ShaolinVenom

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Dude looks like he's one of Machete's cousins lol Very cool work, Hare, and I'll begin with 200k

Cormac Mac Airt (365613) Cormac Mac Airt is available for a Middleweight contract for any interested organizations. I'll work on increasing his weight so he is at least minimum weight for that division as soon as possible.

60k

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Special Forces: 60k

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That Death Metal avatar is su-wee-tah!

http://mmatycoon.com/gallery/30/30b31.jpg Naftali Waithaka (365087) If any organizations are looking for a Middleweight fighter to join their ranks, Naftali is available for a contract offer should you deem him worthy of such.

http://mmatycoon.com/gallery/37/37a2.jpg Kazuhisa Nagashima If there are any KT organizations seeking young talent, Kazuhisa is ready to sign a contract and see what he's capable of doing.

SFL 15 | LOMAX RED PANTY NIGHT 209 ARENA Xavier: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the 209 Arena in Amsterdam! Styles: I’ve got to tell you, X. The name of this event is just frickin awesome! Who doesn’t like red panties!? Xavier: I have to admit I was intrigued and concerned because I wasn’t sure if that title would stir any negativity or offending allegations. Obviously, the title was given permission to proceed so that was taken care of. Styles: Of course it was taken care of! You know Commissioner Karter’s on the job! He hooks up the right people with a little somethin’ somethin’, especially here in Amsterdam, and it’s all good! Xavier: A little somethin’ somethin’? I’m not even going to ask! Styles: Come on, X! I know you’re pretty straight laced and don’t delve in some things but you can’t honestly sit there and act like you don’t know what that means! Xavier: No comment. Let’s get down to the Top 5 fights of this event! FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION: ATTICUS “HANDS OF JUSTICE” FINCH (9-5; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS DARREN DIXON (9-6; CURRENT STREAK: 2 LOSSES) Xavier: Kicking off the night of action were two fighters who have had similar ups and downs in their careers. This was an opportunity to get back on track for the both of them, especially Dixon, as he stepped into this fight having suffered a loss to Skillz Kneeland. The premise of this fight was pretty straightforward: Finch keeps this fight vertical and he has a great chance of winning. Dixon drags the fight to the ground and he has a great chance of winning. Technically speaking, Dixon was the man with the better technique and many thought his edge would provide him a victory, but on this night, it was not so! Both men have proven to be able to withstand powerful strikes so desire and will definitely factored heavily into this fight. In the opening round, Dixon was the aggressor and after locking Finch into a clinch, he dragged the fight to the ground and went for a crapload of submissions, quite frankly! He obviously didn’t get the tapout but keeping the fight horizontal paid off as he moved ahead on the scorecards. Round 2 was a toe-to-toe exhibition and Finch obviously welcomed that with open arms! Styles: Let’s be honest here, X! Any man who has “Ghetto Bird” as his entrance music is going to win the awesomeness points! Anyway, in round 2, Finch began to find a mark with his fists as well as sporadic counterstrikes, but not without paying a price. Dixon landed some pretty nasty shots himself and even took the time to tell Dixon he was gonna get knocked out! Dixon’s taunt pissed off Finch but he didn’t land any strikes to finish that round so maybe the tactic was effective…until the third round, of course! Finch looked possessed when the bell rang and though Dixon was more aggressive, he missed his strikes and left himself open for a devastating counter hook to the head! That clearly rung Dixon’s bell and he walked right into another crushing hook that turned out his lights! He face planted and Finch glared at him momentarily before having his hand raised! Nasty! WINNER: ATTICUS FINCH BY KNOCKOUT – 16 SECONDS OF ROUND 3 LIGHT HEAVYEWEIGHT DIVISION: JACKSON “BLIZZARD” STORM (7-4; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS JOHN “F-16” MAKRES (10-5; CURRENT STREAK: 2 LOSSES) Styles: Technically speaking, these men were very similar in level of skill and ability, so the biggest factor was heart and desire. Due to both men being nearly identical in ability, it was very difficult to ascertain what strategies each of them would utilize for this matchup. Round 1 was a beautiful toe-to-toe battle where both men showed their excellent boxing ability and footwork. However, once Storm was able to figure out how to avoid some of Makres’ excellent counterstrikes and well-timed kicks, he was able to string together enough strikes and add his own kicks to move ahead on the scorecards! Round 2 was more of the same as both men opted to test one another’s toughness by standing in front of one another, basically, and beat the hell out of each other. Xavier: It seems Makres doesn’t perform too well when he faces fighters named Jackson. His last two losses have been to Jackson Storm and Jackson Trigger. His management team may want to take a note of that for future’s sake. It also seems Makres felt like he fell too far behind in the fight because a look of desperation was in his eyes about halfway through the fight and he began to throw everything he had at Storm! That definitely cost him endurance and potential points on the scorecard due to his lack of landing those big shots. Granted, he tagged Storm with nice kicks but overall, Storm outdistanced him yet again and heading into the third round, he knew he needed a finish! Storm began the round with a very nice three-punch combo and that pretty much told the story of how the round would progress! Storm accidentally kicked Makres in the family jewels and the crowd moaned in empathy. Makres got himself together, touched gloves and got right back to work. Makres got in his own three-punch combo off a fantastic counterattack! That made Storm take a step back and give Makres his kudos. Storm finished the round strong and took this fight home! WINNER: JACKSON STORM BY UNANIMOUS DECISION MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION: SERGEY “THE VELSK CHIKATILO” SHIPILOV (9-2-1; CURRENT STREAK: 4 WINS) VERSUS “OG” SPANKY LOCO (10-6; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Xavier: The outline of this fight basically boiled down to who could keep the fight in their realm, so to speak. For Shipilov, keeping the fight vertical was the key to victory while trying to get this fight grounded was Loco’s best chance at victory. Loco was the man on an aggression mission from the get go! After landing some tremendously technical strikes and displaying excellent footwork, Shipilov settled down a bit and began to land his own clean strikes. Both men lit one another up with counterattacks and that made them both be more wary of the other but not so much that it slowed them down at all! Loco tried to impose his will in a clinch but had it broken by Shipilov shortly afterwards. Loco nailed clean strikes but they didn’t have the impact he was looking for. Near the end of the round after both men traded more strikes, Loco tried again to clinch but it was broken even faster. He went back to it yet again and the round came to an end soon afterwards. Round 2 was more of the same with neither man truly distancing himself a great deal with damage or volume of strikes. Styles: Both of them got looser and it was evident because they began trying more kicks and moving in closer to one another to try and land more damaging blows! It was tough to be a judge in the first two rounds but that’s why I’m in the booth and not an official outside of the cage. Round 3 was more of the same quite frankly until roughly a minute left in the fight. A snappy head kick from Shipilov nearly clocked Loco but he managed to duck just enough for it to not crack his skull! He did catch the tail end of the kick, however, and he got cut. However, no further damage was caused to the cut but the final decision was for Shipilov! WINNER: SERGEY SHIPILOV BY UNANIMOUS DECISION LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION: KAIDO GRAINDO (11-4; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS DOM SEVERINI (14-7; CURRENT STREAK: 2 LOSSES) Styles: The fight layout was simple: Graindo keeps this vertical and he has a great chance of winning. If it goes horizontal, Severini has the best chance. Graindo stepped into this fight with a substantial Muay Thai advantage from what we’ve seen of him in SFL, and there’s no doubt that skill advantage allowed him to secure this fight! Severini damn near got blasted right after the bell rang because he walked straight into an uppercut but Graindo’s aim was just a little off. If it weren’t for that, this fight may have ended before either man had a chance to truly fight! Graindo tried to use his Muay Thai advantage and lock in a clinch but Severini was wise to that plan and avoided the early clinch attempt. Graindo unloaded a horrendous overhand right that made the crowd gasp but Severini took it like a champ and kept right on going! Surprisingly, Graindo tried to take Severini to the mat but Severini stuffed the attempt. This happened a few more times and Severini got frustrated and decided to show Graindo how a takedown was done! Both men struggled on the ground and Graindo’s two attempts to make Severini tap were not happening. The round ended and neither man truly established himself as the clear winning of that round. Round 2 began as a clinch battle that Graindo initiated twice but he wasn’t able to unleash the type of damage he wanted to. When the fight went back to distance striking, Graindo was the slightly more effective fighter. Xavier: Agreed. Graindo landed the more timely strikes and despite his takedown and clinch attempts being primarily stopped, he was able to impose his will and landed clean strikes to the head and body with a good amount of consistency. Graindo seemed to find his striking range, however, and that would ring true in the final round. Round 3 was all about aggression and Graindo brought plenty of that! After landing various strikes, he unleashed a brutal combination that dropped and rocked Severini! Severini stood up and got knocked back down with a vicious overhand right! Graindo was on him before he knew it and unloaded repeated strikes until the referee pushed him off. WINNER: KAIDO GRAINDO BY TKO - 1:06 OF ROUND 3 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE: VINCENT “THE GOLDEN ONE” LOMAX (17-2; CURRENT STREAK: 3 WINS) VERSUS JOE DERRICK (14-8; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Xavier: Derrick stepped into this fight with an 8-fight win streak so the timing was perfect for him in that regard. Staying out of Lomax’s clinch while also avoiding being taken to the mat was the battle plan, I assume, for Derrick. Naturally, having a battle plan is one thing. Executing it is another story, especially against a champion of Lomax’s caliber! Well, right after the bell rang, Derrick locked Lomax into a clinch. Not the place he wanted to be, or at least, that’s what I thought! However, risks have to be taken, especially when a title is on the line, so kudos to Derrick for having that much gumption! Derrick really tried to aggressively use elbows and knees in the clinch but against a warrior with superior Muay Thai ability, that was questionable to say the least. Derrick landed some of his elbow and knee strikes but overall, Lomax got the better of him and landed effective body punches in the process. As the fight progressed, Lomax broke out of yet another clinch from Derrick and tagged him with a very nasty body kick that sucked the wind right out of Derrick! Styles: Absolutely! After that body kick, it was obvious that Derrick couldn’t quite get himself back together and his effectiveness was diminished! Derrick wanted to clinch badly so he could try and lean against Lomax and catch his breath, but Lomax wasn’t having it. Derrick gave that up and landed a clean jab then went for a leg kick. Lomax was waiting on the leg kick and after it sailed by, he leveled Derrick with a stinging right hand and knocked him down! To his credit, Derrick kept his facilities about him and got to his feet but Lomax became galvanized. Derrick again tried to clinch and after failing, he tagged Lomax with a jab then a beautiful cross but Lomax just took it in stride and kept going! Lomax scored with a couple of more strikes before Derrick again locked him in a clinch, but Lomax broke out of that clinch quickly and it was obvious he was tired of the clinching! Derrick blasted Lomax with a very nice hook and that was the final straw! Lomax unloaded a head kick from hell and that was pretty much all she wrote! Derrick landed with a thud and Lomax lit him up until the ref stepped in! Cruel and brutal finish but that’s what it takes to be a champ! There's a reason this was the KO of the Night! WINNER: VINCENT LOMAX BY TKO – 4:41 OF ROUND 1 Styles: All right good folks, that’s our time for this round of knowledge. Thank you as always for joining us and we hope we’ve provided entertainment and potential insight. Xavier: As usual, we thank Conquest for their support and awesome gear! Make sure to check them out! On behalf of Furious Styles, I’m Esiah Xavier, thanking you for your time and energy. We look forward to the next round of fights in SFL and we’ll see you soon!

