Whatever problems this show has encountered there are still some great looking fights on offer.  Fryklund challenges Anderson Silva for the Cage Rage World Middleweight title, Alex Reid faces tough veteran Dave Menne, the always exciting Paul Daley meets Strasser and Britain’s best kept secret James E. Nicolle gets a huge opportunity as he faces Suloev.  Add Curtis Stout’s clash with Chjute Boxe member Jorge ‘Macaco’ Patino and Brad Pickett’s first taste of international competition in Hiroyuki Abe and this show should deliver the usual dose of excitement.

Line-up:

CR World Middleweight title: Anderson Silva vs. Tony Fryklund
Alex Reid vs. Dave Menne
Dave Strasser vs. Paul Daley
James E. Nicolle vs. Amar Suloev
Curtis Stout vs. Jorge Patino
Brad Pickett vs. Hiroyuki Abe
Robert Berry vs. Gary Rawlings
Vacant CR British Light Heavyweight title: Mark Epstein vs. Ryan Robinson
Jeremy Bailey vs. Jason Barrett
Jess Liaudin vs. Gesias Cavalcante
Mark Buchanan vs. Fereidoun Naghizadeh
Mustapha Al-Turk vs. Martin Thompson
Edson Drago vs. Tengiz Tedoradze
Michael Johnson vs. Daisuke Nakamura

April 22nd
Wembley Conference Centre, London

CR World Middleweight title: Anderson Silva vs. Tony Fryklund

While Miletich fighter and UFC veteran Fryklund (11-5) should provide defending champion Silva (14-4) with a good challenge and give the fans an entertaining fight, this just isn’t as big a fight as Silva-Lindland would have been.  That was one of the 185-pound division’s biggest fights of this year, in any promotion.  Instead, Silva-Fryklund should ‘only’ be an exciting fight where most will expect the Brazilian’s fast, precise, non-stop striking to see him through his third successful title defence.  Fryklund has been around for a long time, debuting at UFC 14 in 1997 as part of a 4-man tournament where he lost to Olympic medallist Kevin Jackson in the final.  A long time member of the Miletich camp, ‘the Freak’ is 1-3 in his last 4 fights, dropping a wide, uncompetitive decision to Lindland in May 2004, submitting to an Ivan Salaverry body lock due to a back injury at UFC 50 and losing on a cut less than a month ago to Jonathan Goulet at UCC 20 in Canada.  Fryklund has had trouble with cuts before, been sliced open by David Loiseau in the fight that earned Loiseau a shot at the UFC.  That could be a real problem in this one.

Silva’s Cage Rage career has seen him enter some of his very best performances.  From just outclassing Lee Murray for the vacant belt at CR8, to his CR11 demolition of Jorge Rivera and most recently his CR14 win over Curtis Stout where he left the Kansas City puncher unconscious for several minutes.  Silva used all his impressive Muay Thai skills in breaking down the tough Rivera and his much-underrated mat skills against Stout.  Fryklund is an aggressive, gifted striker with some very strong wrestling skills.  But then, so were Rivera and, even more so, Stout.  And Silva had little trouble disposing of their title challenges inside the distance.  Look for Silva to use the same kind of strategy as he did against Rivera.  He’s faster and more accurate than Fryklund and uses a wide variety of kicks, knees and punches to head and body.  This will probably look a lot like the Rivera fight, with perhaps more blood, and should have a similar ending.

PREDICTION: Silva by TKO midway through the second.

Alex Reid vs. Dave Menne

At least Reid (7-3-1) had plenty of notice for this fight.  In his last outing, at the chaotic WCFC event in Manchester on 18th March, Reid showed up as a spectator and was happily drinking champagne in the VIP area when he was asked to step in as a late, late replacement against Jay Tann.  He was also fighting on a few hours notice and unlike Reid, wasn’t already training for a fight.  Tann is also significantly smaller than ‘the Reidernater’ but still picked up a close, somewhat controversial decision win.  Reid losing was a big surprise, even under the circumstances, after his thrilling draw with Daijiro Matsui at CR14 last December.  Unable to stop Matsui’s constant takedowns, Reid did some major damage with some fantastic upkicks and his constant punching.  The decision could have gone to either fighter but Reid walked away practically unmarked while Matsui looked like he’d taken a major pasting.  Reid, loser of a UK MMA classic with Mark Weir in 2004 and KO’ed in clinical fashion by Jorge Rivera at CR9, is very dangerous off his back, using those kicks and also with fast attempts at triangle chokes like the one he tapped Tulio Palhares out with at CR10.  He’s also extremely well-conditioned and is a fast, technically sound striker.

