Highland Games - Official Thread

[Arcalimon]

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- VITALY KARELIN -

 

"Me promeeze to hire translator when I win tournament. Me happy for win and ready to crush Chrollo "

 

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русский медведь

[KingEpicity]

 

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- VITALY KARELIN -

 

"Me promeeze to hire translator when I win tournament. Me happy for win and ready to crush Chrollo "

 

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русский медведь

 

 

 

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Chrollo Lucilfer

"You wanna play bae? Let's do it, I know you like to roll around and get all sweaty but that's not my thing. I gotta keep my heavenly image and getting staph infection is not of it. Your chin looks pretty sexy tho, I wonder how many times I can hit it before it breaks."

[clydebankblitz]

Darren Brooks, managed by Storman Norman, and LHWs Buddy, managed by Ivan Drago, have won 200k and one free custom avatar for reaching the semi final of the Heavyweight tournament.

 

Chrollo Lucilfer and Vitaly Karelin will now compete to decide who walks away with the 1 million.

[skull]

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Darth Vader

Well that was a little easier than I expected it to be. I figured I would at least get hit once, I've sparred with amateurs that put up a better fight LOL Gonna get back into training in a few days once the swelling in my hands goes down. I've got front row seats for Arnold vs Ibaka 2, I expect it to be a good stand up brawl. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out being 5 rounds and it looks like the champ has been working on his kick defense which played a huge factor in his lose in the first fight, but Arnold has been sitting back training since the first fight so he could have a small advantage going into this one. Really looking forward to this one and I will be ready for the winner

[clydebankblitz]

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Highland Games 73 Preview

By Callum McGregor

Tonight we’re going to be treated to some of the best Middleweight fights Highland Games has to offer, with a blend of up and comers and former champions set to perform. We’re expecting some of the Fight of the Year candidates here tonight so let’s take a look.

Wanderson Dos Pintos (2-0) Vs Mike Ali (1-0) – Middleweight
A classic Brazilian submissionist, Dos Pintos is just begging for his opponent to try and take this one to the mat. In his two professional fights thus far, he’s reversed the position from his back to take the top position where he’s locked in a submission each time. If he’s hoping for Ali to be the man engaging in a grapple, I think he’d better guess again. Mike will be looking to land shots at distance and avoid over committing. If he lets this get to the clinch, I think he won’t be able to stay on his feet.

Fumihiko Fukuoka (2-0) Vs Soloman Grunday (0-1) – Middleweight
Japan’s Fukuoka likes the clinch, but is just as capable outside of it. His gameplan will be geared towards landing some Muay Thai strikes from the outside, and if Grundy gets too close Fumihiko will want to get the Thai Plum and began landing some punches in close. Grundy has a very solid wrestling base and an experienced amateur background. He was caught in a triangle in his last fight, a valuable mixed martial arts lesson for the BJJ Purple Belt, and in this fight he’ll want to inflict the same fate upon Fukuoka.

Ruslan Volkov (2-1) Vs Daryl Dixon (1-1) – Middleweight
Ruslan brings some solid wrestling with killer ground and pound to the table. Although he is yet to find his comfort at striking range, he’s always improving that aspect of his game. He’ll want to drag this one down instantly against this striking based opponent. We’re told that Dixon has never trained his jiu jitsu before, so we can be sure that ending up on his back is the last thing he’s going to want. Daryl will have to use masterful instincts and tactics to be able to keep this one vertical where he can land some of his striking combination.

Mason Hill (3-1) Vs Tenko Shinata (4-4-1) – Heavyweight
Mason Hill, The Hammer, may be a striker primarily but his all-round game is very scary. In just his third fight, Hill managed to defeat his opponent Danny Luna by slam. With the ability to bring destructive wrestling and solid striking, he’ll be a hard foe to best for anyone who stands across from him.
Tenko has quite a lot of fighters behind him but has had very split results. He had 6 fights in Choke in which he held a 3-2-1 record. Tenko has some very interesting submission holds but seems to go for fancy techniques instead of his bread and butter. It’d be good to see him buckle down and stick to the basics for this fight.

Dominance Zelditeez (9-5) Vs Juha Nimmaki (6-4) – Bantamweight
Dominance’s big brother Authority was an NEX Middleweight Champion who retired with a 14-4 record. His little brother, Josiformiga, retired at 1-1 a year ago. Dominance is complete in the middle in more ways than just his age. Although he is a onetime contender for the HG 135 title, he’s failed to capture the spotlight like his older brother did. We all hope to see him back at the top someday, but the road starts here.
Making his debut, Juha Nimmaki has a lot of experience in the Bantamweight division. Juha has a strong submission game but is capable of finishing the fight with ground and pound or simply grinding out for a decision. Juha has never been stopped in his 10 fight career and we’re expecting to see more of his gritty toughness here tonight.

Ney Schincariol (4-0) Vs Lapu Gatmaitan (4-1) – Middleweight
I first want to thank both guys for putting this fight on at such late notice. Both accepted this fight only a few days ago and I really appreciate them putting it all on the line for the company.
Ney comes to us off the back of an independent tournament win in which he defeated 4 men in 4 nights with a combination of wrestling and submissions. We’re expecting the Norwegian to start building a name for himself soon, but he’s got a hard road ahead of him with some dangerous 185ers along the path.
One of which is Lapu Gatmaitan. Another debutant, Lapu has proven that his Rear Naked Choke is one of the most dangerous around, with 75% of his professional victories came from that manoeuvre. While Gatmaitan can match Ney in the submission game, he brings a little bit more striking to the table than his opponent. With this potentially being a grappler Vs grappler contest, I think a smart move would be for Lapu to keep this on the feet and wear his opponent down before mixing it up on the mat.

Jon Asrken (8-1) Vs Terakado Tessai (5-1) – Middleweight
One of the most closely watched rising contenders on the roster, this fight is actually a slight step down for Jon Askren. In his Highland Games debut, Askren managed to take out Jack Sock whom he wasn’t favoured to defeat. He didn’t only win the fight, but he dominated for 15 minutes. With an elite wrestling game and some dangerous ground and pound, Askren’s 8-1 record is a testament to how dangerous he intends to be in this 185 division and thus far, he’s proven that description is right on the money.
Terakado Tessai will surely not take that step down comment lightly, and why should he? 5 spectacular knockouts under his belt makes Tessai enter this cage as a highly touted competitor. The fact that he’s faced a lower level of talent means absolutely nothing to the Japanese striker because he considers every man who is brave enough to step in the cage than him to be of a much lower calibre.
Both of these men embody the future of the Middleweight division in Highland Games, and for each a win would put their name amongst the mix.

Thresh Whiteman (6-1) Vs Bratt Nardello (4-1) – Heavyweight
The Highland Games universe is so excited to see the debut of Thresh Whiteman under the Highland Games banner. Thresh was the Super Heavyweight kingpin of Choke, winning the title two times and having a total of 6 title fights. None of his contests have went out of the first round and this could be attributed to his lethal elbows in the clinch. I’m really disappointed that LHWs Buddy is currently a Free Agent because for me, Thresh Whiteman Vs Buddy would have been a dream HW fight. None the less, Thresh is expected by many to make a destructive impact in the 265 division.
Bratt might not have the following and hype that his opponent has, but he’s a tried and tested competitor who already has a win in the organisation. Nardello isn’t the most intelligent fighter of all time, but he walks out there and throws punches from start to finish. Bratt has an extremely active striking game and gives the fans a hell of a fight whenever he’s on the card. Putting a stop to his opponent’s rise would be a huge feather in Collision’s cap, but I think he’s more interested in punching someone in the face than the politics that come with the fight game.

