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.
The UFC makes its return to London, England with a huge main event in that of middleweight contender Michael Bisping, who returns to his home country and takes on former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. The co-main event is another middleweight contest between Thales Leites and Gegard Mousasi (who was originally due to take on Michael Bisping).
With a stacked card from top to bottom, the atmosphere at O2 Arena is one not to be missed.
Before we get to the fights ahead we have to make sure they all make weight.
Here are the weigh-in results:
Main Card
Michael Bisping (185) vs. Anderson Silva (186)
Thales Leites (186) vs. Gegard Mousasi (185)
Tom Breese (171) vs. Keita Nakamura (170)
Brad Pickett (136) vs. Francisco Rivera (136)
Preliminary Card
Makwan Amirkhani (145) vs. Mike Wilkinson (145)
David Grant (136) vs. Marlon Vera (135)
Scott Askham (185) vs. Chris Dempsey (185)
Arnold Allen (145) vs. Yaotzin Meza (144)
Krzysztof Jotko (184) vs. Bradley Scott (186)
Rustam Khabilov (155) vs. Norman Parke (155)
Jarjis Danho (261) vs. Daniel Omielanczuk (254)
Thibault Gouti (155) vs. Teemu Packalen (156)
Martin Svensson (154) vs. David Teymur (155)
Swayze Valentine. Swayze. Swayze. I can hear you saying the name over and over again, it sounds familiar but where have you heard it? And before you think “Patrick Swayze”, hold it right there!
What if I were to say to you, “UFC”? Would that ring any bells? How about if I also mentioned, “cutwoman”, you know, the female version of Jacob “Stitch” Duran or Adrian “Tenacity” Rosenbusch? Has the penny dropped now?
Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Swayze Valentine was a determined individual, whose parents instilled a good work ethic in her from an early age. This work ethic was instrumental in forging a career as the first (and currently only) female cutwoman in the UFC.
Having made her career choice back in 2006, it has not been an easy road, with many hurdles in the process to making it this far in her 10 year career. Acceptance and adversity is still one of the biggest challenges to overcome in this male dominated industry.
The rewards far outweigh any of the negativity that Swayze has had – and still endures – in her chosen career. Just listening to her passion and drive alone makes you want her to be successful in this forever-evolving sport.
“I feel that I make a difference. I love taking care of people. Being a Cut woman, I get to wrap the hands of these incredible athletes in a sport that many don’t understand. I get to take care of them when they need me most. I get them to the next round. A fighter recently told me that having me there brings him comfort. That meant so much. I am so glad that my presence can calm a fighter in the middle of battle. I feel that being a mother, I bring a nurturing, calming comfort to these fighters, which I think is a huge asset that I hold dearly!
I can’t lie, it feels amazing that I am one of the few, elite professional Cutmen/Women in the world. But I still have all those same struggles that I have had from the beginning. I still deal with adversity, I always will, and I’m okay with that!”
Swayze worked many hours and travelled hundreds of miles a day, just to gain experience wrapping hands in a gym environment, all for free before ever having a ‘paid’ job in her chosen career path. Swayze then asked renowned UFC Cutman Adrian “Tenacity” Rosenbusch for some advice. He took her under his wing and became her mentor for two years, training her in the ‘cut side’ of the work. Swayze held a great pedigree in her CV even before being approached by the UFC, having worked with promotions such as Invicta, Bellator, WSOF, MMA Explosion and King of the Cage, along with amateur MMA and Muay Thai promotions including, 1 Kick Nicks, Tuff N Uff, Battle at the Bay and Rumble on the Ridge, to name just a few.
Having made her first appearance with the UFC two years ago at UFC 170, “The Queen of Cuts” (a nickname given to her by Jacob “Stitch” Duran) must feel under a lot of scrutiny.
“Absolutely! There is so much more stress. Everything is more difficult. I have to be 150% better than anyone else. The pressure is magnified tenfold. I like it that way though. It keeps me on my toes and it is always exciting. I turn the pressure and stress into drive, and into a positive. I let it push me past all my insecurities and personal fears. I thrive on being in a stressful environment, I’m better, faster, and I’m stronger.”
If being a single mom to two boys and a cutwoman in the UFC is not enough to keep Swayze busy she has also taken a role in hit US Drama Kingdom. The show which features stars such as Frank Grillo, Kiele Sanchez, Matt Lauria, Jonathan Tucker, Nick Jonas, Joanna Going and has also featured guest appearances from UFC fighter Cub Swanson, with guest presenters Hendi Androl, Kenny Florian just to name a few. Airing on Direct TV, the Audience Network production will be returning to your screens next summer in the US.
With so many highlights over her two-year span thus far with the UFC, I’m sure it would be hard for anyone to choose some personal favourites but here Swayze goes through some of her highlights to date.
