GAMMA opens in Las Vegas

[Mentor]

As of this week (actually last week was the first time it was done), we will be having a regular GAMMA "show" which will cover the major events and happenings going on in GAMMA during the week. This will include all the major fights, reviews of the previous weekends events and much more including interviews, analysis and so on.

 

The "GAMMA Gossip" show will be run by an anonymous member which has proposed to take on the task of running the show.

 

The show itself will be very fluid, meaning that it won't have any specific date or exact layout, however it will cover the major events inside the org.

 

Super fights outside of GAMMA could be "mentioned" however wont be the focus of the show itself.

 

Lower level fights will mostly be ignored as well, especially now that we have such a large roster of newbie fighters and run 2 events per week.

[Mentor]

Hi there, viewers, welcome back to the second edition of GAMMA Gossip with me, your host - AC Jimbo, and what a packed show we have for you. First of all we'll take a look back over GAMMA 277 and then we'll turn out attention to the double-header weekend coming up, GAMMA 278: Colossus v Grimes and GAMMA 279: Juste v Barker.

 

First of all, let’s remind ourselves of the main happenings of the GAMMA 277 show that just took place.

As predicted last time on GAMMA Gossip, Nick Thompson snapped his losing streak by comfortably putting away The Dutchie in a two round demolition job, where it was a real relief that the referee stepped in when he did. In the other main card fight previewed on our last show, the GAMMA debutante, Cormac Gutz did indeed get his career with the organization off to a winning start. It was, again, a one-sided encounter and I think there will still be plenty more to come from Gutz, who improves his overall record to 8-3.

Of much more interest, though, were the two biggest fights of the evening. In the co-main event we witnessed a classic display of mixed martial arts fighting from Usain Watts. This was Watts’ first victory inside a GAMMA cage so he will, no doubt, be pleased to throw that monkey off his back. Whilst Nalle Puh managed to open up a cut on Watts inside the first minute, that was the last time that Watts was effectively challenged that evening and from then on it was one-way traffic. He landed takedowns virtually at will, and although he didn’t manage to get too much done on the ground he was always clearly in the dominant positions, which combined with getting the better of the striking on the feet meant it was one of the easier fights for a judge to come to a decision on.

The main event of the evening, pitting the current GAMMA heavyweight champion, Fidel Duberry, against the former TTFC champion, Cole Jamison, was a much more explosive affair. Pre-fight it was thought that the smart money was on Duberry to emerge the victor, as he had the better past record, trains in a better regarded camp, and was fighting on home turf.

For the first couple of minutes it looked like the fight was following this script, with Duberry clearly getting the better of the striking at range and opening a cut on Jamison’s face following a fierce head kick. However, the fight changed course completely when Duberry engaged Jamison in a clinch. Whilst Duberry has been very successful in the clinch in the past, he found himself against a higher quality fighter in the clinch that night. After some early battling for control of the positioning, Jamison first managed to land with knees to the body, before quickly following it up with a couple of stiff punches to the liver of Duberry and from that moment onwards the fans who were closest to the action could see that the fight had been turned on its head and Jamison had gained a decisive advantage. The final two minutes of the first round continued in the clinch, but Jamison was by now managing to land at a far greater rate of success than Duberry and he returned the favor to Duberry by busting him open just over his left eye after a knee to the head in the dying seconds.

When the call came for the second round to commence, it was clear to the onlookers that Duberry was still feeling the effects of the punishment that he took in the first round and this turned the stand-up to Jamison’s favour also. A little over a minute into the round, Jamison felled Duberry with a right hook that seemed to catch him by surprise. Duberry was able to get to his feet but this only delayed the inevitable, as Jamison continued to move forwards and finished the fight in style just seconds later.

A disappointing performance from the GAMMA champion, Duberry, whose record worsens to 16-3 and has now lost each of his last two cross-promotional fights, sandwiching the most recent defense of his title against Neekis.

 

So, that was GAMMA 277, but what lies ahead in these next two events? Well there are no super-fights lined up, but there are a few fights that could have a significant bearing on the domestic affairs of the organization.

 

First, at GAMMA 278 there are a collection of fights amongst some of the top names from the heavyweight scene, featuring a past champion and others who have consistently filled the top ranks of the division in recent times.

 

The main card includes former champion, Trent Pope (24-10, 7-2 GAMMA) facing long time contender Mark Makers (12-6, 6-5 GAMMA). All of Pope's wins within GAMMA were actually for the heavyweight title, before he faced Antonio Chigurh and fell to a crushing second round KO loss. Thereafter followed a four year hiatus from GAMMA competition where instead he fought in GSF, before returning recently. However, his comeback fight didn't go as well as his original debut in the organization, as Pope slipped to defeat against Chazz Michaels. He'll be hoping for better from this fight, and as no Sanger to the big occasion it would take a brave man to bet against him despite his advancing years although he will need to be mindful of Makers' world class boxing ability.

 

Also on the card is the experienced Kuiskaaja Rajantakaa (18-8, 6-3 GAMMA), who graduated as part of a highly talented group from GAMMA Contenders in recent times, facing the a fore-mentioned Chazz Michaels (17-5, 2-1 GAMMA). Michaels' solitary GAMMA loss came the first time these two met, at GAMMA 268, so it will be fascinating to see whether he will have learned from that meeting and be able to square the head-to-head or whether Rajantakaa will continue to assert his dominance.

 

The co-main event on the card features Jorge Cruz (26-17, 7-3 GAMMA) versus Livingston Barclay (11-5, 5-0 GAMMA). This certainly has all the makings of a potential fight of the night award winner, with both of these guys on a hot streak currently: Cruz having won his last five outings, and Barclay his last 6.

Cruz is a giant of the Las Vegas MMA circuit, in more ways than one. He previously fought for many years at EUFC before it was closed down, but also stands at 7 feet 1 inch – providing a considerable reach advantage over virtually all opponents. He possesses tremendous power, having 23 knockouts among his 26 career wins and this will definitely pose a stern test for Barclay’s chin. Likewise, Barclay has won 9 out of 11 by knockout, so it will be a surprise if this fight goes the distance. Neither of them have any submission victories, and are not hugely skilled in ground and pound tactics, so this is sure to be action-packed, toe-to-toe brawling from the first minute.

Both of them are on the cusp of the world pound-for-pound top 1000, and whoever emerges the victor from this bout may only be one or two further wins away from a shot at the GAMMA heavyweight title.

Before either of those two can take a shot at the belt, though, it’s likely that the winner of the main event’s fight will have something to say about that. This fight sees Jt Colossus (29-18-1, 3-2 GAMMA) take on Buster Grimes (19-7, 7-2 GAMMA). An interesting style match-up, where pundits are predicting that Colossus holds the boxing and jiu jitsu advantage, but Grimes has greater ability in Muay Thai and wrestling. Both are more highly ranked than either of the evening’s co-main event contenders, so would argue that the winner of this bout should be closer to the front of the queue to take a shot at the champion. We’ll see what GAMMA management think of that in the aftermath of this event, or whether the winners will take each other on before any possible title shots.

Colossus has had a mixed bag of results since signing with GAMMA, unable to put together any sort of winning streak. The pattern of beating on a lower ranked contender, followed by defeat when making a bit of a step up in competition, but I wonder whether he may have turned a corner in his last fight by knocking out the big-hearted Rajantakaa. This fight will provide a better indication of whether he really has what it takes to make it all the way to the top.

On the other side of the cage will stand Grimes, who – in stark contrast to Colossus – has thus far enjoyed a very successful spell with GAMMA. Reportedly something of a troubled soul, he has moved from one group of partners to another during his career. He started out within the Convicted Inc. stable, but his most recent change of surroundings has led to him being taken under the wing of Nicholas Wolfwood, one of the most successful MMA camps around today. Whilst he dropped competitive, unanimous decision loss on his first appearance for Wolfwood he has since gone on a three fight winning streak, with the fights ending increasingly early.

Colossus has the edge in experience, and probably the greater power, but I think Grimes – who also enjoys exhibiting the powerful side to his game – has the better skills to handle what is thrown at him. I expect Grimes to be able to wear Colossus down with strong kicks and within the clinch, to take another knockout win.

Once GAMMA 278 is done and dusted, we won’t have to wait long before we see more GAMMA action, as GAMMA 279 will follow hot on its heels. This time it will be the turn of the welterweights to headline the show.

In the co-main event, Justin Bieber (15-8, 3-2 GAMMA) faces Vladik Fedotov (19-7-2, 7-2-1 GAMMA). Don’t expect me to go sticking my neck on the line trying to predict who’s going to take this one. Having seen them in action, Fedotov’s boxing is definitely sloppy by comparison to Bieber and can’t compete with his jiu jitsu black belt, but there is a nagging feeling that Fedotov might still be the favourite to be leaving with a smile on his face.

Bieber has been knocked out in all eight of his defeats, and has been ejected by a couple of different camps in the past (reports that this was due to his incessant desire to sing during training are unsubstantiated). Add to this that Fedotov has a reasonable reach advantage, experience of fighting top competition and carries better form into the contest and it looks rather more difficult to call which way this one will go.

The evening’s main event features Renan St Juste (19-6, 4-2 GAMMA) and William Barker (22-10, 4-1 GAMMA) in what appears to be a straight shootout for the next opportunity to fight for the 170lbs strap.

St Juste is an exciting prospect, perhaps about to enter the prime of his career now at 27 years of age, and already with a string of fight and KO of the night awards to his name. He has held titles at a couple of smaller organizations in the past, even being honored in the EFC Hall of Fame where he first came to be noticed. With relatively little interest in rolling around on the floor, St Juste can often be found trying to find a highlight reel finish to a fight and boasts 14 knockouts in his 19 wins to date. He has also been given one opportunity already to take the GAMMA welterweight belt, but came up well short against then champion, Alan Bundy. This fight confirmed again, though, his good chin as he withstood a significant barrage of strikes from the highly experienced Bundy.

Barker is a jiu jitsu black belt, and has a very strong all round game. He also has some heavy hands, but has also a tendency to bleed quite a lot – if St Juste brings his A-game then we could see Barker leaving the arena wearing a crimson mask. He will be hoping to avert such a possibility, though, and brings significant cage-craft to the table, honed in a well-travelled career facing stiff opposition. In just his sixth professional outing he faced the legendary Alpha Male, where he first tasted defeat (perhaps unsurprisingly due to the doctor having to step in and prevent any worsening of a very nasty cut), and his resume includes a win over Hard Puncher whilst fighting in Synchronicity, a convincing second round knockout after schooling him on the ground.

This is my prediction for the fight of the night award, as we watch to find out whether St Juste can avoid being taken to the floor and taken apart by the blend of devastatingly relentless ground and pound attacks and slick submission game of Barker, to instead make a mess of Barker’s features and line him up for a night in hospital being stitched back together.

Defending champion, Forest Gump will no doubt be taking notes on how these two get on in preparation for the possibility of facing either of them in the future in defence of his title.

Before I go, there’s just time to answer a couple of viewers’ questions that came in this past week. The first asks where the next challenger for Fidel Duberry’s heavyweight title is likely to come from, and the second queries whether we have now seen the best of Alan Bundy following his two recent defeats. Well I’ll take that second one first, and tell you unequivocally – no! He may be 32 now, but I don’t see any reason to suggest that Bundy is over the hill and sliding out of view. Sure, he lost his last two fights, but they were against top competition, Doc Chillum is a former under-21 world championship MMA champion and so has excellent pedigree, and Forest Gump now stands proudly atop the GAMMA welterweight tree.

As for the potential next challenger for Duberry at heavyweight, that is perhaps less clear. Neekis remains the top ranked challenger currently signed to GAMMA, but that could possibly change after this weekend’s fights. Much will also depend on the outcome of Anton Chigurh’s global super-fights and his pursuit of regaining his mantle as the world’s most feared MMA fighter. If he slips up in that attempt then it is feasible he may return to GAMMA to avenge his defeat to Duberry at GAMMA 258 last year.

I’m afraid that’s all we have time for today, I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have. I’ll bring you more next time, when we review GAMMA 278 & 279, hopefully including some post-fight reaction from the main men involved, and look ahead to GAMMA 280. Until then, adios!

[Mentor]

Here are the final results for the GAMMA Fighter of the year awards (FOY)

3rd) Raz Matazz (25622)

 

15 fights 10 wins, 1 draw, 4 losses. His losses came from Siouxsie Banshees, Karl Denke, Tank The Razors Edge, all people he beat during the year. He also got a revenge over Lucas Silva who he had previously lost to. He also regained the 185lbs title again. Hit top 100 p4p again for the 2nd time in his career and also became the first fighter in GAMMA's history to win a title 3 times.

 

The only reason he is not 2nd or 1st is the fact that he lost his last fight of the season in a huge upset to Fred Ettish. The upside of all this is that Raz will face Fred in a rematch soon, a win there will make Raz the only 4 time GAMMA champion ever. What is most unbelievable is the fact that he first win the 185lbs title in early February 2010!!!

 

2nd) Jeremy Tonal (31632)

 

Retired mid summer, but still managed to pull off 11 fights. He was #1 p4p up until mid May. 8 wins over top 20 p4p fighters during that period. 3 losses, but they were against top competition. If he did not retire half way through the year, he probably would of easilly won this.

 

Then again he was on a poor run just before he retired losing his last 2 fights. Either way, Jeremy is a living legend in the game, last years game p4p fighter of the year, he held the #1 spot longer than anyone else in the game with 7 consecutive top 20 p4p wins in a row making him part of MMA folklore.

 

1st) Anton Chigurh (58657)

 

15 fights (16 on the 29th) 11 wins, hit games top spot p4p during the year but lost his title to Fidel Duberry. Avenged one of the losses to Emeka Shakur. On his last fight of the season he beat Kyle Carlton (the guy which a few weeks earlier had beaten Fidel in a super fight).

 

This has moved Anton into the top 10 p4p position for the first time since losing his p4p kingship. He will be facing Emeka Shakur (again, this is their 3rd fight in the past year). A win there could propel him just under the top stop again.

 

I think Anton has deserved the fighter of the year award mainly because he has shown resilience to come back. Winning the #1 p4p spot is something nobody had predicted, especially when he just signed up to GAMMA from Syn. All we need to see now is if he can complete the triumph by regaining his p4p spot again.

[ArtieBanks]

Danza had this to say after his win against Hannibal.

"I would like to get this straight. When i lost in Empire my head wasn't in it. My manager was leaving and i was just not in the right place. After the Mitchell fight i thought damn that guy is good and after it i approached Dean and asked him if i could join his group of fighters. He said i had the potential but i wasn't showing it in the cage but he would give me my shot. I went into his gym and met up with a few of his guys who suggested i should move up a weight. Due to my size going down to 185 was always tough so i gained a few pounds of muscle and i feel great. After that i started my comeback. I dominated my first fight back against a tough Els. Thankfully i had Crassus in the gym who had previously beating him and he told me the keys to beating him. The fight with Reilly on the other hand was a tough one. I personally felt like it was a draw and i would like to set the record straight at somepoint in my career. Due to some rule that was made up on the spot and the guy who made the rule not liking my manager i decided to pull out completely and leave Empire. My idol was always the man they call the GOAT Jeremy Tonal. I was looking at there roster like damn they really do need a new Tonal there. I mean that Gambler dude is a pussy. Crassus tapped him easy and i plan on knocking his ass out. I have spent a total of four minutes inside the GAMMA cage. I don't plan on staying in any longer than a round against someone like Gambler or anyone else that feels like they can take me on.