Massimo Benvenuti (17-4) Vs Rodrigo Rojas (11-5) – Middleweight
For the 13th time, Massimo B will be entering the Highland Games cage. Really, I’m going to make an executive decision to stop pointing out the B. While Massimo Paterno was a solid fighter and he’s on the shelf for a Writer’s Spotlight feature, Benvenuti has more than passed out his namesake at this stage. The Italian Brawler’s nickname might be correct in the national part, but I wouldn’t go near calling Benvenuti a brawler. Massimo is an extremely technical stand up fighter who knows exactly what to do to take the fight to the clinch and get to work where he feels most at home. Unlike a lot of our other clinchers, Massimo doesn’t overcommit in looking for the stoppage. If it comes, it comes, and more times than not it has, but Massimo is content to control and wear down his opponent as long as the fight goes. Massimo could walk out with a title shot under his belt if his longtime rival Massa is unsuccessful in the main event tonight, but you can be sure that no matter how long it takes, Massimo Benvenuti is going to be in the cage again in a 5 round fight.
Speaking of which, it’s been a long time since Rodrigo Rojas had that honour, but he’s never been deterred by setbacks. I have to point out that in my opinion, Rojas’ recent victory over Aleksandar Mihaylov is the greatest win of his entire career and has propelled him right up there in the division. Massimo took his first submission loss in his last fight which could potentially open up a doorway for Highland Games’ Submission of the Night leader Rodrigo Rojas. The Brazilian has competed at both Middleweight and Light Heavyweight and has some really solid wins under his belt. It’s unfortunate that he’s never been able to put together a title contention streak up until now, but really you have to think that a win tonight would push him right up into that contendership level. Rodrigo has been working on his entire mixed martial arts game since his first fight with Massimo and hopes his striking is now in the place where he can handle himself. An interest footnote from their first clash is that Massimo wanted nothing to do with the clinch, perhaps fearing Rojas pulling guard, so if Rodrigo can take him out of his element and avoid the striking game, we may see things turning out differently this time.

Massa Hurmaaja (16-4) Vs Razor MuayThai (9-5) – Middleweight
I couldn't be more excited about this fight.
Two former Highland Games Middleweight Champions struggling to prove that they are worthy contenders for the belt currently held by Arnavut Sevket.
If we start by looking at Massa's losses, you can see that it's never a straight forward affair. His record stands at 1-1 against Sevket and 1-2 against Grant Morrison. With a victory over these two men, Massa has proven that he can compete against the best possible guys, but there's one L on his record that stands alone and that was to Razor MuayThai.
Razor was one of the many top Island fighters managed by controversial but effective manager ZyD XyD. Despite slacking on training in his early years, Razor was still able to capture the Highland Games belt. Razor would win the title when he challenged Massa, who was the champion at the time. It was heavily predicted that Massa was going to take the fight to the ground as soon as possible, but the kickboxing ace managed to defend 9 early attempts. Throughout the first round, Razor managed to land a huge amount of body punches which weakened the champion early, all leading up to his trademark high kick which secured him the victory.
Massa would go on a three fight win streak and challenged for the title again, beating defeated by Grant Morrison. He also went into the final of The Island tournament before dropping a fight to the current champ. What Massa has proved since that fight is that he's still at the absolute top of the division. Glory has remained just out of his grasp but victories over the other top contenders have ensured that Massa maintains one of the most stellar reputations in the history of Highland Games.
Razor MuayThai has had a very different career path. He lost the title to Massimo Benvenuti, he went 1-2 in World Combat at three different weight classes, all above his natural weight, but now he's back where he belongs. A loss to Benveuti started his return off negatively, but he earned his first victory in three four fights against Renato Gracie in just over a minute.
It's hard to know who's going to win this fight. If Razor can do what he did earlier in his career, then this fight might well be his for the taking. One thing is for sure, Massa has been working hard and has improved with every single gym session he's faced. Massa will likely go into this fight as the favourite but when you're talking about the knockout power of Razor, lightning can always strike twice.

We return to the Camden Conference Centre for a solid night of action. Highland Games has proven to be very exciting and engaging even without a title fight on the card in our last couple of events and we’re expecting things to be the exact same here. We hope to see you all in the crowd as we turn the next page in Highland Games’ history books.

[clydebankblitz]

FIGHTER SPOTLIGHT

CHRISTIAN LONG

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Christian Long began his career as an accomplished kickboxer, managed by veteran promoter Brad Bombada. After a one minute spectacular head kick knockout of Francesco Bozzano in the independent circuit, he signed with Chaos. We saw quite a lot of great talent fight for Chaos in it’s early days; Eirikur Adalsteinn, Neil Drake, Tom Franks, Saintly Fish, Jomlong Kiapoity, Hanjong Mc Vetrol, Skunk Asap, Thor Heyerdahl, Gottlieb Hiebknecht, Thaddeus Fitzgerald, San Terra, JJ Lycka and many more, but perhaps the most standout amongst the group was Christian.

Long debuted for the organisation in their 4th event, which would subsequently be their last. He instantly main evented, taking out Theros Staal in just 20 seconds. This sent ripples across the Island landscape as the fans and pundits immediately knew the name; Christian Long.

After the demise of Chaos, almost all of their top names signed for Highland Games, Christian amongst the bunch. At Highland Games 2, he co-main evented against 1-0 Alexey Juralev, another Chaos name. Alexey was instantly a bit puncher, something he’s proven to still be in the 13 fights since then. Long went out and started throwing high kicks early, something he must have seen in Juralev’s previous fight. This is quite amazing because we’ve seen Juralev head kick KOed since then against Mib Louie, so Long and his team had incredible foresight to know this would be such an available attack. One head kick cut him, one head kick dropped him and the final one knocked him out. 3-0, Christian Long proved to be the best kickboxer on The Island throughout its early days.

With the spectacular debut win under his belt, Callum McGregor decided it was time to finally unveil the first Highland Games championship. Christian Long would compete in the first ever HG title fight against 4-0 popular up and comer Barney Gumble. Now if you’ve been following the organisation in any way, you know how this fight would have turned out. In something that would become a trademark, Gumble secured the clinch instantly and managed to finish the fight in just over 2 minutes. Gumble would go on to defend the title an incredible 9 times, while Long’s career went in a completely different route.

Some fighters crumble after their first loss, but that wasn’t the case for Long. He would next fight at HG 11 against fellow kicking master Diamond Andy. It was an incredible fight. While Andy appeared to be the slightly more well rounded fighter, using this to take the fight, you could never count Long out. Throughout the fight, Diamond Andy had received a cut which was getting worse and worse. Right in the very last minutes of the fight, it was nasty. Blood was everywhere, but with only 3 seconds left in the fight, the referee would let it go right? No, the referee halted the fight. Christian Long had defeated one of the top contenders by the skin of his teeth, bouncing back in a huge way from his disappointing title fight. The fight earned FOTN honours and both men had created one of the most controversial situations we have seen in the organisation’s 700+ fights.

Long would next take on Elias Page as part of the Highland Games 18 supercard, in a fight where Long was considered the heavy favourite. Page was looking for the clinch early, but the head kick mastery came back into full effect. In the third round, Page was dropped and rocked. He got the clinch, but again was put on the mat before the end of the round, this time by uppercut. The referee let it go to the end of the round, but just 10 seconds into the second it was yet another head kick that put Page on the canvas. A few strikes from the mount later, Long went to 5-1. Yet again. Long won bonuses, getting Knockout of the Night and his second straight Fight of the Night.

In the early days of Highland Games, it was an unspoken rule that a fighter should win 3 fights in a row before getting a title shot. This was specifically enforced for a fighter who had already challenged for the belt as Christian had done. This would create the build for a huge clash; Christian Long Vs Nelson Frazier Jr. Nelson was undefeated after 4 fights and was chasing down a title shot of his own. This was highly suspected to be a number 1 contender fight. We knew Nelson would like to take the fight into the clinch, but what was most surprising was the boxing of Nelson Frazier Jr. Nelson managed to work his hands, landing some strong body punches, but as expected he controlled in the clinch. Long managed to pot shot here and there, but he couldn’t dictate the pace. Early in the third round, Long was burned into highlight reels for eternity when he was caught cold by a superman punch and knocked unconscious.

