HareRumpler Posted February 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2022 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 123 Hello again Sucker Punch fans world over! Hare Rumpler here along with Donkey “Dan” and we’re about to cover all the upcoming action for SPPS 123! In just over four hours we’ll all be over at the Wombley Arena in London and for those of you who are local, we hope you’ll be joining us! Now, this is going to be a very abbreviated preview, with just some basics as I touch on each fight. I had an awful night last night with my blood sugar bouncing all over the place, my sensor not working properly and generally up just about every hour. So I’m going to work through this, and then go relax rather than taking the hour and a half trip out to York for Nati Batti’s swim meet. The Main portion of this card is absolutely stacked as we move from Welterweight to Middleweight and then back down to Lightweight, with the final two fights of the evening being Lightweight contests. Crow will get in there to face Tonon in a huge fight at Lightweight that could set one of them up for Top Contender sooner rather than later and then Sukulaku and Maeda will throw down in a bid to re-establish the Lightweight title here at Sucker Punch! Now, let’s jump right into the word from our sponsor and merchandise partner and get to the fun stuff for each fight 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: Light Heavyweights As you start to look over the primaries for these two you go, “Ok, this is a fairly even fight man!” Then you see the Jiu Jitsu! Sidebar has the advantage there but he’s also a considerably younger fighter so that skill advantage should balance out any developmental advantages that Grigorian has over him in secondaries or physicals. Both kids come in ready to get at it, so it should be a good one to kick things off for SPPS 123! This will be Sidebar’s second outing with Sucker Punch and after dropping his first via decision to Radu Dracul last month he really does need a win here to turn the tide. He’s 1-3 over his last four with his only win during that span being a QFC battle against a significantly overmatched opponent. He came away from EFC with submission losses via armbar to JJ Moss and Matt Manners, a bit concerning considering he has wonderful wrestling and a black belt! In the past he’s mixed it up with wins via both strikes and subs, so which way this goes tonight is anybody’s guess! Grigorian also comes into tonight’s contest with two losses under his belt making his run at Sucker Punch so far a 2-2 affair heading in the wrong direction. He, too, needs a win here! The most recent losses to DeCoteau and Bard were second round TKO’s and you can expect that he’ll want to keep this fight standing at all costs given he has a blue belt in Jiu Jitsu. Donkey’s Pick: Sidebar via Submission (Armbar) Grigorian will come out swinging, perhaps with caution to avoid a takedown, while Sidebar should be focused on his Jiu Jitsu advantage in this one and wanting it on the mat! We’ll learn something here about Grigorian’s takedown defense and whether he’s up for the task this evening. For now, I’m going with the ground advantage. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Lightweights Next up, Lightweights Hazuki and Brunswick Jr representing the Lightweight division here at SPPS! Hazuki will have a mild advantage in Muay Thai and also the edge in Jiu Jitsu this evening while Brunswick definitely sports the more successful career thus far. With only three wins on his career and a 1-5 record heading into SPPS 123, including a recent loss to Paetmar earlier in February, to say that Hazuki needs this win is probably the understatement of the year. Without it, he likely finds himself looking for his next adventure tomorrow. He tends to spend a lot of time working for submissions on the ground but outside the successful sub over Adrian Atkins on Christmas Eve he hasn’t had a ton of success lately. Perhaps an issue with transitions, overall sub skill, etc.? Brunswick returned to Sucker Punch last month under the new management of Tricky Smith after previously being with us at SPPS from April to June last year under Robert Smith. Any relation?!? Nobody knows! Or do they? Hmmm. Anyways, he immediately grabbed a ‘W’ over Michael Collins via TKO in the first round and will look to continue dishing out the abuse on the feet this evening! Donkey’s Pick: Brunswick Jr via TKO (Strikes) A second striker versus submission challenge here in our second fight of the evening. I’m sensing a trend Hare! This one I go the other way, as Hazuki just can’t be trusted right now to bring it home. Not saying he can’t, just saying that history isn’t supporting him at the moment. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Heavyweights Donkey, let me just say that you’re going to be disappointed. And I’m very, very surprised to be saying that about the fighter in question! But, Meshkov comes into the fight tonight against Fett here at Heavyweight unprepared, with his morale a bit in the dumper at about 60%. Wow. Not Meshkov like at all. And given that lack of preparation…along with his three losses heading into this fight to Brazil, Republic and most recently, Conchobhar, you have to think that he’s going to have some issues against Fett’s ground game. Meshkov will want to strike but he may find he spends more of this fight on his back as he may not have the confidence to keep it standing. Fett comes in fully prepped and ready to go…and more than ready to try to put his one loss since joining Sucker Punch back in October further back in memory. He came roaring in with TKO wins over Powell and Teixeira but then got road blocked by Conchobhar. A win over Farva last month via submission, the first sub win of his career, got him right back on track though. He’ll be looking to make it 4-1 after tonight with a focus on the ground again most likely! Donkey’s Pick: Fett via Submission (Armbar) Easy pick for me here with Meshkov unprepared. Nuff said! *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Welterweights Alright, well this is how we bounce back from a fight where one of the guys was unprepared Donkey! These two are FULLY prepped and ready to get at it! Way to go boys! Fuller and Maximus Jr are ready to show the fans what the Welterweight division has going on. Well done sirs, well done! And this should be an amazingly good matchup tonight. Heck, even as the fourth fight on the evening it has the chance to be a ‘Fight of the Night’ contender! They are evenly matched across the board with a small Muay Thai difference in Fuller’s favor being the only outlier. And with both at 12-9 records, yeah…let’s get it on! Fuller has two decision victories in a row coming into tonight and has lived and died via those over the second half of his career. Although his early career showed him to be more of a ground specialist with submission skills. Maximus is 3-1 over the last four with two of those wins against Mandinos and Hamada coming via extremely close Split and Majority decisions respectively. He carries a single win against Hamada into this one as he took a nasty KO via head kick against Bari back in December prior to that last win. Donkey’s Pick: Maximus Jr. via Split Decision These two tend to fight very similar styles with a reliance upon kickboxing or ground game, whichever offers itself up as the manager’s special! That said, Fuller has really been struggling and I have to lean towards Maximus who’s had a lot more recent success despite the even records overall. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Lightweights Another pair fully prepped to get at it as we close out the Undercard here Donkey! Not bad, a full Undercard and only one unprepared fighter the entire way, I can take that I think! This Lightweight battle will bring two kids together who are both trying to rebuild and restring together wins to climb the ladder. Paetmar comes in off a win over Hazuki last month but had dropped three fights prior to that. He needs this one to, as we said, start rebuilding and climbing! All of his recent wins have come via decision in the second half of his career so far and the win over Hazuki was no different despite ten submission attempts and several nasty ground shots as he tried to change that trend! Not to mention the solid striking on the feet. Man lii comes into the fight off two losses to first Crow via TKO and then Tonon early this month via a guillotine submission. Wins over Itzpap…er, you know who I mean and Dominguez before that help to bring his recent record to 2-3. Your guess is as good as ours as to which Yip you get tonight, the one who likes to stand and kickbox, the one who loves the clinch and dishing out the dirty stuff, or a mix of both? Donkey’s Pick: Paetmar via Unanimous Decision No matter which way this one goes I suspect it stays on the feet. That said, Paetmar may like his chances on the ground and if he takes it there I won’t be utterly surprised either. I’m going to have to go with a flip of the coin on this one, as it’s another that has ‘Fight of the Night’ potential! So long as they don’t decide to drag this out in a slow, boring affair! *********************** Ok folks, Donkey and I are working hard to get the rest of the preview out here and will be back soon within the hour with the remainder! *********************** And...we're back folks!!! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Welterweights Yet another Welterweight battle as we open up the Main Card here Donkey! Capac steps into the cage for the third time here at Sucker Punch against Ozbourne’s elite boxing and Muay Thai. Surprisingly, that doesn’t mean that Ozbourne outskills Capac by much, as Capac has elite boxing himself along with remarkable Muay Thai. He’ll have the Jiu Jitsu advantage over Ozbourne though with his black belt over Ozbourne’s brown. Capac has been hit or miss over much of his career and has bounced back and forth in just about every way possible. Wins, losses, decisions, TKO’s, submissions, and all of those for or against! He worked a mix of ground game and standup against Bass last time out but came up short which was surprising considering how well he handled Mister Lee prior to that for a split decision. Clearly, based upon those two fights, Capac is comfortable on the ground, in the clinch or standing and striking. Standing and striking is what Ozbourne would prefer so you have to think that Capac may look to avoid giving him that wish. Ozbourne got an early title shot here at Sucker Punch due to his pedigree coming into the org and after taking former Lightweight champ Frankie Logan to a draw in his first then following it up with a win over ground specialist Furioto. He lost the title opportunity to the same Frankie Logan and then, two fights later, missed an opportunity to regain Top Contender status when he fell via TKO to Sukulaku (who will be fighting for the belt tonight!). Yet another Draw against Pablot Itzap…er, that guy…crazy, two draws in a half year…and Ozbourne has some work to do to get back to Top Contender! Will the step up to Welterweight make a world of difference for him here in his first fight at the new weight class? Donkey’s Pick: Capac via Unanimous Decision Tough one to call here, but I’m going to go with Ozbourne needing a small moment to adjust to Welterweight and also with Capac’s flexibility to fight wherever he needs to. Maybe that is the difference maker tonight! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Welterweights Rurikovich will have the edge in Jiu Jitsu here in this Welterweight clash against Bass tonight but outside that things are even on paper! Bass is definitely the more experienced fighter, in terms of wins though, and perhaps that level of success evens up the score! Rurikovich came into Sucker Punch three fights back with back to back wins over Hadr Bari and Mandinos. Solid way to get started, albeit against mid to lower tier opponents so we stepped him up a bit to Jones earlier this month. Unfortunately for Rurikovich that outing resulted in a late first round KO…that he was the one waking up from! That could have just been an unlucky shot, or it may have been an indication of the level of competition being one step too high, but taking on heavy hitter Ronnie Bass tonight will certainly clear that up! Bass is a former two time Welterweight champ here at Sucker Punch and brings the BOOM! Although, of late, he’s shown his adaptability and has pulled off a few decisions. But the thing that worries most opponents is the possibility for the lights to go out at any moment, without warning! Donkey’s Pick: Bass via KO (Strikes) The difference maker here should be whether Rurikovich can take the fight into the clinch and then control the action or not. If he can, he can nullify some of Bass’ quick, no-warnings given, lights out capabilities. And potentially work towards a TKO or points with the judges in the process. But…we all know what the fans want…a KO of the Night performance, so I’ll say they get it. But don’t be surprised if Rurikovich doesn’t cooperate! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Middleweights Donkey, my own boy Zambrano here gets an opportunity to find out what he’s made of this evening as he and Vujić bring us one step away from the two Main Events tonight! Zambrano, as a 362k ID fighter, steps up to the task to take on unrestricted Vujić which should be a tall order despite their skills being very, very evenly matched…on paper. Zambrano came into SPPS from Cali MMA and immediately scored two wins over Oliver Allen and former champ Nyah Hirst. Things looked good. Then…they didn’t. He went on to lose four in a row and honestly had me wondering if it was retirement time for the boy! A win over Barkley in January and then a HUGE win over former champ Jacob Parker earlier this month convinced me that perhaps he just needs more time to grow and mature. Zambrano has the ability to win on the feet or on the ground via submission, so he’ll at least bring a varied challenge to Vujić tonight! Krsto Vujić is a man looking to fight as frequently as possible as he enters the final MMAT year of his career. And so far the drive to get into the cage as often as he can here at Sucker Punch is paying off with back to back SPPS wins over Patrick Thomas and Papi Tantor combined with the win over Mirage that he carried in from CFC…making it a trio that he carries into this fight with Zambrano. All of those wins have come via decision with Vujić putting on a show of abilities boxing, clinching or with strikes on the ground. That should make him well prepared to fend off Zambrano…perhaps… Donkey’s Pick: Vujić via Unanimous Decision The guess here is that Vujić will work for a decision in this one and Zambrano will be going for a finish. How that turns out is anybody’s guess and although Hare has been peppering opposing manager PP with bravado about Zambrano heading into this one it’s hard to think that either manager can walk into this confident they’re getting the ‘W’! This will be one tough fight and despite it involving Hare’s boy could be up for ‘Fight of the Night’ as well! