CW 142 results: Creasey, Elliott, and Favero steal the show

Cage Warriors’ return to Wales will be unforgettable with knockouts, submissions and stand out performances throughout the card.

By Kieran Cobley

Cage Warriors’ return to Wales will be unforgettable with knockouts, submissions and stand out performances throughout the card.

The main event saw Sam Creasey create history as he became the first man in the division to retain the flyweight title.

After a tumultuous wait to defend his belt, with his previous opponents, Luke Shanks and Dylan Hazan (who was unable to fight due to medical reasons) missed weight, Creasey finally got the chance to create history against challenger Stipe Brcic.

The 34 year old wasted no time picking up the win, dropping the Croatian in the first minute of the first round with a lead right hook before jumping on his opponent to lock in a high elbow guillotine to force the choke.

Creasey’s immediate future now looks uncertain; at 34 years old, the RGA Bucks fighter might struggle to receive a UFC call up, with Dana White and UFC matchmakers preferring younger talent, while in Cage Warriors, there is no definitive top contender following Aaron Aby’s loss earlier in the night and Dylan Hazan missing weight the last time he tried to get to 125lbs.

In the co-main event, Oban Elliott made sure the Welsh fans at the Ebbw Vale Sports Centre would leave with a smile as he put on the best performance of his career to beat former middleweight champion Matt Bonner.

In round one, Elliott would go straight for the kill, attacking Bonner with calf kicks and forcing him up against the cage, rattling the former middleweight champion with his tight knit boxing and forcing him to shoot for a takedown.

Round two started with Bonner coming out hyper aggressively to try and re-claw the first round, but Elliott weathered the storm and kept his composure.

The second half of round two was a different story. Elliott was rapidly slowing, and Bonner started landing heavier shots and forcing “The Welsh Gangster” into more uncomfortable positions, mainly at the end of his punches.

The question going into round three surrounded Elliott and his gas tank: had the early going taken too much out of him like it had in his two previous losses to Mike Figlak and Madars Fleminas, or could he stick it out?

As it turns out, Elliott could more than stick it out, putting Bonner on his back three times with takedowns and ensuring he landed enough strikes to make it an easy decision for the judges.

Elliott took a decisive win on the score cards, with all three judges scoring it 30-27 to the young welterweight.

Aaron Aby had the feel-good factor coming into CW 142. The Welsh flyweight had won eight of his last nine bouts, with his most recent two wins coming against a former flyweight champion, Samir Faiddine and former bantamweight title challenger, Gerardo Fanny, and not only that, this was the first time in his career that he would be fighting on home soil.

Michelangelo Lupoli was tasked with ending that story and easily fulfilled that task.

Lupoli was causing Aby major issues with leg kicks on the feet, and when the Welshman could get the fight to the floor, Lupoli stopped any offence Aby had to offer.

In the end, Lupoli would take a unanimous decision win, with the judge’s scorecards reading: 30-27, 29-28 and 30-26.

Stephanie Evans and Jasmine Favero made their pro debuts at CW 142 in a rematch of their IMMAF fight from a couple of years ago in the women’s lightweight division.

Coming into the bout, Favero gave up a lofty six pound weight advantage to the Welsh fighter and looked noticeably smaller in the cage, but showed her opponent’s larger frame was no match for her technical ability.

Favero would judo throw Evans in round one and outclassed her on the feet two before finishing her in round two with some nasty close range boxing against the fence.

Lupoli and Favero could now find themselves looking at a fight on Cage Warriors’ first ever Italian card in Rome on 7th October after such impressive wins.

Luke Riley kept his undefeated record in the min card opener, knocking out Cherif Larossi in round two.

Round one saw Riley preview what was to come in round two, landing hard shots from the clinch and securing a takedown.

In round two, Riley showed his clinch is not somewhere you want to find yourself, rocking Larossi with hard knees to the head before executing a perfect boxing combination, finishing with a left hook to the body to put Larossi away.

On the prelims, Matty Byfield picked up a win in the heavyweight division after a suspect elbow knocked out Szymon Szynkiewicz, with action replays showing the final two elbows landing on the back of Szynkiewicz’s head.

George McManus would take his record to 3-3 after submitting Milton Alfonso Cabral in round one with a rear naked choke. At the same time, Owain Williams and Chris Bungard picked up decision wins in their promotional debuts against Sean McCormac and Erick Da Silva, respectively.

Cage Warriors returns on 23rd September with CW 143 in San Diego before heading back to Europe for CW 144 in Rome in early October.

“My time is now to become Cage Warriors lightweight champion.” – Jai Herbert

Jai Herbert with Cage Warriors lightweight belt Credit: Cage Warriors

Originally posted on 5th June 2019

It’s 6 am on a cold winters morning when the alarm clock goes off. Jai Herbert wearily turns off the alarm, gets out of bed, and heads out to start another day in his physically demanding job as a scaffolder. Jai has been a scaffolder for the past fourteen years, working all over Britain.

Come 5 pm, Jai is back at home managing a quick cup of coffee before heading out again, this time heading off to the gym for a good 3 to 4-hour session. Not for a casual workout, but for a full-on training session in Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Jiu-jitsu or a cardio session – (depending on what day it is). You see, Jai Herbert is also an elite professional athlete in mixed martial arts while working a full-time job.