The loss was hard, but not as hard as getting easily dominated by Thor Heyerdahl in a 3 round kickboxing contest and knocked out in the first by Chiyono Fuji. Although these are two very tough guys, Christian Long was crumbling down the ranks of the Heavyweight division. In fact, Long dropped to the complete other end of the scale. If a fighter won 3 fights, he would probably get a title shot. At the same time, 3 losses often saw the fighter be released from their contract. Christian Long went from being a title challenger to fighting for his career and it was hard for a fan like myself to witness this fall. He had one more chance, given a fight against Antonio The Sparta. Antonio was 2-4 and really didn’t look too impressive. If Long lost to Sparta, then it wasn’t just that he’d be cut from Highland Games but really he would have retired on the spot.

It was a close fight quite early. Both fighters exchanged shots, but just over the second round, classic Christian Long returned in a flash. A headkick, the third he had thrown in the round, ended the night for Sparta. This was Long’s early specialty and he had saved his career.

Long’s trip to the bottom was short lived. With a win back on his record, Christian was set to face another devastating striker, something he’d been facing quite a lot in recent times. For this challenge, he would face Jason Barrett. Barrett’s career has slightly nosedived with two straight losses, his first two, so this was a legitimate fighter for both men to show us where they were going to be. Surprisingly, Long was caught off guard by the presence of a gameplan from Barrett. Usually just a crazy and wild striker, Jason took the clinch and managed to land a massive amount of punches for two rounds. Long held on like a champ, but no one ever falls like one. Late in the second, Barrett’s barrage was a too much and Christian Long was defeated once again.

With his record now at 6-5, Christian was looking far from the top guy he was when he challenged for the title. To make matters worse, Long would never fight Clinton Offley. Clinton was fresh off of a title shot, also falling to Barney Gumble. Long started active as always, but Offley quicky got the takedown and locked in a submission. It was the first time Christian had ever faced a gameplan like that and he didn’t exactly pass with flying colours. Again, he’d lost two in a row and with a now even record, we all thought the end was near.

To keep himself employed, Christian was scheduled to fight Magnus Cross. Cross was a young 18 year old who had lost two in a row coming into the fight. The loser of the fight was expected to be released from the organisation, and with the future looking brighter for cross, from a business point of view everyone at Highland Games was willing the youngster to take the fight and give Long the nudge to finally retire. The got into the cage and the announcer made the introductions. Ding, ding, ding, the fight was on. They circled a little bit, then boom, Christian Long with a huge head kick. Cross fell to the floor but got up quickly…only to eat another gigantic head kick. As Magnus Cross went down, the crowd got up. Yet again, that head kick was the deciding factor and Christian Long was picking up a post fight bonus. This fight turned out to be perfect because Christian Long would still retire after the fight, going out in the best way possible, with a Christian Long head kick.

Christian Long goes down in history as one of Highland Games’ most devastating kickboxers with some incredible knockout power with his head kicks. Although he never managed to capture the gold, we will always remember his contributions to Highland Games in its early days and fans won’t forget the excitement they felt when they saw him on the card.

[clydebankblitz]

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Highland Games 74 Preview

By Callum McGregor

We have two amazingly big fights on the card tonight. First, we have the final of the 1 million dollar heavyweight tournament. Chrollo Lucilfer and Vitaly Karelin are looking like huge prospects in the HW division and might give some serious trouble to the more established fighters, but first they must clash against each other to discover who will walk out with the 1million dollars. We also have a big Lightweight title fight where Mustafa Shabazz looks to regain his title and Zoran Jolevi will want to hold him off. It will be interesting to see what Mustafa’s gameplan will be going against the heavy favourite.

Neil Herstag (2-1) Vs Artur Galecki (2-2) – Bantamweight

Neil joins us after making it to the semi final of an independent Bantamweight tournament. He likes to take the fight into the clinch as soon as possible and work opponents down as soon as possible. If the finish comes, he’ll take it, but he’s also happy to maintain control for the entire duration.

Artur “Gala” was unsuccessful in his Highland Games debut, falling to Claudius Calaeabius in just under 2 minutes. It was a hard loss for him to endure, but he can take solice that it happened on the ground, not the feet. The Pole has a more well-rounded game than his opponent which might come into play.

Shaun Hale (2-0) Vs Lance Lewis (2-0) – Light Heavyweight

With an all-round mixed martial arts game, Shane ‘Pitbull’ Hale is expected to keep his opponent guessing in this content. While we’ve only seen him take the fight to the floor to date, we’re told from his camp that he knows how to strike and if need be, he can hold his own in a kickboxing match.

Similarly, we’ve only seen Lance Lewis wanting to take the fight to the floor thus far in his career. When it spills to the mat, Lewis has been able to use a slick transition game and active ground and pound to keep his early undefeated streak alive.

Zakari Moss (9-7) Vs Xavier Llorent (7-4) – Bantamweight

We always talk about the glory days of Zakari Moss when we preview an event, but I feel that it’s so far gone that we have to talk about what’s going on right now; Zakari Moss is on a 4 fight losing streak. Luckily, 3 of these guys were pretty tough opponents but he’s now welcoming an organisational newcomer to the company and if he’s unsuccessful in this challenge, it’s hard to see how he comes back from it.

Xavier cares not for the hype of his opponent. He himself had a nice run in REZDOG, defeating current HG names like Tom Noisy and Juha Nimmaki, but this is definitely the opportunity he’s been waiting for since he made his professional debut. Going up against a fellow submissionist will be tough but Llorent is confident that he can do it.

Gerrard Lannister (4-1) Vs Long Wang (4-0) – Bantamweight

When Lannister made his debut, he entered an independent tournament and was knocked out rapidly. For some fighters, this would be a deterrent, but Gerrard kept his mind in the game and was sure he could make an impact as a Bantamweight fighter. Since then, the Jiu Jitsu brown belt has finished four straight opponents and has proven to both himself and the world that he’s not someone to take lightly.

Undefeated Taiwanese jiu jitsu player Long Wang may have an unfortunate name, but there is nothing unfortunate about his god given skillset. In the aforementioned tournament which Neil Herstag had entered, Wang actually emerged victorious, submitting every single opponent he faced. Wang has achieved what Lannister attempted, so that will give him confidence in entering this bout.

Monstro Slammo (3-0) Vs Bob Simpson (4-0) – Heavyweight

Monstro is a solid wrestler with some nice ground and pound. He is very active when he takes an opponent down, but with only a BJJ Blue Belt, he’ll have to make sure that he keeps his limbs tucked inside at all times to avoid getting himself tapped out.

Bob Simpson is also a good wrestler, but a good counter-wrestler. Despite having a great wrestling background, Bob Big Nasty Simpson is going to want to keep this one of the feet so he can work the boxing skills which has got him to the big show, searching for a 5th KO stoppage in a row.

Barol Kedorf (5-6) Vs Christopher Wilt (4-2) – Heavyweight

Barol’s been fighting for HG since Highland Games 3 and has made sure that he always hung onto his job. He’s a solid striker who can outbox opponents who underestimate him, also holding a nice win over a now fairly high ranked Blade Runner. Barol is going to want to keep his distance in this fight, picking his shots wisely and edging out for a 3 round unanimous decision victory.

Christopher Wilt comes to us with an unofficial 2-1 record in MMA and 2-1 in Jiu Jitsu. He was a competitor in the grappling organisation Combat Purist and was looking like he’d bring a lot to the table as he advanced as a competitor. Naturally, he doesn’t have the most fluid striking skills but anything he throws will surely be to distract his opponent as he shoots in for a takedown. This will be all about submissions for Wilt, and he needs to get one on as soon as possible to move up the ladder.

Chrollo Lucilfer (3-0) [+129] Vs Vitaly Karelin (3-0) [-176] – Heavyweight Tournament Final

It’s been a month in the making, but we are finally here; the Highland Games $1million Heavyweight Tournament Finale. It doesn’t get any bigger than this, and these two guys have looked extremely good coming up to this point.