 

I do have some beef to sort out though. Ettish is my homeboy and has been treated like shit ever since he beat Matazz with people calling it a fluke and an upset. The fight wasn't even close. Ettish came out and dominated like we knew he would. After he does it again they ain't gonna be no if's and buts. We money motivated guys who want PAID to fight. I go into my gym and hear about guys earning 100k per fight. Thats the type of cash i will be expecting once i take that belt. My homeboy Ettish will be wanting the same and some respect along with the big ass cheque you guys are gonna have to hand out with a nice little loyality signing bonus. When i say little i mean fucking huge. Its a new world ladies and gents. Me and Ettish gonna rip GAMMA a new one. If you think otherwise sign on the dotted line and i'll leave you spark out cold, pull down my shorts and piss all over you just to wake you up to do it all over again. So Gambler get your ass back from IMMA and come take on a real man. As for my stupid nickname? Yeah it will be changed. I am a noble though. I do have royal blood in me and many fine bitches have royal seman in them. My favorite chat up line? Want to go havles on a bastard."

[Mentor]

GAMMA has been on a "Vicious" run recently. After the downfall of GAMMA: Contenders, we decided that instead of creating (or trying to create) another rookie / feeder organization, we will instead do what we originally did, which was to have all the fighters start off in GAMMA.

 

Not many of you were around when GAMMA originally started out, however when we started, we were basically a regional promotion, which focused on young talent. At one point we were running 3 events per week regularly and had over 300 fighters! The largest org in the game at the time.

 

We slowly built up the roster to eventually become a so called "Elite" organization focusing on just top level VIP fighters in their prime. At our peak we had a roster made up of almost 120 fighters all VIP managed! With 35-40 in the top 2000 p4p.

 

In recent times though i kind of missed the old days or seeing my our fighters go up from 18y old's and eventually become International Superstars.

 

Besides that i started to understand that unless i change the way i run the org, we will never ever see another Jack Burton, Raz Matazz type of fighter which will get 50+ fights in GAMMA by the time they retire. The reason being that most fighters i was signing recently were well in their late 20's!

 

Our recruiting expansion started about a month ago and we have been focusing both on local fighters under 25y of age, as well as young talent around the world which have shown promise so far. We already have over 190 fighters (up from around 90 when i started the recruitment) and are currently ranked #8 in total fighters signed!

 

Last week was also the last time we will be running just one event per week. As of now we will be having 2 events per week (during the weekends). This is to facilitate the large influx of new fighters, plus to give us a lot more fighting opportunities for our top end fighters which have already peaked.

 

I will try to keep rookie fighters to just one fight every 4-6 weeks, because i know that training is very important for these fighters. Any rookie fighter which wants to fight more frequently can ask for a QFC fight and i will give bonuses to these fighters which win.

 

I will be focusing mostly on talent. Which means that if someone clearly lacks the hidden skills to become a proper star, i will not be renewing their contracts when they expire (i am now talking about the younger fighters).

 

For all the younger fighters. I want to say that it is important that you "test" your fighters out, especially early on. If a fighter continually gets cut or KOed in a fight, it means that he probably has a glass chin or will have cut issues. In other words you are better off releasing him after 3-4 fights and invest your cash on someone more worthwhile. So sometimes it is good to put him up against someone better to see how he will perform under pressure. If you face cans you will never know how vulnerable he is.

[Mentor]

Hi there, fight fans, welcome to another edition of GAMMA Gossip with me, AC Jimbo. Boy do we have a packed show tonight. Reviews of the most recent GAMMA event and reports from Europe on a few recent super-fights, a sneak peek at the upcoming GAMMA events, 281 and 282, and also an interview with one of the current GAMMA stars. With that much on the agenda, we’d better get right down to business!

 

Let’s start, in time honored fashion, by going over the recent super fights!

 

A former GAMMA heavyweight champion, and former most-feared fighter on the planet, Anton Chigurh, was also in action recently. He fought at IMMA 110, where he headlined the show in a trilogy bout against Emeka Shakur. Unfortunately for GAMMA fans, and more importantly for Chigurh’s ambitions of regaining that number one pound-for-pound spot, he was disposed of very rapidly in the first round. Shakur now leads their head-to-head by two to one.

 

Our current light-heavyweight champion, Degen Gambler, was also in super-fight action in Helsinki. He was taking on Marko Torturo, the current NFC champion at 205 pounds. Sadly he, too, lost his fight. However, this one was a much more closely contested affair, and ended in some controversy in fact, as the judges awarded Torturo the win via a split decision. Some pundits who were ringside felt that Gambler had done enough to take the win back to the US but the men who mattered most didn’t agree.

 

Thankfully there was some good news from these latest super-fights, with former welterweight champion, Alan Bundy, picking up a comfortable win over former NFC middleweight champion, Alfa Uros. As I told you before, Bundy is certainly not over the hill, so we can expect to see him cracking skulls on GAMMA turf again in the future.

 

Looking at the most recent GAMMA results. GAMMA 280: Kuduro v Hannibal is now in the history books.

 

The co-main event went down exactly as I predicted last time, and the judges were required to make a call on whom out of Danny Tanner and Adis Djurdjevic should be declared the winner. In the end they unanimously plumped for “The Hammer”, Tanner. Tanner was the man needing the greater medical attention when the fight finished, though, and if this fight had been any longer then I doubt he would have been able to hang on. The fight wasn’t any longer than the regulation three rounds, though, so he notches up his second win against Djurdjevic.

 

The main event was over much more quickly, with Danza Kuduro knocking out Hannibal Die Rucksichtslos with a head kick in the first round. Kurduro was very vocal in the post-fight press rounds about his intentions to continue to rise through the ranks and in making demands of GAMMA management for better remuneration. Time will tell whether this was a sensible move or not.

 

Back onto more familiar territory, let’s take a look forward to GAMMA 281 and 282.

 

GAMMA 281: Thomas v Green focuses on the middleweight division. Sadly the champion, Fred Ettish, isn’t in action during this show but that’s because he’s defending his title at GAMMA 282, so more on that in a moment. Instead, this show is focusing on a number of the top contenders vying for the opportunity to be the next to take a shot at winning the title.

 

The under-card mainly features much younger guys looking to make their way in the world of MMA, in a clear sign of how GAMMA is trying to work on developing new talent at the moment. However, my tip for the best of the under-card fights to watch is the final one, as Tank The Razors Edge (30-15-3, GAMMA 5-4-1) looks to break a three fight losing streak against the up and coming Gareth Bale (5-1, GAMMA 4-0).

 

The co-main event is Brodie “Groundskeeper” Sinclair (15-9-1, GAMMA 4-0) against Frank “My Way” Sinatra (23-12-4, GAMMA 21-12-4). Sinatra is one of GAMMA’s longest servants and enjoys a decent record here, but has generally fallen short when facing the elite level competitors. Sinclair on the other hand had been struggling for motivation elsewhere but has since seen his fortunes improve since joining GAMMA but is perhaps yet to be truly tested. Perhaps one of the more odd things about Sinatra is that he has actually drawn four fights. Given that his last tied fight was over three years ago, chances are that he must be due another one soon – it’s certainly more likely than him knocking Sinclair out, since he’s only won two by knockout in 39 attempts!

 

Both are extremely talented jiu jitsu fighters, so fans of a technical ground battle could be in for a real treat. Louts only interested in a brawl need not stick around for this one, it would perhaps be a good chance to get another drink at the bar if they don’t fancy becoming a little more educated in the finer arts.

 

The fight that they will be waiting for instead, will be the main event: Doc “The Bone Breaker” Thomas (28-13-1, GAMMA 4-1) facing Keith Green (11-2, GAMMA 4-0). They made their GAMMA debuts within a couple of months of each other, but that is essentially where the similarities end.

 

“The Bone Breaker” is a veteran of the MMA circuit, now 35 years old he has fought around the globe, plying his trade and picking up experience as he goes. However, it would be wrong to assume that his older age indicated he was in the twilight of his career. Including his time at GAMMA, he has actually won seven of his last eight fights and has never been more highly regarded. He has a strong all-round game, and won titles with previous organizations he has competed for.

 

Green, in contrast, is a highly touted prospect who seems to now be finding his feet. Now 26 years old, he first tried out in the star-studded Syn Euro $2m tournament, when he had just a 2-0 record, with both fights being short notice, very low profile bouts. He drew Igor Glozman – a multiple organization titleholder and former top 10 pound-for-pound knockout artist – in the first round, though, and was sent packing, albeit only via a split decision. Since then Green has gone about his business a little more quietly, and is currently sitting on a five fight winning streak. His two most recent wins have come against former GAMMA middleweight title challengers, Nero Aurelius and Tank The Razors Edge.

 

Green is the slightly bigger man, having a couple of inches on Thomas. For someone of his age, Green’s skills are quite astounding, but that just means that the two of them are pretty much on a par, with the main difference being Thomas’s black belt in jiu jitsu. Will this one go the way of the old guard, or will the new generation see this as being their time? We’ll find out, but whoever does win should definitely find themselves at the front of the queue to be the next title challenger.

 

Then we can move onto GAMMA 282: Ettish v Matazz II. Despite GAMMA 281 being, in theory, the middleweights’ night, this event sees the top two at 185 pounds slug it out for the honour of calling themselves the division’s best. Most of the card aside from this is filled with welterweights, though, and some highly talented prospects at that. I understand there are still some tickets available for sale, and at a very reasonable price so I advise you to get out there and get yours if you haven’t done so already!

 

The co-main event pitches the talented boxer, Leandro “The Paratrooper” Rodrigues (19-10, GAMMA debut) against the more balanced Leandro “Jiboia” Podogo (14-7-1, GAMMA debut). I’m unsure whether this has been booked as a novelty battle of the Leandros, or whether they are truly here to stay. This is the stereotypical clash of styles – the boxer looking to knock his opponent the hell outta there, and the mixed martial artist with the nickname taken from a type of constrictor.

 

14 of “The Paratrooper’s” 19 wins have been knockouts, yet none of them have won him a fight night award. This is perhaps because they have finished too quickly to really merit that accolade, with many finishing inside the opening round. “Jiboia” on the other hand has an impressive nine submission victories on his resume, and so we can be sure of where he will be looking to take this contest. I’m going to call this one for “Jiboia”, as I think he simply has too much variety for Rodrigues to handle.

 

The main event at GAMMA 282 is a much-anticipated rematch. “The Atom Smasher” Raz Matazz (36-8-1, GAMMA 34-7-1) is one of GAMMA fans’ long-time heroes. Last time out, though, things didn’t go his way and he was downed by “Coquettish” Fred Ettish (20-10, GAMMA 10-7). Will Ettish be able to overcome the odds again and hold onto that title? Well I’m delighted to say that we now have the man himself on the line, taking time out from his training camp to give us his thoughts on the fight.

 

AC Jimbo: Hi Fred, welcome to the show. Before we get started, perhaps you can clear up for our viewers where your nickname first originated? Obviously it is a rhyme with Ettish, but why “Coquettish”?

 

Ettish: Hi Jimbo, thanks for having me. I am happy the GAMMA brass finally stopped hiding me like some bastard child they were ashamed of. I got that particular nickname from my manager because I've always been very gifted at luring people in with my doe eyes and well-groomed mustache before blasting them in the face.

 

AC Jimbo: Okaaaay – well I’m relieved this is just a telephone interview in that case. You’ve had a fairly up and down career with GAMMA, but your recent form is markedly better, is there anything in particular you can put that down to?

 

Ettish: I recently discovered that sacrificing a small child to the great god Nyarlathotep before my fights greatly boosted my success rate. Now, I do realize that sacrificing children to eldritch horrors is technically illegal in the United States, but there's more at stake than laws and decency, damn it.

 

AC Jimbo: *AC Jimbo looks flustered, shuffles through his notes and seeks to move swiftly on* At GAMMA 276 you surprised a lot of people by coming out on top. Did it surprise you?

 

Ettish: Nope. The only people who didn't see that coming were either stupid or blinded by Matazz's Wikipedia page. If I didn't think I was the best fighter on the planet I'd go back to competitive air hockey instead. I stomped that can crusher and I'm going to do it again. Then I'll hopefully get a f*ckin' raise. I fight for peanuts.

 

AC Jimbo: When people saw the Fight Imperial stats afterwards they were commenting especially on the all-action style with which you overwhelmed Raz Matazz. Was that a tactic you went in expecting to follow, or was it a case of just going with the flow?

 

Ettish: My game-plan is always to pound them until they scream “uncle”. That's what happened and that's what's going to happen again. This time he won't make it out of the second round, though.

 

AC Jimbo: A bold claim there. Seeing as you brought it up already, let’s turn our attention to the more important matter at hand – the rematch. Although the GAMMA fans will, no doubt, be excited to see the two of you duke it out again, were you at all surprised, even disappointed, that an immediate rematch was granted when you won the first fight so convincingly?

 

Ettish: Mentor didn't expect me to beat up his golden boy, something he's made very clear in every press release since the fight. Give me some goddamn credit, man. I wanted to beat up someone I hadn't steamrolled before, but hey, I'm not one to turn down a free paycheck. I need money for mustache pomade.

 

AC Jimbo: One final question before you go, Fred. If you had the choice, would you rather be attacked by a dozen duck-sized horses, or a single horse-sized duck?

 

Ettish: Yeah, I bet YOU'RE horse size-- I'm sorry, I mean I'd take on the horse-sized duck. I'm really hungry.

 

AC Jimbo: Great, thanks Fred. I’ll let you go then, so that you can sort yourself out some food. Please don’t tell us what that might be, I think we’d rather not find out.

 

So that was Fred Ettish there, and as we know there is never a dull moment when he’s around, as that interview just proved. As for the fight itself, we’ve seen on so many occasions in the past that “The Atom Smasher” has phenomenal skills, and most observers would conclude that this makes him the odds on favorite to regain his belt. However, Ettish has a certain “je ne sais quoi” that makes him extremely difficult to write off. The last three men to have been Raz Matazz have found that they might perhaps have had an easier life if they had not gone to that trouble in the first place, as they found themselves being turned into just a short-term minder for the belt before Matazz came to reclaim it.

 

The obvious weakness that everyone knows about Matazz is that he is a bleeder. The guy has had more blood transfusions than he has had women. Can Ettish exploit this? He didn’t need to in the first fight. However, that is how I expect this rematch to go down, and the legions of Matazz fans will be going home disappointed, as may be the GAMMA bigwigs. Not the result that we...um, I mean they, were hoping for.

