FieldingMellish
25th February 2005, 03:39 PM
Well, thanks to cancatanation of fucked up circumstances (never thought I'd get to use that word) relating to my own relative poverty, fucking council tax, poor disorganisation and the abysmal state of public transport in the UK I won't be going to Cage Rage tomorrow night. This does NOT make me happy but am still hoping for a good show as they have renewed their deal with Sky Sports so the usual 1 hour highlight show will air on a delayed basis. And of course the whole show will be out on DVD pretty soon. In another update, Cage Rage have cut a deal to have their DVDs distributed in France and are trying to get something sorted for the US as well.
As so often happens the card has been switched around a little due to late injuries. Actually only 5 of the originally announced 13 fights are still happening but this should still be a cracking show.
Aside from a few preliminary fights and match-ups between people few will have heard of here's the main matches and a few predictions:
RENATO 'BABALU' SOBRAL v. PIERRE GUILLET
Babalu is simply too good, too well-rounded and too experienced. Guillet has good submission skills and is an exciting fighter but this is just too big a job for him. Babalu by TKO2.
SOL GILBERT v. CURTIS STOUT
This is the one I was REALLY looking forward to. Gilbert is such an exciting fighter. Good boxing background, good power, improving ground game an dhe fully realises the value of being able to entertain the crowd. Stout is definitely his toughest opponent yet but has lost something like 4 in a row while Sol is on the up. Should be a great fight and hopefully by winning this Sol will get a little more international recognition. Gilbert KO1.
ALEX REID v. JORGE RIVERA
Like Gilbert, Reid is a good, exciting fighter (who believe it or not used to be in a British soap opera, Hollyoaks) and this fight could bring him a little more recognition. In early 2004 Reid lost to Mark Weir in what pretty much everyone who saw it claims is one of the greatest MMA fights to ever happen in Britain. Rivera though is very good and he handled Weir at Cage Rage 7 too, looking good in the process. He's also faced much better opposition - Loiseau, Franklin and may have too much for Reid. Rivera by decision.
EVANGELISTA 'CYBORG' SANTOS v. ANTONY REA
Chute Boxe striker Santos and Jerome Le Banner trainee Rea should be a stand-up war (Cage Rage seem to love matching up strikers). Rea had Rich Franklin in trouble when they fought before getting KO'ed and Santos is coming off a loss to Yuki Kondo and a long battle with injuries. No idea who's going to win but i've seen Santos fight and think he may have the edge. A speculative pick but Cyborg by KO2.
MARK WEIR v. GABRIEL SANTOS
I have no idea what Santos is like but certainly know what Weir is capable of. I saw his KO of Eugene Jackson live and its one of the most electrifying things I've seen in MMA. And he looked awesome against Johil de Oliveira at Cage Rage 8 as well. Though Matt Lindkland beat on him pretty easily at the next show. I'm not making a pick on this as Santos is such a mystery. Oh, OK, Weir by KO1.
JEAN SILVA v. LEIGH REMEDIOS
This is a late addition. Silva was originally supposed to fight Chris Brennan but he dropped out. Leigh was meant to fight Robbie Oliver but HE dropped out so these two agreed to face each other in a rematch. Silva won the first by KO and he's a weight division higher than Leigh, has been training at Chute Boxe and has generally improved since the first fight. A brave decision by Leigh (who's a very good fighter who had the misfortune to face Genki Sudo in each m,an's UFC debut) as I expect Silva to win this one fairly handily. Silva by submission1.
Lastly, there's a very late addition of two fighters who were never slated for this show. JAMES ZIKIC v. MELVIN MANHOEF.
Zikic is a good, skilled fighter with some pro boxing experience. Manhoef is, apparently a Dutch beast, a kickboxer with some amazing KOs on his record. Zikic is definitely more well-rounded so I'm going for him by submission1.
Finally, finally, finally - anyone in the UK reading this who CAN get to the show. Get down there! There are still some tickets left (I think) so you should be able to pay on the door. Check www.cagerage.tv or the MMA forum at www.sfuk.net for details.
As so often happens the card has been switched around a little due to late injuries. Actually only 5 of the originally announced 13 fights are still happening but this should still be a cracking show.
Aside from a few preliminary fights and match-ups between people few will have heard of here's the main matches and a few predictions:
RENATO 'BABALU' SOBRAL v. PIERRE GUILLET
Babalu is simply too good, too well-rounded and too experienced. Guillet has good submission skills and is an exciting fighter but this is just too big a job for him. Babalu by TKO2.
SOL GILBERT v. CURTIS STOUT
This is the one I was REALLY looking forward to. Gilbert is such an exciting fighter. Good boxing background, good power, improving ground game an dhe fully realises the value of being able to entertain the crowd. Stout is definitely his toughest opponent yet but has lost something like 4 in a row while Sol is on the up. Should be a great fight and hopefully by winning this Sol will get a little more international recognition. Gilbert KO1.
ALEX REID v. JORGE RIVERA
Like Gilbert, Reid is a good, exciting fighter (who believe it or not used to be in a British soap opera, Hollyoaks) and this fight could bring him a little more recognition. In early 2004 Reid lost to Mark Weir in what pretty much everyone who saw it claims is one of the greatest MMA fights to ever happen in Britain. Rivera though is very good and he handled Weir at Cage Rage 7 too, looking good in the process. He's also faced much better opposition - Loiseau, Franklin and may have too much for Reid. Rivera by decision.
EVANGELISTA 'CYBORG' SANTOS v. ANTONY REA
Chute Boxe striker Santos and Jerome Le Banner trainee Rea should be a stand-up war (Cage Rage seem to love matching up strikers). Rea had Rich Franklin in trouble when they fought before getting KO'ed and Santos is coming off a loss to Yuki Kondo and a long battle with injuries. No idea who's going to win but i've seen Santos fight and think he may have the edge. A speculative pick but Cyborg by KO2.
MARK WEIR v. GABRIEL SANTOS
I have no idea what Santos is like but certainly know what Weir is capable of. I saw his KO of Eugene Jackson live and its one of the most electrifying things I've seen in MMA. And he looked awesome against Johil de Oliveira at Cage Rage 8 as well. Though Matt Lindkland beat on him pretty easily at the next show. I'm not making a pick on this as Santos is such a mystery. Oh, OK, Weir by KO1.
JEAN SILVA v. LEIGH REMEDIOS
This is a late addition. Silva was originally supposed to fight Chris Brennan but he dropped out. Leigh was meant to fight Robbie Oliver but HE dropped out so these two agreed to face each other in a rematch. Silva won the first by KO and he's a weight division higher than Leigh, has been training at Chute Boxe and has generally improved since the first fight. A brave decision by Leigh (who's a very good fighter who had the misfortune to face Genki Sudo in each m,an's UFC debut) as I expect Silva to win this one fairly handily. Silva by submission1.
Lastly, there's a very late addition of two fighters who were never slated for this show. JAMES ZIKIC v. MELVIN MANHOEF.
Zikic is a good, skilled fighter with some pro boxing experience. Manhoef is, apparently a Dutch beast, a kickboxer with some amazing KOs on his record. Zikic is definitely more well-rounded so I'm going for him by submission1.
Finally, finally, finally - anyone in the UK reading this who CAN get to the show. Get down there! There are still some tickets left (I think) so you should be able to pay on the door. Check www.cagerage.tv or the MMA forum at www.sfuk.net for details.