The 31-year-old who lives in Wolverhampton has only been competing in mixed martial arts (MMA) for the past seven years. Having won the amateur Combat Challenge British welterweight belt, and the BCMMA lightweight belt, Jai racked up an impressive record of 9-1 before deciding to go professional in March 2015. “At the amateur level, I fought all bar one of my fights at welterweight” Jai explains. “I never had to cut weight and didn’t see the point of putting my body through the strain at amateur level”.

Jai, who started training out of Wolfpack MMA in Wolverhampton and still does his strength and conditioning with John Ashley, has now made a move over to Renegade JiuJitsu in Birmingham under the tutelage of UFC athlete Tom Breese, to help improve the jiu-jitsu and wrestling aspect of his game. “It’s been a great move to Renegade Jiu-Jitsu. I get to roll and wrestle with Tom [Breese] a lot and with top athletes such as Leon Edwards (UFC) and Fabian Edwards (Bellator). They have brought my game on leaps and bounds” said Jai. “I also train at Firewalker Martial Arts where I do my striking such as Kickboxing and Boxing with Joeby Clayton.”

Currently on a four-fight winning streak, with his only loss coming in the way of a KO via Rhys McKee when he fought for the BAMMA lightweight title, Jai is no stranger to hard fights. His first fight since signing with European promotion Cage Warriors was against hard-hitting Erdi Karatas, where he won via Unanimous Decision, and it is the only fight of his career thus far to have gone the distance. His next opponent was Joe Mccolgan which Jai dispatched of in two minutes of the first round. Then, on March 2^nd, 2019, Jai had the task of facing veteran MMA athlete Steve O’Keefe, who resume consists of Artem Lobov, Conor McGregor and Chris Goldfish to name a few who had gone on to compete in the UFC. Again, Jai dispatched of O’Keefe within 4 minutes of the first round.

It was at this point Jai knew he would be next in turn to compete for the vacant lightweight title. “I knew I was going to get the shot to be honest” recalls Jai “It was the day after I fought with Steve O’Keefe I got a text to say Graham wants you to fight Jack Grant for the title and I was like yeah, sweet, when?” said Jai. “I knew it was going to happen as Jack was next in line to compete for the title, so I knew it would be him and me.”

With the date set as June 29^th, 2019 at Eventim Apollo, London, Cage Warriors will be hosting their 106th event billed as “Night of Champions”, where Jai will take on Jack for the vacant lightweight title. “Jack is a top fighter, he is outstanding on the ground, and he has good stand up too along with being powerful. However, I feel I am the best striker in the division. It is going to be a great fight; I’m going to get my hand raised, and it won’t be going five rounds.”

With Cage Warrior’s emphasis on fighter safety, all professional athletes must be SAFE medical checked, which includes costly MRI scans along with blood work. To help with these costs, Jai’s dad has helped with some of the medical expenses. However, Jai is still looking for additional sponsors to help him achieve the goal of being able to concentrate on being a full-time professional athlete, rather than only dedicating part of himself to his craft when he can train and wanting to reach his full potential. Jai would ideally like to give up work and train full time. If you feel you can help this young, gifted athlete out, please get in touch with him on either of the platforms mentioned below.

Jai would like to thank his current sponsor Animosity Fight Gear UK, all his training partners and his girlfriend Jaye Haynes, who helps him prepare for his fights.

You can reach Jai on the following social media platforms:

Facebook: Jai Herbert MMA

Instagram: @jai_herbert_mma

“Cage Warriors is the show where I’m going to make my comeback and win the welterweight title.” – Tom ‘Kong’ Watson

Originally posted on 8th April 2019

Born and raised in Southampton, England, Tom Watson first started in combat sports at the age of 16, when he took up boxing. A three-time ABA Southern Counties Champion and being awarded ‘Amateur boxing standout of the year’ in 2006 was his introduction into mixed martial arts.

Watson made his professional mixed martial arts debut on 19^th February 2006 for a local show at the Copthorne Hotel and Resort in London. On ‘ZT Fight Night 1’ where he won via Guillotine choke in 71 seconds, he returned on the show’s second instalment on June 25^th the same year where he won via decision.

In 2007, Watson competed in five fights for UK promotion Cage Rage gaining a record of two wins and three losses. From 2008 – 2012 Watson fought a further twelve times for promotions Cage Rage, AFC, UCMMA (formerly Cage Rage), MFC and BAMMA. With his sole loss to Jesse Taylor at MFC 26, Watson picked up the inaugural UCMMA middleweight title along with the BAMMA middleweight title when he fought Jack Marshman at BAMMA 9.

With news that Watson has signed to elite European promotion Cage Warriors and will be facing Aaron ‘King’ Khalid at Cage Warriors 104 on April 27^th, 2019 in Cardiff, it was only fitting that I should re-introduce ‘Kong’ to the world.

You’d be forgiven if you are not familiar with Tom ‘Kong’ Watson as of late, with his last competitive fight being on August 8^th, 2015 for the UFC. Spending three years with the world’s number one promotion in the UFC, Watson had two wins and five losses (with those losses coming by way of decisions) for the UFC taking his overall record to 17-9.

