CrazylegzSwam

AOC30 FW Pride: Final Four preview (stacatto style) from Cause McDubree/AOC Herald We raved about the full-fledged version, buzzed on the novelty of the rapid-fire format and now we’re presented with stacatto syle? When pulling out this one you know I have a couple hours to spare while wifey & kids are out shopping and 30 or so hours until the next killer event kicks off. So each fight’s getting a sentence to provide some background on their skill bases and any notable items then we’ll drop a fearless predicition and move on to the next clash. Essentially, the purpose of this excersize should be to raise the familiarity factor with all our fighters participating, which is why I cover entire cards instead of just focusing on the Main Events. So let’s get on with our campaign to raise awareness of who’s gonna do what, to whom during this night of fights that are loaded with implications for some of our lighter Divisions… * LW DJ “The Eulogy” Penncil (2-2) vrs Bill “Biv” Dafoe (1-3-1): There’s only room for one SFO reclamation project in this org and the winner of our ho-hum opener gets to hang onto the bottom rung of the Lightweight ladder. Prediction: Dafoe, TKO rd. 2- as improved striking takes it’s toll. * FW David “vampire” khan (0-0) vrs “Juke” Juvius Ledford (0-0): as tough a match as you’d have to call, with both newbz being well rounded in a sub-mediocre sorta way Prediction: Ledford, UDecision- when in doubt, go with the better coached fighter * MW Deamon Beat (4-2) vrs Shaun Maddox (3-0): After meeting up with a freight train also known as Tyler Durden in his last outing, Beat gets challenged by another rising star who’s shown excellent ground skills in his young career. Prediction: Beat. UDecision- experience comes into play as the Beat goes on. $ WW "The Demon-God" Mibu Kyoshiro (4-0) vrs Maxwell "The Canadian Express" Pappin (7-2): I can tell you another, higher rated Welterweight wanted no part of Kyoshiro right now and that Pappy will not want a repeat of his most recent performance that had the hard-core fans bored to tears. Prediction: Kyoshiro, KO rd. 3- as Pappin’s shortcomings with striking catch up to him. $ MW Abula “Habula” Babu (7-2) vrs Salvador “Papillonn” Dali (9-10): Upon discovering the Art of Conflict tests for LSD and having to swear off his drug of choice, Dali says he’s a vastly improved fighter and is out to provide us with the Submission of the Night as well as Upset of the Year. Prediction: Babu, TKO rd. 2- this guy is good. * WW Shane “The Dagger” Richards (3-1) vrs “SFO.1” Steve Fighter (3-1): With identical heights, weight and records, here’s another puzzler for the prognosticators and great fight for our fans; with Steve having faced better competition while holding an edge in morale. Prediction: Fighter, Submission rd. 3- morale matters. $ HW Big D (6-3) vrs John “Uncle Buck” Candy (3-0): Candy has taken a steep step up in competition in former Title holder, Bigs but he holds the only edge in Primary skills and has shown great abilities since turning pro. Prediction: D, Submission, rd. 3- the experience factor comes into play again. $ FW Tourney, Nag “Rakshasa” Hambukoo (6-0) vrs Tony “Ironman” Stark (5-4): based on the records, Ironman’s facing a melt down but of all the potential upsets on this night, I see this one as the most likely to succeed, despite Tony’s ongoing morale issue. Prediction: Stark, KO rd. 1- as he manages to stay upright long enough to land the big right. $ FW Tourney, Stevie “the Whirlwind” Walker (5-1) vrs Lyle “Duracell” Alzado (6-3): Lyle impressed everyone with his stand-up skills to get this far but will not find the Whirlwind as receptive to his pugilistic advances. Prediction: Walker, TKO rd. 2: in my early favorite for Fight of the Night. $ LHW Title, Joe “The Spark” Clark (7-2) vrs Hank Hall (7-0): this is a drum rolls & trumpets encounter if I’ve ever seen one, as Clark comes in after steamrolling recent opponents and looking to avenge the last loss on his resume. Prediction: Hall, TKO rd. 5: the bigger gas tank ends up being the difference. Yes, we are done, tired and satisfied our loyal readers have gleaned enough from the AOC30 stacatto style recap that they’re looking forward to taking in the results tomorrow night. After this phenomenal exhibition we present AOC31: Absolute Knock Out, featuring Lightweight Champ, Bruno Da Silva’s first Title defence against Ground n’ Pound machine, Kenny Wood as well as two can’t miss Lightheavyweight eliminators between Familia/Eld and Masatoshi/Skwigelf. It’s been a Kimbo Slice folks, but we gotta get this to the presses before the fighters start making their way to the ring- see ya at Hayashi’s!

I only have "Sneaky" Frenchy Fuqua (2-2) in Stebe's weight class and he's booked to fight the far deadlier, Dizzle Dadude. at 7-3, Bruce Banner sounds like a more appropriate debut for your 6-3 tough guy, then we'll see how our fighters impressed in those bouts before arranging a potential showdown.

Team Marvel Superstud KO artist, Ilya "The Heartbreaker" Balev, possesses limited English having recently moved over from the backwaters of Bulgaria. however, he promises to let his flying fists and feet do the talking once his name is called in the BMM competition and plans on silencing any/all detractors by turning his unfortunate opponent into a sad sack of donkey dung. once we were able to translate, you gotta love the guy's quote: "you can lose or you can lose- those are your options".