SFL 14 | JIN vs. RISHKINOV III 209 ARENA Xavier: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the 209 Arena in Amsterdam! Styles: We’re back in the free-spirited city of Amsterdam and a huge smile is once again upon my face as I see all these beautiful women filling up the place! Xavier: All right, easy now, Styles. Yes, there are very beautiful women here from all over the world but we’re here on business. Styles: Oh, believe you me, I’m out here tryin’ to handle my business! Xavier: Yes, I’m sure. Let’s get down to business before you say too much more and catch a case! Let’s review the Top 5 fights! LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION: JAMIE JAMES (6-2; CURRENT STREAK: 3 WINS) VERSUS JACKS “GOT” SOLE (5-2; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Xavier: Kicking off the night of action was two young warriors who were both on winning streaks. That always prove to be intriguing because there’s a little extra motivation for both of them to pull out the victory and continue their momentum and hard work! James stepped into this fight with a 2-fight winning streak while Sole had a 5-fight winning streak. Many people expected Sole to win merely due to the amount of momentum he carried into this fight, but on that night, it was not meant to be! The expectations were James would win if this fight stayed vertical and Sole would win if this fight went to the ground. Sole began to bleed early in this fight after being tagged by a clean counterpunch but he didn’t allow that to deter his efforts. After some excellent exchanges, Sole locked James into a clinch and James took advantage by landing some elbow and knee strikes that, in my opinion, were the difference maker on the scorecards in the opening round. Sole jumped guard eventually and tried to lock in a submission but James was having none of that narrative. Round 2 began with a great deal of action but it appeared Sole was too aggressive too early in the round and that may have slowed him down too much because he couldn’t avoid a brutal right hand from James and he was knocked down and definitely rocked! Styles: To his credit, Sole shook it off quite quickly and continued to try and make his own tattoo on James’ legs with an ugly welt he created with all of his kicks! By the way, did anyone tell this dude that his nickname would make more sense if his last name was spelled “Soul”? Just sayin’! After continuous strikes and beautiful exchanges, Sole tried his luck in the clinch yet again. This time around, Sole was much more successful and concise in the clinch and he scored vital points before he broke the clinch and took his chances at distance. He finished strong though he did eat some clean strikes from James before the bell sounded for the conclusion of round 2. Round 3 saw both men dig very deep into their reserves and battle with all they had despite being hurt and fatigued! The crowd loved the pace and passion of these men. Sole went back into the clinch and both men struggled to make the most of it. Sole scored the takedown to try his luck there and after failing to lock in a Triangle, James managed to get back to his feet and finished with a clean counterpunch that may have been the deciding factor in that round. The judges deliberated for a little bit before submitting their scores and Jamie James was declared the winner by majority decision! WINNER: JAMIE JAMES BY MAJORITY DECISION WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION: LEON “VIRTUOSO” LOUIS (12-4; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS TOBI “TERROR” TERRORELLI (10-5; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: Here’s another fight where both fighters stepped into the cage with momentum from a previous win. In Terrorelli’s case, or TTT, he had a 2-fight win streak and Louis had turned his fortunes around after a tough loss to Toussaint Bissainthe! I still think Louis had a slightly unfair advantage because he has those weird colored lights blinking around him all the time. It’s like watching a bunch of psychedelic fireflies swarm around him. He made his game plan known right from the jump as he launched into a clinch immediately after the bell rang. I wonder if Terrorelli was caught off guard or if he thought getting into a clinch war was a good idea. Terrorelli missed a punch then found himself on the ground in guard position. Louis tagged Terrorelli with a nice ground-and-pound combination and Terrorelli wanted none of that! He tried to cinch in a submission but that only allowed Louis to gain side control. Xavier: Once Louis had side control, it was all downhill for Terrorelli! To his credit, Terrorelli tried to defende the ground-and-pound attacks but Louis was relentless and didn’t allow his side control to be altered by Terrorelli’s efforts. Louis landed a couple of clean strikes and rocked Terrorelli, who was unable to defend himself after that. Louis saw immediately that his one big shot did a lot of damage so he poured it on until the referee decided enough was enough! Louis took this one home in the opening round! WINNER: LEON LOUIS BY TKO – 1:59 OF ROUND 1 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION: TONY STARK (6-1; CURRENT STREAK: 3 WINS) VERSUS MARK DONCASTER (7-6; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Xavier: No disrespect to Doncaster intended but this outcome wasn’t really a surprise despite the 2-fight winning streak Doncaster brought into this fight. Yes, both men have a black belt in BJJ and that’s very commendable. However, Stark is the better wrestler plus he just looked a lot more pissed off than Doncaster did! He stared Doncaster down like the man insulted Iron Man by saying he could destroy Iron Man with a big magnet hooked onto his ballsack! Styles: Ha! No doubt, X! I mean, 40 seconds!? Granted, that’s about as long as you last in the sack but damn, that’s definitely quick! As soon as Stark saw his opening, he launched in, got the takedown, moved to half guard as easily as you get embarrassed about your lack of bedroom skills, avoided the sub attempt from Doncaster then put this one away with an Arm Triangle! Doncaster tried to fight it but his effort was futile! Doncaster had no choice but to tap out, giving the victory to Stark! WINNER: TONY STARK BY SUBMISSION - :40 SECONDS OF ROUND 1 LIGHT HEAVYEWIGHT DIVISION: “THE SHADOW” ARMAND CHRISTOPHE (10-3; CURRENT STREAK: 7 WINS) VERSUS “EXQUISITE” ANTHONY ROMEO (20-9; CURRENT STREAK: 2 LOSSES) Styles: No disrespect to Romeo, but the only thing that was exquisite about his performance was that he battled hard and with heart until the third round! He bled exquisitely, that’s for damn sure! Christophe has had one of the most impressive turnarounds I’ve seen in some time. He had dropped two fights in a row and his previous management team amicably went in another direction. His current management team signed him, refocused him and dude has been rollin’ like a fat kid to bakery! Romeo knew he’d have to fight one hell of an opponent and dig very deep to try and overcome the momentum. Unfortunately for him, his ability to hold in his life mud, or blood, didn’t match his warrior spirit in this encounter! The tone was set early in the first round when Christophe nailed Romeo with a straight left hand counterstrike that cut him open a little bit. After more damaging exchanges between these two, Christophe got a bit lucky when he landed a pretty ugly looking right hand that Romeo didn’t manage to avoid and it landed right on that cut! The blood began to flow more freely and Christophe locked Romeo into a clinch to try and work on that cut from close range, but Romeo managed to defend himself and break the clinch. On the scorecards, it seemed the judges went with Romeo so props to him, but the damage from Christophe couldn’t be ignored. Round 2 showed some nice techniques as well as determination because Romeo managed to avoid major damage before breaking the clinch. In fact, Romeo began to feel it because he blasted Christophe with an outstanding counter jab-cross combination that floored Christophe! The surprise was very obvious but Romeo stepped back and waved Christophe to his feet. That definitely was costly because shortly after that, Christophe landed a very precise counter jab right on Romeo’s cut! That opened it up enough to where the blood began to be an issue. Romeo would wipe at the cut sporadically when he wasn’t throwing strikes and that turned out to be costly! Xavier: Quite frankly, I was shocked that Romeo didn’t start bleeding much more heavily after he felt the devastation of Christophe’s counter right hand straight down the pipe! Christophe did the same thing Romeo did to him, stepping back and waving him to his feet. Romeo was definitely rocked but he managed to survive the round, and props to him for that! Round 3 was just nasty because Christophe leveled Romeo’s temple and cut with a ruthless right hook that peeled some skin back and Romeo began to bleed like one of Jason Vorhees’ victims! The ringside doctor said that was enough and the fight was called a TKO victory for Christophe! WINNER: ARMAND CHRISTOPHE BY TKO - :46 SECONDS OF ROUND 3 WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE: “BEAST FROM THE EAST” SERHEY RISHKINOV (18-5; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS KOBAYASHI JIN (14-5; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Xavier: Obviously, these two warriors have crossed paths previously and put on one hell of show each and every time! The first time they locked horns, Jin was made to tap out to Rishkinov by Triangle during their fight at UnderGround FC 105! In the rematch, Rishkinov had his 6-fight win streak snapped as Jin gave him a taste of his own medicine and made him tap out to a Triangle at SFL 07! Needless to say, this third time around was very highly anticipated by everyone in attendance, let alone these two outstanding competitors! Neither man was going to surprise the other with some unexpected approach or sudden change in strategy because they both know what the other is capable of doing, so this boiled down to desire, passion, will and the more sound technique with the right mix of aggression and defense! Round 1 was a display of grappling skill and ability of the highest level, as well as patience and intelligence. The crowd was very anxious and on edge to see if either of these men could pull off the near impossible and make one or the other tap out in the first round. That obviously didn’t happen but Rishkinov established the pace and the scoring on the cards. In round 2, both men said to hell with grappling and decided to try and beat the crap out of one another in the standup! Jin was more than happy to oblige Rishkinov in this approach and made it very difficult on the judges to outright give Rishkinov the nod in terms of scoring, plus he began to find his range a bit more. Still, Rishkinov landed the more timely strikes to take the round and the frustration began to show on Jin’s face. In round 3, Rishkinov opted to take his chances in a grappling battle once again after trading some excellent strikes and movement with Jin that the crowd got a little restless over. Jin tried to sneak in a good number of submissions but Rishkinov was too slippery and defended the attempts very well. Styles: Moving into the round 4, Jin’s cornermen were very animated and told him that he needed to finish this damn fight because he couldn’t afford to try and outscore Rishkinov anymore! In Rishkinov’s corner, they told him that they feel comfortable enough with him taking this fight to the ground and using his outstanding skills to keep control of the pace and space while avoiding Jin’s submission attempts. They were absolutely correct in that assessment because Rishkinov scored the takedown and avoided multiple submission attempts. Jin’s face was an unadulterated picture of frustration and anguish because he knew he’d probably need a knockout to win because the submission attempts just weren’t the business! Round 5 definitely showed Jin’s frustrations because he opted to bypass his corner’s instructions to try and score the knockout and instead, he landed a takedown and soon after that, Rishkinov reversed the positioning and that absolutely infuriated Jin! Jin tried to score one more submission but it was futile and once the bell rang, the disappointment set in on him. He was respectful in the loss but definitely wasn’t happy. He thanked the fans for their support and hoped that support would continue. WINNER: SERHEY RISHKINOV BY UNANIMOUS DECISION Styles: There you have it good people! Xavier and I as always, thank you sincerely and wholeheartedly for joining us for this review and we hope all of you enjoyed it! Xavier: Thank you very much to Conquer for their incredible contributions and merchandise, and again, thank all of you for joining us. We truly appreciate you and we look forward to seeing more exciting events that only SFL can put together! On behalf of Styles, I’m Esiah Xavier, and we’re signing off. We’ll see you at the next review!

Thank you, brotha Karter! Since you want it much shorter and sweeter, it seems it's easier for managers to read and that's my primary focus. I want managers to enjoy reading about their fighters without inundating them with verbiage.

Thank you very much, Aylib. I appreciate that!