Hugely experienced Minnesota veteran Menne (38-13-2) is coming off a predictable decision loss to ultra-efficient but not exactly exciting Shooto regular Jake Shields in Hawaii.  Menne is a former UFC Middleweight champion and although noticeably slower these days, should not be dismissed as a ‘shot fighter’.  At least not yet, anyway.  Menne has been all over the place, beating Dennis Hallman, Jutaro Nakao, Chris Lytle, Jose ‘Pele’ Landi-Jons, Carlos Newton and Gil Castillo with his no-nonsense, well-rounded fighting style.  While his 18 second KO loss in September 2002 to Phil Baroni will be forever etched in UFC fans’ minds, Menne has always been a good, often-underrated fighter.  He lost his UFC belt to Murilo Bustamante at UFC 35 just over 4 years ago and really hasn’t beaten a top level opponent since.  Menne is coming off a pair of losses to younger fighters.  Injury Robbed him of a win over Ginger TUF3 complainer Ed ‘Short Fuse’ Herman in July 2005 and most recently Menne lost a boring, very predictable decision to Jake Shields in Hawaii earlier this year.  Shields beat Menne by outworking him and Reid is a far more aggressive fighter than Shields.  He’s not as good a wrestler but his striking and work rate should put Menne on the defensive immediately.  Menne is still a tough fighter and has only been stopped a handful of times.  Reid may not knock him out but by setting a pace too fast for the slower veteran, Reid can dominate this fight and score the biggest win of his career.  Now, if only Cage Rage, or even, Pride, would put together a Matsui rematch.

PREDICTION: Reid by decision.

Dave Strasser vs. Paul Daley

‘Semtex’ Daley (9-4-2) was originally set for a very difficult looking fight with Chris Lytle for the American’s CR World Welterweight title.  When Lytle dropped out a few days ago, Cage Rage went out and found a replacement who can still offer Daley a serious test.  Like Lytle, Dave Strasser (24-7-4) is a UFC veteran, and far more experienced than the 23-year old Englishman.  At 36 years old, and a professional since 1996, Strasser has fought some very good fighters with wins over Romie Aram and Pat Healey.  That’s the same Pat Healey that caught Daley with a guillotine choke submission in Daley’s American debut at Sportfight 11 last summer.  Strasser is coming off a pair of victories but the lack of preparation time and the fact he’s just not as good as Lytle makes this a more winnable fight for ‘Semtex’.  Strasser does not have the boxing skills Lytle has, nor the same kind of indestructible chin, though he’s only been knocked out once, by the very talented Hidetaka Monma.

Most would expect Daley to come out swinging but his grappling, while nothing like as eye-catching as the huge left hooks and rapid ground n’ pound he’s used to batter Xavier Foupa-Pokam, Sami Berik and Peter Angerer, is greatly improved.  Time spent in the US with the American Top Team has really sharpened Daley’s wrestling and BJJ.  He showed that in his CR14 decision win over then-unbeaten Dutch kickboxer Joey Van Wanrooij.  A composed, strategic Daley neutralised his opponent’s dangerous striking by repeatedly taking him down and working him over with punches on the ground.  That wouldn’t be the best strategy to use against Strasser but it proves Daley is far more adaptable and widely skilled than many would think.  Daley’s last CR fight ended in a disappointing and inconclusive loss when he suffered a freak thumb injury against Jean Silva.  Before that Daley was starting to use his punches to great effect and he was back in action 6 weeks later, winning a comfortable decision over Black Frederickson.  With Daley’s speed, energy, youth, those violent left hooks and his continued progress on the mat, he’s poised to take the biggest win of his almost 3 year career.  Look for him to punish the older man with punches and low kicks, keeping the fight on his terms before finishing him off by knoickout.