Watson was not done with competing and was still actively seeking opportunities to fight in the UFC. Having no success, Watson was released by the UFC and continued to explore roles outside of the UFC, doing some commentary jobs here and there. It was at this point that promotion BAMMA contacted Watson regarding doing some presenting and commentary jobs for them. They also wanted Watson (who had been with BAMMA since their first event up until he signed to the UFC) to compete again for them. This news was music to Watson’s ears as he had not hung up his gloves and retired as many people thought due to his 3-year absence from the sport.

Unfortunately, due to issues out of Watson’s control, BAMMA was no longer a viable option as a promotion to make his long-awaited come back on. Instead, elite European promotion Cage Warriors signed Watson in the welterweight division (Watson previously competed in the middleweight division) in January of 2019.

Watson trains predominately at his state of the art gym called ‘Analysis’ which is located right next to him in Southampton, and with the occasional odd trip back to California to train. Watson is already preparing hard for his upcoming bout for his Cage Warriors debut.

Deciding to cut down to welterweight was an easy decision for Watson. He stated that “quite a few people had told me that I should have been a welterweight when I competed in the UFC as I never really cut any weight. When I look back on my career I do wonder if 170lb was the weight, I should have been competing at, so this is an attempt to test out that theory.”

Not content with winning a UCMMA (formally known as Cage Rage) and BAMMA title, Watson has made it very clear that the aim is to win the Cage Warriors welterweight title stating “I’m not coming here to have a bit of fun or have a couple of fights. I’m coming here to pick up another title to add to the two other titles I have held. I don’t know if there is anybody that has all of those titles, so that is my goal.”

With his first love being boxing Watson is in the middle of applying of getting his trainers license as he has a few guys who are looking to make their pro boxing debut so he can be in their corner.

/With the legalisation of Bare Knuckle Boxing, Watson has a couple of guys that he trains. Watson stated “it is not something that interests me, I do like the idea of fighting without gloves more than with gloves, I think gloves are probably less safe, and bare-knuckle is safer. It’s a big misconception that people think Bare Knuckle Boxing is more dangerous. I’d say it is a lot safer as you can’t do much damage as you break your hands more and you don’t have this protection and mould on your fist to keep punching the shots away. I will say though on bare-knuckle when they wear the wraps; I think it’s like wearing gloves and its worse, so to me, bare-knuckle boxing should be basically without wraps or anything.”

Going back to his time with the UFC, Watson stated “ I competed against the best in the world, and I have never got finished by any of them, only losing by decisions. Quite a few were controversial decisions at best for me. Fighting is fighting and if you are losing a decision sport contest– well I’ve said it before, in the UFC I don’t really see that as losing, just the system and the setup. For instance, if we changed the UFC fight to a no time limit would of I lost any of those fights? I doubt it. It is what it is, that’s the rules you play by. Strategy wise I probably didn’t fight too smart. If you look at the earnings of the people in the UFC, I’m still relatively high up there, and I didn’t win many fights, so, on that basis, well it was smart – possibly.”

For those of you that have followed Watson’s career from the beginning, you will recall Watson enters the cage wearing a gorilla mask, hence why he has the nickname ‘Kong’. As Watson made his last appearance for the UFC in 2015, a new British fighter in the name of Darren ‘The Gorilla’ Till was making his debut for the promotion. “I’m not bothered by Darren Till” Watson states, “I believe Dan Hardy gave him the nickname ‘Gorilla’, it is what it is. I think everyone knows ‘Kong’ more than Darren Till’s ‘The Gorilla’.

“Darren Till is a great fighter, but I don’t think he is synonymous with a Gorilla.”

“Cage Warriors is the show where I’m going to make my comeback and win the welterweight title.”

With his debut for his Cage Warriors bout being dubbed ‘King’ vs ‘Kong’, there will only one way to find out if this is the start of a resurgence for Tom ‘Kong’ Watson by tuning into Cage Warriors 104 on April 27^th live on UFC Fight Pass.

“When I win Cage Warriors gold the UFC have got to see that my age is not a factor” – Scott Clist

This interview was conducted back in June 2016 and featured in the July/August issue of MMA Uncaged Magazine.

“Age is just a number. I will be in the UFC by the end of the year”

London, 2002 and the UFC held its first event outside of the United States for UFC 38. ‘Brawl at the Hall’ was held inside the iconic Royal Albert Hall. Headlined by UFC Hall of Fame veteran Matt Hughes and Carlos Newton. Also on the main card was a 36-year-old Ian Freeman who faced and beat a 23-year-old Frank Mir by TKO, proving that ‘age is just a number’.

Fast forward to April 15, 2016, when European Promotion Cage Warriors returned home to London and held its 75^th event. Making his debut for the promotion was 38-year-old Scott ‘The Priest’ Clist facing 25-year-old Brad ‘The Crazy Kid’ Wheeler. Clist was the heavy underdog and after weathering an early storm where it looked like Wheeler was going to submit him in the opening minutes, Clist gained control of the fight (with 30 seconds to go) landing a head kick followed by a right hook which knocked Wheeler to the canvas against the cage and began to unleash a barrage of punches (16) only for the klaxon to sound the end of the round.