AOC29: Smash With Malice recap from Cause McDubree/AOC Herald Everything clicked for the lil’ org that could at Smash With Malice; great fights, great rating, great receipts. I can tell you our financial position has done a complete turnaround since I’ve come on board here and that very little of the credit is owed to me. Rather, bihom has done a stellar job of putting a consistent string of great cards together and profits have been re-invested in either future events or signing/re-signing our fighters. We both agreed at the outset on turning Art of Conflict into a top 5 org in Montreal and with a few more shows like this one, we’re not far off… * LHW Elliot “The Devil” Corbeil (2-1) TKO’s Frank Sherm (1-2) (Strikes) 0:32 of rd. 1: Corbeil went after it, looked smooth and didn’t let up until the ref stepped in. We’ll be interested in seeing how his abilities play out against a similarly talented striker, as Frank did not qualify in that regard. Having suffered two quick KO’s in row, Sherm conceded afterwards he needs to focus on his striking defence, takedowns and Boxing, in that tall order. When asked how he was going to accomplish that at a 1-coach gym, we gotta; “I dunno yet”. FIGHT RATING 100% * HW Brock “BROCKLESNAR” Lesnar (1-0) TKO’s Scott Gibson (0-1) (Cut) 2:53 of rd. 1: This fast tussle fell under the upset file, as recent Free Agent, Lesnar, only needed three ground n’ pound strikes to open a nasty gash that ended Gibson’s night. If anyone’s interested in putting a bid on Brock, he’s a wonderful wrestler who needs work elsewhere. Maybe after that big letdown, Scottie’s manager will pull the ol’ switcheroo. (ed. note; Brock has since called it a career and is telling everyone how it’s better in the Bahamas) FIGHT RATING 54% * FW Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout (1-0) Submits Geometry Man (0-1) (RNC) 2:25 of rd. 1: Stout had it goin on, showing great hidden abilities in this fight and proved to me again how tough it is to predict outcomes between untested foes. Geometry Man’s wonderful boxing was never put to use and for some unknown reason, he went for a takedown. Stout’s basic looking ground skills were anything but as he hauled Man down easily and submitted him on his first attempt. Rightfully handed Sub of the Night by boss tarsun. FIGHT RATING 36% $ HW “Animal” Frank McGrath (7-1) TKO’s Cool “Flabby” McCold (13-7) (Cut) 3:17 of rd. 1: McCold came out looking to play the man in the stand-up and in response, Mcgrath was having absolutely none of it. The Animal was both busier and badder, opening up Cool so horribly he looked like an expendable co-star in a slasher flick. 14 more days for the cut to heal but I would think his psyche’s going to take a little longer after everyone watches you suck rotten apples. Meanwhile, Frankie’s people were screaming for the next Title shot immediately after but they could’ve saved their breath, as that one’s on auto-offer. FIGHT RATING 100% * LHW “Fast” Hans Laudrup (4-2) Decisions Wolf Christian (3-3) (Unanimous): We had a back and forth encounter with these two that Laudrup ended up winning as a result of being the busier striker who was able to secure the takedowns. He didn’t do much when they hit the canvas but did wear Wolf down and score points with judges. There were some very entertaining position switches between these evenly matched wrestlers but again, Laudrup had the busier hands and most of the flip-flops ended with him on top, smiling at the judges. FIGHT RATING 80% * LHW Edmund Dorrance (5-3) Decisions Anthony Soprano (5-5) (Unanimous): Though it took a while for him to loosen up and you knew there was too much ground game in the early going for his liking, Edmund Dorrance managed to weather the storm and begin finding the range in the clinch. His two big grappling saviours in rd. 1 were getting out of three submission attempts along with his ability to improve position to eventually escape or lay & pray. He won the striking battle in the clinch, with a killer percentage of elbows scoring as well as plenty of knees. Soprano can only be pleased with his takedowns coming out of this one, as he failed to exert himself in any other aspect against his obviously stronger opponent. Other than the foiled sub attempts and a bit of ground n’ pound, there wasn’t much separating them in what should have been Soprano’s turf. If all parties agree, we can now look forward to Dorrance/Laudrup and Christian/Soprano in the next round of our mid-tier, LHW eliminator. FIGHT RATING 50% * MW “powerade” johhn skantze vrs Roland "The Gunslinger" Deschain No Contest: If johhn wants to pull a Travis Lutter with us, we can do a Dana White on him- buh bye, buddy, good luck with the Quick Fights! No more home delivery of the Herald for his manager, if he wants to read this he’ll have to go to the Forum like the rest of the bleacher bums. note to our financial officer; send Rollie a thousand for his troubles. FIGHT RATING: BOO! $ LW Kenny Wood Submits Mark “The Maniac” Brown (Kimura) 2:26 of rd. 3: Pardon my jaw for dropping on seeing this lopsided affair given Fight of the Night, as the only award Mark Brown earned here was Punching Bag of the Month. After absorbing 26 gnp strikes but not connecting on any of his own, in any facet of the fight, it’s safe to say Mark knows how the Everlast ground bag feels after a session with Bones Jones... like it lost very badly. So we can only assume it’s mushroom season in Vancity and there was magic in the air when bihom watched this one. Wood was awesome again (anyone remember that horse?) and gets first crack at the intimidating Bruno Da Silva for the AOC Lightweight belt. FIGHT RATING 100% * MW Hadley Jagger (5-3) Submits Schoonie “U-Turn” Singleton (Armbar) 2:02 of rd. 2: Having won 4 of his last 5 fights, Hadley Jagger is really putting it all together, even showing flashes of stand-up skills in this one that helped with his takedowns enormously. His striking dee was on point too, as Schoonie failed to land one shot throughout the schooling from the Black belt We remain big fans of Singleton, however and he’ll bring a lot more experience into his future fights than he would have if we fed him a stiff. Jagger was clearly a couple knotches above though and is definitely developing contender’s aspirations. FIGHT RATING 86% $ HW Title “The Malice” Jeff Kennedy (10-1) KO’s Bruce “Hulk” Banner (7-3) (Punches) 0:09 of rd. 1: After Big D’s initial defence way back when, it’s been harder to hold on to our Heavyweight Title than an eel in a pot of Crisco. The succession of one and done Champs now reaches three, with the vastly improved Jeff Kennedy having earned our slippery strap for the second time in his now illustrious career. KO of the Night, as well but I’m certain that’ll be a deep footnote next to regaining the HW Title. JK’s also accumulated enormous hype/pop from this electrifying performance and would certainly pose a challenge for any Montreal HW at present. As for Banner, he may be down but is certainly not out, as he’s shown the ability to rebound in the past and come back stronger than ever. We look forward to seeing him earn another shot at the belt in future, ideally once he picks his striking defence up. FIGHT RATING 100% Cause’s Unconventional Awards for AOC 29: Nickname of the Night: Roland "The Gunslinger" Deschain, bang bang! Folding Chair Award: johhne skantze, we hate you. Up & Comer Trophy: Sam Stout, in a toss-up with Corbeil. I could carry on with an extended wrap up but I told bihom this would be done in an hour and that was over 3 hours ago (that blasted family, again). So let me just say thanks to all our fighters who together, made this a momentus event for the Art of Conflict. Always forging ahead, AOC30 FW Pride: Final Four has some of the best matchups I’ve seen since signing my first fighter here way back when. This awe inspiring collection of combatants will be topped off by the crazily anticipated LHW Title match between our Champion, Hank Hall and the super charged challenger, Joe Clark. If I need to say more, you need to do some research so get ‘cher tickets early and be ready to shout yourself hoarse, I’ll see ya there!

