Strike Force shows all have their own theme.  At SF 1it was the UK vs. France, at SF 2 it was the UK vs. The World and this time it’s the UK vs. Scandinavia.  With a team featuring Jakob ‘The Striking Viking’ Lovstad, David Bielkheden and Jani Lax, the Scandinavian team have some serious talent.  The British squad though, has top Wolfslair fighter Mike Bisping, Rough House striker Dan Hardy and, fresh from his controversial fight at Cage Rage 13, Alex Izidro.  With two titles on the line as part of the ‘Viking Invasion’ series, some quality UK heavyweight action and a few professional debuts, the show is nicely balanced with a little something for every taste.

Line-up:

UK vs. Scandinavia:
CWFC Light Heavyweight title: Michael Bisping (Champion) vs. Jakob Lovstad
Vacant CWFC Lightweight title: Alex Izidro vs. Jani Lax
Lee Dickson vs. Kristian Lexell
Mick Whitty vs. David Bielkheden
Dan Hardy vs. Diego Gonzalez

Other fights:
Ross Pointon vs. Jerome Laulan
Marc Goddard vs. Henrique Noguiera
Tom Blackledge vs. Tengiz Teoradze
Jim Wallhead vs. Steve Singh-Sidhu
Kash Singh Sidhu vs. Kyle Davis

Saturday 1st October
Skydome Arena, Coventry, UK.

CWFC Light Heavyweight title: Michael Bisping (Champion) vs. Jakob Lovstad

No-nonsense Northern puncher Bisping is one of the UK’s brightest MMA stars and will be making the second defence of this belt on Saturday.  Boasting an unbeaten MMA record of 8-0, the Wolfslair fighter made his professional debut just 18 months ago and is currently the Cage Warriors and FX3 Light Heavyweight champion.  But perhaps most importantly for his future (and surely he’ll be fighting overseas soon enough), ‘The Count’ seems incapable of being involved in a boring fight.  Last time out, at SF 2, Bisping hammered Finnish brawler Miika Mehmet in 3 furious minutes.  Mehmet started strongly, punching wildly and bundling Bisping to the ground.  The Englishman stayed calm, defended well from his back and then reversed his opponent.  From there he gave Mehmet a proper pasting by the cage, laying in some brutal right hands for the TKO win.  In June he claimed the FX3 title, choking out Alex Cook in a little over 3 minutes.  Bisping won the CWFC title in April, overwhelming former professional boxer, Dave Radford with punches, MMA style, in a little under 3 minutes.  Notice a pattern emerging?  Bisping’s power, aggression and technique usually allow him to score a first round win.  However, older, more experienced fighters like Cyrille ’the Snake’ Diabate and London’s most terrifying man Mark ‘The Beast’ Epstein have both given him a little more trouble albeit for very different reasons.  Bisping faced the Frenchman under ‘Caged Kickboxing’ rules at Strike Force 1 and Diabate used his experience and technique to counter-punch his way to a controversial decision win.  Bisping has fought Epstein twice, first at Cage Rage 7 where Bisping won the promotion’s British Light Heavyweight belt, and again 4 months later at Cage Rage 9.  Their first fight (Bisping’s third as a pro) was a genuine stand-up war where both men hurt each other with their wild, heavy punches.  Bisping’s youth, stamina and aggression helped him outlast the older man though and the fight was waved off in the third after some beautiful shots by ‘the Count’ left Epstein helpless, though still standing, against the fence.  In their rematch, Bisping not only scored a clean KO of the iron-chinned brawler, but he was much more dominant than in their previous meeting.  Clearly, he is improving all the time and is the favourite to retain his title here.