PREDICTION: Daley by KO early in the third.

James E. Nicolle vs. Amar Suloev

Unbeaten middleweight ‘Gentleman Jim’ (6-0) faces easily the biggest test of his low profile, but very successful career against Armenian born wrestler/kickboxer Suloev (19-5).  Nicolle has looked very impressive in all of his previous wins but Suloev is a huge step up for him.  A focused, disciplined striker with some excellent knees in the clinch and strong defensive skills on the mat, Nicolle has beaten some good fighters.  He’s finished his last 4 opponents with strikes, including former Ian Freeman protégé Hassan Muridi and London Shootfighters Suley Mahmoud.  At CR13, Nicolle battered experienced BJJ stylist Tulio Palhares to defeat early in the second.  Nicolle is coming off a November 2005 victory over talented Portuguese fighter Rafael Silva.  And he has the ability to extend his winning run, even against an opponent as accomplished as the Russian based Suloev.

Suloev is a gifted kickboxer with excellent takedown defence who has gone 6-1 since his mini-war with Phil Baroni at UFC 37 almost four years ago.  He had Baroni in real trouble with his fast, precise punches and knees before the New Yorker turned it around with a barrage of vicious punches against the fence.  Suloev bashed a submission out of Yushin Okami, battered the smaller Din Thomas at Antonio Inoki’s New Year’s 2003 fiasco before making his Pride: Bushido debut with a horribly dull decision loss to Dean Lister.  That Bushido 4 disaster saw Lister cope very well with Suloev’s vaunted stand-up skills while Suloev landed some nice leg kicks and blocked several takedown attempts.  Unfortunately both men spent most of the fight standing, posturing and threatening without really doing anything worthwhile.  Suloev was, somewhat surprisingly, back at Bushido 6, losing by armbar to Brazilian Top Team star Paulo Filho.  Again, Suloev showed off some excellent leg kicks before being taken down and armbarred by the boring but incredibly talented Filho.  Suloev bounced back a few months later with a fast KO win over French battler Damien Riccio in Russia.

Obviously Suloev has a massive experience edge.  Nicolle has been fighting for a little over 3 years and has only worked for British promotions UKMMAC and Cage Rage.  Suloev has been a pro since 1999 and has fought in Brazil, Russia, Holland, the USA and Japan, facing people like Andrei Semenov (one win apiece), Darrel Gholar (decision loss) and Chuck Liddell (decision loss).  This is a huge challenge for Nicolle but one he’s equal to.  He needs to be wary of Suloev’s low kicks and aware of his ability to keep a fight standing.  Rather than spend energy trying to take Suloev down, Nicolle should close the distance and use his clinchwork.  With his effective knees and short punches, Nicolle can negate Suloev’s striking to an extent and grind him down enough so he can get the takedown and go to work on the mat.  Suloev certainly has ground skills and is comfortable on his back but if Nicolle can hit him often enough, he should be able to pick up the decision win.  I doubt Nicolle can finish him inside the distance given how tough Suloev is, but he can win this fight and break out of the relative obscurity he’s been in up to this point.

PREDICTION: Nicolle by decision.

Curtis Stout vs. Jorge Patino

A run of impressive, eye-catching KO wins for Stout (10-8-1) in London came to a sudden, and decisive halt when he faced Anderson Silva for the promotion’s World Middleweight title at CR14.  Knocked completely unconscious after a barrage of fast, accurate and brutal punches with just one second left in the first round, Stout’s title challenge ended in decisive, and fashion.  Stout was back at CR15, dropping a close, controversial decision to Daijiro Matsui.  Chute Boxe member and bareknuckle Vale Tudo veteran Patino (12-8-1) is a very different fighter than Silva or Matsui.  An excellent grappler, Patino’s striking was his main weakness.  Now, as a Chute Boxe fighter not hampered by the kind of irredeemable clumsiness on his feet displayed by Antonio Schembri, ‘Macaco’ has improved that aspect of his game.  But Patino will be foolish to try standing and trading with the man who blasted out his teammate Nilson Da Castro in just 15 seconds with a brutal left hook at CR12.  Stout’s efficient power-punching backed up with some good wrestling skills and stamina, along with his size and sheer physical strength, all make him a very dangerous fighter.  He’s one of the sport’s most explosive strikers, with those incredible KO’s of Sol Gilbert at CR10 (a single left hook), Mark Weir at CR11 (a lovely left hook and then some hefty follow-ups on the ground) and da Castro being some of the year’s best finishes.  Outworked at times by Matsui, Stout needs to keep the pressure on Patino throughout the fight.