AOC29: Smash With Malice preview (Rapidfire format) from Cause McDubree/AOC Herald (Spent most of a rare, kid-free Sunday putting this together only to have a power outage in my ’hood stop the presses. Didn’t come on ’til after I’d left for work this morn but got back for lunch in time to hit send). Here we go folks, it’s on at Hayashi’s 2,000 seat venue with minimal preamble, far less hyperbole but still plenty of insights. And not to worry, cherished readers, the plumper version of the previews will return in the near future- now let’s get rawkin with AOC29... * LHW Elliot “The Devil” Corbeil (1-1) vs Frank Sherm (1-1): Sherm needs a gym upgrade and Corbeil doesn’t have one. The Devil‘s got the details everywhere except the Jiu-Jitsu realm, so victory hinges on his takedown defence and submission defence, Your winner is: Corbeil, Unanimous decision * HW Scott Gibson (0-0) vs Brock “BROCKLESNAR” Lesnar (0-0): Seems like I haven’t looked at two newcomers going at it since my days when the SFO first started up here in Montreal. Still maintain the best way to separate these guys is by looking at where they’re training and in this case, Gibson’s at the high-end Fight Factory while Lesnar’s cheaping out at the $55 HardKnokz. Your winner is: Gibson, TKO rd. 1 * FW Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout (0-0) vs Geometry Man (0-0): What’s this- Frosh week here at the AOC? In another test of rooks, Stout’s not training and his opponent’s slumming, which beats sitting on the couch. Maybe Sam’s too busy coming up with a more original nickname, although in a note to Brock, it’s better than “SAMSTOUT“. Your winner is: Geomerty Man, TKO rd. 3 $ HW “Animal” Frank McGrath (6-1) vs Cool “Flabby” McCold (13-6): No noobs found on this set- as some of our undercards would hold Main Event status in many a reputable org. However, here at Art of Conlict, we like to make sure our fans show up early. The Animal’s looked fantastic through most of his career but has a huge size disadvantage and has yet to face anyone with near the experience of recent signing, Cool McCold. The big fella’s either on the decline or was being set-up with sylistic mis-matches recently in his previous org. This fight should give us a strong indication of which way the winds blowing, as McGrath will be bringing it. Your winner is: McGrath, Unanimous decision ***Next up we begin our unofficial, mid-tier LHW eliminator tourney, to find out which of our next four fighters is on his way towards Title contention and alternatively, who’s on their way out to pasture, at least in our opinion. We intend to have the winners of these fights meet as well as the losers to make our determinations on who’s deserving of more spotlight and for the 4th place finisher, who’s consigned to early undercard, stepping-stone status for the rest of his stay here.*** * LHW “Fast” Hans Laudrup (3-2) vs Wolf Christian (3-2): A lot of anticipation surrounds our battle of skilled boxers here and with only one of their shared six wins going the distance, the odds of them making it out of the first round are not high. Looking at the skill-sets, Laudrup has more options at his disposal outside of the boxing and may look to take advantage of them to wear Wolf down. Your winner is: Laudrup, KO rd. 3 * LHW Anthony Soprano (5-4) vs Edmund “King Snake” Dorrance (4-3): The closing segment of our eliminator double bill is more of a coin flip, with Dorrance trumping Soprano in his most dominant skill (Muay Thai) but appearing notably outclassed on the grappling side. With E-Dee being the stronger finisher of the two, I like his chances to end it early if he can keep it standing and Soprano‘s if he can‘t. Your winner is: Dorrance, TKO rd. 3 * MW Roland “The Gunslinger” Deschain (2-4) vs. “powerade” johhn skantze (1-0): Not sure what skantze’s manager thought he’d gain from signing this fight, other than higher premiums on his fighter’s insurance policy after he gets picked apart by Rollie. skantze’s outgunned everywhere but boxing and his advantage there isn’t large enough for me to think he even has a puncher’s chance. Your winner is: Deschain, TKO rd. 1 $ LW Mark “The Maniac” Brown (5-1) vs Kenny Wood (5-1): Who wants a shot at Bruno Da Silva’s newly acquired LW belt? Well, the winner of this collision gets next and all the smart money is riding on Wood, as Brown still trains in the ghetto, has a noticeable energy/morale issue and hasn‘t beaten near the caliber of opponents as Wood has. Props to Kenny on his recently awarded Black belt, I’ve a feeling he’ll be putting it to good use if he can’t take Brown out while they’re standing. Your winner is: Wood, Submission rd. 2 * MW Schoonie “U-Turn” Singleton (3-0) vs Hadley Jagger (4-3): I’d love to jump on board with boss tarsun and proclaim this as a must-see, co-Main Event but unfortunately, I doesn’t hold any more signifigance, skills or fireworks than the LHW, mini-tourney bouts that preceeded it. Don’t get me wrong; should be a good one worth watching but in terms of placement, the McGrath/McCold tilt belongs here, in my straight shooting opinion. Was only a few weeks ago that Jagger was the the only Black belt in the AOC but we now have 3 and counting. No submission slouch with his Brown belt, Singleton’s chances here ride with his wrestling advantage- if he’s able to use it to dominate positions and prevent Jagger from posting up for triangle chokes, he can win this fight he probably should have waited on. Your winner is: Jagger, Unanimous decision $ HW Title, Bruce “Hulk” Banner (7-2) vs. “The Malice” Jeff Kennedy (9-1): We’re about to find out one of two things about our new Heavyweight Champ; either he’s a late bloomer or he’s met the right opponents at the right time to ride his 3 fight win all the way to the Title. Kennedy provides top level competition for the hard punching, Hulk and should deliver the sort of performance that either makes a Champion‘s reputation or breaks his face and dreams. These two are very evenly matched in the primary skills and indications are Banner has an edge in physicals while Kennedy’s further advanced his secondaries… gotta coin I can flip? Your winner is: Banner KO rd. 4 Keeping with our main theme, we’re looking for quick closure today so I can get back to life’s little nuisances, like making my kids’ supper. Best of luck to everyone who's going at it, may your guy come out injury free and with lots of energy to get back in the gym.