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Lightweight Bout Another great Lightweight matchup in a division that is log jammed full of talent these days! Our Co-Main Event of the evening should not disappoint the fans with two very skilled fighters in Tonon and Crow throwing down! Tonon will have the Jiu Jitsu advantage here while Crow claims the edge in the other three primaries. Tonon is getting very, very close to being able to claim a Top Contender status here in the Lightweight division. With two wins in a row over Paetmar and Yip Man lii, both via submission, he’s flashed hints that he may be the “next big man in the small man’s division”! Here’s the thing though…he has to score a submission to win or most likely it’s a loss. All but one of his wins have come via submission over his career, the only other being a decision WAY back at Cali MMA a year ago over Michael Collins. Crow is a former champ here at Sucker Punch at Welterweight back when he was managed by Xavier. Since then, he’s been on the cusp at both Welterwight, earning another title shot but falling short against Darry Curtis, and then falling just short at Lightweight last month against Sukulaku in his bid to step up to Top Contender. He’ll need a couple wins to put him back in that position, but one over Tonon would be HUGE in that endeavor. Donkey’s Pick: Tonon via Submission (Guillotine) Crow loves the ground and pound game, so he won’t be opposed to getting this fight on the ground…but if he does, he better get top position and damn, he better watch out for those submissions from Tonon! That’s a tough ask while you’re trying to focus on dishing out punishment at the same time and, well, unless you finish it in brutal fashion quickly a slip up can happen out of nowhere… *********************** Main Event: Featured Lightweight Bout Our Main Event tonight will see the first ever Sucker Punch championship contest that involves an unrestricted fighter stepping up to try to grab the hardware! Now, technically this wasn’t on tap until April, but out of necessity due to the vacancy of the title at Lightweight and Sukulaku waiting on a fight we decided it was the best decision we could make given availability. And Maeda is plenty skilled enough to make this an awesome fight with Sukulaku! Maeda will claim skills across the board that match Sukulaku’s with the very, very small exception at Muay Thai. With both fighters fully prepared, this should be an awesome one for the fans in attendance or watching on the live PPV! Maeda came into SPPS early this month and immediately dispatched Mateus Gracie via decision. Despite three losses in a row at Syn prior to that, he had been on a four fight winning streak previously and boasts a very solid, in the black 29-19 record overall as a 335k ID unrestricted, unrestrained fighter! Maeda can definitely eek out the points for the judges, but it’s the combination of his ground and pound and submission skills that will keep Sukulaku on guard this evening! Sukulaku has pulled off the occasional submission himself but it’s his brutal striking on the feet in separation that worries his opponents! He lands his shots like a ton of bricks and even brings the feet into play occasionally giving his opponents one more thing to worry about…lest they forget about the damage that did to Red Crow last month in his ‘KO of the Night’ performance thanks to those feet! Suku has shown that he can fend off black belts on the ground as he did against Blackout Mane back at HFC in October, so this will be no walk in the park for Maeda despite Maeda’s ground skills. Donkey’s Pick: Sukulaku via KO (Strikes) I’m guessing that this fight ends up with one of the ‘of the Night’ awards, but not necessarily ‘Fight of the Night’! I think we get a finish in spectacular fashion that thrills the fans and sends everybody home talking about how the Lightweight belt was re-established in fantastic fashion! I just don’t know which way it’ll go, so I’m going with the guy who has a few more fights in here at Sucker Punch! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! So just over two hours left before the action explodes in London folks! Donkey and I are now set to head over to the Wombley for a great night of fights and we hope you’ll join us! God knows the fans are already living it up in the parking lot with the tailgating having been going hard and furious for the past few hours…and now we’re starting to see a trickle of those fans into the arena. Maybe they’re heading in to check out our sponsor, Shadow Warrior Nutrition, at one of their many stalls? Get those free gifts peeps! We’ll see you in there or hope you catch it on the amazing three hour LIVE PPV folks! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series style! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfuhrer Posted February 27, 2022 Report Share Posted February 27, 2022 Great stuff Hare. As I mentioned before I love the new format. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfuhrer Posted February 27, 2022 Report Share Posted February 27, 2022 I think the M3 Fuller Decision was a total robbery Oh well. Not like I want a fourth fight against him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 1, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2022 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 124 Welcome back Sucker Punch fans! We head back to Tokyo tonight for SPPS 124 at the Tokyo Bowl! And what a night it should be, with not just one, but TWO titles on the line…and it tells you something when one of those will be the warm-ups for the other title fight and a big showdown between Konrad Wagner and Demetrius Jackson who go at it at Welterweight with no belt on the line! This should be an incredible card that gets the fans into a frenzy, leaves them wanting more Sucker Punch action after and helps us to rebuild the event ratings back up a bit! The night will mostly be dedicated to the mid-weight classes and below with a couple Featherweight fights on tap, half the card taken over by the Welterweights, a pair of Middleweight fights that end the Undercard and kick off the Main Card…and that one little lone Heavyweight fight. Yeah, you know, just a title on the line there! Ha! Being that I’m doing this here in between things at work, I think it’s best that we quickly get a word from our sponsor and merchandise partner then jump straight into the good stuff! Shadow Warrior Nutrition will be on hand at the event tonight 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 tonight or visit their store 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: Featherweights Thompson vs. Craven III HR: Donkey, one thing I absolutely love is when we can open up the night with two kids who may not be at the top of their division, but come in fully prepped and ready to give it everything! That’s what we’ve got here! DD: Fully prepped for sure and on top of that we have two kids here just about equal in skills, as you would say, on paper! Craven has a small edge in Muay Thai but that would be the only difference. But also as you say, both are towards the lower end of the division and both need this win. That’s especially true for Thompson who has four losses in a row coming in. Hare ran this one back to the Craven fight, the only one of the prior four that didn’t end in a finish, to see if he could jump out of the slump he’s in. HR: Exactly. This will be the third meeting between these two over the run here at Sucker Punch and so far it’s ended via submission and decision in favor of Craven. Now, a win for Craven is no given here as he’s struggled as well lately, bouncing between wins and losses and that’s considering he, too, was on a four fight losing streak prior to the last four back and forth fights. DD: The last time these two fought it was a back and forth affair that saw Craven trying to work for the ground game, both to take advantage of his striking as well as working for submissions, while Thompson was more focused on boxing. Thompson definitely won the battle on the feet but the fight went to the ground too often and Craven, despite not landing the submission, was able to work the ground and pound for points. HR: And that was an improvement for Thompson though, as the first fight went to the ground and ended in a submission in favor of Craven. So the last outing was a better result as clearly his ground defense had improved. So the question, can he keep it standing tonight and win this one? He better. So give us the pick Donkey! Donkey’s Pick: Thompson via TKO (Strikes) Despite the losing record and four losses in a row, I’m going to give Thompson the benefit of the doubt here and believe that he’s learned and fine-tuned from the prior two fights. That his takedown defense is a little better, and if not, at least his defensive grappling and ability to escape back to the feet. If so, he may be able to come away with the win. It might be via decision rather than a finish, but a win would still be huge for him! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Welterweights HR: Next up another battle between kids who are living life as cellar-dwellers of late in their division with both coming off back to back losses. The good news Donkey? One of these two should walk away with a win tonight barring a crazy draw! DD: And, as you like to point out Hare, both are fully prepped and ready to get at it! That’s a great sign that neither have lost that hunger or drive and neither has thrown in the towel, nor has their manager! Prodigy will claim the advantage in boxing, Muay Thai and wrestling tonight, but it’s a very, very slight advantage and may not be the determining factor in this one I’d think. HR: Surprisingly, for as long as both Hamada and Prodigy have been around Sucker Punch, this is their first meeting! That means we get to look at this one from a whole new perspective Donkey! Or at least, you do! Tell us what you see? DD: Well, with the exception of the TKO loss to Sanchez that I’m sure Prodigy would like to forget about, he’s been both living and dying by decisions over his last eight fights. He’s been cutting it so close, actually, that his last fight was a split decision against Baldomir Barbosa. And before that he took a loss to Ronnie Bass. Now, consider that both of those guys are some very, very heavy hitters I’d say that he can look at those fights as solid outings despite the losses. HR: So what I’m wondering is this Donkey…Prodigy has always had some aspect of his fight focus on taking the fight to the ground. But once there, he’s never been overly effective with either his ground strikes or his submission attempts. Even against non-ground based fighters like Bass and Barbosa. And, Hamada has some skills on the ground, correct? DD: Given the choice, Hamada typically prefers to stand and box. Aggressively. As he did for decision wins over both Fuller and Costune previously. However, when he sees an advantage and opportunity, he’s also not afraid to get the fight to the ground and work for a submission. That’s what you’re talking about Hare, and it’s something that Prodigy may want to take into consideration this evening. Heavily. HR: Alright, give us the pick Donkster! Donkey’s Pick: Hamada via Submission (Guillotine) Prodigy has a tendency to stick with the tactics at hand. And I’m not saying that those tactics won’t work tonight, especially given he has the better wrestling and both fighters have brown belts, but I’m thinking it’s going to be dangerous. However, the feet may be the same for him as Hamada knows how to eek out a win with the judges. I guess basically, this fight really comes down to can Prodigy use his advantages effectively and find a strategy that wins. Technically he should be able to. But results are on Hamada’s side. