Issue 013

May 2006

18^th March 2006, MEN Arena, Manchester

Written and photographed by Hywel Teague

Manchester has been home to big-name boxing events for a few years now, but unusually for a major city in the UK, has never hosted a MMA event. The famed Manchester Evening News arena regularly sees boxing world titles contested before crowds of thousands, and for the first time would bear witness to an 8-man middleweight tournament. There would be one notable boxing figure in attendance though- the notorious ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson would be at ringside, drafted in as a guest referee. 

The World Cage Fighting Championships (known as the WCFC, which had evolved from the more modest Cage Fighting Championships, a regular mid-sized show held in Liverpool) was being billed as the next big thing in UK MMA. An energetic yet sometimes misguided publicity drive drew attention from daily newspapers and TV news programmes across the channels. The hype was, well, a little tasteless for some. The flyers proclaimed that we would be in store for brutal action, while the tabloids played up every tired misconception they could think of. 

The event itself was a regular MMA show- albeit one in a giant venue, with good production values and some quality fights. The brutality the public seemed to expect never came, leaving the more uneducated of spectators dissatisfied, while fans of the sport were treated to fine displays of skill from some top international fighters. 

Drawing on fighters from around the globe, the tournament featured two Brazilians, an American, a Lithuanian, a Dutchman, a Frenchman, a Japanese fighter and a late replacement from Northern Ireland. The main card included the likes of PRIDE FC superstar Alistair Overeem, UFC veteran Din Thomas, and domestic talent such as Terry Etim, Alex Reid and Jason Tan. 

The Tourney

The tournament began with Team Grabaka fighter Yuki Sasaki meeting the Dutchman Rodney Faverus. A fearsome kickboxer, Faverus is as noted for his brutal striking ability as he is for his lack of a ground game. Though he scored a trip early in the round, Faverus was soon defending an armbar from the submission specialist Sasaki. A stand-up for inactivity saw Sasaki pull guard and patiently working his ground game. Sasaki controlled Faverus with ease and took a straight armbar at 4.40 of the first round. Though Faverus was oiled up, Sasaki managed to catch him while he hadn’t yet begun to sweat the oil from his pores and was still dry enough to latch onto. 

Next was a mismatch of the kind only tournament draws can provide. Leo Nascimento of Brazil, a heavy favourite going into the tournament, slammed the lost-looking Rodney Moore to the ground, pounded him and submitted him with an armbar in less than a minute. 

With his sharp array of striking and submission skills, Nascimento would be fresh going into the next round. 

The third tournament draw was the first to see a fight enter the second round, as Frenchman Gregory Bouchlaghem took Roan ‘Jucao’ Carneiro of Brazilian Top Team the distance. The Brazilian imposed his excellent ground game upon Bouchlaghem (Jucao is an ADCC veteran), controlling him and throwing good strikes from knee ride. The Frenchman (cornered by noted K1 and MMA fighter Cyrille Diabate) showed improved striking skills throughout the fight, punishing Jucao with leg kicks. The second round was all Bouchlaghem, as he negated Jucao’s takedown attempts and countered with multiple leg kicks, hurting Jucao. The rules stated that if the fight lasted the two rounds, an overtime round would be required if the judges weren’t sure of a winner. Oddly, they decided that Jucao had done enough to clinch it and awarded him the victory, much to Bouchlaghem’s dismay. 

The final fight of the opening round of the tournament saw ‘God’s Disciple’ Matt Horwich of the famed Team Quest take on the unknown Lithuanian Petras Morkevicious. Horwich was in trouble early on, courtesy of an audacious flying armbar from Petras. The American gritted his teeth and slammed the Eastern European twice, but still couldn’t shake him off. The two remained deadlocked, with the ref finally breaking the action. Horwich used his superior clinch game to obtain the back of the Lithuanian, and worked for a rear naked choke. He finally got it and forced the tap at 4.59 of the round. 

Thomas vs Azevedo

American Top Team fighter Din Thomas is one of those highly capable fighters left in no-man’s land after the UFC deserted its lightweight division. A one-time title contender, he has been left struggling to find fights where he can. Being offered the Scouser’s favourite Brazilian Luciano Azevedo seemed a good offer, so Thomas came over with plenty of confidence, yet aware of the danger he presented. “Fighting a guy like him, it’ll probably be a boring fight,” said Thomas pre-fight, referring to the fact he’d be unlikely to take risks. “I’m just going to have to do what I can to win.” 