SFL 13 | REDEMPTION MMA GRAND ARENA Xavier: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the MMA Arena in Vegas! Styles: Here we are back in America’s Playground, baby! Sin City! Nothing like it on the planet! I love this city! Xavier: Yes, I could tell because you went straight to the casinos and the drive-thru strip clubs! Styles: You’re damn right I did! After we finish, I’ll go right back to doing that, too! Xavier: Best of luck to you! Let’s get down to business in the Top 5 fights! WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION: MELDRICK TAYLOR (11-6-1; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS MIKE “THE MILK MAN” DAIRY (8-4; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Xavier: Since these men locked horns previously, this rubber match, as it’s called, was intriguing because people wanted to see if Dairy could defeat Taylor by TKO against as he did when the squared off at UnderGround FC 115. That battle went into the third round so it was no surprise this fight lasted that long as well. Technically speaking, many assumed Dairy had the advantage because he’s shown more prowess in Muay Thai, plus he had the obvious victory that made him know he could defeat him. The crowd and fans got their money’s worth in this fight because it was a straight up toe-to-toe war! No clinches, takedowns, or anything else except two men who wanted to put it all on the line and see who could come out on top! Round 1 was explosive as both men are Golden Gloves boxers and showed all of us why. Footwork, speed, sharp punches and beautiful counterstrikes were all on display and the crowd ate it up! Round 2 was more of the same and there were a few times each man took a solid shot but was able to shake it off and keep going without losing their sense of balance or lose their grasp on what was happening in the cage! Taylor went with more leg kicks and was mostly effective but did eat some counterstrikes for missing. Of course, he gave Dairy some of the same as well. Styles: Round 3 was all about will and thrill! Both men were exhausted and some of their strikes were getting sloppy, but they pushed through all of that and kept right on going at it like two men hell bent on defeating the other, and it was awesome to see! The fatigue was evident when Dairy tried to throw a combination and knocked himself off balance long enough for Taylor to land a clean straight right. Dairy tried to force the action a bit after that because he sensed he needed to step it up and probably get the knockout, but he obviously wasn’t able to get that knockout despite his valiant efforts! Taylor ate a clean jab and smiled so that showed how confident he was feeling despite eating that punch. The kicks that Taylor was landing began to really show their effectiveness as this round came to a close because he landed them more easily and he unbalanced Dairy a few times at least when he landed them! Some clean shots from Dairy gave Taylor a nice mouse under his right eye so he won’t soon forget this fight. When all was said and done, the judges saw rounds 1 and 2 being very close but Round 3 was all Taylor, and thus, he emerged victorious! I hope they fight again soon because that was one hell of a battle! WINNER: MELDRICK TAYLOR BY UNANIMOUS DECISION LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION; JOSEPH STALINOVICH (7-1; CURRENT STREAK: 6 WINS) VERSUS DON VIGO (10-9; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: Not to sound like a prick, but all of you know I don’t bullshit when I break down a fight. We all knew Stalinovich had the momentum heading into this fight and we also knew the struggles Vigo was enduring. In a nutshell, we expected that Stalinovich would win if he managed to stay on his feet while Vigo’s only true chance was to get this fight to the ground where he could possibly make Stalinovich tap! Stalinovich had a major Muay Thai skills advantage in this fight and he knew exactly how to use it. Vigo showed a hell of a heart in this fight, don’t get me wrong, and his excellent Golden Gloves boxing was definitely formidable, to say the least! It was surprising to see him try and land counter attacks with kicks because Stalinovich is too good with Muay Thai to fall victim to that. In fact, he locked Vigo into a clinch and landed some clean strikes while avoiding being tagged by a big knee strike from Vigo. Vigo managed to land some nice counterstrikes but Stalinovich was the busier, more effective man and scored the vital points on the scorecards. Round 2 was just as fervent and we continued to see excellent positioning, footwork and timing! Vigo began to find a nice home with counter punches, especially his right straight. Stalinovich returned the favor shortly after that before moving into another clinch. Vigo fared better this time but Stalinovich still landed the cleaner strikes as well as more of them, so Vigo managed to break the clinch and again landed some beautiful, clean strikes but ate too many clean shots himself, especially leg kicks, and that pushed Stalinovich ahead on the cards once again. Xavier: Heading into the third round, Vigo knew he had to finish this fight by knockout and avoid the clinch! Stalinovich also knew he could do the most damage in the clinch plus it would help him avoid the educated hands that Vigo has. Stalinovich won the clinch battle and once he locked it in, he showed very good defense and grit as he prevented Vigo from breaking free while he landed body shots that opened up Vigo’s defenses! Once the shots to the head began to land, Stalinovich was a man possessed and he continued landing shots to Vigo’s head that definitely began to ring his bell. Vigo landed a body punch and tried to break free right after that but Stalinovich was too determined for that! He avoided knees to the body from Vigo then landed more strikes until he found his way between Vigo’s hands, landed an uppercut that dropped him, then finished with a flurry that caused the ref to end the onslaught! WINNER: JOSEPH STALINOVICH VIA TKO – 2:37 OF ROUND 3 FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION: KAIJI “RONIN” INOUE (12-3; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS REIJO HALLI (10-4-1; CURRENT STREAK: 2 LOSSES) Xavier: This fight was highly anticipated due to both men being the same age, very skilled and favoring the grappling and submission aspect of battle, overall. Halli was touted to be a bit better in wrestling and Inoue better in Muay Thai. However, when it came down to brass tacks, it was all about intelligence, desire, and passion! Round 1 was definitely a feeling out each other situation because the pace, though basically as lightning quick as the previous fights, had a bit more measure to it but that doesn’t mean the intent to damage was diminished by any means. Halli found some solid opportunities using counterattacks against Inoue early and Inoue opted to counter that strategy with timely punches. Inoue locked Halli into a clinch but that didn’t last long as Halli’s strength may have caught Inoue off guard a bit but Inoue didn’t let up at all despite having his clinch plans thwarted a bit. Inoue broke the clinch because he felt it better for him to launch attacks from a distance and that was the smart move. To no one’s surprise, after displaying impressive striking defense and movement, Halli found the opportunity to go for the takedown and after dragging Inoue to the mat he attempted three submissions but was obviously unable to cinch them in! That finished out the round and it was on the judges to determine who got the better of who. Round 2 was even more of a chess game with each man landing clean strikes then Inoue took a chance by locking Halli into a clinch once again. He wanted to instigate the clinch because Halli tried to lock him in one literally the moment before! Inoue tried to land some knees and elbows but Halli defended against them very well and landed shots of his own. Inoue found a bit of a groove and began to land his own shots in the clinch but like he did in the previous round, Inoue broke the clinch to try his luck at a more distant range. Styles: That was the right choice to make, X, because he landed a nice kick then blasted Halli with a horrendous overhand right! The crowd reacted big time to that but to his credit, Halli took it like a champion and kept right on going. Inoue felt it better to try and wear down Halli with strikes to the body and he landed two shots in a row that definitely phased Halli! Inoue then went back to the clinch to try his luck again but broke the clinch shortly afterwards after failing to do any real damage. Halli put in his own work on Inoue’s body but that didn’t prevent another clinch from Inoue. However, after landing a good body shot, Inoue broke the clinch again. Dude couldn’t make up his mind about the clinch! Despite that slight indecision, Inoue pushed ahead on the scorecards and that would obviously be very vital! Round 3 was a bit of a surprise in terms of Halli’s decision to lock Inoue into a clinch instead of trying to secure a takedown straight in from a single or double-leg takedown. Granted, he tagged Inoue in the clinch but he ate a clean shot as well. He eventually got the takedown and scored sporadically with ground-and-pound before attempting an armbar, but Inoue wasn’t having it! Halli’s control on the ground in this round won him the round but, unfortunately for him, the first two rounds went to Inoue who was declared the winner! WINNER: KAIJI INOUE VIA SPLIT DECISION HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION: HENRY “THE AFRICAN” AKINWANDE (12-4; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS MIKE HAGGAR (12-7; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: Heavyweight fights are my favorite because the outcome is absolutely unpredictable! All it takes is that one proverbial strike and that’s all she wrote. I understand that’s possible in any weight division but the big boys bring the brutal wood that can turn out the lights in the blink of an eye! This turned out to be one hell of a toe-to-toe battle, at least in the first round. After pummeling one another with clean shots while displaying very impressive agility and movement from both men of their size, Akinwande decided to try his luck in the clinch. He got in a body shot but at a hook for his troubles. It seems that hook changed his mind about the clinch because he let that go after landing another body shot. Both men threw hooks that tried to end the night right then and there and both of them were ducked, so Akinwande decided to try the clinch again. Smart move! He landed a clean strike then sliced Haggar open with a well-placed elbow that squeezed through Haggar’s hands! That inspired Akinwande and he kept the clinch the rest of the round, landing effective and damaging strikes while displaying solid defense and preventing more strikes from Haggar getting to him that had the potential to do so. Round 2 was a different approach for Haggar because he wanted to end this fight on the ground! After both men tagged each other with clean strikes, Haggar got the takedown and scored with some ground-and-pound but it wasn’t enough because the referee got frustrated and made the fight return to the standup. Once that happened, Akinwande began to find his range and he landed very nice strikes, much to the chagrin of Haggar! Xavier: Round 3 was just a standup war and the crowd loved it! I was surprised Haggar wasn’t able to get the clinch into a takedown he attempted but Akinwande was one step ahead of him and that absolutely helped him close out the round on a high note. It looked like he felt he was going to win about halfway through this fight because he became much more precise with his strikes and displayed timely defenses! Haggar did what he could to knock Akinwande out by wearing him down with body strikes then trying to land that one chin-rocking shot but he wasn’t able to manage it! Haggar’s fatigue began to show because twice in a row he ducked right into an uppercut and he’s lucky that didn’t floor him both times. Despite his best efforts, he just couldn’t get to Akinwande and ate a nasty body kick for good measure as the final bell sounded! WINNER: HENRY AKINWANDE BY UNANIMOUS DECISION HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE: “RELENTLESS” JAMES FUSI (16-9; CURRENT STREAK: 3 WINS) VERSUS ALEXEI “BRICK SHITHOUSE” BABINSKI (15-3; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: The heavyweight title was on the line in this extremely hyped fight and it was worth every second of the 107 it lasted! Many assumed, myself included, that the 8-fight win streak Babinski – his nickname kills me by the way – brought into this battle would be stretched to nine, especially since he knocked out Fusi when they clashed at UnderGround FC 130. However, as the fight game reminds us all, anything can happen in any battle, especially in the big man division! It’s possible that Fusi watched the footage of his previous loss to Babinski and either saw a hole in his armor or just said eff it and went for it! Whatever prompted him to fight the way he did, it obviously worked very well for him because he shocked a hell of a lot of people! He brought his own 2-fight win streak into this fight but still, it’s easy to see why people didn’t expect him to overcome Babinski, yet, here we are! It seems the striking defense training Fusi did was enough although Babinski made him bleed after clockin’ him with a nice right hand to the jaw! That seemed to inspire Fusi, however, because he came right back and nailed Babinski with a clean shot. A few moments later, he made Babinski forcibly exhale before unloading a savage uppercut that knocked Babinski right to the mat! Xavier: That knockdown surprised Babinski, as did the cut that opened up above his eye! Babinski got right back into the action and landed his own clean shot with a counterattack. However, Babinski let his hands separate just a bit too much and Fusi clocked him with yet another uppercut that he didn’t see coming! Babinski, though dazed, got right back up and showed his warrior spirit. However, that wasn’t enough on this night as Fusi decided to do his best Guile from Street Fighter impression and unleashed a spinning back fist with enough torque on it to cause a local tornado! Babinski was out on his feet and fell to the canvas like a tree that was just cut at the base! Fusi raised his hand in victory and the fans loved it! WINNER: JAMES FUSI BY KO – 1:47 OF ROUND 1 Xavier: There you have it, ladies and gentlemen! Thank you as always for joining our show and we truly appreciate your time and attention. Styles: We have to give the usual love to Conquer and their awesome merchandise! Thank you for listening to us and watching us as well. We do appreciate you and we look forward to the kick assery that the Stoner Fight League brings! Until next time, take care of yourselves, be safe, be well and we’ll see you at the fights!