It was in-between rounds that Wheeler’s corner retired him from the fight as he had taken too much damage, declaring Clist victorious by way of TKO at the end of round one. Proving yet again ‘age is just a number’.

“Age is just a number. I will be in the UFC by the end of the year”

Born and raised in Bridgwater, Somerset but now residing in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, the nightclub manager first started out in the world of Martial Arts at the tender age of 5.

“My dad would get me and my brother to throw punches and box train with him. He would show us how to twist our hips with the punches and lead with a jab” Clist recalls of his fond childhood memories. After briefly flirting with Karate, Clist settled on Kickboxing where he would start his Martial Arts career and held British titles in kickboxing and full contact Tae kwon do.

Clist was first introduced to Mixed Martial Arts by a colleague whilst he was working in Swindon as a barman at the age of 19. A doorman he knew lent him 3 video’s called “UFC” and after watching them decided he wanted to give MMA a try.

“After watching the ‘UFC’ video’s I attended my first MMA class which was also run by the same doorman who gave me the video’s. ‘Oz’, Michael Osbourne at ‘SVT’ Swindon Vale Tudo. Although I really enjoyed the class due to my working schedule at the time I couldn’t commit to it.”

After spending some time training in different Martial Arts and balancing a full time job, Clist found classes run by Tony Childs who was teaching San Shou, JKD, Combat Submission Wrestling and Escrima to add to his Kickboxing and Tae kwon do background.

Finally, after experiencing success in teaching kickboxing, Clist decided it was time to open up his own gym. In March 2008 The Revolution Gym in Trowbridge was born, all the while still competing as an amateur mixed martial artist himself from 2006 – 2009. In 2010 Clist turned pro finishing his first five opponents within two rounds. Although picking up his first pro MMA loss in 2013 to Dan Rushworth, that fight earned him fight of the night honours. Winning his next fight Clist then entered an 8-man tournament.

“I had no emotion in the lead up to the event and was spending a large amount of time teaching instead of focusing on my own training. Ali Maclean tapped my out with a north and south choke 4:34 seconds into the first round. It was the only time I had been stopped as a pro fighter. I was gutted.”

“It was after this fight that I realised I needed to focus on my own training so I shut down my gym and moved over to Dragonslair MMA in Melksham home to UFC athlete Bradley Scott.”

Scott 1 — Photo Credit Adrenalin Fight Night

Now [10-2] as a pro and with the help and guidance of Head Coach Stu Pike at Dragonslair MMA, Clist is currently on a three fight win streak after winning his last fight against Brad Wheeler at Cage Warriors 75 where he was very much the underdog on that card.

“I kept the fight standing for a while and me and Brad traded some shots until I threw a kick and he caught it. Brad got the takedown but I managed to get back to my feet only for brad to get a deep double leg and take me down again, his ju jitsu is sleek and he managed to get my back and sink in the body lock quickly. I went into autopilot and 2 on 1 defence. I had done this so many times in the gym that I was never really worried about getting tapped, I just had to get the lock off. I tried putting pressure on Brad’s ankle but that didn’t work so I had to defend and try to turn into him but like I said Brad’s BJJ is something else and trying to get someone as good as he is off you is not the easiest thing.

“After a few mins spent on the defensive I felt the lock loosen so I stepped over his leg to avoid him getting it locked back in, I turned quickly and we got back to our feet.

“I threw a good uppercut to the body and Brad backed off. I saw my opportunity and threw the head kick followed by the right hook.

I saw brad fall and started throwing down some serious ground and pound. I could hear his corner shouting “10 seconds, hold on Brad”. I kept throwing punches thinking the ref has got to stop it but he didn’t and the buzzer sounded for the end of the round. Brad’s corner retired him in between rounds which gave me a TKO win coming at 5 mins of round one.”

The fight Clist had with Wheeler was originally scheduled for a lightweight bout but got changed to a catch weight bout a few days before. So will we be seeing Clist again in the lightweight division?

“I would like to fight against top 10 opponents. A fight with Chris Fishgold would be interesting and a fight against Andre Ward would make for a great fight. I aim to Keep growing as a fighter and I am in the right place and working with the right people to do that and keep winning. I want to be a successful UFC fighter. I don’t just want to make it into the UFC, I will make it into the UFC and get some good wins.”

With a nickname ‘The Priest’ I did however wonder how it came about.

“My first sponsor gave me that name. I told him he could pick my ring name. He had just watched The Davinci Code on dvd and decided I looked like the psycho killer from the film (blonde hair, white skin) so he said it was great to call me The Priest. I kept it because it caught on after my first fight.”

As with any interview, I ask if Scott has anyone he would like to thank.

“Firstly, my wife and daughter as they put up with me missing time spent with them, being tired from training and weight cutting etc. I would like to thank my coaches Stu Pike, Bradley Scott for making me a better fighter. My boxing and s+c coaches Mark Kent and Smudger at contender gym. My teammates who let me learn and let me be part of their learning. Stu Mourant for making a massive difference and opening doors. My sponsors for helping me with fuelling my body, BadBoy Supplements (kalv Singh) and financially Nacho Cheese, Richard Henley (Heating and plumbing), Darryl Moore (Carpentry) and a massive thank you goes out to all my friends and supporters”.