 

Okay, that’s all we have time for today, but worry ye not, I’ll be back before you know it with more of the latest news from GAMMA and around the MMA world. Good night!

[Mentor]

GAMMA Gossip #5

 

Howdy partners! We’re back with GAMMA Gossip, your favourite MMA show. I’m AC Jimbo and I’ll be leading us through the latest goings on from GAMMA HQ, reviewing our most recent events and checking out what we can look forward to at the next two fight nights.

 

Let’s begin by taking a look at GAMMA 281 and 282.

 

Beginning with GAMMA 281, we previewed what was expected to be the two showpiece fights at the time of going to air. However, a late decision was made to switch the co-main event. In the end, the Sinatra versus Sinclair fight was bumped down to the undercard, and turned out to be a more interesting fight than I had predicted it would be, but still failed to separate the two inside the three rounds, whereupon Frank Sinatra had his hand raised.

 

I told you before how excited I was about the main event, though, featuring veteran Doc Thomas against young prospect, Keith Green. It didn’t turn out to be the barnstormer I had quite hoped for, but they still put on a solid show for three rounds. The key to this fight for Green was always going to be whether he could avoid the takedown attempts that “The Bone Breaker” would throw at him, as he was surely heading for defeat on the ground. In the end, though, Green made it look easy and stuffed every single takedown attempt that Thomas made, which in turn meant it turned into a long and arduous evening for Thomas, resulting in a comfortable decision victory for Green – now his sixth in a row!

 

We were then privileged to be able to watch on at GAMMA 282, where the much-anticipated rematch between Raz Matazz and Fred Ettish took place. Before that we saw Podogo win out in the battle of the Leandros against Rodrigues, exactly as I called it last time by besting him in all areas.

 

However, as I’ve already alluded to, the fight we were really holding our breath for was the middleweight title fight as “Coquettish” Ettish defended the title for the first time against “The Atom Smasher”, the man he had just beaten to gain the accolade. I thought that Ettish would be able to reassert his dominance over the older man and to win more comfortably than he did the first time. As it turned out, I was really quite wrong.

 

Matazz had clearly worked hard since the first bout to develop a plan to turn the tables on Ettish. Early in the first round, Matazz took the fight into the clinch and, despite getting cut from an Ettish elbow that was sneaked through, he began to take control of the fight from that moment. The second followed a similar pattern to the first, with Matazz looking to clinch up at every opportunity whilst Ettish did everything in his power to avoid and escape these clinches. Whilst in the third round Ettish clearly was more attuned to defending against the clinch attempts of “The Atom Smasher”, he was by now looking considerably more tired than the challenger and the focus on defending the clinch attempts left him open to more of Matazz’s punches and kicks. At this stage it was all one way traffic and Matazz clearly took his third round in a row. The fourth was no different, and the final round looked to be heading the same way until Ettish, being spurred on by his corner, went hell for leather to try and get the finish he needed if he was going to hang onto the title he’d worked so hard to win in the first fight. Even then, though, Ettish only narrowly edged the fifth and it was an easy decision for the judges.

 

Where will things develop from here? It’s a tough one to call. Ettish is now on the shelf for a little while to nurse the injuries he picked up from his beating, so GAMMA management have a bit of time to decide where things should go. Meanwhile, given the impressive nature of Keith Green’s win, he looks well-placed to be the next challenger for Raz Matazz once both men are fit and healthy. Incidentally, this win earned “The Atom Smasher” some new records to add to his already lengthy resume – his 20th title fight win, 30th “of the night” award win, and 35th GAMMA win. Incredible feats by an incredible fighter, and there seems to be no letting up anytime soon!

 

Phew! That’s a lot to have covered already, but wait, there’s more! Now we’ll move on to preview the next two shows.

 

First we have GAMMA 283: Kuduro v Gillis. Similar to some of our more recent events, this is filled with fighters of one weight class, but with the main event providing something different. In this case it is the big guys providing the filler, but the killer content at the top features the light-heavyweight contenders, Danza Kurduro and Jamie Gillis.

 

Before we get onto that, though, the co-main event will see Jt “The WarWagon” Colossus (29-19-1, GAMMA 3-3) heads with “The Titan” Jorge Cruz (26-18, GAMMA 7-4). Both of these guys have plenty of experience, but neither is in particularly spectacular form as both are coming off losses in their most recent fights.

 

Each of their most recent fights took place at GAMMA 278, so let’s take a quick look at the highlights of those fights.

 

*tape runs showing Cruz’s decision loss whilst finishing the stronger fighter versus Livingston Barclay, and also of the stunning knockout of Colossus inflicted by Buster Grimes*

 

Quite different circumstances for each one’s loss, it is fair to say. Cruz’s strengths are well-documented – the seemingly never-ending reach, and the power of his punches. Whilst being altogether stockier, Colossus is similar in that he certainly prefers to let his fists do the talking, although he does also have something of a ground game that Cruz should be wary of.

 

On the downside, neither of them tends to be all too great at taking a punch. Both are likely to have been the stereotypical bully at school – happy to dish it out but much less happy whenever anyone dared to give anything back. We can be sure that this one won’t go the distance, so the judges can take the time to go for a comfort break in preparation for the evening’s main event. I suspect that Cruz will be able to utilise his reach advantage to get the knockout here. Sure, his long limbs make for an attractive target for Colossus to attempt the takedown and control on the ground so I’d anticipate him trying to go down that route but I think “The Titan” will be able to defend against this.

 

Therefore the crowd should be pumped for the main event of the evening after seeing a decent slugfest immediately beforehand. We’ll be watching Danza Kuduro (15-5-1, GAMMA 2-0) try to develop more of a winning streak against former champion Jamie Gillis (21-9, GAMMA 6-2).

 

I told you in my GAMMA 280 preview that Kuduro was a dangerous customer, and he proved that with a highlight reel head kick knockout to defeat Hannibal Die Rucksichtslos. I also ridiculed Kuduro’s unusual nickname, and so it has turned out that he is trying a change of identity. Nicknames are funny things, it can be difficult to get them to stick sometimes when one tries to set their own. Whilst it was understandable that Kuduro would want to lose the “Lord of Middleport” moniker, the new alternative he has come up with is “Las Manos Arriba”. Has he gone from a Lord to a gangster? Do we really care, as long as he turns up looking for a fight each time he’s booked then I think most fans will be happy regardless of whether they chant this new nickname or not.

 

Gillis has been out of action for a while now, his last outing being at GAMMA 276, where his last opponent was the same Hannibal, and the result was quite similar with Hannibal ending up staring up at the lights, unsure of where he was or how he got there.

 

As I mentioned just a moment ago, Gillis is actually a former champion at 205 pounds, winning the title shortly after joining GAMMA from a smaller promotion where he was also their champion. In short, the guy has championship pedigree. His only losses while at GAMMA have come at the hands of Degen Gambler, the current incumbent of the light-heavyweight crown.

 

Both guys are well-rounded, with the ability to win the fight on the outside or inside when standing, or when the fight hits the mat. Kuduro is reckoned to have the better striking skills, whilst “Double Leg” Gillis is the stronger grappler. This will be a true test of Kuduro’s title ambitions. He has been vocal since his last fight about his intention to take the division by storm, and what better place to start than to make a statement by knocking out Gillis. Just short of 80% of their combined fights have ended before the final bell rings, and this one will be no different. I think we’re in for a real treat in this one, and I fully expect them to add to their trophy collection by picking up the ‘Fight of the Night’ award. All nine of Gillis’s losses have been stoppages, and so much will depend on whether he can avoid taking any flush shots because if he can’t then I am sure that Kuduro will notch up another KO victim. However, if Gillis can succeed with his famed takedowns and end up in top position then Kuduro will need to escape quickly in order to avoid a painful and humbling evening. I don’t see that happening, though, and instead I think Kuduro will stop this before it enters the third round.

 

Shortly afterwards we’ll be moving onto GAMMA 284: Duberry v Grimes II. The key fights here are the heavyweight contenders not in action at GAMMA 283.

 

The co-main event is Kuiskaaja Rajantakaa (19-8, GAMMA 7-3) versus Livingston Barclay (12-5, GAMMA 6-0). Both of them won their previous tune-up fights, and this is heavily trailed to be the number one contender fight to see who will take on the winner of the evening’s main event.

 

Rajantakaa has been around a while, and has a decent record since joining GAMMA but fallen short when it seems to matter most. Barclay, to the contrary, is the hot young prospect in many fans’ eyes, despite actually being the same age as the champion, Duberry. They certainly have one part right, though, and that is that right now he is the guy on the hot streak. Unbeaten since joining GAMMA, and now on seven fight winning streak, he carries massive momentum into this fight.

 

Rajantakaa is a giant of a man, and will have a height advantage of over 10 inches against Barclay. This may well have a great bearing on the strategies that each of them will look to employ. Whilst Barclay is the better boxer, Rajantakaa is a highly skilled kick-boxer and I think we will see him go head-hunting as Barclay tries to defend against a wide arsenal of punches and kicks. Meanwhile, Barclay will no doubt look to break his opponent in two, attacking the vulnerable mid-section hard.

 

However, the biggest – and possibly most significant on the night – difference comes from their jiu jitsu proficiency. Rajantakaa is a black belt master, whereas Barclay is something of a novice by comparison and will do all that he can to avoid being taken down. His historical takedown defence is pretty tidy, with 84% of shoot takedowns defended and he has never been taken down from the clinch. Having said that, I don’t really think that he has been locked in a cage with someone as skilled as Rajantakaa in the past, and I think this could really cause him a problem. Given the pretty wide difference in abilities when grappling, it could well only need a single takedown to succeed for it to spell disaster for Barclay’s hopes of gaining a title shot. For me, there is just too much for Barclay to worry about here and so I think he will see his run snapped and have to return to the gym and get plotting for a way to work his way back to contention.

 

We have an interesting match-up for the main event, as the blue riband division sees the champion, Fidel Duberry (16-3, GAMMA 7-2) defend his title against “The Axman” Buster Grimes (20-7, GAMMA 8-2). This is a rematch following their meeting as the main event back at GAMMA 243 a couple of years ago. That one saw Duberry walk out with a unanimous decision in which he comfortably out-worked Grimes in every round.

 

Since defeating Grimes, Duberry has gone onto a good amount of success, resulting in him being granted the chance to take on the champion at the time, Anton Chigurh, for the GAMMA title. Chigurh was the odds-on favourite to win and for all the world it looked like that was how things would end up. Chigurh dominated proceedings exactly as everyone expected him to. Whether it was a momentary lapse in concentration, who knows, but with less than 90 seconds remaining on the clock and Duberry following his corner’s instructions to start swinging, he landed a big right that clearly rocked Chigurh and his eyes at once lit up. He made sure to take his chance and only a second later the referee was jumping in to prevent anymore blows being landed. A blink and you’ll miss it moment if ever there was one. The arena fell into a stunned silence to begin with, before erupting in praise for what they had just witnessed. However, not everything has gone according to plan for Duberry since winning the title, as he has lost two super-fights, but he has successfully defended his title also, against the previously unbeaten prospect, Jura Neekis. That win seems to have been so devastating to Neekis that no one has seen or heard from him since that night.

 

“The Axman” had his progress halted by that Duberry defeat, and it led to a split with his previous management. The Wolfwood camp saw the potential in Grimes, though, and snapped him up immediately. He lost his next fight as well, against Fedor Jankovic, but since then has very much turned his fortunes around. He has since avenged that loss to Jankovic – to now lead their head-to-hard 2-1, and now comes into this fight with revenge on his mind as well as the aspiration of being recognised as the champion.

 

Long time GAMMA fans will attest to the fact that both of these men have developed since they joined the organisation, and indeed since they last met in the cage. They’re pretty evenly matched in stand-up, and neither has much, nay any, interest in rolling around on the floor so we can expect to see these two slug it out. Both of them have also won exactly 75% of their bouts by knockout, so one would suspect that this one would not go the full five rounds. I know that might sound odd, given the last time they met it came down to a judges’ decision, but that fight was over only three rounds rather than the championship five. By the end of those three rounds both men were extremely tired, particularly Grimes, and I can visualise a similar situation materialising this time with a late knockout coming in the championship rounds. Whether it will be Grimes or Duberry lifting their hands in victory at the end, though, is harder to call. It’s always a risk betting on there being a different outcome in a rematch when the first fight has been so conclusive, but “The Axman” is in top form at the moment and reports from his training camp suggest that he has the bit between his teeth at the moment so I’ll stick my neck on the line (not the line of fire from “The Axman”, though, I hope!) and say that I think Grimes wins this with a fifth round stoppage to turn Duberry’s patchy recent form into a genuine downturn in fortunes.

 

So that’s a wrap for this time. Thanks for tuning in, and I look forward to next time.

[Mentor]

Goooood evening! GAMMA Gossip is ready to roll, with me, AC Jimbo, as your host. We’ve got a whole host of stuff to get through tonight, so without any further ado let’s get started.

 

We’ll begin by looking back at GAMMA 283 and 284.

 

First, GAMMA 283: Kuduro v Gillis in front of a sell-out crowd at the Wandalay Bay arena. Jorge Cruz quickly dismantled Jt Colossus, just as I had predicted it was really just a case of which of them could be the first to land a meaningful strike and in the end it turned out to be “The Titan”, also as I predicted it would be. Someone could be getting seriously rich following my predictions if they’re smart enough to listen to the voice of GAMMA!

 

The main event was over in even swifter fashion, with Danza Kuduro disposing of Jamie Gillis in just two and a half minutes. I think the crowd were actually a little disappointed that they hadn’t seen more action, but boy what a knockout it was, for which Kuduro rightfully took home the award for knockout of the night. Again, it was another correct prediction for AC Jimbo, and I’d even told you it wouldn’t make the third round – I’ll admit it, though, even I was a bit surprised at just how quick this one was over with!

 

Following that we were honored to tune in to GAMMA 284: Duberry v Grimes II. In the penultimate fight of the evening, Kuiskaaja Rajantakaa took home a close decision win against Livingston Barclay thanks to the all-round game that he has and the advantages that brought him (do I really need to remind you that I called this one, too?). So it’s back to the drawing board for Barclay, who sees an end to a recent impressive spell.

 

The same could be said of Buster Grimes, who despite having the weight of my prediction behind him (well one has to get the odd one wrong every now and then to ensure people don’t think the fights are fixed...), came up short in his rematch with Fidel Duberry. In the fight of the night, these two giants of GAMMA fought back and forth before the judges decided that Duberry deserved to keep his title. This was his second successful defense of the GAMMA heavyweight title, and I heard just before we came on air that both he and Anton Chigurh have now signed on the dotted line to rematch for the title at GAMMA 289 – that is a huge fight to look forward to!

 

But all of that is in the past now, so let’s take a look forward to the future GAMMA events.