Thank you as always, brotha. I know it's faaaaaaaar more condensed than the loquacious novels I tend to write but Karter wants me to keep it much shorter and sweeter. I can hang with that haha

SFL 12 | SITSONGRIT vs FORTAY REVIEW 209 ARENA Xavier: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the 209 Arena in Amsterdam! Styles: Each time we visit this city, I grow to like it more each time! Not only is it attractive but it’s a lot of fun as well! Xavier: That’s very true, Styles! There are numerous activities that anyone can engage in pretty much any point in time. Styles: Absolutely! I don’t sleep much and this city is very accommodating with my sleep schedule! Xavier: I don’t want to know! Anyway, per SFL management, we’ve been asked to highlight the Top 5 fights from this event so that’s exactly what we’ll do. After all, they own our contracts and we’re here to report the information they want us to focus upon. Styles: They pay the bills for our skills, so we’ll handle business as always! I know you typically kick off the action, X, but tonight it’s my turn! HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION: SEBASTIAN RUTTEN (9-4; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS KING “THE CHAMPION” KONG (12-5; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: Typically when the large and in charge warriors hit the cage, we expect nothing short of a knockout unless one of them decides to be more focused on grappling. That was not the case in this fight! A standup war is what people wanted to see and that’s exactly what they got! The question was whether or not Rutten would take the chance of getting in a clinch war with Kong because Kong’s nasty knees are known throughout the industry. That question was answered about 30 seconds in when Kong locked in a clinch and cut Rutten with, surprise, surprise, a knee to the head! Oddly enough, Kong broke the clinch. True, his corner called for him to do that but it was still surprising considering he did enough early damage to cause at least a little concern for Rutten and his team. Kong tried to do more damage in another clinch but Rutten had enough of that. Round 2 was a toe-to-toe war and that may have been the downfall of Kong in this fight! Xavier: That’s right, Styles! Kong seemed to find a home for his head kicks because he tagged Rutten with a decent number of them. The most substantial one he landed opened up Rutten’s cut even more and that seemed to make Rutten dig deeper and find the energy and determination to bring this fight to an end! Rutten began to land clean counterattack shots and that swung the momentum in his direction slowly but surely. Rutten tagged Kong with a clean strike that didn’t seem to faze Kong until, suddenly, his legs became rubber and he was rocked! To his credit, Kong survived the onslaught from Rutten but he did take additional damage and that collective damage was the beginning of the end. Rutten found the range with a pawing jab, then loaded up on another job to setup the hook that knocked Kong to the mat! Rutten pounced on him and the referee had no choice but to call it! Nasty finish and well-earned victory. WINNER: SEBASTIAN RUTTEN VIA TKO – 4:59 OF ROUND 2 BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION: “THE TINY TORMENTOR” JUAN KEMONITO (14-6; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS URIAH CHIN (14-10; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Xavier: With a 15-centimeter difference between these two, or nearly six inches, the assumption was Kemonito would have to get inside of Chin’s defenses to unleash any substantial damage while Chin could rely on his standup skills to keep Kemonito at bay and tag him with kicks each and every time he got within kicking range. If this fight went to the ground then the assumption is Kemonito would have the advantage due to his more compact frame. Chin is known for having brutal knee strikes so it would make sense to take chance in the clinch but, of course, he risked getting taken down to the mat. That’s exactly what happened and it became a struggle for either man to land ground-and-pound when they had the dominant positioning! Chin got frustrated and decided to stand up after that. Styles: That’s when he made an error that cost him, unfortunately for him! Chin suddenly decided he’s better off in the clinch but Kemonito wasn’t having any of it. Kemonito went to the well too often with the takedown attempts and Chin was hip to that game, but Kemonito adapted and figured out how to use that against him. Two sharp counterstrikes and suddenly, Chin’s legs were rubber! He tried to land a kick while being off balance and that cost him dearly! Kemonito hoisted the taller man onto his shoulder and damn near drive him through the mat with a vicious slam! As soon as Chin hit the mat, he was out cold and went as limp as a cold prick! I have no doubt that was embarrassing an infuriating to wake up on the mat and see the replay of you getting planted! Damn nice win for Kemonito! WINNER: JUAN KEMONITO VIA SLAM – 3:58 OF ROUND 1 FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION: LYNTON “THE OZ THRILLER” MILLER (10-4-1; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS SKILLZ KNEELAND (12-7; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: Miller was the aggressor in Round 1 as he went for the clinch early and was able to secure it the second time he attempted it. He went for takedowns while avoiding getting cracked by elbows from Kneeland and he eventually got the takedown after showing good defensive skills! This fight continued to be a struggle on the ground as both warriors tried to gain the positional advantage. There was some ground-and-pound from Miller until Kneeland reversed the situation. Kneeland was content to control the positioning until the round ended, much to the displeasure of the capacity crowd. Miller went right back to the clinch as soon as the bell sounded and he paid for it in blood from a nasty elbow from Kneeland! Both men traded some strikes until Miller was able to land another takedown, scoring vital points on the scorecards while doing so. Miller wasn’t able to land any strong ground-and-pound and the referee had seen enough. He stood them up and Miller seemed to find his range better after that, consequently. He picked up the pace, hit Kneeland plenty of times in the face and onto the third round they went. Xavier: Round 3 was more of the same with Miller scoring the takedown and looking to score points and damage via ground-and-pound. He was able to land enough strikes to make them count and he pushed ahead on the scorecards. He even managed to land a jaw-crunching elbow that definitely made Kneeland’s eyes water for a moment and daze him! Miller then managed to land a knee to the body then another elbow to the head, a sneaky but effective combination that got the job done. Kneeland seemed to lose some energy after that combination because Miller was able to land more strikes after Kneeland showed good defense for a couple of bursts Miller had. The referee got frustrated and stood both men up and the crowd let both men know they didn’t appreciate the methodical pace this fight grinded down to! Miller won this fight easily on the scorecards but I know he can’t be happy with the way the fight progressed at all. WINNER: LYNTON MILLER VIA UNANIMOUS DECISION FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION: “THE ORIGINAL RUDE BOY” AZACCA TROUNVOUCHE (10-3; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS “THE SANDMAN” REGINAL BUDGIEHANDLER (14-6; CURRENT STREAK: 3 LOSSES) Xavier: Trounvouche knew Budgiehandler had been struggling plus he paid the price for losing his last two fights because both of them ended in the first round! Budgiehandler is all aggression and power and that’s beautiful when it works! It worked very well for him because he’s a multi-time champion but on this night, it cost him. As expected, the energy and aggression from both men was on full display as they traded strikes, dodged others, and dared one another to keep it going. The crowd fully enjoyed the pace of this battle and were very much into it from the very beginning, undoubtedly a reprieve from the slowed pace of the previous battle. Both men were able to land some strikes but the big shots, at least early, weren’t landing and slight frustration could be seen on both of their faces as they saw their strikes barely miss their targets. Styles: The action was great with back-and-forth strikes, defense and footwork. Both of these warriors are very highly skilled and it was a treat to see the mental chess game unfold as well! Budgiehandler began to land some clean shots from counterattacking and Trounvouche took note of that. He became more precise with his strikes and even attempted to land his own counterstrikes to throw Budgiehandler off. One clean jab from Trounvouche cut Budgiehandler and once Trounvouche saw blood, he went for the finish! He ate a counter jab for his troubles but his determination to land a big right hand pushed him forward. Once he blasted Budgiehandler with that right hand, he went ballistic until the referee stopped the fight! That was a punishing finish! WINNER: AZACCA TROUNVOUCHE VIA TKO – 4:43 OF ROUND 1 FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE: SAKMONGKOL SITSONGRIT (11-0-1; CURRENT STREAK: 3 WINS) VERSUS TREE “AGENTDOUBLEONINE” FORTAY (14-4; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: The undefeated champion stepped into this battle knowing full well Fortay was coming off of a very impressive victory over fellow YABAI alliance member Trounvouche by unanimous decision. Many people expected Sitsongrit to exploit his world class Muay Thai skills in this fight and he tried to do exactly that when he was able to lock Fortay into a clinch! Both of these men held nothing back and I have no doubt both of them needed ice baths after this to help ease the bruising and soreness from one hell of a fight. Sitsongrit was more effective in the clinch until Fortay was able to pull guard and he immediately went for four different submission attempts! Sitsongrit was calm and cool and he prevented being tapped out. He managed to free himself long enough to standup and the round finished in the standup. Round 2 was a beautiful mix of skills, talent, desire and intelligence! Excellent striking techniques, defensive skills, determination, speed and pressure. We saw it all and it was a very close round! In Round 3, Sitsongrit went back to the clinch but Fortay wasn’t cooperating this time and he broke out of the clinch after taking little damage. Sitsongrit managed to put an ugly welt on Fortay’s leg from the number of leg kicks and the judges definitely took note of that! More great exchanges occurred and we went to the fourth. Xavier: The fourth round had no slowdown and Fortay began to show more signs of life and aggression until Sitsongrit was able to lock him into a clinch again! This time, he kept him there long enough to control more of the action and score points off of a variety of strikes. Fortay tried to pull guard but failed pretty badly and looked both embarrassed and frustrated by that. However, he wasn’t deterred and he kept right on fighting with a high level of intensity! However, Sitsongrit’s defensive ability prevented Fortay from doing any damage so he threw caution to the wind and locked Sitsongrit into a clinch. He scored the takedown shortly after that and once again went for submissions but wasn’t able to lock them in! Sitsongrit slowed the pace way down and the referee stood them up. Fortay locked Sitsongrit into another clinch but did nothing with the short amount of time left in the round. Round 5 was another outstanding round of two high-level combatants going at it tooth and nail, but in my opinion, the difference maker in that round was the control Sitsongrit was able to establish with the two clinches he locked Fortay in, especially the first time. Fortay broke from the second one quickly but he still got locked in one. Near the end of the fight, Sitsongrit found another gear and landed some very timely strikes before the final bell rung. After one hellacious battle, the undefeated champion emerged victorious! WINNER: SAKMONGKOL SITSONGRIT BY UNANIMOUS DECISION Xavier: All right, ladies and gents! That’s our time here in Amsterdam! We’ll broadcast next from Vegas when we review SFL 13! Styles: As always, we thank Conquer for being one hell of a merchandise partner, and we especially thank all of you for tuning in and allowing us to break down what transpired at the beginning of the week. Take care, be well and be safe. On behalf of Esiah Xavier, we’ll see you in Vegas!