The ‘Striking Viking’ Lovstad (8-2) is one of Scandinavia’s most respected fighters at his weight.  Talented and well-rounded, this will be a real test for Bisping.  He’s won his last 4 fights, all inside the distance and has an impressive repertoire of submission skills and striking.  However, both his losses came by KO or TKO, which is not a good sign with a striker like Bisping.  Also, the Scandinavian MMA scene is fairly small and few of Lovstad’s opponents have been truly high quality fighters.  Bobby Rehman who TKO’ed Lovstad looks pretty good at 4-0 while Mika Ilmen (he KO’ed Lovstad in 2003) is 3-7 as a pro and has lost plenty of his fights by stoppage.  Both Bisping and Lovstad are hard men, and gifted fighters and this looks to be an excellent main event.  But Bisping is the one headed for bigger things on the international scene.  And I can’t see Lovstad stopping him.  Look for Bisping to earn himself another KO win here.

PREDICTION: Bisping by KO in the third round.

Vacant CWFC Lightweight title: Alexandre Izidro vs. Jani Lax

While Bisping looks likely to hand Team Scandinavia a loss by beating Lovstad,  Jani Lax (7-5) should be the heavy favourite to take the vacant Lightweight title in his match with BJJ stylist Izidro (2-3).  Basically, Lax is just a better, more experienced fighter with a more well-rounded skill set than Izidro.  That’s not to say the British based Brazilian isn’t a good fighter.  Because he is, and he’s showed some excellent BJJ skills in his two most recent fights, both losses to well known British fighters.  Just three weeks ago he was handed a very controversial decision loss to Abdul Mohamed at Cage Rage 13.  That fight, for Cage Rage’s British Lightweight belt saw Izidro surprisingly outwrestle the Afghanistan-born wrestler, securing takedowns, going for submissions, maintaining good position and, when on his back, blocking much of Mohamed’s fearsome ground n’ pound arsenal.  Few thought Mohamed had won the fight but, as Dana White will surely tell you (in-between swearing his head off, nurturing his ever-growing ego and biting the online hand that fed his company with attention for so many years) you never know what the judges are going to do.  Izidro also lost to Dan Hardy by decision at KOTC Warzone in June.  In that one he looked excellent early on, putting hardy in danger several times in the first round with his slick BJJ skills.  However, in the second (and final) round, Hardy took over, battering Izidro with an array of strikes both on their feet and on the mat.  Izidro seemed to have little idea of how to cope with Hardy’s assault and although he grimly held on until the final bell, Hardy more than deserved his decision win.  Izidro’s two wins came against outclassed Frenchman Yohan Quoniam at the first CW: Ultimate Force event in April and, in his last fight in his native Brazil, a decision win over one Roberto Robocop.  Lax though is a very different fighter to Quoniam and Robocop.

Lax, like Izidro is coming off 2 straight defeats, although they were in very different circumstances.  Sweden’s former amateur boxing champion took a hammering in both fights, against two of Japan’s best lightweight fighters.  In April he was out muscled and then pounded on by the awesome Tatsuya Kawajiri and then in the K-1 Hero’s tournament he was given a slightly surprising beating by super-aggressive Shooto prodigy Hiroyuki Takaya.  Aside from his first loss, via a brutal soccer kick from Marcus Peltonen in his debut fight back in 1999, Lax has only lost to very highly regarded fighters.  Current Shooto middleweight boss Akira Kikuchi tapped him out in 2002 and the beautifully named Sergei Bytchkov KO’ed him in late 2001.  And Lax has beaten some impressive names too, with all but one of them coming by KO/TKO or submission.  In 2000 he choked out current team-mate and lightweight superstar Joachim Hansen.  He’s also beaten Metin Yakut, Kohei Yasumi and Britain’s Ollie Ellis – scoring three impressive submission victories.  More experienced, huge for his weight class, mixing those boxing skills with an excellent submission game and training regularly with such a high quality team, Lax should be able to win the title, and do it in style.  Izidro’s pure BJJ is better but Lax is just a more complete fighter.  Look for him to make an impressive UK debut and take the title back to his home in Karlstad, Sweden.

PREDICTION: Lax by TKO in the first round.

