Issue 005

July 2005

A French perspective

Darragh Creamer gives a French view of Cagewarriors that was marred by some spectators’ bad behaviour.

Mohamed El Aouji vs Chris Freeborn, Lightweight

When Danny Mann was unable to fight, Chris Freeborn accepted the fight with only an hour’s notice. Mohamed immediately got the better of the stand up and Freeborn clinched to take the fight to the floor. Mohamed showed strong wrestling skills to land on top in guard and tried to use the same ground ‘n’ pound as he did against Danny Batten. Chris defended well, forcing a stand up but the fight didn’t stay up long with El Aouji once again landing in top position. Chris continued to work well off his back but Mohamed shook off his submission attempts and continued the punishment in the first round.

The second round saw the fight hit the floor quickly but this time the Damien Riccio protégé landed in side control and passed to mount. The Frenchman didn’t keep mount long as Chris reversed him to guard. Mohamed showed that he can also work from his back; no sooner was he rolled than he started working a triangle. Chris deftly escaped but El Aouji switched and locked it in on the other side to get the victory. — 1-0 France.

Bendy Casimir vs Dave Swann, Lightweight

Bendy came out with a huge right hand and immediately shot to take Dave down. Once on the floor he attacked relentlessly with extremely aggressive grappling and effective ground ‘n’ pound. The Englishman looked a little lost on his back and Bendy constantly improved his position. Minutes into the round Bendy locked in an arm-triangle and clinched it tighter until Swann was forced to tap out, making it 2-0.

Boris Jonstomp vs Jim Wallhead, Middleweight

Wallhead pulled off a huge throw right at the start of the round; Boris got back to his feet only to be thrown in a similar fashion. On the floor the Frenchman took over, trying to sink in a rear naked choke. Wallhead defended well but only as far as mount where Boris started throwing some ground ‘n’ pound. His arms looked heavy from holding on to avoid Jim’s throws so the punches weren’t landing that well, when he switched to elbows he was more effective. Unfortunately for Jim, his judo background allowed him to pull off the throws also made him turn his back. Jonstomp finished with a neck crank — 3-0.

David Baron vs Dan Hardy, Welterweight

David Baron is the Shooto Europe Champion and he wanted to impress in his UK MMA debut — which he did by putting on the fight of the night with Dan Hardy from the Rough House Gym.

In the first round the Baron dominated. The Frenchman went smoothly from omoplata, to armbar, to triangle back to omoplata for almost the whole round. Dan showed great submission defence and whenever he got the chance dropped leather on his opponent.

In the second Dan used his stand up and ground ‘n’ pound more but again much of the fight played out on the floor, with Baron hunting for a sub. Near the end of the round Baron went for a leg lock, leaving Hardy in the ideal position to start rocketing down lefts and rights.

The third saw Baron get the takedown and work from inside Hardy’s guard. After a little ground ‘n’ pound Baron stood and threw some leg kicks, Hardy landed an up kick that rocked Baron, quickly gained the top position and laid some leather on the Frenchman. Baron showed the same mettle he had in his Shooto title fight and sunk a triangle, bringing the French team to 4-0.

Emmanuel Fernandez vs Danny Batten, Featherweight

The last fight before the interval was the first of three title fights. As champion Emmanuel Fernandez came out of his corner Batten felt him out with leg kicks. After taking two or three of these Emmanuel took the fight to the floor and clinched Danny up against the fence. From here Danny unleashed a relentless attack of submissions while Emmanuel tried to pass guard. Every time Emmanuel got past Danny’s guard the slick Ze Marcello purple belt would re-take position and attack with another sub just as quickly. By the time Emmanuel managed to secure side control the round had come to a close in one of the fastest moving displays of grappling I’ve ever seen.

The second round saw much of the same. Emmanuel tried to use a little more ground ‘n’ pound and managed to land some elbows; Danny continued his relentless submission attack and it paid off. Minutes into the second round Batten closed a triangle and bought the UK their first win, making it 4-1 going into the interval.

Gregory Bouchelaghem vs Ross Pointon, Light Heavyweight

At the start the Englishman threw huge hands at the Frenchman. Gregory wanted no part of the stand up and shot but found himself in a guillotine. The purple belt found his way out of the submission and took over. While Pointon managed to put Bouchelaghem on his back it didn’t delay his defeat. Gregory immediately worked for a kimura but Pointon’s strength allowed him to defend well, Greg then took the Englishman’s back and sunk his hooks in. The Frenchman sunk the rear naked choke and brought the score to 5-1.