SFL 11 | TANEYEV vs TRIGGER REVIEW 209 ARENA Xavier: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to he 209 Arena in the Amsterdam! Styles: This city is kick ass because they know how to party! Xavier: Yes, ladies and gentlemen. We do sincerely apologize for the delay in presenting you with this review of what occurred on September 13th, but we admittedly have been enjoying the many sights and sounds of this wonderful city, as well as the surrounding areas, so we’ve been a bit lethargic, if you will, with our journalism duties. Styles: Hey! I’m sure every fighter and manager in this organization understands what it means to get caught up in having fun and enjoying the various sights of a city, especially the young ladies who are bored due to COVID restrictions. There’s nothing wrong with good, clean fun, even if that clean fun turns just a little dirty! We’re being safe so don’t worry! Xavier: Before you say something further to exploit us or get us in trouble with HR around here, let’s get down to business! WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION: TWISTY KNEEREAPER (10-7; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS WILLIAM BONIN (5-11; CURRENT STREAK: 6 LOSSES) Xavier: So this fight took an entire 36 seconds to be decided! In a nutshell, Kneereaper beat Bonin down like he talked bullshit about his mother! Styles: Yeah, I mean, I feel for Bonin because dude is seriously slippin’ with 6 losses in a row, but he keeps coming back for more. Must be a UCONN Huskies spirit thing! WINNER: TWISTY KNEEREAPER BY TKO – 36 SECONDS IN ROUND 1 LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: KOLLAA RIVER (8-2; CURRENT STREAK: 6 WINS) VERSUS RYLAND “RAGNAROK” RASMUSSEN (6-9-1; CURRENT STREAK: 2 LOSSES) Styles: Well, this fight lasted a bit longer than the first one, but not by a whole lot! 1:46 in the first round tells the story folks. Despite having known heavy hands, Rasmussen just couldn’t make the connection he needed to test River’s jaw and ultimately, he paid the price for it! Xavier: Rasmussen was aggressive and did land an elbow that made River bleed, but that seemed to anger River! He broke the clinch then broke Rasmussen with a vicious uppercut! WINNER: KOLLAA RIVER BY TKO – 1:46 IN ROUND 1 LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: TACITUS KILGORE (7-2; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS “LIQUIDATOR” KOBA DVALISHVILI (2-2-1; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Xavier: The man with the pristine haircut was able to thwart the clinching aggression shown by Dvalishvili early in the fight then later score a timely takedown for the points. He surprised Dvalishvili in the second round by clinching with him but again, he landed a takedown for the points. Dvalishvili escaped but the points were already scored. In the third round, Dvalishvili tried to outwrestle Kilgore and that cost him. Styles: Kilgore was just a step ahead in this entire fight. Kudos to Dvalishvili for putting up a good fight and showing solid aggression, but he couldn’t figure out the conundrum that Kilgore is and it cost him when the final horn sounded! WINNER: TACITUS KILGORE BY UNANIMOUS DECISION MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION: ELIZ GRACIE (9-1; CURRENT STREAK: 5 WINS) VERSUS HEIKKI VIITTA (4-5; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: In what I consider to be an upset, Gracie was able to overcome his major lack of technical skills in this fight, as compared to Viitta’s, and was able to lock in the tapout against an opponent who, at least we thought, was on the same level with his brown belt! I guess not! Xavier: It was quite shocking that Viitta wasn’t able to utilize his outstanding standup skills and excellent wrestling to make this a very uncomfortable fight for Gracie! His overall lack of aggression cost him this match. Taking nothing away from Gracie and his skills and determination, but Viitta definitely should’ve had a better showing in the standup! WINNER: ELIZ GRACIE BY KIMURA – 2:l3 IN ROUND 2 LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION: KRSTO VUJIC (8-4; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS RICHARD BRENNER (5-6; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Xavier: Aggression and determination were the name of the game in this fight as both men held nothing back! Brenner made Vujic bleed and that definitely made Vujic pissed off! Styles: Hell yeah it did! Once he saw his own blood, he locked Brenner into a clinch and went off on the defensive side before tagging Brenner with a brutal body shot! Vujic broke the clinch after that, decked Brenner with a vicious right hand, nailed another right that dropped Brenner, and Vujic yelled like a madman while landing strikes until the ref jumped in! Nasty! WINNER: KRSTO VUJIC BY TKO – 4:56 IN ROUND 1 Styles: All right folks, now we’re into the Top 5 fights of that night! LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: MARCHRIUS “MACO” ROSSI (9-3; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS KRON “ICE CREAM KRON” GRACIE (13-10; CURRENT STREAK: 7 LOSSES) Styles: LEGION OF DOOM had Rossi ready for this fight and he looked sharp! He smelled blood in the water because he knew very well how badly Gracie was struggling with a 6-fight losing streak headed into this fight. As expected, Gracie did his best to ground this fight and keep it there but after avoiding a submission attempt, Rossi stood up and handled business as everyone expected him to! Xavier: That’s true, Styles. No surprises there once Rossi was vertical again. He was methodical in his control on the ground and that frustrated Gracie. That frustration led to Gracie having sloppy technique and he ate a right hook when he dropped his hands! Gracie wanted to try for another series of takedowns but was stopped each time and he ate a left hand for his troubles on one failed attempt. He then ate another shot and Rossi could tell he had him in trouble. Rossi unleashed a head kick that rocked Gracie’s world despite him trying to be touch and smile through it while asking him for more! Well, he got more and it was too much for him to handle! WINNER: MARCHRIUS ROSSIE BY TKO – 3:45 IN ROUND 1 LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: AXEL FOLEY (11-3-1; CURRENT STREAK: 6 WINS) VERSUS TIM “MEXICAN” SANCHEZ (6-4; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Xavier: The man who loves the movie “Beverly Hills Cop” so much that his name is after the main character, a great movie, by the way, and I don’t say that only because I’m from Detroit. The 5-fight win streak Foley established heading into this fight absolutely gave him a momentum advantage and basically, if Foley could keep this fight vertical more than horizontal, he’d win. If not, Sanchez would win, or at least that’s what we thought. The opening round was surprising because Sanchez opted to trade strikes with Foley and it definitely cost him the opening round! Styles: That was definitely unexpected, Xavier! I’m not sure why he went with that strategy but it obviously didn’t pay dividends for him! To his credit, Sanchez adapted very well in the second round and looked much sharper. However, Foley landed more timely strikes along with a very nice left to the body followed up with a right spinning back fist! Foley also adjusted very well and was able to tag Sanchez with very clean and effective counterstrikes and those won the vital scorecard points. The clean and effective countering was most prominent in the third round when he knocked Sanchez loopy shortly after the 2-minute mark! Sanchez obviously avoided more danger but not without absorbing more damage, especially to the head, though he collected his senses shortly afterwards. Still, it was too much to overcome and the judges gave the nod to Foley! WINNER: AXEL FOLEY BY UNANIMOUS DECISION HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION: LUIS “THE DEXTER CREOLE” MAESTRE (14-7; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS CLAUDIO “AGUA NO CUME” ESCORRE (12-5; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: The bottom line with Maestre is he either knocks you out in the first round or he gets knocked out in the first round! He has one gear that that’s full steam straight ahead! The fans love him for it but I’m not so sure his jaw is a massive fan of that approach. Nonetheless, it is what it is and everyone who gets in the cage with him knows what to expect. Escorre did his best to weather the violent maelstrom that is Maestre but, alas, he did not! When you face an opponent who literally has two fights that went beyond the first round, it’s pretty easy to know what to expect. Xavier: The bulldozer approach has worked more often than not, obviously, for Maestre and since he’s willing to put his body on the line like that, especially his head and chin area, then he knows what he signs up for each time he takes that approach. Brave? Perhaps. Crazy? Probably. Fun to watch? Absolutely! I think Escorre was caught off guard by the nonchalant left that Maestre threw yet caused a cut. That may have caused Escorre to think twice about the power that Maestre possesses and that, in turn, caused Escorre to be more cautious and that was the beginning of the end! A massive right hand sent Escorre to the mat. Escorre stood back up but was pretty much a standing target. Maestre was relentless and unleashed one brutally head-twisted left hook that turned out Escorre’s lights before he even hit the mat! WINNER: LUIS MAESTRE BY KO – 1:45 IN ROUND 1 LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: ANTHONY CIRELLI (13-4; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS ISRAEL HANDS (8-4; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Xavier: The masked man known as Cirelli was feeling good in this fight because he had just knocked out Reginal Budgiehandler in a mere 45 seconds! Needless to say, his confidence was riding high and the timing of this fight was perfect for him, especially since Hands was on a solid roll with a 3-fight win streak. Cirelli knew Hands was going to push him the entire fight in terms of pressure and that’s exactly what transpired. Hands transitioned from a clinch early in the first round straight to taking this fight to the ground by pulling guard. He then tried to make Cirelli tap time and again but to Cirelli’s credit, he fought back well and his defensive grappling abilities were on display. Once Cirelli forced the standup, he was more effective than Hands, particularly with leg kicks, although Hands did his own share of damage with well-time counterattacks! In the second round, it looked like Hands was going to potentially put this one away because after they traded beautiful striking and defensive techniques, Hands caught Cirelli with a head kick that he absolutely did not see coming! Styles: That was definitely a blindsider, Xavier! Cirelli damn near checked out right then and there but he managed to fight through it, so kudos to him for showing that strong warrior spirit. Cirelli’s aggression from start to finish was the key to this fight and it absolutely, undeniably kept Hands from finishing him off! Both men finished the round with a lot of energy, pressure and desire but Cirelli landed enough strikes to swing the score in his favor despite being rocked. Hands felt his best approach was to try and go back to making Cirelli tap because he knew he was fighting an uphill battle at this point and needed to try and finish the fight the way he felt was most efficient. Once again, Cirelli showed his defensive abilities by avoiding being locked into the two submission attempts plus forcing the standup once he was able to position himself to control Hands’ movements on the ground. Once the fight was on its feet again, Cirelli was the more accurate striker and that’s what was needed to wrap this bad boy up and take it home! WINNER: ANTHONY CIRELLI BY UNANIMOUS DECISION LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE: JACKSON “BANG BANG” TRIGGER (16-4; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS VALENTIN “THE HAND GRENADE” TANEYEV (12-4; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: This fight was highly anticipated because both of these warriors have been tearin’ it up lately! Trigger had one hell of a fight against John Makres before this one and I think that prepared him very well because he looked confident, sharp and hungry! Those are key facets to have each and every time a champion has to put their title on the line and he was locked and loaded! He definitely pulled the trigger on his aggression and power because, simply put, once the opportunity to overwhelm Taneyev was there, he was all over it! Taneyev definitely made Trigger work for this win because that opening bell head kick put a dent in Trigger’s skull! Xavier: Trigger was definitely caught off guard by that and his corner was jumping up and down in an effort to inspire him to get back up and get it together! Trigger shook it off but saw blood start to drip down his face. That seemed to lock him in even more and he made this fight a clinch battle, which Taneyev definitely didn’t want to have happen! Jackson repaid the cut by landing a slicing knee to Taneyev’s head. Once Taneyev tasted his own blood, he locked in even more and the look of determination was etched on his face! Taneyev blasted Trigger was a right hand that looked to have shaken Trigger’s very foundation! Taneyev once again stood back and motioned for Trigger to get back to his feet. Trigger began to bleed more steadily and that seemed to set him off because he was on the verge of being finished! After catching Taneyev with a clean jab, Trigger was back in fighting mode and a very sweet left hand dropped Taneyev where he stood! Trigger knew what to do and the referee had to call it! One hell of an exciting fight! WINNER: JACKSON TRIGGER BY TKO – 3:20 IN ROUND 1 Xavier: All right, ladies and gentlemen. That’s the conclusion of our review and we thank you very much for taking the time to join us tonight as we look forward to more very exciting and brutal fights that the SFL has planned for all of us! Styles: As always, we thank Conquer for being outstanding merchandise partners! Check them out and get a hold of their latest and greatest apparel! We thank you very kind, ladies and gents, for joining us tonight while we do our thing in the booth. We appreciate you and we look forward to seeing what happens at the next SFL events. On behalf of Esiah Xavier, I’m Furious Styles signing off. We’ll see you cage side!