AOC28 FW Pride: Opening Salvo recap from Cause McDubree/AOC Herald We witnessed a stellar kick-off to Art of Conflict’s 8-man Featherweight tourny at Opening Salvo, with all four fighters who advanced showcasing the necessary skills to win it. We also took in some dynamite performances from other AOC vets as well as newcomers in the bouts leading up to and proceeding the Tournament. The org wasn’t left with a ton of profit once all the bonuses were paid out but as long as we’re able to put on a memorable card, that’s of secondary concern. This was the first time that I’d gone to the event commentary instead of results page and highly recommend it to others who haven’t given it a try. Started out scrolling quickly, Slice did this/Fuller that/Eisner Eisner/Heijari/etc. then gradually began slowing down and took in the vast majority of the remaining matches as they happened instead of after the fact. Let’s do it again; only this time, you’ll get the skinny from your trusty scribe and save yourself some time sifting through the lay & pray dry spells. * HW “Brack Guy” Akimbo Slice (2-1) Decisions Ron Fuller (2-2) (Split): An epic battle got this shindig off to a flying start; the classic “one dude takes a beating for two rounds then miraculously finds a second wind and looks like the second coming of Rocky Balboa in the 3rd” with Fuller getting the role of Sly Stallone. Fitting result imo; since I was split on who deserved to take this one, as well but in the end, I believe they gave it to the right guy. Props to both combatants for sharing our inaugural Fight of the Night Award. FIGHT RATING 71% * LW Brian Eisner (2-0) TKO’s Heikki Heijari (1-1) (Strikes) 4:03 of rd. 1: This story line was a little too familiar- Heijari takes Eisnar down but doesn’t take advantage of it and gets laid flat after the inevitable referee stand-up. As predicted, he gassed early after going for a half-hearted submission attempt at the minute & a half mark. Eisnar made a great first impression with the AOC fans, leaving head office pleased we rescued him from the QF circuit and looking forward to seeing him let the fists fly in future. FIGHT RATING 66% * LHW Justin Case (3-0) Decisions Chris Carter (3-1) (Unanimous): In this clash of undefeateds, Justin Case was all over his opponent like a bad rash. He made Carter miss during their infrequent stand-up exchanges and was then able to turn his takedowns into long stretches of ground n’ pound hell for CC. Carter had the superior Jiu-Jitsu game but with 23 of 26 ground stikes landing from Case, he was too busy covering his face to provide much offense off his back. FIGHT RATING 71% * WW “The Wonderful” Stevee Cee (4-2) Decisions “Fung Guy” Ryan Fung (2-2-1) (Unanimous): Jose can you Cee this Fung Guy throw no strikes for 3 rounds while getting manhandled in the clinch the majority of the time? We kept waiting for him to fight back but he must have been saving his energy for the 25 unsuccessful takedowns attempts. When he finally succeeded, there was a minute left in the fight and then Cee immediately got back to his feet. Definitely not his best showing, next time we’re hoping to see the Fung Guy, not fungi. FIGHT RATING 45% * MW Dwight Elkins (2-0) TKO’s Mike Mercurious (1-1) (Head Kick) 0:41 of rd. 1: Anyone who knew anything about future stars of mma in Montreal were hyped for this match up. The stellar looking Elkins killed the buzz early on by focusing on the head kick until he hit pay dirt and left MM‘s corner wondering why they didn‘t call for the takedown. Merc had a couple opportunities to counter strongly after some h/k misses but let those windows close and ended up paying for it. Full credit for taking on a fighter of Elkins’ stature, as this guy has created such a large following already that fansoftheaoc.org have set up an online petition for the brass to open up the vault and sign him to a long term deal. FIGHT RATING 54% $ FW Tourney, Lyle “Freak Nasty” Alzado (6-3) Decisions Don Hall (5-3) (Unanimous): With all 5 of Alzado’s Wins coming via submission and Hall having earned his reputation on the ground, I was thinking this would be a steady diet of grappling. Funny thing happened on the way to the mat, as both fighters decided they were gonna spend lengthy stretches duking it out on their feet and it was during these exchanges that Alzado won over the judges and crowd. He landed close to 50% of his head punches and combinations, which may not impress until you see he threw 72 and 20, respectively. We can safely assume his stint in the conditioning gym played a big part in him keeping up a torrid pace over 20 minutes and he earned everyone‘s respect, including Don Hall‘s with this yeoman‘s effort. FIGHT RATING 39% $ FW Tourney, Tony “Ironman” Stark (5-4) KO’s Darren “3rd Degree” Burns (5-6) (Punch) 1:30 of rd. 1: I’ve mentioned how Ironman Stark strikes me as a toss out the record-type of late bloomer and he’s doing everything in his power to make me look like a seer. What I didn’t make known was that I’d picked him as the darkhorse to win the FW Pride Tournament; I won’t be retracting that statement after this lethal performance against an experienced and capable opponent. FIGHT RATING 100% $ FW Tourney, Nag "Rakshasa" Hambukoo (6-0) Decisions Billy Mates (1-1) (Unanimous): Shortly after Alzado’s persistent stand-up display, the second big surprise on this evening was watching game greenhorn, Billy Mates take the Black belt, Hambukoo, all the way to the judges. How a native of Tonga picked up the nickname of a Hindu demon god, I don’t know but he sure didn’t resemble one at Opening Salvo. Mates did nothing except survive but the fact that he did makes you wonder about Hambukoo’s chances against his next match up in the bracket, Tony Stark. FIGHT RATING 22% $ FW Tourney, Stevie “The Whirlwind” Walker (5-1) TKO’s Vlad “The impaler” Tepes (1-1) (Punches) 3:57 of rd. 1: Team Walker were left stunned following the opening bell of our third tourny bout, as The impaler was able to secure the takedown and put the Whirlwind where he was least effective. Their ooh’s turned to ahh’s right after, however, as Walker displayed some hidden wrestling ability to advance all the way to mount Tepes is wonderful level in that discipline though, so it didn’t take him long to get out of the bad position until the ref brought them back up. Once again, that spelled doom for the ground guy, as Walker began finding the range and landing with impunity. All it took was 3/3 head shots, 2/2 to the body and an impressive 4/5 combinations to end Vlad’s dreams of writing a Cinderella story. FIGHT RATING 49% $ MW Semi “Spida” Silva (7-0) TKO’s Chester “Quick Kick” Carlson (6-3) (Cut) 4:05 of rd. 2: Silva set the tone right after they touched gloves, as his patented bob & weave led to hook that cut Carlson and shook his confidence. Then the Champ showed how assured he was by bringing the fight into the clinch, which was supposed to Carlson’s domain. Eventually scoring a takedown, Silva rained down some leather on Quick Kick’s noggin, interrupted by the occasional submission attempt. Round 2 was a carbon copy of the 1st, minus the clinch work, as Semi put on a striking clinic before taking Carlson down and dominating to the point that you knew the doctor did the outgunned Carlson a big favour by sending him to the shower. Next up on our personable Champion’s agenda should be recent signing, Abula Babu, as long as he can make it through his tune-up fight versus the enigmatic, Salvador Dali. FIGHT RATING 52% Cause’s Unconventional Awards for AOC 27: Batman Returns Nickname of the Night: Darren “3rd Degree” Burns, scorchin! Folding Chair Award: None Available. Up & Comer Trophy: Dwight Elkins, re-sign with us kid & we‘ll make you a star. With the exception of Stark/Burns, we saw mostly joke rating’s throughout this great card so our valiant warrior’s shouldn’t take that crap to heart. Opening Salvo will be remembered for the auspicious debut of our newest Division, seeing four fighters advance who should be Featherweight mainstays for some time to come. Then there’s the continued dominance of Semi Silva at 185 and some newcomers like Elkins and Eisnar who made lasting impressions. Now it’s on to AOC 29: Smash With Malice, when the long awaited duel between Heavyweight Champion, Hulk Banner and Jeff Kennedy finally goes off along with a high-end, HW eliminator between the ever dangerous Frank McGrath and ultra-experienced Cool McCold. Lots more great match ups to boot, am now making every effort to get the full-fledged preview out but we may end up with my new, rapid-fire format due to time constraints. Friendly reminder of the week; if your fighter’s short on cash for training or supplements, pm boss tarsun or myself and we’ll do our best to keep him going at an optimal rate.

reporting from the Underground in Montreal, which has already begun to fill up for... AOC28 FW Pride: where it's gonna be on like donkey kong!

