Fighters Only

Issue 011

March 2006

Cardiff National Ice Rink, Wales, Dec 3rd 2005

Photographed by Robert Swann

The fourth instalment of the Welsh promotion House of Pain was a step into the unknown for HOP promoter Mark Jordan, who took a leap of faith by moving from the dark but familiar confines of the Time and Envy Nightclub in Swansea, to the more spacious and chilly surroundings of the Cardiff National Ice Rink.

Challenging for the vacant HOP welterweight title was Paul “Hands of Stone” Jenkins (Cardiff, 25-20-3) who returned after spending 5 months out due to an operation. He faced the relative newcomer Jim Wallhead (Nottingham, 2-2-0), who was looking to take the 77kg Title back to the Rough House gym. The main event featured another Welsh favourite in the burly form of Bruce Davis (Swansea, 3-2-0) as he defended his UK Storm title against Chris Rice (Birmingham, 7-2-0).

Those who attended the first Davis/Rice clash back in June were treated to a war in which both men threw down repeatedly until Davis scored an impressive KO win. As the bell rang for the rematch it looked like a repeat was on the cards as Davis took advantage of Rice’s tentative start and took down the Birmingham based fighter by the fence. Davis then worked position before firing down several shots as he stood the grounded Rice, but Davis sacrificed this by switching to a submission attempt as he fell back looking for a heel hook.

Disaster stuck as he lost control of the leg, and Rice found himself virtually in full mount. Davis then made his second mistake by giving his back and Rice quickly sank in his hooks before forcing the Welshman to tap after just 1:37 of the first round in an exciting bout.

The welterweight title fight saw a rusty-looking Paul Jenkins and the former judoka Wallhead cancelled each other out for long periods of the fight. Wallhead managed to get the advantage due to his better clinch work and takedowns, which negated the stick and move tactics of Jenkins, and on the floor Wallhead was able to trap Jenkins by the cage and sporadically landed enough shots on the ground to avoid a stand-up. This might not have been the most entertaining way to go about things, but it was effective and ultimately frustrated the Welsh veteran and gave Wallhead the decision victory.

The rest of the card featured an array of lightening quick bouts in which the home crowd saw their inexperienced fighters suffer against their Dutch and English counterparts. The only Welshman getting his hand raised in victory was Jordan James, who defeated Gwyn Thomas via an injury caused by strikes from guard.

The other notable fights of the night saw the rising featherweight hope Ronnie Mann of the Trojan Gym secure a quick win as he recovered from a powerful looking Judo hip toss by Kyle Davis to sink in a triangle choke after just 44 seconds. The Urban Destruction/ Shooto Holland veteran Roodi Troost won the award for the quickest stoppage of the night as he defeated debutant Stuart Firth in just ten seconds after flooring him with a stunning flying knee, also connecting with several punches as a dazed Firth tried to recover.