Though he had been warned of Azevedo’s capable ground game, nobody had told him quite what a firebrand he is. Azevedo had built up a following among the Liverpudlian fans with his slick ground game and willingness to press the action. That’s exactly what the young Brazilian did, shooting in over and over in an attempt to get the fight to the floor. Thomas played a good sprawl and brawl game, only finding himself on his back a few times throughout the fight, and comfortably holding guard when he was down.  

Thomas cracked Azevedo with a huge right hand in the first that wobbled him, but Azevedo sensibly stayed out of range for the rest of the fight, always an inch away from the end of Thomas’ punches. The growing frustration was becoming apparent in both men, as neither could quite get the fight where they wanted it. Looking even on the scorecards, Azevedo clinched it with a knockdown late in the third. A deceptive setup for a left high kick saw Thomas take it flush on the temple. The American went to one knee, stunned but aware, but Azevedo didn’t follow it up. The two let everything go in the dying seconds, trading with gusto, but Azevedo’s knockdown had made its mark on the judges’ minds and took the unanimous decision after three rounds. It’s a good scalp for Azevedo, and a tough break for Thomas. 

Semi-finals

The second round of the tourney pitted Sasaki against Nascimento. The Japanese fighter needs to be educated on how to cut weight, as he looked far smaller than the pumped Brazilian. Nascimento’s size and strength made this easy work, as fired a flurry of punches and kicks into his smaller opponent. A scramble saw Nasicmento on top, pressuring with good g’n’p, and before long he had passed to knee ride. As Sasaki looked to escape Nascimento caught am anaconda choke and slowly tightened it for the win in only 2.23 of the first. 

Jucao had been the only fighter to fight to a decision in the first round, whereas Matt Horwich had spent five minutes in combat. Conversely, Jucao seemed to be the fresher of the two, winning the clinch battle in round one with two good takedowns. The submission grappling expert took Horwich’s back and later attacked with a tight guillotine, but the American did enough to survive and even mounted a small offence late in the round. 

The second round was more even, as Jucao’s exertions caught up with him. Though he scored well in the stand up portion of the round, dropping Horwich with a good straight right and again taking his back, Jucao tired and resorted to defending a sustained ground and pound attack. Horwich attacked with the Team Quest trademark punches and elbows, but couldn’t finish the wily Brazilian. Jucao walked into the finals with the unanimous decision. 

Tyson enters the Cage

The most anticipated fight of the evening was one between two relatively-unknown rookies in the form of local lad Terry Etim and his Spanish opponent Diego Gonzales. While Terry sold his fair share of tickets (there were probably more Scousers in attendance that native Mancunians), the real draw was the third man in the cage. 

Mike Tyson is a legendary figure in boxing. Forget his troubled past, forget the prison term, forget the ear-biting. Tyson is best remembered for his destructive capabilities in the squared circle and the swath of victims he left in his trail as former heavyweight world champion. 

Venturing into new territory, he was approached by the WCFC to perform referee duties at the event, and no doubt sold as many if not more tickets than the MMA fighters on offer. Brandished centrally on posters, Tyson was promised as a central figure to the evenings activities, yet his total ring-time was less than one minute. 

That’s how long it took Etim to triangle Gonzales into submission, giving Tyson an easy nights work. The Scouse contingent went ballistic when the up-and-comer jumped onto the cage to celebrate, taking his record to an undefeated five straight contests. One thing remains in question though- it was hard to tell who got the biggest cheer; Tyson when he entered the cage, or Terry when he won. 

Late replacements put it all on the line

Both Alex Reid and Jason Tan had no idea they were due to fight on the event until they turned up at the venue. Tan was there to corner Etim, while Reid was suite and booted and enjoyed the VIP hospitality and when he got the request. It just so happened Reid packed his trunks, and was able to go to work on only two hours notice! Tan, also fighting on two hours notice, was giving up a fair few kilos in weight to the Londoner, and claimed to not have trained for the fight. 

Regardless of the circumstances, both men gave it their all and put on one of the most entertaining fights of the evening. Tan scored well with takedowns in the first round, and Reid got to work with his famed up-kicks from on his back. He also attacked for a triangle, but Tan hunted the guard pass, briefly gaining mount at one point. 

A time-out to replace Tan’s damaged glove gave the two a brief respite, but they flung themselves back into action, with Tan using his right cross to good effect, and Reid scoring well with knees in the clinch. 