AOC28 FW Pride: Opening Salvo preview from Cause McDubree/AOC Herald You know we’ve moved past the crush stage when I’m finally giving this promotional element the time of day. Not only that, I was allowing the format to ferment so we could bring you something different that still serves it’s intended purpose. To me, a solidly written preview combines fact based stats with intuitive speculation on what’s going on behind the scenes to arrive at the most plausible scenarious likely to unfold. Provide ’em with a concise synopsis without overanalyzing bouts to the point that your reader taps out like Tank Abbott. AOC28 should have the Underground’s roof needing structural repair once the dust settles on one of our most interesting and exciting cards to date. Topped off by another Middleweight Title defence from Semi Silva, we’ve got truckloads of martial arts action leading up to it. After we announced our 8-man Featherweight Tourney would be taking place in a ring with the old Pride rules of two, 10 minute rounds judged over the course of the fight, we were getting calls from fans from as far away as Tokyo wanting tickets for this reason alone. But we’re not putting this on for the novelty factor; it’s the first step in our eventual 145 lb. Champions’ journey to elite status here at Art of Conflict. So let’s move on to the evening’s contests with our unique layout (patent pending) that’s been designed to provide our busy subscribers with as much key info in as little time as possible. Areas our preview cover include: Energy, Morale, Hype/pop, Size, Primary skills, Management (gameplan/gym/sups/record), Experience (fights/age), Finishing ability, Intangibles (demonstrating hidden skills/attributes). If you don’t see them listed in the fight preview, it’s because I consider any perceived edge to be negligible. * Heavyweights “Brack Guy” Akimbo Slice (1-1) Advantages: Morale vrs. Ron Fuller (2-1) Advantages: Size, Management, Experience, Intangibles Although neither of these guys have ended their wins early, if forced to choose we’d take our chances with Slice’s boxing over Fuller’s wrestling, any day. Still, in terms of most likely outcome, you have to go with Ronnie’s energetic ground game taking control, wearing Akimbo down and knotching another decision if he’s unable to earn a submission. your AOC Officially Sanctioned Chances are: Slice stoppage (22%) Slice decision (20%) Fuller stoppage (17%) Fuller decision (41%) * Lightweights Brian Eisner (1-0) Advantages: Energy, Size vrs. Heikki Heijari (1-0) Advantages: Hype/pop, Experience Not much to choose from between these two evenly matched, recently signed LW’s. Only significant red flag is Heijari’s absent minded Energy management and that’s compensated somewhat by his better training environment. That’s not enough to prevent me from clinging to the ol’ mmatycoon adage- all things being equal, go with the fresher fighter. Chances are: Eisner stoppage (37%) Eisner decision (23%) Heijari stoppage (29%) Heijari decision (11%) * Lightheavyweights Chris “Blaze” Carter (3-0) Advantages: Experience, Finishing, Intangibles vrs. “Vorssan poika” Justin Case (2-0) Advantages: Size, Primaries, Management Another toughish call of undefeateds for your fearless prognosticator to choose from but after careful consideration, we’re looking for Case to end Carter’s 3 fight winning streak while establishing one of his own. Switch the gyms and we’d switch the pick, though, another great looking battle arranged by our adept matchmaker. Chances are: Carter stoppage (28%) Carter decision (15%) Case stoppage (18%) Case decision (39%) *Welterweights “Fung Guy” Ryan Fung (2-1-1) Advantages: Primaries, Size vrs. “The Wonderful” Stevee Cee (3-2) Advantages: Hype/pop, Finishing, Management, Intangibles Cee’s opened skeptical eyes his last three fights, ending a couple wins with his allegedly feeble striking and going the distance with the much hyped and dearly departed, Debor Tan. Fung Guy, on the other hand, lost his most recent bout to the uninspiring Jacque Strope, which leads us to believe he’s in deep here against Mr. Wonderful. Chances are: Fung stoppage (18%) Fung decision (21%) Cee stoppage (38%) Cee decision (23%) *Middleweights Dwight Elkins (1-0) Advantages: Primaries, Experience vrs. Mike Mercurious (1-0) Advantages: Hype/pop, Intangibles Upon announcing this fight, Montreal mmatoday called Elkins/Mercurious “the mostly highly anticipated battle of 1-0 fighters in the history of the AOC”. I’m not one to argue that take on what is certain to provide us with our next up & comer in the MW Division. Check the sizzling Primaries and you can’t help but lean Elkins way but after watching Mercurious dispose of a crafty veteran like Dave Grohl in his debut, I hesitate to write him off- especially if he‘s been working up his defensive grappling. Chances are: Elkins stoppage (24%) Elkins decision (31%) Mercurious stoppage (18%) Mercurious decision (27%) $ Featherweight Pride Tourney Don Hall (5-2) Advantages: Hype/pop, Size, Management vrs. Lyle "Freak Nasty” Alzado (5-3) Advantages: Experience, Finishing Our FW Pride tourney begins with two rounds of rousing action between a couple of game veterans who are capable of making it to the Final. Again, the biggest difference between these two is their training environments, with Hall investing his all while Alzado scrimps and scrounges. Along with his Brown belt likely trumping Alzado’s submission skills and caliber of opponents faced, Hall should be able to advance. Chances are: Hall stoppage (34%) Hall decision (29%) Alzado stoppage (16%) Alzado decision (21%) $ Featherweight Pride Tourney Tony Stark (4-4) Advantages: Primaries, Management vrs. Darren “3rd Degree” Burns (5-5) Advantages: Size Both these former LW’s have a chunk missing from their morale but whoever wins this Quarterfinal matchup will see a quick fix in that dept. I repeat; largest advantage on paper is the gym’s these guys are in, with Stark staying at the equivilent of the 4 Seasons while Burns resides at the Fleabag Motel. With 11k in his bank and a history of putting on good fights, win or lose, this guy deserves much better. He’ll need to keep this one on the mat to knotch a submission win or eke out a lay & pray decision, as Stark has really pushed his striking game deep into the danger zone Chances are: Stark stoppage (31%) Stark decision (25%) Burns stoppage (21%) Burns decision (23%) $ Featherweight Pride Tourney Nag "Rakshasa" Hambukoo (5-0) Advantages: Everywhere you look- hey, nice Black belt! vrs. Billy "No" Mates (1-0) Advantages: Prays regularly, scored a draw in Morale If you haven’t gotten the drift, let’s get right to the odds… Chances are: Hambukoo stoppage (56%) Hambukoo decision (33%) Mates stoppage (08%) Mates decision (03%) $ Featherweight Pride Tourney Stevie “The Whirlwind” Walker (4-1) Advantages: Hype/pop, Primaries, Experience, Finishing vrs. Vlad “The impaler” Tepes (1-1) Advantages: Morale One other unofficial edge Tepes has going in (that you’ll likely only see in these types of tournaments) is Walker’s fighting while still injured from his previous outing. Should Tepes be able to take him down early and keep Walker fighting off his back, the low morale and injury could play a role in allowing the impaler to score a huge upset. Smart money’s still on the power punching Whirlwind to see his way through Tepes useless stand-up abilities to secure the early KO. Chances are: Walker stoppage (38%) Walker decision (26%) Tepes stoppage (17%) Tepes decision (19%) $ Middleweight Title Semi “Spida” Silva (6-0) Advantages: Hype/pop, Size, Finishing vrs. Chester “Quick Kick” Carlson (6-2) Advantages: None When this bout was first signed, Carlson stood as the only credible challenger to Silva’s MW belt. Since then, two others have emerged, as recent signing Abula Babu has come on the scene with serious intentions and former WW challenger Keijo Sardini has had enough of cutting weight and losing to Bruce Wayne. Even though these newcomers have lept ahead of Quick Kick in the Division’s standings, I believe his skill set poses the greatest threat to Silva’s Title at present. How great remains to be seen, as Semi has ended every one of his fights early, 5 by way of T/KO yet he could very will win this battle via submission. Not sure about you but I don’t like betting against those kinds of guys until they‘ve been hung with an L. Carlson may not have any apparent advantages but he’s so close to the Champ in a number of key categories that I’m sure he’s going in to the biggest fight of his life with full confidence. His road to victory is paved with deft striking defence while keeping Silva tied up in the clinch. Should be great/can‘t wait! Chances are: Silva stoppage (39%) Silva decision (19%) Carlson stoppage (28%) Carlson decision (14%) If you ain’t pumped up for Opening Salvo, your helium container needs refilling, folks, as this card truly delivers everything the fight fans could want. Art of Conflict’s providing you with an old-skool tourney filled with skills, highly hyped newcomers facing each other instead of stepping stones and a prestigious Title fight that leaves you wondering what will happen. Tickets are flying like hotcakes and the scalpers outside the Underground will not be kind so get your seats early and don’t cha dare miss it! ***addendum to AOC28 preview*** it's been brought to Bat Headquarters' attention that two of our competitors in the FW Pride tourney are members of low cost conditioning gyms because the only glaring hole in their game is cardio. i'm sure this will be the case with others in future so feel free to take gym locale reports with a grain of salt. sincere apologies for insinuating legitimate challengers Lyle Alzado and Darren Burns were underloved, we can expect even better battles in the 1st round as a result of the record being set straight.

