly as strong in the final round as in the first.  His decision win over David Loiseau at UFC 44 was typical of the way Rivera fights, keeping up a constant, high pace.  He’s a very difficult fighter to beat and may be a step too far for Marcelo Azevedo.  A Brazilian who teaches MMA and BJJ in Spain, Marcelo ‘Uirapuru’ Azevedo (3-3) is a very, very gifted BJJ stylist who is perfectly capable of pulling off an upset.  Although he lost his first three MMA fights, he went the distance each time, even in his July 2003 debut against Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral.  He followed this with losses to Alexandre Vaca and Eduardo Jamelao, two talented, but little-known fighters.  In September 2004, Azevedo entered the old-fashioned Juiz de Fora one-night tournament, and walked away the winner, picking up 3 wins and evening up his career tally in one evening.  True, Felipe Arinelli, Henrique Lango and Pedro Santos are hardly the elite of Brazilian MMA but all are very capable fighters and Azevedo forced two of them to tap out (Lango to an ankle lock and Santos to a choke).  Any one-night tournament win is impressive stuff these days and Azevedo had to fight for in excess of 30 minutes to score his 3 victories.  With stamina like that he should be able to stay with Rivera right up until the final bell if he needs to.  Both fighters are extremely tough to finish and I expect this one to go to a very close decision.  Expect Azevedo to try and take it to the mat while Rivera tries to keep it on the feet, pressed up against the fence.  Whoever can turn this into their kind of feet should walk away with a close decision win.  As Rivera’s ground game is a weak point (at least, by his own pretty high standards) I’m going for Azevedo to pull off the upset.

PREDICTION: Azevedo by a very close decision.

Anthony Rea vs. Jason DeLucia

Expect the winner of this fight to get a shot at the newly crowned CR World Light Heavyweight titleholder fairly soon.  Furthermore, expect underrated Frenchman Rea (8-4) to be the one getting the title shot as he should be too good for Jason ‘where the hell did they dig him up from?’ DeLucia (33-19-1).  Rea has looked incredible in Cage Rage, outlasting, out-thinking and outpunching Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos at CR10 and laying waste to Pierre Guillet just 0:35 into the second round, after a close first session, at CR11.  A training partner of Jerome LeBanner and Kristof Middoux, Rea has lost to Rich Franklin by TKO in 2002 (after rocking the Cincinnati schoolteacher and future UFC star early in the fight) and dropped a submission loss to Team Quest bible-basher Matt Horwich a year ago.  Most recently, Rea fought Marvin Eastman for the vacant WEF Light Heavyweight title in July and lost by TKO midway through the fourth round.  A strong, heavy-handed puncher who clearly has to cut weight to make 205, Rea should really have done better against the shorter, one dimensional Eastman and will be looking to make up for against UFC and Pancrase veteran DeLucia.

There aren’t many fighters around these days who can say they fought in UFC 1.  Well, DeLucia did, and he was back for UFC 2 as well, where he won a first round fight before being armbarred by Royce Gracie in 67 seconds.  That loss set the Kung Fu fighter (who has also tried to shoe-horn Aikido training and techniques into MMA competition over the years) onto learning submissions.  And with instant results too.  Just 4 months later he shockingly kneebarred Masakatsu Funaki in 61 seconds on his Pancrase debut.  DeLucia remained a Pancrase regular for the next 6 years, throughout the companies early glory period and into its move to full MMA rules.  Along the way he beat the likes of Manabu Yamada (three times), Osami Shibuya, Kiuma Kunioku, Minoru Suzuki, Yuki Kondo, Ikuhisa Minowa (twice) and Chris Lytle.  After an excellent 1999 (and Pancrase’ adoption of freer rules), DeLucia began to lose more regularly.  He’d lost to Bas Rutten, Suzuki, Funaki, Yamada, Kondo and Ryushi Yanagisawa before but in the new Millennium he was losing to Bob Stines, Omar Bouiche, Daisuke Ishii and Shamoji Fujii.  Age and injuries from so much training and fighting seemed to have caught up with him.  DeLucia did win his last fight (in August 2003) but he’s fought just once in the last four years and hasn’t faced someone as dangerous as Rea since the late 1990s.  DeLucia has an excellent pedigree and some beautiful submission skills but its not the 1990s anymore and this isn’t the more refined, gentlemanly are of Pancrase.  It’s full MMA in 2005 and fascinating as it will be to see DeLucia back in action, I’d expect Rea to continue his strong form in Cage Rage and pound him to defeat midway through the fight.

PREDICTION: Rea by TKO late in the second round.