 

First of all, GAMMA 285: Green v Matazz. This is an evening of middleweight action. In the co-main event Doc “The Bone Breaker” Thomas (28-14-1, GAMMA 4-2) is taking on “The Chosen One” Usain Watts (29-12, GAMMA 1-2). They are relative newcomers to GAMMA but Watts has actually already had a taste of the big time by receiving a title shot at Raz Matazz on his GAMMA bow. However, both also share an unfortunate tendency – at least so far since they’ve arrived – to fail to make the grade when the time of reckoning has arrived. This is something that each of them will want to change, starting right here.

 

They’ve slipped down the pecking order slightly, so it’s unlikely that this is a straight shootout for a title shot, but certainly the winner will feel rather more happy about their future prospects. They have actually already met, at GAMMA 274. On that occasion “The Bone Breaker” survived a few rocky moments in the first round before turning up the heat, which proved to be too much for Watts to handle. There was definitely enough in that first meeting, though, to suggest that the rematch should be hugely interesting to watch as “The Chosen One” was not too far away from emerging victorious. As a result, I’d actually mark Watts as being the slight favorite for this one as long as he can avoid getting caught with any big shots on his slightly suspect chin.

 

The main event sees our current top two middleweights lock horn for the title: “The Atom Smasher” Raz Matazz (37-8-1, GAMMA 35-7-1) against Keith Green (12-2, GAMMA 5-0). This is a swift return to action for both of these guys as they last competed only a matter of weeks ago, but we understand that they were both keen to get this fight on.

 

For Matazz, this represents the chance to put yet another young buck back in his place, as he has done on countless occasions in the past. GAMMA 282 was just the last time when “The Atom Smasher” proved that he is a tough nut to crack by immediately regaining the 185 lbs title from Fred Ettish. I had made the bold prediction that Matazz would fall short in that fight, but it only goes to prove that you should never write off this old boy.

 

His opponent this time is another of GAMMA’s young prospects. He hails from the highly successful DILLIGAF camp of Matt Cave, where the current GAMMA heavyweight champion – Fidel Duberry – also trains, so it is obvious that he will be excellently prepared as he steps out under the bright lights for the biggest night of his career thus far.

 

In many respects there appears to be very little to choose between them, except perhaps if the fight goes to the ground where it is expected that Matazz should have the edge, but they are very similar in height, build and striking ability. The area of greatest difference is undoubtedly the relative experience of each of them – with Matazz being the great master of GAMMA, and organization hero, while Green is pretty much still making his way in the fight game. He isn’t a complete stranger to stepping into the cage with big names, though, as in just his third professional fight he took on Igor Glozman, falling to a narrow decision loss.

 

This one looks far too close to call, and I expect that you’ll be on the edge of your seat for the duration of the fight. However, to give us his perspective on the fight, we’ve managed to persuade Raz Matazz himself to give us a quick interview.

 

AC Jimbo: Hi Raz, thanks for joining us this evening. How’s it going?

 

Raz Matazz: No problem AC, happy to stop by. Life's great man, it's good to be me.

 

AC Jimbo: Let’s begin by going back to your most recent win at GAMMA 282, can you describe for us how you felt regaining the GAMMA title? This is now the third title reign of your career here.

 

Raz Matazz: I won't lie, it felt great. Winning the title is one thing, but stomping some chump who never should have held the strap in the first place is extremely satisfying. I'll admit that I underestimated him the first time around, and spending the week before that fight getting wasted and banging Victoria's Secret models on my yacht probably wasn't the best training regimen. For this fight I did the same thing, but on the way to the arena on fight night I stopped by my boxing gym and hit the speed bag for 20 minutes. As everyone in attendance saw, that was more than enough to beat his ass all over the cage for 4 rounds. I took the 5th round off because I wanted him to be conscious when my hand was raised and the crowd chanted my name, so he could see what a real champion looks like. He was already in need of a hospital, but any more damage and he would have needed a mortician. The knee to the balls with a minute left was just for fun.

 

AC Jimbo: How did you celebrate winning that fight? Or do you even bother celebrating wins these days, as you’ve had such an illustrious career they must have become a bit passé?

 

Raz Matazz: Man, my whole life if a celebration. I got a BJ from the ring girls (yes, all 3 of them) and then me and my crew hit the clubs as usual.

 

AC Jimbo: So turning our attention to your next title defense, how is the training camp going at the moment?

 

Raz Matazz: I haven't gotten in the gym at all yet, actually, I've just been taking some time off to work on my tan. Green seems like a pretty tough guy though (even if he does have pillow hands), so I might actually get in a few days at The Office (that's the name of the MMA gym I started last year).

 

AC Jimbo: As for the fight itself, how confident are you of being able to hold onto the title this time? Your previous two reigns as champion have been very short, yielding just one successful defense in those two reigns combined, which is a far cry from the first time you came to fame where you made fifteen successful defenses before running into Jeremy Tonal at 205 pounds.

 

Raz Matazz: I'm confident going into every fight. Confidence has never been a problem for me. I mean, look at me, how could I not be confident? And yeah, my first title run was pretty epic, and probably one that will never be matched. I just wanted a new challenge at the time and wanted to try my hand against some of the bigger guys. People seem to forget that I was beating Tonal in our first fight until he got that lucky takedown into full mount in the 3rd round. In our second fight he landed a beauty of a liver kick that completely gassed me out and nearly ended the fight by itself, so it was just a matter of time before he got that win. To be honest I'm not all that disappointed in those losses. Tonal was one of the greatest fighters of all time.

 

AC Jimbo: Sorry for mentioning Tonal’s name, by the way, I guess he might be a sore subject. Anyway, he’s not around anymore, so instead what do you make of Keith Green?

 

Raz Matazz: Nah man, not a sore subject. Every fighter has good days and bad days, and if he doesn't have a loss on his record he must have never challenged himself. I don't know much about Green, but he seems like a good dude. Time will tell if he's really ready for the big stage, since this is his first shot at a belt, but I plan on testing his chin early and often.

 

AC Jimbo: Okay, thanks Raz. Now before we let you go in peace, one final question: if we gave you an elephant, where would you hide it?

 

Raz Matazz: Why the hell would I hide it? I'd ride that sonofabitch out during my next fight entrance. In fact, I think you've just given me an idea...

 

AC Jimbo: Great! Well thanks again for your time, Raz, and good luck for the fight.

 

That was “The Atom Smasher” Raz Matazz there, ladies and gentlemen, a great ambassador for GAMMA down through the years, and now possibly the first man preparing to make his way to the cage on an elephant, what a guy! Now then, we’ll move swiftly on to GAMMA 286: Gump v Juste II, where it will be the turn of the lighter guys at 170 lbs to entertain us. The co-main event features Justin Bieber (15-9, GAMMA 3-3) and William Barker (22-11, GAMMA 4-2).

 

Both of them are coming into this fight off the back of losses, Bieber having been devastated by Fedotov’s vicious knees at GAMMA 279, and Barker being laid out by Juste’s power-punching in the first round of their contest on the same night – both results being as I predicted. This fight represents the first rung on the ladder for one of them to get their career back on track, whilst for the loser there is the chance that they will see themselves drifting off into the doldrums.

 

I told you before that Bieber’s chin is dodgy, and that still remains his greatest weakness, and one that Barker will surely need to exploit in order to get the win. As for Barker, he has paper skin, but does have the power to knock Bieber out. Strangely, though, we’ve been receiving reports that Barker’s been performing less well in training in recent times, with reports that his famed jiu jitsu skills are falling behind and onlookers saying he was no longer worthy of the black belt he’d previously earned. However, in my mind there’s no disputing that it only takes one decent punch and Bieber doesn’t know where he is, so I think Barker still has enough to win.

 

The main event pits the current champ, Forrest Gump (18-6, GAMMA 6-1), and Renan St Juste (20-6, GAMMA 5-2) against each other. This is their second meeting after Gump beat St Juste at GAMMA 268. That fight was over three rounds, rather than the championship five, but even in that fight there looked to be enough in it to make for an exciting rematch, as St Juste was certainly not significantly outmatched.

 

Despite being the younger fighter, St Just has more in-cage experience than Gump, although Gump’s opponents have generally been of a higher caliber. He’s proved he has a reasonable chin, and power to finish fights, but that is exactly what his opponent has as well. This makes it an intriguing fight as I suspect it means that neither will necessarily be able to gain a decisive advantage on the feet, which is why, for my money, Gump comes in as the favorite due to his more varied ground game. In their first meeting, Gump didn’t go all out to take the fight to the mat, but he was certainly more effective in the rounds when he did get the takedown, so I expect we will see more of the same tactics from him this time.

 

Despite being the defending champion, due to his recent super-fight loss, Gump comes into this fight lower ranked than St Juste, which is something he’ll be keen to rectify. If he wins again this time, then I’m sure he can look forward to many more big paydays around the world. I think he’ll manage it, although I’ll be surprised if he can gain the stoppage before the five rounds are up.

 

Anyway, that’s all we have time for today. Thanks for joining me on GAMMA Gossip, and please do join us next time. Ciao!

[Mentor]

Welcome back to your latest dose of MMA goodness, personally delivered by me, AC Jimbo. As usual it’s a packed show, full of previews, reviews and I’ve no idea what else! On with the show!

 

Most recently at GAMMA we’ve enjoyed GAMMA 285 and 286, so let’s take a look at the main talking points from those events.

 

*tape rolls showing montage of Ray Zero’s rear-naked choke out of Mike Jones that earned him sub of the night at GAMMA 285 and Renan St Juste’s devastating uppercut to knockout Forest Gump at GAMMA 286, finishing with St Juste and Keith Green holding aloft their newly won title belts*

 

As you can see, there was plenty of action at those two events, but clearly the big talking point is that GAMMA now has two brand new champions in its midst.

 

First at GAMMA 285, Keith Green defeated the GAMMA poster-boy Raz Matazz by unanimous decision. As much as his army of fans may have hoped for the judges to return a decision in his favor, in truth it wasn’t something that many will have been holding their breath for as Green was good value for his win that catapulted him into the world top 10 list at middleweight. This extends his winning streak to seven, all of which have gone the distance. Matazz may have questioned Green’s ability to finish fights in his interview last time, arguably a fair criticism, but there was no doubting his power in this fight and Matazz was left bruised and bloodied by the end. A deal has been signed for Green to make his first defense against Fred Ettish at the upcoming GAMMA 291.

 

There was then a further changing of the guard at GAMMA 286 as St Juste showed off his punching power by putting Forest Gump to sleep early in the second round. This is the third different title belt he has won in a varied career, at the second time of asking in GAMMA after losing to Alan Bundy at GAMMA 260. There is no word yet on who his first challenger will be.

 

No sooner have we drawn breath from that merry little lot, though, then we can turn our gaze upon the next two events.

 

First up is GAMMA 287: Fedotov v Pennanen. Following a similar pattern to a few recent GAMMA events, this is scheduled to be an evening full of fighters from one division – in this case the heavyweights – then having to watch on as two guys from a different division headline. The undercard includes several recognizable names from the heavyweight division, such as Trent Pope, Mark Makers, and Fedor Jankovic.

 

Into the co-main event and we will be on the edge of our seats for “The Titan” Jorge Cruz (27-18, GAMMA 8-4) looking to lay a beating on Thomas “Black Eyed Bruiser” Hearns (12-8, GAMMA debut). Both of these guys sport identical .600 winning records, which let’s be frank – are not numbers that are likely to be lighting up the world anytime soon. However, Cruz is in reasonable form, having won six of his last seven fights, whilst Hearns is on a three fight winning streak. Cruz was particularly impressive in bouncing back from the defeat to Livingston Barclay at GAMMA 278 by dismissing Jt Colossus in next to no time, and no doubt that is why he’s in action again so soon after that fight because he barely had to break sweat. It will be GAMMA fans’ first opportunity to take a first-hand look at Hearns but he comes with a reputation for not wanting to stick around in the cage for too long – win or lose. In fact, he’s only heard the bell go for the end of the first round four times in his 20 fight career – the epitome of “go hard or go home”.

 

The match-up against “The Titan”, boasting 24 knockouts in his 27 wins, doesn’t look promising for Hearns, and so I think this will be another first round finish for him but not the result he will be looking for. Cruz to make short work of a second consecutive opponent, and to make a case for him to be the next title challenger.

 

The main event pits welterweight contenders Vladik Fedotov (21-7-2, GAMMA 9-2-1) and Juho Pennanen (13-7-1, GAMMA debut) against one another. Since signing from Synchronicity, Fedotov has put together an excellent set of results under the GAMMA banner, and must feel a touch hard done by not to have received a title shot yet. However, a win here and you have to fancy that he will move to the front of the line to be the first challenger for new champion, Renan St Juste. Meanwhile his opponent, Pennanen is a newcomer to GAMMA. I doubt many fans will have heard much of him before, but he appears to be a solid, durable fighter with a reasonable record. There’s no great trail of bruised and bloodied victims lying in his wake, but equally no opponent has embarrassed him when leaving him defeated. As a result, I think we can expect to see something more of a drawn out affair as Fedotov is not blessed with iron fists either, although probably the only question over his potential for elite status is his fragile looking chin.

 

Both of them stand a shade under six feet two inches tall, and walk around at about the 184 pounds mark making it easy for them to cut the weight to 170 pounds. When it comes to their respective fighting styles, though, they could hardly be more different. No one can recall ever seeing Fedotov even trying to throw a punch, and instead relies exclusively on his Muay Thai skills, employing vicious kicks when fighting at distance, and a variety of knees and elbows when in the clinch. Pennanen, on the other hand, is an elite level boxer, as well as doling out effective kicks, whilst in the clinch still relies mainly on his boxing ability but with some knees thrown in for good measure.

 

Not an easy one to give a prediction for, due to the lack of insight into Pennanen, but I’m backing a shock (to GAMMA fans, at least) win for Pennanen that again derails the Fedotov title tilt bandwagon just when it looked like it was approaching its destination. Whether Pennanen will leap into that spot if he wins remains to be seen.

 

Hot on its heels will be GAMMA 288: Galt v Tanner II, where we return to a typical card that is entirely filled with light-heavyweights. Despite this, some GAMMA fans might feel a little lost as it’s not exactly filled with household names – well they’re not household names at the moment, but who knows, in a couple of years time they could be the champions that we’re raving about.

 

The co-main event is Ender Wiggin (14-6, GAMMA 2-1) versus Danny Mangold (8-1, GAMMA debut). Do you know what, though? I’m actually pretty pumped about this one! Both of them come from camps that should be familiar to GAMMA fans – Wiggin from the Boondock camp, which is home to Jt Colossus, and Mangold from the Wolfwood camp, which is home to Buster Grimes. Those two heavyweights actually met at GAMMA 278, where Grimes came out an easy first round knockout victor. Will Wiggin be extra motivated for this fight to seek revenge for the defeat of Colossus? We’ll see, but even if he isn’t in need of any additional motivation, this should be a cracking fight.