AOC27: Batman Returns recap from Cause McDubree/AOC Herald It was a stellar show put on by the AOC’s beloved warriors, with a kick-ass rating of 107.16 that saw us bounce back up to the 5th ranked org in Montreal. Far too many missed a fantastic card, however, as a disappointing 1,200 fans were on hand to witness it (even with the coolest Event poster to hit the streets in over a year). Maybe we shoulda charged medium or invested more in advertising/production or went premium price at the Underground… bottom line is, booking the right venue and expenditures is not an exact science and you can’t win ‘em all- unless your name‘s Bruce Wayne. At the end of the day, the reason we’re in this business is to put on great fights that will see the org and it’s many employees grow bigger together and to that end, AOC27 delivered the goods. Read on, McDuff and take in the latest hellacious martial artistry some of our best had to offer. * WW Martin St Louis (1-0) Submits Mike Tarudo (2-5) (Armbar) 4:19 of rd. 1: As most of you know, we save the best for last yet St. Louis got the show and his career off to a rousing start with a 100% success rate on takedowns (2/2) and submission attempts (1/1). Predictably, his striking’s for the birds but he came across as a legitimate Brown belt on the ground Sunday night and future opponents won‘t want to go there. Tarudo needs to re-tool, maybe focus on physicals in training or something because the current plan is not working. FIGHT RATING 52% * MW “AOC Hitman” Xavier Belial (8-7) TKO’s Fredward “Freddy” Benson (2-3) (Head Kick) 2:02 of rd. 1: The downward spiral ends for Belial at the expense of comparable rookie, Benson, who took a bad beating in the name of experience. Freddy didn’t possess the defensive capabilities to thwart the old warhorse’s attack or the takedown prowess to get the tussle horizontal. The ensuing results, though predictable, we’re nonetheless an exciting display of finishing skills that showed us there‘s still some life in the Hitman. FIGHT RATING 100% * FW “the Scimitar” Hakim Hamsho (2-3) KO’s Robin “Sparkles” Scherbatsky (1-4) (Punch) 1:43 of rd. 1: You gotta hear it from the horse’s mouth to believe it: “Hamsho connects with a jab. Scherbatsky is rocked!” are you kidding me? The next shot was a “beautiful hook” that left Sparkles “faceplanted into the mat, ass in the air”. First time I’ve run across that lol description, end result is Hamsho still clings to the dream while Scherbatsky carries on with the nightmare. FIGHT RATING 67% * MW Johnny “No Dice” Servata (4-0) TKO’s Louis “B-Real” Freese (4-5) (Strikes) 3:01 of rd. 1: This Servata kid left jaws agape, especially Freese’s after a vicious flurry of ground and pound left him doing a turtle immitation while his bell was getting repeatedly rung. No clue what’s up with B-Real, the guy with 24k in his bank account while he trains at a $25 gym. We are getting a good read on Servata, however and with continued training in his boxing related secondaries and sparring, he’s an impending threat to our current gatekeepers at Middleweight. FIGHT RATING 75% * MW Champo “Stinkeye” Groucho (5-1) Decisions King “Cookie Monster” Bass (7-6-1) (Unanimous): Very strange gameplan from the King Bass corner- besides 1 leg kick, do nothng but go for takedowns while standing and then do even less on the 9 occasions (out of 33!) that you scored. Alternatively, fan favorite, Champo was busy as a beaver; chomping on Bass with 47 leg kicks, 24 to the body while 20 hit him in the head. That’s a lot of strikes, I’m sure there’s some consternation in his manager’s office that he couldn’t put Bass out, usually indicating a call to the weight pit. FIGHT RATING 100% * HW Harry “Dumb” Azz (7-4) KO’s J F “the Coroner” Houle (6-4) KO (Punches) 0:32 of rd. 1: Although indications are that Houle could have come into this fight in much better shape, Harry Azz saved his best performance in the AOC for last. He was in such a rush to sign with CFC afterwards that he forgot to thank us for the post-fight buffet! Nature of the beast, we wish him continued success and put the focus back on those who remain. Houle still has a future in the fight game but will need to develop most of his primary skills some and come into fights with full energy if he intends to compile a winning streak amongst the brutes inhabiting our HW Division. FIGHT RATING 100% * WW Maxwell "The Canadian Express" Pappin (7-2) Decisions Jacque “The Belt” Strope (3-2) (Unanimous): This goes down as the most boring fight during my watch here and quite likely in company history. No standup strikes landing of the couple thrown and both guys must have been set to control on the ground because we didn’t see any there, either (or submission attempts, for that matter). Pappy was the one doing the controlling his helpless opponent throughout and registering a clean sweep from all three judges. Some sage advice to team Strope- do not take on fighters of Pappin’s caliber until you’ve put every last penny of his $5,967.00 into a $600 gym. That $55 a week hole he’s in will get him nothing but primary skill pops and more Losses. FIGHT RATING 08% (no typo) $ WW Jorge “Massa” Serptentino (3-1) Submits “Wildcat” Ted Grant (4-4) (Triangle) 1:04 of rd. 1: The question was asked if Grant could score the KO before he was taken down and the fast rising Serpentino answered it with an emphatic NO. Ted’s first punch was a jab and when that was followed by a miss, you got a sense he wasn’t fighting with the necessary urgency or focus. Unable to stay to the outside, Massa charged like a bull and drove through until he was in Grant’s guard. From there, he was two chess moves ahead of the Wildcat at all times. When he called checkmate about a minute later, the only person shocked was that weirdo who keeps accosting fighters on their way to the cage- apparently he's president of the Ted Grant fanclub. As he sends the 'cat to a career crossroads, Serpentino's star is ascending steadily, very impressive on this night. FIGHT RATING 62% $ LHW Joe “The Spark” Clark (7-2) TKO’s Arthur Eld (7-3) (Strikes) 4:12 of rd. 1: If there’s a pattern emerging when Arthur Eld fights, it’s that we won’t get his best performance when there’s a lot on the line. In this instance, it was recognition as the #1 LHW contender and another shot at the belt. Clark showed such phenomenal skill here, I’m not going to be alone in stating he has a legitimate chance of knocking off our current kingpin and AOC legend, Hank Hall. Eld is a talented striker who was left swinging at air while getting consistently clocked by hard shots at a steady clip. I would think a tango with Lispin Familia looms for the recently re-signed, Eld, and that is one he’ll need to win in order to maintain relevancy at the top of the Division. FIGHT RATING 82% $ WW Title “Batman” Bruce Wayne (7-0) Submits Keijo "Ylimielinen" Sardiini (Kimura) 1:31 of rd. 1: In his second chance at claiming the Welterweight Title, Keijo Sardini’s night ended a lot quicker than it did in their first encounter, which went the full 5 rounds. The Champ decided to play to his matchup strengths and take Keijo down shortly after we got underway. After they exchanged unsuccessful submission attempts, Wayne improved his position on a couple occasions which left Sardini unable to defend the eventual winning manouver. Since no one took the time to pm their google results for Ylimielinen, I spent a minute to discover it means “disdainful and haughty“. After Wayne made quick work of his title aspirations, Keijo was more “respectful and humble” at the post-fight press conference. Explaining in broken English that it was plain for everyone to see how much the Champion had improved, he vowed to get back in the gym and work twice as hard to earn himself a third try. FIGHT RATING 52% Cause’s Unconventional Awards for AOC 27: Batman Returns Nickname of the Night: Johnny “No Dice” Servata , that‘s hardcore good. Folding Chair Award: Robin Scherbatsky, rocked by a jab/ass in the air. Up & Comer Trophy: Jorge Serptentino, and like Jesse Ventura- I don‘t impress easy. Some surprisingly low ratings for a number of good fights once again but we should be getting used to that by now. No point in lingering to getcha hyped up for AOC28 since I have every intention of making time to provide you with a full-fledged previews, starting with our next really big show. It’s fast approaching, however, so I best be gettin’ busy before they start filling up the seats! Friendly reminder of the week; no one here will hate you for saying no to a fight offer but before hitting decline, take a look at your guy’s division and propose a more suitable candidate (or two).