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Featherweights HR: Our second of two Featherweight bouts this evening will bring Kalmisto and Bremner into the cage, both following suit with the rest so far this evening as they’re fully prepped and ready to go! Nice. And again, both are very, very close in skills across the board with Bremner having a slight edge in boxing and wrestling while Kalmisto claims an equivalent advantage in Muay Thai. DD: And another two who have been hanging out of late in the bottom half of the division but in this case not due to recent results. Kalmisto is 3-1 over his last four and frankly 5-2 over his run with Sucker Punch so far. If not for the losses to Drake and Casey, he’d have been pushed to higher caliber fights already and likely would be jumping up the ladder. If he wins this one here tonight I think it’s essential for Hare to find opportunities that allow him to do that. HR: Oh, ok, I see how this is going to go now Donkey-boy! Bash on Hare, it’s all my fault now eh? And what’s your rationale for Bremner, I suppose that’s on me as well? DD: Nah, not so much Hare. He’s definitely looking like he’s on the right path now, and when I said not due to recent results I’m referring to his back to back wins. One under his former manager and his most recent under Antonio Maximus. But it’s going to take a bit of action for him to exercise the demons from the four losses in a row he took before that. Time will heal all wounds, and he just needs it, as well as continued to success, to buck the rank and move up the ladder! HR: Well, I suppose that’s fair, at least you didn’t throw me under the bus on both! So what can we expect in the actual fight tonight, you know, the main reason we’re discussing this and all you side-tracker, you? Just give us a pick and your reasons, ok? Donkey’s Pick: Kalmisto via KO (Punch) Bremner looks to be re-dedicating himself to his ground skills and went back to a combination of ground and pound and submission attempts last fight. He couldn’t finish, but it was enough to get the ‘W’. Kalmisto has a black belt, so first instinct would be to say that that’s not going to work tonight. But both of Kalmisto’s losses recently have come via submissions. Hmm…so perhaps it will? This is a big test for Kalmisto. He’s going to want to stand and strike, whether in the clinch or not, but to do that he also has to keep the fight on the feet! When he’s hit hard, Bremner has a history of folding via spectacular KO. I just have a gut feel that Kalmisto is going to go after that chin… *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Welterweights HR: Back to the Welterweights here Donkey! I feel like we’re playing with a yo-yo here as we go from Featherweight to Welterweight to Featherweight and back again! But not JUST Welterweights here Donkey-boy, but two of our unrestricted, unrestrained boys who are both looking at this fight as a huge opportunity to start making moves up the rankings! DD: Exactly Hare, both of these dudes come in with a bit of a rough road left behind them from their prior ventures, certainly of late. And that’s taken a toll on their rankings, leaving them well below the .500 line in the Welterweight division here but also with both having quite enough talent to move up fast once they start winning. And wow, look at those primary skills! Right down the line, I could put a ruler down it and we’d be about as straight as could be! HR: Do you think I put zero effort into making these fights Donkey? C’mon man, give me SOME credit!!! Sure, occasionally you’ll have your guys go at it who might be mismatched some due to recent runs, contendership, etc. or just the need to give a guy an opportunity…but typically I actually do put a TON of thought into these, believe it or not. DD: Nah, I believe you Hare, I’ve seen enough of these to know that that’s the case. Now, these two…Rahman comes to the cage tonight for his second go as part of Sucker Punch. His first was a successful outing against Shock Linewood where he finished it just before the midway point of the third round via a spectacular KO! Could have been ‘KO of the Night’ if it wasn’t stolen, but it was worthy! Prior to that, as I was saying earlier, he’d had a rough go between Syn, Grunge and CFC. Dude never quite had a chance to settle down and get comfortable and it showed in the results as he went 1-4 over his five fights prior to Sucker Punch. HR: A win last outing for Rahman is definitely the way to get the ball rolling, but I think he’s going to have one tough contest tonight with Pollock, no? DD: He is. Pollock has been struggling like nobody’s business and clearly decided a change of scenery was needed. He was 0-3-1 in his last four outings at GAMMA and looks to tonight’s fight as a way to kick that trend to the curb and get back on track. He’s a decision man, has been almost his entire career, but recently those judges just haven’t been playing nice with him. The last time he won, back in October against Gustav Line, he did it with a strong combination of kickboxing and clinchwork. But here’s the thing, Rahman likes the same! HR: Oooh, so that creates a ton of intrigue for this one tonight! Do they change up tactics, try something different against a similar fighter in the mirror, or let it fly and see who’s better at what they do! Give us a pick there Donkey! Donkey’s Pick: Rahman via KO (Strikes) This one could very well become one of the ‘of the Night’ fights, either due to a dramatic finish or just being an all-out war through three rounds! It’ll be exciting, that much I’m hopeful for and the fans would appreciate that, no doubt. I’m looking at that one-punch ability of Rahman’s and wondering if it finds a home…? *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Middleweights HR: Alright, we’re all set to close out the Undercard here and we finally mix things up with a bit of Middleweight action on the evening! And this is definitely the first fight of the evening where there is a clear departure and separation of skills, with both kids focused on different aspects of their craft Donkey. DD: They sure are Hare! Gracie comes into this one looking like he’ll have the advantage, on paper at least, with advantages in everything but boxing. The biggest of those differences being his black belt over Hall’s purple. However, all of that will be offset by the fact that he’s coming in with his morale off by a little over 25% which certainly will not help his cause tonight! HR: Well damn, we almost made it all the way through the Undercard before having somebody be unprepared Donkey! That’s not half bad, but it’s always disappointing no matter when it happens. Tendencies here? DD: Possibly a tendency for overstatement? Bryan Gracie claims, according to his bio, that he’s yet another Gracie but, “better than all the other Gracies put together.” Given he’s 2-3 over his last five and lost to Brusse Liee last month via TKO, he’s got a long way to go to prove that! Outside that, this man is going to be looking to get the fight to the ground and go for the submission. If he doesn’t get it there, he’s very, very susceptible to the TKO if he remains on the feet. HR: And here’s a quick spoiler for everybody! Despite Hall’s purple belt, he’s actually pulled off FOUR submissions on his career! Despite being a 361k ID, this kid LOVES to get into the cage and fight and has done it a LOT over his career so far. Does he have the tools to get this done, Donkey? DD: Absolutely. Don’t look at the skills on paper on this one or the advantages that Gracie has. Look at this man’s boxing and know that he can bring the BOOM! He’s an artist with TKO’s and KO’s and aside from some true power strikers like DeAngelo and Watkins, not many have been able to bring that level of power to the cage. Nor has anybody submitted him since his second ever fight on the Island! So yes, the fight and fire are both in this kid! Donkey’s Pick: Hall via TKO (Strikes) We’ll get our classic striker versus grappler going here in this one tonight! If Gracie gets it to the ground early and Hall isn’t on his game, this one could easily go his way. However, Hall has proven himself capable before and if Gracie isn’t careful that chin of his may have some music played on it…in the form of a goodnight lullaby! *********************** Ok folks, Donkey and I are working hard to get the rest of the preview out here and will be back a bit later with the Main Card action! Stay tuned! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 1, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2022 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW (MAIN CARD) *********************** Ok folks, we're back and ready for the Main Card action! Don't miss the Undercard which was posted above! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Middleweights HR: Donkey, we’ll get the action rolling in the second half of the evening in Tokyo here as Zhao and Nimoy head into the cage to represent the Middleweights! And here we go, right back on track with these kids ready to get at it! DD: Zhao will have the advantage in three of the four main primaries as these two head to the cage. But given his recent history, outside the win he carries into this fight, nothing is guaranteed for this kid who just struggles to put it all together on the regular. HR: But Zhao’s win over Humphrey Wellington last time out was an impressive one with a first round TKO that snagged ‘KO of the Night’! That’s something to build upon! DD: It is, but man, what a rough foundation to build upon! He was 1-6 prior to that and outside the win ALL THE WAY BACK in August over Shigemasa things were looking bleak. I mean, Zhao spent a good part of his early career getting his melon smashed in over repeated challenges to Psiris Fuhren and many fans are beginning to wonder if that left some sort of lasting damage! His six most recent losses have come via five KO’s and a single TKO…and man, you really have to wonder if that jaw is permanently shattered. HR: I’d love to argue with you about that but it’s a tough position to take a stand for. Ok, so Nimoy…is he a threat to the chin? DD: Earlier in his days with SMASH I’d have said probably not. His run was horrific if we’re being honest, with a 2-6 record accumulated during that stretch. But let’s face it, this poor bastard never should have been there in the first place as he was put up time and time again against guys who were well ahead of him in development. Doesn’t matter if the primaries seemed to match up “somewhat”, the secondaries and physicals and experience were just too much to overcome. HR: And since joining Sucker Punch, he’s now 3-1 with that first loss being his very first with us where he got caught by Hall via submission. Since then, he’s found his footing…and a comfort level with winning again. A submission over Jestoni Hawk, then KO and TKO wins over Souppe and Rodionovich. Granted, all three of those guys were the bottom of the division and have since been let walk but you win what you’re scheduled to fight! This is definitely a step up in competition though, eh Donkey? DD: Yep, both of these fighters have their work cut out for them tonight but neither is incapable of winning. It’ll be a well-earned win for the one who gets it! So let’s jump to a pick… Donkey’s Pick: Nimoy via TKO (Strikes) Zhao will come out kickboxing. It’s just what he does. He could use the ground game tonight, and could be successful at it, but it’s unlikely to happen. And Nimoy will probably be ok with that, despite a recent win via submission. On the ground he’d be disadvantaged this evening. I expect him to go with what worked against Rodio and Souppe, a combination of kickboxing and clinching, perhaps more clinching against Zhao. And it may very well work if Zhao’s chin truly is broken. And if it does…we may be looking at the end of Zhao’s run. *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Welterweights HR: Another pair ready to step into the cage, tanks on full, morale on high, we’re really coming in hot tonight Donkey! Loving this man! Only one kid has let us down so far, and it wasn’t one of these two, so let’s talk about em! DD: Heck yeah, might as well jump right into it here! Jones was RED HOT at CMMA with four wins in a row. Then, the chill came on as he lost via TKO in the first to Walad Anubis and that ended his run at CMMA. His entrance here at Sucker Punch last month came with a resounding ‘BOOM’ as he laid down a first round KO over Rurikovich to make his introduction to the Welterweight division here at SPPS! HR: Most of Jones’ damage was dished using the clinch last time out but he seems to like to end things with a nasty shot to the noggin or jaw. Either way, he prefers to be on his feet whether it’s slow dancing or not. What about Bari? DD: Bari has been with us for a bit now, five fights to be exact, and has been struggling to find consistency and his place amongst the tiers in the Welterweight division. He has literally bounced from win to loss to win and back again to the tune of a 2-3 record so far. If you follow that trend, he’s due for a win. However, it should be noted that he lost to Rurikovich back in November via TKO, and…well you just heard about Jones vs. Rurikovich. That said, Bari will use the clinch or strike from range as well, very similar to Jones. And, you have to watch out for his feet, which can be deadly at times! HR: So this looks like a very interesting matchup of similar styles with only slight wrinkles thrown in! It could be an explosive one by the looks of it, that’s for sure! So who are you picking there Donkey? Donkey’s Pick: Jones via TKO (Strikes) Well, I just gave the big hint a moment ago. Being Jones defeated Rurikovich and Bari lost to him, I’m going with Jones. However, it took a big shot to win that one from Jones and sometimes a different opponent brings wrinkles that muck things up for you. Don’t be surprised if Bari brings a present in the form of a foot sandwich to the table! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Heavyweights Heavyweight Championship Fight HR: Yep, you read that correctly folks! It’s the middle of the Main Card, the last before the Main Events, and yes, this is a Championship fight with the Sucker Punch Pro Series Heavyweight Title on the line! DD: Amazing that this card is bringing enough hype+pop power to the table that a championship fight is playing warm-up to the Main Events, but damn, if that wouldn’t motivate me to get out there and make a show of it, build that hype up further, and be ready to ensure that I *AM* the Main Event next time out Hare! HR: I’m happy to say that both of these big boys are fully prepared to get in that cage and do battle tonight Donkey! Hell, I’d have been sorely disappointed if they weren’t! DD: Yep, fully prepped, just the way we like it. Although that does always make it more difficult for me to make a pick! Now, what we’re looking at here is likely a bit of a difference in styles which always makes for a fun big fight. Wrecks brings the punching power to the table. And per expectations, he’ll be the one with the advantage on the feet both in and out of the clinch. He ran through opponents with six finishes in a row, all via (T)KO finishes, and if we’re being honest many of us thought that might stop at Shima when he got a shot at the title. It didn’t! HR: Nope! And not only that, it was an impressive finish in the second round. Shima’s crew had to be shocked, I know I was a bit. How about Madomedov? Can he stand up? DD: Magomedov has the Jiu Jitsu advantage with his brown belt over Wrecks’ purple and a slight edge in wrestling as well. So, a fun game potentially of, “Can you take me down and if you can’t, can you avoid my fist in your face?” potentially here. Magomedov ran through three opponents straight to get this opportunity. Two of those were decisions most recently but the one before was a brutal doctor stoppage via cuts over Jeppe Bjoergen! HR: Alright Donkey, give us a pick! Donkey’s Pick: Wrecks via TKO (Strikes) I’m surprised you didn’t jump straight to the classic striker versus grappler/submission matchup there Hare! I guess you did your homework and saw that while Magomedov likes the ground game, it’s so that he can use it for some brutal ground and pound. But yes, Wrecks does his damage on the feet but it’s important to recognize that he’s been highly tested on the ground! Remember, he took the belt last month from Hero Shima who is a very accomplished fighter on the ground! That said, I’m leaning towards the champ being able to contain the threat and find a way to continue…well, wrecking! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Welterweight Bout Wagner vs. Jackson II HR: Our Co-Main Event this evening gives us our fourth of an amazing FIVE Welterweight battles tonight! And this one brings you two of the best in the business! DD: And this one normally would have been a Top Contender battle with a Title Shot on the line. But Jackson will be leaving us after this fight and it turns into a battle to determine if Wagner can earn his way back to the title for an amazing third time at SPPS and fourth time over multiple promotions! HR: All of that is very correct there Donkey. And if Wagner can’t get the job done, the next title opportunity may fall to the winner of Christiano/Valentine. Honestly, I don’t know if my boy is ready for that yet, even if he gets passed Christiano, but let’s worry about that if and when the time comes! For now, we have two great fighters here, tell us about what we’ll see tonight? DD: Well, first, you’re looking at a rematch of epic proportions. Wagner lost to Jackson back in January to lose the belt originally. So trust me when I say that he’d like nothing more than the chance to redeem himself there. Jackson then dropped the belt to Leroy Jinx in February in a split decision loss which is why you see him here with what would have been an opportunity to get back and avenge that. HR: Jackson knows how to get it done and win with the judges. He won his first two fights at Sucker Punch via decision and prior to that had won six of seven in a row at CMMA, with four of those wins…the most recent four…via decision also. But he can win by finishing, make no mistake, we saw that earlier in his career against the likes of Mace Willington lii and Rurikovich! DD: All very true! Which puts the onus on Wagner tonight. The Dentist needs to find a way to either land the shots to put down Jackson…a tall order considering Jackson has a granite chin…or to beat Jackson at his own game. Or…maybe find a new way? This is a tough one for Wagner, but if you want to be champ, these are the types of fights you have to win! HR: Ok, so give us a pick there Donkey-boy! Donkey’s Pick: Jackson via Majority Decision The first time these two met the Drillmaster did get his shots in. And he did well in the clinch also. The two were both gassed at the end and any decent shot could have ended it one way or the other. I’m going to go with the history of Jackson winning here via decision, but please note that I’m leaving the door open for Wagner to put the crowd on their feet with a mid to late round finish! Of course, I know you’d love that Hare, given the obvious here. But try to stay impartial, will ya? You started a bunch of unnecessary crap last time! Oh, well, I guess we both did if I’m being honest! *********************** Main Event: Welterweight Championship Bout HR: Our Main Event will finish off our string of Welterweight battles this evening with the very top dogs in the division going at it for the hardware! We just talked about how Jinx took the belt last month and now he’s back for his first title defense. DD: Jinx had dropped two fights upon joining Sucker Punch after he was on the run from hell over at BBFC and then a single fight at Blaze before joining us. Those losses were a bit surprising considering he looked like he was ready made for a quick title run here at SPPS but Lee and Crow both had answers for him. However, Jinx bounced back with solid wins over Christiano, the former longtime champ, and then Warrior to earn his shot and then took advantage in spectacular fashion with a fight that had all the fans talking…a split decision win for the belt over Jackson! HR: So we started a bit out of order here going straight to the champ, but I have to tell, you, I’m keenly interested in whether Crow or Lee can make their way to the top of the ladder and get a shot at him if he retains the belt there Donkey! DD: You’re getting a bit ahead of yourself there Hare! Before we worry about future defenses, Jinx has to worry about Matsuzaka tonight. You know, former multi-time Top Contender Matsuzaka! This guy has been as close as you come to getting the gold and all the glory and you have to figure he gets hungrier and hungrier each time! HR: Or does the pressure and weight on his shoulders build up each time Donkey? I like how you’re looking at it though, from a motivational, positive perspective! Interestingly, Matsuzaka has beaten both Lee and Crow! DD: Yep! He most definitely has! And while his career started out with finishes as if they were going out of style, lately he’s been a lot more focused on the long game. Minus the last fight against Curtis, which became a bloody mess that gave him the win via cuts. But even that went into the third. Matsu will get his shots in and it’s a matter of the opponent weathering the storm…and being prepared for whatever angle Matsu brings. He can work the striking game with boxing and kickboxing…or, he can mix it up and go clinch! Both are effective for him! HR: And Jinx has a very similar style. He won’t go clinch as often, but he will mix it up between an aggressive, technical striking approach and then sometimes bring the power shots. Which does he bring tonight? Well, I guess it depends upon what he thinks Matsu can handle! Ok Donkey, give us your pick for this Championship fight! Donkey’s Pick: Matsuzaka via Split Decision I’m going with Matsu. Why? Because he won against the two guys that Jinx lost to. Simple as that. But, remember, if you decide to bet folks…that’s a very simplistic reason for a pick. Jinx has turned it on since and he seems to have found what works for him! He could very well just run this thing out for five rounds tonight! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! So we’re all set for an amazing night of action in Tokyo folks! Head over to the Tokyo Bowl and get those tickets if you haven’t already and while you’re at it, be sure to lay down some bets because the booky will be open shortly also! If you can’t make it tonight, be sure to pick up the live three hour PPV! You won’t regret this one ladies and gents, it’s going to be off the hook! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series style! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 1, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2022 Alright folks! SPPS 124 with not one, but TWO title fights is on for tonight! Think you can take Hare's $$$? Well, here's your chance! https://mmatycoon.com/bookmakerpublic.php?bid=8544 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornmma1 Posted March 2, 2022 Report Share Posted March 2, 2022 Magnificent Chulalongkorn16-6-0 55 p4p 100% win rate by stoppage, 14 by (t)KO, 2 by sub! Inked a new five fight deal earlier this week and think I might buy myself a popsicle to celebrate it. PS: Missy 'writer-girl', I'm a total badass, don't mess with me! 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stpierrecanada Posted March 3, 2022 Report Share Posted March 3, 2022 Breaking News: Mason “Newfie” Jones & Ronnie Bass brawl at New York hotel just one day after signing to fight. Mason Jones is wasting no time making a name for himself in Sucker Punch Pro Series. Just hours after his second win & KO victory in SSPS, Mason Jones signed to fight former SSPS Welterweight Champion Ronnie Bass, a massive step up in competition as Bass is a future HOF’er with 18 SSPS fights under his belt already. Not much is known about the altercation but both men and their entourages were taken into custody after the dispute, but it did not end there. According to a statement made by NYPD’s Sargent Shaft, both groups of men assaulted NYPD staff and officers at the police station and in total 12 people were charged with battery and other charges. Both men are already known for their wild behaviour and attitudes as Ronnie Bass has had numerous Weigh-in and Press conference altercations including bitch slapping and spitting on his last opponent Rurikovich at the last weigh-in the day before the fight. It’s also known Mason Jones got expelled for attacking an opposing hockey coach at age 17 and then was DQ’d in two amateur boxing matches for biting and head kicking his opponents. He usually isn’t allowed to get anywhere close to his opponents before the fight, especially in a face off because he’s always ready to fight. No word yet on if they will face disciplinary action from SSPS, but luckily for the fans, the fight is on! The two bad boys at Welterweight throw down for a key position in the rankings. Don’t miss it! https://mmatycoon.com/scoutfight.php?fida=358374&fidb=360094 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Reborn Posted March 5, 2022 Report Share Posted March 5, 2022 Ronnie Bass "Fuck those crooked ass cops! When I see Jones again, we'll pick up where we left off. And that wasn't a brawl, just a real man's version of beer pong. Trading punches for shots." 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 6, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2022 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 125 Welcome back folks! Hare Rumpler here along with my partner and analyst, Donkey “Dan”! We’re getting all set for SPPS 125 which kicks off in…oh…by the time this preview is done…probably about one hour! The Wombley Arena in London is already cracking with fans milling about like ants and it’s fun to watch from up here in the helicopter, isn’t it Donkey? Um, apparently Donkey’s afraid of heights, so we might not be hearing from him till we land and get back to writing this thing for all you fine folks out there! No titles on the line today but we have the Featherweights featured prominently on this card! Not only will they make up four of the ten fights but they’ll be the two Main Events as well. We’ve also got a pair of Lightweight bouts that will bring is right into those two Main Events, a trifecta of Middleweight clashes including the one between Doe and Beam that gets things going and even one little lone Welterweight battle which will be our second warmup fight of the night between Paul Hunt and Shock Linewood. So again, while there may not be titles on the line this evening, the fact that you have fighters like Dismantle, Jukassa, Marka, River etc. on the Undercard should tell you the kind of great action we’re in for from start to finish tonight! This is a card that’s bound to make everybody except the hardcore big boy fans happy! Now, let’s jump right into the word from our sponsor and merchandise partner and get to the fun stuff for each fight 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 We’ll get things going tonight with two fighters who are very, very evenly matched with only Doe having the smallest of edges both areas of standup. Outside that, expect a hard-fought battle to get things going tonight! Beam and Doe both come into the cage this evening ready to go, minus perhaps the smallest amount of morale for Doe and even a tiny bit of energy. He could be more prepared, but it’s also not a huge thing. Unless you ask Donkey! Beam will hope he can take advantage of Doe’s somewhat unprepared status to get a win here as he’s rebounded a bit from the horrific 1-9 run he’d been on that started at the beginning of 2021 and ran all the way through November. With wins over my own Zambrano and then Tyson Law, he broke free of that trend and a draw over Marka showed he was actually in pretty darn good form considering Marka can be a top opponent on any given day! By coming in slightly unprepared, Doe risks extending his losses to two in a row here after he dropped one to Jukassa last month. He’s under fairly new management with only two fights under his belt while being led to the cage by Dan Kim’s crew. Given that his current run of 2-4, including four fights under P J Jones, is less than what he’d hope for he needs to find a way to get this ‘W’ tonight. Donkey’s Pick: Beam via Unanimous Decision Well, you know me Hare and that lack of prep will absolutely play in to my picks here as we kick things off. Doe is a standup striker who can bring the technical to the cage or bring pure power. He’ll want this fight on the feet. Beam may very well decide he’s better off working the ground game which he definitely has a tendency to do in most fights at one point or another. If so, expect a combination of strikes as well as submission attempts while down there. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Welterweights Donkey certainly won’t have any issue making a pick in this one as we get into the second fight of the evening! Paul Hunt comes into this fight completely and totally unprepared with his morale on just about zero! Ouch. This has been a trend for Milky Sock’s fighters and I’m not really sure why he hasn’t picked up on using the clothing changes to fix that yet for his boys. Linewood won’t turn down the opportunity to snag a win here as he’s gone 0-2 against other unrestricted fighters since joining Sucker Punch despite a very, very good skillset…on paper. It remains to be seen if he’ll go with pure standup and striking from range, as he did mostly against Aleksy, or if he’ll mix it up a bit in and out of the clinch and even perhaps with an attempt to take it to the ground where he can use his red belt in Jiu Jitsu, as he tried to do against Rahman last month. Hunt will have his work cut out for him here being his drive and commitment to make things happen, as well as to stay in the fight, will probably be in question given zero morale. Unless he gets off to a great start and builds confidence immediately, this one looks bad for him. Typically, he has a tendency to go deeper into the fight and is even willing to take the fight to the ground, as he did against Gempeler two fights back, but once there he doesn’t have the motivation to do much more than improve position. I expect we’ll see a fighter just as inept tonight. Donkey’s Pick: Linewood via TKO (Strikes) I expect this may be the easiest fight of the night to pick. Linewood is prepared. Hunt is not. There you go. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Lightweights Alright, Donkey you’ll be happy to know that we’ve quickly moved back to guys who are coming to the cage prepped and ready to give it their best! And I wouldn’t expect any less from our first Lightweights of the evening, River and Lester! And much like our first fight of the night, these two are very, very closely matched in primary skills outside River’s small edge in Muay Thai. River, the former SPPS Lightweight champ here with us and multi-time Top Contender has fallen on rough times ever since losing the belt to Frankie Logan in his second title defense. That started a run where River has gone 1-4 although it’s important to realize that these fights have been against the cream of the crop in the Lightweight division! Lester is an unrestricted ID fighter who came into Sucker Punch and downed Roman Boesku in his SPPS debut last month. Outside a single loss at SFL to Jeff Baker, Lester is on a run of success with six wins over his last seven fights! He’s definitely approaching territory where a couple wins here at Sucker Punch could punch him right into Top Contender territory. A win over a big name like River would certainly help his case. Donkey’s Pick: River via Unanimous Decision We’ll see two different styles on the feet in this one tonight Hare, but I don’t expect this fight to end up on the ground. Lester is almost exclusively a boxer and he tends to go very heavy with the headshots. River will work the fight wherever it needs to go on the feet, both in and out of the clinch, and can bring the technical striking as well as the ‘BOOM’ when needed. We’ll have to see if single focus or a varied approach wins out this evening! I’m going with the varied approach for now. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Featherweights Welp, so much for being back on track with our fighters coming prepared Donkey! Apparently tonight is going to be one of those nights! Our first of many Featherweight showdowns tonight and the once great Dankula, who had a TON of promise to his career and was the former champ before his prior manager left, comes into the cage unprepared again with his morale well below the halfway point. Here’s a hint…this is no way to shake off the two losses in a row he’s suffered! Dismantle is full up and ready to get at it and has had strong outings of late with just a couple misses thrown in against tough competition. Over his last ten fights he’s 7-3 with having only dropped fights to longtime champ Sitsongrit, Cabrera who brings a tough style against him and Jihadi Joseph who he went to a split decision with for the ‘Fight of the Night’ on that card! I’m expecting that with Dismantle ready to go he may work Dankula over pretty well in this one! Donkey’s Pick: Dismantle via TKO (Strikes) Dismantle can bring the power to the cage with his strikes and has done so frequently in the past. However, in recent fights he’s also shown he can work the technical striking game as well. Dankula has tended to work mostly the boxing game with a heavy focus on head shots under current management. But he’s also only been about half the fighter he used to be and has come unprepared at times, as he does this evening. The pick here is easy. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Middleweights Alright, we finally get a fight here where the fighters have distinct skills and styles Donkey. Hmm…or do they? On paper they appear to be set up for a ground versus striker matchup, as Marka will have the Jiu Jitsu advantage in this one…as well as small advantages in boxing and wrestling, while Jukassa has the edge in Muay Thai. But Marka has tended to stay on the feet of late and is pretty good at working for the decision. Jukassa also comes to the table with the better overall record so we’ll see if that carries any weight here at all! Under current management Marka has gone 4-2-1. Very solid, especially considering that the losses are now four fights removed and one was against the best of the best in the division, Kazuma. His draw against Beam in February was probably a bit disappointing and may have put a fire in his gut coming into this fight tonight! And that’s a fight I’m likely to set back up again soon in order to separate the winner from the loser! Despite being with Sucker Punch for a LONG time, this will be the first meeting between Marka and Jukassa! Jukassa has extra motivation to get this one as a win here would set him up for a title shot next month! He’s 6-1 since changing management teams and joining Sucker Punch. The only loss has been to Matsuda, a fight he’ll probably want to avenge sooner than later. With Matsuda having slipped off a bit and taking three losses in a row, it might be some time before we see that if Jukassa were to win here though. Outside that decision loss, Jukassa has been finishing his fights most of the time even when they go late into the rounds. Donkey’s Pick: Jukassa via TKO (Strikes) Jukassa is a boxer who likes to go at the head in a big way. I feel like we’ve got a lot of those style guys on the card tonight! He’ll clinch occasionally, but just uses it as a method of tenderizing before getting back to firing from range. Marka is very, very much the same. Although I’d be shocked if he didn’t use something on the ground today. That said, don’t be surprised to see these two stand and box like hell, pow pow bap pow as Risa would say! *********************** Ok folks, Donkey and I are working hard to get the rest of the preview out here and will be back soon within the hour with the remainder! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Middleweights We’ve got a nice even Middleweight fight here on our hands Donkey as we open up the Main Card for the evening here at SPPS 125! Kirk and Matsuda are very evenly matched with Kirk having small advantages in both boxing and Muay Thai while Matsuda will be the more accomplished Jiu Jitsu artist. Kirk steps into the cage for the second time with us here at Sucker Punch after dropping his debut fight to Wilfred Ainsworth last month in a decision loss. He’s definitely looking for a way to get things on track as he’s gone 1-5 over his last six if you reach back to his run at HFC prior to last month. All of the fights have been decisions and clearly Kirk has no reason to be a fan of the judges! That said, it’s probably in his interest to get back to his prior ways when he was winning and finish things via TKO as he did so frequently then! Matsuda has fallen on similar rough times of late which is a bit surprising as he’s a former Middlweight champion previously at BFC and has been in position to be Top Contender here at SPPS at least twice previously with two title fights under his belt. Unfortunately he’s been unable to get past the ultimate gatekeeper, for him, in Wanderson Machado as both times were TKO losses to the man who is a thorn in his side. He’ll be happy to know that Machado is currently a Free Agent and will likely have new management going forward. All of that said, he’s taken three losses in a row recently including the loss to Machado and then to Ainsworth and Morgan. Donkey’s Pick: Matsuda via Unanimous Decision Matsuda may have the advantage in this one as a fighter who is willing to work the ground and pound as well as the standup game. Kirk may not have had to face too much of that so far and it’ll definitely add a new direction into things as he almost exclusively prefers to stand and kickbox. I’m going to give the edge to Matsuda here considering they both fought Ainsworth, both lost, but Matsuda took it to a split decision. *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Featherweights Alright Donkey Boy! This next Featherweight battle is one of the ones I’ve been very much looking forward to all week! This fight could easily grab an ‘of the Night’ award I’d think, particularly the ‘Fight of the Night’ if it’s as action packed as I expect it to be! Takahashi and Baptiste are two of the most talented fighters the division has to offer and are both fully prepped and ready to give the fans everything tonight! Takahashi came into Sucker Punch undefeated on his career in MMA with an 8-0 record. Then, he fell via rear naked choke to multi-time former champ Michael Aalto in what some thought was a bit of a surprise upset despite Aalto having amazing credentials! It was definitely a setback for Takahashi who, after his long awaited debut with us while he worked thing out in the TWGC tournament, appeared to be looking at nothing more than a formality before a title shot. But hey, this is why you don’t ever overlook competition! Now he needs to prove he’s everything he looked to be from his Medieval Combat and BBFC days and earn the path to the belt! That work starts tonight against another former champ in Baptiste! Baptiste, as we just mentioned, is not only a former champ here at Sucker Punch at Featherweight but a two-time champ at that! And he’s made his way back to the title fight once since then as well but came up short against Sitsongrit. He’s an amazing technical striker who can work you for points like no other but also capitalize if you falter or gas as he’ll be waiting to finish. Donkey’s Pick: Takahashi via Submission (Armbar) Two completely different styles here as Takahashi is your ground submission specialist and Baptiste is a technical standup striker! Finally, we get our striker versus ground guy matchup, and it’s a great one! Although, please note, Takahashi can stand and strike and has done it, successfully, with finishes on the feet also! Baptiste has fallen to a submission before, against Aalto coincidentally as did Takahashi, so given that Takahashi has never been taken the distance by a striker, I’m going to tip my hat in his direction tonight. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Lightweights Alright, our last one before the Main Events and we have another great one lined up here Donkster! Carvaleho is an unrestricted fighter, just barely at 352k, who comes into Sucker Punch on his debut tonight! Pablo is looking to tack on yet another win as he reaches for a Top Contender berth and Carvaleho is just the guy who could help him get there if he can come out on top! Carvaleho had a rough time going as he bounced around from Alpha-1 to Syn (sorta, there was some craziness with naming and all going on there for a bit) to HFC. He had four losses in a row from May to August last year and things were looking grim! Then, he found his stride at HFC and won three of four, all via submission. The man was back! At which point, we’re up to date and he has slipped over to us here at SPPS as we go unrestricted…and would like nothing more than to come in on a strong note and set the tone for his run at SPPS. Pablo got himself on a bit of a run as well lately with three W’s in a row followed by his most recent bout which ended as a draw against Ziggy Ozbourne. He’s one step away from a Top Contender battle against another top tier fighter in the org but to get that opportunity he needs to first focus on coming out with the ‘W’ against Carvaleho! And that will be no small task given Carvaleho’s skills on the ground will challenge even Pablo’s exceptional wrestling and black belt in Jiu Jitsu. Donkey’s Pick: Itzpapalotltotec via Unanimous Decision Pablo has proven he can win on the ground, as he did against Hare’s Revorg, or on the feet as he’s done multiple times with both strong boxing as well as clinchwork. Carvaleho almost definitely needs to win this one on the ground if he’s to get the ‘W’. I’m going to go with Pablo on this one for now as he’s proven in the past he can handle a strong ground game. *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Featherweight Bout We’ve had some other very closely matched fights tonight but our Co-Main Event between Featherweights Nagashima and Drake may be the closest so far, possibly! Nagashima will claim a small, small edge in wrestling while Drake gets the nod, by just a bit, in both areas of standup. Both are fully rested, mostly, and morale is on high! It should be a great one! Ole Crazy Eyes, Nagashima, really does need this one as well. He’s 1-3 over his last four fights with losses to some of the best in the division. He was on the verge of a title shot until the loss four back to Chulalongkorn, who eventually became champ. He came back to defeat Courtial via TKO but has since lost to former champ Aalto via KO and long-time contender Mickey Dismantle via decision last month. Nagashima does his best work when he can get to the ground, establish and maintain dominant position, and work a combination of striking and submission attempts. Drake brings a similar fight to the table as Nagashima and won’t shy away from the ground. I expect this one to end up there within the first two minutes of action! He was on a roll, winning four in a row, and got a shot at the title last month but came up just short in a decision loss to Sitsongrit. It’s no secret that he and his management team despise that style but you can be sure they also took note to the way it was defeated recently! A win over Nagashima would put Drake just another fight, possibly two, out from another run at the title and you can be sure he learns from each loss! Donkey’s Pick: Drake via Submission (Triangle) I don’t expect this fight to end in a decision. I expect this to be one where we see ground skills fully on display but one thing we all know…it can go sideways fast on the ground and there’s no telling who might come out on top! I’m going to go with Drake as Nagashima as struggled a bit more to find his way of late. *********************** Main Event: Featured Featherweight Bout Our Main Event this evening is practically a title fight, but not. Meaning, these two are the best of the best in the division at this time…short of the champ himself! Both are former champs at Featherweight, multiple times in the case of Aalto, and both are this one fight away from a title fight with Chulalongkorn! Now, that fight may have to wait a month rather than going off in early April as Chula and Joseph are both likely to be taking part in the Olympics. No worries, whoever makes it to that fight, it’ll be waiting for the winner here! These two have almost identical skillsets on paper…except Jiu Jitsu which is where Aalto sets himself apart. His black belt will give him the advantage on the ground over Joseph’s brown and you can bet Aalto will be looking to put it to good use! He’s submitted some of the best, including Takahashi last month, and has been working his tail off to get back to a potential title shot after having owned the betl here at SPPS twice before. The first run of which was one of the greatest in Featherweight history here at Sucker Punch! He hit a bit of snag after Chula took the belt the second time, losing four of five before bouncing back and taking out both Nagashima and then, as we’ve discussed, Takahashi. A win over Joseph would be all that is needed to make the statement that ‘he’s back!’ Joseph is also a former Featherweight champ here at Sucker Punch but was unable to defend it successfully, losing the belt to Sitsongrit after he’d won it from Baptiste. He then fell to Chulalongkorn as well via TKO but has since stepped it up with wins over Dismantle, who he pushed back down from rising contendership, and Cabrera who had also been making a run up the rankings! Joseph typically loves to stand and throw bombs but he demonstrated the depth of his skillsets on the feet against Dismantle when he took a close split decision. His balanced kickboxing approach in that fight showed he could strike with accuracy and precision as well as bring the feet into play to slow down an opponent with a heavy dose of leg kicks! He may be looking to do the same tonight to slow down Aalto’s attempts to take the fight to the ground. But don’t be surprised if he also switches to a counter, power style to put Aalto down if he can catch him on a nasty counter after Aalto comes in for the takedown! Donkey’s Pick: Aalto via Submission (Kimura) Super tough fight to pick! I love this fight as the Main Event! I’m not sure we’ll get a finish, but we’re as likely to get one as not I think! Honestly, this is a toss-up, just pick a coin and flip for it! Or, try to figure out what is going to happen. I dare ya! I’ll go with Aalto for now in this one. Why? No great reason, other than that every time I pick against this guy, he proves me wrong and ‘finds a way’! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! Less than an hour left before fight time folks! Donkey and I are now set to head over to the Wombley for a great night of fights and we hope you’ll join us! And don’t forget to stop by the booths of our sponsor, Shadow Warrior Nutrition! Get those free gifts peeps! We’ll see you in there or hope you catch it on the amazing three hour LIVE PPV folks! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series style! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imcool Posted March 6, 2022 Report Share Posted March 6, 2022 1 hour ago, HareRumpler said: SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 125 Welcome back folks! Hare Rumpler here along with my partner and analyst, Donkey “Dan”! We’re getting all set for SPPS 125 which kicks off in…oh…by the time this preview is done…probably about one hour! The Wombley Arena in London is already cracking with fans milling about like ants and it’s fun to watch from up here in the helicopter, isn’t it Donkey? Um, apparently Donkey’s afraid of heights, so we might not be hearing from him till we land and get back to writing this thing for all you fine folks out there! No titles on the line today but we have the Featherweights featured prominently on this card! Not only will they make up four of the ten fights but they’ll be the two Main Events as well. We’ve also got a pair of Lightweight bouts that will bring is right into those two Main Events, a trifecta of Middleweight clashes including the one between Doe and Beam that gets things going and even one little lone Welterweight battle which will be our second warmup fight of the night between Paul Hunt and Shock Linewood. So again, while there may not be titles on the line this evening, the fact that you have fighters like Dismantle, Jukassa, Marka, River etc. on the Undercard should tell you the kind of great action we’re in for from start to finish tonight! This is a card that’s bound to make everybody except the hardcore big boy fans happy! Now, let’s jump right into the word from our sponsor and merchandise partner and get to the fun stuff for each fight 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 We’ll get things going tonight with two fighters who are very, very evenly matched with only Doe having the smallest of edges both areas of standup. Outside that, expect a hard-fought battle to get things going tonight! Beam and Doe both come into the cage this evening ready to go, minus perhaps the smallest amount of morale for Doe and even a tiny bit of energy. He could be more prepared, but it’s also not a huge thing. Unless you ask Donkey! Beam will hope he can take advantage of Doe’s somewhat unprepared status to get a win here as he’s rebounded a bit from the horrific 1-9 run he’d been on that started at the beginning of 2021 and ran all the way through November. With wins over my own Zambrano and then Tyson Law, he broke free of that trend and a draw over Marka showed he was actually in pretty darn good form considering Marka can be a top opponent on any given day! By coming in slightly unprepared, Doe risks extending his losses to two in a row here after he dropped one to Jukassa last month. He’s under fairly new management with only two fights under his belt while being led to the cage by Dan Kim’s crew. Given that his current run of 2-4, including four fights under P J Jones, is less than what he’d hope for he needs to find a way to get this ‘W’ tonight. Donkey’s Pick: Beam via Unanimous Decision Well, you know me Hare and that lack of prep will absolutely play in to my picks here as we kick things off. Doe is a standup striker who can bring the technical to the cage or bring pure power. He’ll want this fight on the feet. Beam may very well decide he’s better off working the ground game which he definitely has a tendency to do in most fights at one point or another. If so, expect a combination of strikes as well as submission attempts while down there. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Welterweights Donkey certainly won’t have any issue making a pick in this one as we get into the second fight of the evening! Paul Hunt comes into this fight completely and totally unprepared with his morale on just about zero! Ouch. This has been a trend for Milky Sock’s fighters and I’m not really sure why he hasn’t picked up on using the clothing changes to fix that yet for his boys. Linewood won’t turn down the opportunity to snag a win here as he’s gone 0-2 against other unrestricted fighters since joining Sucker Punch despite a very, very good skillset…on paper. It remains to be seen if he’ll go with pure standup and striking from range, as he did mostly against Aleksy, or if he’ll mix it up a bit in and out of the clinch and even perhaps with an attempt to take it to the ground where he can use his red belt in Jiu Jitsu, as he tried to do against Rahman last month. Hunt will have his work cut out for him here being his drive and commitment to make things happen, as well as to stay in the fight, will probably be in question given zero morale. Unless he gets off to a great start and builds confidence immediately, this one looks bad for him. Typically, he has a tendency to go deeper into the fight and is even willing to take the fight to the ground, as he did against Gempeler two fights back, but once there he doesn’t have the motivation to do much more than improve position. I expect we’ll see a fighter just as inept tonight. Donkey’s Pick: Linewood via TKO (Strikes) I expect this may be the easiest fight of the night to pick. Linewood is prepared. Hunt is not. There you go. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Lightweights Alright, Donkey you’ll be happy to know that we’ve quickly moved back to guys who are coming to the cage prepped and ready to give it their best! And I wouldn’t expect any less from our first Lightweights of the evening, River and Lester! And much like our first fight of the night, these two are very, very closely matched in primary skills outside River’s small edge in Muay Thai. River, the former SPPS Lightweight champ here with us and multi-time Top Contender has fallen on rough times ever since losing the belt to Frankie Logan in his second title defense. That started a run where River has gone 1-4 although it’s important to realize that these fights have been against the cream of the crop in the Lightweight division! Lester is an unrestricted ID fighter who came into Sucker Punch and downed Roman Boesku in his SPPS debut last month. Outside a single loss at SFL to Jeff Baker, Lester is on a run of success with six wins over his last seven fights! He’s definitely approaching territory where a couple wins here at Sucker Punch could punch him right into Top Contender territory. A win over a big name like River would certainly help his case. Donkey’s Pick: River via Unanimous Decision We’ll see two different styles on the feet in this one tonight Hare, but I don’t expect this fight to end up on the ground. Lester is almost exclusively a boxer and he tends to go very heavy with the headshots. River will work the fight wherever it needs to go on the feet, both in and out of the clinch, and can bring the technical striking as well as the ‘BOOM’ when needed. We’ll have to see if single focus or a varied approach wins out this evening! I’m going with the varied approach for now. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Featherweights Welp, so much for being back on track with our fighters coming prepared Donkey! Apparently tonight is going to be one of those nights! Our first of many Featherweight showdowns tonight and the once great Dankula, who had a TON of promise to his career and was the former champ before his prior manager left, comes into the cage unprepared again with his morale well below the halfway point. Here’s a hint…this is no way to shake off the two losses in a row he’s suffered! Dismantle is full up and ready to get at it and has had strong outings of late with just a couple misses thrown in against tough competition. Over his last ten fights he’s 7-3 with having only dropped fights to longtime champ Sitsongrit, Cabrera who brings a tough style against him and Jihadi Joseph who he went to a split decision with for the ‘Fight of the Night’ on that card! I’m expecting that with Dismantle ready to go he may work Dankula over pretty well in this one! Donkey’s Pick: Dismantle via TKO (Strikes) Dismantle can bring the power to the cage with his strikes and has done so frequently in the past. However, in recent fights he’s also shown he can work the technical striking game as well. Dankula has tended to work mostly the boxing game with a heavy focus on head shots under current management. But he’s also only been about half the fighter he used to be and has come unprepared at times, as he does this evening. The pick here is easy. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Middleweights Alright, we finally get a fight here where the fighters have distinct skills and styles Donkey. Hmm…or do they? On paper they appear to be set up for a ground versus striker matchup, as Marka will have the Jiu Jitsu advantage in this one…as well as small advantages in boxing and wrestling, while Jukassa has the edge in Muay Thai. But Marka has tended to stay on the feet of late and is pretty good at working for the decision. Jukassa also comes to the table with the better overall record so we’ll see if that carries any weight here at all! Under current management Marka has gone 4-2-1. Very solid, especially considering that the losses are now four fights removed and one was against the best of the best in the division, Kazuma. His draw against Beam in February was probably a bit disappointing and may have put a fire in his gut coming into this fight tonight! And that’s a fight I’m likely to set back up again soon in order to separate the winner from the loser! Despite being with Sucker Punch for a LONG time, this will be the first meeting between Marka and Jukassa! Jukassa has extra motivation to get this one as a win here would set him up for a title shot next month! He’s 6-1 since changing management teams and joining Sucker Punch. The only loss has been to Matsuda, a fight he’ll probably want to avenge sooner than later. With Matsuda having slipped off a bit and taking three losses in a row, it might be some time before we see that if Jukassa were to win here though. Outside that decision loss, Jukassa has been finishing his fights most of the time even when they go late into the rounds. Donkey’s Pick: Jukassa via TKO (Strikes) Jukassa is a boxer who likes to go at the head in a big way. I feel like we’ve got a lot of those style guys on the card tonight! He’ll clinch occasionally, but just uses it as a method of tenderizing before getting back to firing from range. Marka is very, very much the same. Although I’d be shocked if he didn’t use something on the ground today. That said, don’t be surprised to see these two stand and box like hell, pow pow bap pow as Risa would say! *********************** Ok folks, Donkey and I are working hard to get the rest of the preview out here and will be back soon within the hour with the remainder! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Middleweights We’ve got a nice even Middleweight fight here on our hands Donkey as we open up the Main Card for the evening here at SPPS 125! Kirk and Matsuda are very evenly matched with Kirk having small advantages in both boxing and Muay Thai while Matsuda will be the more accomplished Jiu Jitsu artist. Kirk steps into the cage for the second time with us here at Sucker Punch after dropping his debut fight to Wilfred Ainsworth last month in a decision loss. He’s definitely looking for a way to get things on track as he’s gone 1-5 over his last six if you reach back to his run at HFC prior to last month. All of the fights have been decisions and clearly Kirk has no reason to be a fan of the judges! That said, it’s probably in his interest to get back to his prior ways when he was winning and finish things via TKO as he did so frequently then! Matsuda has fallen on similar rough times of late which is a bit surprising as he’s a former Middlweight champion previously at BFC and has been in position to be Top Contender here at SPPS at least twice previously with two title fights under his belt. Unfortunately he’s been unable to get past the ultimate gatekeeper, for him, in Wanderson Machado as both times were TKO losses to the man who is a thorn in his side. He’ll be happy to know that Machado is currently a Free Agent and will likely have new management going forward. All of that said, he’s taken three losses in a row recently including the loss to Machado and then to Ainsworth and Morgan. Donkey’s Pick: Matsuda via Unanimous Decision Matsuda may have the advantage in this one as a fighter who is willing to work the ground and pound as well as the standup game. Kirk may not have had to face too much of that so far and it’ll definitely add a new direction into things as he almost exclusively prefers to stand and kickbox. I’m going to give the edge to Matsuda here considering they both fought Ainsworth, both lost, but Matsuda took it to a split decision. *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Featherweights Alright Donkey Boy! This next Featherweight battle is one of the ones I’ve been very much looking forward to all week! This fight could easily grab an ‘of the Night’ award I’d think, particularly the ‘Fight of the Night’ if it’s as action packed as I expect it to be! Takahashi and Baptiste are two of the most talented fighters the division has to offer and are both fully prepped and ready to give the fans everything tonight! Takahashi came into Sucker Punch undefeated on his career in MMA with an 8-0 record. Then, he fell via rear naked choke to multi-time former champ Michael Aalto in what some thought was a bit of a surprise upset despite Aalto having amazing credentials! It was definitely a setback for Takahashi who, after his long awaited debut with us while he worked thing out in the TWGC tournament, appeared to be looking at nothing more than a formality before a title shot. But hey, this is why you don’t ever overlook competition! Now he needs to prove he’s everything he looked to be from his Medieval Combat and BBFC days and earn the path to the belt! That work starts tonight against another former champ in Baptiste! Baptiste, as we just mentioned, is not only a former champ here at Sucker Punch at Featherweight but a two-time champ at that! And he’s made his way back to the title fight once since then as well but came up short against Sitsongrit. He’s an amazing technical striker who can work you for points like no other but also capitalize if you falter or gas as he’ll be waiting to finish. Donkey’s Pick: Takahashi via Submission (Armbar) Two completely different styles here as Takahashi is your ground submission specialist and Baptiste is a technical standup striker! Finally, we get our striker versus ground guy matchup, and it’s a great one! Although, please note, Takahashi can stand and strike and has done it, successfully, with finishes on the feet also! Baptiste has fallen to a submission before, against Aalto coincidentally as did Takahashi, so given that Takahashi has never been taken the distance by a striker, I’m going to tip my hat in his direction tonight. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Lightweights Alright, our last one before the Main Events and we have another great one lined up here Donkster! Carvaleho is an unrestricted fighter, just barely at 352k, who comes into Sucker Punch on his debut tonight! Pablo is looking to tack on yet another win as he reaches for a Top Contender berth and Carvaleho is just the guy who could help him get there if he can come out on top! Carvaleho had a rough time going as he bounced around from Alpha-1 to Syn (sorta, there was some craziness with naming and all going on there for a bit) to HFC. He had four losses in a row from May to August last year and things were looking grim! Then, he found his stride at HFC and won three of four, all via submission. The man was back! At which point, we’re up to date and he has slipped over to us here at SPPS as we go unrestricted…and would like nothing more than to come in on a strong note and set the tone for his run at SPPS. Pablo got himself on a bit of a run as well lately with three W’s in a row followed by his most recent bout which ended as a draw against Ziggy Ozbourne. He’s one step away from a Top Contender battle against another top tier fighter in the org but to get that opportunity he needs to first focus on coming out with the ‘W’ against Carvaleho! And that will be no small task given Carvaleho’s skills on the ground will challenge even Pablo’s exceptional wrestling and black belt in Jiu Jitsu. Donkey’s Pick: Itzpapalotltotec via Unanimous Decision Pablo has proven he can win on the ground, as he did against Hare’s Revorg, or on the feet as he’s done multiple times with both strong boxing as well as clinchwork. Carvaleho almost definitely needs to win this one on the ground if he’s to get the ‘W’. I’m going to go with Pablo on this one for now as he’s proven in the past he can handle a strong ground game. *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Featherweight Bout We’ve had some other very closely matched fights tonight but our Co-Main Event between Featherweights Nagashima and Drake may be the closest so far, possibly! Nagashima will claim a small, small edge in wrestling while Drake gets the nod, by just a bit, in both areas of standup. Both are fully rested, mostly, and morale is on high! It should be a great one! Ole Crazy Eyes, Nagashima, really does need this one as well. He’s 1-3 over his last four fights with losses to some of the best in the division. He was on the verge of a title shot until the loss four back to Chulalongkorn, who eventually became champ. He came back to defeat Courtial via TKO but has since lost to former champ Aalto via KO and long-time contender Mickey Dismantle via decision last month. Nagashima does his best work when he can get to the ground, establish and maintain dominant position, and work a combination of striking and submission attempts. Drake brings a similar fight to the table as Nagashima and won’t shy away from the ground. I expect this one to end up there within the first two minutes of action! He was on a roll, winning four in a row, and got a shot at the title last month but came up just short in a decision loss to Sitsongrit. It’s no secret that he and his management team despise that style but you can be sure they also took note to the way it was defeated recently! A win over Nagashima would put Drake just another fight, possibly two, out from another run at the title and you can be sure he learns from each loss! Donkey’s Pick: Drake via Submission (Triangle) I don’t expect this fight to end in a decision. I expect this to be one where we see ground skills fully on display but one thing we all know…it can go sideways fast on the ground and there’s no telling who might come out on top! I’m going to go with Drake as Nagashima as struggled a bit more to find his way of late. *********************** Main Event: Featured Featherweight Bout Our Main Event this evening is practically a title fight, but not. Meaning, these two are the best of the best in the division at this time…short of the champ himself! Both are former champs at Featherweight, multiple times in the case of Aalto, and both are this one fight away from a title fight with Chulalongkorn! Now, that fight may have to wait a month rather than going off in early April as Chula and Joseph are both likely to be taking part in the Olympics. No worries, whoever makes it to that fight, it’ll be waiting for the winner here! These two have almost identical skillsets on paper…except Jiu Jitsu which is where Aalto sets himself apart. His black belt will give him the advantage on the ground over Joseph’s brown and you can bet Aalto will be looking to put it to good use! He’s submitted some of the best, including Takahashi last month, and has been working his tail off to get back to a potential title shot after having owned the betl here at SPPS twice before. The first run of which was one of the greatest in Featherweight history here at Sucker Punch! He hit a bit of snag after Chula took the belt the second time, losing four of five before bouncing back and taking out both Nagashima and then, as we’ve discussed, Takahashi. A win over Joseph would be all that is needed to make the statement that ‘he’s back!’ Joseph is also a former Featherweight champ here at Sucker Punch but was unable to defend it successfully, losing the belt to Sitsongrit after he’d won it from Baptiste. He then fell to Chulalongkorn as well via TKO but has since stepped it up with wins over Dismantle, who he pushed back down from rising contendership, and Cabrera who had also been making a run up the rankings! Joseph typically loves to stand and throw bombs but he demonstrated the depth of his skillsets on the feet against Dismantle when he took a close split decision. His balanced kickboxing approach in that fight showed he could strike with accuracy and precision as well as bring the feet into play to slow down an opponent with a heavy dose of leg kicks! He may be looking to do the same tonight to slow down Aalto’s attempts to take the fight to the ground. But don’t be surprised if he also switches to a counter, power style to put Aalto down if he can catch him on a nasty counter after Aalto comes in for the takedown! Donkey’s Pick: Aalto via Submission (Kimura) Super tough fight to pick! I love this fight as the Main Event! I’m not sure we’ll get a finish, but we’re as likely to get one as not I think! Honestly, this is a toss-up, just pick a coin and flip for it! Or, try to figure out what is going to happen. I dare ya! I’ll go with Aalto for now in this one. Why? No great reason, other than that every time I pick against this guy, he proves me wrong and ‘finds a way’! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! Less than an hour left before fight time folks! Donkey and I are now set to head over to the Wombley for a great night of fights and we hope you’ll join us! And don’t forget to stop by the booths of our sponsor, Shadow Warrior Nutrition! Get those free gifts peeps! We’ll see you in there or hope you catch it on the amazing three hour LIVE PPV folks! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series style! Suck it Donkey! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rambo Posted March 6, 2022 Report Share Posted March 6, 2022 A lesser man would complain about the two blatantly illegal low blows that disrupted my rhythm and ability to produce sperm, but I am no lesser man, and my little swimmers are mighty. I respect the tactics and I should've tried more dirty tactics as well, but I failed my coaches and my team. He was the better fighter today. We are 1-1 and I know we will fight again in the future. I will bounce back. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 8, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2022 Sucker Punch Fam...Unfortunately I'm stuck at work tonight, so there won't be a preview for SPPS 126 (which is a shame, because I really liked this poster!). That said, I'll be sure to do a nice Review of it after the fact and it'll actually be me doing the large portion of it this time around rather than Risa! No worries, the snark will be at a minimum! LOL! Anywas, in the meantime, go out there, have a great night of fights, and put on a show for the fans all over folks! You've got it in you, you're SUCKER PUNCH! Get some! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator001 Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 Frankie Logan We tried some new things over the last few months that didnt work as expected. We were close every one of my last 3 fights but couldnt quite get there. After that lots of disrespect came my way but its all good, I am back focussing on what I should have been the whole time. For the rest of the division, those cracks you thought you saw were self inflicted and are gone 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOHN S Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 Bjorn Olafsson- We both gave it our best you where the better man no excuses I would love to fight you again in the future. The journey does not stop here it is just the beginning. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldbones Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 Kazuma: What Ainsworth didn't know was I knew his every move, I studied his strategy for weeks and was able to identify his main move comes from an ancient style called Kick Kicking, a style of kicking, its very popular amongst 4 year olds. So I prepped by allowing model trains to crash into my shins daily, bumping into office furniture, and stubbing my toe on the bedpost for good measure. But it was tiresome and when the judges were leaning towards him for points even after I murdered his face and knocked him down the only choice was to retaliate and crash that shin he focused on across his face. Now for a well deserved rest, maybe some of these 185'ers can come up (see you soon...again Wanderson) while I focus training for the Olympics and who knows, how about letting me have an exhibition at 205 with the big boys Hare? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 6 hours ago, Gator001 said: Frankie Logan We tried some new things over the last few months that didnt work as expected. We were close every one of my last 3 fights but couldnt quite get there. After that lots of disrespect came my way but its all good, I am back focussing on what I should have been the whole time. For the rest of the division, those cracks you thought you saw were self inflicted and are gone Ohhhh shit yeah! This is what I love to see! First, our guys in general stepping up with the commentary on a week where I had work crap going on! Yeah baby! But then, to see Logan coming back with the attitude is friggin'...awwwwesome! Look out folks, he's coming for this title potentially again now next month after just taking out Connor in a revenge fight! 