SFL 09 | HELL’S KITCHEN REVIEW MADISON GARDEN ARENA Xavier: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Madison Garden Arena in the Big Apple! Styles: It’s wonderful to be back in New York! It’s been a while since I’ve been here and I’ve already seen some ladies that I need to get to know better! Xavier: Always the ladies man, aren’t you? Styles: Damn right! I know we have to be wary of COVID and all, but dammit, I still have a life to live and plenty of ladies to know! Zoom has been great in terms of meeting a lot of new ladies quickly but there’s definitely no way to replace an actual human being! Xavier: We definitely concur on that! There’s no replacing the human touch. I know there are synthetic dolls and all of that crap but hell to the no on that! Give me a woman’s touch any day! Styles: Well, if the synthetic doll doesn’t have an attitude, no special time of the month and a woman is down with integrating that doll into what we’re doing, then… Xavier: That’s enough of that, Styles! Styles: I’m just sayin’! Xavier: Let’s get down to business before we catch a harassment case from HR! Styles: HR around here? Please! SFL is all about bringing the best of what you got and if it’s talkin’ crap then so be it! Xavier: I can’t argue that point. WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION: FAN “TWO TOES” BOI (5-3; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS MALACHI “THE ALMIGHTY” LAWRENCE (9-8; CURRENT STREAK: 4 LOSSES) Xavier: I don’t know if Boi is really working with two toes or if that nickname means something else, but in this fight, he’s less experienced, has a disadvantage in Muay Thai, and better dance on those two toes to avoid getting knocked out. He can hope to outwrestle Lawrence to win by unanimous decision, because that’s the only way I see him winning this fight! Styles: “Almighty” is having an almighty slide down the losing streak side of life! If he’s going to avoid falling to an even record then he’s going to have to use that Muay Thai advantage to his advantage, lock Boi into a clinch, and go to work on him until he either falls over unconscious! PREDICTIONS: Xavier – Boi by Unanimous Decision; Styles – Lawrence by KO WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION: ALY MAGOMEDOV (4-4; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS “THE UNWANTED ASSASSIN” ROBERT MUNSON (3-2; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: Magomedov, who should be a fitness model, will want to do as much damage in the standup portion of this fight to soften Munson up for the takedown he seeks! Once he gets this fight to the ground, his aggression will be able to overcome Munson despite him being technically just as skilled in BJJ. Munson wins this by submission! Xavier: If Munson can crack Magomedov’s jaw before he’s able to attempt any takedowns then Munson will be sitting pretty. If he finds that slowing Magomedov down with striking isn’t getting the job done then he can either try to land power strikes from counterattacks or even take a bigger risk and lock Magomedov into a clinch and land a multitude of strikes for points. Munson will win this fight by knockout! PREDICTIONS: Xavier – Munson by KO; Styles – Magomedov by Submission LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: YVES “THE MAD BUMPBER” TRUDEAU (5-8; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS KOLLAA RIVER (6-2; CURRENT STREAK: 4 WINS) Xavier: This will be an interesting fight because Trudeau recently knocked out Raistlin Majere and may be feeling very confident heading into this fight. The approach is simple: Keep this fight vertical and ugly and he has a chance of winning two fights in a row for the first time in a long time! Trudeau wins by knockout! Styles: The world class boxer is going to have to be wary of Trudeau’s brutal kicks in this fight. If he can let his educated fists light up Trudeau’s jaw in the standup while avoiding having his head kicked off then he’s solid. If that doesn’t get the job done then he drags this fight to the ground and gets the tapout! River takes this one home by submission! PREDICTIONS: Styles – River by Submission; Xavier – Trudeau by KO LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION: “FLUE” CHE VON CRU (5-3; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS BALDUR TORSTEN (4-3; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: YABAI combat is featured between these two young lions! Both are 22-year-old prodigies that are well ahead of their time in terms of skill levels. Despite that, they’re both struggling a bit with consistency but YABAI wins this fight either way. For Cru, his very slight height advantage coupled with an assumed speed advantage is key to victory tonight! Pressure and energetic output will bring this one home for him by unanimous decision! Xavier: Torsten is technically not quite up to Cru’s speed but I think the Norwegian has more power than Cru and power gives anyone a puncher’s chance of winning by knockout! As long as Torsten doesn’t get caught up in the clinch game that potentially Cru could try to lock him in if he sees he can’t rock Torsten’s chin with his educated hands, Torsten will be able to knock out his fellow alliance member! Torsten takes this home by knockout! PREDICTIONS: Xavier – Torsten by KO; Styles – Cru by Unanimous Decision LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: JONNY BAKER (11-10-1; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS KORYU “LEERE HAND” MIYAGI (4-2; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Xavier: Baker faces a tough battle because he’s technically inferior to Miyagi, so he’s going to have to show a lot of heart and desire in this fight to win. Counterattacking in the standup is probably going to be his best bet because he doesn’t want to risk having this fight to the ground where he could potentially lose on points. Baker will have to unleash as much power as he has to land the one clean strike he needs to win this fight by knockout! Styles: While in the standup, Miyagi should be able to take advantage of his superior skills and dictate the pace of this fight, plus, if nothing else, he can lock Baker into a clinch. If he opts to do that, he can land faster and more accurate strikes and move ahead on the judges’ scorecards. However, Miyagi is anxious for a knockout and he knows this is a prime opportunity to do just that! Miyagi wins this fight by knockout! PREDICTIONS: Styles – Miyagi by KO; Xavier – Baker by KO Styles: Now we move to the Top 5 fights for tonight’s card! MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION: NED “FUCKING” KELLY (5-3; CURRENT STREAK: 5 WINS) VERSUS STERLING “RANDO” ARCHER (4-2; CURRENT STREAK: 2 LOSSES) Styles: The man with the very blunt nickname steps into battle from Glerowan, Australia, and represents Keyboard Warriors. The 24-year-old brings solid boxing, excellent Muay Thai, very good wrestling and a brown belt to this battle, and this man is riding a very solid wave of confidence from the 5-fight winning streak he has earned after a rough start to his career. I expect Kelly to take full advantage of his Muay Thai abilities and pepper Archer with a multitude of kicks. Should he find himself struggling to finish Archer in this fight, he can lock him into a clinch where he should be able to control the pace and space of this fight. Locking him in a clinch is a calculated risk because he could potentially be taken to the ground, but if that happens then he has enough BJJ ability to prevent himself from being tapped out of beaten by ground and pound. I think Kelly has enough ability and skill to take this fight home by knocking Archer out! Xavier: When I saw Archer earlier tonight, he absolutely didn’t look like a man ready for a fight, and that’s bad news for him. It seems the two losses in a row have taxed him more mentally than he may care to admit but it’s written all over his face and in his body language! That’s going to be very difficult to deal with because he needs to be in top form to be able to deal with Kelly’s superior Muay Thai ability, let alone his ability to rock his jaw! Archer is going to have to dig deeper than he ever has if he’s going to have any chance of winning this fight, and it’s going to have to be by counterattacking with accurate and damaging power! Unfortunately, Styles, I don’t see that happening at all. Kelly wins this fight by knockout! PREDICTIONS: Xavier – Kelly by KO; Styles – Kelly by KO HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION: LATROY JOHNSON (9-4; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS “BIG” KEVIN MCGUIRE (4-1; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Xavier: This is a fight that you’re going to greatly enjoy, Styles, because it’s an inter-alliance battle featuring NAUGHTLY CREW. The 25-year-old Johnson from Houston likes to intimidate his opponents with The Undertaker slit throat gesture, though I’m not certain intimidation will work on McGuire! Nonetheless, Johnson has a solid experience battle in this fight, and he brings Golden Gloves level boxing, solid Muay Thai, good wrestling and a purple belt. He’s going to want to keep this fight in the vertical base where he has the best chance to test McGuire’s chin with crushing strikes. Landing clean power shots will enable him to try and finish this fight as quickly as possible while avoiding being dragged to the ground. If this fight goes to the ground, both men may struggle to gain control or finish the other, and that’s a risk neither one of them want to take because the judges may make a decision they don’t concur with. Johnson will look to aggressively pressure McGuire and score the knockout! Styles: The 23-year-old from St. Joe steps into this battle with very good boxing, excellent Muay Thai, solid wrestling and a purple belt. McGuire has shown that he carries enough boom in his fists to turn the lights out on any opponent, but he also has a submission victory to his credit. He’s a bit taller than Johnson but I don’t think he’ll be interested in trying to score a submission, especially since he’s not that much better than Johnson in the grappling aspect of battle. In a fight such as this, especially against an opponent who presumably knows you very well since you’re in the same alliance, outthinking Johnson will be key for McGuire. Both of these men have the ability to drop the other with one solid strike but neither of these men have the ability to withstand a lot of damaging strikes to the chin. If McGuire can literally beat Johnson to the punch then he can accomplish what Johnson hopes to and end this fight early with a knockout! PREDICTIONS: Styles – McGuire by KO; Xavier – Johnson by KO WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION: GABRIEL “TARANTULA” TORRES (13-5; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS JACKSON “DRIP” POLLOCK (7-3; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: The 24-year-old Peruvian from Arequipa brings his unusual hair and solid skills into this fight looking to get back on the winning side of life. The submission specialist brings solid boxing, good Muay Thai, very good wrestling and a black belt to the fight. He has an experience advantage tonight and will need every bit of it to get Pollock to the ground where he has his best chance to win! While this fight remains standing, he’s going to have to tag Pollock fast and heavy to rock him to open his defenses for the takedown he’ll be looking for. If he’s not able to secure the takedown he needs, he definitely doesn’t want to take a chance of getting locked into a clinch with Pollock because he could very well lose the scoring battle and that would be a waste of various opportunities, of course, to finish this fight. Avoiding Pollock’s kicks because they could be the difference maker. In a very calculate and difficult fight, Torres will eventually lock in the submission he needs to emerge victorious! Xavier: The 25-year-old YABAI member from Cody, Wyoming, knows his best chance to win tonight is to keep this fight in the standup. Although highly skilled in wrestling, his BJJ abilities may not enable him to avoid being locked into a submission that forces him to tap out. To avoid that possibility, accurate strikes to score vital points while preventing Torres from getting comfortable and shooting into various takedown attempts is key. Obviously, if Pollock can land powerful strikes to hurt Torres and set him up to be finished then Pollock will go full force towards achieving that goal! Pollock isn’t known as a power striker per se, but he does have a few TKO finishes to his credit so Torres can’t underestimate his power whatsoever. Pollock has also shown the propensity to stretch a fight out to its entirety while staying ahead on the scorecards while avoiding major damage. Thus far he hasn’t been knocked out and that will enable him to be more aggressive in seeking the knockout he’ll score to win tonight! PREDICTIONS: Xavier – Pollock by KO; Styles – Torres by Submission MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION: JAKE “THE TACOMA AX-KILLER” BIRD (9-4; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS COLIN KAEPERNICK (13-3; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Xavier: Here we have the classic ground versus standup fighter as the 24-year-old warrior from Louisiana looks to get this fight grounded as soon as possible and keep it there. The FinnFighters’ representative has solid boxing, decent Muay Thai, outstanding wrestling and a black belt. Obviously, he wants to put his grappling capabilities on full display and keep this fight where he’s most comfortable for obvious reasons, but he also wants to avoid potentially taking major damage from the hard-hitting Kaepernick at all costs! While this fight is in the vertical plane, he’s going to have to rely on his boxing skills and avoid being kicked upside the head or locked into a clinch. If Bird finds himself in a clinch, then he’s going to have to do everything he can to avoid taking damage from Kaepernick’s knees because that could be the beginning of the end! Bird is going to have to be patient with his striking and once he’s able to catch Kaepernick off balance, Bird will have to put all he has into landing a takedown and moving immediately into position to finish this fight by submission! Styles: The Convicted Inc. member from Montreal, Canada, has a very good overall record and has shown that his aggression pays off, especially if he’s able to lock his opponent into a clinch and let his knees fly! There’s no doubt that he wants to add Bird to this list of victims, but he also has to be careful because his chin isn’t the best. He was recently dropped early in the second round, though Pedro Fuentes is definitely capable of knocking out a great many opponents. That loss snapped a 5-fight winning streak, but he defeated Aaron Lund at SFL 03 to get back into the winning side of life and wants to use that momentum to get a good jump on Bird tonight. I think it will be very smart of him to rely on his kicks to soften Bird up for clean strikes and a clinch should the need arise. I expect Kaepernick to be very aggressive in this fight because if he finishes Bird quickly, he obviously has no concerns with getting his chin rocked because the fight will be over! Kaepernick wins by knockout! PREDICTIONS: Styles – Kaepernick by KO; Xavier – Bird by Submission WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION: LITILL “MINI MOUNTAIN” BJORNSSON (35-4; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS GIUSEPPE TURTURRO (11-5; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: The legendary Bjornsson brings his incredible ability to continue defeating opponents who technically are superior to him using his outstanding will and passion! The 32-year-old Icelandic warrior from Reykjavik looks to continue cementing his legacy be defeating another outstanding opponent. He obviously wants to get this fight on the ground because it’s a dangerous undertaking to stay standing and try to go toe-to-toe against Turturro, especially since Turturro’s Muay Thai is much better. Bjornsson is going to have to outthink Turturro and use his aggression against him to cause him to miss a power strike or combination. Once he does that, he’ll be able to score the takedown he needs to get this fight to his comfort zone. Once he establish that, he’ll be able to keep this fight on the ground where he can either try and control the pace of this fight or, obviously, look to score the submission to finish this fight right then and there! Bjornsson wins this tough battle by submission! Xavier: The 26-year-old Italian from Siciliy represents Convicted Inc. tonight, and very similar to Bjornsson, he wants to get this fight to the ground where he can be most effective. With solid boxing, respectable Muay Thai, outstanding wrestling and a black belt, this will definitely be a calculated battle for him, especially due to the massive experience disadvantage he has against Bjornsson! Since Turturro is six years younger, he absolutely could opt to try and wear down Bjornsson with quick, accurate strikes, especially to the body, and when he slows the older more damaged warrior down, he can then look to land more power strikes and he may even opt to keep this fight standing if he sees that he can keep the pressure up while moving ahead on the judges’ scorecards! If and when this battle goes to the ground, methodical pacing and looking to outbattle Bjornsson using counterstriking and transitions to move himself into dominant positions to potentially finish this fight by submission! PREDICTIONS: Xavier – Turturro by Submission; Bjornsson by Submission Xavier: That’s our time, ladies and gentlemen! We always appreciate the time and attention you give us, and we hope we’ve provided you valuable insight into the fights that you’re interested in. Styles: Naturally, we want to thank Conquer for being our excellent merchandise partner and we hope we’ve made you excited for these fights tonight because we’re definitely looking forward to the action that unfolds in the cage! On behalf of Xavier Styles, I’m Furious Styles, wishing all of you well and we’ll see you at the fights!