“Oh man, What a ride! I have had so many amazing experiences since 2 years ago! If we are just talking about UFC, some of my personal highlights was definitely my first UFC event. Next would have to be, when fighters request me to wrap their hands or be in their corner, and when Joanna Jedrzejczyk requests for me to wrap her hands because I am good luck for her. Another exciting highlight would have to be when I wrapped Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor’s hands for an episode of “Embedded” That was awesome… Just to name a few.”
As for advice to anyone who wanted to pursue a career in the same field as herself, Swayze had this to say:
“Being a Cutman/Woman, is a beautiful and rewarding career. If someone is interested, you have to check out Fight Business Academy!! This new online Academy has made becoming aCutman/Woman much more attainable than it has ever been before. Go to www.fightbusinessacademy.com. It is the first company to offer formal training for many of the exciting jobs in Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing and Muay Thai. This online academy has accomplished this through a hybrid of online classes and live Bootcamps with the top professionals in Combat Sports. Fight Business Academy also offers an exciting array of learning opportunities to fit every schedule and budget. From the “Academy Insider” weekly group chats, one-on-one Skype sessions to live Bootcamps in the fight capital of the world, Las Vegas Nevada! Fight Business Academy can teach you all the technical skills you need to be a valuable asset to any organization. It is so cool! I wish this online academy was available to me when I started!! I highly recommend anyone wanting to become a Cutman/Woman, to go online and check out this course.”
It’s day three at the IMMAF European Championships at Walsall in Birmingham and it promised to be another day stacked full of great competition.
Team UK had 7 athletes competing today and went 3-4 overall, which will also see both flyweights Jake Bond and Warren Mason face each other in the final.
It’s day two of the IMMAF European Championships at Walsall in Birmingham, where Team UK are competing against several high level teams to gain the ultimate Gold.
After yesterdays great start, Team UK carried on the momentum and brought today’s score to a rather impressive 5-3 by the end of the first rounds. With Jack Shore and Hardeep Rai both competing twice today and winning both times also. So you could say 7-3 at the end of the day in total.
Here are the Unofficial results from today:
Toni Lampinen (Finland) def. Franklyn Rodrigues (Portugal) via Decision (Unanimous)
Sam Slater (Ireland) def. Jussi Pirttikangas (Finland) via unanimous decision
Jack Shore (UK) def. Jonny Martin (N. Ireland) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) (Round 1 – 1:03)
Ultimate Impact Championship held their sixteenth event on Saturday, November 14th at GL1 Leisure Centre in Gloucester, for which also happened to be their 5th year anniversary as one of the South West’s leading Premier Promotions.
‘Iron’ Piotr Ptasinski New UIC 16 Middleweight K1 Champion
As well as having two Title fights for their main and co-main events, the rest of the card was nothing to be sniffed at quietly either with three exhibition fights, in which everyone was making their debut and one of those was a 0.23 second KO. I can easily say Dwight Edmonson has a very bright future in this ever evolving sport if that exhibition fight was anything to go by.
Whilst holding it down in the amateurs we were entertained to three exciting mma fights for which all went the distance, just proving that each and everyone that competed were evenly matched and fought damn hard, not forgetting the only amateur K1 fight which pitted 17-year-old Mason Carter against 22-year-old Josh Bishop.
Moving on to the PRO card and we got to see the current UIC female K1 title holder, Laura Handy compete in her 3rd MMA bout which was using semi-pro rules (No Elbows). I for one can tell you that Laura will be one to watch out for in the female flyweight division, especially having witnessed first hand how much of a ‘beast’ she is with her rear naked choke. Natalie Bee was no push over and tried to defend Laura’s RNC for a good 60 seconds before finally giving in and tapping.
Before we reached the two title fights we were in for a PRO lightweight treat between Aaron Khalid and former UIC lightweight champion Wayne Drake. From the outset you knew this was going to be a battle of whose submission game is the best and with a very evenly scored first round from both guys it was Aaron Khalid who came out in the second round with slick rear naked choke that made a very worthy opponent in Wayne Drake tap at the 1 minute 18 second mark.
First up for one of two title fights was the current UIC MMA Middleweight Champion Craig White competing against former Cage Warriors athlete ‘Iron’ Piotr Ptasinski in a PRO K1 title fight. Kudos to Craig White coming out to ‘The Lion King – Just can’t wait to be king’ and having an excellent choice in his perfectly pedicured painted toe nails ;). As expected we got to witness some ‘beautiful violence’ in true K1 fashion with both athletes having their own fair share of the non stop action for the full five rounds. It was, however, to be ‘Iron’ Piotr Ptasinski’s night as he was crowned the new UIC Middleweight K1 Champion via Unanimous Decision.
Jordan Miller New UIC 16 Lightweight Champion
The final fight was now upon us and it was time for current UIC lightweight champion Marc Allen to defend his title against UK MMA veteran in that of submission expert Jordan Miller.