Lee Dickson vs. Kristian Lexell

The latest in a seemingly never-ending stream of Wolfslair products makes his debut in a tough fight with more experienced Stockholm fighter Kristian Lexell (1-0).  The word on Dickson is he’s a big, powerful middleweight who like team-mate Mick Whitty, will bring the fight straight to his opponent.  Shooters MMA representative Lexell may only have one (perhaps more depending on the source) professional fight behind him but he does hold an amateur record of 4-3.  Dickson certainly won’t make it easy for him, but Lexell’;s slight edge in experience should see him take the victory here.

PREDICTION: Lexell by TKO in the second round.

Mick Whitty vs. David Bielkheden

Wolfslair middleweight Whitty (1-0) faces an enormous challenge in just his second professional fight as he faces one of Europe’s best in Team Scandinavia’s David Bielkheden (8-3).  Whitty’s first fight was a highly enjoyable scrap with Spain’s Toni Vivas at Strike Force 2.  Looking big for a middleweight Whitty showed some good clinch skills, powerful takedowns and some serious aggression.  However, his stamina looked a little questionable and he looked to be tiring late in the first round.  He did finish the fight impressively though, battering Vivas with a barrage of shots on the ground for the TKO 4:49 into the fight.  Whitty looks to have great potential but he’s still raw and just not ready for a fight with Bielkheden.  Then again, few UK middleweights would be. 

The Shooto European Light Heavyweight champion (which is really middleweight in UK weight classes) is a powerful, skilled fighter who loves to take opponents down and just batter the resistance out of them.  Fast and highly aggressive, his ground n’ pound skills are some of the best on the continent.  He’s far more experienced than Whitty and while the Wolfslair is fast becoming one of Europe’s top teams, Bielkheden belongs to the highly respected and already established team that includes Tom Niinimaki, Joachim Hansen, Jani Lax, Jakob Lovstad and Jon Olav Einemo.  Debuting in Finland back in 2001 he’s fought there a few times, a few in Sweden and made trips to Japan and Florida, Bielkheden has also fought some good fighters like Charles McCarthy and Valdas Pocevicius.  He’s never been KO’ed or tapped out either, as all 3 of his losses, to Arben Lafti, Pride: Bushido and Shooto veteran Ryuta Sakurai and, in his most recent fight, Shikou Yamashita were by decision.  Whitty has a huge task ahead of him here and I’d be very surprised if he beat Bielkheden.  It wouldn’t be quite in the same league as Hideo Tokoro’s win over Alexandre Franca Noguiera in July’s K-1 Hero’s tournament.  But it wouldn’t be far off.

PREDICTION: Bielkheden by TKO in the first round.

Dan Hardy vs. Diego Gonzalez

Rough House welterweight Dan Hardy (9-3) is easily one of the UK’s most entertaining fighters.  He’s also one of the country’s best, and will need his considerable striking skills in what could be an excellent match with Team Scandinavia’s Diego Gonzales (5-2).  Hardy is riding a 4-fight winning streak that most recently saw him beat the overmatched but always willing Sami Berik (after a surprisingly hard fight) at Cage Warriors: Quest on 17th September.   A popular crowd pleaser, ‘the Outlaw’ showed off his skills in a very entertaining fight at the last Strike Force event as he survived numerous takedowns and submission attempts, and one huge slam, to TKO Spain’s Lautaro Arborelo late in the third round.  Hardy also looked very good, after some shaky moments early, in beating Alexandre Izidro in June.  Hardy is one of the UK’s better strikers, using knees and high kicks as well as punches and low kicks.  He’s also done some training in the US and has won 6 of his last 7 fights.  His only recent loss, to unbeaten French grappler David Baron at Strike Force 1 saw him look very good on his feet, and fight off several submission attempts on the ground before eventually being caught with a triangle choke in the last round.  Hardy also holds wins over Aaron Barrow (13 seconds), Welsh nutter Paul Jenkins and Lee Doski (avenging a decision loss in his first MMA fight).  The only other fighter to beat Hardy is experienced American Pat Healy, a man who’s gone the distance with Dustin Denes, Dave Strasser, Jay Hieron and Chris Lytle.  The key for Hardy is to keep the fight standing and use all of his considerable striking weapons against Gonzales.