SFL 07 | BAD BLOOD PREVIEW 209 ARENA, AMSTERDAM Xavier: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome BACK to the 209 Arena in Amsterdam! Styles: It’s great to see everyone rockin’ this arena already, Xavier! Every one of the 21,209 seats are filled and I see how amped everybody is for these fights! Xavier: Absolutely, Styles! This will be yet another exciting action-packed night that will surely spark some choice words, as well as elation from people who win bets and curses from those who don’t win. Styles: I bet more people would have better luck with their bets if they listened to me! Xavier: Maybe, but I don’t keep track of our predictions record because it’s probably not that great, actually. Styles: Say what you will, I think I do pretty well at predicting fights! Xavier: We’ll see how you do with the results of this card. Let’s get down to it! BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION: JO “RUBBER BAND” CHEWY (3-1; CURRENT STREAK: 3 FIGHTS) VERSUS YAMAOKA YUKINOBU (5-1; CURRENT STREAK: 5 FIGHTS) Xavier: The 23-year-old Canadian from Toronto represents the UnderGround Fights Enterprise in this contest. He has solid boxing, excellent Muay Thai, good wrestling and a purple belt. Chewy will want to keep this fight standing as much as possible where he can exploit his standup advantage and secure the knockout over Yukinobu! Styles: When fighters combine for an 8-fight win streak, you know it’s going to be a good one! The 24-year-old Japanese product from Tokyo wants to drag Chewy to the ground and keep this fight horizontal as long as possible! He’s taller and heavier so he can lay more power into his strikes and that’s exactly what he’ll want to do before he secures the takedown he needs to bring this fight into his comfort real. Solid boxing, good Muay Thai, excellent wrestling and a brown belt, specially the grappling, is what brings this win to Yukinobu via submission! PREDICTIONS: Styles – Yukinobu by Submission; Xavier – Chewy by KO LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION: ANGEL “EL JEFE” MORALES (5-3; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS SHEN “LIL SAO” PO (4-2; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: The Stepdads are on the scene with Morales. The 25-year-old Sonora product has solid all-around skills, but for this fight in particular, I think he’ll look to keep the action focused in the standup as long as possible because he doesn’t want to have to spend unnecessary time defending against the grappling skills that Po possesses. While he has a brown belt as well, along with very good boxing, excellent Muay Thai, and solid wrestling, he doesn’t want to risk being outwrestled and losing by decision. Knocking Po out obviously avoids the judges and that sits very well with him! Morales wins by knockout! Xavier: The 22-year-old Phnom Penh, Cambodia, product steps into battle representing YABAI. He recently had a 4-fight losing streak halted by Ryan Landry so he wants to get back into that winning form as quickly as possible! A little taller and 16 lbs. heavier, Po may very well look to land power strikes in the standup to either try and rock Morales’ chin or stun him at least to set him up for the takedown. Once this fight goes to the ground, Po wraps it up by submission! PREDICTIONS: Xavier – Morales by KO; Styles – Po by Submission FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION: AL “THE ARABIAN TEMPLAR” GHOUTI (5-2; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS SHOWTIME SITSONGRIT (4-2; CURRENT STREAK: 2 LOSSES) Xavier: I know you normally get amped about inter-alliance battles, but when it’s fellow YABAI members, it’s a little different. The 24-year-old from Drapsaka, Afghanistan, is a grappling specialist but does have Golden Gloves boxing and solid Muay Thai to support his world class wrestling and brown belt! The seven-pound weight advantage he has over Sitsongrit could be the difference maker because it could tire Sitsongrit just enough to allow Ghouti to control the action to lock in the submission he seeks! Styles: Yeah, man, normally I’d dig an inter-alliance battle but it is what it is. Sitsongrit has Golden Gloves boxing, world class Muay Thai, outstanding wrestling and a brown belt. Look for Sitsongrit to exploit his superior Muay Thai skills to give Ghouti fits with multiple kicks from all angles, and possibly lock him in a clinch to make life miserable for him. Sitsongrit will rely on the slight speed advantage he has to repetitiously punish Ghouti’s legs with kicks while looking to sneak the one head kick he wants to land to daze Ghouti and set him up for the knockout blow! PREDICTIONS: Styles – Sitsongrit by KO; Xavier – Ghouti by Submission WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION: ANDRE GALVAO (6-3; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS JASON ROCKS (9-6; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: The 26-year-old Mexican fighter from Sinaloa didn’t look too happy when I saw him earlier this week. His management team has expressed their warranted concerns about that because if his mind isn’t right, this is going to be a very short battle! Galvao wants to get this fight to the ground quickly because he’s badly outmatched in the standup, especially if Rocks is able to secure him in a clinch. Counterattacking and looking for the knockout there is probably his best bet at victory tonight but I just don’t see that happening, Xavier! I know it’s a rare occasion but I think we’ll be on the same page for this fight. Rocks wins this by knockout! Xavier: That’s definitely not a common occurrence, Styles, so when it does happen, I definitely take a note of it. The 30-year-old from Jangan, China, is technically superior in the standup to Galvao and he’ll look to take full advantage of that fact in this fight! As you said, Styles, if Rocks is able to lock in a clinch, this fight will be a wrap, so look for him to do just that if he can’t score the knockout from distance. He’s the taller and heavier man and that sits just fine with him as he blasts Galvao’s chin with power strikes until he falters. Rocks by knockout! PREDICTIONS: Xavier – Rocks by KO; Styles – Rocks by KO LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION: JACKSON “BLIZZARD” STORM (6-3; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS JAMIE JAMES (4-2; CURRENT STREAK : NONE) Xavier: Representing YABAI in this battle, Storm steps into battle with some momentum due to winning his last two fights by letting his fists fly, and you can be certain that’s what’s going to occur against James. The 24-year-old from Radiator Springs won’t have a physical advantage in terms of height and weight since both of these warriors are very similar in physical stature. Storm does have a bit of a combat experience advantage so he could lean on that. He’ll have to be wary of James’ kicks and if this fight goes to the clinch, I don’t know if either man has a distinct advantage. However, Storm wins this battle by knockout! Styles: The 24-year-old from Waterloo represents UnderGround Fights Enterprise, and he brings a solid set of skills into this fight. Very good boxing, excellent Muay Thai, solid wrestling and a brown belt is what he brings to the mix. My money is that James will want to not only keep this fight in the standup, but he’ll also take the chance of locking Storm into a clinch and try to obviously do as much damage as possible while in very close quarters. He has knockout power and will look to exploit that as quickly as possible to avoid having to try and outwrestle Storm. James wins this fight by knockout! PREDICTIONS: Styles – James by KO; Xavier – Storm by KO Styles: Now we’re into the Top 5 fight of the night! LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION: AAPO JUKOLA (11-3; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS JOHN McSULLEY (8-4; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) Styles: Yes! An inter-alliance fight! The UnderGround Fights Enterprise member from Nurmijarvi, Finland, brings an excellent MMA record into this fight along with Golden Gloves boxing, solid Muay Thai, outstanding wrestling and a purple belt. He had an 8-fight winning streak at one point in time and he’s not shy about being aggressive or letting his fists fly. On the downside of that brutality, each of his losses have been by way of KO or TKO, so there are questions and doubts about his chin’s ability to absorb much punishment at all. He’s taller and heavier than McSulley and I expect him to try and use that weight to deliver more punishing strikes to get the job done tonight, and if he feels he’s not able to drop McSulley then he can take the chance of locking him into a clinch and trying his luck there, or even going for a takedown if he wants to control the pace and space of this fight, though that’s a bit of a risky proposition Since McSulley is technically just as skilled in BJJ. I think Jukola wins this fight by staying on the outside and only clinching is absolutely necessary to level McSulley with a knockout! Xavier: The 24-year-old warrior from Old Vegas not only knows he’s a little less experienced, but he know if he loses this fight then he’ll have to hear Jukola talk about it very often. That in itself is enough motivation for McSulley to dig deep and find it in him to pull out this win! In order to do that, he’s going to have to rely on what got him to this dance in the first place: Aggression and knockout power is what he brings to the table, but for him, he’ll need to keep his chin tucked and head moving the entire time, because he’s undeniably suffered some tough losses due to being clocked and put to sleep early! Counterattacking may be the best method of approach tonight because he does have Golden Gloves boxing and very good Muay Thai, along with solid wrestling and a purple belt. He can even make a concerted effort to kick a multitude of times, especially if he can get inside of Jukola’s defenses, and that will enable him to score vital points plus prevent any potential takedowns Jukola may opt to try for. McSulley wins this battle by knockout! PREDICTIONS: Xavier – McSulley by KO; Styles – Jukola by KO MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION: JAMES “DANGERZONE” STORMCHASER (10-6; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS “OG” SPANKY LOCO (9-5; CURRENT STREAK: 2 LOSSES) Xavier: The FinnFighters are on the scene as Stormchaser, cool last name by the way, steps into battle. We have the classic standup versus ground fighter battle here and for Stormchaser, avoiding the ground like it’s lava is the key to victory tonight! He absolutely wants to avoid being taken to the mat as a result of a shoot takedown or a trip takedown from the clinch. Staying