Fighters Only

Issue 031

November 2007

September 22^nd 2007

Wembley Arena, London

Things are changing fast for the UK’s largest home grown promotion; facing stiff opposition in the capital from the UFC, it appeared that Cage Rage may struggle as it put on its next show. However, announcing new depths to the partnership with Gary Shaw’s EliteXC less than two weeks before the event, eyes all around the world turned to London’s Wembley Arena for a night of somewhat lacklustre action in what could be the last of the ‘old’ Cage Rage.

The main event saw British boxer Julius Francis step up for his first foray into the world of MMA against the cheerful K-1 kickboxer and MMA fighter Gary ‘Smiler’ Turner. Facing quite a stern task, the tubby ex-boxer had some success as he fended off a couple of early takedown attempts and landed some meaty bodyshots in the clinch. Keen to avoid a punching exchange, ‘Smiler’ worked hard to take Francis to the floor and once there had little trouble holding position on the downed boxer. Strangely, in the second round it was Francis who went for a takedown, but he found his attempt thwarted and received several heavy shots to the head for his trouble. Out of his depth and with no means of escape, Francis had no choice but to submit, handing the victory to an elated Turner.

In one of those unfortunate match-ups where the contrast of two styles kills most of the entertainment from the fight, Vitor Belfort earned a unanimous decision over the machine-like James Zikic, taking the local fighter to the floor and controlling him for the win. Zikic landed a hard straight right hand early, which clearly shook the Brazilian, but, to his credit Belfort set the tone for the match by taking the London Shootfighters representative to the floor where he implemented a solid but unspectacular controlling game to wrestle the Cage Rage light heavyweight world title away from North London.

Young lion of the UK scene Paul Daley continued to boost his stock with a brutal ground and pound finish over the perennially dangerous Mark Weir. Exchanging high kicks in the first round, the fight promised to live up to all expectations as the two fighters fired off combinations of accurate strikes. In the second round, Daley landed two of his notorious left hooks, dropping Weir heavily to the floor. Once the Rough House fighter smelt blood, he went for the kill with a stream of punches to the downed Weir until the contest was stopped.

Jean Silva looked as hungry as ever as he overpowered and bashed noted American jiu-jitsu fighter Chris Brennan. In the second round Silva, now back in London permanently after training at Chute Boxe, landed a beautiful knee from the Thai clinch which put saw Brennan on his back, looking up at a flurry of right hands which forced the referee to step in.

In the heavyweight Cage Rage British title battle Tengiz Tedoradze won a unanimous (if dubious) decision over Mustapha Al Turk, which was booed by large sections of the crowd. Al Turk had some success on the floor in the first round, taking Tedoradze’s back and searching for the rear naked choke; to the most part, however, the Georgian wrestler controlled the ground fight from on top, but limited striking success.

Landing low kicks at will and bossing the centre of the cage in the stand up, the Al Turk kept the pressure on Tedoradze, who in contrast looked frustrated and out of ideas. I, like man y observers, was left with the strong impression that Al Turk had done enough to win; but as it is, Tedoradze remains the man to beat on the UK heavyweight scene.

Xavier Foupa Pokam caused a stir with his stunning first round domination of BodogFIGHT veteran Pierre Guillet. On his toes and constantly threatening with sudden, accurate strikes Pokam laid waste to the American serviceman, landing an evil left kick to the liver before following with a southpaw right hand to finish the job.

Arranged almost by accident, Matt Ewin stepped up as a replacement on three weeks notice to face his former foe, the colourful Alex Reid. After an intense stare down, Ewin began his ground ‘n pound mission, taking his opponent to the floor and chipping away with punches and taking a solid decision victory.

In other undercard action, Roman Webber used his raw power and aggression to take down and subdue Ed ‘The Smasher’ Smith, whilst newcomer Che Mills showed no sign of being over-awed as he submitted Ross ‘The Boss’ Mason with a rear naked choke, two minutes into the contest. Heavyweight fighter Neil Groves returned to face the highly touted K-1 striker Domonic Ostich in a heavyweight bout, with Grove quickly hurling Ostich to the floor and pounding him with hammerfists to record another startlingly quick win.