 

From the short while we’ve been able to watch Wiggin in GAMMA, and based on the tapes I’ve seen of Mangold, they appear to be very well-matched opponents, so kudos to the GAMMA management for throwing these two together straight off the bat! If I had to pick a stronger all-round fighter, then I’d plump for Mangold, and it is he who appears to be standing on the verge of breaking through into title contention as well as being the holder of the more impressive track record so far. Neither of them are fazed at the prospect of the fight taking place in any setting within the cage – striking at distance, in the clinch or on the floor, so this could be a really exciting fight for us to get our teeth into. I’m going to make a bold prediction here, having only watched him on tape, that Mangold is going to sweep in here and immediately begin to clear house. You heard it here first!

 

Then in the main event we’ll be watching John “The Misanthrope” Galt (18-7, GAMMA 5-2) take on “The Hammer” Danny Tanner (15-6, GAMMA 8-5). They first locked horns at GAMMA 248 two years ago, where the judges unanimously declared “The Hammer” the winner. In fact, it was not just a win for Tanner, but total domination in every round. Galt is going to have to bring something significantly better this time if he is to change the result.

 

Tanner is the shorter but looks more physically imposing and strong than Galt. I fancy that Tanner has the more rounded and better skilled game to bring as well, so it is difficult to envisage where John Galt will be able to make a better fist of this time. He has definitely shown he has a big heart in the past, but unfortunately all that really meant in the first installment between these two was that Galt endured a beating for the full three rounds. He is definitely a proud man, though, so we can be sure he will give it his all in the cage and won’t return to the locker room wishing he’d tried any harder.

 

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the winner of each of these final two fights get asked to square off against one another at some point in the future, en route to a possible title fight. Based on how they’ve gone in the past, I expect that’s likely to be Mangold against Tanner. Who the champion will be by the time one of these guys has earned the shot, though, is anyone’s guess!

 

Just before we say adieu, just a quick shout out to a couple of GAMMA fighters promoting the organization overseas. First Degen Gambler defeated Moacyr Domingos De Mato at IMMA, and so is sure to be confident ahead of his next title defence against Danza Kuduro. Meanwhile Alan Bundy has now taken the NFC welterweight belt, so a big congratulations to Alan. Long may the GAMMA domination continue around the globe!

 

Now it is time to go, so I bid you adieu!

[Mentor]

Hi there, GAMMA fanatics! Iiiittttt’sssss tiiiiiiiiime for some more GAMMA Gossip, with me, AC Jimbo. Let’s cut to it and see what’s been going down recently. Sponsoring GAMMA is as always Vision International, your nutritional supplement provider from the East!!!

 

Our most recent shows were GAMMA 287 and 288, so there’s no better place to begin than there.

First GAMMA 287: Fedotov v Pennanen, which was a great evening at the Wandalay Bay. The co-main event delivered to us a stunning 52 second knockout win for Jorge Cruz over Thomas Hearns, who just didn’t know what had hit him. Judging by the way he left the cage, it looked quite possible that it had been a freight train. I’ll get it out of the way nice and early: this was another fight that turned out exactly as I had predicted...

 

Then it was onto the main event, where Juho Pennanen bested Vladik Fedotov, again this was something I told you guys would happen, so hopefully you’ve been following my tips and making yourself a pretty penny down at the bookies! However, the judges saw it a little bit closer than I expected it to be. In fact, if the fight had gone on much longer then I wonder whether my pick would have turned out to be wrong, but as it is the fight was only three rounds and instead I can claim that I knew that was exactly what would happen!

 

This was then followed quickly by GAMMA 288: Galt v Tanner II. Do I need to say it again? Yep, you know it, both of my predictions for the two big fights when according to my expectations. You can thank me later for the money you’re making on these tips – or better still, just buy me a drink when you see me next time. So newcomer Danny Mangold got off to a winning start to his GAMMA career with the decision win over Ender Wiggin. It may have been left to the judges to make a choice but other than for a few slightly sticky moments in the clinch, it was a pretty easy night for Mangold. His reward is the chance to take on “The Horse Man”.

 

In the main event Danny Tanner made it 2-0 in his series against John Galt. I can’t see there being much prospect of fans getting too excited about a completion of the trilogy, unless of course they can find a bookie prepared to accept a bet on a third Tanner victory. Galt was no match for him on the ground and so once Tanner had advanced to mount it was only a matter of time before the ref had to jump in and save him.

 

Now both of those events were excellent quality, but man alive we’ve got some great ones coming up next.

First we have GAMMA 289: Duberry v Chigurh II. Wow, now this really is one to make sure that there is absolutely no chance of getting double booked and finding you have to go and spend the evening visiting your wife’s great-aunt with no hope of being able to sneak out to watch it. Hell, if she’s open-minded, persuade her to come and visit you and take her along to Wandalay Bay as well, who knows but this fight could convert another fan to MMA!

 

Before we get onto that one, though, we’ll have an evening of middleweight action that culminates in the co-main event pitting Tank The Razors Edge (31-15-3, GAMMA 6-4-1) against Frank Sinatra (24-12-4, GAMMA 22-12-4). The battle of the pensioners, I could bill this one if I was, well, being honest actually. It’s remarkable that these two actually have enough brain power left to find their way to the cage each time given the number of shots to the head they’ve taken in their careers. This will be fight number 50 of Edge’s career, whilst for Sinatra it is 41. Probably the most surprising thing to discover is that despite the longevity of each man, this is the first time that they’ve actually fought. Both have endured some fairly patchy form recently but come into this having had the confidence boost of winning their previous fights. Both will, no doubt, have trained very hard for this, so we can be certain that they will be pulling out all the stops to get the win. However, Tank must be the favorite to win this, as he’s actually got some history of beating top competition – something that Sinatra has never managed to do, constantly falling short when called to step up.

 

This is one time, though, when the whole evening really is just the appetizer, simply there to help work the fans into a frenzy for the main event. This is the long-awaited rematch between Fidel Duberry (17-3, GAMMA 8-2) and Anton Chigurh (31-13, GAMMA 6-3). They previously faced off at GAMMA 258, which I can’t quite believe it but was almost two years ago now and we’ve had to wait this long for them to dance again.

 

The first time around, even though it was a heavyweight title fight – something that should never be taken lightly – the conventional wisdom was that this was not much more than a public workout for Chigurh ahead of further opportunities to showcase his amazing abilities on the world scale. Sure, Duberry had a decent record, and who knows, might even have been a champion one day but that was the emphasis – one day, some way off in the future. Not here, not now. For about 23 minutes that was exactly how things turned out. I suspect that Anton even felt strangely satisfied that he was being kept busy enough to go the full five rounds rather than simply blasting away his young opponent in the opening round.

 

But then something changed…Chigurh had just caught Duberry with a low blow – did that fire Duberry up somehow? Or did Chigurh take for granted that he was coasting to a shutout decision, as even Fidel’s corner knew full well that the judges would not be giving the decision a second thought, it truly had been that much one way traffic in the fight. A couple of leg kicks, a couple of stiff jabs and suddenly Duberry had a sniff of blood, literally, as it began to trickle from Chigurh’s nose and he launched into him with a big right hand. Seconds later, a bewildered Chigurh was looking up at the referee trying to protect him and asking him if he was okay.

 

It was one of those “I was there when...” moments. The arena fell silent for a moment, in shock at what they had seen, and then erupted. As it turned out, it didn’t seem to change Chigurh’s plans a great deal, as he continued to fight against the stars from other organizations, still pursuing his goal of regaining the worldwide pound-for-pound accolade he had previously enjoyed. Meanwhile Duberry has made a couple of successful defenses of that title, whilst losing on both the occasions that he has fought non-GAMMA fighters. Once against the highly impressive Kyle Carlton (who Chigurh actually beat not long afterwards), and at GAMMA 277 much more surprisingly against the fairly mediocre Cole Jamison – Duberry perhaps guilty of committing the same mistake as Chigurh by underestimating his opponent.

 

Wondering how Anton Chigurh views those events? Well wonder no longer, because we’re privileged to be able to welcome him to the show now.

AC Jimbo: Hi Anton, welcome to GAMMA Gossip! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have you on the show!

 

Chigurh: Thanks Jimbo!

AC Jimbo: Let’s not skirt around the subject and instead get straight onto it – we as fans are absolutely pumped for your rematch with Fidel Duberry: how do you manage to stay focused in preparation for something like this?

 

Chigurh: I have been fighting in the best orgs of this game like GAMMA, NFC, Blitzkrieg, Syn, IMMA, CFC, etc and the biggest shows there has ever been. And it’s never easy. I think I would be worried if I would not be worried before fight?

AC Jimbo: Now, I realize that you might not want to talk at length about it, but it would be remiss of me not to ask about it, what happened the last time you met? It looked like it was going so well for you!

 

Chigurh: Every top heavyweight has that power to knock you out if you are not careful. That night Fidel proved to be one of the best heavyweights in this game.

AC Jimbo: I probably don’t really need to ask, but I had better check – how confident are of you putting that slip-up right this time? I assume you won’t be interested in letting it go through to the fifth round this time?

 

Chigurh: I change my gameplan every now and then just to keep them guessing. A Hail Mary is something that usually doesn't succeed so I am not worried about that.

AC Jimbo: You’ve made no secret of your desire to climb back to the top of the world and be officially recognized as the baddest man on the planet once again, so where do you expect things will head next?

 

Chigurh: It’s very hard to climb to the top as heavyweight since there are some monsters on your way. But I am also one of them.

AC Jimbo: I must say, I really hope you and Emeka Shakur have the chance to settle things at some point. If it ends up being over in Europe then I think I’d have to persuade Mentor to get me a ticket to be his roving reporter this time! Do you think it’s likely to happen?

 

Chigurh: It will happen. I don't know when but it will. That dude is legit bad mofo. Very dangerous man. He has strange way to set up those high kicks! You just don’t see them coming...

AC Jimbo: Before you have to leave us, just time for one more question – if you had to be a type of hat, what type would it be?

 

Chigurh: I have better question and it is for you Jimbo. What’s the most you have ever lost on a coin toss?

AC Jimbo: More than I’d care to admit, Anton, more than I’d care to admit! Well thanks for being a great guest...oh wait, the line’s gone dead. Did he just hang up on me? No, it seems the phone line is dead – has Mentor forgotten to pay the bill?

 

Anyway, let’s move on. As I’ve already said, this is set to be an incredible fight. Despite being the challenger, Chigurh surely must be rated the favorite but we know how that situation turned out first time around. I’m backing Anton to get it right this time, though, and to finish it early.

 

Having the perhaps unwanted role of having to follow that event is GAMMA 290: Matazz v Watts II. At least that means loyal GAMMA man, Raz Matazz, is tasked with leading that, and being no stranger to headlining events I’m sure he’ll carry it off.

Before we get on to talking about our favorite middleweight, we must give some time to the co-main event, which is Jamie “Double Leg” Gillis (21-10, GAMMA 6-3) against “Doctor Science” Andrei Katchenko (17-6, GAMMA debut). Wow, this one could become arduous for “Doctor Science” – let’s hope that nickname is an indication of how quickly he can learn new skills as well because he needs to put all his energy into learning how to defend takedowns and how to defend himself on the floor.

 

Can I see it happening? Nope. Sure, Katchenko appears to be the better striker based on the clips we’ve seen of him, but “Double Leg” is no slouch and has mixed it with far better in the past. When it comes to wrestling and jiu jitsu, though, this is no contest. “Double Leg” hasn’t gained that notoriety for no reason, and he is also a black belt in jiu jitsu. I think it could even be considered an insult to him to be asked to compete against a blue belt. I can only see one winner here, and it won’t be the debutante.

 

After that, we’ll be able to sit back and watch as fan favorite “The Atom Smasher” Raz Matazz (37-9-1, GAMMA 35-8-1) returns to action against “The Chosen One” Usain Watts (30-12, GAMMA 2-2).

 

For Matazz it is his opportunity to return to winning ways following his recent defeat to Keith Green where he lost the middleweight title, while for Watts it is a chance to extend his two fight winning streak. They met before, on Watts’ GAMMA debut, where “The Atom Smasher” carried off a unanimous decision win after showing his advantage in all aspects of the fight. Arguably the only thing that Watts has been chosen for is to help get Matazz a nice, ease back into winning form.

 

Matazz is comfortably the stronger fighter in all possible areas that this fight can go, so I can only see one winner. With that one done, presumably it will set him up to face the winner of the Green-Ettish title fight, to either be a rematch against Green or the completion of the trilogy against Ettish, either way a fantastic fight will be on our hands.

 

Finally, just a few snippets that I’ve picked up around GAMMA towers in the past few days. First, a little birdie tells me that when Danza Kuduro signed the papers to agree the fight with Degen Gambler, he was already so psyched up that he told everyone in the room that he planned on “beheading the chinless Gambler”. Some laughed, some spluttered, most looked a little anxiously for their nearest exit in case he started to showcase how he would achieve this, but all we know is that is building up to be a hell of a fight. Will we hear anything from Gambler in response?

 

Also, GAMMA 290 includes a bittersweet moment, as Jack Burton will enter the GAMMA cage one last time. He’s spent pretty much his whole career with GAMMA, and now at the age of 36 has decided that enough is enough. He’s still been quite competitive, so it has come as a bit of a surprise to me that he has decided not to continue further. He will be sure to receive a great send-off from the fans, win or lose.

That is all for now, catch ya next time!

[Mentor]

As you may have noticed, GAMMA has a new logo and banner now!

 

http://www.mmatycoon.com/orgpublic.php?oid=296

 

All credit needs to go to Eddie Roach (18964) for his fantastic work in creating the logo. It was part of his own initiative and i would like to thank him for taking on this task.

 

Eddie has recently started up his own clothes company and already has a wide selection of custom made designs. In particular he has a large selection of "country" orientated shorts and tops covering all the major fighting nations:

 

buriedALIVE Fight Gear (3653)

http://www.mmatycoon.com/clothingpublic.php?cid=3653

 

Eddie also told me that he is open to making any custom designs for your fighters if you are interested. So if you want to get a special shirt or shorts made for your fighter contact him directly. He is very reasonable in his pricing.

 

I know for a fact that he already has some clothes made for our current 185lbs champ Keith Green, so you can check those out if you want.

[RedsRule]

Mentor how could you go away with WMMA's picture!

[Mentor]

I left it for the forums, lol

 

I just wanted to make a short announcement about our awesome sponsor Crippler's Corner.........they just moved into #1 place worldwide!!! Crippler's corner has been one of the leading clothing companies in the game since day one and has lead Las Vegas for some time now and although consistently being in the top 10 in the game, they have never been ranked in the first place.

 

That changed last night though when they moved up to dominate the first place in the rankings! If you still do not own merchandise from our sponsor, do so at:

 

http://www.mmatycoon.com/clothingpublic.php?cid=146

[Mentor]

Hey there, welcome back for the latest GAMMA Gossip. I’m AC Jimbo, and we’re going to be bringing you all of the latest news and views on GAMMA. After the success of last week’s show we’re actually going to head more in that direction, so we’ll only guarantee to cover the main event of each show. The co-main event will get some airtime if, and only if, I deem it significant enough to warrant some discussion. We’re all about the stars on this show, so if you’re a manager and you’re unhappy that your fighter isn’t getting a look-in on the show – tell him to train harder and win more, and then he can headline a show and guarantee himself some exposure!