Chrollo has proven to the world that he is a bonafied knockout machine. With immense power in both hands, he’s almost willing opponents to put up a fight because without competition a fighter weakens over time.

If we wants competition, the man who wrestlers bears will happily give it to him. Vitaly Karelin was an underdog when his round 1 fight went to a decision, but since then he’s been able to ragdoll opponents, taking them to the ground and smashing them with some scary and impactful ground and pound.

This is a striker Vs grappler match, but more importantly this fight is going to end in a knockout. There are some gigantic prizes on offer for this one so I’m sure both managers are excited about this contest as I am.

Dan Sten (10-3) Vs Renato Laranja (13-5) – Bantamweight

Dan Sten has spent almost his entire mixed martial arts career as a competitor for Highland Games, which is a testament to the loyalty this fighter has. He’s fought and defeated some of the best fighters that we’ve seen inside the Highland Games cage, and the only outstanding losses still left to be avenged are to the two men who will compete for the Bantamweight belt on the 15th of May. Dan Sten’s style is predictable yet effective. He’s going to want to get the clinch early and use his knees from the thai plum position to wear his opponent down. While he’s delighted if the gets a stoppage, Dan is also happy enough to beat his foe down over the distance of the fight.

Renato Laranja, a former AFL champion, has been one of the best Bantamweights in the world for a ong time. He’s beat Neil Drake, Josh Miller and recent World Combat 135 title holder Thaddeus Fitzgerald. Laranja is a submission expert who’s been able to utilize an insanely talented ground game to remain at the top for such a long time. The only thing holding him back from the title to this point was Serge Ibaka, but with the prospect of BJ Arnold taking the belt, this would provide a fresh and interesting challenge for the Brazilian funnyman.

Gottlieb Hiebknecht (14-5) [-112] Vs Jason Smith (11-6) [-121] – Lightweight

Co main events don’t get much bigger than this. We have two of the absolute best lightweight fighters in the world today going head to head to prove why they are still amongst the elite. It’s almost a shame that one of these competitors will have lost two in a row after this fight because neither of them deserve to lose.

To start, let’s look at who they recently dropped fights to. Gottlieb had his long awaited rematch against Zoran Jolevi, a man he had previously defeated, and failed to recapture the title. Das Wiesel is the only man to have beat the champion and managed to brave 5 rounds of punishment, showing everyone that the 5 second KO he suffered at the hands of Better Dead was a fluke. Jason Smith lost to Mustafa Shabazz, the other name in the main event tonight. He had submitted an old rival of his, Calvin Brooks, coming into the fight but was unable to deal with Mustafa’s control on the ground. Again, nothing to be ashamed of there.

That brings us to this fight. These men clashed previously at Attack Fight League 21. Both were on 4 fight win streaks but couldn’t fight for the title due to the inactivity of champion Jeffery Lebowski. Throughout the fight, Jason was able to take the fight to the floor and control the ground game, actively seeking submissions throughout and maintaining the position. The judges were going his way, but none the less he managed to lock in a late kimura and secure the win.

After losing his next two, Smith dropped down the rankings while Gottlieb would win the AFL belt in his very next fight. There’s a lot of resentment over this for Smith so we expect to see some personal feelings spill out in the cage in this one.

Mustafa Shabazz (9-4) [+215] Vs Zoran Jolevi (17-1) [-312] – Lightweight Championship

And now it’s time for our main event championship bout.

Looking at the Lightweight Division, the title has been bounced around several times. It was first won by Don Killuminati who made three defences, but since then it’s only been successfully defended once, by our champion Zoran Jolevi. Derrick Jon, George Moshington, Gottlieb Hiebknecht and our challenger tonight Mustafa Shabazz were all defeated in their first fight as the champion, so it’s really interesting to see if Zoran will be able to put together a solid run as the champion. He’s certainly got all the tools to do it but tonight he faces an extremely interesting challenge. Really, what makes the champion so scary is his ability to win the fight absolutely anywhere. He’s beat guys like JJ Lycka, Calvin Brooks, George Moshington and Gottlieb all by dominating in the clinch, and he’s submitted others like Hideki Higkiko, Bhola Djin Djin, Papa Shango and Ali Roumani by submission. What you expect the champ to do is to take the fight out of his opponent’s element, so in this fight I’m expecting to see him lean heavily on his clinch game.

Shabazz is capable in striking but make no mistake about where he wants this fight to take place. Mustafa is a submission specialist at heart and 8 of his fights have finished by that method of victory. Since he lost the title, we’ve seen some weaknesses from Mustafa. He has been submitted twice by Calvin Brooks and we began to think he might never reach this level again. Back to back wins of JJ Lycka and Jason Smith proves us completely wrong and now Shabazz is right back in this position. When he faced Don Killuminati, really no one in the world saw him winning. Don had ran through Mustafa enroute to the title so no one really felt that Mustafa could do anything to stop it from happening again. A stunning post fight bonus winning second round armbar proved the doubters wrong, and now he finds himself in that exact position once again. It’s been mentioned several times that Gottlieb was lucky to get a win over Mustafa to earn the title, but what’s done is done and now this is certainly the biggest challenge Shabazz will ever face in his professional career. Tumbling down the rankings would be disastrous and the road back would be a troublesome. There’s a secret in mixed martial arts that no one ever talks about. Every young fighter dreams of becoming a champion. They feel like that would make all of their desires come true. But once they have tasted glory and held the gold, only to find themselves without it later, then they experience a completely new form of desire.

Mustafa Shabazz Vs Zoran Jolevi for the Highland Games Lightweight Championship. This one is gonna be good.

So there we have it. We’re expecting close to a capacity crowd at the Camden Conference Centre for this great card. We hope to see you there.

[Arcalimon]

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VITALY KARELIN

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*The translator picks up the microphone* "My client would like to thanks all the sponsors of this great tournament.

He is happy for the result and thinks he'll be able to reach the top of the division".

*Vitaly Karelin takes vehemently the microphone* "You western fighters weak, me great bear wrestling was too much.

Me take the belt to great mother Russia and to my people of Siberia".

[Guest]

Zakari Moss "Obviously it has been quite a while since I have tasted victory. Today I proved that I can still compete and maybe one day get back to my original form so the only question now is who's next?"

[clydebankblitz]

I've offered Zakari a big one next, mainly because the two have never fought each other before and are coming off wins. If you want a slower build though I could get him someone a little lower on the rankings. Just let me know.

[Guest]

Zakari Moss "Wow! Talk about a challenge boss, don't worry I am willing to try and step up anyways. At least you still have some faith in me"

[clydebankblitz]

Zakari has proved he's better than the new comers to the org. Granted, this is a massive uphill battle for him but it's a submission match which is certainly in his wheelhouse. If he was to lose, I'd probably bring him back a little bit and keep him fighting against up and comers for a little while. If he wins though, he gets one step closer to finally getting that title shot I'm sure he's been hoping for for a few years now.

[clydebankblitz]

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Highland Games 75 Preview

By Callum McGregor

Firstly, thanks to Scott J (xunt) for the poster. Highland Games 75 is brought to you in association with The Highland Books. It’s Camden Conference Centre, it’s Highland Games, and it’s going to be unbelievable. We have two former Highland Games champions, two former Attack Fight League champions and the reigning, defending Highland Games Bantamweight Champion; Serge Ibaka. This card is going to be nuts, let’s take a look.

Yolo Yolovski (4-1) Vs Carlos Lehder Rivas (2-2) – Bantamweight

Yolo picked up his first loss in his last fight after winning a 4 day independent tournament. The submissionist will be looking to take this one down and bounce back into the win column.

Carlos Rivas is entering this fight as an underdog, especially since he’s on a two fight skid, but if he can secure the clinch early and wear Yolo down then he stands a good chance at turning things around.

Teofilo Sotolongo (1-1) Vs Brian Collins (1-1) – Heavyweight

Two competitors from the $1million Heavyweight Tournament, both Teofilo and Collins found their runs cut short in the second round. Teofilo has heavy hands but will need to keep his chin tucked to avoid a repeat performance of his 5 second knockout loss to Chrollo Lucilfer. Brian Collins is also a boxer which makes for an interesting stand up affair which isn’t expected to go on for very long.