You can follow Scott Clist’s journey on the following media sites.

https://www.facebook.com/scott.clist

Twitter

@scottThePriestclist

By Emma Bramford

Best of British MMA On UFC Fight Pass June 4th

Saturday, June 4 UFC FIGHT PASS^® brings a host of British MMA talent to fans with two incredible events on one day.

Michael Bisping (29-7; fighting out of Manchester, England) challenges for the UFC^® world middleweight title in LA, California, atUFC 199^®: ROCKHOLD vs. BISPING 2 while Cage Warriors showcases some of the best upcoming talent in the UK at Cage Warriors 76 from Newport, Wales.

Undefeated Tom Breese (10-0; fighting out of Montreal, Canada) will headline the UFC FIGHT PASS prelims on Saturday June 4 against American Sean Strickland at UFC 199^®: ROCKHOLD vs. BISPING 2. The up and coming Birmingham native previously competed for Cage Warriors before moving over to UFC in May 2015. Breese will be looking to show the level of skill honed in the UK as he makes his way up the welterweight rankings.

Closer to home in Newport,Wales headlining Cage Warriors 76 is Welshman Jack “The Hammer” Marshman (18-5), who is on a four fight win streak and will be looking to extend his streak on June 4. Marshman is ranked within the UK’s top 10 middleweights and one of the most dangerous middleweights with 11 knockouts in his professional career.

Also on the main card, Lew Long (12-3) returns to Cage Warriors with momentum on his side following five successive wins as he takes on UFC veteran Andreas Stahl. As one of the top UK ranked welterweights, Long will be establishing his lead in the division.

Jack Shore (1-0) is one of the youngest prospects on the mixed martial arts scene. Having one professional fight under his belt, the Welshman is the 2015 IMMAF Lightweight European Open champion and has 12 amateur wins making him unbeaten in his short career thus far.

UFC 199^®: ROCKHOLD vs. BISPING 2 kicks off on UFC FIGHT PASS at 11:15 p.m. BST on Saturday June 4. Ahead of this monumental event, catch all the action from Cage Warriors 76 also LIVE on UFC FIGHT PASS from 9 p.m. BST.

UFC FIGHT PASS is available on personal computers, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TV, LG Smart TV and Roku devices.

For more information or current fight news, visit ufc.com. All bouts live and subject to change.

RAGED UK MMA 3 Returns February 27th @MECA Swindon

Swindon based promoter Gary Turland and Trainer Michael ‘Oz’ Osbourne will be bringing Professional and Amateur Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) back to the town of Swindon after the success of the first two RAGED UK events last year.

RAGED UK will be taking place this Saturday, February 27th at MECA, Swindon which will host a fight card of six amateur MMA bouts along with five professional MMA bouts. Although it will be headlined by Swindon’s Phil Wells and Alex Brunnen, I can guarantee that with the addition of the first ever female bout on the card between Bristol’s L.J Adams and Kent’s Emma Delaney, both of whom are former Cage Warrior athletes, it will be these two females who will be stealing the show.

Full Fight Card

Pro Fights

Guy Lewis (70.2) vs Alex Brunnen (70.2)

Brad Watchorn* vs Kenton Kauppinen (93.9)

Shane Riley (77.1) vs Phil Wells (77.1)

Emma Deleaney (63.3) vs L.J. Adams (63.3)

Jordan Patey* vs Krystian Gowik*

Amateur Fights

Chris Bucksey vs Tom Enstone

Aaron Laleye vs Dean Hart

Mark Ince vs Mateusz Ginter

Oliver Harry Campbell vs Lewis Hawkins

Freddie Allen vs Dale Thompson

Sam James vs Kyle Bayliss

*Will weigh-in on the day with the amateur fighters

Weigh-In Video

Face offs

Tickets are £20 and £40 VIP available from all fighters, The Forum, The Khyber; alternatively you can buy online at www.swindontickets.co.uk or click on their social media pages Facebook/Twitter.

Tickets are subject to a surplus charge on the door.

Video Credit: South West Media

Photo Credit: Raged UK

‘Iron sharpens Iron’ – Piotr Ptasinski on his UIC 16 K1 Title Fight

Piotr Ptaskinski will be making his return to the octagon this weekend after two years away from the sport at Ultimate Impact Championship 16 this Saturday, November 14th at GL1 Leisure Centre in Gloucester, in a K1 Title fight against Craig White.
The 33-year-old, originally from Poland who now resides in Worcester, Worcestershire has only been competing in professional MMA for the last five years, but I guess realistically you could actually say only three years with his last two years out of the sport due to injury and having no motivation or hunger for the sport during that time.

The 33-year-old, originally from Poland who now resides in Worcester, Worcestershire has only been competing in professional MMA for the last five years, but I guess realistically you could actually say only three years with his last two years out of the sport due to injury and having no motivation or hunger for the sport during that time.

Before his two-year hiatus, Piotr fought for established European promotion Cage Warriors for which he had a career that consisted of 2 wins and 2 losses which brought his impressive welterweight record to 5-4 inside the octagon for professional MMA. Now fully healed, full of motivation and more hungrier than ever Piotr has decided to make his comeback in a K1 middleweight title fight.