‘Macaco’ Patino started fighting way back in 1995 and lost a couple of gruesome, compelling bareknuckle fights to Jose ‘Pele’ Landi-Jons in 1996 and ’97.  He also went over 20 boring minutes with Pat Miletich, dropping a unanimous decision at UFC 18.  Patino has gone 3-3 since the beginning of 2004 with all 3 losses by decision.  Patino is extremely difficult to finish inside the distance and those 3 who have beaten him – Kazuo Misaki, Delson Heleno and Eduardo Pamplona – are all impressive, talented young fighters.  Patino has scored KO’s in his last pair of victories, over Carlos Baruch and Gabriel Vella, showing his vastly improved striking ability.  Patino has a clear edge in submission grappling but will have a tough time with Stout’s wrestling and precise, powerful striking.  Stout cuts weight very well and by the time the fight starts, will have a major size and strength advantage and if he stays aware of Patino’s BJJ skills, should be able to eventually overpower ‘Macaco’ and brutalise him with punches on their feet and on the mat in what should be a very compelling fight.

PREDICTION: Stout by TKO late in the second.

Brad Pickett vs. Hiroyuki Abe

It seems like every CR preview these days includes the words “Pickett’s biggest test so far”, and this is no different.  The charismatic, ever-improving ‘One Punch’ (5-1) meets his first international opposition in Shooto regular Hiroyuki Abe (6-8-2).  Many UK insiders felt Ozzy Haluk’s mixture of neat boxing and submission skills would be too much for Pickett at CR12.  But after a typically entertaining brawl, Pickett launched himself feet-first at Haluk’s head for the first ever Cage Rage foot-stomp TKO and the vacant CR British Featherweight title.  Then at CR15 just two months ago, Robbie Olivier was supposed to be too good on the ground.  This time, Pickett’s win was much less conclusive as he picked up a much-disputed decision.  While not an outright robbery, strong cases could be made for either Pickett or Olivier in that one and only a rematch will truly resolve the issue.

But right now, Pickett has to worry about Abe.  The Japanese veteran is no stranger to the UK, having run some seminars in 2005 and while he’s lost 7 of his last 9 fights, that was against some very tough opposition.  Abe lost on cuts to KOTC star Urijah Faber, was TKO’ed by Team Quest wrestler Ryan Schultz, and tapped out to 3 extremely talented Brazilians in Luiz ‘Buscape’ Firminho from the Brazilian Top Team, Nova Uniao’s Joao Roque and Alexandre Franca ‘Pequeno’ Noguiera.  Abe’s only win in the last 3 and a half years came late last year with a 100-second heel hook win over Renzo Gracie student Joey Brown in Atlantic City.  Before that his most notable result was a shocking KO of ‘Pequeno’ in their first fight.  The lanky, upright Abe used his reach and underrated striking skill and power to blast out the Brazilian late in the first round of their July 2002 match.  A very good wrestler with some great submission technique, particularly with leglocks, Abe is a very dangerous opponent for Pickett.

Although the charismatic, hugely likeable ‘One Punch’ seems to improve greatly with every fight and spends significant time in Florida with the American Top team these days, Pickett will probably struggle here.  The busy, aggressive striker usually brawls his way to victory and as the Olivier fight showed, his wrestling his improved greatly.  But a disciplined counter striker can pick off his aggressive charges with jabs and low kicks.  That’s a strategy Abe may use to great effect but the Japanese veteran who debuted back in 1998 also has much greater experience and superior mat skills.  If Pickett can hurt him early and then just outworks Abe, the ever-entertaining ticket seller can win this fight with his speed, aggression and sheer volume of kicks and punches.  Unfortunately, I think Abe will survive the early onslaught, take the fight to the ground and work for submissions.  Pickett is no longer a raw beginner on the ground but will have serious trouble fending off repeated submission attempts from a slick veteran like Abe.  As usual, Pickett will probably have one of the best fights on the show but eventually Abe should catch him with a leglock to win the fight.