Dino De Brouwer (1-1) Vs Luca Dominiguez (1-1) – Heavyweight

Yet another two former tournament entrants, we saw Dino The Italian Stallion meet his fate in the first round while Luca Dominiguez could only manage one better. Dino came back with a head kick knockout which won him a post-fight bonus at Highland Games 69 while this is Luca’s first fight since the defeat. Luca picked up a bonus himself for his 55 second opening round scrap with Angel Adriel so it’ll be a close an interesting match between both strikers.

Guillermo Diaz (5-1) Vs Phillip Peralta (3-1) – Lightweight

Formerly one of Mexico’s premier amateur wrestlers, Guillermo Diaz has put together quite the MMA streak as of late. After a submission loss in his debut, we’ve seen him beat 5 straight opponents, displaying a very controlled wrestling top game with the ability to lock on submissions when the time calls for it. Peralta has already found success in Highland Games, scoring a first round knockout over boxer Manny Pacquiao in his first outing. Peralta will look to use his wrestling to hold Diaz back and maybe land a big shot early, otherwise he’ll have a hard time winning from the bottom.

Tatsuzo Fukuda (5-0) Vs Claudius Calaeabius (4-1) – Bantamweight

The Japanese competitor Fukuda is yet to be resisted in his 5 fight career, winning 4 of them by stoppage and going the distance in the other. While he has been looking dominant, he’s yet to really face anyone that could best him on paper, and that’s all about to change tonight. Claudius only has one defeat; a tournament finale fight to Yolo Yolovski who’s kicking the card off tonight. Outside of that, he’s proved to be an accomplished wrestler with some nice ground and pound, a trait he demonstrated with a quick stoppage over Artur Galecki in his Highland Games debut.

Thomas Almeida (5-4) Vs JJ Lycka (9-6) – Lightweight

Once a promising fighter with a 5-1 record, Thomas Almeida appears to have fallen on harsh times recently. This is only the case if you take his record at face value. In reality, Thomas was caught with a string of questionable decisions and unfair match making at the hands of Rio de Janeiro’s Ultimate Fighting Federation. At 5-1, he faced 27-31-3 Chip Freedom. At 5-2, he faced 15-12 Vrando Vraganza. Next, 13-9 Bernardo Bernardo. Why anyone would put an up and comer through this is beyond me, but Thomas Almeida is game for anyone put in front of him, and tonight he has another hard challenge. JJ is one of the top Lightweights to have come from The Island, although his record doesn’t appear that way. He holds two victories over Jason Smith and ones over Mamad Mouba and Peter Parker. Like Almeida, JJ has struggled as of late, taking 3 recent losses in as many fights, but he’s faced some difficult guys and this is his opportunity to take one back.

George Moshington (9-3) [-142] Vs Tim Woods (9-3) [+105] – Lightweight

Seems like I’m making a habit of writing about fighters who have fallen on hard times as of late, but that perfectly describes George Moshington. A Highland Games Champion with knockout power and a slick submission game, it once appeared that George would not be stopped. Then suddenly, it all changed. Upset in the tournament by Jack Stick, lost his title to Zoran Jolevi then decisioned against Calvin Brooks, it seems that Moshington became a midcard fighter overnight. He needs wins, big time, and Tim Woods hasn’t fought as big name opponents.

Woods is a World Combat veteran, fighting as early as WC 1. Since then, Woods was beating the middle of the road guys for a while, once putting together a 5 fight win streak. Although he answered the difficult questions with flying colours, Woods struggled to overcome when the deck was stacked against him. He was defeated by Oleg Bartowski, Chin Checker and Shoddy Body, 3 of the top guys from World Combat. Now he’s under new management, but it’s really a hard fight for him to get past. Woods will have to play this very intelligently to be able to get past his opponent in this one, and it would be the perfect start to this next chapter in professional career.

Taisto Anttila (6-0) [-121] Vs Warren Parker (7-2) [-112] – Lightweight

Taisto comes to us as a really highly ranked and well hyped submission expert, winning all 6 of his professional fights by this method. The former Choke Featherweight and Welterweight Champion has had 4 fights scheduled for 5 rounds, none of which went beyond the opener, and for the icing on the cake he’s also received 5 Submission of the Night bonuses from the Choke staff. Really, what I’m trying to say here is that Taisto Anttila is the real deal and is poised to be a real contender in Highland Games. A natural Bantamweight, Taisto prefers to use his speed to catch opponents on their heels and take the fight to the ground. Although there was some concern about him fighting at Lightweight, Taisto assures us that as a former Choke Welterweight Champion, this is no difficult task for him.

Warren Parker is also making his Highland Games debut tonight, coming off of a fairly successful run in both ECFC and CEFC. A onetime contender for the ECFC Welterweight championship, Parker is a jiu jitsu practitioner like his opponent tonight and will be looking to tackle his opponent head on in that respect. His only two losses have come by way of knockout, something the favourite, Anttila, is not expected to look for on Friday night so we’re likely to see Warren Parker deal with some things he hasn’t been bested by in his career thus far.

Mase Force (15-5) [-602] Vs Sailele Lealofi (8-4) [+360] – Heavyweight

The bookie’s favourite is extremely clear in this fight. The Highland Book has Mase Force at an incredible -602, but that doesn’t mean Sailele Lealofi has no chance.

Mase went down in history with back to back stoppage victories over his rival Barney Gumble, walking home with the Highland Games Heavyweight title in the process. Losses to Pedro Lazaro have cost Force both the Island tournament and his championship belt and being that close to greatness will be a bitter pill to swallow for the former champ.

The Super Samoan, Sailele has been a difficult fixture in Highland Games’ heavyweight division for quite some time. His biggest victory to date is a submission win over Magnus Cross, but there is one important factor in this fight. It seems that whenever Sailele is faced with a big hitter; Alexey Juralev, Garcia Vega or his first fight with Mase Force, he crumbles under the pressure. What I think we need to see is a more tactical game from the Samoan, using his strikes or clinches to set his takedowns up.

BJ Arnold (14-1) [+107] Vs Serge Ibaka (20-1) [-145] – Bantamweight Championship

And now we’re here; the main event of the evening, and I couldn’t be more excited. I think one of our important factors that need to be addressed tonight is rumours surrounding Serge Ibaka. When Ibaka left Attack Fight League for Highland Games, Adam Rabago, AFL’s leader, stated that Ibaka left to avoid fighting another fighter. Due to the standing of BJ Arnold at the time, it was suspected he was said fighter. Ibaka would eventually be forced to fight Arnold in the tournament final and it was a dominant victory for BJ. None the less, Serge Ibaka was still the champion but he requested that he be given time to train for Arnold since he was coming straight off of the first loss of his career. In the meantime, Ibaka would easily dispose of Dan Sten and Neil Drake while Arnold would stay in the gym.

Serge Ibaka is out to prove something big time in this one. Anyone who ever claimed this man was ducking has been proven wrong, because it’s here and it’s on. Serge Ibaka has been absolutely incredible in Highland Games, beating every single opponent put in front of him in devastating fashion. An important thing to notice is that in the early days, Ibaka had a few problems with some guys, but since then he’s developed his game and became a more destructive force. Finishing fights without any real problem.

BJ Arnold managed to destroy all but one; Darth Vader, but the level of opponent’s he’s faced in comparison to his opponent is much lower. None the less, when they competed against one another it was a masterful kicking game which saw Arnold pull ahead. Ibaka had his moments in the fight but was unable to secure his patented clinch enough and when he did he wasn’t able to do enough with it.

Now we’re here. Serge Ibaka knows what BJ Arnold wants to bring to the table and knows what the strategy is going to be. If Ibaka can keep out of distance, he can time Arnold and predict his attacks. From here, he might be able to counter with strikes or the clinch. This is easier said than done, and if the long-time Bantamweight kingpin hesitates, he may find himself once again worn down by his opponent’s unrivalled kicking game.