“I have always liked stand up and although I have been away for two years I have been training in K1, Kickboxing and Muay Thai, so this to me was the perfect option for me to come back to with a great opponent in that of Craig White to showcase both our skills.”

Having watched several of Piotr’s fights myself, I for one know that he never takes a backwards step in the octagon and is always coming forward no matter what is being thrown at him. I guess this is where his love of the sport definitely comes in and makes him a fan favourite to watch in whatever promotion he his competing in at the time. Whenever Piotr competes you can usually guarantee there will be ‘beautiful violence’ involved.

“Whilst competing for the promotion Cage Warriors I did get given the nickname ‘The Polish Zombie’ after my fight with Moshen Bahari, at one point there was just blood coming out of my eyes but the polish zombie is not my real nickname (infact it is current TUF 22 competitor Marcin Wrzosek nickname) my nickname is ‘Iron’ given to me by Paul Sutherland after my fight with Daniel Brzozowski who knocked me down in the first round, twice, and I came back to finish him in that round in 2 mins via Armbar. That was when I was given my fight name of ‘Iron’.”

Although you may only recognise Piotr’s name from the MMA scene, you can be forgiven as although K1, Kickboxing and Muay Thai are the disciplines he prefers to compete in and for which he has done so previously in-between his MMA days, his last competitive K1 fight was in Spain three years ago for which he won and then he promptly carried on with his MMA way of life.

Being blessed in both disciplines of K1 and MMA and seeing now that Piotr’s motivation and clear hunger for the sport had worked its way back to him and having a ‘rebirth’ into this forever evolving sport the question now is what is the ultimate goal for which he would like to achieve within the sport.

“I don’t know at the moment as I don’t look too much into the future. I’m just looking at this Saturday and taking this belt, this is my ultimate goal at the moment.”

Training out of renowned Cheltenham Trojan Free Fighters under the guidance of head coach Paul Sutherland and Conditioning guru Matt Ewin who is known for his crazy hill sprints, Piotr’s level of training just keeps adding more explosive sets of weapons to the ever-growing arsenal of tools that he has already and is forever expanding into his growing tool box.

“The secret in Trojans being a really good teaching gym is the head coach, Paul Sutherland. He is one of the best coaches in the UK and the gym has a great training programme for every person. Paul Sutherland is the key to Trojans he is the Glue.”

For this specific training camp Piotr has travelled around a few places to get the ‘best of the best’ training and it all started in Poland where he trained at Tomasz Drwal gym who happened to be a pioneer of MMA in Poland and was the first Polish person in the UFC. Piotr’s next part of his camp was then spent with UIC 15 WW K1 Champion David Willmot at Team Tieu Cheltenham and then finally onto sparring seasons with former UFC and Cage Warriors athlete Chè Mills, not forgetting his daily training sessions with Paul Sutherland at Trojans.

“I was over in Poland for ten days training with Tomasz Drwal at his school which was just really good, having around 7/8 sparring partners my size training in boxing and kickboxing, it was a great experience. Training with David Willmot for whom is a multiple K1 champion, well, you couldn’t ask for any better and as for getting to train with Chè Mills he is 6ft tall just like Craig White but I feel Chè’s striking is world-class, in my opinion. If you want to beat the best you must train with the best.”

They say ‘Iron sharpens Iron’

As we start to talk about Polish fighters with the date being the 14th November when Piotr himself is due to compete, there is also another Polish fighter who goes by the name of Joanna Jedrzejczyk competing on the same night for a title belt defence, it would be rude of me not to at least test the waters on this subject.

“Joanna Jedrzejczyk is such a beast and I have been a watching her since I saw here compete in Cage Warriors. We polish are very proud. Although Valerie Letourneau may not be all together an easy fight, Joanna is still a different type of beast, her confidence is great and she will be unstoppable for a long time to come.”

Piotr would like give a shout out to his sponsors:

Poundout Gear and JGS Couriers Ltd

And also wanted to thank everyone who has supported him. Who has helped him with his preparation, training, motivation and inspiration.

You can follow Piotr on his Social Media Facebook and Twitter @IronPiotr

UIC 16 takes place this Saturday, November 14th at GL1 Leisure Centre, Bruton Way, Gloucester, GL1 1DT

Doors open 5pm first fight around 5.30pm

Tickets will be available on the door and online here

Photo Credits Main and 1st pic: Piotr Ptasinski Facebook and Cage Warriors

Video Credit: Stu Jotham

‘If I remember right he said he had “perfect stand-up” – Alex Brunnen

RAGED UK MMA takes place this Saturday, March 7th at MECA in Swindon which promises to be an action packed night of amateur and professional MMA.

I managed to catch up with one of the co-main event headliner’s, 23-year-old, Alex Brunnen, who in his own unique words discusses with me his up-coming fight with Julian Kerr, fighting back in his hometown since his amateur career, training at The MMA Lab with Benson Henderson and Joe Murphy plus his coach/mentor and good friend Oz.

You’re going to be making your home town debut on March 7th at RAGED UK in a co-main event. How does it feel to be finally not only fighting in your home town but to be also co-main event?

