Fighters Only

Issue 002

April 2005

WEMBLEY CONFERENCE CENTRE

FEBRUARY 26, 2005

After their excellent Cage Rage 9 show, many wondered if promoters Dave O'Donnell and Andy Geer could ever actually out-do themselves, as they had set such a high standard for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) shows in the UK. All such questions were answered in the best possible way-by stacking the fight card with the cream of international and domestic talent, they showed that they were able to draw top foreign names while still highlighting the best the UK has to offer.

Returning after his victory at Cage Rage 9, it was plain for all to see that the Brazilian Renato 'Babalu' Sobral is a bad man. Throughout the weekend you could feel the menace simply ooze out of this guy. At the weigh-ins, the rules meeting and backstage, everyone made sure to stay out of his way. The look in his eyes said some nasty things, but what everyone heard loudest was 'this is my night'.

American Pierre Guillet is a submissions wizard and a very competent fighter, but - and no disrespect to Pierre - compared to Babalu he is a B-class fighter. It is easy to forget exactly who Babalu has faced in his long and varied career, and the epic battles he has been through. For him, this was an easy walk in the park and Pierre was no more troubling than an afternoon breeze. A quick takedown and some vicious Ground 'n' Pound had Pierre tapping out just shy of the two-minute mark, extending Babalu's winning streak to a healthy seven fights.

I'm not sure if Curtis Stout was aware of Sol Gilbert's as reputation as a banger, but after the initial exchange of leather, he wisely took the fight to the floor to avoid those big punches. Stout didn't let up once while in Sol's guard - his work-rate was truly impressive, as he constantly pressured Sol with barrages of punches, elbows and threatening to pass guard. Sol defended pretty much everything thrown at him, even attempting a few submission attempts from his back, but he couldn't get out from against the fence and as he finally managed to make space to stand back up, the horn went signalling the end of the first round.

Energised by the break, Sol immediately came out firing-jumping in with a strong right cross and forcing Stout to cover up, he broke off and tried jumping in again with another combo. Unfortunately for Sol, this never came, as he jumped on to a perfect left hook from Stout. Gilbert was out before he hit the floor, victim of one of the sweetest KOS I have ever seen. A cautionary hospital trip showed no damage, and Sol is fit and well and talking about a rematch already.

Mark Weir may have been training with Chuck Liddell in the US, and you can bet that the core of their training revolved around getting back to your feet after getting taken down

Gabriel 'Gladiator Santos is a former training partner of Vitor Belfort, but while Vitor is noted for his fast hands, Santos is easily identifiable as a wrestler.

Mark Weir may have been training with Chuck Liddell in the US, and you can bet that the core of their training revolved around getting back to your feet after getting taken down, but in this case the training just wasn't enough to keep Mark off his back. Santos wanted no part of Weir's strikes and shot in for takedowns again and again, but made little effort to attack while on top. A frustrated Weir tried to use the fence to stand up, but Santos was well aware of this strategy and made extra sure to keep him down.

There came a brief period in the second round where Weir actually gave up a submission so that he could use it as an opportunity to escape and reverse position, but the bell cruelly cut short the Englishman's Ground 'n' Pound. And this really was the only highlight in an otherwise boring fight.

Santos was so dominant throughout the three rounds that the judges could only score it one way, and the decision was unanimous for the Brazilian.

London Shoot representative Alex Reid may have impressed the crowd with his sparkly shots and sublime choice of entrance music (the song Self Preservation Society from the classic film The Italian Job, complete with England chants!) but Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) veteran Jorge Rivera won the only battle that counted, in what some thought to be an all-too-easy fashion. Reid is a noted striker but Rivera put all chances of a slugfest out of the equation by tying him up on the cage early to avoid the body kicks being thrown his way. Keeping Reid pinned, Rivera suddenly broke away and landed a killer right hook, putting Alex to sleep only 41 seconds into the fight. For Rivera, this will have been a form of revenge since his submission loss to Reid's team-mate Lee Murray, but for Reid it is a crushing defeat.