Team Scandinavia’s Diego Gonzales is a talented submission fighter who will be very dangerous on the mat.  Like Hardy he’s on a 4-fight winning streak and he’s scored his last 3 wins with Kimuras and a triangle choke.  However, with the possible exception of Denmark’s Tim Vinther, none of his recent victims are really comparable to Hardy in terms of ability.  And Vinther took Gonzales the distance.  Gonzales can also be hurt, and stopped with strikes.  Kenneth Rosfort and Nico Nasieri proved that in late 2003 and early 2004 and neither are as good with their fists and feet as Hardy.  Look for ‘the Outlaw’ to have some shaky moments early (as he did with Izidro) but turn the fight around in a hurry when he gets the chance to unload on Gonzales.

PREDICTION: Hardy by KO in the third round.

Ross Pointon vs. Jerome Laulan

After a little re-arrangement of the show due to injuries and the very welcome inclusion of Tengiz Teoradze, Stoke-on-Trent’s ‘Gladiator’ (3-5) ends up facing French Top Team member Laulan (1-0) in a very intriguing match.  Laulan, who boasts a 3-0 amateur MMA record is a 2-time French Judo Championships finalist and made his MMA debut in June with an armbar win.  He’s also been a 2-time finalist in the Paris Grappling Open and has a clear edge in grappling skill against his bullish opponent. 

Pointon has only been fighting professionally since August 2004 but is already building up a vocal following on the UK scene.  Odd really, when you consider he’s now lost 5 in a row and desperately needs to win this one.  However, Pointon is the kind of fighter you love to see on a show.  Strong, aggressive, entertaining, and with an admirable ‘never say die’ attitude.  After starting his career with 3 straight stoppage wins due to those heavy hands, he ran into Dutch veteran Valentijn Overeem and was quickly outclassed by the talented but inconsistent veteran.  Pointon is also 0-2 at Strike Force shows, being choked out by gifted French man Gregory Bouchelaghem in May and losing to Sweden’s Thomas Valentin in July.  In the Valentin fight, Pointon started well, taking Valentin down and punishing him with punches on the ground.  ‘The Gladiator’ seemed to tire early though and as his punches started to look weaker, the ever-confident Valentin began going for more and more submissions.  After some excellent escapes from repeated Kimura and armbar attempts Pointon’s luck eventually ran out as the Swede finally caught him with a Kimura and Pointon, after struggling and holding out for an almost indecent amount of time, finally tapped out.  Expect another hardnosed performance from Pointon here and look for his experience and heavy hands to secure him his first win since November 2004.

PREDICTION: Pointon by TKO the second round.

Marc Goddard vs. Henrique Nogueira

Marc Goddard (5-4) takes on Wolfslair fighter Henrique ‘Chocolate’ Noguiera (1-3) in an intriguing heavyweight fight.  Noguiera used to train with Ricardo Arona in Brazil and has some good BJJ skills.  But his poor MMA record may suggest he has trouble making that count when in a fight.  That seemed to be the case in his last outing, at Strike Force 2 when he was bashed up by the fence against talented Frenchman early in the second round.  Rimbon countered everything ‘Chocolate’ tried on the mat and with the Brazilian’s energy dropping, the French Top Team member unleashed some nasty shots with Nogueira trapped against the fence to force the stoppage.  Goddard has fought some of the UK’s best heavyweights, and while he has some decent wins over Wil Elworthy and Kuljit Degun, he’s lost to Andy Costello, Tengiz Teoradze and James ‘Colossus’ Thompson (twice), all inside the distance and all by TKO or submission due to strikes.  Goddard has some good submission skills but may be better off using his striking against Nogueira.  Much could depend on how each man copes if the fight goes into the later rounds.  It’s a close fight but I’m going for Goddard to outlast Nogueira for the win.

PREDICTION: Goddard by decision after three rounds.