 

The corollary to this is that it should give us more time to provide the really interesting insights into our top names that you’ve been writing in to say that you enjoy. However, enough of telling you what we’re going to do – let’s get on and do it!

 

GAMMA 293 pitched Forest Gump against Vladik Fedotov. Here we saw the underdog, Fedotov, manage to hold off Gump to return to winning ways. I don’t know about you but I was quite disappointed in the performance level shown by Gump, who seemed lacklustre really. Perhaps that’s being a little unfair, though, because he was spilling a lot of blood as Fedotov got to work on spoiling his visage. Perhaps Fedotov really doesn’t like Gump’s purple hair so much that he was giving him a hint on what colour he should dye it next? This wasn’t really a fight for MMA enthusiasts, but more casual fans just interested in seeing some blood and guts will have been impressed.

 

Then onto GAMMA 294, and the defending welterweight champ, Renan St Juste easily disposed of Juho Pennanen in the main event. This one did go exactly as I predicted, although I think I must have been high on the prospect of once again watching St Juste’s incredible power in action, as I kept calling Pennanen Fedotov in the second half of the preview. Either way, I knew what I was talking about even if half of you were too stupid to understand.

 

For his troubles, St Juste walked away with both the fight of the night and knockout of the night awards. I think some people were a little surprised that this one was deemed fight of the night, but in my view they made the right call. Unless you’ve been sat ringside (hell, or been in the cage with him and felt it firsthand!) for a St Juste fight then you probably don’t realise just how hard he hits. So the fact that Pennanen managed to make it through to the second round after being caught with that beauty of an uppercut in the first shows some incredible heart. He more than deserves the recognition for the part he played in this fantastic title fight.

 

As I mentioned just before we closed the last show, Mentor has lined up some fantastic super-fights with a few fighters from ONI, Tokyo. The biggest of the lot is a clash between each organisation’s respective heavyweight champion – GAMMA’s Fidel Duberry versus ONI’s “The Argonaut” Vangelis Kokkalis. We’ve been lucky enough to sit down with Fidel a couple of days ago before he heads out to Tokyo to prepare for this huge fight. Roll VT!

 

AC Jimbo: Welcome, GAMMA Gossip fans. I’m here with the reigning GAMMA heavyweight champion, Fidel Duberry. Hi Fidel.

 

Duberry: Hi Jimbo, pleasure to be on GAMMA Gossip.

 

AC Jimbo: Thanks. This is a pretty full on day for you, I understand, as this is the main media day ahead of this super-fight. Media days are renowned for being a bit dull at times, and for having to come up with new ways of answering the same old questions – what’s been the strangest question you’ve been asked today?

 

Duberry: You’re right, they often do have that reputation. Sometimes I try to overcome this by playing my own little games when answering the questions and see if I can get away with it without the interviewer realising I’m playing them, like shoehorning song lyrics into my answers and stuff like that. As for the oddest question today, it’s probably when one guy from a Japanese website asked me if I could tell him what 49 squared was without using a calculator or pen and paper.

 

AC Jimbo: Could you? And why would anyone ask something like that?

 

Duberry: Of course I could, it’s pretty straightforward. As for why he asked, apparently it was supposed to be a little test to see how I react under pressure. I resisted the temptation to then give him a little test of how he reacted under the pressure of seeing a head kick coming his way.

 

AC Jimbo: Ha, yes. Not very well, I suspect. You’ll be pleased to know there are no surprise tests planned for this interview, so I hope to not receive any head kicks in return, alright? Anyway, onto more serious matters, you’ll soon be flying over to Tokyo for the fight: how do you feel your preparation has been?

 

Duberry: Well actually I’ve got a little bit of time before we fly out. We’re leaving it fairly late before going out. I’d rather save the sightseeing until after the fight and not have it interfere with my training. I am looking forward to it, though, as I’ve not visited Tokyo before. I just hope the manager doesn’t book me into one of those crazy hotels where each room is a tiny little pod. I don’t think I could fit in them! As for the preparation, it’s going much like any other fight really – a lot of blood and sweat in the gym. No tears yet, except from some of the sparring partners brought in for me!

 

AC Jimbo: What have you done differently to prepare for this fight against Kokkalis?

 

Duberry: Nothing. I take every fight seriously, and he’s no different. When you reach this level, every opponent you step in the cage with is a nasty piece of work who will leave you in a world of pain if you get things wrong. I made that mistake against Jamison when I thought he’d be easy. He actually was easy, until he caught me with a lucky knee to the gut that turned the fight. Man, I’d love to get a chance to knock that guy out and make amends for that upset. I guess what you really meant was can I give you my thoughts on Kokkalis, though? Well he does bring something different to the fight that I’ve not faced in a while, and that is a valid offensive ground game. Of course, he’s strong guy and so he has been able to knock out plenty of guys without even needing to pound them out on the floor, but that’s definitely the most obvious difference he brings so we’ve obviously spent some time focusing on how we’ll deal with that.

 

AC Jimbo: When the fight was first announced, I have to admit I’d not heard of him much before. I did a bit of research, though, and found he’s ranked in the top 10 worldwide at heavyweight. Does that give you extra incentive to win?

 

Duberry: I’ve absolutely zero interest in losing any fight, so in that respect no it doesn’t give me extra incentive. It will make the celebration of winning the fight even better, though, as I should then move into the top 10 in his place. Once you’re up there then a whole new load of possibilities open up in terms of opponents to test yourself against, new cities to travel to and showcase your skills. Although I’m very serious when I step into the cage, I’m also keen to enjoy the full experience of what this career affords, and I’ve been lucky enough to spend time in a few different major cities already – London, Rio, Montreal, Vegas, and now a trip to Tokyo. It’s important not to forget the little guys who don’t get to do that.

 

AC Jimbo: Interesting. Now I thought that seeing as I’m here for GAMMA’s own show I might be cut a little slack and not the usual three minutes most lackeys get on these media days, but it seems not as your PR exec has started the windmill arm manoeuvre to get me to wind this thing up. Just one last question before we go: if you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

 

Duberry: Uh, let’s see. Difficult one for any fighter to answer because we never set out to fail! However, if this did happen, I’m sure most fighters would claim they had succeeded because it’s never cool to admit you’ve failed!

 

AC Jimbo: Okay, thanks for your time, Fidel. I’d better hop it before I’m thrown out, judging by the look on your PR’s face. All the best for the fight in Tokyo!

 

Duberry: Cheers Jimbo.

 

*cuts back to the studio* That was our heavyweight champion. For those of you who are interested, that fight takes place March 23. I think tickets are still available, so if you have the wonga to travel out there then that would be awesome to show your support for our champ. If not, it is also on pay-per-view, so you can still catch the action without leaving your couch.

 

He wouldn’t really be drawn on it in the interview, but this does look like a tough one for Duberry. Kokkalis has a 16-2 record, and although his level of competition has probably not been as high a level as Duberry’s, that’s still mighty impressive and so is the manner in which he’s dominated those opponents – 15 wins by knockout, and currently on a nine fight winning streak. Both guys are representing elite level gyms so will be in absolutely tip-top shape for the fight. They’re pretty evenly match in stand-up, I’d say, but Duberry was right to point out that he’s had to work on his ground game for this one. If he ends up underneath Kokkalis then things will become far, far tougher for him. Even if it doesn’t go there, this is still a very difficult one to call. Especially with the ‘homefield’ advantage, I think Duberry will need to get the knockout to come away with the win here. Kokkalis has been stopped once in his career, but that was four years ago when he’d certainly not matured into the fighter he is now. Let’s just hope this turns into a war – it definitely has that potential here!

 

Now back to strictly GAMMA matters, and a look forward to GAMMA 295 and 296.

 

First GAMMA 295: Grimes v Cruz. Both the headliners have bounced back following recent defeats, so “The Axman” Buster Grimes (21-8, GAMMA 9-3) and “The Titan” Jorge Cruz (28-18, GAMMA9-4 ) are carrying the makings of a nice run of form into this one.

 

They will make for a stereotypical odd couple when it comes to the weigh-in. Grimes is considerably the shorter but much more muscular and squat, whilst Cruz is a beanpole of a man. Of course, that’s all in the context of heavyweight fighters – after all, Grimes is still just shy of 6 feet 5, and Cruz weighs over 230 pounds.

 

Not only is “The Titan” starting to get a nice little streak started, he’s also been rewarded with ‘of the night’ awards in each of his last three outings. Grimes, meanwhile, is trying to work his way back to the top after having come up short against Duberry at GAMMA 284.

 

They’re quite evenly matched, but possibly the deciding factor could be the Muay Thai of Grimes which is markedly better than Cruz. However, I’m quite a fan of Cruz’s exciting style and 25 of his 28 career wins have been knockout victories. However, “The Axman” has a pretty solid chin and so I expect he’ll be able to withstand whatever Cruz throws at him.

 

We’ll then be heading on to GAMMA 296: Kuduro v Tanner. A quick mention to the co-main event, where my previous hot tip, Danny Mangold is in action again. He did win his debut GAMMA bout, just as I predicted, and I expect him to continue in that vein.

 

However, then we’ll be onto a fantastic looking title fight at 205 pounds. This pits recent guest on this show, Danza Kuduro (17-5-1, GAMMA 4-0), against “The Hammer” Danny Tanner (16-6, GAMMA 9-5). Kuduro has been a revelation since joining GAMMA, sparking out anyone and everyone who has been put in front of him. He’s been so impressive that it’s tempting to just end the preview right now and say this one’s going the same way. I won’t though, because I love the sound of my own voice.

 

Both of these guys are great technicians, as well as being insanely good athletes. “The Hammer” is the bigger guy, with both a reasonable height advantage and being bulkier. Therefore I think Tanner’s route to victory will need to be using that reach advantage when standing, picking Kuduro off from distance, and then making the most of any opportunities to control from top position on the ground, wearing him down.

 

Of course, Kuduro will have very different plans for this one. He admitted as much in my interview with him last time. He’d previously been focusing on using his wrestling to gain the advantage, but his recent good form has come from eschewing that approach and instead being primed to bang. Man alive, has that been a good change of direction for him or what? None of his recent opponents have been able to live with the power.

 

Ultimately, I don’t think Tanner has the power to seriously worry Kuduro, and this should play into Kuduro’s hands. It means he will be able to keep coming forward, throwing bombs without much fear of taking significant damage from “The Hammer”. Tanner on the other hand is likely to have significant issues trying to avoid those strikes coming his way. Notch another KO up for Kuduro.

 

And that’s the bottom line, ‘cause AC Jimbo says so!

[Mentor]

Hey GAMMA and MMA fans, let me introduce myself, my name is Capelli King and i will be replacing AC Jimbo for the weekly GAMMA Gossip!

 

GAMMA Gossip specializes in covering all the major stories and fights related to the top GAMMA fighters. These fights need to be determined as "significant". All title fights, major super fights, main events and fights between 2 top 500 p4p fighters will be covered.

 

If your fighter is not being talked about, it basically means he is not good enough yet! So start winning and stop whining!

 

Lets get started with what happened last week!

 

Mark Makers went up against Marcus McBorin. The fight was basically about how how McBorin wanted to take the fight to the ground and how Makers managed to keep it standing or in the clinch. Mark kept his gameplan working and landed well over 40 strikes in both positions, cutting Marcus. Marcus did land a couple of takedowns, however he could not get his GnP to work for him and it led to a unanimous decision with Marcus losing all 3 rounds. Mark is riding a nice 4 fight winning streak.

 

The main event of GAMMA#295 put Buster Grimes against Jorge Cruz in a fight of the veterans. Jorge was 7-1 in recent fights, most of which were KOs. However Buster was on a nice run himself, winning 5 of his last 6. But bottom line it was all about who had the most KO power and best chin. 1:42 of round one, Buster ended the 37 year old Cruz's nice run with a KO, earning them the Fight of the Night award. Buster is now probably in line to face someone in a super fight as he already lost to Fidel Dubbery twice.

 

IN the co-main event of GAMMA#296 Hannibal Die Rücksichtslos got a late KO win over Danny Mangold to put him back on course for a title run. The fight for Hannibal was very close. Both he and Danny wanted a stand up fight and that is what they got. Hannibal won the first and the second went to Danny and in the end it was a reopening in a cut to Danny (caused in the first round) which gave Hannibal the edge to eventually land a massive right cross to stop Danny, earning Hannibal the KO of the night.

 

IN the main event Danza Kuduro retained his 205 title against Danny Tanner to end his recent great run. Danza has been on fire since joining us, scoring 5 straight KO wins! This was also his 4th Fight of the Night award. TO give some credit to Danny, he did win one round and managed to take the fight deep into the 4th, which is more than anyone else has done so far. It was a nasty cut which eventually stopped him though. Danza will now be traveling to London to face up against top 205lbs contender Daniel Speed in a fight which will push Danza into the top 50 p4p with a win.

 

In GAMMA#297 co-main event we will see 2 of the all time premier GAMMA fighters, Raz Matazz and Frank Sinatra. Raz is already a Hall of Famer with 4 title wins, while Frank is probably in line with an induction of his own at some point. The fact that these 2 fighters have well over 80 total GAMMA fights between them pretty much says a lot. Raz is in a bit of a slmp though, losing 3 of his last 4. In the other hand Frank has a good little run with 2 wins over Tank The Razors Edge and Brodie Sinclair, both decisions. These 2 fighters have also met in the past, with Raz winning that one by TKO cut. However that fight took place 2 years ago! So it is hard to really put much meaning into it. Frank is a tough opponent, he rarely gets KOed in his fights, however he lacks any KO power himself with most of his wins coming through a decision. Then again, Raz seems to have "forgotten" how to KO people, which was what made him famous early on in his career. His last clear cut KO came over 1 year ago against William Mackenzie King. This fight will be close. A lot depends on how much beer Raz has and how serious he takes this fight. If he comes prepared, he should win this, but there is a huge amount of doubt on his dedication to regain the title. This could be his "comeback" to regain the title or his dip to meritocracy.

 

IN the main event we will have Keith Green go up against Usain Watts. Usain has shown a lot of heart since joining GAMMA. He has redeemed both his losses to Doc Thomas and Raz Matazz and has earned his right to go up against Keith Green. Keith is probably the future of GAMMA and possibly of the whole 185lbs division worldwide. At just 26 years old, there is no ceiling in this guys potential. HIs main drawback is his KO power, however that does not seem to matter as he manages to use his granite chin and sleek tactics to outsmart his opponents and up against Usain, he has very little to worry about in terms of being finished. I would be shocked to see Usain pull off an upset in this fight. I think Keith probably has this wrapped up, but then again i have seen bigger upsets in my life.

 

GAMMA#298 is main evented Vladik Fedotov and Ferdinando Ferrari. Vladik is on a decent run of 8 wins in 10. His only losses coming to current GAMMA champ Renan St Juste and Juho Pennanen through a Decision (Majority). He will be looking to rebound against Ferdinado which won his first fight in GAMMA through decision. The ground game and wrestling are both fighters main strength's, so they could end up canceling each other out there. It is stays standing, it will between Vladik's awesome clinch game against Ferdinado's good boxing. The odds are probably in Vladik's favor for this fight, but it could go either way.

