This was followed by an Ian Freeman interview (‘the Machine was the event’s MC and did his usual great job) where he talked about his upcoming Cage Rage fight with Dutch monster Melvin Manhoef on July 1st.  Even without the, erm, rocky relationship between Cage Rage and Cage Warriors this one seemed pretty odd.  Freeman was the only fighter allocated time to talk about his next match and it was to build up a fight for a rival promotion.  Strange stuff.  The German and UK teams were introduced next and predictably, the Germans were heavily booed, much to the amusement of one of their fighters, Peter Angerer who could barely keep a straight face during all of this.  Mike Bisping was introduced as one of the night’s referees, splitting the officiating duties with regular Marc Goddard.  ‘The Count’ did very well and Goddard did his usual exemplary job in there too.  Later in the show they announced a Cage Warriors debut in Dubai this December.  Interesting times ahead.

Mick Sinclair vs. Jay Gilbey

Bisping protege Sinclair made a winning professional debut, finishing Gilbey off with punches from the mount 4:34 into the first round.  Powerful and tactically sound, Sinclair shot in for a takedown almost immediately and started working Gilbey over by the fence.  Practically the whole fight took place right in front of Sinclair’s corner where he could receive instructions from Bisping.  Mixing in some body shots, elbows and keylock attempt, Sinclair was deliberate but generally active until throwing a few punches that prompted referee Goddard to step in.

UK vs. Germany: Mark Spencer vs. Franco de Leonardis

The UK vs. Germany series started off badly for the home team as de Leonardis impressively tapped out Spencer just 40 seconds into their fight.  Spencer was taken down straight away and quickly mounted.  A de Leonardis armbar attempt saw Spencer roll through and pick his opponent up for a big slam.  Unfortunately for the Englishman, de Leonardis slickly sunk in a triangle choke on landing that earned him the victory.

UK vs. Germany: Josenildo Ramarho vs. Daniel Weichel

Weichel made it 2-0 for the German side with a close and debatable majority decision win over Ramarho.  The Wolfslair welterweight undoubtedly took the first round, taking Weichel down quickly, thoroughly controlling his opponent and making repeated keylock and Kimura attempts.  Unfortunately for Ramarho, all that dominance seemed to tire him out and the stamina problems that have hurt him in the past resurfaced.  Coming out for the second round he was clearly tired but was still pressing the action.  He seemed to hurt Weichel and then bundled him to the mat early on.  A failed armbar attempt by Ramarho gave Weichel an opening for a couple of strikes but as he went to punch through Ramarho’s guard he seemed to take an accidental thumb to the eye.  Ramarho pounced and threw a barrage of shots that Weichel somehow survived.  With Ramarho on his back again and going for submissions Weichel landed some good hammerfists and ended the round with a nice high kick to a clearly exhausted Ramarho’s face.  To me, Ramarho did enough to take that round as well but the third was a different story.  Weichel was the aggressor throughout the last round as Ramarho just grimly hung on and defended.  He did try a Kimura from the bottom but Weichel easily slipped free, as he did with a late guillotine attempt.  I’d have given it to Ramarho 29-28 but it all depends how you felt about the second round, which was by far the closest of the three.  Ramarho came much closer to finishing but really slowed down late in that round so the official scores of 29-29, 29-28 and 29-28 that gave the win to Weichel in the closest fight of the night.

Paul McVeigh vs. Neil McLeod

The ever-entertaining McVeigh scored his second win over McLeod with a second round TKO with a commanding performance.  This was supposed to be for McVeigh’s CWFC Bantamweight title but McLeod’s inability to make weight made this a non-title three rounder instead.  Their first meeting, a British MMA classic saw McVeigh tap McLeod out with a triangle choke just 8 seconds from the final bell.  This time McVeigh used his busy, accurate striking both on his feet and on the ground to open up a nasty cut by McLeod’s left eye and finally stop him 3:27 into the round with a series of right and left hands to the face on the mat.  McVeigh was just too good for McLeod using fast takedowns and a great variety of strikes (knees and punches to the body and elbows to the face) in taking him apart in style.

UK vs. Germany: Jose ‘Ze’ Marcello vs. Andre Balschmieter

Despite Marcello’s huge advantage in grappling that saw him completely dominate the first couple of minutes, Balschmieter made it 3-0 for the Germans with a TKO win 3:08 into the fight after dropping the UK based Brazilian with a good right hook and swiftly following up with a barrage of shots that prompted a well-timed stoppage.  Marcello had looked exceptionally good on the mat, easily controlling the German but just wasn’t active enough.  That passivity cost him dearly since it prompted the restart that allowed Balschmieter to win the fight.

UK vs. Germany: Alan Lee vs. Cengiz Dana

Late replacement Lee clawed one back for the UK team stopping Dana 3:38 into an energetic fight with an unanswered flurry of punches on the ground.  Dana protested but referee Bisping made a good call since he trapped by the fence with more than a minute, left had very little prospect of improving his position and had taken some decent punches.  Dana did land the most spectacular shot of the night ? a running/flying knee like the one KID Yamamoto finished Kazayuki Miyata with earlier this month.  That floored Lee but the German based Turk failed to follow up and after each man tried for submissions and Lee had cut Dana with some effective strikes on the ground, Dana went for an armbar that Lee defended before landing the decisive punches.