Darren Little vs. Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos

Depending on your viewpoint this is either some brave or some slightly careless matchmaking.  Pitching unknown debutant Darren Little straight in with the fearsome ‘Cyborg’ (10-7) at least means Little has, er, little to lose.  If the far more experienced Brazilian destroys him that’s just what people expect.  But a strong performance, or even a win, would be something very, very notable.  That’s unlikely though.  Chute Boxe member Santos has been a professional fighter since 1997 and has fought (and lost to) Joes ‘Pele’ Landi-Jons, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, Yuki Kondo and Antony Rea (CR10).  And he’s beaten Pancrase veteran Osami Shibuya, the boring but talented Gabriel Santos and English brawler Mark Epstein.  Little’s only real chance is if ‘Cyborg’ comes out swinging wildly, but doesn’t get an early KO and gasses out before being grounded and pounded to a TKO loss.  That’s exactly how the Rua and Rea fights went but the tattooed maniac’s most recent performances suggest he’s moved away from such simplistic tactics.  Against Epstein at CR11, ‘Cyborg’ was a little more controlled than usual and KO’ed the rock-hard Londoner in just 2:16.  Even more impressively, he was very composed, even counter-punching and biding his time, in his win over well-regarded French fighter Kassim Annan at Meca 12 in July.  That was until he hurt Annan with a kick to the face and unleashed a barrage of stomps and kicks to score a highly impressive KO win just under 4 minutes into the match.  Little’s inexperience, and ‘Cyborg’s recent form mean there can only be one winner.

PREDICTION: ‘Cyborg’ by KO early in the first round.

Alex Evans vs. Tulio Palhares

This is an interesting one.  Evans has been around the British scene since 1999 and has a strong 12-3 record.  His Brazilian opponent has fought in his home country, the US, Holland, Russia and the UK and has a pretty poor 2-11 career tally.  However, Palhares has been fighting since 1996 and has faced better opposition.  He lasted over 5 minutes with the 1998 version of Igor Vovchanchyn before tapping out to the Ukrainian’s punches and has been in there with the gifted Andrei Semenov (losing by choke).  Still, he looked awful on his previous visit to Britain, being triangled in just over a minute by Alex Reid at CR9.  Perhaps Evans, whose biggest win was in a gruelling war of attrition with James Schiavo in 2003 and has lost his last two fights, is catching Palhares at the right time.  The Brazilian may be well past his (not especially superb) best but Evans has fought infrequently of late.  He beat Schiavo in July 2003, lost to mediocre but busy Minnesotan Kyle Jensen in December of that year and most recently was KO’ed by Lithuanian striker Ridas Vivada (hammered by Sol Gilbert at CR9) in June 2004.  Expect a close fight with Evans emerging the winner.

PREDICTION: Evans by a close, perhaps split, decision.

Vacant Cage Rage British Featherweight title: Brad Picket vs. Ozzy Haluk

No CR show would be complete without popular Londoner ‘One Punch’ Pickett.  Trilby-hatted entertainer, serious ticket seller and still learning as a fighter the little guy is consistently one of the highlights of the show.  Every couple of months he brings along his loyal supporters and does something memorable.  At CR9 it was blasting out Stuart Grant in 17 seconds.  At CR10 he put in a gutsy performance but his lack of ground skills cost him the fight with the much more experienced Chris Freeborn.  At CR11 his two round battle with Aaron Blackwell saw some furious exchanges before Pickett pulled off a very popular win when Blackwell retired on his stool after 2 rounds.  Last time out, at CR12, Pickett recorded his first ever submission win with an armbar over the inexperienced Jordan Miller.  It wasn’t the slickest of submissions but Pickett’s ever-growing confidence on the mat was clear.  He shouldn’t get too confident against Ozzy Haluk (4-2) though.  Haluk has some decent boxing skills (Pickett is by contrast a furious brawler) and has better wrestling and submission skills.  He’s also beaten Freeborn, the only man to defeat Pickett so far.  Obviously, promoters Geer and O’ Donnell want Pickett to keep winning (he also trains at their Elite gym) and with good reason, as he’s such a good ticket seller.  With that in mind, this is a curious fight.  Particularly since the entire featherweight division in Cage Rage IS Brad Pickett and there’s a high chance of him losing this fight.  But fighters like Pickett, still eager to learn and improve, thrive on a challenge and this is easily the biggest of his young career.  I’m confident (actually not that confident but am hoping) he’ll find a way to turn this into the kind of fight he excels in, a standing brawl.  He was certainly effective at doing that against Blackwell and if he can repeat the trick here, keeping up a fast pace and just keeping on swinging, he can claim the his first professional title.