all the org's i've done write-ups for, including my own have heard me question managers who took on fights they obviously shouldn't have. to paraphrase; "it's the org owner's duty to fill out cards, it's the manager's duty to make sure his fighter has a decent chance to win." the decline option exists because the game builder didn't envision a userbase of puppets. i'm glad we've sorted things out privately but noticing this post after the fact, i don't want to let it drift unanswered.

ahahaha, w/o any plaster in his handwraps, i recall him smothering that Somalian like melted chocolate 'til he couldn't breathe! elsewhere, of note to the SFO's event editor- i've yet to see the word deep spelled DEAP until today.

from the view over at Team Marvel- this is gonna be good.

after that impressive KO the other night, surprised Mbamba hasn't called us out for a rematch.

i've taken on many fights i shouldn't have for the SFO and other org's i knew needed some help filling out cards. they don't right now so stfu with the school yard garbage and try to sully someone's reputation who deserves it. and if you're gonna get all ballsy on internet and shout a fighter out, try the guy ahead of you in hype/pop with the better record, someone might be impressed.

don't get cocky, Rocky; K-Cong just came off a hard fought loss against a better fighter than Highes. as a result, his energy and morale are both down and we're not looking to adopt another underdog role when that's the case. we're brave over here at McDubree Intl., not stupid.

why the delay in doling out the sups? saying 'go ahead and train' but leaving guys high & dry in that dept. doesn't make a lot of sense.

simple solution is to rule all participants must set training intensity to part-time for week 1. this gives organizers until Tuesday to sort out the details. and yes, the energy police should be out in full force until then, while the substitutes hope someone gets sneaky.

hey Remi- send my guy the Daredevil line because he's going to be taking chances!

Balev has baled on the auto-add to Cozad's and is waiting instruction on which gym to join. i start work at 4:30 am Mont time so 9:30 is pusing it in terms of sleep but if i fade before getting the word i will sign him up as soon as i'm awake. pm's on this important item may be in order to save those interested time searching through a busy thread.

Introducing; Ilya "The Heartbreaker" Balev. born and raised in Varna, Bulgaria, he's going to make some noise in the BMM. his hobbies are chess and smashing people's faces, we're glad he's now chosen to do the latter for a living instead of for fun.

was starting to wonder if i was the only one who cared. and 21 was the age that was tossed around with no complaints so i'm proceeding accordingly. all things being equal, this should come down to a battle amongst the fast learners- fingers are crossed that one of them will be mine.

can we create our fighters now and get confirmation on the age we're to start them at?