Whatever the running order of the fights, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m looking to put on a performance whether I was fighting first or last.

You train out of SVT in Swindon under your mentor, coach and good friend Michael ‘Oz’ Osbourne. Can you talk me through what it’s been like for you having such a good friend guide you through your career thus far?

Haha Yeah! Me and Oz are close. When I was just getting into this sport at 16 years old, Oz was like a god to me Ahaha! He is a real fighter. He’s down! I mean, I remember this one time, after a fight some guy threw some beer in the ring at me and Ozzy jumped straight out of the ring and started ‘throwing down’ into a packed crowd; beast!

You went 3-0 as an amateur before turning pro with a current record of 2-2. Personally I feel people do not give you the credit you’re due; Having fought Joe Orrey in your first pro fight who is the current Painpit Bantamweight Champion for which you won; Nad Narimani who is now at Cage Warriors which resulted in a second round loss. You’re a guy who will rise to the challenge of a tough fight and not back away, why?

I know I haven’t fought as much as my teammates over the last few years due to personal reasons. I finally feel I’m at a stage now, where I can go to other MMA gyms and not feel completely out of my depth. Back then when I was younger, I suppose I used to think of myself as a kid and perhaps I felt as if I didn’t belong with these guys but that’s changed now.

Looking back I feel I rushed the start of my career and should have had at least double the amount of amateur fights that I had; ultimately it doesn’t really matter now though.

I’ve heard you’ve been over to The MMA Lab in Arizona to do some training. Firstly how was the whole experience; secondly did you get the chance to train and roll with Benson Henderson; thirdly tell me more about trainer/fighter Joe Murphy.

Yeah I spent 4 months in 2014 over at the MMA Lab in Glendale, Arizona. It’s a great place. That gym is a martial artists dream. I THINK it has the most UFC fighters training in a single room anywhere in the world. The amount of lightweights and featherweights there is, is unreal! Everyone trains hard as fuck and there isn’t anything that someone wouldn’t be real good at. In my opinion it is the very best MMA gym in the world. John Crouch is a 2nd degree BJJ Blackbelt under Royce I BELIEVE and he is a wicked coach.

Yeah I’ve rolled with Benson. It was not nice (in a good way), that guy is a physical specimen. He really is something different and I’ve yet to see an athlete that’s close to his calibre.

Joe Murphy is a cool guy! Real good BJJ and he’s also a big fella for the MMA weight he fights at. He caught me in some funky omoplata shit when we were rolling one time and I was thinking “what the fuckkkk”.

For those people who do not know you or who have never met you, how would you describe yourself as a person then as a fighter?

As a person? hmmm… That would be a bit biased hearing an opinion on myself.

I’d like to say fucking legendary but I’m sure someone will disagree somewhere haha!

Would you say that there are any similarities between you and a young ‘Nick Diaz’ at all, as in his fighting mentality, his confidence – which more than often is misconstrued into being more cocky and arrogant than what it really is and that of his ingenious fighting style?

Nah there’s no similarities that guy is insane!

Do you think the key to a successful fighter is self belief in being mentally prepared as much as physically being prepared, if not more so?

The fight game is 90% mental I’ve come to realise that if you’re not in it mentally as much as you can be, you aren’t in it at all!

You’re facing Julian Kerr this Saturday March 7th at MECA, Swindon. Do you know much about your opponent or the challenges he could pose on the night?

If I remember right he said he had “perfect standup” We’ll see!

At the Pre-fight press conference I noted one of your quick-witted responses “You can be an inch taller but six feet under is quite low” looking back on that, what are your thoughts?

Haha I was having fun. I was chilling!

What can we expect to see from you on the night when you face Julian Kerr at RAGED UK?

A war.

As you’re the home town fighter, do you feel for once having a big home crowd will play a big part into the atmosphere and how you feel once those cage doors shut on Saturday night?

I’m hoping to draw the energy from the crowd and fire it into Julian through combat. It will be nice not be booed in my home town for once!

Lastly is there any sponsors or anyone you would like to thank?

Shout out to my team SVT, we train hard, we’ve really grown as a team lately too and there’s a good vibe. Shout out to Oz, and my kickboxing coach Daniel Hughes out of Scorpion kickboxing gym.

Thank you for your time Alex it’s appreciated.

You can keep up to date on Alex on his Facebook page here.

RAGED UK takes place this Saturday, 7th March at Swindon MECA.

Tickets are £20 and £40 VIP available from all fighters, The Forum, The Khyber; alternatively you can buy online at www.swindontickets.co.uk or click on their social media pages Facebook/Twitter.

Tickets will be available on the door (subject to availability)

Photo Credits: Alex Brunnen/Tear-up/Knuckle-up

All 31 TUF 19 CAST MEMEBERS ANNOUNCED FOR ‘EDGAR VS PENN’

The next next season of TUF 19 begins on April 19th and the names of the 31 men who will be fighting it out for a place in the TUF House, with the additional name being released after the season premiere. Only 16 men will get through and go on with their journey into the TUF house and fight for that spot to be in the UFC.