Tom Blackledge vs. Tengiz Tedoradze

Bisping, Whitty, Dickson and Noguiera’s Wolfslair teammate Tom Blackledge (4-2) meets former World Greco-Roman wrestling champion Tengiz Tedoradze (14-5) at heavyweight.  Blackledge is a good all-round fighter, and like Bisping, one of the UK’s most promising competitors.  He hasn’t lost since early 2003 and has looked very good in his last 3 fights.  Just over a year ago he gave Neil Hall a beating and he’s fought twice this year, both in Cage Rage.  At CR11 he quickly beat the bigger Kuljit Degun by submission, and at CR12 showed off some great technique on his way to armbarring Alan Murdock (after the fierce looking Murdock somehow survived a beautiful heel hook attempt).  Clearly hard hitting brawler Tedoradze has the edge in wrestling but with age catching up with him and Blackledge’s all-round skills, he may not be pulling off one of his popular wins here.  Still, his physical strength and wrestling technique will be a major problem for Blackledge.  As will Georgian-born Tedoradze’s hard and wild punching style.  He’s battered TKOs or verbal submissions out of most of the UK’s top heavyweights of the last 3 years or so, including Thompson, who he gave a good beating to in June 2004.  He’s also hammered Craig Amer and UFC 7 competitor Remco Pardoel.  The main problem with Tengiz has been his inability to stop gifted submission fighters from tapping him out – current Pride heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum triangled him back in 2002, the same move John Thorpe beat him with just 3 months later.  Recently, Tengiz seemed to have lost his way a little.  MMA debutant Antonio Silva shocked the UK scene when he obliterated Tengiz in March, taking him down and just smashing him with his oversized fists.  Tengiz also lost fights immediately before and after that one, to top American grappler Jeff Monson (a veteran of both UFC and ADCC), losing both by rear naked choke in the first round.  A make or break fight in July with terrifying Northern slugger Robert ‘Buzz’ Berry saw Tengiz return to form though, as he pounded Berry to defeat late in the first round.  Blackledge though has the skills to beat Tedoradze.  He ‘just’ needs to avoid an early ‘Tengizzing’, defend himself on the mat and work for a submission.  Quite simple really.  Actually this is a very, very tough fight for both men and I’m picking the younger man to win what could be a real war.

PREDICTION: Blackledge by submission in the second round.

Jim Wallhead vs. Steve Singh-Sidhu

This could be a very difficult debut for local boy Singh-Sidhu.  The kickboxer from Coventry’s Red Corner Gym will come face to face with Rough House fighter Jim Wallhead (1-2).  Former middleweight Wallhead has dropped a division to further the Rough House plan of dominating the UK welterweight scene.  He’s likely not as talented as their existing names at the weight (Hardy and Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley) but he’s a very good grappler.  And that looks to be where his main advantage lies in this fight with an inexperienced ground fighter.  At the first Strike Force show, Wallhead scored some great takedowns and showed off strong defensive skills on the ground before Frenchman Boris Jonstomp finally caught him with a rear naked choke late in the first round.  Singh-Sidhu will likely have some great support from his hometown crowd but they look almost certain to be disappointed when Wallhead (whose only MMA win so far was with a rear naked choke) takes him down early and finishes him off quickly.

PREDICTION: Wallhead by submission midway in the first round.

Kash Singh-Sidhu vs. Kyle Davis

The other Singh-Sidhu on the show could also have a rough time of it as well.  Kyle Davis (1-0) won his MMA debut in July in a mere 95 seconds, TKO’ing his opponent.  Again, it’s a kickboxer facing a more well-rounded fighter with more experience (albeit only a little more) under MMA rules.  Look for Davis to pick up another quick win.

PREDICTION: Davis by submission in the first round.

Predictions Re-cap:

Michael Bisping KO3 Jakob Lovstad

Jani Lax TKO1 Alexandre Izidro

Kristian Lexell TKO2 Lee Dickson

David Bielkheden TKO1

Dan Hardy KO3

Ross Pointon TKO2

Marc Godard DEC3

Tom Blackledge SUB2

Jim Wallhead SUB1

Kyle Davis SUB1