The round starts fierce with both guys aiming with high kicks until Allen goes in for a single leg takedown on Miller against the cage where the action stays for a while as Miller’s takedown defence is really strong and he is not giving an inch. Allen is also not walking away as he is now aiming to go for a double leg takedown whilst both guys are battling for pure dominance but Allen perseveres and gets the takedown but not without getting himself caught up by Miller. Miller has Allen’s head and arm possibly looking for a head/arm choke to no avail and both guys scramble back to their feet.
Both up against the cage again with Allen trying to get a takedown and Miller looking for a kimora but to no avail and turns to land a few elbows to soften up Allen’s body. With the action returning to the ground Miller manages to slide himself back towards the cage to sit up but Allen has Millers legs tied up. Allen tries to sneak round-up and round to Millers back but as in doing so the submission expert Miller gets Allen in a Kneebar and he is forced to tap at the 4 minute 32 second mark of the first round. We have a New UIC Lightweight Champion – Jordan Miller.
Here are the full results:
Exhibition fights
Ben Bassett vs Joe Macfield
Josie Dorse vs Emilia Posadzhieva
Tom Rubery vs Dwight Edmondson (0.23 second KO Round One)
Amateurs
Charles Mason Def Donovan Smile Unanimous Decision
Dayle McCrae Def Dan Kneil Unanimous Decision
Josh Bishop Def Màson Càrter Unanimous Decision
Lukasz Marcinkowski Def Will Jones Unanimous Decision
Semi-Pro MMA
Laura Handy Def Natalie Bee RNC 2.00 Round One
Pro MMA
Aaron Khalid Def Wayne Drake RNC 1.18 Round Two
Pro K1 – Middleweight K1 Title
Iron Piotr Ptasinski Def Craig White Unanimous Decision
New Middleweight K1 Title – ‘Iron’ Piotr Ptasinski
Pro MMA – Lightweight Title
Jordan Miller Def Marc ‘Suplex’ Allen Kneebar 4.32 Round One
WSOF 25 which will be held on November 20th will be holding an eight-man lightweight tournament for which the use of elbows are prohibited in the earlier rounds of the quarter-finals and semi-finals.
Only when you have reached the finals, will you be able to use elbows again. The new rules, according to WSOF is help combat the issue of serious head cuts sustained when ‘raining down’ elbows on your opponent.
WSOF 25
World Series of Fighting announced new rules for the lightweight tournament to be held at WSOF 25 on November 20th. The main one is the ban on elbows for the quarter-final and semi-finals.
According to WSOF the quarter-finals of fights will be 2 rounds of 5 minutes and the use of elbows are not prohibited. If the judges declare a draw after the two rounds then a fourth official will come in and decide the winner.
In the semi-finals, it will be 3 rounds of 5 minutes, but the use of the elbow is again not permitted. And if any of the qualified athletes for the semi-final is injured, the fight’s loser will fight again, but if he is also injured, one of the winners of the previous bouts, whom have fought, will win the contest.
The final will be an MMA fight under unified rules; three rounds of five minutes and the use of elbows are allowed..
WSOF 25 will be held on November 20th at Comerica Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona.
The UFC made a return to Sao Paulo in Brazil last night for what was deemed a ‘Rubber Match’ between Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson, this time set at Middleweight (185 lbs). It was, as expected though, another win for Vitor Belfort and within the two-minute mark via a well executed head kick which set up the final array of punches to call time on the trilogy.
Full Results:
Main Card BT Sports & FS1
Vitor Belfort Def Dan Henderson Via KO (Strikes & Punches) 2 mins 07 secs Round One
Glover Teixeira Def Patrick Cummins Via TKO (punches) 1 min 12 secs Round Two
Thomas Almeida Def Anthony Birchak Via KO (punch) 4 mins 24 secs Round One
Alex Oliveira Def Piotr Hallmann Via KO (punch) 0.53 secs Round Three
This ‘incident’ happened on September 2nd 2015, just over one month on I thought I would re-cover the said ‘incident’ and put this ‘attempted’ awful crime that happened back out there for even more people to see.
Monique Bastos and her friend were on their way to jiu-jitsu training in Acailandia, Brazil when two men demanded their phones!
Much to their surprise, Bastos turned out to be an MMA fighter and wouldn’t let them get away with their actions.
“I’ve been through this a few times before, and it’s the second time I fought back,” she told MMAFighting.com.”There were two guys, and they were using knives, but I was able to use my jiu-jitsu and get my phone back. It’s a huge risk, but I did it to defend myself and my friends, so I used what I learned.”
In the video above, you can see how Bastos managed to capture the would-be thief and then subdued him by a figure four leg lock around his neck to stop him from moving until the authorities showed up. Now, that’s some serious strength!
Five Rounds with Emma 
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