No matter who wins, I think the winner is going to go down in history as one of the greatest fighters Highland Games is ever going to see.

So there we have it. The main event is going to feature one of the most bitter and long lasting feuds Highland Games has ever seen and really, your guess is as good as mine as to who is going to walk as the winner. One thing is for sure though, this night is going to be historic.

[clydebankblitz]

http://www.mmatycoon.com/images/company/logo/1431700323Highland%20Clothing%20logo.jpg

HIGHLAND CLOTHING IS HERE!

Get all of your Island fighter gear at Highland Clothing.

http://www.mmatycoon.com/clothingpublic.php?cid=4677

[clydebankblitz]

NEW CHAMPION!

 

For the first time since the title was introduced, the Bantamweight strap is in different hands!

 

Congratulations to BJ Arnold for winning that very close contest. Solid event (although I went 1-2 )

[clydebankblitz]

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Tatsuzo Fukuda (6-0)

うわー、それは困難な戦いがありました。クラウディウスは、地面に戦いを取るの素晴らしい仕事をしました。私は将来的には、その上で動作する必要があります。これは、ハイランド大会に出場するために光栄でした。うわー、それは困難な戦いがありました。クラウディウスは、地面に戦いを取るの素晴らしい仕事をしました。私は将来的には、その上で動作する必要があります。これは、ハイランド大会に出場するために光栄でした。うわー、それは困難な戦いがありました。クラウディウスは、地面に戦いを取るの素晴らしい仕事をしました。私は将来的には、その上で動作する必要があります。これは、ハイランド大会に出場するために光栄でした。うわー、それは困難な戦いがありました。クラウディウスは、地面に戦いを取るの素晴らしい仕事をしました。私は将来的には、その上で動作する必要があります。これは、ハイランド大会に出場するために光栄でした。

Wow, that was a difficult fight. Claudius did a great job of taking the fight to the ground. I'll have to work on that in the future. It was an honour to compete in Highland Games.

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Tim Woods (9-4)

Dude that totally sucked. I thought I was going to be in for a stand up war. Didn't imagine this fight going to the floor. Third loss in a row is hard to take. I'm gonna go hit the waves, relax for a bit and get back in the gym to train harder than ever. Where's my board at dude?

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Warren Parker (7-3)

No excuses, the better man won tonight. No one has ever been able to out grapple me like Taisto Anttila did. I guess that's why he's undefeated. This is a wake up call. I'm going to have to work hard on my wrestling to make sure I don't get manhandled like that in future. I hope Anttila goes on to win the title and in the future, we'll meet in that cage again.

[skull]

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DARTH VADER

Man that was one hell of a fight guys. Congrats on winning the title Arnold, now it's finally time for Arnold vs Vader 2! Nearly 2 years in the making, I've still been the only man do defeat BJ Arnold. Last time it was me defending the AFL title now things are reversed and it is me who is the challenger and this time its for the Highland Games championship.

[clydebankblitz]

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HIGHLAND GAMES 76 PREVIEW

By Callum McGregor

Tonight we have some of Highland Games’ biggest prospects going toe to toe, but the column inches are all going towards the return of LightHeavy Weight, the most popular and successful fighter in the organisation’s history. The undercard has several fighters looking for redemption and with a lot of eyes on this card, they should be poised to make a few statements.

Filip Wieclaw (2-2) Vs Manny Pacquiao (2-1) – Lightweight

Filip has went 0-2 since joining Highland Games so you really have to consider this his last chance to save his career. He hasn’t taken his training seriously enough yet and it appeared as he stepped on the scales yesterday that once again he was out of shape. Pacquiao may have lost his first HG fight, but he looked solid doing it and has the boxing ability to make opponents pay for their mistakes. I imagine that he’ll be a heavy favourite coming into this one.

Angel Adriel (1-1) Vs Carlixtro Guerrero (1-1) – Heavyweight

We saw these men make their debuts in the heavyweight tournament, both losing in the first round. Angel was destroyed by Luca Dominiguez while Carlixtro was outclinched against Darren Brooks. Both have brought one back since and putting together a two fight win streak would be major for either man at this stage in their careers.

Renato Gracie (7-5) Vs Daniel Maier (3-1) – Middleweight

It’s bad to see Renato so low on the card considering the level of opponent’s he’s lost to. He’s yet to be defeated by someone who hasn’t proven to be an extremely capable competitor, and this would be the first if he can’t walk home with a win tonight.

Daniel is up against it here but he’s keen to show everyone that he will never buckle under pressure. All 4 of his fights have went to a decision, proving that he understands the MMA game and has the cardio to make it that far. We’ve actually been hearing reports out of his camp that he’s been sick leading up to this fight, so let’s see it that has an impact on his stamina.

Roan Jenkinson (3-0) Vs Timothy Simpson (4-1) – Light Heavyweight

Roan The Monster Jenkinson has some extremely scary power and he’s knocked out three straight opponents with a single huge punch. He brings nothing fancy to the table, but he doesn’t need it when he’s got such fight ending abilities.

Timothy Simpson is also making his promotional debut and he boasts a fairly well rounded game. With a strong wrestling base, he wants to keep fights standing and use an efficient and technical boxing game to wear opponents down quickly before getting a stoppage.

Fumihiko Fukuoka (3-0) Vs Peter Green (4-1) – Middleweight

A puncher with some alright clinches, Fumihiko is undefeated thus far in his professional career. He’s stopped all of his opponents to date including a close fight with Soloman Grunday at HG 73 in his last outing.

Peter Green is a capable wrestler and up until his last fight with Pat Rachi, he was able to use his ground and pound game to dominate opponents. Since Fumihiko was taken down several times against Gundy, Green will have a lot of confidence to bring one back here.

Rocky Balboa (7-1) Vs Chocolate Mousse (7-4) – Light Heavyweight

You don’t get the opportunity to sign prospects who shine as brightly as Rocky Balboa so often, but we managed to do it and he’s ready to prove that the hype is justified. The former G-Co 205 king has outstanding boxing and has shown that if his opponent wants to tie up, he is able to land damaging blows in close as well.

Chocolate Mousse is a Highland Games veteran who’s scored some really solid wins over the duration of his career. He also likes to stand and trade and outside of a fight with James Helm, he’s always been successful at defeating opponents in a boxing match. I feel that this one has Fight of the Night written all over it.

Clark Kent (8-1) Vs John Smithing (4-1) – Middleweight

Clark Kent is an extremely exciting addition to the Highland Games Middleweight division, boasting a very impressive 8-1 record. Clark has one goal in a fight; winning by ground and pound, and when that situation arises he’s absolutely vicious with his top game. Every single fight Clark has had has found its way to the floor, showing the elite level wrestling game he possesses.

John Smithing is coming off of a Fight of the Night and Submission of the night performance against Flavio De Carli. Smithing adjusts to his opponent’s gameplan, trying to take them out of their element and working their weaknesses against them. He’s shown himself to be capable with his submissions, but you have to think that Kent will be have the BJJ advantage in this one.

Superman Vs Starman, this should be fun.

Mairbek Krylov (7-2) Vs James Helm (10-5) – Light Heavyweight

It’s fantastic to see the man they call Vodka Rage back in a Highland Games cage. Following 2 highly impressive Highland Games fights, in which he scored a win over the number 1 contender for the 205 belt Ludko Struja, Krylov signed for Choke where he went 1-1. Now he’s back, and if he’s capable of beating a man like Struja, he’s capable of becoming an absolute top contender, potentially challenging for the strap one day.

While Krylov is just returning, James Helm never left. He’s been right there in Highland Games since the early days and with a huge right hand to boot, James Helm has never been a fighter you want to stand and bang with. His only unavenged losses are to wrestlers (or the current champion) so he’ll be happy to be given an opponent who’s interested in standing and trading with him here tonight.