PREDICTION: Abe by submission late in the second.

Robert Berry vs. Gary Rawlings

The fearsome ‘Buzz’ Berry (7-3) makes a quick Cage Rage return after his CR15 mauling at the hands of Tengiz Tedoradze to face enormous newcomer Rawlings.  A well-known character on the London nightclub scene, the 6’8” Rawlings is jumping in feet first for an MMA debut against one of the UK’s best heavyweights.  Massive, heavy handed and with a background in a number of martial arts, Rawlings could be dangerous.  But he’s giving up a great deal of experience here.  Berry was outclassed in his second TKO loss to Tedoradze, being thoroughly outwrestled and pounded to defeat.  That won’t happen here though.  ‘Buzz’ may not have the fastest hands in the world, nor the nicest striking technique but he’s always entertaining and few big men on the UK scene can withstand his aggressive, powerful punching.  This promises to be a typical Cage Rage heavyweight slugfest, particularly as Berry has never had a fight go past the first round and Rawlings is likely to try standing and swinging.  Expect a conclusive finish to this one, with Berry, who has that major experience edge, as the winner.

PREDICTION: Berry by TKO early in the first round.

CR British Light Heavyweight title: Mark Epstein vs. Ryan Robinson

How’s this for an awkward position to be in?  Big punching CR regular Epstein (10-7) and former heavyweight Robinson (6-3) battling over the title stripped from current TUF3 star Mike Bisping last year.  Whoever wins is likely to be considered something of a ‘paper’ champion and the situation will be even worse if it’s Epstein, since he lost two raw, epic brawls with a still-learning Bisping at CR7 and CR 9 in 2004.  Rather than simply forget the belt exists, CR are putting it up for grabs in a fight between two of Britain’s top 205 pounders.  Epstein is hardly a difficult opponent to prepare for.  He has one strategy – charge forward and swing.  It doesn’t always work though.  At CR11 he was blasted out in a wild 2:16 by Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos and his ground skills have been exploited by Moise Rimbon and Travis Lutter in the past.  But it’s a style that has generally yielded results, both in wins, the inevitable entertainment value every time Epstein fights, and in shifting tickets.  Epstein is currently riding a 3-fight winning streak stopping Mathias Riccio at CR12, knocking out Brian Adams in just 19 seconds at CR14 and laying waste to a hopelessly overmatched Darren Little at CR15.

Robinson and Epstein have fought before, just over 3 years ago, with Epstein pounding a first round submission win out of the younger man.  Robinson would be ill-advised to stand and trade with Epstein here but he has a much slicker ground game and if he can take ‘the Beast’ to the mat, his chances of winning improve dramatically.  Robinson took a severe and utterly predictable pasting from Ian Freeman at CR9 but is coming off a very impressive CR15 win over Adams, armbarring his way to a win in 65 seconds and if he can avoid Epstein’s heavy hands for long enough, he should be able to pick up the victory and the vacant belt by submission.

PREDICTION: Robinson by submission early in the second.

Jeremy Bailey vs. Jason Barrett

Local ticket sellers are a huge part of the successful Cage Rage formula.  It’s a factor often ignored by fans who think everybody pays to see the ‘big names’.  The likes of Dave Legeno, Mark Epstein and Brad Pickett are absolutely vital to shifting tickets and filling seats.  Long-time CR regular (and serial cheater) Jeremy ‘Bad Boy’ Bailey (5-6) and relative newcomer Jason ‘Bad Ass’ Barrett (1-1) have certainly been doing their part for this show.  Their hype video, featuring all kinds of brilliantly cheesy insults and shots of the pair of them tearing around in fast cars is well worth checking out.  See it in all its ludicrous glory on the front page of www.cagerage.tv.