Cage Rage regular Jean 'White Bear Silva has always been a fan favourite in the UK, entertaining everyone with his flashy Capoeira-inspired kicks and slick submission game. Someone all too aware of those high kicks was Leigh Remedios, as he had suffered a KO loss to Silva in devastating fashion back at Cage Rage 5. Though taking this fight at short notice and at a weight category higher than his own, he was determined not to find himself in the same situation and put Silva to the test in a blistering three-round fight.

Remedios has worked extensively on his stand up game with noted boxers Andy, lan and Dave Butlin. This was evident as Silva found all his attacks nullified and was repeatedly dropped to the canvas by a heavy low kick from the Englishman. While fairly even on the mat, Remedios scored the majority of the takedowns and at one point had Silva grimacing in pain with a very tight armbar. The slippery Brazilian managed to squirm his way out, but Remedios told me later the elbow had definitely popped. The only real ground offence from Silva was a half-hearted leg lock in round two and a sloppy triangle in round three.

For some reason, this was enough for him to earn a questionable draw, as Silva and Remedios had one judge each, while the third scored the fight a draw. The disappointment on the English team’s faces was clear and in contrast Silva looked relieved that he had retained his Lightweight World title.

Dutchman Melvin Manhoef was originally slated to face local-boy James Zikic, but an injury forced the Wembley native to pull out, and Mathias Riccio stepped in on only 24-hours' notice. Riccio is a noted striker from France – he was facing an opponent not unlike himself, as Manhoef has an extensive Thai boxing background.

Both these light heavyweights are short and stocky, and extremely explosive. No one expected this fight to go the distance and Melvin added another great KO to the night’s results by stopping Mathias at 3:01 of the first round. Though Riccio showed impressive head movement (a rarity in MMA) and some nice strikes of his own, Manhoef’s thunderous hooks were too much and soon penetrated the Frenchman’s defence. Cutting Riccio off and keeping him on the fence, a barrage of lefts and rights saw Manhoef declared the winner. When interviewed later, he proclaimed with a matter-of-fact attitude, “I live for this shit.”

Welterweight Jeremy ‘Bad Boy’ Bailey has been in the bad books since his disgraceful last appearance at Cage Rage. Suspended for three events for blatantly disregarding the rules, he cleaned up his act and totally exemplified the perfect sportsman in his fight with Sami Berik. In a back-and-forth battle that lasted the full three rounds, Berik was given a close split-decision victory for his edge on the ground.

French fighter Antony Rea made his UK debut in style against Chute Boxe team member Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos. These two light heavyweights had an all-out war that came to an end midway through the second round due to the barrage of unanswered punches that Rea had landed on the Brazilian.

Though Cyborg had stunned Rea early, he was caught by a counter left hook halfway through the first, and was left unable to mount and defence other than covering up against a non-stop torrent of punches and elbows. A TKO win at 1:55 of the second round saw Rea go back to France with the winner’s trophy and the Chute Boxe team go home empty-handed.

While the UK prospects did not fare as well as hoped, they still proved that we could fight the best of the best at their own game and give a damn good showing of ourselves. Some are worried the talent gap is too great for the UK fighters to begin challenging foreign opponents., and in some cases this is true, but with good matchmaking and a sensible approach to their preparation, there is no reason why the UK’s finest cannot keep stepping into the Cage Rage arena against European or world class opponents.

Full Results

Renato Sobral def Pierre Guillet by Submission (strikes) 1:57 Rd 1

Curtis Stout def Sol Gilbert by KO 0:20 Rd 2

Gabriel Santos def Mark Weir by judges' decision (unanimous) 5:00 Rd 3

Jorge Rivera def Alex Reid by KO 0:41 Rd 1

Melvin Manhoef def Mathias Riccio by KO 3:01 Rd 1

Jean Silva drew with Leigh Remedios 5:00 Rd 3

Sami Berik def Jeremy Bailey by judges' decision (split) 5:00 Rd 3

Antony Rea def Evangelista Santos by TKO (referee stoppage) 1:55 Rd 2

Undercard Results

Daniel Burzotta def Andy Costello by Submission (armbar) 2:38 Rd 1

Robert Berry def Andy Harby by KO 2:51 Rd 1