active on the outside is what Stormchaser must do, plus it gives him the opportunity to have better footwork and head movement to avoid the various strikes that he’ll see coming from Loco. Stormchaser is slightly taller and heavier than Loco but there’s no real advantage there. Taking advantage of Loco’s aggression is a key aspect of this fight. If Stormchaser can land some timely and destructive counterstrikes to keep Loco off balance, that will be a very good achievement for him! Counterattacking with power is how I see Stormchaser approaching this fight and if he’s able to land enough clean shots then Loco’s chin is going to waver under the pressure and he’ll end up looking at the lights on the ceiling as Stormchaser has his hand raised in victory! Stormchaser by knockout! Styles: “OG” steps into battle with his trademark purple high-top fade representing The Stepdads. The 25-year-old fighter from Inglewood definitely wants to get this fight to the ground as soon as possible and utilize the black belt skills to make Stomchaser’s life very uncomfortable! Loco has very good boxing, solid Muay Thai and very excellent wrestling to support that black belt, and I think he’ll be aggressive in this fight, particularly in the standup, because he’ll want to do his best to obviously knock Stormchaser out if he can, but if not then look to stun him enough for takedowns to become far easier to manage! Loco has never been knocked out so he may be more brazen with Stormchaser and that could work to his advantage because he could make Stormchaser be more aggressive than he planned to, per se, and cause him to fight Loco’s preferred pace of battle. If nothing else, Loco can always try to lock Stormchaser into a clinch and see if he can land damaging blows from there before taking him to the ground and looking for the tapout. Either way, Loco wins by submission! PREDICTIONS: Styles – Loco by Submission; Xavier – Stormchaser by KO LIGHT HEAVYEWIGHT DIVISION: SAMMY “MIAMI” BEACH (10-6; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS “THE SHADOW” ARMAND CHRISTOPHE (8-3; CURRENT STREAK: 5 WINS) Styles: The slightly taller and heavier Beach represents the LEGION OF DOOM in this battle, and it’s imperative he keep this fight in the vertical plane at all costs. The 23-year-old from, big surprise, Miami, brings solid boxing, very good Muay Thai, good wrestling and a blue belt to the mix. In a nutshell, when it comes to Beach, he either wrecks or gets wrecked! His aggressive style and punishing knockouts have made him rather popular with SLF fans and this is his debut in this organization. Unfortunately for him, his fans can’t take bone-crunching strikes for him and that means he’s paid the price four times by getting knocked out or TKO’d. If he lands the power strikes first while keeping his head moving and chin tucked, he’s in business. If he allows Christophe too many clean shots, he may not need to concern himself with Christophe’s ground game because he’ll e staring up at the arena lights! I highly doubt Beach will take any other approach other than applying as much pressure as possible from the moment the bell rings and continue that approach until he blasts Christophe with the one shot he needs for the knockout! Xavier: The 25-year-old from Anvil brings the Renegade Warriors onto the scene with his entry into the cage. He’s been feelin’ himself since a change in management, and that’s reflected with his 5-fight winning streak! Confidence, trust and belief can go a very long way in this business, Styles, and he’s exuding all three. Yes, he’s a grappling-oriented warrior but don’t forget that he knocked out his last opponent early in the second round before signing his SFL contract. You know he’s putting added pressure on himself to keep that momentum going so he can make an impression in this organization right from the start! Since he can expect all-out aggression from Beach in this fight, Christophe should have the ability to be effective in counterattacking that aggression and maybe even knocking Beach out despite that not being his specialty, if you will. There’s no doubt Christophe wants to get this fight to the ground so he can control the pace and space while being very effective by outmaneuvering Beach before setting him up for any number of submissions at Christophe’s disposal! Christophe wins this battle by tapout and gets to return to his gothic-like castle a happy man! PREDICTIONS: Xavier – Christophe by Submission; Styles – Beach by KO WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE: “MASTER” KOBAYASHI JIN (13-4; CURRENT STREAK: 2 WINS) VERSUS “BEAST FROM THE EAST” SERHEY RISHKINOV (17-4; CURRENT STREAK: 6 WINS) Xavier: This battle for the Welterweight championship will certainly be intense, if nothing else, Styles! Combining for eight wins in a row, somebody is going to have to start their winning streak all over once the smoke clears from this fight. Add to the mix that these two locked horns previously in UnderGround, specifically at FC 105 where Rishkinov forced Jin to tapout in the middle of the third round via Triangle, and you better believe both men remember that encounter very well. Extra motivation to defeat Rishkinov will definitely be palpable as Jin looks to avenge that loss. A submission specialist, he brings good boxing, very good Muay Thai, solid wrestling and a black belt to this fight. Physically both of these men are quite evenly matched so skill and will are the determining factors here. Jin had a 10-fight winning streak at one point in time so he knows how to use momentum when it’s there. Make no mistake about it, this fight will be a struggle as well a measure of where he stands in this division. Obviously, if Jin wins the championship then he sits atop the proverbial mountain and that’s an indelible feat! Lastly, look for Jin to tenderize Rishkinov’s legs with multiple leg kicks. Jin becomes the champion by forcing Rishkinov to tapout! Styles: The 26-year-old Russian from Moscow represents LEGION OF DOOM in this title fight and the 6-fight win streak he’s bringing with him to this fight speaks volumes about his abilities in the cage! Toss in the fact he has the psychological edge in this fight because he knows he can defeat Jin, and you have the makings of a warrior in a mission. He’s very popular with SFL fans already because of his aggression, along with his penchant to knock people out! Rishkinov is a very streaky fighter so when it’s going well, he’s quite a force in that cage. He has amassed six wins by TKO and has forced numerous other tapouts, so the guy can get it done in any area of fighting. There are some concerns about his chin’s ability to withstand powerful strikes but that can be solved with very good footwork and head movement. Solid boxing, good Muay Thai, outstanding wrestling and a black belt are what he brings to the table. Since both of these fighters are more at home on the ground, I think Rishkinov will be right at home trying to score a knockout over Jin using counterattacking measures. He knows he has the power to drop Jin but he also needs to make sure he stays away from the clinch because that’s where Jin may be able to take ample advantage of the skills he brings to the table. Rishkinov emerges as the welterweight champion by forcing Jin to tapout! PREDICTIONS: Xavier - Jin by Submission; Styles – Rishkinov by Submission HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE: BLEEDING SPANNER (14-2; CURRENT STREAK: NONE) VERSUS ALEXIE “BRICK SHITHOUSE” BABINSKI (14-2; CURRENT STREAK: 7 WINS) Xavier: These two hard-hitting behemoths have identical records for a very good reason. They’re both outstanding fighters and forces to be reckoned with! Spanner, the 26-year-old Irishman from Dublin, recently had an 11-fight win streak snapped at the hands of Alexei Babinski by bleeding out at UnderGround FC 124! He bounced with back with an early second-round knockout of Kilo Maluga and is looking to continue using that momentum. Representing The GBU, he’s a world class boxer with very good Muay Thai, very good wrestling and a brown belt. Aggressive with high-impact strikes, he’s been surprisingly involved in many battles that have boiled down to the judges’ scorecards. He’s won every fight he’s been in that ended in a decision so that’s a testament to his training regimen as well as his abilities and passion! Make no mistake about it. He wants to knock Babinski out so he can not only avenge that loss by TKO I referred to earlier, but to also prove to any doubters that he’s fully capable of bringing serious striking power when the time arises. Since knows what Babinski is capable of, his defensive capabilities will be sharper because he’ll have a far better understanding of what to look out for. Spanner wins this fight by knockout to claim the heavyweight championship and even the series between these two outstanding competitors! Styles: Slightly taller and lighter than Spanner, the Russian from Kopeysk represents The Stepdads in this battle tonight. As you mentioned, X, Babinski has the psychological edge over Spanner because he made dude bleed like a victim in a slasher film! He also has major confidence due to the fact he’s only been knocked out once and has ended all but one of his fights before they reached the fifth round! That’s destruction and he has bone-crushing power! With seven KO’s and seven TKO’s, he likes to get in the cage, brutalize his opponent, overwhelm them with power then walk out with his hands raised high. With very good boxing, outstanding Muay Thai, solid wrestling and a purple belt, I think Babanski will look to slow down Spanner with various leg and body kicks, and try to land the devastating strikes from the counterattack! Both of them will be very aggressive during this fight because neither one of them wants this to go the distance and put the decision in the judges’ hands. They’re established themselves as men who get the job done and that’s exactly what they’ll want to do here tonight! Babanski will add to his very impressive array of knockout victories by wrecking Spanner’s chin enough times to make the big man tumble to the mat with his eyes wide in shock! PREDICTIONS: Styles – Babinski by KO; Xavier – Spanner by KO Styles: All right, good people, that’s our time yet again! Thank you very much for allowing us to bring our insight and perspectives to you. It’s our pleasure and we hope you enjoyed the show. Xavier; It’s an honor and privilege for us to be able to share our opinions with you, and as always we thank the Stoner Fight League as well as Conquer, the outstanding merchandise partner of this organization! On behalf of Furious Styles, I’m Esiah Xavier, signing off. Take care, be well, be safe and we’ll see you at the fights!