Fighters Only

Issue 016

August 2006

Spennymoor Leisure Centre, Co Durham

Report by Peter Falkous, Photos by Hywel Teague and John Watson

We got to the venue right on time, we took our seats and the fights were underway without any complications. This was to be one of the biggest events this region has had in a long time, with UFC veteran Dan ‘The Beast’ Severn making his Total Combat debut against the much loved local Robert ‘Buzz’ Berry for the heavyweight title.

The evening started off with some amateur fights, and you could see a huge difference in the quality of some of the younger fighters. There were quite a few illegal head shots, probably due to the lack of experience or adrenaline of the fight, and those who had a greater takedown or ground skills had a clear advantage.

Ross Pearson and Gareth Hindz looked to be one of those fights where you didn’t quite know what was going to happen. Usually this ends with a split decision, which always leaves you thinking did he really win? Anyway Ross came out and took control of the fight within seconds throwing headshots and taking his opponent to the ground. 44 seconds into round one and it was all over with Ross putting on a textbook armbar.

Having only seen Mario “Sukata” Neto fighting on DVD I was really looking forward to see what was going to happen when he faced American Paul Bowers. Not really knowing too much about his opponent, I wasn’t sure what to expect but with Bowers training under Dan Severn, and Sukata at the Wolfslair, I expected this to be a ground battle. No surprises what happened- it went to ground with Sukata controlling the clinch and getting the takedown. After a minute of body shots Sukata managed to switch his mount to gain knee ride, where he put his knee into Bowers’ liver whilst putting his head into his jaw. Bowers tried for a little while to resist but tapped to the pressure in round one after two minutes.

Team Fighters Only member Rhys Iles (backed by his trainer and mentor Colin Sexton) was there to face Andrew Gallotti from Brazil in a semi-pro heavyweight title fight. You couldn’t tell which way the fight was going, as one minute it looked like it would be a stand up war and the next a ground battle. After an initial exchange of punches and leg kicks, the two would clinch, throw a few knees and then break before starting again. They spent a fair bit of time on the ground with body shots firing in, then after a short struggle it would be back on the feet. This was entertaining stuff and ruled a draw, which was definitely the right decision in such an even fight.

Shortest fight of the night went to Leslee “Hollywood” Ojugbana, who came out firing and knocked Kevin Jones to the floor. Jones, who had one knee down and was trying to get himself back up, took three illegal knees to the head from Leslee, which knocked Jones down to the mat. Leslee started to throw punches but was pushed off by the ref. The talk after this fight was that the ref should have noticed this and the fight should have been stopped and ruled a DQ.

The Main Event

There was plenty of buzz (pardon the pun) in the lead up to this fight. The internet warriors were speculating on the outcome of the fight before it happened and boy did they get it wrong.

When Dan Severn walked into the cage there was an air of calmness about him as if it was just another day at the office, which I guess after nearly 90 fights over 12 years in the game, it probably is. A lot of people had come to see the legend fight, but I think these people were in the minority as 99% of the crowd were there to (very vocally) support the local Robert Berry. As Dan waited in the cage on came the music for Buzz’s entrance. The entire place erupted and hundreds of people stood and cheered as Buzz made his way to the cage.

Round one got underway and the roar from the crowd was deafening but Dan didn’t even bat an eyelid, but it seemed to turn Buzz into the Hulk, as he unleashed a huge barrage of punches. One or two connected but again Dan didn’t even seem to notice, aside from the kicks Buzz slammed into his thighs. Buzz was controlling the fight and seemed to be making Dan step back a little, and those initial punches gave Dan an idea of what he was dealing with.

Buzz got the takedown and started to get in a little ground and pound, but the ref stood the two up which seemed like this would be a huge advantage for Buzz. Again the fight seemed to be one sided, with Dan taking several shots and Buzz controlling the cage. They went back to the floor again but Dan stalled from the bottom, as was stood up only seconds later. The fight looked like the internet warriors had it right - ‘The Beast’ was going to get knocked out.

Oh but how wrong people can be! The crowd were virtually trying to climb into the cage in a bid to get close to the action, and all of a sudden when it looked like Buzz was just about to take the fight, it all changed.

Dan timed a takedown to perfection and managed to get Buzz’s back. This was a shock not just for me, as the whole place suddenly realised that this could turn the fight around. The crowd went silent for a split second as Dan put in a rear naked choke and sprawled his legs out, driving Buzz’s face into the mat. After 4 minutes and 21 seconds of round one, it was all over. The crowd couldn’t believe it but even though Buzz had lost, his support only seemed to grow.

After the result was officially declared the winner Dan Severn took the microphone and we were humbled by a speech from the Beast, stating that he was honoured to be asked to fight here and would like to thank everyone for supporting the show and the fighters. It was a nice little touch from the legend to finish the night off.

The only one major concern of the night was the local Jim Davidson-like MC, whose name I am glad to say I don’t remember. Yes I know, it's not usually worth mentioning the ring announcer, however I, nor anyone else, is down with racist jokes, which in some cases were even directed to some of the fighters! This was disrespectful towards the fighters and the fans in the room, and we hope we never see him at a Goshin Ryu event again.