Benny Askren (10-4) Vs Alexey Juralev (11-4) – Heavyweight

Benny has always been somewhat of a question mark throughout his career. Some wins were huge, some losses were damaging, but he’s always been here and has always been a real threat in the division. Benny is coming off of the biggest victory of his life, a rapid first round stoppage of Keijo Virtanen, someone he’d been bested by before. Askren has a solid clinch game and has been able to use that to put a beating on some of Highland Games’ rising stars throughout his promotional 11 fight career.

Perhaps the scariest striker of all time in Highland Games, Alexey Juralev has back and he’s ready to get back to smashing opponents. It’s insane that he’s never earned a title shot before considering that at one stage he was on a 5 fight winning streak, but right at the last moment someone has managed to catch him off guard. It would appear that the kickboxing game is a weakness for Juralev, while in a straight shootout, he’s capable of knocking out any man on the planet. A win in this fight would hopefully secure Juralev a title shot, depending on the decisions of Gumble or Lazaro after their World Combat clash, and Alexey is positive that he’d be able to achieve his dream and walk out as the champion.

Ludko Struja (13-5) [+463] Vs LightHeavy Weight (21-2) [-876] – Light Heavyweight Championship

The champion comes into this fight as a gigantic favourite, but how could he not? Not only has he got 10 title defences, not only is he a Highland Games Hall of Famer, not only is he facing a wrestler and has only been taken down once, but over all of this he also has a dominant round 1 stoppage over Ludko Struja, his opponent tonight. All of this is reflected in the huge difference in the betting line, but what we’re overlooking is the streak Ludko Struja is currently on.

Ludko was always a solid guy. He went on a 5 fight winning streak to earn his first title shot, beating some fairly decent guys. Following this, it was up and down. Losses to Skunk Asap and Mairbek Krylov, two solid guys, kept him from getting back to that level, but he bounced back with an okay run in the tournament. It’s since then that Ludko Struja has emerged as one of the best around. He upset everyone with a first round stoppage of longtime top contender Jake Theodorou. He also took out Rodrigo Gracie in the first and scored a late stoppage over Handjong Mc Vetrol. Ludko has had a career resurgence and has fully earned this title shot.

So how does Ludko rewrite history? It’s simple; take this fight to the ground. LightHeavy Weight is the better striker and uses his punches very well to secure his patented clinch. Ludko is going to have to take him down and do it quickly. On the mat, Ludko has some fantastic ground and pound and could cause some real problems for the champion. For LHW to force lightning to strike twice; business as usual. Land his jab, take the clinch early, first round TKO due to cuts.

Ludko has beaten guys we didn’t expect him to beat, including LHW’s training parent. I wonder if he’s made enough adjustments to be established as a legitimate threat in this fight.

Back in the Camden Conference Centre once again for what should be a fantastic show. Highland Games is looking to bring itself back into the top 10 organisations in the world and we might just see that happen tonight.

[clydebankblitz]

Clark and Balboa failing to secure victories was a big surprise given their records coming in. Clark was outstruck by Smithing and then submitted on the ground while Balboa had a fantastic fight with Chocolate Mousse which ended in a draw.

 

Mairbek Krylov was also stopped by James Helm, Helm proving that no one is outstriking him in that cage.

 

LHW as unstoppable as ever, finishing the fight this time with his striking as opposed to his clinch.

[PaleMan]

LHW as unstoppable as ever, finishing the fight this time with his striking as opposed to his clinch.

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http://www.mmatycoon.com/images/belt/20140926172750titlebelt.png

LHW

 

STILL THE ONE

 

[clydebankblitz]

In the fallout of Highland Games 76, Callum McGregor took some time to talk to the press.

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Callum McGregor

We're hearing reports that Highland Games 76 was a highly successful event. Are you able to tell us any of the statistics?

Yeah we did good. We sold out the Camden once again and I think this was our 4th highest rated event. Camden's been good to us so far, it's going to be a while before we leave this place I think.

 

Is there any news on the Post Fight Bonuses?

Fight of the Night went to Alexey Juralev and Benny Askren. This Askren kid is tough man. He got dropped four times and stayed right in the pocket. Alexey Juralev is one of the scariest dudes out there and he puts people away every time. Knockout of the Night went to James Helm. Really it was between that and Juralev. Helm went toe to toe with Mairbek Krylov, who as you know even beat Ludko Struja when he was fighting here, but James Helm's boxing is just that solid. Submission of the Night is no surprise, it went to Renato Gracie. It could have went to Smithing for the upset but Gracie finished in 18 seconds man, how can you not give it to him?

 

So what is the situation with the Heavyweight Championship? Is Pedro Lazaro going to defend his belt next?

I'm not really sure at the minute. Pedro's mind is on the World Combat heavyweight title right now. After him and Gumble fight over there, we'll talk to both of them and see what they want to do. Of course we'd love to see them back here as both of them are legends in the company.

 

Is Alexey Juralev next in line?

Yeah definitely. He's on a three fight win streak, knocking out Chiyono Fuji, Benny Askren and I think Keijo Virtanen. These are three solid veterans and he destroyed all 3. Juralev's never had a title shot after 12 fights in the organisation so it'll be brilliant to see him finally get that chance, and man can he knock anyone out at any time.

 

So after the win, what's next for LightHeavy Weight?

Man, this guy has just been so dominant that it's turning into a bit of a nightmare to get him legitimate opponents. Ludko Struja was going in there and stopping top guys, and yet he couldn't even make it out the round with the champ. That being said we've got a couple of guys getting up to that level. Louis Gordon is on a two fight win streak so if he can get a win over Teuvo Loman at HG 22 then I'd probably say that fight makes perfect sense.

 

Rumour has it that you recently signed Mib Louie to your stable of fights. Can you confirm this?

Yeah we were in talks for a while and we all know what this guy's done in Highland Games. He was a Free Agent and it just made sense. He's still signed to World Combat right now and we intend to let him fight there until his contract runs out at the very least so we'll see what happens. Louie is a beast though man and it's hard to see him on a 4 fight losing streak.

 

There were early rumblings that Dale La Grande was going to sign with Highland Games, but it seems he went to World Combat instead. Can you tell us what happened there?

You guys know we work close with World Combat. We're actually going to release a line of clothes with their logo on it in Highland Clothing. That being said, we're always in direct competition with them and Jayjay is solid at what he does. I was in talks with Dale and intended to match World Combat's offer for him but before I could fax a contract over, he had already signed with them. His manager was talking about the possibility of him and Dale parting ways and discussing retirement and things so maybe it was for the best. Who knows what the future holds though.

 

We've seen a massive expansion in the Highland brand recently. Can you talk to us a little bit about what the plan is?

Global takeover haha. Nah for now, we wanted to return to our routes and open Highland Challengers on The Island. We've got some great guys over there running it like Ivan Drago, manager of LightHeavy Weight and Jake Theodorou, Nick Force, manager of Mase Force and former Heavyweight Prizefighting matchmaker and Jeff Scott, manager of Mustafa Shabazz and Matt Couture. These guys have been great for the brand for quite a while and it's good to have them involved in this way. We've also got Highland Clothing, which I'm running with Arcamilion The Coach, who's the manager of Massimo Benvenuti, Renato Laranja and Vitaly Karelin and Highland Brawl Academy which is being run by Jimmy Himen, manager of James Helm. We're looking to keep moving forward at all times though. We've definitely got a few plans for London and to continue our expansion here. Jeff Scott's also running The Highland Book for Highland betting which is great.

 

I think that's it for now lads. Thanks for talking to us and I'll see you all on Friday for HG 77.

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Louis Gordon Interview (11-5)

What: Today I'm sitting down with one of the competitors at Highland Games 77, Louis Gordon. How are things Louis? I think first we'll talk about your Highland Games career to this point. It started off rather unimpressive with you going 0-3. Since then, you've brought two back against medium competition. How do you feel things have went for you so far in comparison to how you hoped they would?