Neither Bailey nor Barrett is likely to trouble the UK’s best welterweights but both are aggressive strikers who have talked so much they simply have to come out swinging.  Bailey has much more experience but Barrett seems stronger physically and while both can punch, Bailey has lost his last 4 fights and never seems to have picked up much in the way of ground skills.  He’s been TKO’ed on a cut, after some heavy knees to the face by Dean Bray (CR13), decisioned by Sami Berik (CR10), was disqualified against Phil Gildea (CR8, in a fight where Bailey came across as a complete arsehole) and choked out by Rick Andrews (CR7), like Bray, a current teammate of Barrett.  In fact, Bailey has not actually won a fight June 2003.  Aside from his admittedly valuable mouth and habit of getting himself into some kind of controversy, Bailey doesn’t seem to offer much these days and this is definitely a winnable fight for Barrett.

Elite Fighting Systems (run by CR co-promoter Dave O’ Donnell) member Barrett on the other hand, lost his CR12 MMA debut to Dave Lee by submission but returned to batter a seemingly terrified Mindaugas Arbocious in 75 seconds at CR15.  This should be an exciting, if messy, scrap and whoever lands a solid shot first will probably win.  Look for Barrett to come charging out, catch Bailey with a good punch and then follow up with a furious barrage for a TKO win.

PREDICTION: Jason Barrett by TKO midway through the first.

Gesias Cavalcante vs. Jess Liaudin

American Top Team fighter ‘JZ’ Cavalcante (7-1-1) was originally set for a CR World Lightweight title shot at Vitor ‘Shaolin’ Ribeiro.  Fighting Liaudin (8-8), with all due respect to the London based Frenchman must be something of a disappointment.  Cavalcante was impressive in his first CR match last December, obliterating Japanese judoka Michihiro Omigawa with a huge right hand and a couple more on the way down in just 49 seconds.  An athletically gifted, high-energy grappler ‘JZ’ has some excellent submission skills, some busy, effective striking and trains with one of the sport’s very best teams.  He took Joachim Hansen the distance, losing by decision, in just his third fight and just looks too talented for the likeable Liaudin here.

Liaudin has had more than his share of injury problems and losses and fighting Cavalcante on fairly short notice is a very bold move for him.  A talented submission artist, Liaudin has been in there with some quality fighters.  He’s lost to Shonie Carter, Matt Ewin, Paul Daley, Abdul Mohamed (in a very entertaining fight cruelly cut short due to Liaudin’s broken nose at CR11) and Hidetaka Monma and is coming off a first round KO win over veteran Welsh loon Paul Jenkins in February.  The Monma loss, by armbar in 2:14 could give an indication of what to expect here though.  Clinching from the outset, Monma quickly got a takedown and while Liaudin defended well against a Kimura attempt, he was powerless to stop Monma shifting into position for an armbar and a straightforward win.  Look for something similar from Cavalcante in what should be an exhibition of good defensive skills from Liaudin but far better offensive abilities from ‘JZ’.

PREDICTION: Cavalcante by submission late in the first.

Mark Buchanan vs. Fereidoun Naghizadeh

This one should be a typical Cage Rage heavyweight brawl.  The promotion has a welcome habit of putting on fights between raw, aggressive big men early on in the show.  While they may not show much in the way of skill or technique, they’re almost always fun to watch.  This should be no different.  ‘Freddy’ Naghizadeh (0-1) hasn’t fought since being choked out by Mustapha Al-Turk at CR9 in a messy, wild scrap.  Elite fighter Buchanan (3-1) is also coming off a defeat, by TKO in the opening match at CR14 last December.  That loss to Ryan White saw Buchanan dominated from the start as he was taken down and pounded to defeat in a little over 3 minutes.  Buchanan has fought more recently and has actually won fights before, two over Kuljit Degun and one over Adam Woolner, since debuting a year ago.  None of his fights have gone past the first round and this should be no different.

PREDICTION: Buchanan by TKO midway through the first.

Mustapha Al-Turk vs. Martin Thompson

Mustapha Al-Turk (1-2) may not have fought under MMA rules since his late 2004 win over Fereidoun Naghizadeh at CR9 but he’s a gifted grappler who competed in the ADCC submission grappling tournament as one of the European qualifiers.  He’s had limited success in MMA but was thrown in with the very talented Kassim Annan in just his second fight, losing by armbar.  But he should take this one, over MMA debutant Thompson, by submission.  Like Gary Rawlings, another heavyweight making his debut on this show, its sink or swim time for Thompson and it looks like he’ll be starting his MMA career with a defeat.