AOC26: High Impact recap from Cause McDubree/AOC Herald With an event rating of 80.15, you think we’d be bemoaning High Impact as a dud card but all things considered (cha-ching!) Art of Conflict head office was all smiles while tossing around some big cheques the following day. There was officially room for 70 at our new favorite locale, the Underground but I’m not sure where you would have fit them. Which leads me to believe we got back-doored by 50+ cheapskates and a duplitious staff member, quick- somebody hire us a new security team! So they may not have brought the big ratings but let’s see what unfolded and then decide if that was justified; if not, wouldn’t be the first time we got the shaft from the Formula Police. Sincere apologies for the delay in getting this write-up published, too many commitments colliding in the same week. When able to get time for tycoon, there’s been a lot of focus on the FW tourney, keeping the Fight Factory financially viable, re-stocking the lower end of some of our divisions with new talent and last but not least, doing my best to see my first Title fight ends successfully- it did! Now on to the overdue, rapid-fire recap… FW Vlad “The impaler” Tepes (1-1) Decisions Monk Gorfne (1-4) (Unanimous):In the initial dust-up in our organizations’ new Featherweight Division, Monk looked done just past the 60 second mark but somehow managed to survive 14 more minutes of ground n’ pound from The impaler. Vlad evens his record and can aspire to great heights amongst all the new fighters, especially once he develops his stand-up. FIGHT RATING 68% WW “The Demon-God” Mibu Kyoshiro (4-0) Submits Luigi “No Guns” Beretta (3-3) (Strikes) 1:34 of rd. 1: Like no crying in baseball, there should be no tapping in mma due to strikes. “No Guns” Beretta may want to change the nickname to “No Balls” after this girly-man ending. On the bright side is Kyoshiro, who reminds us of select B.C. bud- we’re very high on him here at the AOC offices. FIGHT RATING 73% LW Tony Stark (4-4) KO’s Amadeus Astra (5-4) (Punches) 0:37 of rd. 1: Now that’s more like it, Astra- take shots ‘til you’re seeing stars and then let the ref end your evening. Yowza; Stark looked like a killer on this night and may be one of those guys who puts it all together later in his career than others. Having dropped to FW afterwards, there appears to be a place for him in the 8-man tourney and he’s capable of upending some higher ranked opponents. All’s not lost for Astra, as he’s yet to lose two fights in a row in a lengthy career and his training appears to be well managed. FIGHT RATING 100% MW Tyler Durden (2-0) TKO’s Deamon Beat (4-2) (Punches) 1:40 of rd. 2: This Durden kid is taking on far more experienced cagesters and providing them with a basic lesson in electrical engineering- how to turn the lights out. Beat looked like a winner through much of round 1 but couldn’t duplicate the takedown magic in the 2nd and paid a price that sets back his Title aspirations for the foreseeable future. Not sure who’s next for Tyler but I’d say he deserves a break from the veterans and should get someone who’s closer to him experience wise-when next climbing into the cage. No clue why this one rated so low, the grand poobah of arbiters must have been waiting in line for a beer when this fight took place and it was his way of getting back at us for the slow service. Hey pal, sweet Lucy called in sick and the bus boy got fired for sneaking in his friends- don’t blame it on the fighters! FIGHT RATING 59% LHW Wolf Christian (3-2) KO’s Elliot Corbeil (1-1) (Punch) 0:25 of rd. 1: So much for the preemptive hype surrounding Corbeil, as the more polished Christian threw on his favourite Pat Travers’ tune- Boom boom, out go the lights and partied like it‘s 1999. Corby had to get this fight to the ground in this wisened pundits’ estimation but the only time he made it there was the result of knock downs. This is the best Wolf Christian we’ve seen to date, which speaks volumes about his continued development in the gym- no slow learner here! FIGHT RATING 100% MW Deacon “Destruction” Anthony (1-2) Submits Vincini “Martini” Rossini (3-5) (Triangle Choke) 2:57 of rd. 2: Deac finally breaks his cherry at the expense of the under whelming Rossini, who was stellar with his takedowns but could do little damage after the fact. Not sure how far Anthony thinks he’ll get with the still useless striking but my guess is barely around the block. The low score was fully deserved in this instance, as these two showed few skills and little passion. Fight cards and their fans thrive on “agression” while only those suffering from sleep deprivation appreciate “control“. FIGHT RATING 58% LHW “Fast” Hans Laudrup (3-2) TKO’s Cyborb Slice (0-1) (Punch and Knee) 1:31 of rd. 1: First time I’ve seen that combo end a fight here and it was lighting quick. Unlike some of his early tussles, Laudrup seemed in his element leading up to the devasting finish, making good on his prediction of two KO‘s in a row. He’s been a great find so far for us with both bouts scoring 100% but the road gets tougher, as it’s been confirmed his next opponent will be the hungry, Wolf Christian, in what promises to be a fireworks laden, middle of the pack LHW eliminator. As an aside to our studious matchmaker, a Corbeil/Slice bout sounds like a natural, as well. FIGHT RATING 100% MW Shaun Maddox (3-0) Decisions “Puck” Richard Larondelle (3-4) (Unanimous): I was surprised this one made it to the judges, thinking either Maddox’s edge on the ground or Larondelle’s in the clinch would provide us with an early stoppage. Larondelle did come out strong to take the 1st round but began to slowly fade afterwards, along with his chances of becoming a factor at 185. Amazingly, this scrap was clinch free for 15 minutes so that negated Puck’s only advantage and we can deduce his defensive grappling is at a high level since he survived a whopping 18 submission attempts. Other than that, there was very little action in this contest and many were left questioning it’s high positioning at Main Event status. Dreaded qoute of the night from our ring announcer: “My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.” FIGHT RATING 33% LW Title "Diabinho" Bruno Da Silva (5-0-1) Submits Peter “Punisher” Cabreros (5-2) (Armbar) 3:29 of rd. 4: We have a new belt holder in town and although some were surprised by Da Silva‘s impressive victory, I wasn’t one of them. The first tell-tale sign of a potential upset was the discrepancy in their training environments and the second was the attention being paid to each fighter leading up to this Headliner. Bruno won out on both occasions, with these being the sorts of advantages that make or break a winning streak and our new Champ has now put together 4 in a row coming off a hotly disputed draw. The two-pronged keys for Da Silva were avoiding any serious damge while standing and his dogged determination with the takedowns and submission attempts, 20 and 24 respectively. We were well past the stage of wondering what’s the point? and that his tank must be close to empty from all the wasted effort when he caught Cabreros napping with a smooth move that ended his Title run into one and done. FIGHT RATING 65% (***new feature***) Cause’s Unconventional Awards for AOC 26: High Impact Nickname of the Night: “Martini” Rossini, I swear this guy looks drunk out there. Folding Chair Award: “No Guns” Beretta, via unanimous decision. Up & Comer Trophy: Tyler Durden, yes folks, I just can’t crush enough. All winners receive a papal-style blessing from your otherwise humble host. Hope you enjoyed the better late than never review, now it’s on to AOC27 (CHECK OUT THE POSTER!) where the always entertaining, Bruce Wayne puts his Welterweight belt on the line against Keijo Sardiini, who’s managed to accumulate more hype & pop than the Champ but still sits a ways behind him in the overall rankings. Just prior, we get a must-see LHW bout between Joe Clark and Arthur Eld that’s certain to provide us with our next Title contender in that top-heavy Division. Will Serpentino get the takedown before Ted Grant getst he knock out? Good question, Cause… and we’ve got some other intriguing matchups between HW’s Azz & Houle (those names don‘t belong together), WW’s Pappin/Stope (Pappy‘s on the verge), Bass/Groucho (not good on paper but never underestimate Champo) as well as a beauty at MW between Servata and Freese. It’s fast approaching as you read this so be sure and turn on, tune in and see who drops out of contention! Friendly reminder of the week: when morale dips down from 100%, keep your fighter’s in 140+ quality clothing at all times. It can be the difference between coming back from a terrible position to win or tapping due to strikes.

as long as fighters are created after the Saturday pm training sessions, there's no possible way they can sneak in some classes since Sunday is the day of rest. They move into the gym together before Monday am's classes start and the playing field is level. perfect choice, time wise.

Shirley, you jest- i make the Energizer bunny look like a coach potato! only referring to the initiative's momentum, as they are never fueled by delay & stall.