Gordon: Thanks for having me today. Things are going good I'm healthy physically and mentally so I'm ready to rock at HG77. Yea I have to say I am pretty disappointed in how I made my debut with the organization those two KO defeats hurt my confidence and the submission loss wasn't as tough to take since I'm not a ground guy but to drop my first three fights in the organization I'm just thankful you kept me around to say the least. I was expecting to come in and be right up there with the top dogs of the company not looking like a chump that wandered in off the street. Hopefully the last two wins are the start of a nice undefeated streak.

What: With you now taking your next big jump up to the top level, there is talks that a win over Teuvo could even get you a title shot. Does the pressure of a big fight like this get to you at all, and could that be the reason you failed to have success earlier in your HG career?

Gordon: That would be alright but I try not to look past the current fight until after its done so the pressure from that possibility likely won't weigh too much on me for this fight we'll see where I am if that fight gets offered. I think I know my problem in the past with four (T)KOs and I'm working hard on fixing that as the top level guys were able to utilize this weakness. I'm a bit slow sometimes on figuring out what I need to do to fix something but eventually I figure it out and this is what failed me in those high profile fights.

What: It would appear that right now, the top 3 guys at 205, you, Teuvo Loman and LightHeavy Weight are all clinch fighters. Do you feel that it gives you an advantage in knowing the fight will take place in your wheelhouse, or is it a disadvantage in knowing you'll also be fighting to your opponent's strengths?

Gordon: Well I love the clinch so knowing that this is where we'll end up is nice as I don't need to worry about it going to the ground so I can't let it all hang out. Usually this works for me and I won't shy away from it even if they have the advantage on paper.

What: How was your time in Attack Fight League? You held a 7-1 record with your only loss being a title shot. In the future, would you ever be interested in a fight against Michael Coleman again?

Gordon: Oh hell yea! The fact that I lost to him the second time knocking me out of the tournament hurts even worse. I would love to avenge those losses.

What: His manager has a fight in Highland Games now and his current organisation, Rezdog, hasn't had an event in about a month so it could happen down the line. If you could get a fight against anyone in Highland Games, World Combat or from The Island, who would it be?

Gordon: That would be great! It would have to be LightHeavy he was the man to beat on The Island and here in HG being the man holding the strap how could I not want to fight him. But of course I wouldn't say no to a rematch with any of the 4 guys that hold wins over me.

What: How do you see the fight with Teuvo Loman going?

Gordon: From what I've seen in his previous fights he can be cut and his only loss is by stoppage from a cut so I'm hoping to add a 7th cut stoppage to my record. The big thing will be to keep him on the defensive in the clinch so I can unleash my elbows and stop him from inflicting his damage with those heavy fast hands of his.

What: I'm sure the fans will have that on the big screen to see if the action plays out as such. Thanks for joining us today Louis and good luck in your fight.

Gordon: Thanks appreciate the opportunity to sit down with you.

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Massimo Benvenuti Interview (18-4)

What: I'm sitting here with Massimo Benvenuti ahead of his Middleweight Championship fight with Arnavut Sevket on May 22nd. Massimo, you are currently the only man in Highland Games history to hold a title more than once. What would it mean to you to take that belt home for a third time?

Benvenuti: It would be awesome, and it would confirm to the fans that I'm the GOAT of the most competitive division in Highland Games history. You know it's true, this division has proven to be a fucking shark tank!. That being said, I'm 1-1 against the current champion Sevket, so I feel like I have definitely a good shot at taking the belt home

What: Out of all of the competitors you've faced, including those you've taken on multiple times, who would you say your favourite opponent has been? Who was the biggest rival that you're most proud to have shared your history with?

Benvenuti: Grant Morrison for sure... We've had history together since the UXC days when I was a young contender and beat him before he was even champion in the organization, and was denied a shot at him because of a corrupt management. Then on my second win against him I beat him in a match for the undisputed HG middleweight championship. In our third and last fight, it was his turn to take the belt from me.

What: Yeah that third Grant Morrison fight was incredible to me. With him being 0-2, it was a long shot for him to win but he somehow pulled it out. I hope he returns to activity soon. What mistakes do you feel that you made in the first Sevket fight that you will try to fix now?

Benvenuti: Now I am a way more versatile fighter: Sevket could be the one taken down this time!

What: Thanks for talking to us today and good luck in your quest to become the first three time Highland Games Middleweight champion.

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Renato Laranja Interview (14-5)

What: Joining me now is Bantamweight jiu jitsu sensation Renato Laranja. You've come a long way in your career Renato and have been in there with some of the very best competitors the division has had to offer. What is it that has kept you at the top for so long?

Laranja: First, my jiu jitsu: that's the art that really helped me getting to the top of HG. Second, my career as a comedian: it definitely boosted my popularity in the eyes of the fans so it got me huge fights, and it teached me how to take a loss (*laugh*)

What: Recently, one of the Highland Challengers guys, Hugh Janus, said you were his inspiration to begin mixed martial arts. Were you aware that you have been inspiring the next generation of fighters?

Laranja: Wow, I didn't know it... that's very cool! I know Hugh Janus is a great jiu jitsu player who just recently started his MMA career in Highland Challengers. I wish him good luck and hopefully after the Island season we can share some BJJ knowledge and some good jokes!

What: While you may focus a lot of energy into your comedy routines, you certainly haven't held back on your training. Has comedy opened you any doors in mixed martial arts that would have been closed previously?

Laranja: Yeah, as I said being a famous comedian made some huge fights possible, as the fan already knew me from my youtube videoclips and wanted to see me perform. They found out that not only can I tell good jokes, I can tap vicious fighters aswell.

What: Well many expect that we'll see you you tap yet another on Sunday night. Good luck Renato.

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Mitchel Thompson Interview (11-5)

What: Standing by with me is Mitchel Thompson, who will compete against Thresh Whiteman at Highland Games 77. Thanks for joining me Mitchel. You've been in Highland Games for a long time now and are renowned for your extremely dangerous boxing abilities. Do you think there are any fighters who could defeat you in a straight up boxing match currently on the Highland Games roster?

Thompson: Short answer? I'm sure somebody *could*. But will they? That's the question. I honestly don't think Thresh will be the one to do so; his boxing skills aren't quite comparable to the likes of Magnus Cross or Nelson Frazier Jr - let me tell you, those guys give as good as they get. Hmm... I wouldn't mind a rematch with Magnus at some point, come to think of it.

What: As Highland Games is an organisation for over 25s, Magnus will be a few years away from fighting in this organisation again (and recent comments stated that he wouldnt want to). I'm sure Callum McGregor and J.J. Media could work something out with that though. So in your last fight, you took on an up and comer in Garcia Vega. In this fight, you will do the same with Thresh Whiteman. Are you afraid that you could become a "gatekeeper" of the division? Or are you happy as long as there is someone to knock out?

Thompson: Oh, I was just saying I wouldn't mind fighting him again (laughs) it was a good fight, and he's got a lot of talent. If the powers that be could work something out, fantastic, if not I'm not about to lose any sleep over it. That being said... I'm not worried about becoming a 'gatekeeper' as you put it. I've got a pretty good record for knocking opponents out, so I think I'd like to extend that some more.

What: If you were to defeat Thresh, you'd be on a 3 fight win streak. I know I personally would love to see a rematch between you and Mase Force, and Alexey Juralev being next in line for a title shot, that fight would seem to make sense. If things worked out, is that a fight you'd look for?

Thompson: Mase Force.... yeah, I think I'd like that fight. It's been a while since we fought, and while the judges were unanimous, I think it could've gone very differently very easily - and I'd like to test that theory.

What: Throughout your entire career, while you've got some spectacular KOs, we've yet to see you put more than two wins together at a time. On Sunday night at Highland Games 78, is that about to change?

Thompson: I've had some tough times putting together a hat trick of wins... but I'm confident that's about to change. I've been training hard and my 'curse' is about to come to an end. So yes, it's about to change. (grins)

 

What: Good luck with the fight and I'm sure there will be plenty of fans cheering for your in your first main event opportunity.