Team Edgar vs Team Penn will consist of 16 Middleweights and 16 Light Heavyweights, amongst those you will see two well known Irish fighters who fought for the promotion Cage Warriors; Chris Fields and former welterweight champion, Cathal Pendred who are well worth keeping your eye out for in this competition.

TUF 19 airs straight after the TUF NATIONS FINALE event on April 19th and don’t forget on July 6th at the TUF 19 Finale we get to see the two main coaches from the season Frankie Edgar take on B.J.Penn for the third time.

Here are the fighters:

Corey Anderson (3-0), 24, Lincoln, Ill.

Kelly Anundson (6-1), 29, Deerfield Beach, Fla.

Anton Berzin (3-1), 24, Philadelphia, Pa.

Josh Clark (7-2), 29, Richmond, Ky.

Chris Fields (8-4), 30, Dublin, Ireland

Matthew Gabel (8-3), 28, Le Mars, Iowa

Lyman Good (15-3), 28, New York, N.Y.

Eddie Gordon (6-1), 29, Uniondale, N.Y.

Jacob Heun (6-3), 26, Coconut Creek, Fla.

Mike King (5-0), 30, Naples, Fla.

Tyler King (7-1), 33, North Attleboro, Mass.

Dhiego Lima (8-1), 33, Sugar Hill, Ga.

Adrian Miles (14-5), 30, Biloxi, Miss.

Tyler Minton (5-1), 26, Johnson City, Tenn.

Todd Monaghan (8-2), 31, Clinton, Iowa

Cody Mumma (5-1), 30, Henderson, Colo.

Cathal Pendred (13-2), 26, Dublin, Ireland

John Poppie (3-1), 24, Ettick, Wis

Doug Sparks (7-2), 31, Bloomington, Ind

Daniel Spohn (8-3), 29, Columbus, Ohio

Joshua Stansbury (4-2), 29, East LIverpool, Ohio

Ian Stephens (4-0), 25, Ringgold, Ga.

Adam Stroup (5-1), 27, Denver, Colo.

Nordine Taleb (8-2), 32, Montreal, Canada

Hector Urbina (16-8), 26, Coconut Creek, Fla.

Matt Van Buren (6-2), 27, Chula Vista, Calif.

Bojan Velickovic (8-2), 33, Delray Beach, Fla.

Daniel Vizcaya (7-2), 28, Aurora, Ill.

Patrick Walsh (4-1), 25, Stoughton, Mass.

Tim Williams (8-1), 27, Milville, N.J

Roger Zapata (5-1), 27, New York, N.Y.

JACK MARSHMAN HEADLINES CWFC FIGHT NIGHT 10 IN AMMAN MARCH 28TH

With CWFC Fight Night 10 taking place at the King Hussein Youth City Boxing Arena in Amman, Jordan, on Friday, 28 March the main event for CWFC Fight Night 10 has been set.

The main event for CWFC Fight Night 10 has Tillery Combat Fighter Jack Marshman set to square of in a Middleweight bout against Abu Azaitar.

This will be Cage Warriors Fighting Championship’s fourth event in as many countries so far in 2014.

Marsman (14-4) will be making his promotional debut, and will be looking to make his mark on a already stacked middleweight division with an impressive win over Azaitar (8-2). “The Hammer” an active serviceman with parachute regiment 3 Para, he is one of the UK’s top Middleweights and is most known for his later win as ECC 2 and winning the British Middleweight title in December last year. Before that Marshman was a fan favourite with the british MMA promotion BAMMA, where he captured the BAMMA Lonsdale Middleweight title, as well as headlining BAMMA 9 against UFC star Tom Watson.

Azaitar (8-2) has dropped just one loss in his last nine outings and most recently disposed of former KSW middleweight champion Krzysztof Kulak by first-round TKO this past December. The 28-year-old German fighter of Moroccan descent, one of Azaitar’s two losses came via DQ – on his professional debut – and the other due to a cut sustained against Marcin Naruszczka, a loss he avenged last July.

An exciting bantamweight bout between Scotland’s John Cullen (15-7-2) and Russian star Marat Pekov (10-5) has also been added to the bill, along with the light-heavyweight clash of experienced Frenchman Malik Merad (16-11) and six-fight CWFC veteran Mohamed Ali (10-5), a fan-favourite in the Middle East.

However, an injury has forced Liam James (8-6) out of his featherweight bout against Dave Hill (11-3). James will be replaced by 21-year-old English prospect Sam Gilbert, who’ll be searching for back-to-back CWFC wins.

Three bouts have also been added to the CWFC Fight Night 10 prelims. Check out the full card below:

Abu Azaitar vs. Jack Marshman
John Cullen vs. Marat Pekov
Mohamed Ali vs. Malik Merad
Allan Love vs. Norman Paraisy
Marcin Lasota vs. Paul Marin
Sam Gilbert vs. Dave Hill
Jarrah Al-Silawi vs. Carl Booth
Elodie Puget vs. Vanessa Rico
Yazan Janeb vs. Hicham Laghzali

Press Release

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This interview was conducted back in June 2016 and featured in the July/August issue of MMA Uncaged Magazine.

“Age is just a number. I will be in the UFC by the end of the year”

“Age is just a number. I will be in the UFC by the end of the year”

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