PREDICTION: Pickett by TKO late in the second round.

Jeremy 'Bad Boy' Bailey vs. Dean Bray

Despite, or more likely because of, his past behaviour ‘Bad Boy’ Bailey is back for his eighth Cage Rage fight.  A good striker with a weak ground game and a 5-5 MMA record, Bailey is certainly controversial.  Punching opponents before the bell, stomping them when they’re down, eye gouging, DQs, No Contests: general unpleasantness seem to follow the volatile Bailey around.  He’s lost his last 3 fights but should be able to beat Bray (0-1).  Bray only made his debut in April and was choked out in 48 seconds.  It should be a welcome return to winning ways for Bailey after being guillotined by Rick Andrews at CR7, DQ’ed against old rival Phil Gildea at CR8 and losing a close, fairly dull, split decision to Sami Berik at CR10.  Bailey does have talent, cuts very funny pre-fight interviews and has bags of charisma (which may also help explain why he’s back) but needs to concentrate on winning fights rather than just misbehaving.  He should be able to do that here.

PREDICTION: Bailey by KO early in the first round.

Vacant Cage Rage British Lightweight title: Abdul Mohammed vs. Alexandre Izidro

The vacant CR British Lightweight title will be decided in this one, a classic style clash between two fighters based, but not born in Britain.  ‘Xandhino’ Izidro (2-2) dropped his last fight to Dan Hardy (one of Britain’s most exciting fighters) at KOTC Warzone in Sheffield in June.  Creative and skilled in BJJ, Izidro went for an Oma Plata, an armbar or two, a couple of triangle chokes and a rear naked choke in the early part of the fight.  However, his poor defence against strikes on the ground, and his lack of striking skills on his feet cost him the decision as Hardy took over in the second round.  In April, Izidro needed less than a minute to finish Frenchman Yohan Quoniam.  The BTT/Ze Marcelo student certainly has the necessary submission skills but if Hardy was able to control him on the ground and land some shots, what could the terrifying Abdul Mohamed (9-3-2) do to him?  An Ian Freeman protégé, the Afghanistan-born wrestler is a frightening physical specimen.  Short and incredibly powerful he comes across like a South Asian Sean Sherk and uses some amazing slams to ground his opponents.  He’s also come a long way from the lay n’ pray merchant who debuted two years ago.  Mohamed won 3 of his first 4 by decision (he drew the other) before he shocked Paul Jenkins at Cage Warriors 6 with a brutal and sudden pounding out of nowhere for a TKO victory and the CWFC Welterweight belt.  Mohamed won another fight just 8 days later but then embarked on a 3 fight losing streak.  First he was TKO’ed by highly regarded French Top Team member Mohamed Khacha, then surprised by Germany’s Daniel Weichel and beaten by Sami Berik in a bizarre fight at CR9.  Mohamed was throwing ‘the Hun’ all over the place and thoroughly dominating the action but the ever-resourceful Berik cut him with elbows from the bottom for a stoppage win.  Since then Mohamed has gone 4-0-1, controversially drawing with Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley over five rounds at Cage Warriors 9 in defence of his title.  He’s also battered Berik in a rematch and scored a very impressive win over Frenchman Jess Liaudin at CR11.  Mohamed showed excellent submission awareness, perfect ground control, punching power and real aggression as the doctor stopped the fight after the first round.  And perhaps the scariest thing is that Mohamed, absolutely ripped at 170 pounds, is dropping down to 155 from now on.  If he can do this without losing too much strength, he’ll be a truly terrifying fighter.  He should certainly be able to take Izidro down and bash him up here for the win and the vacant belt.

PREDICTION: Mohamed by TKO late in the first round.