PREDICTION: Al-Turk by submission late in the first.

Edson Drago vs. Tengiz Tedoradze

Hyper-aggressive, undefeated Brazilian Drago (7-0) meets UK based, Georgian-born wrestler Tedoradze (17-5) in a fascinating international heavyweight battle.  A Brazilian Top Team member, Drago is unusually aggressive and fights more like someone from Chute Boxe than a team that stresses BJJ and ground skill over brute force.  He’s won his last 4 fights by TKO/KO and is coming off a whirlwind destruction of the previously unbeaten Muay Thai stylist Helio Dipp in 15 seconds.  Drago just jumped all over Dipp immediately, smashing him with kicks and punches, even after the referee had stopped the fight.  That horrible display of bad sportsmanship from Drago somewhat overshadowed an excellent performance in his first match against a fighter with a winning record and genuine potential.  With his solid BJJ skills and striking ability, this could get very interesting.

Tedoradze is an excellent wrestler, heavy handed on the ground and tends to be aggressive from the opening bell.  Tedoradze has had serious trouble with talented submission stylists in the past, losing twice to Jeff Monson and once to Fabricio Werdum.  He’s never been KO’ed standing (he was taken down and smashed to pieces by Antonio ‘Junior’ Silva last year) but Drago, with a background in amateur boxing and Muay Thai, could be the first.  Tedoradze has looked excellent recently, coming back from those Monson and Silva defeats with impressive, and generally very one-sided first round TKO wins over some of the UK’s best heavyweights in Robert ‘Buzz’ Berry (twice – winning the vacant CR British heavyweight title in the last one at CR15) and Tom Blackledge (also twice).  If Tedoradze takes him down, and he certainly has the ability, he may just batter his way to another win with his trademark ground n’ pound style.  But if Drago has an effective takedown defence and starts throwing heavy punches early, the Brazilian can make a memorable CR debut.

PREDICTION: Drago by KO midway through the first.

Michael Johnson vs. Daisuke Nakamura

London Shootfighters’ Johnson (3-3) makes his first professional appearance in a little over two years, stepping in as a late replacement for injured teammate Sol Gilbert.  Johnson’s inactivity and the late notice he had to prepare for Nakamura could be a huge problem for him.  He’s also coming off a pair of losses, both by submission to a pair of very capable fighters – Miletich fighter Jason Black in a match where the American dominated throughout, and former CR regular Ronaldo Campos.  Nakamura (8-7) is a well-rounded U-File camp fighter, shoot style pro wrestler, protégé of Kiyoshi Tamura and armbar specialist.  A GCM and DEEP regular, Nakamura’s average record somewhat conceals his well-rounded skills and some very valuable experience.  He’s lost 3 of his last 4 fights but in that time went the distance with Marcus Aurelio at Pride: Bushido 6 and took Jutaro Nakao into the third round before losing by KO.  True, nobody would doubt Aurelio deserved the decision in their mat-based fight but Nakamura showed some very good submission defence and survival skills against the man who stunned the MMA world earlier this month by choking out Takanori Gomi.  Nakamura should be too skilled for Johnson on the mat.  Look for him to win this with an armbar, the same way he’s picked up 5 of his previous wins.

PREDICTION: Nakamura by submission late in the first.

Predictions Recap:

Anderson Silva TKO2 Tony Fryklund
Alex Reid DEC3 Dave Menne
Paul Daley KO3 Dave Strasser
James E. Nicolle DEC3 Amar Suloev
Curtis Stout TKO2 Jorge Patino
Hiroyuki Abe SUB2 Brad Pickett
Robert Berry TKO1 Gary Rawlings
Ryan Robinson SUB1 Mark Epstein
Jason Barrett TKO1 Jeremy Bailey
Gesias Cavalcante SUB1 Jess Liaudin
Mark Buchanan TKO1  Fereidoun Naghizadeh
Mustapha Al-Turk SUB1 Martin Thompson
Edson Drago KO1 Tengiz Tedoradze
Daisuke Nakamura SUB1 Michael Johnson