The second round can only be described as tough. Both men, undertrained for a battle of this nature, put it all on the line, literally fighting to the very end. Reid worked excellent strikes from his guard, mixing in some damaging punches with his up-kicks, an unusual technique and no doubt one he will be perfecting for his upcoming fight with Dave Menne (at Cage Rage in April). Tan consistently scored with his overhand right when the two were standing, but Reid smiled at the blows and stalked forward like the terminator. 

The decision, when it came, was excruciatingly close. Fought over only two rounds due to the late nature of the bout, the result was declared a split decision to Tan. Reid was disappointed and felt hard done by, yet was philosophical in his loss. Even trainer Andy Jardine didn’t complain, instead congratulating Tan on a gutsy performance, yet commenting the fairest decision would have been a draw. I happen to agree with him. 

A lesson in demolition

Alistair Overeem had it exceptionally easy in his match with the Croatian Sanjin Kadunc. After launching a few flying knees at the stumpy kickboxer, Overeem used a beautiful footsweep to gain mount. He rained down punches until he stalled for a restart, whereupon he repeated the process almost exactly before sitting off for an armbar.  Overeem literally toyed with the over-matched Kadunc, drawing jeers from the crowd. An easy performance from him sees him enter the PRIDE open weight GP in May in good condition, but a contest of this nature benefits no-one, least of all the fans. 

Tournament Final

Nascimento looked fresh and strong going into the final, whereas Jucao had waded through a total of twenty minutes of action. Even still, he came out strong and looking to fight, but Nascimento took him down into side control. Restarted on their feet the ref called a brief timeout due to Carneiro suffering a low blow, giving Nascimento even more rest. 

A brief battle in the clinch ensued, before Nascimento unleashed a flurry of punches. Taking Jucao down, he continued the attack from inside the guard, hammering away with lefts and rights until the ref called another standup when the action slowed. Jucao landed a clean 1-2 but couldn’t finish as the round came to an end. The doctor came in during the break to inspect Carneiro, and after much deliberation with the Brazilian Top Team corner, he waved the fight off. Jucao had suffered a broken foot at some point during the evening and could no longer carry on. Nascimento was ecstatic, and walked away £10,000 richer after a combined time of eight minutes and twenty-two seconds work. 

Summary

As purely entertaining as this event was, there was still a lot wrong with it. The fight card wasn’t released until 24 hours prior to the event, hinting at either incompetence or laziness. The card was subjected to more changes than one could count, some unfortunate and due to genuine reasons, some the doing of overzealous PR releasing information without confirming it first. 

On the surface, there were a few minor hiccups throughout the evening, namely the shambolic incident where the cage was opened mid-fight to allow a quick repair to a padding that had been ripped from its support. Backstage tensions were high, but this is understandable considering the loigistics of running and event in an arena this size. 

The worst thing about the entire evening however, was one totally out of control of either fighter or promoter. The awful crowd were the most disrespectful I have ever bore witness to. As far as crowds go, this had to be the most uneducated, bloodthirsty and unruly audience in the last 6 or 7 years. The booed everyone and everything, including the ring announcer Bas Rutten, the fighters, even the boxer Amir Khan, who was sat ringside for his first MMA event. The only things that managed to rouse a cheer all night were the ring girls, Mike Tyson, the victorious Terry Etim and the appearance of Manchester United footballer Rio Ferdinand. 

A return to the MEN Arena has been pencilled in for the summer. Lets hope that the negative elements are eliminated so we can enjoy the show for what it was- an evening of quality MMA action. 

Results

Tournament Quarter Finals

Yuki Sasaki def Rodney Faverus by Submission (Armbar) 4.40 Rd1

Leonardo Nascimento def Rodney Moore by Submission (Armbar) 0.59 Rd1

Roan Carneiro def Gregory Bouchelaghem by Split Decision         

Matt Horwich def Petras Morkevicius by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 4.59 Rd1

Lightweight bout

Luciano Azevedo def Din Thomas by Unanimous Decision

Tournament Semi-finals

Leonardo Nascimento def Yuki Sasaki by Submission (Anaconda Choke) 2.23 Rd1

Roan Carneiro def Matt Horwich by Split Decision

Superfights

Terry Etim def Diego Gonzalez by Submission (Triangle Choke) 0.59 Rd1

Alexandre Ferreira def Michael Knaap by Submission (Armbar) 3.10 Rd1

Jay Tann def Alex Reid by Split Decision

Alistair Overeem def Sanjin Kadunc by Submission (Armbar) 1.42 Rd1

Tournament Final

Leonardo Nascimento def Roan Carneiro TKO (Injury) 5.00 Rd 1