 

The main fight for GAMMA is between Fidel Duberry v Vangelis Kokkalis which will take place in ONI. Vangelis is top 20 p4p and Fidel is just outside the top 100. Both fighters have serious KO power and are still very young. Fidel has probably the bigger wins in his career though and probably has the edge in terms of experience. Fidel has been a little prone in the past to getting KOed against the big hitting guys. This will likely be a fight of who has the biggest pop in his punches. I am going for Fidel for this though. I think Matt Cave (Fidel's manager) will find the best gameplan to pull this off.

 

That brings us to the end of this weeks GAMMA Gossip, hopefully you enjoyed this first write up!

[coton81]

i liked it esp the bit where oni got a mention

[Mentor]

Hey GAMMA and MMA fans, let me introduce myself, my name is Capelli King and i will be replacing AC Jimbo for the weekly GAMMA Gossip!

 

GAMMA Gossip specializes in covering all the major stories and fights related to the top GAMMA fighters. These fights need to be determined as "significant". All title fights, major super fights, main events and fights between 2 top 500 p4p fighters will be covered.

 

If your fighter is not being talked about, it basically means he is not good enough yet! So start winning and stop whining!

 

Lets get started with what happened last week!

 

Mark Makers went up against Marcus McBorin. The fight was basically about how how McBorin wanted to take the fight to the ground and how Makers managed to keep it standing or in the clinch. Mark kept his gameplan working and landed well over 40 strikes in both positions, cutting Marcus. Marcus did land a couple of takedowns, however he could not get his GnP to work for him and it led to a unanimous decision with Marcus losing all 3 rounds. Mark is riding a nice 4 fight winning streak.

 

The main event of GAMMA#295 put Buster Grimes against Jorge Cruz in a fight of the veterans. Jorge was 7-1 in recent fights, most of which were KOs. However Buster was on a nice run himself, winning 5 of his last 6. But bottom line it was all about who had the most KO power and best chin. 1:42 of round one, Buster ended the 37 year old Cruz's nice run with a KO, earning them the Fight of the Night award. Buster is now probably in line to face someone in a super fight as he already lost to Fidel Dubbery twice.

 

IN the co-main event of GAMMA#296 Hannibal Die Rücksichtslos got a late KO win over Danny Mangold to put him back on course for a title run. The fight for Hannibal was very close. Both he and Danny wanted a stand up fight and that is what they got. Hannibal won the first and the second went to Danny and in the end it was a reopening in a cut to Danny (caused in the first round) which gave Hannibal the edge to eventually land a massive right cross to stop Danny, earning Hannibal the KO of the night.

 

IN the main event Danza Kuduro retained his 205 title against Danny Tanner to end his recent great run. Danza has been on fire since joining us, scoring 5 straight KO wins! This was also his 4th Fight of the Night award. TO give some credit to Danny, he did win one round and managed to take the fight deep into the 4th, which is more than anyone else has done so far. It was a nasty cut which eventually stopped him though. Danza will now be traveling to London to face up against top 205lbs contender Daniel Speed in a fight which will push Danza into the top 50 p4p with a win.

 

In GAMMA#297 co-main event we will see 2 of the all time premier GAMMA fighters, Raz Matazz and Frank Sinatra. Raz is already a Hall of Famer with 4 title wins, while Frank is probably in line with an induction of his own at some point. The fact that these 2 fighters have well over 80 total GAMMA fights between them pretty much says a lot. Raz is in a bit of a slmp though, losing 3 of his last 4. In the other hand Frank has a good little run with 2 wins over Tank The Razors Edge and Brodie Sinclair, both decisions. These 2 fighters have also met in the past, with Raz winning that one by TKO cut. However that fight took place 2 years ago! So it is hard to really put much meaning into it. Frank is a tough opponent, he rarely gets KOed in his fights, however he lacks any KO power himself with most of his wins coming through a decision. Then again, Raz seems to have "forgotten" how to KO people, which was what made him famous early on in his career. His last clear cut KO came over 1 year ago against William Mackenzie King. This fight will be close. A lot depends on how much beer Raz has and how serious he takes this fight. If he comes prepared, he should win this, but there is a huge amount of doubt on his dedication to regain the title. This could be his "comeback" to regain the title or his dip to meritocracy.

 

IN the main event we will have Keith Green go up against Usain Watts. Usain has shown a lot of heart since joining GAMMA. He has redeemed both his losses to Doc Thomas and Raz Matazz and has earned his right to go up against Keith Green. Keith is probably the future of GAMMA and possibly of the whole 185lbs division worldwide. At just 26 years old, there is no ceiling in this guys potential. HIs main drawback is his KO power, however that does not seem to matter as he manages to use his granite chin and sleek tactics to outsmart his opponents and up against Usain, he has very little to worry about in terms of being finished. I would be shocked to see Usain pull off an upset in this fight. I think Keith probably has this wrapped up, but then again i have seen bigger upsets in my life.

 

GAMMA#298 is main evented Vladik Fedotov and Ferdinando Ferrari. Vladik is on a decent run of 8 wins in 10. His only losses coming to current GAMMA champ Renan St Juste and Juho Pennanen through a Decision (Majority). He will be looking to rebound against Ferdinado which won his first fight in GAMMA through decision. The ground game and wrestling are both fighters main strength's, so they could end up canceling each other out there. It is stays standing, it will between Vladik's awesome clinch game against Ferdinado's good boxing. The odds are probably in Vladik's favor for this fight, but it could go either way.

 

The main fight for GAMMA is between Fidel Duberry v Vangelis Kokkalis which will take place in ONI. Vangelis is top 20 p4p and Fidel is just outside the top 100. Both fighters have serious KO power and are still very young. Fidel has probably the bigger wins in his career though and probably has the edge in terms of experience. Fidel has been a little prone in the past to getting KOed against the big hitting guys. This will likely be a fight of who has the biggest pop in his punches. I am going for Fidel for this though. I think Matt Cave (Fidel's manager) will find the best gameplan to pull this off.

 

That brings us to the end of this weeks GAMMA Gossip, hopefully you enjoyed this first write up!

[Mentor]

Hey GAMMA and MMA fans, it is Capelli King for yet another GAAAAMMMMAA Gossip. In this weeks Gossip, i want to focus on what happened last weekend, starting with GAMMA#297 Green v Watts.

 

IN the co-main event we had Frank Sinatra take on Raz Matazz, in a rematch which was over 2 years in the making. This time round though it was a much closer fight, with Frank earning himself a cut early in round 1, however this did not stop him from winning the round. Raz tried to mix up his strategy with a varied attacks, where as Frank mostly worked his boxing, going for a takedown whenever he got a chance.

 

The end decision was very VERY (did i say very) close, with 2 judges giving it to Frank and one to Raz. All judges had the 3rd round for Raz Matazz though, so if this was a championship fight Raz probably would have taken it. Raz is currently in his worse slump in his career and in his next fight he will be getting his trilogy against Fred Ettish.

 

In the main event of GAMMA#297, the underdog Usain Watts took on the up and coming superstar Keith Green. Keith showed once again why he is so highly rated with another KO win over a highly rated veteran. Usain went in very strong in the fight, winning by close margin rounds one and 2, with Usain fighting over a very early cut in the first round.

 

In the end though, Keith's granite chin and KO power is what made the difference, putting rest to Usain's challenge with an "uppercut out of nowhere" to put Usain to sleep. That put Keith's run to 9 consecutive wins in a row (winning all in GAMMA). This however was his first KO win since May 2012. Keith is now ranked number 34 p4p in the world and is already the 7th highest ranked GAMMA fighter ever. This was his second title defense.

 

In the co-main event of GAMMA#298, Peter Cabreros beat Max Power in a super fight between ONI and GAMMA. This takes the total super fight record of GAMMA to 60-27, with the all time super fight record holder being Jeremy Tonal with a record of 16-3-0. This was Peter Cabreros's first KO win for a while and he is regaining some of his early promise when he just joined GAMMA. He will be headlining the event in 2 weeks time at GAMMA#301.

 

In the main event we watched Vladik Fedotov go up against Ferdinando Ferrari. Vladik has been somewhat unlucky so far in his GAMMA career because every time he is top contender, he loses the fight. Nevertheless, his 11-3-1 GAMMA record is still one of the best in recent times and you feel he is just one or two wins from his desired title fight.

 

He went up against GAMMA newcomer Ferdinando Ferrari. Ferdinando has started lively in GAMMA with a win through a Decision (Unanimous) over Leandro Rodrigues in his very first GAMMA fight. But Vladik Fedotov is a totally different animal and this fight was the biggest in his career so far.

 

The fight was a very very close one. Vladik came in with the clear target in using his Muay Thai, be that in the clinch or standing. With Ferdinando focusing mostly on his boxing skills with the occasional takedown attempt. In the end, it was yet another controversial split decision, with Vladik tipping the judges vote.

 

The biggest fight last week was actually not in GAMMA. It was across the ocean in Tokyo city between GAMMA 265lbs champion Fidel Duberry and ONI kingpin Vangelis Kokkalis. In the end though, it was a very one sided affair. Fidel came in with very offensive intentions and hit Vangelis with a barrage of strikes, mixing it between punches and leg kicks. How Vangelis made it to round 2 was a mystery, however Fidel was not going to let this go any further and in round 2 he ended Vangelis recent streak with a huge uppercut, KOing the 36 year old veteran.

[Goatacre]

i liked it esp the bit where oni got a mention

 

Did you enjoy the ONI mention the next week?

[coton81]

 

 

Did you enjoy the ONI mention the next week?

Yeah just a shame it wasnt in a more positive light

[Mentor]

Welcome back MMA and GAMMA fans to yet another edition of GAMMA Gossip! Coming to you is your host Capelli King and we are fresh off an exciting weekend of ass beating action!!!! Lets not waste time and jump straight into the action with the first event GAMMA#301 Fedotov v Cabreros!

 

In the co-main event we saw the last (potentially) bought between Raz Matazz and Fred Ettish. As it was predicted, the fight ended in yet another Decision win. This time for Raz Matazz making it 2-1 in wins in his favor. Overall Raz won 2 of the 3 rounds and almost all the action was in the stand up. Both fighters tried to mix it up with Raz probably giving it a little more variety. All in all though it was a very close fight yet again Raz landed just one significant strike more over the course of the fight! It was yet again that close!

 

In the main event, we had Peter Cabreros v Vladik Fedotov for the 170lbs top contender fight. Peter Cabreros surprised everyone in this fight! He once again came out with a lot of determination and aggression and tried to keep it a boxing game with crisp strikes. The gameplan paid off and it was a 1st round jab and cross which ended it. Peter has just extended his streak to 7 wins over top competition and probably has an eye on the title now.

 

GAMMA#302 Juste v Stevens on Sunday is next with veteran Frank "My Way" Sinatra finally making a statement in the 185lbs division with a HUGE win over Usain Watts in the co-main event! Frank has always been a GAMMA purebred, but has never reached his potential. His best run was from 2012-02-25 to 2012-07-28 when he went for 7 fights undefeated. This fight with Usain just set him up for a potential title shot, depending on how Keith Green does in his upcoming super fight. In the end it was Frank which made his gameplan work with a takedown on his first attempt. He then worked the ground and strategically moved into a position for a good old fashioned elbow ground and pound fest. Watts was forced to tap out due to the damage!

 

IN the main event we had Renan St Juste going up against Dean Stevens in our super fight contest. Renan was confident he could win this with his power, but Dean proved to be a very tough nut to break! Although Renan probably won this fight, Judge Cecil Peabody had this fight go 3 of the 5 rounds to Dean which was a huge surprise to the mostly GAMMA fans watching on PPV! In the end Renan landed a ridiculous 68 significant strikes in this fight and could not finish Dean, but it was enough to earn him the Fight of the Night an another W. This moves Renan to 43 p4p worldwide, which is his highest ever.

 

Elsewhere Danza Kuduro did what he was expected to do and got another GAMMA super fight win over Daniel Speed in a tough decision fight, winning the LFNC title in the process. This takes his undefeated streak to 8 now and is currently ranked number 21 p4p worldwide which is 6th highest in GAMMA's long history! Danza will be fighting Denton Thunder next in what will decide who is the top 205lbs fighter in the world. That fight will move Danza into the top 10 p4p if he can pull off the victory. Once again the fight will take place in London.

[Mentor]

Howdy MMA and GAMMA fans, here with you is your host Capelli King and we have a great lineup for you this weekend with massive fights and news! I cant wait to get started, so lets not wait and look into this weekends major fights!

 

GAMMA#303 Galt v Hannibal

Daniel "Daniboy" Campos vs Mark Makers

 

In our co-main event we have a very interesting match-up between a purebred in the form of Mark Makers and the up and coming star Daniel Campos. Mark has been with us his whole career and is one of those which together with Fidel Dubbery rose up from the contenders to become a regular on the main roster with some major wins in his career over fighters such as Trent Pope, Tony Mendez, Ben Grimm and Ivan Priebcko and at 28y of age he is probably coming towards his peak. He has also been on a roll recently winning all 4 of his last fights. But his opponent is up and coming Daniel Campos, which at just 23 years of age has shown a lot of promise already winning 5 of his first 6 fights, all with either TKO or KO. Mark goes into this fight as the favorite and although it may seem Daniel has the skills to pull off an upset, Mark will probably be fancying his chances here. If Daniel can put away someone like Mark though, his career will be truly on track for something huge.

 

John Galt vs Hannibal Die Rücksichtslos

 

In the main event we have 2 of GAMMA's premier fights in Galt and Rücksichtslos, both riding a 2 fight winning streak. It is extremely hard to pick one of these 2. Both have immense experience, similar skills and have a lot of KO power. In fact i think we have another ones of those which will end in a KO one way or other. With the chance that Danza Kuduro potentially retiring due to his personal life burn out, this fight has just been upgraded to a title fight, something both fighters did not expect when originally accepting the fight offer, which has added even more suspense to the fight itself. Picking one of the 2? That will not be easy, however Hannibal probably has a small skills advantage, plus his co-worker and training partner Danny Tanner did get the best of John in his last fight as well, so they probably have their gameplan figured out for this one. It will be hard to underestimate John going into this fight though.

 

GAMMA#304 Dubbery v Tchepikov

Danny Tanner v Degen Gambler

 

In the co-main event we have Danny and Degen fighting out what should be the 205lbs top contenders fight. Both lost their last 2 and Degen is on a two fight losing streak after his title was taken from him by Danza Kuduro. Danny lost his title fight against Danza and this is only his first fight since then. It is no surprise where both fighters want to take this. Degen wants it standing whereas Danny wants to take it to the ground. Whoever can dictate their gameplan will probably win it. Danny seems to be on better overall form though and Degen has shown at times to have a weaker than expected chin, so a early takedown could cost him dearly in this one. A lot will be determined early on though.

