Cage Rage 19: Fearless - event report

[Mr Boogaloo]

Cage Rage 19: Fearless

Continuing its programme of relentless improvement, the Cage Rage promotion ended the year by putting on a supercard of MMA action in the historic setting of London’s Earl’s Court. The sell-out crowd was not disappointed as the night brought some breath-taking displays of skill and bravery from some of the world’s best fighters.

Main Event

For the Main Event, travelling power-puncher Eric ‘Butterbean’ Ecsh arrived in London to take on the event’s British Heavyweight champion, Rob ‘The Bear’ Broughton. Rob made it clear in his pre-fight interview that he didn't want to stand up with the immense former boxer and shot in for a very low single leg takedown early in the bout. However, he found that the massive American was not easy to hold down as the fight quickly returned to the feet.

Not the most mobile of strikers, Butterbean relied on his huge one punch power, mocking Rob’s stand up in an attempt to draw him into an exchange. However, Rob came through a huge right hand in the second round to land with unanswered low kicks and jabs. A shoot attempt from Rob appeared to go horribly wrong as Butterbean dropped his entire 180kg bodyweight squarely on top of the British champion, However, he did well to work his way out, securing side mount and pounding Butterbeans face until he was forced to tap out, handing Rob his biggest win to date.

Main Card

In the battle for the Cage Rage British Middleweight title, Zelg Galesic surprised a large section of the crowd by smashing his way to victory over Mark Weir in less than a minute. Trading spiteful punches from the outset, both men landed hard shots before Zelg was able to bundle Mark to the mat and land in top position. Posturing up immediately, Zelg rained down alternate left and right hands, ironing Mark flat, and earning himself the title with another brutally impressive win.

Australian fighter, Elvis Sinosic confidently stated that he could stand up with South Londoner, Mark ‘The Beast’ Epstein and the fight began very well for him as he landed a solid knee to the face in the clinch. Mark, amazingly, shrugged off the shot and showed his experience by coming back to land with hard leg kicks and rock the Aussie with a pair of mean left hooks. The advantage was firmly with Mark until a trip takedown from Elvis saw him land in mount position where he immediately slapped on a straight armbar for a winning Cage Rage debut.

In one of the evening’s fine displays of grappling, winner of the 'Tight Pants Award', Daisuke Nakamura took on Cage Rage’s resident submission machine, Vitor ‘Shaolin’ Ribeiro. Vitor began typically with a very well executed double leg takedown and almost immediately secured the Japanese fighter’s back. Daisuke showed he is no pushover on the floor and gave Vitor some testing moments as he clamped on an awkward kimura attempt, momentarily stifling the Brazilian’s progress. Vitor, however, showed that he really is a class operator, shrugging off the attempt to work for his own kimura from rear mount. Daisuke defended bravely, but had no answer when Vitor transitioned to a straight armbar, pressurizing the elbow joint until it popped grotesquely out of position, giving the first round victory to ‘Shaolin’.

In a hard fought, rough-as-nightmares encounter, Paul Daley showed that he is a world class fighter before dropping a decision to Chute Boxe fighter Luiz Azeredo. Having fought some tough names in Japan, there was a great weight of expectation on the Brazilian to halt the rise of Nottingham’s up-and-coming welterweight. However, Luiz found himself in the fight of his life in the first round as Paul attacked ferociously and continually stood up after the Chute Boxers sneaky takedowns. Suffering from a cut and forced to work very hard for his successes, Luiz showed great class, digging deep to pull out the takedowns, controlling his way to a unanimous decision victory.

In the first fight of the live internet broadcast, Danilo Cherman showed some real determination, fighting for most of the third round with a broken arm to claim the unanimous decision over Jean Silva. Danilo gave a good account of himself early, slamming and controlling Jean – a jiu-jitsu black belt in his own right. Jean, however, was able to apply an unexpected straight armbar on Danilo, breaking the arm in the process; Danilo, to his infinite credit, refused to tap and fought back with his own arm bar attempt, earning the unanimous decision.

Undercard

In an untidy scrap, Dave Legeno came through a terrible cut under his eye to submit Alan Murdoch after 4 minutes of the first round. Alan had an advantage in the stand up but made the mistake of trying to take Dave down from the clinch. Dave immediately reversed the attempt, landing in side mount before moving precariously to rear mount to secure a rear naked choke.

One of the most intense fights of the night was certainly the stand up war between Xavier ‘Professor X’ Foupa Poukam and Alex ‘The Detonator’ Reid. An early feeling out process came to an abrupt end as a finger to the eye of Alex Reid saw him return to the contest firing punches with real venom. Xavier looked troubled at times but also had some great success, banging in some brutal knees to the body and an unorthodox front kick to Alex’s chin.

The Detonator had the last word of the first round, knocking Xavier’s mouthguard out with a right hand, but the Frenchman surged back in the second with more of his trademark knees. Before even a minute of the second round had elapsed, however, another unfortunate thumb to Alex’s eye brought the contest to a premature end. The fight, therefore, went to the scorecards with the unanimous decision awarded to Xavier.

In a clash between two of Britain’s best welterweights, Jess ‘The Joker’ Liaudin beat Ross ‘The Boss’ Mason, submitting him with an inside heelhook after three minutes of action. Jess started confidently with two right high kick attempts and landed a solid takedown as Ross moved forward with punches. Ross worked his way back to his feet and but soon found himself back on the mat as Jess pulled guard with a guillotine. Again 'The Boss' powered his way out of trouble, standing up to land an axe kick to the face of the downed Frenchman. Jess, however, kept his cool, tying up Ross’s leg and finishing with a nasty inside heelhook.

In other action on the card, Matt Ewin applied a no-nonsense gameplan to choke out the Scottish newcomer, Adam McCauley, while Suley Mahmoud made a successful return to the cage, choking his way to victory over the Italian, Francisco Ligato.