Gregory took advantage of his win to grab the mic and call out Matt Ewin. Greg has fought as an amateur and a professional and his only loss in MMA competition came to Matt in a fight that Greg dominated — it seems it’s left a bad taste in his mouth. His call out didn’t improve his popularity with the partisan crowd.

Marcus Tchinda vs Antonio ‘Junior’ Silva, Super Heavyweight

This may have been the second title on the line but it was the first ever UK super heavyweight bout and the winner would be the Cagewarriors Super Heavyweight Champion.

Junior came out behind a nice jab and some low kicks; Marcus in return threw some head kicks, much to everyone’s surprise. After a short stand up exchange the fight hit the floor with Junior on top in half guard. From here the Brazilian dropped his huge hands until the Frenchman lost his mouth guard. There was very little activity so Grant (the referee) stood them back up. This time Junior’s fists had more effect and a jab sent Tchinda running to the other side of the octagon. Junior chased this up with a series of punches until Marcus dropped against the side of the cage. Junior followed through until Grant stopped the bout. Another first round win for Junior, and the score goes to 5-2.

Cyrille Diabaté vs Michael Bisping, CK1 rules

Next up, a cage kickboxing match between Cage Rage and Cagewarriors champion Michael Bisping and Extreme Force champion and former world Muay Thai champion Cyrille Diabaté.

Cyrille started slowly and Michael took the first round through aggression. Cyrille took far too long picking his shots while Michael threw a lot, mostly in flurries of wide hooks. 

In the second round Cyrille livened up. He started landing middle kicks and punishing Michael’s ribs a little and his left hand was getting through. Michael continued his flurries and stayed aggressive.

The third was much like the second with Cyrille landing the same middles and his left got through from time to time while Michael attacked in flurries. By the end of the round Michael was starting to look tired and Cyrille started to land the left more. Michael was showing serious signs of fatigue in this round and Cyrille was by far the fresher man. While Michael still tried to flurry throughout the round it was less often and with less conviction, Cyrille however was landing his left at will. The round ended and the decision was given to Cyrille, bringing the score to 6-2.

Damien Riccio vs Matt Ewin, Middleweight 

The last title fight of the night was a rematch of a fight held at Cage Rage. Matt shot immediately but Damien has a great sprawl and took Matt’s back but couldn’t sink the choke. Matt escaped and Damien worked from a butterfly guard against the fence. Later in the round it was Damien’s turn to defend his back even if Matt held the position until nearly the end of the round.

The second round saw a takedown attempt by Ewin but Riccio brought the fight vertical again, Ewin brought it down again and Damien used a butterfly guard while Matt ground ‘n’ pounded. The ref stopped the action to check a cut on Damien and deemed him fit to continue. Next it was Matt’s turn; even though he was bleeding heavily the doctor cleaned it and decided that the fight could go on. The ref stopped the action again a short time later as Matt’s cut kept bleeding, and that’s when all the confusion started.

Matt accused Damien of using his fingers to open the cut. Damien denied this and the video was checked. Nothing could be seen on the video so the accusations weren’t verified. The referee Loic Pora claimed that he hadn’t stopped the bout but only wanted to check Matt’s cut. As the XFC crew called for the fight to go to the judges’ cards and Damien called for the fight to continue, promoter Dougie Truman had no choice but to call the match a no contest and set a rematch for the very next show.

Barrington Patterson vs Emmanuel Marc, Heavyweight

As the fight got under way many of Barrington’s supporters forced their way into the VIP area and pushed up against the cage.

Barrington came out throwing kicks and punches; Emmanuel replied with a leg kick but wanted no part of the punches, so he clinched and threw Barrington with a big upper body throw. The Frenchman took mount but Patterson held on tightly and Emmanuel couldn’t escape his grip. Back on the feet we saw much of the same with Emmanuel again throwing Patterson, this time he landed in guard. Barrington held on but the Frenchman broke free, sat back and unleashed a hook that KO’d Patterson, making the final score 7-2 to France.

What had, up till now, been a great night ended on a sour note. Some of the spectators who had come to see Patterson weren’t happy to see him KO’d in such a brutal fashion and started throwing beer bottles and other objects at the cage, resulting in a fight between those who had forced their way into the VIP area.

Those involved hit each other with everything, including chairs; those not involved fled to safety on the other side of the room; and those in the cage stayed there and the gate was locked. As the police arrived only minutes later the violence was coming to an end, no immediate arrests were made and all the injuries seemed to be minor.

Cagewarriors promoter Dougie Truman has since expressed his regret for the incident and explained that he was not allowed to use his own security on the night. He has met with the staff of the venue and Coventry police and has secured the venue for the next Cagewarriors: Strike Force event on July 16.