 

Fidel Duberry v Maksimilian Tchepikov

 

In the main event we have a super fight of humongous proportions! We have Dubbery vs Tchepikov or GAMMA vs Versus! Last outing Fidel touch out the ONI 265lbs champ Vangelis Kokkalis in his backyard in Tokyo but Maksimilian is probably a totally different type of animal. He is on an awesome streak as of late, winning 7 of his last fights with KO/TKO. He also has an advantage fighting at super heavyweight, which is his natural weight class. At 36 years of age, he could very well be on the best form of his life. But when it comes down to competition, Dubbery has probably faced a much higher caliber so far and he is almost 10 years younger. This wont last the full 5 rounds, that you can be certain about. It will come down to who has the better chin, because everything else is pretty much even!

[Mentor]

Here we are again MMA and GAMMA fight fans for another edition of GAMMA Gossip! With you as always is your host Capelli King! Lets not waste time and get down to pre-viewing last weeks events.

 

GAMMA#303 Galt v Hannibal

 

Daniel Campos proved last weekend why he is such a hot prospect in GAMMA when he got a decision win over GAMMA vet Mark Makers. The fight was also voted as fight of the night with a 100% rating. Both fighters decided they wanted the fight in the clinch and that is where most of the fight was fought. The fight was EXTREMELY close, with Campos only just edging the fight with 27 significant strikes landed towards Mark's 20. In fact Mark won the last round according to judge Daniel Franklin, however it was not enough to get him the win. These 2 will probably demand a rematch some time in the future.

 

In the main event we witnessed John Galt go up against Hannibal Die Rücksichtslos for the recently vacated 205lbs title. Hannibal was on paper the favorite for this fight and came in with a lot of determination to end the fight early. John proved to have a much harder chin than expected though surviving a barrage of attacks in the first round, a round by which all judges had it in favor of Hannibal. The second round started pretty much the same with John mostly defending. It was a freak right hook which ended the fight though, earning John his first ever 205lbs title win and the KO of the night award!

 

John will be fighting Denton Thunder in a major super fight to take place in Versus later on in the month. That fight will probably move him inside the top 5 if he can pull of the win.

 

GAMMA#304 Dubbery v Tchepikov

 

In the co-main event we had Degen Gambler face up against Danny Tanner in what was suppose to be the 205lbs top contender. Danny already knew that John won the title the day before and was probably looking ahead of time for a title fight against the person he had already beaten twice in the past. Degen however had a different plan! Degen came in with a mission in this fight, quickly cut Danny and ended the fight with a overhand right and left hook. He is now training for a potential title fight rematch with John Galt later on.

 

All eyes were on the main event though, a super fight of super magnitude! Fidel Duberry v Maksimilian Tchepikov and man the hype was on for this one! Maksimilian is a known super heavyweight with a massive world reputation, however Fidel is a monster in the making and this fight proved it. Maksim totally dominated the larger part of 4 rounds though. He was winning the stand up and clinch game as well. Fidel was fighting back, but it was mainly the iron chin which was saving him. Both fighters earned themselves a cut early on, however it did not factor in the fight. The last (4th round) was when Fidel really put on the pressure though and he managed to end the fight with just 2 seconds to go! Maksim could not take the pressure in the end and folded!

 

Fidel will have just 2 weeks to rest until his next fight, another huge one against Kaely Cullen.

 

GAMMA#305 Cabreros v Vadim

 

This weekends events starts off with GAMMA legend Raz Matazz going up against Hammer Longbird. This is Hammer's biggest fight ever. He has won 5 in a row and is on an impressive run, however if he wants to fight with the best, he will need to go past people like Raz. "The Atom Smasher" is back to winning ways after beating Fred Ettish to end his losing streak. However Fred is the only person he has beaten since December 2012 whe he beat Usain Watts. Raz is still the favorite as long as his head is screwed on the right way for this one.

 

IN the main event we have yet another ONI super fight between Peter Cabreros and Vadim Vadokowich. Peter has gained a new nickname recently which starts with "Kick" and ends with "ass". Peter spent most of his career being ultra conservative, but in his last 3 he is going all out with 3 KO victories over top competition. He is on a 7 win currently and probably seems Vadim Vadokowich from ONI as yet another punching bag. Truth is Vadim is a KO artist himself, so one thing is certain, we won't be seeing a decision in this one.

 

GP 70

 

In Geezers palace our 170lbs champ, Renan St Juste will be fighting Ronald McDonald. Ronald is a monster, he KO's people for fun. However Renan's chin is made of some really hard stuff. He has never lost by KO ever and chances are it wont start now 29 fights into his career. I predict Renan pulling off a HUGE upset in his first fight outside of GAMMA.

 

GAMMA#306 Green v Comet

 

IN the co-main event we have Doc "The Bone Breaker" Thomas fighting Vladik Fedotov. Doc is on a great run since moving down to 170lbs, winning his first 2. His last one was over ex-champion Forrest Gump. A very respectable KO win. At 36y of age this is the last run he will probably have for a title, so this fight means a lot for Doc. Vladik is a premier fighter himself which tends to win 2 and then lose 1. Vladik's last loss came to Cabreros by KO and he will be looking to avoid that again. Doc will probably fight his all around game and look for a decision, however Vladik will be looking for yet another clinch fight. It could go either way, but a Doc Thomas win could see a fairytale story unravel for the veteran. I see Vladik winning this one though, if he can stay aggressive enough.

 

Main event time and Keith Green is continuing his legacy. He is on a 9 fight winning streak, the longest current streak in GAMMA. 9 years the younger, Jackson Comet has flown all the way from Europe for this fight and probably is not looking to lose. He is on a 5 fight unbeaten streak himself. Jackson is likely going to look for a KO win, as rarely does anyone win the tactical game against Keith. Either way this is going to be a huge fight for GAMMA and one that everyone is looking forward for. A win for Keith will move him within a couple of places of the 185lbs top place.

 

That all we have time for this week! That and my hands hurt...........

[Mentor]

Capelli King is here for yet another edition of MMA Gossip! Last week was a great one for GAMMA, with several benchmarks.

 

Lets not waste any more time and get down to the action starting with last weeks event reviews!

 

GAMMA#305 Cabreros v Vadim

 

Raz Matazz v Hammer Longbird

 

Raz remembered some of the old stuff when he took out Hammer Longbird with an early TKO (Kick and Punches). This was a key fight for Hammer and one which could have pushed him into the top tier echelons, however Raz showed why he is still a legit top level fighter and ended everything early on in the first round.

 

In the main event we witnessed Peter Cabreros fail in his super fight against ONI's Vadim Vadokowich. This fight was not what everyone expected. We were all waiting to see a blood-fest, but Vadim came in very conservative. He did pull of the decision, but Peter was piling on the pressure and won the last round. Unfortunately this was just a 3 round fight though and is was probably 2 rounds not enough for Peter as he lost his first fight in 8 and with it his chance to face Renan Juste for the title. Something he had surely deserved.

 

GAMMA#306 Green v Comet

 

In the co-main event Vladik Fedotov returned to his old winning ways with a close but decisive win over veteran Doc Thomas. Vladik controlled most of the fight although Cecil Peabody did have the first round going to Doc. This fight has given Vladik his chance for the title, despite recently losing to Peter Cabreros. Vladik will be hoping for a different outcome in the title fight against Renan after losing to him earlier on in his career by TKO.

 

In the main event, Keith Green showed the world why he is considered one of the top prospects with a dominant display against Jackson Comet. Keith pulled off a predictable decision win, something he has specialized in from the onset of his career. He won all 5 of his rounds and dominated the fight basically in all positions it went to. This win took Keith to 56 p4p in the world which is his highest ever so far.

 

Renan St Juste pulled off yet another massive win!!! This time it was one against Ronald McDonald in Geezers Palace. This is Renan's 6th consecutive win and probably the most impressive and vital in his career as it took him to #10 p4p in the world!!! Making him the joint 4th highest ever GAMMA fighter. His next fight will be one against Vladik Fedotov in GAMMA on the 19th of May.

 

At the post match press conference, British born fighter Dean Stevens blasted both the judges and the referee for his split decision loss to Renan St Juste. Stevens said "I was fighting 5 men in that cage, it's obvious to me that GAMMA didn't want some Brit coming over and beating their top fighter so they did everything they could to stack the deck in his favor. The ref was a joke, standing it up every chance he got, he even gave me a warning for not working straight after a takedown. And as for the judges, they were either corrupt or incompetent, only one of them had the courage to score the fight properly and give me the win 3 rounds to 2. The others were just making sure they kept Gamma and the American public happy. I dare St Juste to face me in my backyard in LFNC. And he doesn't need to worry about biased refs or judges, everyone knows the British play fair and play by the rules. I don't need help to beat him, I just need a level playing field." GAMMA management replied by saying that the fight is unlikely for the time being as Renan has went to much greener pastures and for this fight to happen, Dean will have to deserve the fight with several top level wins.

 

Probably the biggest news of the week though is that Simon Williams and Kenichi Shirahama have both joined GAMMA's HW division! Together with Fidel and potentially Buster Grimes (which if he wins his super fight, will be ranked top 100). It will mean that GAMMA has 4 top 100 p4p fighters all in the same division. Something like this has never happened to date and will make our Heavyweight one of, if not the strongest divisions in the world.

 

GAMMA#307 Shirahama v Colossus Review

 

In the co-main event we will witness the rematch of Kuiskaaja Rajantakaa vs Jorge Cruz. But before i get started though i wanted to give a shout out to Jorge Cruz which celebrated his birthday! He closed 38y making him the only fighter in GAMMA's history to compete that late in his career. What is more impressive though is that he is competing at at the very top level, recently event headlining a GAMMA event!

 

Their first affair was a close decision win for Kuiskaaja. Both fighters have been up and down recently. Kuiskaaja's losses came to Jt Colossus (two) and Buster Grimes. However Jorge's came to Livingston Barclay and Buster. What is ironic is that while Kuiskaaja struggled twice against Jt, Jorge managed to beat him, whereas as Kuiskaaja beat Livingston, which shows how close things are at the top. Both fighters need this win to keep close to the leading pack and anyone can pull it off. A third loss in a row for Kuiskaaja could be devastating, but for Jorge it could be the sign of the long painful decline.

 

In our main event, we welcome our new superstar Kenichi Shirahama! Kenchi is a veteran of ONI with a huge international reputation. The problem is that the underdog Jt Colossus does not care and wants to welcome Kenchi with the biggest win of his career. Kenchi will be looking to step it up for this fight as the new level of competition could prove to be a challenge. The whole HW division will be keeping a close eye on Kenichi for this one, while Jt has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

 

GAMMA#308 Dubbery v Cullen

 

In the main event Fidel Dubbery will be facing Kaely Cullen in a fight which will take place at Super Heavyweight. Kaely was sitting around in Free Agency when GAMMA management pulled off this super fight. Kaely has recently returned to his roots of submission warfare recently and will likely be going back to that. Fidel is probably very aware of how good Kaely is on the ground and will be looking to utilize.................the right hook. If Kaely can survive the barrage and take Fidel to the ground anything is possible, however chances are that it wont last that long and Fidel will end this with the usual fashion. Kaely has the weight advantage though and that could be a factor.

[Mentor]

Here with you is your host Capelli King for yet another edition of you know what, GAMMA Gossip! I am in this week a little early to cover our main super fight this week which is John Galt v Denton Thunder!

 

Unlike other editions, i will be covering all the fights in the order of hype/popularity and i will focus on just fights among 2 top 1000 p4p fighters only, so lets get started with last weeks main fight reviews!

 

Reviews

 

Jorge Cruz v Kuiskaaja Rajantakaa

 

This fight ended in spectacular fashion! "The old boy" Jorge Cruz has proven that he is not ready to go away despite his age and ended his 3rd out of 4 fights with a TKO/KO, getting his revenge over Kuiskaaja which beat him with a decision last summer. Kuiskaaja has been on a very poor run as of late and this has moved him out of the top echelons, at least temporarily, whereas Jorge is going places and will get his big chance against Kenichi Shirahama.

 

Kenichi Shirahama v Jt Colossus

 

Kenichi got a warm welcome to GAMMA last weekend when Jt Colossus did what he does best with an early "Huge punch combo". Kenichi had his moments on the ground in the 1st round, but was unable to get the submission. Jt only landed 6 strikes in the whole fight and only one head punch! But that was enough to get this fight over and done with. Jt Colossus has earned himself a huge top contender fight against recent signing Simon Williams.

 

Fidel Duberry v Kaely Cullen

 

Fidel showed last weekend why he is considered one of the best fighters in the world at the moment when he totally dominated a much heavier Kaely Cullen. Truth is that Fidel took advantage of that "extra" weight and landed 32 standing strikes to just 5 of his opponent. Some how Kaely survived until the 2nd with multiple cuts, but nothing was going to save him from getting to the 3rd as the doctor needed to come in to work on the nasty damage done to his face. Fidel has moved up to #6 p4p now and the whole world is trying to get them on their card for May. Most likely his next fight will be against the winner of the Jt Colossus vs Simon Williams fight.

 

Previews

 

Peter Cabreros v Forrest Gump

 

Headlining this weekends event is Peter Cabreros v Forrest Gump. Both has a totally different story. Forrest is recovering from a terrible recent run with a win over promising up-comer Rick James, which ended in a close decision. Forrest is looking to revive the form which led to the win over GAMMA legend and recent NFC 170lbs champion Alan Bundy. Peter on the other hand is probably wondering why he is not in a title fight after losing his super fight 2 weeks ago to Vadim Vadokowich. A win for Peter could bring him back into contention for the title, depending on what happens in the 170lbs title fight between Vladik Fedotov and Renan St Juste.

 

Raz Matazz v Usain Watts

 

It feels like we are talking about Raz Matazz every week (actually we usually are), but the 33y old seems to not go away. After losing 3 in a row, his last 2 fights have been impressive wins over Fred Ettish and upcoming fighter Hammer Longbird. He even managed to get a TKO in his last fight which is something he has not done for a LONG time. On the other hand Usain is on a bit of a slump. After losing to Keith Green in a title fight, he then was humiliated in a 1st round submission due to strikes against Frank Sinatra. Usain's last win was actually over Raz Matazz and this will be their 3rd fight together. Their last fight was a Submission (RNC) and something that Raz would like to avoid this time.

 

It is hard to put a winner on this one, but the momentum is on Raz's side for this fight. Both need this fight to stay in the top echelons, especially Usain which is a borderline top 1000 p4p fighter currently.

 

John Galt v Denton Thunder (Super Fight, in VERSUS, London)

 

John Galt is traveling to the other side of the ocean to face up against Denton Thunder. He is a late replacement for Danza Kuduro for this fight and is a clear underdog going into it. He will be taking to the cage a 8-1 recent run and the pride of holding the GAMMA 205lbs title, a title which had been worn by GAMMA and world legends such as Lennon Lewis, Mikhail Yudovich, Degen Gambler and the immortal Jeremy Tonal.

 

John is the big outsider for this one but he has nothing to lose and everything to gain in a fight against such a huge name.