Cage Kickboxing: Barrington Patterson vs. Thomas Marcinkevicis

Hugely popular local brawler Patterson may not be the most technical fighter around and his grasp of the rules may be pretty shaky, but he hits hard, can take a shot and gave the crowd what it wanted.  He clobbered Marcinkevicis to defeat 1:33 into the second round of a fight that had more than a few echoes of Bob Sapp at his best/worst.  Patterson is an intimidating presence and significantly outweighed his faster, technically superior opponent.  He also used a belly-to-belly suplex and the same kind of ‘wild swinging while utterly exhausted’ technique that makes Sapp so compulsively watchable.  A back and forth brawl, this was entertaining stuff with a crowd pleasing finish as Patterson floored Marcinkevicis twice in the second round ending with the fight with a monstrous right hand.

UK vs. Germany, Cage Kickboxing: Brett Healey vs. Ibrahim Barakat

The night’s other kickboxing match couldn’t have been more different.  For starters, these featherweights showed a range of techniques with punches, low kicks, high kicks, front kicks, spin kicks, knees, axe kicks and everything else they could think of.  At the end of this high-energy battle local boy Healey walked away with a unanimous decision by scores of 30-28, 29-28 and 29-28.  It was hardly K-1 MAX but the pair of them gave it everything in every second of their 3 x 3 minute round fight.  Healey seemed the better puncher but Barakat did some great work with knees in the clinch.  Healey’s conditioning seems like a real problem as he looked tired by the end of the first yet carried on coming forward, despite serious fatigue.  Presumably his aggression won him the fight (making the score UK 2 Germany 3) but Barakat did much cleaner, more effective work and deserved the decision.

Chris Rice vs. Alex Cook

Wolfslair fighter Cook earned his second win over Rice with a triangle choke 69 seconds into their fight.  The first time around, in March, the pair of them contested a high energy, mostly kickboxing battle that went the distance.  Cook cut Rice open badly during one of their striking exchanges and, covered in his opponent’s blood, finished the fight with a nice triangle from the guard.

Bruce Davis vs. Ben Walker

Davis took the vacant House of Pain (a minor promotion that Cage warriors work with) Middleweight belt with an unsatisfying, injury-assisted win over Walker just 37 seconds into the first round.  Davis shook Walker with a heavy right hand and the two clinched but as they tumbled to the mat Walker screamed out in pain.  Obviously, Walker had suffered a freak shoulder injury that ended the fight prematurely, with Davis taking the win by verbal submission.

Arni Isaksson vs. Diego Gonzales

For many (myself included) this was by far the most anticipated fight of the night.  Isaksson looked very good in winning a one-night, 8-man tournament in March at the CW: Enter the Wolfslair show.  His welterweight clash with Gonzales looked like a great fight.  It ended up as a very one-sided, methodical and truly impressive dismantling.  Gonzales could not finish Isaksson but with scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26, he earned an unarguable decision win.  Gonzales dominated from the outset.  Looking very sharp on his feet, he was masterful on the ground.  Isaksson never stopped trying but aside from a couple of brief submission attempts (a Kimura late in the first and a guillotine in the third) that Gonzales calmly defended and a last ditch flurry of a high kick and some punches in the dying seconds, there were few bright spots for the Ireland based Icelandic.  Gonzales’ takedowns, control, positioning and efficient striking on the ground were all excellent throughout as he put on an excellent performance.

UK vs. Germany: Ross Mason vs. Jesse Bjorn-Buckler

Entertaining, popular welterweight Mason levelled the UK-Germany series at 3-3 with his destruction of late substitute Bjorn-Buckler.  Looking very good on his feet and on the mat, ‘the Boss’ landed some huge punches on his way to a TKO win 2:24 into a very one-sided fight.  Hurting Bjorn-Buckler with some brutal punches through the guard. Mason stood to deliver more punishment, raining a couple of hefty shots to his opponent.  Stepping back, Mason seemed to be asking for a stoppage but referee Mike Bisping allowed it to go on a little longer.  Re-entering the fray, Mason blasted the German with a left hand that finished the fight.

UK vs. Germany: Jim Wallhead vs. Peter Angerer

Everyone expected all-out warfare in this one, and both men did come out swinging but it was decided surprisingly quickly and on the ground.  Wallhead took Angerer down and fired off some heavy left hands on the ground.  The German veteran stayed calm though and from a tight half-guard trapped Wallhead with a head and arm choke for the win 1:49 into the first round.  Wallhead was furious at himself for being caught like that but Angerer’s expert opportunism were rewarded with a win and a 4-3 lead for his team.

UK vs. Germany: CWFC Lightweight title: Alexandre Izidro vs. Mario Stapel

A bitterly disappointing main event, that could loosely be described as a ‘fight’ but more closely resembled a friendly sparring session, saw Izidro take a majority decision by scores of 49-49, 50-47 and 50-46, evening the overall UK vs. Germany score at 4-4.  I had Izidro the winner by a score of 48-47, basically because he simply gave up a couple of rounds by doing nothing but dancing, posturing and backing away.  Stapel was at fault too, content to slowly walk after his elusive, passive opponent.  Despite repeated lectures from referee Marc Goddard, neither man seemed interested in doing any real damage or fulfilling their obligations as professional fighters to actually provide the paying audience with some entertainment.  The fight had moments of excitement, with some scrappy punching exchanges and nice takedowns and groundwork from Izidro in particular but they were very few and very far between.  The biggest cheer from a dwindling audience during this fiasco was when some idiot got naked (alright, he kept his socks on) and jumped into the cage in the fifth and final round.  Unfortunately, one drunken exhibitionist quickly frogmarched backstage and about 2 minutes of quality fighting is not much use when set against more than 20 minutes of boredom.