HareRumpler Posted January 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 35 Hello all you Sucker Punch fans out there! I’m Hare Rumpler and I’ll be joined by my partner and analyst, Donkey “Dan”, as we unfortunately prepare to run through this preview in what I hope will be record time! We’re moving Risa Roo, our oldest daughter, into her college apartment this weekend and honestly I thought I had this preview covered with a guest writer. Things have been quiet on that front though, so my guess is that it’s actually not covered so I’m going to do my best to get one in here while still bouncing between the madness at Casa de Rumpler this weekend! So, let’s see…what do we have in store tonight with Sucker Punch Pro Series 35 and all the fun it’ll be bringing from over at Hard Knocks – Sydney? Just about a little bit of everyting! I think every division is represented tonight except maybe the Heavyweights. Obviously the biggest of all this evening is the Featherweight title fight between challenger Luke Skywalker and defending champion Michael Aalto. But there are some other hot ticket items on tap as well, with some Welterweight matchups between Hodkiewicz/Marka and Queen/Sanchez that are sure light the place up, as well as a bit of ground battle insanity between Lightweights Jubbly and Winston! And then there’s some real craziness earlier in the evening to start out the Main Card as Middleweights Filth and Ainsworth go at it AGAIN to settle it once and for all after their draw last go round! This time, one of these will certainly walk out of there on top…and in line for a title shot…I think? I hope? They couldn’t draw again…could they? We’ll find out! As for the Featherweight butting of heads we have coming at the end of the Undercard this evening between DIsmantle and Nagashima…well, DIsmantle was already in line and offered a title shot but wanted another month or so to continue developing and ramping up. He may want that shot after this, assuming he wins, or he may want to hold off. We don’t know, but certainly the man who wants to know for sure is Destin Craven who is standing by and chomping at the bit for that shot! So as I said, I need to make this quick because I have a ton of things to get done here around the way, so let’s hear from our merchandise partner and sponsor and get to the good stuff in more detail! Our fantastic and respected sponsor is Shadow Warrior Nutrition! Many of you already know them as the providers of Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q., THE energy loss reduction supplements! For those of you who aren’t in the know on that, you should be, because this is the way you keep your fighter training more often and not taking sessions off to try to keep his energy above 90%! If you aren’t using this supplement, hurry over and check them out today, you will not be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Middleweights Kiryu Kazuma (3-4-0) vs. Harold Kerzner (2-5-0) We start the evening off at SPPS 35 with two Middleweights who both very much want and need a win! Kerzner has lost his last FIVE fights via…well, you name it, he’s probably lost by it! TKO…check. Decision..check. Submission…check. I think it’s fair to say that this is more or less a “must win” for Kerzner this evening. Kazuma, while only with Sucker Punch for the past three fights, was also in a similar boat as Kerzner prior to last month’s bout with Volkov where he finally busted out of a three fight losing streak. He certainly doesn’t want to jump right back in the big ‘L’ pool right away this month! Kazuma can work standup or the ground game. However, given Kerzner’s struggles on the feet I would expect he’ll try to keep this fight on the feet and take advantage of Kerzner there with his exceptional boxing. Kerzner will likely look to get this fight to the ground to take advantage of his sensational wrestling and purple belt in Jiu Jitsu. But given his streak of late it’s anybody’s guess as he may simply try to mix it up and see where the chips fall! Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Kazuma via TKO (Strikes) Really tough fight to call because both are struggling of late. I’m going to give it to Kazuma though only because his streak wasn’t quite as bad and Kerzner just seems to have no answers at the moment. Hopefully this just turns out to be a really fun one for the fans as both kids look ready to go for the most part. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Featherweights Yellow Belt Casey (4-3-0) vs. Dino Ebedi (4-1-1) Ebedi lost the first fight of his career in a rematch to settle a draw with Luke Skywalker last month. They last faced off three months ago and fought to a draw leaving some unfinished business. Skywalker got the best of Ebedi when they faced off again and that helped him move on to a title shot this month. In a bout that brings two winning records to the cage for the second fight of the night, something that speaks to how great this card should be, Ebedi will now try to rebound from that loss against Casey. At 4-3, Casey has been struggling to find consistency in his cage appearances. When he wins, it’s always via submission, but losing seems to be something that rears its head against certain strikers or ground and pound specialists. Ebedi will likely look to keep this one on the feet and win with the hands, so expect this to be your classic striker versus grappler battle and for each fighter to work to dictate where the fight will take place. If it makes it to the ground, Casey will have a definitive edge. Well, which way are you going Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Casey via Submission (Armbar) I do believe this one will make it to the ground. When it does, as you said Hare, Casey will have an advantage. However, Ebedi could surprise us and force this thing to stay standing or even manage to control on the ground. We’re going to find out! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Welterweights Red Crow (5-2-1) vs. Lukas Reeves (1-3-0) Despite having a ridiculous amount of talent, on paper at least, Reeves has struggled out of the gate with his sole win coming in a test QFC fight early on in his career but then racking up three losses since then, two of them here at Sucker Punch. Downed by both Juan Christiano and Psiris Fuhren, Reeves is struggling to find his way and establish what works for him. He appears to want to work the ground game with his sensational wrestling and brown belt in Jiu Jitsu but hasn’t been able to capitalize with those skills yet. Crow’s approach is typically very straightforward. Get the fight to the ground and then work some nasty ground and pound until his poor opponent either goes to sleep, taps out from strikes or the ref decides he’s seen enough of the abuse! No matter what, I expect this fight to end up on the ground as Crow tries to secure his fourth win in a row and make the strong case that he’s due a Top Contender shot. In a stacked division, that’s a tough claim to make but one he’s certainly worthy of calling for! How does this one turn out Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Reeves via Submission (Guillotine) With both men amped up and ready to go I expect a world-class battle out there this evening. I also believe that Reeves is just too good to keep losing and that tonight might be his turn to turn things around. Crow will likely find a way to be on top and start working his ground and pound…the question is, will he be paying attention to his defense as well when Reeves starts in on the submission attempts? *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Light Heavyweights Derwent Bolt (2-0-0) vs. Mike Bard (4-4-0) Well Donkey, I’m certainly getting excited here about this tonight as we’re four fights in and so far it looks like everybody’s been ready to rock and roll for the most part! Nice! Very, very nice. Bard comes into this fight looking to break out of a slump that’s seen him drop his last two fights in the cage to first Joe Junior and then last month to Tarmo Rajantaka. Both losses via TKO, something that Bard seems to both live and die by! Bard can usually work a nasty ground and pound game with the occasional submission attempt thrown in for good measure. He’s been struggling to find success doing that of late though. Bolt has been mocking the competition claiming that they get star struck when in the cage with him and just stand there like a deer in headlights. He’s not wrong. At least about the just standing there part. At 2-0, Bolt’s betting that when it comes to the ground game that he can best his rival this evening. Bard may have something to say about that…if he doesn’t just lay down and do nothing as seems to be the bewitching spell Bolt puts on his foes! What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Bard via TKO (Strikes) I expect that Bard isn’t going to just lay down and roll over for Bolt! And with a little added motivation due to Bolt’s feistiness in the forums he may just pull one over on Bolt when it comes to that ground battle tonight! Either way, this is a fight to watch this evening, that’s for sure! *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Featherweights Mickey DIsmantle (5-2-1) vs. Kaoru Nagashima (3-5-0) Ole crazy eyes is back in the cage tonight in this Featherweight battle against Mickey DIsmantle! Nagashima has been searching for an answer for what seems like forever at this point, but it’s really been going on five months. He’s lost via TKO, KO and Submission. The only thing he hasn’t let it do is go the distance lately. His move is simple…he comes in looking to clinch. He’ll either get it eventually, or die trying! Once he gets it, he’ll work for the takedown…again, either getting it or dying trying. Once on the ground…well, that’s the problem. Not much. I’m not certain what his plan has actually been of late when it comes to getting there, but in the past four fights nothing’s come of it. DIsmantle isn’t going to want to play any of Nagashima’s goofy games this evening. Nope, he’s just going to want to knock Nagashima’s head off. And from what we’ve been told, his camp is pretty confident of their ability to get that goal accomplished! This is a “stay loose and warm” fight for DIsmantle, as he was already offered a title shot as we discussed in the intro. He’ll likely take that shot sooner than later, but before he does he better stay focused and not overlook the lunatic across the cage from him tonight! Well Donkey, have a pick for us in this one…? Donkey’s Pick: DIsmantle via KO (Punch) I have to see a new approach from Nagashima before I can pick him again. If his camp has anything to say about it, that approach may be coming this evening as apparently they’ve coined a brand new form of MMA and are working to bring it to the cage! We’ll see… *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Middleweights Obama Filth (3-2-1) vs. Wilfred Ainsworth (5-1-1) Our Main Card starts out with two Middleweights who need no introduction as I believe everybody at the event tonight is going to be looking forward to this fight! These two went at it in a standup war for the ages last month…into the clinch, out of the clinch, boxing, kickboxing (at least for Ainsworth), you name it, they unleashed it! And what for? Well, they were trying to prove they were ready to be in a Top Contender battle! I’ll tell you what Donkey…I sure wanna know which one of these guys deserves it and I think you and every fan out there does as well! So tonight we find out! Back in the cage they go a month removed from their last battle and the only thing different this time might be their own strategy…and that for fairness sake I stuck them in the opposite corners! Well Donkey, what do you think here…? Donkey’s Pick: Majority Draw! Ha! I’m totally weaseling out here! How funny and ridiculously impossible to believe would it be if they were to Draw again! So yeah, I wanna see it. But really, I just wanna watch what should be one of the absolute best fights on the card! Get it boys, one of you is going to get a chance to fight for Top Contender status! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Welterweights Ceedee Queen (3-1-0) vs. Samuel Sanchez (5-2-0) Donkey, with this fight you’re literally looking at two warriors who are likely the future of their division! And that’s saying a lot, as this Welterweight division here at Sucker Punch is flat out stacked! But yes, these two are both looking to tack another win onto their record as both know that they are only one or two wins away from serious Top Contender consideration! And in a division like this one, that’s saying a ton. Sanchez is wicked skilled across the board with exceptional boxing, superb wrestling and a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. If there is any weakness to his game at all, it would probably have to be Muay Thai. His goal isn’t to get in close and slow dance while offering little love taps up the middle though…his is to get you on the ground, establish dominance and pound on you unmercifully. Better hope you remember your safe-word if you step into the cage with this man! Queen is also skilled across the board, almost in some ways a mirror of Sanchez. Only with even better wrestling, slightly less Muay Thai and maybe not quite the same striking. But that may not matter as his approach is almost identical to Sanchez’s and therefore the better wrestling may very well be the differentiator tonight! He also likes to dish out the abuse here…so if he can use that wrestling to steal the dominant position he’ll be the one serving up the pain rather than Sanchez! Two tops, somebody has to fall tonight! Donkey, a close one tonight…or…? Donkey’s Pick: Queen via Unanimous Decision Absolutely! This is going to be either really, really fun with a ton of “ooh” and “ahhhh” moments with big strikes from above or turn into a total snooze fest if it’s all about control. I think you hinted at it right though Hare, the better wrestling may pay off for Queen here. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Lightweights Bobolo Jubbly (5-4-0) vs. Piney Winston (8-5-0) As we finish up things just shy of the Main Events here we get yet another ground battle on the evening between these two Lightweights! Winston is coming off a pair of losses to St. Clair and then to Montesh Dominguez last month. Up to that point he’d been cruising along with submissions and terrorizing most opponents entering the cage with him. It does look like he may have started to add just a tad bit of standup to his game, but that’s unlikely to come into play in a big way this evening. Jubbly has even less standup than Winston and also loves to work the submissions. So this is going to be a chess match on the ground tonight as they see who can get the opportunity to make the other tap out! With a loss to St. Clair as well last month both Jubbly and Winston have a lot to prove this evening! How about this matchup Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Jubbly via Submission (Armbar) Jubbly has the slightly better wrestling. That, and Winston is coming into this about 15% off on morale and that’s enough in a fight like this to help me make a decision! This could easily go either way though. *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Weltherweights Weston Hodkiewicz (6-3-0) vs. Luka Marka (5-2-0) Our Co-Main Event tonight with feature a very talented Luka Marka as he tries to bounce back from a loss to Juan Christiano last month in a fight that could have handed him a title shot. Instead, this man who has only dropped two fights in his career will attempt to take out his frustrations on none other than fast-rising and very talented Weston Hodkiewicz. Hodkiewicz and Marka have both been settings themselves up for Contender status of late, with Hodkiewicz now a step or two closer after winning two in a row. Hodkiewicz also love the ground, as does Marka, only from the submission angle as opposed to Marka’s ground and pound approach. As seems to be the case all night long tonight Donkey, this will likely be another ground battle! Dang! These guys are dirtying up that mat tonight! Donkey’s Pick: Marka via TKO (Strikes) Marka’s going to have a bad attitude coming into this one after the loss to Christiano. So long as he uses it productively it may fuel him to a win here. But Hodkiewicz has been hot and has a ton of skill as well. One misplaced strike by Marka could have him in a ton of armbar-releated trouble! *********************** Main Event: Featherweight Championship Fight Michael Aalto (6-0-0) vs. Luke Skywalker (5-3-1) Our Main Event of the evening is going to be an absolutely outstanding match of styles for the Featherweight Championship! First we have Luke Skywalker, our challenger who has put together one HELL of a run in his past eight fights after starting off his career 0-3. He shrugged off those losses as “learning” and went on to 5-0-1 in his last six, with his last fight against Dino Ebedi being a “iron out the details” fight to reconcile their draw from three months back! Typically a striker, Skywalker has shown on more than one occasion that he can also handle himself on the ground and a submission is something you always have to be concerned with if the fight ends up going low! Aalto has quietly and unassumingly put together one hell of a career so far. His manager and his camp are not the types to make a ton of noise, they don’t go around banging on pots and pans and yelling “look at me”, but they sure do know how to get business taken care of! At 6-0 Aalto is perfect so far and is putting it all together at just the right time as he came out of what many would consider left field and took the belt in a match with Kurt Cobain and then defended it against an up and coming Destin Craven. And here’s a little secret…shhhh, don’t tell anybody…but Aalto also seems to be sporting a handy, dandy black belt in Jiu Jitsu these days! So what does all this mean? Well, it means if you’re Skywalker…call your shot! Wanna stand and throw hands…Aalto proved to Destin Craven he could do that. Wanna go to the ground and try your chances? Well, Ask Kurt Cobain about that one. Not to mention Ramon Rabbit, Kongsangchai and Drebin. Oh, and even extremely talented Yellow Belt Casey, just in case you were thinking that that win over Cobain was due to a lack of ground game on Cobain’s part…Casey is an established ground artist and got taken to a decision instead. Do I sound like I’m saying, “You better have a strategy ready!” to Skywalker? Yep, I might be saying just that! And I can’t wait to see what it is! Well Donkey, does Aalto quietly go about his business and take care of things again for a second successful defense? Does Skywalker throw a monkey wrench in there and come out the NEW champ? We’re gonna find out! Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Aalto via Submission (Kimura) Simple as this. I can’t root against a guy who has come along and snuck up on everybody with ninja-like stealth! Skywalker wouldn’t surprise me by winning tonight. But I can’t wait to see what his game plan is! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! It’s going to be a blast! Straight and simple, that’s just the way it is! A card full of action and excitement, with more than one or two ground battles for the ages…yeah boy, let’s get it on! See you tonight over at Hard Knocks – Sydney! Till then…don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornmma1 Posted January 16, 2021 Report Share Posted January 16, 2021 Derwent Bolt 3-0-0 Bolt has managed to work for a loose triangle. I think Bard should be able to defend this one pretty easily though. Oh, Bolt has tightened it up now! Bard should have reacted faster there - he's in big trouble and yes, he's tapped out! This one is all over! Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:18 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle). Derwent Bolt! Derwent Bolt was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed. 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleakardor Posted January 16, 2021 Report Share Posted January 16, 2021 I'm telling ya... the bald shine is an unfair weapon! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornmma1 Posted January 16, 2021 Report Share Posted January 16, 2021 6 hours ago, Bleakardor said: I'm telling ya... the bald shine is an unfair weapon! Derwent Bolt 3-0-0 I try to compensate my unfair advantage by sporting a beard and an above average amount of chesthair, but it still seems unfair. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForwardPressure Posted January 16, 2021 Report Share Posted January 16, 2021 On 1/13/2021 at 6:25 PM, Suske127 said: None of Y'all are shit compared to Beam. Landon is a good fighter. Great even. But Jim is on another level. Try to grapple with my boy and we'll see what a "developing" ground game looks like. I mean, that's cool and all...who really cares what a washed-up middleweight champion thinks? Hare, is Wanderson still in Sucker Punch? -Slick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suske127 Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 On 1/16/2021 at 2:37 AM, bjornmma1 said: Derwent Bolt 3-0-0 Bolt has managed to work for a loose triangle. I think Bard should be able to defend this one pretty easily though. Oh, Bolt has tightened it up now! Bard should have reacted faster there - he's in big trouble and yes, he's tapped out! This one is all over! Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:18 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle). Derwent Bolt! Derwent Bolt was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed. Not cool. You obviously cheated with that shiny head. The glare caught Mike's eye and blinded him during the fight. Nice win, Mike's forte' is the ground game and you still caught him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Therobbsmith Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 Same Savage Krew - New Year " If you talk to anyone in our gym you'll realize that Sydney, Australia is referred to as Sucker Punch Island" Says manager Robert Smith. The Savage Krew has five fighters signed with Sucker Punch Pro Series. When they land on Sucker Punch Island more times than not they walk away victorious. With an astounding 15 - 2 over all record as a team they continue to push their limits in SPPS. " This week we have Brendan Wallace competing. He is 2- 0 but his next fight is going to be a huge test. Jamal Jameson is a veteran and he has the skills to finish a fight anywhere. Brendan has been working extra hard for this one. We always get here early and get prepared and that's no different this week." Says Coach Quincy. In January 2021 all five members of the Savage Krew will fight for SPPS. Sean Smith already fought and won, earning a title shot in the process. As Smith remains home in California with Brennan Brunswick and Ibrahim Volkov their teammates Wallace and Mason Jones prepare for battle. " I fight next week here on the Island so I figured I would come out early and help Brendan prepare and then next week he'll be in my corner. Over the last month a lot has changed for our team so it's important that I'm here with Brendan." Says Mason Jones In early January Robert Smith converted his gym into a space for all twenty four men signed to him. The Savage Krew and The Death Squad are now under one roof. Coaches are able to use everyone's strengths to help one another. Wallace who is primarily known for his ground game spent much of this camp sparring with Jones and Smith. His stand up is under construction but he believes this fight will showcase how well rounded he truly is. " I believe Jamal is going to look to take this fight to the ground and maybe he feels that's where he dominates. I know about his bjj and his ground and pound but this is mixed martial arts. I train with elite level strikers , I train with Abu Dhabi Champions. Jamal needs to be ready to mix it up everywhere." Says Wallace When asked about how he'll win this fight he responds with " My wrestling is better , my striking is better , my ground game to his I would say is even. He may have a purple belt but in his four victories he only has one submission. If his belt is because of his defense and not his offense I plan to test it. He's older and more experienced, that will make it a tough outing. The thing going for me is my youth, I am faster and more agile for sure. My cardio is second to none and my will to win is ferocious. I expect to win every time I step in that cage and this time is no different." It should be mentioned that Brendan's debut in SPPS came at Welterweight in November but his fight this week is in his new weight class at one hundred and fifty five pounds. He worked very hard to get to this weight so that he would be able to sign a long term deal with Sucker Punch. His fight this Wednesday is the biggest of his young career but if you look at the history of this Savage Krew in SPPS they usually shine during those tough moments. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted January 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2021 POST EVENT CHEAP SHOTS Sucker Punch Pro Series 35 Hello everybody, I know this one is very late coming. It's been crazy around here the last few weeks and weekends, but I'm hoping we'll get back to some normalcy here very soon as my daughter is now off and set in college. But anyways, no more excuse making, let's get on with it! I’m Hare Rumpler and I’ll be joined by my partner and analyst, Donkey “Dan”, today as we run through all the results from Sucker Punch Pro Series 35 the other night over at Hard Knocks – Sydney! A bit of a nutso card, with half the results coming out in Decisions! Great that so many fights can go the distance, not so great as many of those were seen by those who rate the event as not providing as much excitement as normal. So this event came out a little bit of a dud overall, sad to say, but hey, they can’t all rack up new high ratings! We’ll get back at it mid-week this week I’m sure and see if we can’t ramp up that excitement factor again! So, well, let’s hear from our merchandise partner and sponsor and get to the good stuff in more detail! When you think about training your fighters, one of the biggest concerns is keeping them in the gym and actively training, am I right? And you can’t do that if they have to be stopping to recover and rest for sessions here and sessions there! That is why you need to visit our sponsor, Shadow Warrior Nutrition, and specifically grab some of their Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q. It is literally the best energy loss reduction supplement money can buy and will keep your fighter in the gym training rather than sitting days out resting! Stop on over there today, you will NOT be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Middleweights Kiryu Kazuma Defeats Harold Kerzner via Unanimous Decision And we head straight into one of those Decisions here that we mentioned in the intro as these two Middleweights battled it out for the entire three rounds! Despite coming back at it over and over again Kerzner has been unable to find a way over the hump and drops another here, his sixth in a row, to Kazuma. And what an unlucky loss this one was, as we had pretty much already determined that if Kerzner couldn’t find a way this time it was probably the end of the run here at Sucker Punch. Now when I say unlucky, I mean unlucky. Because it appears the judges in this one may have placed a TON of value on Kazuma’s ability to control the fight and take it into the clinch at will, which he did thirteen out of thirteen times, despite the fact that once in the clinch he did very little with it. Kerzner ended up with more strikes landed in this fight, and five takedowns on top of that, but instead the judges still awarded the rounds to Kazuma for controlling and taking the clinch. Donkey, I guess that gets the job done, but I won’t lie, I would have given this fight to Kerzner most likely. Thoughts…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Well, we’re not the judges so we don’t get to pick the winner. But yes, there is a case to be made here that Kerzner was more aggressive, landed more strikes and that the takedowns and subsequent submission attempts perhaps should have counted for more. But, Kazuma gets the W, and that’s all anybody is going to remember. Kerzner has been let go from his contract as despite the way this went he’s still been unable to find a way to convincingly win any fights in the past six months. Kazuma will need to find a way to score more meaningful and convincing wins than this though. He got a W, and that makes it two in a row, so he’s .500 but clearly this won’t be a heavily weighted win. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Featherweights Yellow Belt Casey Defeats Dino Ebedi via TKO (Strikes) Our second bout of the evening was the polar opposite of the first with this one being over in just a few seconds into the second minute of action! In the preview we said that, “When he (Casey) wins, it’s always via submission, but losing seems to be something that rears its head against certain strikers or ground and pound specialists. Ebedi will likely look to keep this one on the feet and win with the hands, so expect this to be your classic striker versus grappler battle and for each fighter to work to dictate where the fight will take place.” Well, um, I guess I coulda been a bit more right on that one, eh Donkey? Instead, Casey proves in this one that he could stand and strike with Ebedi, not only winning the fight via that route, but dominating it from the start and finishing it before Ebedi knew what happened… “Ebedi drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles. Ebedi is rocked! Casey sizes up Ebedi with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle. Ebedi is still on wobbly legs! Can Casey finish him? Ebedi gets caught by a big overhand right and goes down! Casey gets on top of him and starts throwing some serious punches until the ref intervenes and stops the fight!” Well Donkey, you picked the winner, but were about as off as I was eh…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Well, I was definitely about as off as you were Hare. I had said, “I do believe this one will make it to the ground. When it does, as you said Hare, Casey will have an advantage.” As you said, not only did it not make it to the ground but Casey was able to finish standing! Wow. That’s one way to shock the world and the fans! With the win Casey goes two in a row and starts a mini streak with two wins under his current manager. Ebedi goes in the opposite direction, perplexing his manager and the fans as he seems to be struggling with what he was good at. He’ll likely figure it out, and next month he has the chance to do just that against a struggling Nagashima. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Welterweights Red Crow Defeats Lukas Reeves via TKO (Strikes) “Despite having a ridiculous amount of talent, on paper at least, Reeves has struggled out of the gate with his sole win coming in a test QFC fight early on in his career but then racking up three losses since then, two of them here at Sucker Punch. Downed by both Juan Christiano and Psiris Fuhren, Reeves is struggling to find his way and establish what works for him.” That’s what we’d mentioned in the preview and boy did it continue to flow into this fight. He was downed in under two minutes in this one by Crow who clearly had taken note of Reeves struggles to handle shots, came in with a semi-aggressive strategy and was able to fell Reeves with one low kick, one head shot and then a combo that sent Reeves to the canvas. After that, Crow’s more than capable ability with ground and pound came into play and just a couple shots later this thing was all over! As we said in the mail we sent out to our members now that Reeves is a Free Agent, “Obviously this kid has all the tangible tools. Hell, he's one of the overall best skilled fighters in the division. Obviously he has also struggled to translate those skills to wins. Now, he has a granite chin, yet has lost via TKO's and KO's. So...you be the judge...lack of heart? Lack of strike D maybe? Strategy and slider fu issues? Bad luck? Or maybe the intangibles just aren't there, maybe he lacks heart and has pillow hands. Tough to say right now…” Crow did exactly what he was tasked to do by his team...go in there, test Reeves to see if he was indeed susceptible, and if so, finish it. Job well done by Crow and his camp. Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Given Reeves’ (now former) manager’s ability (Kniges), it is highly doubtful that this is a secondary skills issue or slider fu issue. Is it still possible that somebody else’s take on him could potentially find that “hidden ‘it’” needed to turn him around? Yes, it’s possible. It’s also possible that his heart just may not be there. He’s a fast learning, granite chinned prospect still with a ton of morale and confidence, barely losing even 10% with a loss. So…is he worth a shot? We’ll see if anybody thinks so! For Crow, this makes four in a row and he is now more than worthy of claiming he should be in Top Contender position. We have a bit of a stacked top of the division, so it’ll likely be a couple more fights before we can offer him a title fight if he continues to win. Next month he’ll take on Ceedee Queen, a fight that will determine who gets a fight to determine Top Contender. Normally these guys would already be in that position and THIS fight coming up would determine that, but the division is that backed up at the top right now! *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Light Heavyweights Derwent Bolt Defeats Bard via Submission (Triangle) Another of our fights that actually didn’t go to a decision on this card but also didn’t make it out of the first round! Apparently this was an “all or nothing” kinda event! Finally Bolt got somebody who would fight back in this one…at least a bit…after his first two fights where his opponents stood there like deer in headlights. Bolt, being a ground specialist and submission artist, ended this one on the ground via submission as you’d expect and gained Submission of the Night honors in the process. However, the way this was going, there was a good chance he could have ended this on the feet as well had he chosen to do so. He was the more aggressive fighter and was landing his shots at a good rate, easily outscoring Bard with the judges. Bard wasn’t complacent, but his shots just weren’t finding their mark and barring a lucky one with some power behind it was clearly lagging behind in the contest. In an attempt to change things up and swing the momentum, Bard made the decision in the fourth minute of action to take this thing to the ground and try his chances there being he wasn’t having the success he wanted on the feet. His goal clearly would have been to work the ground and pound, but unfortunately after the takedown Bolt was in his element… “Bard gets a double leg takedown into Bolt's guard. Bolt looking to control. Bolt has managed to work for a loose triangle. I think Bard should be able to defend this one pretty easily though. Oh, Bolt has tightened it up now! Bard should have reacted faster there - he's in big trouble and yes, he's tapped out! This one is all over!” Well Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: With three losses in a row now Bard finds himself struggling to answer the questions of “Why?” and “How?” Having spoken with his manager, there is some question as to whether Bard still has growth and development in him or if perhaps he’s flat lined to a degree and is struggling to improve significantly going forward. If that’s the case, it may be tough to improve his skills enough to round things out and do the fine tuning necessary to flip the switch. Time will tell…and that time may very well be the next month or so. For Bolt, a third win in a row keeps him perfect and sets the score at 3-0, putting him on the path to big time success in the division! He’ll need to stay focused as he moves forward as from here on out he’ll continue to be tested month after month to see where he is developmentally and if he’s ready to be part of the top of the division at a young age. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Featherweights Mickey DIsmantle Defeats Kaoru Nagashima via TKO (Strikes) Hey! We have one that went into the second but didn’t end up with the judges Donkey! In the preview I said, “His (Nagashima’s) move is simple…he comes in looking to clinch. He’ll either get it eventually, or die trying! Once he gets it, he’ll work for the takedown…again, either getting it or dying trying. Once on the ground…well, that’s the problem. Not much. I’m not certain what his plan has actually been of late when it comes to getting there, but in the past four fights nothing’s come of it.” Well, one thing’s for certain, he certainly went in there to try to prove to me that that was not going to be the same old template! Instead, DIsmantle was actually the one to take it into the clinch before Nagashima could try. Once there, this thing ended up on the ground per the usual move by Nagashima, but what wasn’t per usual was Nagashima’s activity once it was on the mat. Instead, he went into uber-submission attempt mode, putting together a crazy string of sixteen attempts over the course of four minutes in the first round! Unfortunately for him, none of them were successful, which took us to the second round. DIsmantle used the clinch again to set up some shots, but only landed a couple to the body, but once out of the clinch was able to use his superior standup to finish things off well before the second round got long in the tooth… “Nagashima darts in looking for a takedown but DIsmantle gets double underhooks and turn Nagashima into the cage. Nagashima is breathing heavily. DIsmantle lands a head shot. Nagashima is rocked! DIsmantle lands an uppercut out of nowhere! Nagashima falls backwards - clearly groggy! DIsmantle dives in and finishes the fight with more strikes for a TKO finish!” Well Donkey, anything else on this one…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Nagashima definitely tried to take a more active approach in this fight and if not for DIsmantle being prepared for the ground attack and sub attempts he might have succeeded. Could he have created more quality opportunities for himself by mixing in a strike or two in there possibly? We don’t know for sure. It’s good to see an attempt to evolve and adjust, but this loss still leaves Nagashima in dire straits with five losses in a row. He’ll get another shot next month against Ebedi, but it has to be considered a “must-win” scenario I’d think. For DIsmantle this may have been the warm up fight he was looking for to bide his time and finally get comfortable that his game is where he wants it before a title shot. The shot has been his for some time now and after this win he’s moving into position to take it! Next month we’ll see him go after our current champ, Aalto, looking to walk away with the belt. Aalto may have something to say about that I’d think! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Middleweights Wilfred Ainsworth Defeats Obama Filth via Unanimous Decision Well Donkey my man, here comes another one of those Decisions we were talking about! And that’s only fitting given these two fought all the way to a Draw the last time they met and this was meant to be the determining fight to see who would go on and potentially get the shot to fight for Top Contender! And clearly, within the first three minutes of action, Ainsworth let it be known that he wasn’t playing around…and was coming at Filth in true Sucker Punch fashion…! “Filth swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target. Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Ainsworth lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Filth has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Filth and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.” That’s right, Ainsworth gives Filth a good kick to the boys and OUCH, that one had to sting a bit! I’m getting that queasy feeling in my gut right now just thinking about it Donkey! Outside that shot though this thing turned into a fairly traditional battle. Filth spent a lot of his time attempting to get into the clinch, which he was able to do several times and got the better of the exchanges, but overall wasn’t able to keep it there long enough to come away with the overall points lead. Ainsworth was aggressive when separated, dishing out a high number of leg kicks and body kicks in addition to his head shots. He was definitely going all-in for it and nearly gassed himself out but managed to push through to the end and win all three rounds with the judges! Anything else Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Well, luckily I was wrong and we didn’t get yet a second draw this time around! Instead, Ainsworth wins it convincingly with the judges due to his ability to get it back out of the clinch and his overall aggression outside it. With the win he moves one step away from another title shot and will get a chance to fight for that opportunity against the winner of Machado/Hirst which happens later this month. So late February will see him getting his chance to push himself into the title picture again! For Filth, a little bit of a setback but also a chance to step back, regroup and start working forward again. He’s still young and has a solid .500 record going! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Welterweights Ceedee Queen Defeats Samuel Sanchez via Unanimous Decision Donkey, another Decision here…and I won’t lie here, unfortunately the fans didn’t seem to care for this fight overall. They probably felt there was too much controlling and stalling going on and overall just not enough action. I’m also not going to lie…I think Queen really doesn’t care! He got what he came into this for, which was the W and a chance to move up the standings and closer to a title shot! Sanchez was able to get this fight into the clinch at least once and did well there, landing four head shots in the process. Unfortunately, Queen also used that clinch to get the fight to the ground and that’s where this fight was really won, with Queen doing the majority of the scoring with his ground and pound. While neither of these guys really gassed out, Queen’s ability to spend just enough time on the ground and on the offensive was just enough to get the nod from the judges in all three rounds. Donkey, thoughts here…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Queen strings another pair of W’s together and outside his loss to Hodkiewicz a few months back is just about perfect to date. He now finds himself one step away from a chance to fight for Top Contender status, as a win over Red Crow next month would elevate him into contention and have us seeing who might be ready for the title shot in the next couple months! For Sanchez, a disappointing result that still leaves him at 5-3, which is a solid record, but also sees him with three losses in his last four fights. That’s a situation where he will want to right the ship and get back on course. A few slight adjustments and he could find himself climbing right back up the ladder. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Lightweights Bobolo Jubbly Defeats Piney Winston via Submission (RNC) Donkey, this will be our last fight of the evening that doesn’t go to the judges. That’s surprising as I really did expect our Main Events to end in finishes one way or another. One could argue the case on this either way, but for me I’d say that the morale definitely made a difference in this one and is likely a big part of the reason why Winston came up short. We all knew this fight would make its way to the ground, there was no doubt about that. Even when Winston chose to take it into the clinch early everybody in the arena suspected that if Jubbly didn’t drag it down to the mat then Winston himself probably would have. Oncve on the ground the sub attempts started in force, with Jubbly the much more aggressive fighter, staying active and really getting after it. But when this happened I think we all knew that shit was about to get real, and not in a good way for Winston… “Winston wants to lay and pray for a moment but Jubbly keeps working. Jubbly is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Winston's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Winston's back!” Sure enough, two choke attempts from behind was all it took and before you knew it Winston was tapping out due to the rear naked! How about it Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: “Jubbly has the slightly better wrestling. That, and Winston is coming into this about 15% off on morale and that’s enough in a fight like this to help me make a decision!” That right there about says it all from the preview. With the win Jubbly now has four W’s out of his last five fights. Unfortunately, the one he did give up was against St. Clair and was for a chance to go fight for the title. Jubbly can earn himself another shot at a Top Contender battle if he keeps this moving in the right direction though! We’ll probably know who he faces next after the fights coming up here in a couple days on the 20th. For Winston the loss is another setback as he now has dropped three in a row including one to St. Clair as well three fights back, then Dominguez and now Jubbly. That obviously sets him back a ways ranking wise and will make the climb back up a bit tougher. He’ll get a big chance to begin that quest against newcomer Anike Chukwu next month. Let’s hope he comes to the cage fully prepared! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Weltherweights Luka Marka Defeats Weston Hodkiewicz via Unanimous Decision Ok, almost there Donkey as we revisit the Co-Main Event between Marka and Hodkiewicz, a fight that I would have sworn would end in a finish! But nope, this one goes the distance as they leave it in the hands of those nasty judges! No surprise to anybody in attendance, this fight ended up on the mat for the majority of the contest with Hodkiewicz attempting to put it away via submissions…twenty-one unsuccessful ones at that…and Marka mostly working the ground and pound when he could get the opportunity and dish it out without putting himself in submission danger or being controlled. Marka successfully landed fifteen shots down there on the ground and clearly won the standup game, both in and out of the clinch and that’s the reason the judges saw fit to give him every round, with Judge John even scoring the final round 10-8 in favor of Marka. Donkey, what does the outcome of this fight mean for the fighters…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Well, for Marka its a great bounce back from his last fight which was a loss to Juan Christiano who went on to win the championship. And now, Marka also makes the move up to 185, so he starts up the ladder there with a win under his belt, albeit at Welterweight. He’ll get a chance to prove he belongs highly ranked in the Middleweight division next month against Kiryu Kazuma. Hodkiewicz will be disappointed in this loss as he looked to be on the fast track to Top Contender status in a tough Welterweight division. A division that any loss can set you back in due to the talent at the top. We don’t know yet who’s on tap next for him, although we believe that will be determined by results from the title fight on the 20th or the fights next weekend on the 23rd. *********************** Main Event: Featherweight Championship Fight Michael Aalto (6-0-0) vs. Luke Skywalker (5-3-1) And here we are Donkey, our Main Event of the evening between Featherweights Luke Skywalker and Michael Aalto for the Sucker Punch Pro Series Featherweight Championship! We were definitely expecting a good one here Donkey, but I know that I didn’t expect this thing to go the distance! Sure enough…it did…and we’ll take a good look at this one right after we take a quick look back at the intro by our very own Juice Fluffer… Juice Fluffer enters the cage… “Ladies and gentlemen…this is the Maaaain Event of the evening!” “The judges for this bout are Damien Edna, Steve Erwin and Francis DeMontford.” “Our sponsor for this event is Shadow Warrior Nutrition.” “Annnnnnnd Now! For those in attendance and Sucker Punch fans around the world…this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for!” “LIVE!, from THE Hard Knocks in Sydney, Australia…” “Iiiiit’s TIIIIIIIME! Five rounds for the Undisputed Sucker Punch Pro Series Featherweight Championship of the World!” “Introducing first…fighting out of the blue corner. Holding a professional record of FIVE wins, three losses and one draw, he stands 168 centimeters tall, weighing a natural 152 pounds, he’s 21 years of age. Hailing from and fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada, United States…The Challenger and Top Contender in the Sucker Punch Pro Series Featherweight division…Luke…’Jediiiiii’…SKYYYYYWALKERRR!!!” “And nowwwww…FIGHTING… out of the red corner. With professional record of SIX wins, NO losses and NO draws, he stands 177 centimeters tall, weighing a natural 149 pounds…he’s 22 years of age…hailing from Espoo, Finland and fighting out of Helsinki… THE REIGNING….DEFENDING…UNNNNNNDISPUTED Sucker Punch Pro Series Featherweight Champion of the World, Michaaaaael…AALLLLLTOOOOO!!!” What more can you say other than that our Champion, Aalto, essentially came out and put on a kickboxing clinic in this one Donkey! I mean, sure, the first round didn’t stay on the feet…actually far from it as it was on the ground within the first minute thanks to a takedown by Aalto after landing a nice head kick that drew some of the red stuff from Skywalker. But after a quick sub attempt and some controlling of the action by Skywalker the ref had seen enough in a title fight and put this thing back on the feet! Some clinching ensued after that, but none of it stuck for long and Aalto was coming at Skywalker from all directions, high, low, fists, feet, you name it. Skywalker wasn’t just standing there either as he was working at a pretty good clip as well, but he wasn’t landing at nearly the same percentage as Aalto and it was showing early that the diversity of Aalto’s attack was making defense tough for Skywalker. The second and third rounds saw these two revert solely to boxing, with some takedown and clinch attempts worked in but nothing sticking and the entire thing spent feeling each other out occasionally, but more often than not throwing it out there and seeing what landed! Aalto got both rounds making it 3-0 and you knew that Skywalker’s corner had to be telling him to pick it up or do SOMETHING to change the direction of the fight. The fourth round saw Aalto mixing it up again with a takedown a half minute in and sub attempts following. Skywalker was up to the task of defending and then even turned the tables with a reversal after a scramble. Again, with the lull in action the ref stood it back up and this thing went into the fifth looking rather pedestrian. Knowing he was down by four already and frustration setting in…the fifth’s bell rang out and not after taking a counter shot for his trouble and a jab or two Skywalker finally saw red and we got this bit of extracurricular action, something we will never openly condone in Sucker Punch (Yes we will!) but happens occasionally anyway…and apparently for the second time tonight amazingly… “Aalto paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button. Aalto displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Skywalker throws out the jab. Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Skywalker lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Aalto has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Aalto and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.” So yeah, with a bit of the hothead flowing over there Skywalker makes sure to leave his mark on this fight, even if Aalto was able to cruise out to a victory with the judges in the end. And with the fight coming to a close at the bell here at the end of the fifth… Juice Fluffer enters the cage as the referee has both fighters in the middle waiting for the call… “Ladies and gentlemen, after five rounds we go to the judges for a decision…” “Judge Damien Edna scores the fight 50:45, Judge Steve Erwin scores the fight 50:45 and Judge Francis DeMontford scores the fight 50:45…" “Declaring the winner…by way of a UNANIMOUS DECISION…ANNNNNNDDDD STILLLLL…Sucker Punch Pro Series…Featherweight Champion of the World… Michaaaaael…AALLLLLTOOOOO!!!” Well fought by both men out there in that one Donkey, but the Champ is still the CHAMP! Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Aalto was able to come in and do what Champs do, dominate from start to finish and show why he has the belt! Skywalker put up a valiant fight and given the finish was never a danger in this one that’s saying a lot about this guy and his heart! At twenty-one years old, he has a TON of fight left ahead of him and will likely take this and learn from it, hit the gym, train up and be back better than ever! For Aalto, another job well done and another successful title defense. We’re told that the next defense is already on tap as Mickey DIsmantle has decided, as Juice Fluffer would say, Iiit’S TIMMMME! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! A great time over at Hard Knocks – Sydney and we’ll have even more action coming at you twice this week as we have a midweek card on tap for SPPS 36 and then SPPS 37 coming at you this coming weekend! I can’t wait, we’ll see you there…and… Till then…don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornmma1 Posted January 19, 2021 Report Share Posted January 19, 2021 Derwent Bolt 3-0-0 Glad to announce my contract renewal, a very lucrative deal that sets me up for a long time. Hare is doing a fine job here, not unlike myself so far. I'm young, bald and have a few tricks. Time will tell where that will get me. I always think nowhere, but my results prove me wrong, thank God! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted January 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 36 Welcome back folks! It feels like it’s only been a day or so since I’ve been here in the booth working with my pal and analyst Donkey “Dan”! Oh, wait, it has only been a day being we were so far behind on the last review! Sorry about that all, but hopefully we’ll get back on track this week as we not only have SPPS 36 coming at you tonight but also SPPS 37 this weekend! As always, I’m Hare Rumpler and I’ll be taking a look forward at all the action in store for us with my partner here right alongside me! Tonight we have several fights with our Heavyweights back in action, something we haven’t had a lot of on the last couple cards. That’s always some of my favorite action because you never know what colossal finishes might come when the biggums clash! They’ll open up the evening and then step back in two fights later with a Lightweight bout in between. The Heavyweights also have a HUGELY hyped fight as the Co-Main Event of the evening when Gary Porter takes on Jairzinho Teixeira in a very highly anticipated fight that will have big time implications for the Heavyweight division! In between we’ve got a cool Light Heavyweight bout, a couple more Lightweight contests and even a pair of Middleweights which should be some very exciting fights that I know the fans are looking forward to! The evening will be wrapped up when Psiris Fuhren comes into the cage to challenge Welterweight Champion Juan Christiano for his title! Fuhren has “been here, done this” before, but you can bet he wants to walk away with a different result this time around! Christiano certainly will not be making this an easy job for him this evening! So, let’s hear from our merchandise partner and sponsor and get to the good stuff in more detail! Our fantastic and respected sponsor is Shadow Warrior Nutrition! Many of you already know them as the providers of Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q., THE energy loss reduction supplements! For those of you who aren’t in the know on that, you should be, because this is the way you keep your fighter training more often and not taking sessions off to try to keep his energy above 90%! If you aren’t using this supplement, hurry over and check them out today, you will not be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Heavyweights Andre Powell (4-4-0) vs. Demon Mask (0-4-0) We’ll get things started this evening with a Heavyweight clash, if you want to call it that, between Demon Mask and Andre Powell tonight. Now, I say, ‘if you want to call it that’ because Mask has continued to come to these fights unprepared with his morale running low and it’s gotten to the point where we have guys lining up who want a shot at him. And there are really only two reasons guys line up to take a shot at somebody…either because they are highly ranked and a huge return on a potential win, or because they aren’t and look like an easy target. In this case, it’s the latter. While Mask stacks up skill wise against the guys he’s being pitted against in the division there is no doubt that the lack of morale he comes into the fights with puts him at a distinct disadvantage. That will be no different tonight, although surprisingly Powell is also going to come into this one a bit off on morale as well. Not nearly as much as Mask, but still over 15%. Not impressive by any stretch for both of these guys and their management. I know that sounds rough to say but it’s just the honest truth. As I’ve made a habit of doing, because I want to positively reinforce things for those who do come in prepared, I tend not to get into too many details of the fight for guys who come in less than ready. So…skipping straight to Donkey… Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Powell via TKO (Strikes) Powell should get a much needed win tonight after dropping his last two fights but it’s only by dumb luck that he happens to still be better prepared than the other guy. I’m not impressed that both of these two are coming to the table the way they are. Mask, who would normally be cut after tonight’s fight assuming he’ll likely be 0-5 afterward with all five losses here at Sucker Punch, will probably still get another shot due to the cult following he’s started to acquire. He’s already been requested as a ‘next fight’! Gee, I wonder why! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Lightweights Trevor Barnes (2-3-1) vs. Tua Graves (6-7-1) Moving on to our second contest of the evening we’ll have two Lightweights who would both like to use a win tonight to move back into .500 territory and set themselves on the right track! Tua “Mighty” Graves, managed by what I can only assume is an uncle or other family member, Miles Graves is coming into this fight a little off on morale. Much like our first fight before this, it may not make a significant difference for him though as Barnes is just as bad off if not worse. Graves has three losses in his last four fights so he definitely needs to turn it around and figure out a way to correct course. His losses have typically come via TKO or KO, while his wins are almost always via submission due to his competent wrestling and purple belt in Jiu Jitsu. “The Exterminator” Trevor Barnes has not quite lived up to his name yet over the course of his last couple fights. With a TKO loss to Elam Armis over at Empire and then a Sucker Punch debut loss via Decision to my own Repus Revorg, especially given that Revorg is considerably younger and was considered a significant underdog, Barnes has a lot of work to do to get things back in order. If there was ever a night to do that, tonight is it against an equally unprepared Graves. He’s got the right tools to get the job done tonight, at least on the feet, as his kickboxing and clinch skills are the right instruments to take advantage of Graves weak spots. However, he also needs to watch out for the ground attack from Graves and as such his own proficient wrestling and blue belt in Jiu Jitsu will need to hold up defensively. Well, which way are you going Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Graves via Submission (Armbar) Flip the coin on this one, it’s going to be a matter of who can dictate where the fight takes place. My pick is going out on a limb here because Barnes handled himself on the ground just fine against Revorg. There’s a chance that with Barnes actually having the better wrestling that Graves may find it tough to get into position for any submission attempts even if it does go to the ground. This fight could very easily go to Barnes as well, but I’m picking the way I am solely based upon who is more prepared. Or less unprepared as the case may be. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Heavyweights Hero Shima (1-2-0) vs. Harry Kane (1-0-0) Our next fight is a Heavyweight bout between Kane and Shima and sees Kane coming into the org on a one fight moonlighting gig as we went out and propositioned him specifically for this fight in order to keep Shima challenged and engaged! Managed by none other than the esteemed Mentor Guru Corleone, a former top 10 manager and one of the best in the game all-around, Kane will provide more than a solid challenge for Shima to see where he stands after Shima took a two month break to train and fine tune back from October to December. Kane has all the tools to put Shima to the test with sensational boxing, wonderful Muay Thai, exceptional wrestling and a purple belt. It’s extremely difficult to say what tactics Mentor will have his young student use in this battle as he only has a single QFC fight under his belt prior to this fight, one that he won via submission against a significantly lesser skilled Joseph Starling. Tonight will test Kane as much as it will Shima! Upon returning in December from his training mission Shima looked primed and ready to go in a win over Lanuola Sefina via TKO in under a minute. His skills on the feet will be very closely matched by Kane this evening and while he holds the advantage in Jiu Jitsu we don’t know if he’s built for offense down there on the ground. He chose to stand and strike with Sefina to get that W and in the prior fight with Haden, a TKO loss, he attempted some submissions while on the ground but that may have simply been a matter of convenience as he’s not the one who chose to take it to the mat. There are as many questions about what Shima may choose to do here as there are for Kane! How does this one turn out Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Shima via Unanimous Decision Wow, you’re asking a lot of me if you’re expecting me to know how this one will turn out, Hare! I honestly don’t know. This is one of the more intriguing fights this evening and one I would think that MANY will be watching very closely. These two both have the skills to be dominant in the division. Granted, Kane is currently here on loan as a mercenary for a single bout, but I know you Hare, and I know you’re probably hoping you can entice him over long term with what should be a demonstration of a well-made match. Flip a coin, I’ll pick for the guy who’s signed on as a long term Sucker Punch dude for now, just out of homer respect! Shima, btw, is also managed by another one of the great managers in the game, Carlos Castenada, who I believe gets on well with Mentor…so this is going to be a good all-around contest between buddies to see who can best the other this evening! We’re going to learn a lot about both of these fighters tonight! *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Light Heavyweights Tarmo Rajantaka (5-4-0) vs. Nemesis Steed (4-0-0) Well Donkey, I think this one is probably going to shock you a little bit. I know it did me! We have a Light Heavyweight contest between Nemesis Steed and Tarmo Rajantaka with Steed coming in with a gleaming 4-0 record as he makes his Sucker Punch debut this evening. However…and this is the shocking part given how much guys usually value those gleaming goose eggs in the ‘L’ column…he’s not really all that prepared for the fight! Now, Steed is currently fighting under relatively new management as he only has one fight, a QFC bout in December, with Daniel Salacup. Daniel joined the MMAT ranks as a manager back in December, so it’s possible that he doesn’t quite know about things like morale and how to maintain them yet. Given that Steed is undefeated, there is one and only one reason for him to have low morale…dirty as hell clothing. Well, two reasons, perhaps training in a dirty gym. Ok, maybe three, could also be entirely too many back to back sparring sessions, but he would have sent his manager a message about that. Then again, he would have also told his manager that his clothes were dirty and that the other guys are making fun of him for being “the stinky guy”! This will be a standup battle there’s really not much doubt about that. Rajantaka, much like Steed, has a white belt in Jiu Jitsu and significant standup skills. His skills are focused on his Muay Thai and wrestling and if you look back at his winning fight with Bard he likes to get into that clinch and dish out the nasty stuff, so expect more of the same tonight! Steed is a better boxer than Muay Thai artist, so this will turn into a battle to keep the action taking place where you want it…Steed boxing/kickboxing and Rajantaka wanting it in the clinch. What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Rajantaka via TKO (Strikes) Well, I hate to say it for Steed but I do foresee an end to that undefeated record tonight given the lack of morale. Sometimes it doesn’t turn out like that and goes against my picks, but more often than not a 30% deficit in morale is going to lead to an inability to control the fight and get it where you want. That means he’s likely to get tied up in the clinch tonight and have trouble escaping it, putting the advantage squarely in Rajantaka’s court. Rajantaka will be perfectly happy to take that advantage and try to turn it into two wins in a row! *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Lightweights Jamal Jameson (4-3-1) vs. Brendan Wallace (2-0-0) Alright Donkey! Now this is what we’ve been waiting for here and we finally get it as we close out the Undercard with these two Lightweights! Two kids who are both prepared and amped up, ready to get into that cage and give us everything they’ve got! Wallace moves down to a natural 155 pounds in the Lightweight division here as he starts his formal run with Sucker Punch this evening. Prior to this, he submitted Nocochata Nakashi in a Welterweight contest back in November and also had a decision victory over with the Fighter house before that. So this young kid is 2-0 in his fledgling career and looking to the stars! We’ve been told that he’s been working on developing his standup game a bit of late to compliment the skills he displayed on the ground in his fight with Nakashi. Tonight Wallace will need every bit of those ground skills to be on point as Jameson is known to want to mix it up on the mat. With remarkable wrestling and a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu, Jameson is more than willing to work the ground and pound if the opportunity presents or go for the submission if you leave yourself vulnerable. With a record just over .500 though, he has fallen via both submission and TKO as well, so there are potentially some holes there to be exploited if the right strategy is used and the skills are there to support it. Could that be why Wallace has been working on his standup? Jameson will have the ground advantage, but he also needs to be careful on the ground not to let himself get snagged by a counter submission when going for the ground and pound if he goes in that direction tonight. Well Donkey, have a pick for us in this one…? Donkey’s Pick: Jameson via TKO (Strikes) A very tough fight to pick! An excellent matchup, this is a fight I’m going to be watching very closely and it’s exciting to have this quality of a fight so early on the card! Knockout Bob is on a run right now, with six wins in a row as a manager and may be ‘in a zone’ when it comes to guiding his guys, including Jameson, to victory. I’m going to say that he gets the better of the ground game tonight and Wallace may take the first L of his young career. But definitely be in your seats for this one folks, this is anything but a sure bet! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Lightweights Rudy Giuliani (7-7-0) vs. Cole Hotman (1-5-0) Our Main Card will see a desperate Cole Hotman come into this fight tonight with one thing and one thing only on his mind…GET A WIN! Or at least, that should be the only thing on his mind. And for a guy who is currently 1-5, with a QFC win early in the career but five straight losses here at Sucker Punch, the stage is set for him to make good on that goal this evening. Why? Because amazingly Rudy Giuliani comes into this fight with his head somewhere else, unfocused and with his morale in the dumps! Perhaps issues with Trump are distracting him?!? At only about 40% morale, getting a win in this one will be one tall order for Giuliani. Matty Fernandez, manager for Giuliani, has admitted himself that side projects and other issues have kept his attention from being fully behind his fighters of late. He’s forgotten to discuss strategy and tactic changes with his boys before sending them into the cage and tonight it looks like Giuliani comes in without having spoken to his manager for at least the past three days. There is some question about whether Matty will even be present for the fight and that could have a lot to do with Giuliani’s lack of focus. Giuliani has standup skills and can both box and clinch up. Hotman’s task tonight will be to figure out if he can outwork Giuliani in the clinch with his own sensational Muay Thai and proficient wrestling or if the path to victory lies on the ground with that wrestling skill and his purple belt in Jiu Jitsu while Giuliani has only a white belt? One thing is clear…given the situation and the inherent advantage he’s been handed for this fight…this is an absolute ‘MUST WIN’ for Hotman. A loss here would pretty much dictate that his days of trying to make a living as a fighter are mostly over. Well Donkey, what do you think here…? Donkey’s Pick: Hotman via TKO (Strikes) I’m not sure whether Hotman will finish this on the ground or standing but one way or another he should finish this! I couldn’t agree more though Hare, if he falls short in this one it’s time to consider retirement. There’s really no other way to look at it. *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Middleweights Artemyev Valeryevich (2-1-0) vs. Breno Pinheiro (8-3-0) Our first of two Middleweight bouts this evening will see Valeryevich in the red corner and Pinheiro in the blue corner of the cage over at Hard Knocks – Sydney. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite appear that Pinheiro’s mind is really all that focused on being in that cage at all, as we’re told that his morale is off by about 30% and that’s something that is likely to affect both Donkey’s pick and the outcome of this fight tonight. Pinheiro will be making his Sucker Punch debut this evening and is the more experienced fighter stepping into the cage. He comes off a loss to Brady Helix over at WPFA that had him as the slightly longer trained fighter but at a mild skills disadvantage. That role will be reversed this evening as Valeryevich has been training a bit longer but has the better standup skills. Pinheiro is considerably older, has more practical cage experience and has the better ground game and would normally be favored, but that morale is going to make it tough to pick him despite the ground advantage. Expect this fight to be your classic striker vs. grappler party. He who can control the action and dictate where it takes place probably gains a heavy advantage in this one. Donkey, a close one tonight…or…? Donkey’s Pick: Valeryevich via TKO (Strikes) This could go either way Hare. It could be a close one that goes the distance or it could end in dramatic fashion early! I know, that’s not exactly very specific or taking much of a position here is it? What I will say is I don’t expect this to finish in the second or third rounds. I expect this is either over early or they go the distance. I’m going with Valeryevich, formerly known as Maniatakos, due to the morale advantage but ground specialists do always have a bit of an advantage early on. We’ll see! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Middleweights Tyrion Lannister (10-4-0) vs. John Wick (2-6-0) I was expecting this next fight, our last before the Main Events, to be a really interesting one between Middleweights John Wick and Tyrion Lannister as Wick attempts to continue his redemption journey. He’s won his last two fights via submission after dropping the first six of his career and seemed to have finally found his way. Lannister poses a challenge for Wick being that his specialty is the ground game and submission and as such he’ll force Wick to adjust and plan accordingly. That challenge will be a tougher one than normal this evening for Wick because he’s coming in with his morale off by about 25% which may very well limit his ability to overcome his disadvantage on the ground, keep it from getting there if he chooses to focus on standup instead, or get into position to gain the upper hand once down on the mat. Lannister has been under new management for the past two fights and Alex Conors has been feeling things out with his new warrior, first losing an initial fight with Jim Beam, who has gone on to become Middleweight Champ, and then bouncing back last month with a big win over Dennis Jorge via rear naked choke. If Wick takes it to the ground tonight Lannister will likely welcome the turn of events especially given his morale advantage, as Lannister is fully prepped for this fight. How about this matchup Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Lannister via Submission (Kimura) Lannister will have everything going for him tonight with the morale advantage. I’ll be shocked if Wick can pull off the upset now that he’s set himself up as the underdog for this one. A win here would move Lannister back up the rankings some and set him up for a chance to be challenged again against a Top 10 fighter and an opportunity to see, at 28 years old, if he can still make another run at a title shot down the line! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Heavyweights Jairzinho Teixeira (7-3-0) vs. Gary Porter (6-2-0) Well, one thing is clear Donkey, as we head into our Co-Main Event tonight these two big boys are definitely not taking their lead from so many others this evening who will be coming into the cage unprepared. Nope, these two are right as rain and ready to go at it! A good thing too, as both of these guys are about one step away from being considered potential Top Contenders in the division, a division that’s chock full of guys who are right on the edge of working their way up to the top being that several simply need more fights under the belt here at Sucker Punch to be considered in the upper rankings! Coming off a trifecta of wins already before this fight tonight, Porter is on a roll as he’s been mowing down the competition with TKO’s and KO’s all in the first round for each of those three fights. Hell, all have been over in the first three minutes or less. Porter’s standup is workable, but his strength lies with his grappling as he has wonderful wrestling skills and then once he’s got you on the ground a brutal ground and pound game comes into play! Here’s a hint…you don’t want to be on your back while in the cage with this man, as he hits, he hits hard and he really doesn’t miss. There’s a reason why his fights have ended so quickly…and the only delay is how long it takes to get his opponent to the floor. Once there, the ref is usually saving his opponent within ten brutal shots! Teixeira joined Sucker Punch last month and opened up his run with us by TKO’ing Victor Ballsawash in the second round. He loves to deliver a solid balance of shots head and body when on the feet, but also has shown he can handle himself on the ground with some good striking there as well. However, it should be noted that his only loss in his past four fights was to another ground and pound specialist when he fought Zbigniew Pacula at CEC 701, a fight that saw Pacula’s remarkable wrestling and purple belt in Jiu Jitsu lead him to victory via strikes on the ground. That’s eerily familiar to Porter’s skills, so Teixeira’s camp has hopefully focused on that in their training and come prepared with a plan to counter! Donkey’s Pick: Porter via TKO (Strikes) While I always HOPE that a team has done their homework and made adjustments for tactics, training and such, it’s not something I tend to rely upon when making picks because it requires a definitive action on one party’s part. Therefore I usually take a “show me and then I’ll believe going forward” approach. Nothing negative there, just a need to see adjustments. That’s what I’m going on here. If Teixeira’s team has made adjustments and planned accordingly they may very well prove me wrong on this pick. But if not, there’s a good chance the Pacula fight repeats itself and Porter walks out with his fourth ground and pound victory in a row! *********************** Main Event: Welterweight Championship Fight Juan Christiano (8-2-0) vs. Psiris Fuhren (6-2-0) Our Main Event of the evening is an awesome Welterweight Championship contest in the making! Psiris Fuhren undoubtedly will walk down the ramp and into the cage tonight with a fire in his belly and hunger in his eyes and heart as he’s been in this position once before against then Champion Wanderson Machado and walked away empty handed. Tonight, the mountain may be higher than it’s ever been as he faces off against an incredibly formidable Juan Christiano…but the glory is just as great if he can walk away the victor! Despite having only a single win on his record since that loss to Machado, Fuhren gained this opportunity by being one of the few in the division willing to step into the cage with an intimidating Lukas Reeves. Since then, we’ve seen that Reeves may have some unanswered questions but the point is that Fuhren is a man who does not back down from a challenge, does not shy away from an opportunity and will not quit! Given the chance to take his shot, this man does not pass the ball, he takes the shot! Fuhren and his camp likely know that they’re at the disadvantage on the ground this evening, but in standup the battle will also be tough as nails. The Middleweight Champion, Christiano, and his camp led by the very talented Action Jackson, will hold the advantage on the ground tonight as we just mentioned. However, I truly expect that they will have faith in Christiano’s standup skills and believe that they can win this fight on the feet regardless of any other advantages. He’s been on the ground in the past and has shown himself capable there, but mostly for the purposes of defense and thwarting his opponents plans as he did two fights back against Luka Marka. I don’t think that he will purposely take the fight to the mat tonight nor do I think that will be Fuhren’s plan unless they’ve specifically seen something they like. Should that be the case, Christiano can be taken down, that’s been proven by multiple opponents so far. It’s just not likely this evening. Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Christiano via TKO (Strikes) Fuhren’s camp has had over a month to plan for this fight so you have to figure they’ve analyzed every possible angle and will come into this tonight with a plan! But can they pull the plan off? The great Mike Tyson once said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth!” That quote could apply to either here tonight. Christiano’s camp may be planning for their ability to dominate on the feet, but what happens if Christiano is suddenly punched in the mouth harder than he’s ever been to date? That’s what Fuhren’s camp may be intending to test. And I can’t wait to see how this turns out! For now, I have to go with the Champ though until I see otherwise! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! So we’ve got a big one ready to go over at Hard Knocks – Sydney this evening! Pretty much every fight from midway through the Undercard on is a must-see this evening so if you’re heading down as one of the lucky 3,000 fans who will get to rock the place this evening…be sure you aren’t late! I’m hyped up beyond belief for this one and Donkey, Suzy and I will all see you there this evening! Till then…don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted January 22, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2021 POST EVENT CHEAP SHOTS Sucker Punch Pro Series 36 Hello again to all you Sucker Punch fans out there, as always I’m Hare Rumpler and I’ll be joined by with my pal and analyst Donkey “Dan” as we take a quick look back at all the action from the other night at Sucker Punch Pro Series 36! All this as we get ready to roll right into SPPS 37 tomorrow night, so the action and excitement is coming at us fast and furious this week. This card brought us a ton of KO and TKO action with only a single submission on the entire night which earned Hero Shima the Submission of the Night honors as well as only two decisions! So if you were at the event over at Hard Knocks – Sydney and you like finishes that come with a “bang!”, then you were in the right place. Now, before we move on and get into things in a bit more details let’s hear from our merchandise partner and sponsor and then get to the good stuff! 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He threw one body punch attempt, tried seven takedowns which were naturally denied…and took about seven shots from Powell before succumbing and basically just standing there and taking it until the ref stepped in and said, “Yeah, ok, this guy doesn’t wanna be here, we’re done!” This final sequence pretty much says everything you need to know, with Powell walking off with an expected ‘W’ in this one… “Mask shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Powell as he avoids it easily. Powell shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Mask eats them both and turns towards Powell to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo. Powell catches Mask with a right, a left, a right. It's raining punches and Mask forgot an umbrella! Another punch and he's down. This one is over!” Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: We called Powell in this one without reservations for a reason despite Powell coming in off two losses. This was ready made to get a career back on track, or at least to help try to get it back on track. Now it’s up to Powell to spend the next month, and all his saved up energy from this one, preparing to come in and take care of business and make it two in a row! Mask’s manager, Paulie B, finally dropped him after this one realizing that at the rate he was going with the morale there was no chance he was ever going to beat anybody and might as well walk off quickly now rather than later. The downside for his other fighters is that they’re still under his stable and continue to be managed in the same manner that Mask was, spending most of their time low on morale and losing more fights than they win due to it. I’ve said it before Hare, you can lead a horse to water…but you can’t make it drink…you’ve explained to the managers in our org more times than I can count how to fix things like morale and energy, but some people just don’t listen. FYI, if you’re out there and reading this and thinking “Wait, I don’t know how to fix morale and energy…” and you haven’t seen Hare’s prior posts on the topic…reach out to him! He’ll be happy to send you information and help you out! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Lightweights Trevor Barnes Defeats Tua Graves via TKO (Strikes) Our second fight of the evening saw Graves and Barnes go at it in a fight that Donkey picked in favor of Graves. Donkey was wrong. In the preview, I’d said that, “He’s (Barnes) got the right tools to get the job done tonight, at least on the feet, as his kickboxing and clinch skills are the right instruments to take advantage of Graves’ weak spots. However, he also needs to watch out for the ground attack from Graves and as such his own proficient wrestling and blue belt in Jiu Jitsu will need to hold up defensively.” Well, it turns out that Barnes’ ground game was indeed up to the task as the fight went to the ground during the second minute of action as Graves pulled Barnes’ into his guard from the clinch. Barnes was able to fend off four subsequent submission attempts over the next two minutes, survived a reversal that saw him end up on the bottom and then reversed it back himself to end the round and escape with the bell. The second round saw Graves trying for the takedown yet again but Barnes was having none of that nonsense for a second round in a row, instead using his kicks to keep Graves at bay and then taking it to the clinch and going for the finish once he saw his opportunity… “Barnes creates some distance for himself and unleashes a massive uppercut that sends Graves's eyes rolling into the back of his head! Graves drops to his knees and Barnes pours it on with more strikes until the referee steps in to end the bout!” Well Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Ok, be fair now Hare! I did say during the preview that, “My pick is going out on a limb here because Barnes handled himself on the ground just fine against Revorg. There’s a chance that with Barnes actually having the better wrestling that Graves may find it tough to get into position for any submission attempts even if it does go to the ground.” Barnes did a great job of handling himself in this fight and snagged a solid win to even up the record at .500, both overall and here at Sucker Punch! Graves drops one he’d probably like to have back and falls a little further behind .500 and will need to start working his way back from two losses in a row next month against…well, we’ll know when Hare gets around to doing his job and makes some fights! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Heavyweights Hero Shima Defeats Harry Kane via Submission (Guillotine) While Shima previously chose to stand and strike with Sefina last month, he flipped things around on us…as well as Kane…and went for the win on the ground in this bout! Well, sorta. He actually didn’t instigate the ground action. That was Kane who did that with a takedown a little over halfway into the first minute of action. But Shima certainly finished it despite not starting it! He tried for the triangle sub just before the minute mark but was denied. Then, about a minute and a half in, almost as if the play by play guys had some sort of supernatural precognitive abilities… “Kane must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu. Kane is sitting in close to Shima's body. Shima has gone for a guillotine from the bottom. Oh damn, that looks pretty tight! Kane is panicking - it looks like this one could be all over! Yes, Kane is tapping! That was a very nice submission by Shima.” And with it, as the only submission on the evening, Shima scored himself a little bonus for ‘Submission of the Night’! This one was over pretty darned fast Donkey! But I can say this, Shima is really starting to show that he’s somebody who should be feared anywhere in the cage. Well, what do you say about that one Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: There’s not a lot to say that you haven’t already to be honest. It was a quick contest with Shima demonstrating that he not only has skills on the feet but that he can take care of business on the ground as well. The division may be on notice despite the 2-2 record! Kane was on a single fight contract and unfortunately we’re not able to retain him at this time as he has some other plans for a bit, but maybe someday we’ll entice him back! *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Light Heavyweights Tarmo Rajantaka Defeats Nemesis Steed via KO (Head Kick) This Light Heavyweight bout had an undefeated Nemesis Steed come in a bit off on morale. I was sure that would affect Donkey’s pick for the fight, and sure enough Donkey said, “Well, I hate to say it for Steed but I do foresee an end to that undefeated record tonight given the lack of morale. Sometimes it doesn’t turn out like that and goes against my picks, but more often than not a 30% deficit in morale is going to lead to an inability to control the fight and get it where you want. That means he’s likely to get tied up in the clinch tonight and have trouble escaping it, putting the advantage squarely in Rajantaka’s court.” And that comment by Donkey just about covered how this thing went. Steed got a couple shots in in the first half minute or so, but then Rajantaka got the clinch and from there it was his fight. Steed landed only one head shot in the clinch and outside that Rajantaka controlled the action, dominated with the knees and varied the rest of his shots between strikes to the head and body with the fists and the occasional elbow. By the time he finally set Steed free from the up close abuse he was ready to put the finishes touches on his work of art…with his feet in a highlight reel moment of the evening that earned him the ‘KO of the Night’ honors… “Steed scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent. Rajantaka feints with a left and delivers a massive head kick! Steed collapses like a ragdoll! Game over!” What else Donkey, anything…? Donkey’s Takeaways: The fight was dominated by Rajantaka who moves to 6-4 on the career and will now face a serious challenge next month as his white belt will need to stand up to a ground and submission specialist in Derwent Bolt. Rajantaka has exceptional wrestling, so he has a fantastic base to start with as he goes into camp this month and prepares his ground game to face Bolt. Or…perhaps he’ll double down on his standup skills and takedown defense and rely upon his ability to keep the fight standing! We’ll find out! For Steed, the loss of a perfect record had to be seen coming when he came in a bit unprepared for a tough fight. Worse is that this was the first loss of his career and now we’ve had a chance to see what happens to his morale when he takes a loss and folks, it’s not good. Dropping to almost 10% is rough and his manager will need to decide how he feels about that. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Lightweights Jamal Jameson Defeats Brendan Wallace via Unanimous Decision Our first of only two Decisions on the evening Donkey! Wallace didn’t shy away from the ground game in this one despite knowing that Jameson could be dangerous on the mat. Instead, he worked for the clinch gaining it only a few times out of the thirteen attempts he made at it and then from there attempted to move the fight to the ground. He needn’t have tried quite so hard to get this thing onto the mat as Jameson had the same idea and took it to the ground directly twice on his own as well. Once on the ground it became apparent that while Wallace’s wrestling was technically a smidge better it was instead Jameson’s overall ability, likely due to physicals, that took over. Jameson was able to control the action, gaining the top position and basically tortured Wallace with some nasty ground and pound throughout this fight. That said, Wallace has some amazing heart and ability to handle the abuse! He took over 40 shots from Jameson on the ground and still was not put away in this fight. Sure, it came damned close at the end of the third round when Jameson was able to rock Wallace…but it didn’t quite finish it. It didn’t need to though, as Jameson took the fight easily on the scorecards. Well Donkey any other insights here…? Donkey’s Takeaways: You hit the nail on the head. Just about as squarely as Jameson hit Wallace on his! Yes, Wallace showed unbelievable heart in this loss and with the first loss of his career also showed he has outstanding confidence as he barely dropped 10% of his morale with the defeat. That’s a great sign for his manager and also a really good thing to know early on. For Jameson, he moves to 5-3-1 with two wins in a row and is moving along nicely now as he paces himself up the ladder. Hare is still pondering next best matchups for these guys in the division so we’re not sure who they’ll face next but I’m certain we’ll know within a week. *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Lightweights Rudy Giuliani Defeats Cole Hotman via TKO (Strikes) We started off the Main Card here with a bout we thought was a guaranteed win for Hotman…who desperately needed one. Giuliani was coming in considerably off on morale and this was just begging to be a victory for the man who had a nasty five fight losing streak going here in Sucker Punch. Instead, Steven Armstrong somehow guided Hotman to yet another loss and even found his boy rocked within the first two minutes of the fight! I don’t know whether to give Giuliani a ton of credit for having the drive and killer instinct to overcome the disadvantage he came in with, especially considering that his manager had been missing for several days before the fight, or to completely indict Hotman for this loss. Honestly it could go a little of both ways. Hotman’s future with Sucker Punch was on the line here and he flubbed it as this was his last fight with us and we just couldn’t see ourselves extending his contract at this point. He moved on to BFC, another very good promotion, within a few hours and honestly I don’t expect things to go much better for him there, although I wish him all the luck in the world! We’re told that since Matty missed the event and didn’t get to see his boy fight that it would be nice to do a replay of the finish, so here you go… “Giuliani lands a big right hand and follows it up with an uppercut. Oh and another big punch and a knee - Hotman can't take much more of this! Another big shot to the jaw from Giuliani and Hotman drops to the floor. Beaten and bloodied - he had enough there. A vicious beatdown by Giuliani.” Well Donkey, what do you think here…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Hotman was doing a bit of work in this one really taking it to Giuliani with the kicks. Giuliani didn’t land a ton of shots but when he did, especially with the combos, they landed with some heat! Giuliani’s morale is still super low even after the win, so it’s something that MUST be worked on before next month’s fight with Bobolo Jubbly or he can definitely expect to lose that match against a talented ground specialist. *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Middleweights Artemyev Valeryevich Defeats Breno Pinheiro via TKO (Strikes) Did you blink, Donkey? Why? Because if you did you probably missed this fight! It only lasted twenty-one seconds and was over before most people had time to get their drinks and back to their seats! This fight’s bell went off…and so did Valeryevich! Pinheiro looked like a deer in headlights as he clearly wasn’t prepared for the onslaught by Valeryevich who came out with an intensity that would make a whore blush! Hell, this won’t take long…let’s just see what happened as this fight came very close to snagging Valeryevich the ‘KO of the Night’ award despite being a TKO by technicality only… “The bell rings for round one and we are underway! Valeryevich throws a hard body shot but it just misses. Valeryevich works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance. Pinheiro takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him. A slapping body kick lands there for Valeryevich. Valeryevich drops Pinheiro with a straight left! Oh this is bad for Pinheiro! Valeryevich dives in and starts dropping bombs - the referee has no choice but to step in and save him!” Boy Donkey, when you said, “It could be a close one that goes the distance or it could end in dramatic fashion early!” you weren’t kidding eh…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Boy, who knew that Valeryevich would come out with the kind of intensity that just freezes the opponent! He definitely got the jump on Pinheiro and with it gained the advantage he needed as his stunned opponent still didn’t know what went down until a few minutes later! Valeryevich moves to 3-1 with a trio of wins since joining Sucker Punch and is well on his way up the ladder! Pinheiro drops his debut here at Sucker Punch and now has a two fight losing streak that he’ll need to bounce back from. Unfortunately it appears that this was all his manager could take as he’s been cut since the fight and is now looking for new representation and leadership. At 8-4, he’ll likely find a taker and be able to continue on with his career though. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Middleweights John Wick Defeats Tyrion Lannister via Unanimous Decision Hey Donkey, I want to replay something from your pick in the preview for you here, that ok? Well, doesn’t matter if it is or not, I’m doing it anyways…you said, “Lannister will have everything going for him tonight with the morale advantage. I’ll be shocked if Wick can pull off the upset now that he’s set himself up as the underdog for this one.” Well, I’m guessing you must be shocked because I have news for you…Wick pulled it off yet again! Don’t ask me how though because frankly, with low morale coming in, I have NO IDEA! But he did! This fight went the distance as the second of only two fights to go to decision on this card! Not only was Wick taken down in the first round of this fight…dangerous territory against the likes of Lannister…but he voluntarily took the fight to the ground not once, not twice, but THREE times on his own in the second round! Then he started off the third with yet another before Lannister took it to the ground two more times later in the round after referee standups. And yes, there were quite a few ref standups in this one as the action was lacking here and there on the ground and you could tell the crowd was getting restless. This ended up being a tight one with Lannister winning the first but then Wick coming back to take the second and third rounds. I wish I could tell you there was more to the fight in the excitement category but with most of the action on the ground…and only a few strikes offered by Wick and a bunch of failed submission attempts otherwise, this was more or less a chess match of position change attempts that the majority of the audience was struggling to appreciate. How about it Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: I’m still a bit shocked that Lannister couldn’t put this one away, but kudos to Wick on bringing a considerably stronger ground game, especially defensively, than I think anybody expected. With that win he evens up his record at 3-3 under current management and is 3-0 at Sucker Punch, despite the 3-6 overall record. That’s a nice streak going there and will see him moving up the rankings! Lannister will be disappointed to have let this one slip away and will need to take a strong look at what skills may be lacking that are preventing him from tipping the scales in his favor. *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Heavyweights Gary Porter Defeats Jairzinho Teixeira via TKO (Cuts) Teixeira came into this fight clearly expecting the takedown attempts from Porter which I think we all knew were coming as well. Sure enough it wasn’t long before that’s exactly what Porter was trying and Teixeira was handling them well for the first minute, almost two. Right from the bell he also had the striking going, as he cut Porter with a nasty jab before the bell was done ringing through the arena and then close to a minute in a nasty right opened that cut up further. With the blood flowing Porter continued his determination to get this fight onto the mat, an area that he typically has not only dominated his opponents but dispatched them fairly quickly with brutal ground and pound once he’s on top! A little over halfway through the second minute of action he finally got the takedown and landed in Teixeira’s guard. With Teixeira knowing he was in a rough spot and trying to get back to the feet and escape the danger, Porter went to work with shots of his own. Bom…one lands to the body and head, and Porter has returned the favor with a bit of a “now who’s bleeding biatch!” look on his face! Normally it takes a bit of work to really get a cut to be seriously nasty over the course of a round or two. Perhaps more. Not for Porter with the way he lands shots apparently! Over the course of five strikes from the top he cut Teixeira open, abused it some more to really get the blood pumping…all over I might add, rocked him and then