Ross Mason vs. James E. Nicolle

Crowd pleasing Mason (6-3) will bring his usual noisy contingent of fans with him as he faces Nicolle (4-0), one of the most well-rounded fighters on the UK scene.  This will be Nicolle’s first fight in almost a year but the low profile middleweight has an impressive record, holding a submission win over heavy handed striker Paul Daley as well as TKO victories over a pair of talented wrestlers in Ian Freeman protégé Hassan Muridi and Suley Mahmoud.  The Mahmoud fight, at CR8 was perhaps his most impressive performance as Nicolle showed maturity, versatility and skill; both in grappling and striking on his way to a second round win.  Midlander Mason could have real trouble with Nicolle.  Ross ‘The Boss’ is a talented striker who relies on spoiling tactics if he’s taken to the mat.  He certainly has a good defence on the ground and his fast, heavy hands could be a problem for any UK middleweight but Nicolle is just more versatile.  Still, Mason has scored some decent wins over Damien Riccio (scoring a TKO win when he seemed to be on the verge of exhaustion) and the much bigger Charlie Francis.  And his slick kickboxing skills have seen him put in strong performances even in fights he’s lost.  A year ago he was doing very well against the more experienced Dutchman Nathan Schouteren before gassing out and losing by TKO.  Mason was looking very good in his last fight against Nelson Semedo, at Cage Warriors: Strike Force 2 in July.  That was until the Portuguese man caught him with a beautiful punch that dropped Mason and splattered his nose across his face, forcing the doctor to stop the fight.  Mason is a bright prospect but he’s still learning the ground game and the Schouteren and Riccio fights showed he has some stamina problems too.  Expect Nicolle to close the distance, clinch, grapple, wear down his opponent and claim a late TKO or decision win.

PREDICTION: Nicolle by decision.

Paul Daley vs. Hassan Muridi

A truly high quality welterweight fight sees ‘Semtex’ Daley (who also has a fight booked for September 16th in Randy Couture and Matt Lindland’s Sportfight promotion) take on another Ian Freeman protégé who is a strong wrestler with an Asian background.  Daley (6-3-2) is one of Britain’s most exciting fighters and he’s begun spreading his wings in the last year or so, training with the American Top Team and fighting in the USA.  The owner of a lethal left hook, the Roughhouse fighter from Nottingham has impressive wins over Xavier Foupa Pokam at CR7, Paul Jenkins at Cage Warriors 8 and Jess Liaudin at CR9.  He was also unlucky not to get the decision in his December 2004 draw with Abdul Mohamed.  However, he was pretty unimpressive at CR11 in a draw with Jenkins where neither man did enough to win.  In June he absolutely battered Sami Berik and the next month made his Sportfight debut, losing via guillotine choke to Pat Healey (a more experienced grappler who’s gone the distance with Dave Strasser and Chris Lytle) in a very competitive fight.  Daley has fast hands, good boxing skills and is very aggressive.  He’s going to need all of those traits to beat Hassan Muridi (5-2).  Like Daley, Muridi is coming off a loss, losing a decision (where he didn’t look particularly impressive) to the undefeated Phil Norman at CR12.  Muridi can be an exciting fighter, albeit in a very different way, as he’s aggressive with takedowns and very active on the mat.  As long as his stamina holds out anyway.  At CR11 he looked excellent in the first round of his fight against Henrique Santana but soon gassed out and was looking very ragged, only winning because the Brazilian was more exhausted than he was.  In May, Muridi quickly choked out Jenkins and the two have another common opponent.  Both have lost to James E. Nicolle.  Muridi is the naturally bigger fighter and has the edge in wrestling.  Daley though is faster and is a much better puncher.  He’s also less predictable than Muridi and should be able to use his boxing and superior stamina to pull off a late victory.

PREDICTION: Daley by KO midway through the third round.

Mark Beucannon vs. Kuljit Degun

‘Asian Sensation’ Degun (1-6) has looked anything but sensational of late and badly needs a win here.  True, he’s been fighting the UK’s best heavyweights but they’ve been walking through him.  He put up a good fight against Ryan Robinson at CR8 a year ago, but since then he’s been quickly tapped out by Tom Blackledge at CR11, been hammered by Robert ‘Buzz’ Berry in 21 seconds and, in June lasted just 15 seconds with Marc Goddard.  Debutant Beucannon is fairly unknown but may fancy his chances of a winning debut.  Still, its hard to pick a fighter you’ve never seen so I’m (somewhat hopefully) going with Degun to snap his losing streak.

PREDICTION: Degun by TKO late in the second round.

Predictions Re-cap:

Vitor ‘Shaolin’ Ribeiro SUB2 Jean Silva
James Thompson KO1 Andy Costello
Melvin Manhoef TKO3 Fabio Piamonte
Mark Weir DEC3 Kyosuke Sasaki
Marcelo Azevedo DEC3 Jorge Rivera
Antony Rea TKO2 Jason DeLucia
Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos KO1 Darren Little
Alex Evans DEC3 Tulio Palhares
Brad Pickett TKO2 Ozzy Haluk
Jeremy Bailey KO1 Dean Bray
Abdul Mohamed TKO1 Alexandre Izidro
James E. Nicolle DEC3 Ross Mason
Paul Daley KO2 Hassan Muridi
Kuljit Degun TKO2 Mark Beucannon