cut him some more! Ouch! Now that’s ground and pound! And with Teixeira wilting under the abuse…the end came sooner than even we expected… “Porter seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime. Teixeira is rocked! Jeez, Jairzinho Teixeira's cut is really nasty now. The referee must be thinking about getting that checked. The referee calls the doctor in to look at Jairzinho Teixeira's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!” I have a feeling this was ending one way or another unless Teixeira performed a miracle escape, ya think Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Porter once again dominates once on top on the ground! This man is brutal once he gets there, so the for anybody wanting to get a W from this man has to be to either end it before the fight goes to the mat or pay the ref for a standup! Four wins in a row for Porter, all on the ground via the GnP show. Damn. Cannot wait to see how he handles his next opponent and if that opponent throws him some curveballs to handle! With the loss Teixeira splits his fights at Sucker Punch so far 1-1 and moves his career record to 7-4. He’ll be tested next month by Andre Powell in a really nicely matched fight that should bring out the best in both of them! *********************** Main Event: Welterweight Championship Fight Juan Christiano (8-2-0) vs. Psiris Fuhren (6-2-0) We knew that our Main Event of the evening was an awesome Welterweight Championship contest in the making and it did not disappoint! Psiris Fuhren came in with all the fury, desire and drive we expected he’d have and for a bit seemed like he was going to pull off a bit of a magic trick in taking out the very talented Juan Christiano! But before we get to that, we have our very own Juice Fluffer who made the intro and we’ll take a quick look back as he headed into the cage and then we’ll get into this fight! Juice Fluffer enters the cage… “Ladies and gentlemen…this is the Maaaain Event of the evening!” “The judges for this bout are Ron Honeybunn, Hugh Johnson and Topper Green.” “Our sponsor for this event is Shadow Warrior Nutrition.” “Annnnnnnd Now! For those in attendance and Sucker Punch fans around the world…this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for!” “LIVE!, from Hard Knocks - Sydney, Australia…” “Iiiiit’s TIIIIIIIME! Five rounds for the Undisputed Sucker Punch Pro Series Welterweight Championship of the World!” “Introducing first…fighting out of the blue corner. Holding a professional record of SIX wins, two losses and NO draws, he stands 185 centimeters tall, weighing a natural 186 pounds at 22 years of age, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada, United States and hailing from The Droop, United Kingdom…The Challenger and Top Contender in the Sucker Punch Pro Series Welterweight division…Psiris…’Everybody Diiiiiies’…FUHRRRRRENNNN!!!” “And nowwwww…FIGHTING… out of the red corner. With professional record of EIGHT wins, two losses and NO draws, he stands 180 centimeters tall, weighing a natural 175 pounds at 23 years of age, fighting out of Los Angeles, California, United States and hailing from Mevaseret Zion, Israel… THE REIGNING….DEFENDING…UNNNNNNDISPUTED Sucker Punch Pro Series Welterweight Champion of the World, “Juaaan…’Holy Rollerrrrrr’…CHRIIIIISSSSTIAAAAAANOOOO!!!” And we were off Donkey! And let me tell you, well, tell everybody else actually…you and I were talking about this in the preview and we knew that Fuhren would come into this with a plan. Whether the plan would work or not was up for debate, but we expected that first, he’d have some angle, and second, that this fight, regardless of Christiano having a supposed ground advantage, would likely stay on the feet and be dealt with standing! Sure enough, that’s how this thing rolled! These two came out going at it, with Christiano getting the better of the exchanges in the first round but Fuhren doing a nice job of countering as well, which clearly seemed to be part of the plan. The other part of his plan appeared to be trying to get into the clinch, but that portion of the plan wasn’t working so well as Christiano was defending it well, keeping Fuhren at distance and where he wanted it! Fuhren did finally move it to the clinch towards the end of the round but found once there that Christiano was getting the better of the action up close and personal. Christiano got that round. The second saw Fuhren going at it pretty aggressively while also still able to score on his counters fairly well. He was starting to get the better of the exchanges if not by pure striking accuracy then at least via his level of energy and aggression! And BOOM, Fuhren wins the round and surprise, we’ve got ourselves a hell of a contest going here with one round a piece after the second! Cookie cutter the second round into the third and BAM…suddenly Fuhren is winning this thing and looking good, although one thing I think we all noticed was the lather Fuhren was building up and there was some question over whether he could maintain the pace he’d set for himself in a five round Championship fight unless he was able to finish it at some point! The fourth round…and uh oh…suddenly Christiano seems to be less on the losing end and more on the “strategizing and pacing himself” end of things! Fuhren came out a bit slower to get going and Christiano picked up on that, delivering a good kick and then a nasty jab on the counter. A few more missed shots by Fuhren and it was apparent that Fuhren had used a lot of energy in those first three rounds…leaving him vulnerable to… “Christiano cracks Fuhren with a big right hand that sends him crashing to the floor. Christiano has the opportunity to follow him to the ground but instead he's beckoning Fuhren to stand back up! Fuhren is rocked!” And I think everybody in the arena saw it…Fuhren had come out and put his heart into this fight, but without a finish Christiano now had him where he wanted him as Fuhren was fading and looking gassed…and then… “Fuhren misses with a leg kick and Christiano counters with a huge left! Fuhren is in big trouble! He's backing up but Christiano isn't giving him chance to recover. Under a barage of punches the ref has to step in to save Fuhren from any more damage. A dominating finish by Christiano!” And with that, Juice Fluffer re-enters the cage as the referee has both fighters in the middle of the cage… “Ladies and gentlemen, our referee has called a stop to this contest at one minute and fifty-eight seconds of round number four…” “Declaring the winner…by Technical Knockkkouuuut…ANNNNNNDDDD STILLLLLLL…Sucker Punch Pro Series…UNNNNNDISPUTEDDDDD…Welterweight Champion of the World…Juaaan…’Holy Rollerrrrrr’…CHRIIIIISSSSTIAAAAAANOOOO!!!” Damn Donkey! Fuhren gave us literally everything he had in the tank as he came in here trying to make the dream come alive…but once again, the Champ finds the key and works the magic to keep that belt wrapped around his waist! Christiano puts together another masterful night of work and walks out of there still the champ baby…still on that throne! Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: As I said in the preview, Fuhren’s camp has had over a month to plan for this fight and plan they did! He had this thing going where he wanted it to, but just didn’t have the gas to push it through to the end with the missed clinch attempts taking some of the toll, the body shots from Christiano doing their part and the aggression without finding a finish doing the rest on Fuhren’s part. But you have to commend him for putting it all out there, balls to the wall! Christiano completes his first successful title defense and looks like he could be poised to run this place at Welterweight for a bit! Next month we’ll find out what Ronnie Bass has to say about that! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! A great night of action that saw the favorites in each match coming through for the most part minus a couple fights here or there. Some big surprises, more big finishes and a ton of fun for everybody who showed up at Hard Knocks – Sydney! We’ll be back with you soon in just another day or so as we bring you SPPS 37, so… Till then…don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
actionjackson Posted January 22, 2021 Report Share Posted January 22, 2021 Awesome work Hare as usual! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Therobbsmith Posted January 22, 2021 Report Share Posted January 22, 2021 The Road to Glory - Mason Jones SPPS 38 -Day One- " I know I'm not super famous , I don't have loads of fans around the world screaming my name. I do have loyal fans though , fans that travel from America to Australia to see me compete. The fan's that were writing to me after my first amateur fight are the same ones who cheer me on today." It's 85 degrees today I'm Sydney , Mason Jones is running errands with teammate Brendan Wallace who competed a few days ago. Mason is driving the rented Mercedes Benz , they have a cameraman in the car with them. " We've been here so much that this place feels like home now. Our fight team, we love being in Sydney. We're headed to the market to pick up groceries for the weekend. Mason has to make weight so it's time for the final push." Says Brendan Wallace As they pull into the parking lot and begin to shop both muscular athletes are getting the attention of everyone in the market. As they finish up their shopping the cashier rings them up and the teenage boy bagging the groceries can't focus on his job. Brendan notices the young boy staring at Mason and nudges his friend and whispers " I think you've got a fan here mate." Mason looks over at the boy and the young man turns away quickly. " Do you know who I am ? " asked Mason The boy looked up slowly after placing the bags in the grocery cart and shook his head yes. Mason smiled big and pointed to Wallace. " Do you know who he is?" Asked Mason. The young man slowly and begrudgingly shook his head no. " I… I'm named Mason also… Mason Debarge…" The kid managed to get his name out. " I'm a big fan of yours, your friend must be part of the Savage Krew?!" Mason nodded to him and there was now a bit of an audience forming around them. People began to notice the two men. " When I was sixteen I was bagging groceries in Sacramento, California. I would only work when I wasn't in the gym or competing. Always make time for your craft. When everyone laughs at you , when your own family tells you that your dreams are silly , whatever it is that is trying to get in your way you have to push past it." Says Jones The teenager nods in understanding. People have their phones out now as they realize this rising mma star is giving this young teenager advice. Everyone is taking photos and videos. " I box and kickbox at the local gym. I've been doing that since I was eight. I saw you fight Marichoni live. Been a fan ever since man. I watch all your IG and YouTube videos. I appreciate you giving me some advice. Would you mind taking a picture with me?" Asks the teenager Mason takes the phone from younger Mason and hands it to Brendan. The two Masons squeeze in next to the grocery cart and take a photo. " Kid , you post that on IG and tag me. I want that picture. When you debut in a few years I want to be able to tell people I knew you. We're only five years apart man , grind away and you'll achieve your dreams!!" Jones says with a smile as he and the teenager say goodbye to one another. Mason and Brendan wave to the fans and the older people in the crowd who have no idea who they are. As they pack up the groceries and drive back to their rented home Brendan tells his friend what an example he is for him and the younger generation. " For me Bren it's just about giving people hope. I never had that person that had my back and helped me achieve my goals. You're older than me , you're just starting your mma journey but that doesn't mean you can't succeed. That kid just reminded me of me and to be honest if he blows up and is more successful than I ever could be that would make me happy. I have to encourage people to dream because there was a time in my life where that's all I had was my dreams." Mason said with a smile as they pulled into their home for the week. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted January 22, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 37 Welcome back again Sucker Punch fans! Wow, back to back to back to back events, previews, reviews, etc. it seems! Or at least feels like it! I’m Hare Rumpler and I’ll be joined here in the booth by my pal and analyst Donkey “Dan” this evening. It’s been a wild week of action as tonight will make the third event in eight days for us here at Sucker Punch Pro Series. We’ll keep the show and the fun rolling tonight as we pull into Hard Knocks – Sydney once again tonight, this time for SPPS 37! There are no titles on the line this evening. Just hard fought, crazy action between a whole bunch of rising stars that get the chance to go out there and be great, no overshadowing by any champions scheduled to be in the cage or anything like that! Every single one of these fights has the potential to be THE talk of the town afterward and to create a whole mass of new fans for themselves if they get in there and give it everything they have! Honestly Donkey, I’m just really excited to see what comes out of this this evening, so, why don’t we visit our sponsor for a moment and get into each of these ten upcoming fights a bit more in detail, huh? Our fantastic and respected sponsor is Shadow Warrior Nutrition! Many of you already know them as the providers of Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q., THE energy loss reduction supplements! For those of you who aren’t in the know on that, you should be, because this is the way you keep your fighter training more often and not taking sessions off to try to keep his energy above 90%! If you aren’t using this supplement, hurry over and check them out today, you will not be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Middleweight Sparring Session Alphonso Fontana (0-0-0) vs. Bob Ruthless (1-0-0) First up this evening to get things going for us will be a little one round, three minute sparring bout between two of Laz Staz’s young men! Laz is clearly looking to see what these boys have got once put in the actual cage and taken away from the safety of their gym and will pit 1-0 Bob Ruthless, a just marginally more experienced fighter against Alphonso Fontana tonight! Ruthless may be undefeated in his extremely young career so far, but I would say that Laz wouldn’t mind seeing what happens if he tastes defeat as well. As the infamous Ivan Drago once said, “If he dies, he dies.” What Donkey? That doesn’t apply here? Are you sure? Well, I would say that ‘If he loses, he loses’ probably does though! Fontana is a primarily Muay Thai artist as he comes into MMA and gets his formal training going. Those skills are fairly similar to what Ruthless brings to the cage as well, so I expect these two are just going to dance around for a few minutes and get the hell outa there Donkey. Nothing too exciting to see here, but it’ll certainly keep the place active for a little bit as everybody gets their drinks, chats it up and finds their way into their seats for all the other action this evening! Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Nah. I don’t do picks for sparring bouts but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to be interested in in this fight. And certainly there is for Laz Staz, the manager for these two gentlemen. He’ll be looking to see what kind of intangibles Fontana is bringing with him into the cage tonight. We already know that Ruthless has a solid chin, but if he loses Staz will have a chance to see how he handles that confidence wise. The same goes for Fontana as well. Good luck, hope the regaled granite is bestowed upon Fontana and whichever kid loses barely looks like he even realizes it afterward! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Welterweights Edward Mills (3-5-0) vs. Kissy ONeill (5-8-1) Well Donkey, I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again…and I’ll probably end up saying it quite a few more times in the future. I’m always disappointed when guys come to the cage unprepared and definitely when they arrive THIS unprepared. I’ve also put information out there about how to fix it so many times that there’s really next to no excuse for it at this point. As such, there are two things that our fans can pretty much expect and count on after this fight tonight between ONeill and Mills. The first; Mills will most likely win this fight as ONeill has ZERO morale coming into this thing. The second; ONeill will undoubtedly find himself unemployed after this fight. It’s not just ONeill alone btw, Paul Heyman continues to bring the other three fighters from his stable to their fights outside Sucker Punch with low morale as well. And that’s why their record is what it is. All of them have their tighty whitey default clothes on, and I can’t imagine how threadbare and stinky they are by now. Time to stock up on new clothing, watch the quality so it doesn’t drop below 140 and get that morale back on track! Well, well past time I would say actually. Well, which way are you going Donkey, as if I need to ask…? Donkey’s Pick: Mills via TKO (Strikes) Mills can be a hard hitter, so expect the pickle punch to send ONeill to the mat for a sleep within the first two minutes of this fight as ONeill will likely have zero fight in him tonight. Let’s just hope our boy Mills didn’t indulge in too much ginger “ale” last night! Ha! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Heavyweights Thor Nordquist (4-5-0) vs. Victor Ballsawash (4-4-0) This next Heavyweight bout, our third fight of the evening, will see a somewhat unprepared Ballsawash square up against Thor Nordquist. Nordquist comes into this fight on a three fight losing streak and will likely very much appreciate the advantage he’s being handed headed into this fight as anything to turn the tide is a blessing! He’ll take it! Ballsawash is a little over 30% low on morale and off on energy by just shy of 10% as well. The energy situation may or may not improve before the fight tonight if he’s being rested but the morale will not be fixed by any means at this point. Coming off a TKO loss via strikes to Teixeira he’s going to find himself hard pressed to find a path to victory tonight I’d think given his status coming in. He’s proven he can win both via strikes and submission in the past and now flaunts a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu, so my guess would be that Miles Graves has instructed his boy to come in and work the ground game this evening. Nordquist is not without skills on the ground, with superb wrestling and a purple belt himself. So chances are he’s prepared to handle himself on the mat, at least defensively. His move in the past has been to strike a bit on the feet, but ultimately to try to get into the clinch and then get the fight to the ground where he’ll try to transition quite a bit, strike some and go for the occasional submission. Tonight, he may be well advised to use his remarkable boxing and proficient Muay Thai combined with that wrestling ability to stay on the feet and win it there. Ballsawash only has respectable boxing and almost no Muay Thai training along with competent wrestling, so why go play around with the only area of considerable skill, his Jiu Jitsu? How does this one turn out Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Nordquist via TKO (Strikes) If Nordquist does what he should do tonight, which is adjust his game plan, exploit his advantage on the feet and also capitalize on Ballsawash’s lack of preparation , he should walk out of here with his first ‘W’ in months. That’s if he adjusts. If this goes to the ground, he could end up in some trouble. Maybe not, but that’s probably the only place he could. If Nordquist himself takes this to the ground frankly I won’t know what to say… *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Middleweights Alexei Rodionovich (5-5-0) vs. Craig Kraig (4-2-0) Well Donkey, I’m not really entirely sure what’s going on with this card for tonight but this is now the fourth fight, four for four mind you, where we have at least one fighter coming in less than prepared! This time it will be Kraig as he is about 35% off on morale. To be fair, Rodionovich is also off a bit on his energy, although not badly. I do know this…it’s certainly making your job picking them tonight a bit easier eh? At least from a decision making standpoint. Kraig has a two fight win streak going yet still has low morale likely due to prior losses and still wearing his default clothing. So far it hasn’t held him back here in Sucker Punch and he’s defied the odds continuing to gather wins despite the disadvantage. However, those wins were over Kissy ONeill, who also tends to come unprepared, considerably, and Mills who has struggled of late. Perhaps Kraig can keep the ball rolling, but my guess is that luck will run out as he faces more advanced, prepared competition. That time may be this evening! Kraig likes to work the ground and pound utilizing his remarkable wrestling and blue belt in Jiu Jitsu. The question will be will the wrestling advantage be enough to overcome the morale deficit in a fight with Rodionivich tonight who has respectable wrestling and a blue belt as well? Rodionivich is a balanced fighter across the board and took a Unanimous Decision victory last month in his Sucker Punch debut against Roddy Richards. Rodionivich worked the clinch primarily in that last fight, working heavily with his elbows and knees but also not shying away from the ground action. Will he do the same tonight, and if he does, will he be able to get the job done on the ground against Kraig’s better wrestling? My guess is the better move would be to keep it standing and stick with the clinch where Kraig only has woeful Muay Thai skills. What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Rodionivich via TKO (Strikes) This one could really go either way and I’ll admit I’m only picking Rodionivich here due to the preparation stuff. Other than that, this should be a close one and will come down to who can control where the action takes place. Standing Rodionivich will have the edge. Ground and Kraig gains the advantage. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Welterweights Baldomir Barbosa (5-4-0) vs. Pietro Marchionni (5-5-0) Alright Donkey, well here we go! Finally a couple of fighters who have both come prepared to get into that cage tonight and give it their best go! Marchionni has been bouncing back and forth but lingering around .500 for some time now. He comes into this fight off a loss to Marcus Megnus Maximus Jr. last month, an ‘L’ that he took via submission. While Marchionni does prefer the ground game, specifically the striking aspect of it, he’s opportunistic in his submission attempts simply to keep his opponents honest and has never won via one to date. However, against skilled submission artists, he has fallen to submissions twice, last month and back in June to Malachi Routerhead. Barbosa does have superb wrestling but usually intends to take advantage of it paired with his Muay Thai skills in the clinch. Once he’s got his opponent up close and personal you can expect a heavy does of fists to the head and body! The last thing he’ll want is to mess around with the ground stuff, so this will definitely be a battle to see if he can keep the fight on the feet or not. Well Donkey, have a pick for us in this one…? Donkey’s Pick: Barbosa via TKO (Strikes) If Marchionni’s BJJ game was a bit stronger and if he had shown the ability to finish via both submission as well as strikes previously I’d probably be leaning the other way here. But, that’s not the case and given that Barbosa’s wrestling may be good enough to help him fend off Marchionni on the ground and prevent too much damage. That should give Barbosa opportunities to get it back onto the feet and potentially back into the clinch again. *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Heavyweights Tank Abbott Tribute (6-2-0) vs. Zygmunt Krol (2-2-0) Our Main Card and we finally have a couple fights back to back here where the guys are ready to get in there and let it go! Krol and Tribute are both gassed up, focused and ready which should excite everybody to see the big boys ready to throw down! Krol, formerly with WolfPac…and full disclosure, managed by my own alliance mate Action Jackson…has had his last three fights finished via KO. Unfortunatley, two were by him, and the one two fights back was a loss to Beau Abner. So he has been living and dying by the big finish! In his last fight he was taken into the clinch by Malcom Farquharson who quickly learned that that was a bad, BAD mistake as Krol didn’t just dominate, but destroyed him once in there! The loss to Abner came in short order in that fight, with each fighter having landed about 5-6 shots, those shots clearly coming in with a shit-ton of aggression and power behind each one! Tribute was on a roll in his career as he started off with an impressive six fight streak undefeated. Then, at the end of his Checkmate run he fell in his bid for the belt to Bubba Wallace and then lost the follow-up match with Anton Gardner. At that point he was let go by former manager Proudly Presents and picked up by current manager John Wayne. Tonight will be his debut both here at Sucker Punch and under his new management and an opportunity for a fresh start, still carrying a great record but also getting the opportunity to rebuild a legacy and climb the ladder here at SPPS! His build is EXTREMELY similar to Krol’s and most of his wins were via KO as well. Expect fireworks tonight folks! Well Donkey, a hard-hitting affair in this one you think…? Donkey’s Pick: Krol via KO (Punch) This one is NOT going to make it to a decision. That’s about the only thing I’m able to guarantee our fans tonight. Outside that, my pick is only a reflection of the management change, and not a bad reflection at that, for Tribute. But…picking up a new fighter can sometimes take a fight or two to get your bearings and he’s up against a tough competitor and manager with Action Jackson…in a weight class that Action excels at! This is going to be a serious test of “where do you stand?” for both fighters this evening I think! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Lightweights Ryo Hazuki (0-0-0) vs. Yip Man Iii (7-2-0) Alright Donkey, we’re closing in on the Main Events as we’ve got four fights left to go here tonight! This Lightweight battle will see experienced and successful Yip Man Iii face off against newcomer Ryo Hazuki who will be a bit of an enigma in the cage this evening with no history to go by! Despite the lack of history, we do know that Ryo Hazuki will be the one with the advantage on the ground this evening, at least with his Jiu Jitsu. My guess would be that he’s going to attempt to move the fight to the ground, potentially via the clinch if history for this manager serves at all and the fact that Hazuki has wonderful Muay Thai. Once on the ground, I expect that he’ll be bringing a mix of strikes and submission attempts, so we’re going to see if Yip Man’s equal wrestling, both proficient, but slightly lesser blue belt is enough to fend off this youngster. Yip Man will have a definitive advantage on the feet, specifically boxing and/or kickboxing. His boxing skills are remarkable and he’s won his prior four fights, all with WolfPac before joining us for his debut this evening at Sucker Punch, via KO or TKO. Hazuki can expect a rude welcome as they come together on the feet this evening and will likely want to limit the amount of time he spends facing off with Yip Man vertically! Donkey, a close one tonight…or…? Donkey’s Pick: Man Iii via TKO (Strikes) It’s really very difficult to say if this one will be close, over early, go the distance or whatever this evening. There are so many unknowns surrounding Hazuki at this point, but we’ll certainly learn a ton in this fight! We don’t know…he could have a granite chin…or, he could like comics! He could have some serious power in those hands…or, he could bleed like a gutted pig! We just don’t know. We also don’t know what his confidence is like given any prior losses. For all those reasons, I’m going with the more experienced fighter with my pick. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Featherweights Jake Drake (7-1-0) vs. Jean Jacque Custo (3-4-0) Getting there Donkey! Our last fight before the Main Events here and I have to say, J W Hardman will be one busy man down cage side this evening as this will be back to back fights for his boys. He’s the manager for Jake Drake and also manages Yip Man Iii from our last fight. This is a very big matchup for the Featherweight division this evening as there are big things on the line for both of these kids! First, Drake is on the verge of Top Contender status and should he win this evening he’ll move to 8-1, have a three fight win streak going and be able to claim only to have ever lost a decision, not a finish, but a decision to Luke Skywalker who just fought in a title fight this month! So, yes, if Drake wins, he’ll be looking forward to a date with Destin Craven to determine Top Contender status! For Custo, he’s won three of his five fights here at Sucker Punch and continues to improve each time he goes into the cage, showing an evolution of his skills and a continuing to grow. Last month he came out and put up a surprising and impressive submission on Alex Kozlovski via Anaconda Choke that procured ‘Submission of the Night’ honors for him. His exceptional wrestling and purple belt will definitely be tested this evening as he faces off against another ground specialist in Drake, who is not shy about his intentions and love of beating the pulp out of guys on the ground! A win here would be huge for Custo and move him solidly up into the Top 10 and only steps away from the discussion of Contention. How about this matchup Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Drake via TKO (Strikes) These two are evenly matched for the most part, with Custo having the better boxing but Drake the better Muay Thai. None of that will likely come into play though outside the striking ability for Drake as this fight is likely to be on the ground in short order and you can take your pick as to who puts it on the mat! Once on the ground, Custo has the better wrestling by more than a little while Drake has the much better Jiu Jitsu with a black belt over Custo’s purple. One of these two will have to break this evening…this one does NOT go the distance. Who breaks? Well, I’m taking the guy with the better record so far, but his is one that you can have some fun betting on with your friends folks! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Middleweights Joseph DeAngelo (7-2-0) vs. Sirus Hall (6-5-0) I have to tell you Donkey, when I made this fight I was super excited about it! Why? Because we have two brand new members of Sucker Punch both making their debut this evening, both come in with a bunch of experience, hype and popularity and both are just about the same in terms registration ID, skill totals, etc. Having two new kids come in and get exposed as part of our Main Events of the evening is awesome and immediately gets them noticed by the fan base! But… …unfortunately Sirus Hall isn’t as focused on this fight as you’d have hoped for him to be. His manager has allowed him to come to Sydney this evening down over 30% on his morale which means I know right away how Donkey’s going to pick on this one! Hall has a history of two things…hitting hard when standing and going for the submission once it hits the ground. His skill sets are set up to help him with both of those with strong boxing, proficient wrestling and a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu. When he can’t finish the fight via one of those methods though, he does have a tendency to lose if the fight goes the distance as his counter-power style approach doesn’t lend itself to a ton of activity and point scoring with the judges. DeAngelo has lost his two prior fights as he heads into the cage for the first time tonight as part of our promotion. Once via TKO two fights back as he finally gave up the Welterweight belt at Wolfpac after a long run of success holding it. Then last month on Christmas he was submitted by Marco Paris which is surprising given DeAngelo has respectable wrestling and a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. It took a guy, Paris, with sensational wrestling and a brown belt to pull that one off against him though. Clearly I would normally say that the ground game is an advantage for DeAngelo this evening against Hall but he’s never used the ground to go for a submission or the win. Also surprising is that DeAngelo has wonderful Muah Thai…yet he almost never takes it into the clinch, instead preferring a style that Sirus Hall may like by standing and going toe to toe, mano a mano, fist to fist! Donkey’s Pick: DeAngelo via TKO (Strikes) I think this one is going to turn into a hell of a slobber knocker…and quite frankly could give us a strong candidate for KO of the Night honors this evening! Who will be the one putting up that highlight reel finish is for you to decide! I’m going to go with DeAngelo here simply due to a more consistent record, the full preparation for DeAngelo and lack of it from Hall. Also, I’m making the assumption that if it goes to the ground DeAngelo’s got the defense to prevent himself from being finished there. On the feet I will not be surprised if it swings either way. Get it, swings? Yeah, there’s going to be a lot of that this evening in this bout! Sorry folks, I channeled my inner Hare there for a moment with that bad joke. *********************** Main Event: Featured Welterweights Lors Loria (6-3-0) vs. Kahdi Mandinos (7-4-0) Our Main Event will not be a title fight for a change! Instead, it will be a classic battle of grappler versus striker, strategist versus aggressor, submissions versus punches! I’m only a little disappointed that both of these kids are between 5-10% off in all areas of preparation, morale and energy for both. Being they are both off by about the same amount it won’t factor in really. But you like to see a full head of steam by both fighters in the Main Event! Mandinos will be your ground and submission artist of the evening. He was on the fast track up until last month to potential Top Contender status in the Welterweight division until he ran into 4-0 at the time Mason Jones. That turned into a rare TKO finish in favor of Jones and derailed Mandinos’ plans and progression up to the top. He’s still won six of his last eight fights though, all via submission barring one very strange and fun TKO via a Slam over Marchionni, and easily has it in him to bounce back and start right back up the mountain again! Tonight is a big test to see if he can do just that. Loria made his debut with Sucker Punch last month after coming in with a 6-2 record and a win in his prior fight before he joined us. Now, he has had some growing pains over his last five fights as he changed management from Axl Lors, his former manager, to Tricky Smith. Since that change he’s been bouncing like a yo-yo between wins and losses with a ‘L,W,L,W,L’ streak going into this fight. This man lives and dies by the KO or TKO, dishing out TKO’s in almost all of his wins but also having been stopped via KO in his past two losses. He’ll come into this tonight planning to try to get the finish as quickly as possible, using those bruisers he calls fists to try to get the job done. He has remarkable boxing, strong Muay Thai and respectable wrestling, so he can handle himself very well on the feet…but a blue belt in Jiu Jitsu and if he lets this fight get to the ground tonight his defense against submissions will absolutely be tested by Mandinos! Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Mandinos via Submission (Kimura) Mandinos is going to be hungry after finding himself so darned close to a potential title shot. And he’s not too far gone from that opportunity that he can’t regain his status! But he needs a win here and should be hungry for it! If he’s not, well, then he probably doesn’t deserve it. Loria has all the tools to finish this thing before it can ever get to the ground. But some inconsistency under new management shows that he’s still fine tuning and working some things out in his tactics and approach and that little bit of delay getting the job done may give Mandinos the opportunity to get it onto the mat. And once it’s there, this could be trouble for Loria. A great battle of opposing styles tonight! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! A big night of fun without any titles on the line but still plenty to get amped up about! We’ll see you over at Hard Knocks – Sydney in just about 10 hours from now as we get all set for the event and hope to see a crazy batch of 3,000 nutso Sucker Punch fans there along with us! So… Till then…don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfuhrer Posted January 23, 2021 Report Share Posted January 23, 2021 The true main event the return of the Saber Tooth Tiger Mr.Pickle Punch Edward Mills. These are trying times and Edward will rid Sucker Punch of germs no Kissy Kissy when the Pickle Punch lands haha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted January 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2021 POST EVENT CHEAP SHOTS Sucker Punch Pro Series 37 Hey everybody out there in Sucker Punch land, I’m Hare Rumpler and I’m all set to take a look back at our action earlier this weekend at Sucker Punch Pro Series 37 over at Hard Knocks – Sydney! As always, I’ll be joined here in the booth by my pal and analyst Donkey “Dan” as we run through all the action, see how things turned out and Donkey will let us know how this affects the guys going forward. We also have Suzy Sucker Punch, our fantastic media correspondent, with us again this evening as several of our fighters and managers have had things to say following these fights! A bit of a down event ratings wise, especially for a weekend, which was probably indicative of the lack of prep by quite a few of the fighters in the early bouts. It was also a result of no title on the line as well, to be fair. However, the up side for our fans was that there were quite a few good (T)KO finishes and only two Decisions on the night! Due to the lack of prep for a few guys, we did set a few folks free after this event, which is only fair considering the impact and the relative lack of success coming from their camps. We’ll probably continue to do that over the next month as we cull out some of the less prepared fighters and strengthen the divisions overall. Now, with all that said, let’s visit our sponsor and merchandise for a few words and get into each of these ten results in a bit more in detail! Shadow Warrior Nutrition was on hand at the event last night and I cannot say enough about how much we appreciate having them as our merchandise partner and sponsor here at Sucker Punch! Do yourself a favor…better yet, do your fighters who you spend so much time developing and preparing a favor…and stop by the stand next time or visit them in game to grab some of their Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q. It is literally the best energy loss reduction supplement money can buy and will keep your fighter in the gym training rather than sitting days out resting! Stop on over there today, you will NOT be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Middleweight Sparring Session Alphonso Fontana Defeats Bob Ruthless via Unanimous Decision Clearly Laz gave his boys in this little sparring bout clear instructions; Go out there and roll around a bit, no serious striking and no damage or injuries, only submission attempts allowed! And they followed those orders, going to the ground right away and getting in about a dozen sub attempts between them over three minutes. This thing really wasn’t about who could win or lose outside seeing what the morale drop would be for the loser. It was just about checking any intangibles for Fontana and maybe seeing what Ruthless would do with a loss. Laz got to see both of those things as Fontana came out on top. Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Fontana came away from this showing he has a big heart but in a camp full of superstars like Laz’s that just isn’t enough! He finds himself on the market looking for new management today. For Ruthless, only about 16% of his morale lost with the defeat and with that, Laz has a new permanent boy in his stable! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Middleweights Edward Mills Defeats Kissy ONeill via TKO (Strikes) Well Donkey, in the preview you said, “Mills can be a hard hitter, so expect the pickle punch to send ONeill to the mat for a sleep within the first two minutes of this fight as ONeill will likely have zero fight in him tonight.” Well, I think two minutes may have been a bit generous as Mills went into this fight and tried to one-up his own record which he shares with Longsun Zhao! Seventeen seconds is all it took but he already holds the record at five seconds! ONeill actually offered up two combo attempts in this before being downed by Mills’ and his eye of the tiger…er, Saber Tooth tiger that is! With zero morale coming in, Kissy never really had a shot in this one. Donkey’s Takeaways: Mills gets a quick, fun win in this one and now can get right back to training zero lost time due to any fatigue. ONeill has seen his last fight here at Sucker Punch as three losses in a row is one thing, but when those losses mostly come due to lack of preparation it’s almost unforgivable. But when the lack of preparation is as egregious as it was for ONeill? Well, it’s time to go. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Heavyweights Thor Nordquist Defeats Victor Ballsawash via KO (Punch) Coming into this Heavyweight bout we mentioned that Nordquist had not had a win in months and that with Ballsawash stepping into the cage lacking full preparation it was a perfect opportunity to change up the fortunes. Well, Nordquist wasn’t going to waste any time or leave anything to chance in this one! The bell rang, and he dropped Ballsawash like a bad habit… “The bell rings for round one and we are underway! Nordquist lands a big shot that drops Ballsawash!” After Nordquist followed Ballsawash to the ground for just a few moments, likely letting emotion get the best of him there, he got his wits about him and stood back up…and then he was back on the attack…! “Both fighters step back and shake their arms out. Nordquist engages and cracks Ballsawash with a massive lead left hook - Ballsawash tumbles to the floor, out cold! What a shot! Nordquist is delighted - all that hard work in training paid off!” And that was all she wrote Donkey, eh…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Not only was that all she wrote but Nordquist also set the record for Fastest KO by a Heavyweight with this performance I believe. It looks as if the prior record was held by Callum Neenan (00' 28" – KO via Punches, 2020-09-16) and if we confirm that to be correct Nordquist will be the new record holder! The fans loved the brutal, fast finish in this one and gave it a standing ovation! Now, the Lundgren camp has been turning things around of late and this is just another example. If they can keep the momentum these kids may start becoming a force within Sucker Punch! Ballsawash has fallen off since his four fight winning streak he was on from July to October and needs to find his way back into the win column. He and his camp will need to take a hard look at what adjustments need to be made before next month. Suzy Sucker Punch: I’m cage side with both Thor and Lundgren team rep Mr. Takahashi. Guys, thanks for stopping over for a few moments, I know you’d rather get back to the lockers and get ready for dinner, packing and your flights. Thor, this was a big win tonight. Your camp had been struggling to finish out the year but come the New Year things seem to have turned around. Did you feel good heading into this fight and have you done anything differently in preparation heading into this? Thor Nordquist: Stepping into the ring tonight I knew I had this one in the bag. My opponent looked like he'd rather be counting rocks and wasn't ready for what's coming out of Team Lundgren in the coming months. Ever seen Rocky 4? We're doing both sides of the training! Mattias has us running up the Adirondacks daily and we're living on nothing but raw beef and eggs and a little bit of Crow's milk, aka rocket fuel. Then in the evenings Mattias has a team of Swiss and Russian trainers give us a few of those Iron Wolf Discount Supplements and we're ready to go with the heavy bags and weights into the night. As it is I've slept 4 hours in the last 6 days and I feel phenomenal! Suzy Sucker Punch: Wow, that’s absolutely amazing and it sounds like a complete and holistic program has been put into place for Team Lungren! So you feel this is what’s making the difference as well for the team Mr. Takahashi? Mr. Takahashi: Thor is the god of Thunder, and this Thor has his hammer in that fist. Did you see that knock out! Look at his arms they're like small tree trunks! After him and Longsun Zhao's record shattering KO last time we may have to change the name from Team Lundgren to the KO Killer's, K.O.K for short, yeah I like the sound of that! Suzy Sucker Punch: Well if things keep going this way you may get that moniker from the rest of the org as well! Thanks again for stopping in and having a few words with me for the fans out there guys! *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Middleweights Craig Kraig Defeats Alexei Rodionovich via TKO (Strikes) Well, nobody’s perfect and you got one wrong here Donkey when you picked Rodionovich to finish this via TKO. Instead, Kraig decided he’d take those honors and walk out of the cage with the W in this contest. Rodionovich was dominating this fight, specifically from the clinch. Rodionovich scored a ton of points with the judges using his elbows and knees effectively. He easily won the first and second rounds and looked to be on his way to a big win by taking the third as well. Kraig was in desperation mode most of the fight to get it to the ground. Although Kraig was able to get it to the ground several times Rodionovich was doing a nice job improving position and fending off the worst of Kraig’s striking and offense when down there. It wasn’t until towards the end of the third minute of action in the final round that Kraig was able to force it to the ground again and really get some nice shots in that did damage. Using an arm triangle submission attempt as a distraction Kraig opened up opportunities and started landing some brutal shots. With both fighters just about gassed out Rodionovich let a couple key shots sneak through and then…out of nowhere with just three seconds left…the tide turned completely… “Kraig landing strikes. Rodionovich takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better. Rodionovich is rocked! A big shot lands for Kraig! That's hurt Rodionovich! Will he recover? Kraig fires away with more strikes and the referee has to step in to stop the fight!” Well Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: This one has to sting a bit for Rodionovich as he was literally seconds away from a dominating Unanimous Decision victory. But the fight isn’t over until that last bell rings out and you have to stay focused until the very end! Kraig picked things up in desperation knowing he needed the finish and managed to get things done with a burst of aggression and some well-timed shots from above! A ‘never say die’ attitude allowed him to bounce back and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Rodionovich will seek to get his record back to .500 overall next month as well as getting ahead and improving on his 1-1 record now with Sucker Punch. Kraig manages to string three together here and is now set to start being challenged a bit more, but he definitely needs to come more prepared or the losses will start to appear going forward. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Welterweights Baldomir Barbosa Defeats Pietro Marchionni via KO (Punch) Barbosa took his cues from the other fights that had happened so far this evening, barring the one just before this, and made short work of things leaving plenty of time for the fans to get to the beer gardens and fill up before the evening got too far in and last call was heard! Barbosa intended to get this thing into the clinch but Marchionni wouldn’t allow it…probably something Marchionni now regrets as maybe that would have been the lesser of the possible dangers in this fight! Instead Marchionni offered a couple strikes but Barbosa was ready defensively and prepared to counter. Not wanting to be outdone by the others this evening, Barbosa went for the kill without too much delay… “Barbosa lands a big right hand that sends Marchionni crashing to the mat! Barbosa stays standing though and waves Marchionni back to his feet! Marchionni is rocked! Marchionni is holding his hands too far apart here. Barbosa throws a hard, straight punch right down the pipe and BOOM! Marchionni is out! That punch landed square on the jaw - what a shot!” Well Donkey, lights out, but Barbosa’s star definitely rising…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Marchionni takes another loss which makes two in a row and four of his last five. He’s definitely going to want to be super focused on what pieces of his offense he wants to enhance over the coming month…and which pieces of his defense might need to be bolstered as well. Barbosa bounces back from a loss to Ronnie Bass, a right that could have put him on the spot for Top Contender consideration had he won. Instead, he takes this opportunity to fine tune his striking and offense and now sneaks out with plenty of energy to get right back into the gym and ramping up for next month! With five wins out of his last seven fights, Barbosa is on the fast track to being considered for Top Contendership in the Welterweight division. *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Heavyweights Zygmunt Krol Defeats Tank Abbott Tribute via Unanimous Decision “This one is NOT going to make it to a decision. That’s about the only thing I’m able to guarantee our fans tonight.” That’s what you said in the preview Donkey and quite frankly, I’m not sure any of us can really trust anything you have to say from this point forward! Making wild guarantees that you can’t back up…dang, the fans deserve better! Haha! This one did look like it was ready made to be a finish by one fighter or the other, but that obviously did not come to pass with this thing going the distance! With the action fairly consistent through three rounds of this fight there were several things that stood out. The first being that Krol and Tribute were fairly even with their boxing, both rather active and landing close to the same amount of shots both to the head and body, perhaps with Krol gaining the body advantage. The second was that Krol was the sole fighter to use his feet as well, mixing some kickboxing into things and really using that angle to score the difference with the judges as he was consistent with his shots to the legs and body. The other aspect that stood out in this fight, and it’s going to be something for Tribute and his team to keep an eye on, were the cuts that Tribute took. This thing went the distance but I think most of us were wondering if it would get there because he took a cut in the first round, had that cut aggravated and made worse a couple times in the second and then in the third we thought it was going to get stopped… “Jeez, Tank Abbott Tribute's cut is really nasty now. The referee must be thinking about getting that checked.” The fight made it to the bell without the resident doc being called in but it very well could have ended via TKO (Cuts) just as well. Well Donkey, what else do you have…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Tribute’s team did a heck of a job game planning for this fight and Tribute himself fared really well in this one, barring the cuts. There were rumblings at the end that Tribute may be considering a move to Light Heavyweight, so we’ll have to see if that comes to pass and if he puts in a formal request with the Sucker Punch front office. I can’t stress enough how he’s going to have to watch and plan for those cuts though, as he was stopped three fights ago via Cuts and they clearly became a factor in this one. He may have a granite chin, but clearly those cuts are lurking also. Krol make this two in a row and shows that he can win by going the distance, the first time he’s done that. Now above .500 with his professional record it’s all about stringing those W’s together and making a run to the top of this Heavyweight division! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Lightweights Yip Man Iii Defeats Ryo Hazuki via TKO (Strikes) We thought that Hazuki might go for the clinch a bit in this fight and try to work takedowns from there. We were wrong, although if the fight had lasted longer who knows! Instead he went for the takedowns straight standing and was successful twice. Yip was up to the task though having clearly prepared for the ground game and was able to get back to the feet both times and avoid danger with the one submission attempt that Hazuki attempted. We knew that on the feet Yip would have the advantage over Hazuki and with Hazuki unable to dictate the fight and keep it on the ground Yip gained the advantage each time they were back to striking. Yip didn’t have to land a lot of strikes, either bringing a bit of heat on his shots or perhaps taking advantage of Hazuki’s lack of defense and/or chin as with only eight shots landed, and just a little over two minutes into this one… “Man Iii tests Hazuki's chin there with a solid looking shot. Man Iii drops Hazuki with a huge uppercut! Hazuki drops to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Man Iii is raining down punches and the ref stops the fight! This one is all over!” Donkey, not the close one we thought it might be huh…? Donkey’s Takeaways: No, nor did we learn as much as we were hoping to about Hazuki! He showed that he’s very quick in this one, but that simply means that his trainers have been working with him on his physicals and anything else is now tucked away for safekeeping. We do know that he probably doesn’t have a granite chin or knockout power, or those likely would have shown through. Yip Man Iii gets his first win with Sucker Punch, extending his overall winning streak to five in a row now! Impressive. With another win or so he’ll be able to make a strong cage for Top Contender consideration in what is starting to turn into a very, very talented and competitive division here at Lightweight. Suzy Sucker Punch: Well I’m cage side again this evening and once again Mr. Takahashi, representative for Team Lundgren, has joined me. This time we’re with Ryo Hakuki from the team who steps out of the cage after what is certainly a disappointing loss for Ryo and the team. Ryo, with this being your first fight with Sucker Punch I’m sure there may have been some jitters or uncertainty going into tonight. What can you tell our, and your, fans out there about the fight? Ryo Hazuki: I'm disappointed in the outcome of this one. I knew going in my opponent was a strong competitor and maybe I let that get in my head but I'm proud of what I did and I'll do better next time, though it's going to take a few days to shake off this headache before I get back in the gym. Great job Yip! Can't wait for the rematch. Mr. Takahashi: Ah Ryo is one of Mattias's chosen Jitsu Jogging Junkies, fresh off the boat you guys will see some stuff come out of him soon can't always win on your first try but let Mattias's own record (10-1 as of today with 8 submissions) show we're a full-fledged multi-faceted team that knows what they're doing with both powerful strikers like Longsun and Thor, expert submission specialists like Bjorn Akerfeldt and Mattias himself, and handsome dapper charming managers like yours truly. It's been a slump but a whole group of trainers are really focusing in and finding what makes our great fighters greaterer and these coming months will show that. Suzy Sucker Punch: Mr. Takahashi, once again I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to join us and making the guys on the team accessible to us. It’s easy to talk to us after a win, but tougher after a loss and Ryo here certainly has shown his confidence and resilience to step up and still come speak for the fans! Take care and have a great trip home guys! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Featherweights Jake Drake versus Jean Jacque Custo ruled A Draw All I’m going to say is…WTF!...Donkey. Seriously. Look man, I’m not going to go out here tonight and try to convince the audience that this was something it wasn’t. No, I will not sit here and try to polish a turd! And that’s what this was! This was by far…no holds barred…the worst fight in Sucker Punch history. Yep, I said it! Three rounds, fifteen minutes of our lives we’ll never get back as we watched these two controlling, trying to transition and…if not for Drake…almost not striking at all. Hell, Custo never landed a SINGLE strike in this fight…nor attempted a submission…not once! Drake at least attempted to work the ground and pound, landing five strikes and clearly attempting to be sure he didn’t give up the advantage by being too aggressive. But let me ask you this Donkey…how…by the love of God…HOW…can you get a draw out of a fight where you never mounted a sniff of offense?!? Yeah, so Custo got a takedown in this. Ok…and yet, the judges saw it in their minds to somehow pick in his favor for the third round? And some of them even gave him the first? I’ll tell you right now I’m going to see what rules are in place and whether I can fire these bastards as soon as we get out of here! How about that crap Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Here’s the thing though Hare, if Drake had thrown a single punch or strike in the third round we wouldn’t be talking about a draw. He’d have won the round and this thing would be his easily. But Custo got the takedown in the third, and then they spent the entire round wiggling around on each other. So Custo gets that one. The real crime here was how in the hell Bruno Hogan can look himself in the mirror and justify having given the first to Custo after Drake got the takedown and landed at least the elbow, tried for other shots and went for the submission in that round. He was clearly the more aggressive fighter in that first round and scored shots. Almost as bad is that Skip Squint, who must do a lot of that, called it a 10-10 round. Suzy Sucker Punch: I’m here with J. W. Hardman, manager for both Jake Drake as well as Yip Man Iii in the fight prior to this. J.W., I don’t think it’s unfair to say that that fight was a little underwhelming. Would you agree and what do you take away from it for your fighters tonight? J. W. Hardman: I'm fucking beside myself over that fight Suzy. That was the most lame ass fight I think I've ever watched. And a fucking Draw? I mean…wtf…Custo had not a single offensive strike. Landed one takedown to Drake's two. And Drake got in 5 GnP strikes. Anyway, we probably should have told him to focus on his accuracy and get a bit more work in. But the judges you guys had on that card need to be fired…all of them. That was horse shit. Wait, no…cat shit. Cat shit stinks the worst and that fight was a fucking stinker. Unbelievable. Suzy Sucker Punch: J.W., maybe we should have Hare fire both of them for putting on such a bad show, what do you say? *laughs* J. W. Hardman: Nah, but I do think we should take them both out back and kick their asses for it as punishment. Tell you what, I'll make sure my kid Drake knows what’s up and you take Custo. I'm pretty sure you can whoop him! Suzy Sucker Punch: *gives J. W. a playful punch on the shoulder* About time I get to have some of the fun! Thanks for stopping over to chat J. W. and best of luck with the training when these guys get back to camp! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Middleweights Joseph DeAngelo Defeats Sirus Hall via TKO (Strikes) We thought this one might turn into an all-out brawl on the feet with these two going at it. Instead, Hall tried and got the takedown early clearly liking his chances on the ground…and likely with a possible submission intended…better than standing and going toe to toe. Unfortunately for him, DeAngelo was able to escape right back to the feet in only a moment or two and from there it became apparent that there was good reason for Hall not to want to stand and throw with DeAngelo! Hall landed his shots, not counting combinations, on the feet well. The downside is he wasn’t overly aggressive and DeAngelo was prepared to outwork him in a big way, coming at him hard and heavy for the full three minutes or so they went at it! Head punches were raining in on Hall with about half of them finding their mark and the occasional body shot thrown in to get his guard down. Hall was cut just before the two minute mark and just after the three minute mark DeAngelo was able to put the finishing touches on things…literally… “That's three minutes gone in the round. DeAngelo walks forward and throws a big overhand right! Hall drops to the floor like a sack of potatoes! DeAngelo swarms on him with more punches until the referee wrestles him away from Hall's unconscious body! Wow, that was brutal!” Donkey’s Takeaways: I suspected that DeAngelo might have the defense to handle himself on the ground and sure enough he was back off the mat about as fast as he got there! That left Hall at his mercy while standing and while Hall’s shots found their mark there just weren’t enough of them. He takes the ‘L’ as he opens his run here at Sucker Punch but overall maintains a .500 record at 6-6. Let’s see how well he bounces back next month! For DeAngelo another win moves him to 8-2 and brushes off the two fight losing streak he’d developed before leaving WolfPac. He also moved up to Middleweight upon joining us and will have the chance to prove he’s one of the best in the division of the next couple months as he climbs up the ladder and attempts to show us why he was the champ over at Wolfpac with four successful title defenses! *********************** Main Event: Featured Welterweights Kahdi Mandinos Defeats Lors Loria via Submission (Armbar) Our Main Event saw Mandinos coming in looking to rebound from a loss to Mason Jones and being turned around on his trip up the ladder into Top Contender status. The first minute of this fight looked like Loria was going to make good on our statement in the preview that, “…lives and dies by the KO or TKO, dishing out TKO’s in almost all of his wins…” He took Mandinos into the clinch early and managed to draw first blood with a nasty elbow just before the minute mark in this contest. Mandinos clearly did not enjoy being in the clinch, dodging and trying to block shots but occasionally still taking them from Loria over the next minute. He wanted the fight on the ground, tried to put it there on a couple tries and then on the third finally managed to drag it down and end up in Loria’s guard. Once on the ground this fight and the advantages in it completely flip-flopped. Loria was now the one on the defensive, both blocking and guarding from shots that Mandinos was willing to dish out from above as well as trying to protect himself from being subbed out. He managed to get a reversal to put himself on top, which was a great way to remove half the threat the ground and pound was nullified, but that didn’t stop Mandinos from throwing the book at him with submissions, trying for an armbar, a kimura, a guillotine and then finally… “Mandinos pushes a forearm under Loria's chin to create some space. He's escaped his hips and pivoted quickly for an armbar! Can he extend the arm? Yes, Loria is tapping out! Damn, that was fast!” Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Loria moves to 0-2 at Sucker Punch with this second loss in a row and will be looking to get with his manager, Tricky Smith, and his trainers to modify their plan, work on some key skills and come back next month ready to get their first win with us and move to 7-4. He had this fight where he wanted it early with Mandinos, but just wasn’t able to maintain the advantage and once it went to the ground his lesser skills there were exposed. For Mandinos, a win that helps him get back on his horse and working to move back into contention again. He’ll be truly tested next month to see if he’s ready to be considered still “right there” or not. He’ll have a big month of training and preparation to ensure he can string some wins together again! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! A lot of fun was had by all over at Hard Knocks – Sydney the other night and while the event rating may not have shown it, the action was intense and the fans were appreciative. Minus that Drake/Custo fight of course, haha. These fights really helped define quite a few of the middle ladder standings in some of the divisions and that sets us up for some great events going forward! Can’t wait to share them all with our fans and we’ll get started right away as we have yet another mid-week card coming up with SPPS 38 on the 27th in just a couple more days! Till then…don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Therobbsmith Posted January 25, 2021 Report Share Posted January 25, 2021 The Road to Glory Mason Jones SPPS 38 Twenty Four hours before his fight with John Fuller the 21 year old Mason Jones is about to step on the scales to be weighed in. The room is well lit and filled with SPPS employees as well as media and members of the athletic commission. Jones peels off his Savage Fightwear shirt and shorts and stands in his underwear momentarily. As he is called he steps up and into the scales. " 170 for Jones …" says the man working the scales. Jones flexes for thirty seconds as the flash bulbs flicker. He steps down and puts his clothes back on. He steps over to his fight team and is handed some pedialyte. It's time to rehydrate. A few hours go by as Mason and the Savage Krew have been to breakfast and lunch as well as a run to keep busy. He is feeling good and ready to go as the ceremonial weigh ins take place soon. Mason gets on the charter bus with his team, they drive from the hotel back to Hard Knocks Arena. As they get out of the bus in the arena parking lot Mason sees his opponent John Fuller getting out of the second charter bus. As the team is looking around Jones and his team see another familiar face , teammate Sean Smith. " What the hell man?" Exclaimed Jones His coach smiles big as he knew all along Sean was making the trip. Smith has eyes on the Middleweight title fight as he is set to compete with the winner. " Sucker Punch flew me out to be here for that Beam versus McGuire fight. I figured hell if I get a private plane and get to hang with my boys why not?!" Says Smith The Savage Krew headed inside the arena and sat around waiting for the ceremonial weigh-ins to begin. Smith spent his free time eyeballing Jim Beam who was about fifteen feet away. Mason Jones however was relaxed. Mason sat listening to music through his headphones. When his time was up his coach tapped him on the knee. " His opponent representing The Savage Krew , from Sacramento, California he is Mason Jonesssssss!!!!" Jones walks up on the stage focused, fans were screaming and cheering him on. Jones pulled the headphones down around his neck and tossed a few Savage Fightwear shirts into the crowd. Jones locked eyes with Fuller and never looked away the entire time he stepped on the scales. As they announced his weight to the crowd Jones flexed and finally turned away from Fuller and turned to SPPS Owner Hare and said " That's One Seven Zero … CHAMPIONSHIP WEIGHT!!" The fans went crazy as Mason stepped in close to Fuller. Fuller had his hands up but Mason didn't. Jones had his hands behind his back and stuck his chin out to fuller who's fists for closer to Mason's chin. Jones smiled and winked at Fuller. Before he was pulled away Mason blew John a kiss. " Good Luck trying to take me down and use that GnP. I'm taking your chin back to Cali with me." Says Mason as he backs away from his opponent. The fans going crazy for what should be a sleeper fight of the night contender. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleakardor Posted January 25, 2021 Report Share Posted January 25, 2021 Drake's been taken care of, Suzy. Hope you've made good on your end. Drake showed a little too much respect to his opponents ground game, and underestimated to lack of competence in the judges. I've told all of my guys to not leave a fight in the judges hands, so that's on his dumb ass. He said he'd get the finish in the rematch, should that come to be. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForwardPressure Posted January 26, 2021 Report Share Posted January 26, 2021 Thanks for everything you do to make this organization - and Tycoon - fun, Hare. We appreciate you. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Therobbsmith Posted January 26, 2021 Report Share Posted January 26, 2021 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted January 26, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2021 1 hour ago, Therobbsmith said: . Ok, we're going to have to ask you not to be so talkative. Blah blah blah blah blah! LOL!!! ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Therobbsmith Posted January 26, 2021 Report Share Posted January 26, 2021 Tried uploading a photo pre fight. Didn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornmma1 Posted January 26, 2021 Report Share Posted January 26, 2021 2 hours ago, Therobbsmith said: Tried uploading a photo pre fight. Didn't work. The issue has been reported to Mike already numerous times, but nothing has been done about it unfortunately. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted January 27, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2021 7 hours ago, bjornmma1 said: The issue has been reported to Mike already numerous times, but nothing has been done about it unfortunately. Best way is to use the "insert image from URL" option either after grabbing the image URL from on the web already or hosting it yourself on something like imgbb. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted January 27, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 38 Hello out there all you Sucker Punch fans! I’m Hare Rumpler and I’ll be joined here in the booth by my pal and analyst Donkey “Dan” this evening. And boy do we have a wild and crazy one lined up for you folks with a ton of excitement behind it tonight! Hell, you know it’s going to be interesting when we have a Middleweight Title on the line and yet it’s still only the Co-Main Event of the evening! Instead, the much anticipated rematch between former longtime Middleweight Champion, Wanderson Machado, and the man who unseated him, Nyah Hirst, is on the table as the Main Event with both of these men on a mission to get back to the top of the mountain! On top of that bag of fun, we also have Suzy Sucker Punch with us this evening as a long line of managers and fighters have queued up to speak with her, and our fans, out tonight’s event and their thoughts on things! That right there tells you how invested the Sucker Punch org is in this card tonight with an insane amount of activity and talk being generated around it! And if that’s not enough? Well, then we’ve also got a hugely hyped Lightweight fight between Maximus Furioto and Ramon Rabbit coming at you as well as a Top Contender battle between Light Heavyweights John Doe and Dolph Lindgren which will earn one of the two a title shot in February against the very accomplished, very scary Jacob Parker who sits watching and waiting! Literally every fight on this card means something big, to one degree or another, for the fighters stepping into the cage this evening. I’m loving it Donkey! So let’s visit our sponsor and merchandise partner for a few words and then scurry off into the good stuff, the details on each of these great fights! Our fantastic and respected sponsor is Shadow Warrior Nutrition! Many of you already know them as the providers of Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q., THE energy loss reduction supplements! For those of you who aren’t in the know on that, you should be, because this is the way you keep your fighter training more often and not taking sessions off to try to keep his energy above 90%! If you aren’t using this supplement, hurry over and check them out today, you will not be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Lightweight Sparring Session Raimundo Forza (0-0-0) vs. Kazuhiro Yonenaga (0-0-0) First up this evening to get things going for us will be a little one round, three minute sparring bout between two of Laz Staz’s young men! Wait…hold up, did I make a mistake and look at the wrong event here? No…no…I’m on the correct one…ok, well, I guess we’re going to kick things off exactly as we did for our last event! With two of Laz’s young kids going at it again! Just like last time, he’s looking to see what these boys have got once put in the actual cage and taken away from the safety of their gym. This time around both kids have zero experience and will come in with clean records, goose eggs across the board! What is a little different this time is the fundamentals each of these kids carried with them as they started their professional training in MMA. Forza has some Jiu Jitsu in his background while Yonenaga is already somewhat skilled in Muay Thai. I don’t expect any of that to be overly relevant this evening as both will come in and just go at it lightly, trying to avoid injury and simply show something to their new master! Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Nah. Again, I don’t do picks for sparring bouts but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to be interested in in this fight. Laz will be looking to see what kind of intangibles each bring to the table and for the one who loses Staz will have a chance to see how he handles that confidence wise. All of this will be an important step in the testing and vetting process for these two prospects whom may be destined for the AWC tournament and future glory! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Heavyweights Anton Meshkov (3-3-0) vs. Brutus Ryker (1-4-0) Donkey, we’ve got a fun little situation here in this Heavyweight matchup! “What might that be?” you ask. Well, first, Ryker requested this fight with Meshkov essentially in a call-out of sorts behind the scenes. Probably thinking that Meshkov would come in with low morale and it would make for an easy win. But no sir, Meshkov was having none of that shit! He decided, “To hell with that!” and came into this fight geared up and ready to go! So now Ryker has a fully prepared Meshkov on his hands and it’s going to make for a very tough, hard fought match this evening. Which, as you could guess, I absolutely love! And you know what Donkey? I’m proud as hell of Meshkov for pulling it together, strapping some pride to his back and heading in there with an “Oh no you don’t!” attitude! Ryker is well versed, at least relative to his age and development, as a boxer and Muay Thai artist. What he doesn’t have is much in the way of a ground game. What we’re also going to find out sooner or later is whether the lack of chin he showed in KT under former manager Raichu Kong was a result of simply being in KT, a result of strategy and management or if it’s due to the lack of a chin. We know he supposedly has KO power. The rest is unanswered so far. Meshkov is primarily a boxer as well. His win last month over Demon Mask, his first with Sucker Punch, came via TKO while boxing. While he would have a significant ground advantage over Ryker in this fight it’s unlikely he’ll take it to the ground unless he feels confident in his offensive abilities there. There’s a chance that he’ll simply have confidence in his abilities on the feet, as he SHOULD have the advantage there as well. Could Ryker have bit off more than he can chew tonight? Well, which way are you going Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Meshkov via TKO (Strikes) You know, I actually suspect you may be right on this one Hare. Ryker came in no doubt counting on Meshkov to be prepared, or not, per the status quo. Meshkov threw a monkey wrench into the works for Ryker by not cooperating. He may very well be rewarded for his preparation tonight with his second win in a row under current management! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Light Heavyweights Devin Ecker (3-2-0) vs. Julian Rourke (2-2-0) Our next fight on the evening is a Light Heavyweight contest that, when I made the fight at least, I expected to be an extremely well matched fight. Unfortunately, Rourke’s manager has him coming into the fight a bit off on morale…well, more than a bit, he’s down over 50%...and that is likely to have a significant impact upon the outcome here. Rourke comes off a two fight losing streak under his former manager, Don Xyel, but is now under new management. With his boxing, Muay Thai and wrestling skills he’s likely to want to continue the trend of his former manager and keep this fight standing, albeit perhaps with some modified tactics and strategy. This will be your classic striker versus grappler matchup as Ecker has sensational wrestling and a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu which gives him the edge over Rourke’s blue belt. He’s also a striker but sticks to the ground game in recent fights and has bested both standup strikers as well as submission artists down there. Earlier in his career he used the clinch effectively against Harold Kerzner to gain a TKO via knees and punches as well, so that’s always a threat that shouldn’t be overlooked. How does this one turn out Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Ecker via TKO (Strikes) I really like this matchup but what I don’t like is the preparation. And for that reason I have to pick the other way. It’s unlikely that Rourke will have the focus and desire with that morale being low to prevent this fight from ending up on the ground unless he catches Ecker with a good one early. Outside that, I just don’t see him having the fight in him to withstand Ecker’s wrestling and aggression from above. Suzy had put in a message with Ecker’s team the day before they were scheduled to leave for Sydney asking how preparation was going and any other feedback they were willing to share. She got the following message back from Andrew Churchill, Devin Ecker’s manager, presumably from the plane as they were flying over… Andrew Churchill: Devin had a good camp. But with this fight, the challenges in preparation were more mental than physical. He knows what he is capable of in the cage, but he also understands that this fight is a turning point for him. If he wins this fight against a similarly-skilled young fighter, it will open some eyes. If he loses, he goes right back down the pecking order. He is a confident kid with the talent to win the fight, so this camp was more about getting him ready to focus on the mental side of the fight game. Suzy Sucker Punch: Guys, it’s always great when you see a camp and management that gets that the mental side of the fight is just as important if not more so than the physical. If they’ve got Ecker in the right frame of mind Donkey’s pick may just prove out to be the correct one after all! *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Welterweights Marcus Megnus Maximus Jr Maximus Jr (7-4-0) vs. DJ Costune (4-6-0) We practically need a whole section here just for Maximus’ name in this Welterweight matchup! Both of these guys come in just about primed up and ready to go tonight, minus perhaps a slight bit of morale for Costune that shouldn’t weigh in significantly. This looks as if it may be a great fight and frankly one that Costune should be focused on and driven to win in the worst way. He’s gone five losses in a row at this point and keeps losing them via TKO and KO, not a great thing for a striker. He has heavy hands, but I think at this point it’s fair to question his chin, his heart or possibly a little of both. Eminemenemenem has won four of his last five bouts and comes into the cage tonight fresh off a win last month against Pietro Marchionni via submission. That’s impressive given Marchionni is usually no slouch on the ground himself. Perhaps after being subbed out himself the prior month Maximus was determined to show that, “Hey, I can do that too!” He’s got good solid skills across the board with perhaps only Muay Thai being an area that lags behind some. Your guess is as good as ours whether he stays on the feet and goes toe to toe with Costune or follows up last month’s sub with another attempt at the ground game. What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Costune via TKO (Strikes) I just have a strange feeling that Costune is due to snag one here. It’s just a hunch, playing off that tingling on of the hairs on the back of the neck. Given his recent lack of success I’ve got no valid reason to make that pick other than just that, the hunch. If this goes to the ground though, I think he’s probably in trouble and this falls into Maximus’ hands. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Featherweights Herve Cabrera (6-1-0) vs. Mike Ehrmantraut (2-1-0) We’re really talking now Donkey as both of these boys are ready to get into that cage this evening and rock it out, Featherweight style! You may laugh when I say that, but seriously, sometimes the lighter weights here at Sucker Punch are some of the best fights! Ehrmantraut comes in under new management with Knockout Bob in his corner this month after being let go by Kelly McGrady last month. He had actually left the organization temporarily during that transition but came back to us and we’re proud to have him step into the cage again for us. He’s a wonderful boxer with a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu who has shown that he can win via KO or go the distance in his two wins. He lands a high percentage of his shots when striking from either in or out of the clinch and we’ll see if that trend continues under new management. Herve Cabrera, managed by Marky Mark, brings a well-rounded set of skills to the cage with remarkable boxing and wrestling, strong Muay Thai and a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. He makes his Sucker Punch debut with us tonight after formerly fighting for Wolfpac and putting up an impressive run of three submission victories in a row! One thing is for sure, if this guy gets you on the ground you better keep track of your arms the entire time because he has an affinity for doing bad things with them if he can grab ahold of one! Kimura, Arm Triangle, Armbar, you name it, he’ll do it if you leave it hanging out there unprotected! Well Donkey, have a pick for us in this one…? Donkey’s Pick: Cabrera via Submission (Americana) Ok, I may just be having a bit of fun here with the Americana pick Hare. I figure let’s see what else he can do with arms, huh? But in all seriousness he’s got an impressive run of submissions going of late and who am I to call for the end at this point? Ehrmantraut does have a brown belt that I suspect is mostly defensive in nature, so Cabrera will have his work cut out for him, but I do think this gets to the ground and if so the advantage slides to Cabrera. *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Welterweights Mason Jones (5-0-0) vs. John Fuller (5-4-0) We head on into the Main Card here Donkey and with it we’ve got two young fighters who are extremely focused on a fight with huge implications for the Welterweight division and their chances to make serious moves within it! Fuller has a 5-4 record and comes into this fight off a big bounce back win over DJ Costune last month. Prior to that he’d been disappointed with a losses to Kahdi Mandinos and then Baldomir Barbosa, two excellent fighters in the division. I know having spoken with Fuller’s manager previously that the Craven camp had huge hopes for this guy early on and still believe that things can turn around. Well, it only takes a couple in a row to start that process and tonight is that chance to make it a couple W’s back to back if he can overcome Mason Jones. Fuller is a balanced fighter with respectable to proficient skills across the board. He held his own striking last month against Costune but was able to really dish out the damage and finish the job with his striking on the ground. Fuller will see none other than the fast-rising, currently undefeated Mason Jones standing across from him in the cage this evening! With two wins under his belt since joining the Savage Krew under Robert Smith’s guidance, both via KO, Jones has yet to be stopped…and has done all the stopping minus one fight under his former manager. He’s especially dangerous in the clinch despite having exceptional boxing as Marchionni found out two fights back and then doing the same sort of number on Kahdi Mandinos last month after Mandinos chose to take him into the clinch. I suppose Mandinos didn’t take the threat seriously but I have no doubt he’d advise Fuller against that this evening! Well Donkey, a hard-hitting affair in this one you think…? Donkey’s Pick: Fuller via TKO (Strikes) Yes, absolutely hard-hitting! And it won’t matter whether it’s standing or on the ground, as both of these guys like to dish it out and nobody is leaving here without a few battle scars for their trouble I’d think! As you said, Fuller is motivated as this is his opportunity to move back towards his original goals. A win here and he’s one step closer. A loss and it’s a nasty set-back. For Jones there are even more immediate goals on the line as a win will put him in a Top Contender fight next month most likely, with a title shot on the line at that time. Can you tell I’m stalling here Hare? Because I’m not really sure which way to pick here. But I have this strange feeling that Fuller may be extremely motivated by that goose egg Jones is carrying around. If he is, his goal may be to make a statement by being the first and only guy to change that! Suzy caught up with Mason Jones earlier in the week after his Krew arrived in Sydney… Suzy Sucker Punch: Folks, I’m here with the one and only Mason Jones as he prepares for a huge upcoming battle against John Fuller in just a few short days! Mason, how are you feeling heading into this fight, possibly the biggest of your career so far and what do you believe it means for your path forward in the organization? Mason Jones: Suzy, I feel as confident as ever coming into this fight. It’s a big one and I believe a win here propels me into contention. Suzy Sucker Punch: Clearly you look and sound confident for this one especially talking about contention already before the fight. Have you done anything special to prepare for this one? Mason Jones: Oh no, Suzy please don’t mistake my confidence for ego. I’ve worked very hard and earned the right to be confident I think. My camp helped me focus on my ground game over my last two camps, which I’ll need for this fight, and I’m feeling comfortable there. Suzy Sucker Punch: That sounds like sound logic and just a comfort in preparation as opposed to boasting I think. So given the work you’ve put in, how do you see this fight going for you? Mason Jones: Oh, it will end via TKO in the second round with me standing over Fuller. Suzy Sucker Punch: Wow, now that is extremely specific Mason! You’ve got this worked down to a science I think. Any last words for those tracking your progress and thoughts on where you go next after this with contention in mind? Mason Jones: Well, first I’m incredibly thankful for the fans and my teammates' time and devotion, Suzy. I can’t state that strongly enough. As for what’s next, I do have a call out or two but everyone above me is booked right now, so it's a waiting game. I guess we’ll just have to see! Suzy Sucker Punch: Mason, thank you so much for taking the time to stop in and see us as you got here in Sydney early this week! Best of luck come Fight Night! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Light Heavyweights John Doe (4-0-0) vs. Dolph Lindgren (6-2-0) Alright Donkey, as if there wasn’t already enough on the line in the last fight this one steps it up a notch! These two Light Heavyweights aren’t a step away from a Top Contender shot…no, this fight tonight IS that Top Contender shot! The winner of this fight will get a title shot and has Jacob Parker waiting for them…and no doubt watching this fight very closely this evening! Lindgren, managed by Frank Abbott, has steadily compiled a very impressive record for himself at 6-2. Yes, those two losses were more recent and not a distant memory coming just three and four fights back against Jake Rizzo over at Ashbourne Events and then a little stumble here at Sucker Punch as he came in to a loss against Shigemasa. But since then he’s taken out newcomers Atilla Dorn and Tito Slamcock via TKO and Submission, showing his versatility is still intact and proving he’s ready to step it up in competition. With a solid boxing game as well as a strong set of ground skills he’ll need every bit of skill and preparation tonight! Because none other than the undefeated, 4-0, John Doe…led by P J Jones…will be standing across the cage and looking at Lindgren as another obstacle to be pushed aside! Doe has a brilliant set of skills across the board with anything from wonderful to sensational skills in all major areas. He’s already defeated a very highly ranked Steven Jones and then gone on to vanquish former champions Sacrificial Lamb and Aleks Kuznetsov, picking them apart with great strategy and even more impressive and skillful follow through. Lamb wasn’t able to get him to the ground and Kuznetsov couldn’t stop his strong counter-attack. Can Lindgren out-duel him tonight? That’s what we’re here to find out! Donkey, a close one tonight…or…? Donkey’s Pick: Doe via Unanimous Decision Lindgren is slightly outgunned this evening I think, at least on paper. However, he didn’t earn this shot for no reason and won’t just roll over because the paper says so this evening! I expect a hard fought one but I also know that P J Jones is a master of finding a way to sneak off with the victory if it goes the distance, and I think that may happen here tonight. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Lightweights Ramon Rabbit (7-6-0) vs. Maximus Furioto (9-5-0) As we get to our last fight before the Main Events we have what I believe may be one of the most fun fights of the evening on tap! And Donkey, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that both of these kids are gassed up and focused, ready to go! I’d have been so disappointed if one wasn’t! Rabbit is an extremely exciting fighter who comes at every opponent with aggression and determination! Does that mean every fight goes his way? No. But he’s going to give you your money’s worth! He’s active on his feet with his kickboxing…and I do mean kickboxing as you’ll get the full range of shots from him with both the hands and feet…and he’s not afraid to work you over in the clinch for a bit till he can get back to boxing as well if need be! Now, his kryptonite to date has been the ground game, where he’s been subbed out more than a few times. Which is why I can only assume he’s been very focused on his defense down there over the past month. Furioto will be banking on “Kryptonite” being his middle name rather than “Snakebite” this evening. Because he’s all about the ground game with very little standup but exceptional wrestling and a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. All but two of his nine wins have come via submissions but ever since switching to new management under Ivan Grozny he’s been on a bit of a back and forth streak between wins and losses. He had a huge opportunity last month as he was able to cash in his successful record for a title shot against the one and only Frankie Logan, current and long-running Lightweight Champ. He’s had great success against strikers but against guys with strong wrestling he’s struggled some. His opponent tonight, Rabbit, has remarkable wrestling although only a blue belt in Jiu Jitsu, so we’ll see who can overcome the other here tonight if this does make it to the ground! How about this matchup Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Furioto via Submission (Armbar) This is easily one of the more intriguing fights of the night even with all the huge ones on this card! I could go back and forth all evening trying to justify why either of these guys have a shot in this one but I’m going to settle on this; Rabbit has struggled against submissions and Furioto excels in them so until Rabbit shows us that he’s worked on that and is ready to prevent it, which may happen tonight, I have to go the other way. Suzy Sucker Punch sat down for a few moments with Maximus Furioto before weigh-ins today… Suzy Sucker Punch: Maximus, how are you feeling as you head into this fight after the title fight last month, strong? Can you finish Ramone Rabbit in this upcoming fight? Maximus Furioto: Yes, after my lost loss I’ve prepared myself and feel now more relaxed. Suzy Sucker Punch: Well, that’s definitely important! Being able to put a loss behind you is half the battle. You lost that fight for the title and now you’ve got more than one or two people out there questioning you and asking whether you’re capable of being at the top. What do you say to that? Maximus Furioto: Wait, wait, I don`t think so! I’m patient and ready to fight for title…Watch me! Suzy Sucker Punch: Well, the whole world will get a chance to see tonight as this is the first step back... I wish you the best! *********************** Co-Main Event: Middleweights Championship Bout Jim Beam (5-4-0) vs. Landon McGuire (3-0-0) Yes, you read that correctly folks! This is the Sucker Punch Pro Series Middleweight Championship fight and yes, it is the Co-Main event of the evening! But you should have already gotten the idea that this is a great card tonight! So great in fact that as we mentioned in the intro there is an even more highly hyped fight in store for the final contest of the evening after this! After starting his career off at 0-3 here at Sucker Punch Jim Beam suddenly strode up through the rankings and won four of five in a row, earning himself a title shot in the process. Then, for his fifth win out of six, and third in a row, he ousted Nyah Hirst from the throne at the top of this Middleweight division last month with an Armbar submission that left everybody in shock and amazement, including Hirst! Tonight, he’ll attempt to defend the belt for the first time and given that he can both strike on the feet as well as pull off a serious ground game…well… …that means that the undefeated challenger, 3-0 Landon McGuire, has got his work cut out for him this evening! McGuire got his first win in the QFC but then came in here and first took out a very talented Kirill Krasnov who was on a solid trajectory straight up the rankings. Then he followed that up by pushing aside the former Champion and future Hall of Famer, Wanderson Machado, giving him only the second loss of his career in a victory by Unanimous Decision. This man has superb boxing, remarkable Muay Thai, wonderful wrestling and can even handle himself on the ground with purple belt in Jiu Jitsu. He’s kickboxed with the best in Machado, he’s gone to the ground against the same and showed skill there, and he’s stood and simply dominated on the feet against the likes of Krasnov. So what is he bringing to the table for Beam tonight? That’s exactly it…your guess is as good as ours…but Beam had better hope that his guess is better than ours and his preparation even better than that! Both of these fighters are going to have their hands full with a very talented opponent this evening Donkey! So…what do you say…? Donkey’s Pick: Beam via TKO (Strikes) Honestly, I just don’t know Hare. I know, I’ve been totally wishy-washy this evening and floundering around to make picks! But that should tell everybody something…that these fights are just NOT a gimme in either direction. This one most certainly is not. Neither fighter will be able to shock me by winning this evening unless they do it by complete domination. Now that would shock me! I’ll give the champ his respect and go with him for this evening, but come prepared champ because there is a hungry challenger in that cage waiting for you! *********************** Main Event: Hirst vs. Machado II – Battle of the Former Champs! Nyah Hirst (6-1-0) vs. Wanderson Machado (8-2-0) That’s right Donkey, the Main Event of the evening and the title caption says it all baby!!! These two first met when they fought for the title and everybody knows what happened in that one. Hirst ended Machado’s amazing reign as the Sucker Punch Pro Series Middleweight Champ and did it via a very, very controversial decision. Tonight they’ll face off again. Not with a title on the line. No, the opportunity to fight for a chance to go back to a championship fight as the Top Contender will come to the winner of these two after they face off against Wilfred Ainsworth who is waiting to see who he’ll face for the title opportunity. So tonight is about big opportunity, yes, but it’s also about redemption…and affirmation! Redemption for Machado, who believes he never should have lost that fight to Hirst and should still be Champion today. Affirmation for Hirst, who wants nothing more than to prove that he won that fight and can do it again against the great Machado! When they met two months ago they went five rounds on the feet. Machado was aggressive with his boxing and sprinkled in the feet here and there, but also was focused on getting it into the clinch and once there was certainly effective but Hirst was able to get his shots in also. For his part, Hirst dished it was well as he took it when separated and was more willing to mix in the feet landing solid leg kicks, body shots and a few head kicks that kept Machado on his toes and in check. How do they adjust tonight? What changes do these two make and do they come at each other with different strategies? Or the same…planning for the other to adjust and their original approach to win out? My god, I can’t wait to find out Donkey! Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Machado via TKO (Strikes) Am I making this pick just because I’d love a rubber match at some point in the future? Maybe. But I’ll never tell! And I mean it. I won’t tell you why. I know it’s my job to tell you, but I’m not going to and if you don’t like it, well, then fire me! Tonight, I’m going to sit back and watch these two go out there and play their second game of strategic warfare and I’m going to enjoy every second of it! Suzy spoke with Nyah Hirst yesterday leading up to this fight… Suzy Sucker Punch: Nyah, thanks for taking a few moments to stop in and see us today. Clearly, this fight is a big one and something that Machado himself has been looking forward to as well. Obviously there’s been some rumbling through the organization from fighters and managers alike claiming that your stay at the top was short lived and over-hyped. What do you say to everybody who may have questions? Nyah Hirst: One unlucky takedown and all the little dogs crawled out of their cots, barking from the top of their lungs. But I will rise back up to the top. I will send all the little dogs back into their holes. Today is Machado's turn, Beam's and McGuire's will soon follow. The Light has yet to abandon me, and it shall guide me back to my belt. Suzy Sucker Punch: Nyah, have a great fight tomorrow. Much of the crowd loves you and the Sucker Punch universe can’t wait to see what you’re bringing to the cage tomorrow! Thanks again for checking in with us! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! Can you say, “Wow!”? Because I can! And that’s what I expect to be saying when this fantastic event is said and done at the end of the night tonight folks! If you can’t be over at the Hard Knocks – Sydney venue this evening for the fights I sure hope you are planning to catch it on our free live stream! Because I don’t want you to miss out on all the talk after this one is over and I expect the chatter and rumble to go on for a while from this one! So, see some of your tonight and for the rest, enjoy as well! Till then…don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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