5 hours ago, JOHN S said: Bjorn Olafsson- We both gave it our best you where the better man no excuses I would love to fight you again in the future. The journey does not stop here it is just the beginning. I love this mindset! Man gets knocked down and gets right back up and is ready to get to WORK for next month! Yessss! 15 minutes ago, Oldbones said: Kazuma: What Ainsworth didn't know was I knew his every move, I studied his strategy for weeks and was able to identify his main move comes from an ancient style called Kick Kicking, a style of kicking, its very popular amongst 4 year olds. So I prepped by allowing model trains to crash into my shins daily, bumping into office furniture, and stubbing my toe on the bedpost for good measure. But it was tiresome and when the judges were leaning towards him for points even after I murdered his face and knocked him down the only choice was to retaliate and crash that shin he focused on across his face. Now for a well deserved rest, maybe some of these 185'ers can come up (see you soon...again Wanderson) while I focus training for the Olympics and who knows, how about letting me have an exhibition at 205 with the big boys Hare? THIS...of course, cracked me the hell up! I have to be sure to plan around Kazuma's Olympics stint before the next title fight...do we know when they happen and will be finished? If I understand, they won't affect energy or morale, correct? so as soon as they're over we could have a title fight soon after? I ask because we actually have a long line of new faces lining up to go after the belt at 185...Jukassa is already sitting and waiting on his shot...after that Chip Nickel and Silent Bob are vying for position and Shen Po and Krsto Vujic are also trying to work their way into position. Even Youssef Alaoui is right there if he keeps winning. Machado is under new management and was in position for a TS, but his management is probably dumping him again and he'll be a FA a second time. He may need some recovery time to train before he's ready to come back at the top after that. There are others. This is a very, very deep division here at SPPS, probably our deepest if not second only behind WW potentially. We could probably give Kazuma a look at LHW at some point if he wants...but while he's got the belt I think there are a ton of new faces looking to try to see if they can punch his for right now! LOL!!!! FOLKS! Great job bringing the fun to the table overnight and this morning! I can't wait to get a review done for this card that went off for SPPS 126 last night! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne95 Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 11 minutes ago, HareRumpler said: Ohhhh shit yeah! This is what I love to see! First, our guys in general stepping up with the commentary on a week where I had work crap going on! Yeah baby! But then, to see Logan coming back with the attitude is friggin'...awwwwesome! Look out folks, he's coming for this title potentially again now next month after just taking out Connor in a revenge fight! I love this mindset! Man gets knocked down and gets right back up and is ready to get to WORK for next month! Yessss! THIS...of course, cracked me the hell up! I have to be sure to plan around Kazuma's Olympics stint before the next title fight...do we know when they happen and will be finished? If I understand, they won't affect energy or morale, correct? so as soon as they're over we could have a title fight soon after? I ask because we actually have a long line of new faces lining up to go after the belt at 185...Jukassa is already sitting and waiting on his shot...after that Chip Nickel and Silent Bob are vying for position and Shen Po and Krsto Vujic are also trying to work their way into position. Even Youssef Alaoui is right there if he keeps winning. Machado is under new management and was in position for a TS, but his management is probably dumping him again and he'll be a FA a second time. He may need some recovery time to train before he's ready to come back at the top after that. There are others. This is a very, very deep division here at SPPS, probably our deepest if not second only behind WW potentially. We could probably give Kazuma a look at LHW at some point if he wants...but while he's got the belt I think there are a ton of new faces looking to try to see if they can punch his for right now! LOL!!!! FOLKS! Great job bringing the fun to the table overnight and this morning! I can't wait to get a review done for this card that went off for SPPS 126 last night! Tank "Weapon X" Tribute If Kazuma ever wind up having an exhibition fight in 205lbs division.. I'm always down for a challenge and would welcome him with a close fist. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldbones Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 12 minutes ago, HareRumpler said: THIS...of course, cracked me the hell up! I have to be sure to plan around Kazuma's Olympics stint before the next title fight...do we know when they happen and will be finished? If I understand, they won't affect energy or morale, correct? so as soon as they're over we could have a title fight soon after? I ask because we actually have a long line of new faces lining up to go after the belt at 185...Jukassa is already sitting and waiting on his shot...after that Chip Nickel and Silent Bob are vying for position and Shen Po and Krsto Vujic are also trying to work their way into position. Even Youssef Alaoui is right there if he keeps winning. Machado is under new management and was in position for a TS, but his management is probably dumping him again and he'll be a FA a second time. He may need some recovery time to train before he's ready to come back at the top after that. There are others. This is a very, very deep division here at SPPS, probably our deepest if not second only behind WW potentially. We could probably give Kazuma a look at LHW at some point if he wants...but while he's got the belt I think there are a ton of new faces looking to try to see if they can punch his for right now! LOL!!!! FOLKS! Great job bringing the fun to the table overnight and this morning! I can't wait to get a review done for this card that went off for SPPS 126 last night! The Olympics are supposed to be No Inj/Energy loss and only last 4 days I think 4/5-4/9 and Kazuma will be available to fight asap. Which is fine, Kazuma will take all comers because at Team Lundgren we're stupid! Like really stupid! I think we've turned down like 3 fights total. So as the current Champ-Champ (2x spps middleweight ) he'll come back with the gold, use those concrete paws to punch off (or kick off) faces of all comers in his div and ultimately strive to be the Suckerpunch QUAD-C (2X SPMW, Olympic Gold, and LHW champ) 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldbones Posted March 9, 2022 Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 5 minutes ago, wayne95 said: Tank "Weapon X" Tribute If Kazuma ever wind up having an exhibition fight in 205lbs division.. I'm always down for a challenge and would welcome him with a close fist. Yeah people usually seize up and clench their fists when they're dying so that's an accurate summary of what Diet Wolverine will face if he goes in there with the Dragon of Dojima. Send me location 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 8 minutes ago, wayne95 said: Tank "Weapon X" Tribute If Kazuma ever wind up having an exhibition fight in 205lbs division.. I'm always down for a challenge and would welcome him with a close fist. 3 minutes ago, Oldbones said: The Olympics are supposed to be No Inj/Energy loss and only last 4 days I think 4/5-4/9 and Kazuma will be available to fight asap. Which is fine, Kazuma will take all comers because at Team Lundgren we're stupid! Like really stupid! I think we've turned down like 3 fights total. So as the current Champ-Champ (2x spps middleweight ) he'll come back with the gold, use those concrete paws to punch off (or kick off) faces of all comers in his div and ultimately strive to be the Suckerpunch QUAD-C (2X SPMW, Olympic Gold, and LHW champ) See, now you guys are just feeding me the shit you KNOW I love to see! First we have Tank all like, "Bring it bitches!", which I friggin' love...and then we have Kazuma, stepping up to be the leader of the rest of his team at Team Lundgren and showing them how to GET THE JOB DONE! Oh yeahhhhh! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2022 Folks, I have to give an honorable mention, big time, here... Unfortunately for Casey, there were two huge head kicks that got big fight ratings later in the show last night at SPPS 126. That said...dude...like WOW...THIS IS HOW YOU OPEN A SHOW!!!! And on any other card, I don't care if the fight rating came out below 50%...a SLAM for TKO has to get high consideration for 'KO of the Night' and I'd have loved to have given it to him on this night, but it'll probably go to Barkley for 'KO of the Night' and with the Main Event getting the 'Fight of the Night' as well. But I could NOT pass up an opportunity to make note of this fantastic friggin action in our first fight of the night last night folks! https://mmatycoon.com/fightcommentary.php?FTID=1070404 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 13, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2022 POST EVENT CHEAP SHOTS Sucker Punch Pro Series 126 Hello to all our Sucker Punch fans out there! We’re got another event on tap today for SPPS 127 but we also want to take a quick look back at the midweek action at SPPS 126 first! Yep, we were back in Tokyo for SPPS 126 and this was a special one in some ways as our Sucker Punch Pro Series Middleweight Champions, Kiryu Kazuma, brought the belt home to Japan! As always, I’m Hare Rumpler and I’ll be joined by my sidekick, Donkey “Dan”. This card was a bit more balanced than the prior one at SPPS 125 where we had one single big boy fight but outside that nothing over Middleweight. For this event, SPPS 126, we had three Featherweight bouts on tap, including the first two openers, as well as a Lightweight matchup between Frankie Logan and Greg Connor in the Co-Main Event which was a war as you’d expect! In between we had two Heavyweight battles lined up, we had a Light Heavyweight showdown between Lampi and Tribute that more than warmed things up for the Co-Main Events. And last but not least…THREE Middleweight contests including the final which wrapped up the card as the Main Event! That was a great showdown between reigning, defending Middleweight champ and hometown favorite, Kiryu Kazuma, and the challenger, Wilfred Ainsworth! Overall this was a solid card that turned into one of our better performers overall in terms of being in the red or black and with the final few fights bringing solid ratings it’s one that the fans will likely continue to look back on and look forward to more like it! You have to love a card that brings you only two decisions on the entire evening! Now, let’s jump to a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner and get to looking at each fight’s result in a little more detail! Shadow Warrior Nutrition will was on hand at the event 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 our sponsor’s stands at the next event or visit their store 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, you will NOT be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Featherweights Yellow Belt Casey defeats Phat Bhoy via TKO (Slam) What a way to start out the evening for SPPS 126!!! I’d have loved to give this fight the ‘KO of the Night’ award but unfortunately there were two that came later that I just had to put just a bit higher. That didn’t stop me from being sure to give this fight a serious shout out and honorable mention though! Bhoy came out working in this one but just could not find a way to have success on the ground. His transitions just weren’t getting it done and left him trying to find a way to capitalize but falling short. Casey was able to get enough strikes prior to that standing and the round went against Bhoy. The second round is where things really gave the crowd something to get up for! Bhoy stepped up his aggression and was bringing it, moving the strikes to about even through the first half of the round and likely heading for a round win…until…well…uh oh… Bhoy misses with a telegraphed body shot and Casey counters with a head kick. That will keep Bhoy thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks! Bhoy is rocked! Bhoy misses with a body shot and Casey shoots in, scooping Bhoy off his feet. Casey is holding his opponent over his shoulder. He slams Bhoy to the mat and Bhoy is in big trouble! Casey is landing strikes to his unconscious foe and the ref dives in to end the fight! Casey is celebrating with his corner and rightfully so. Donkey’s Takeaways: Bhoy probably didn’t want his last fight here at Sucker Punch to result in his being part of Casey’s highlight reel, but unfortunately for him that’s exactly what happened. His contract was up and Hare had chosen not to extend due to overall performance and ranking. Casey uses this as an opportunity to move up the rankings some, just about breaking into the Top 1k and making it two wins in a row in the process. Quality stuff for Casey and the Bombada camp and definitely a great foundation to build upon! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Featherweights Moganesh Jain Defeats Aaron Petrov via Submission (Triangle) Two of our unrestricted, unrestrained fighters got after it in this second fight of the evening and it seemed that Petrov just couldn’t find his stride in this contest. Jain pretty much controlled the action from the start, giving it to Petrov good to the head and body while demonstrating his striking skills on the feet. Halfway through the second round of action Jain saw an opportunity for the takedown and took it and once on the ground things got a bit rougher for Petrov. Petrov was able to reverse position to get back on top but was never able to escape to the feet and Jain was more than happy to take his sub chances from the bottom just as well! It only took two for him to close this thing out and earn the ‘Sub of the Night’ award in the process! Petrov is trying to tuck his arms in to keep them safe but Jain has managed to isolate one of them and has got a loose triangle. Petrov is looking to defend but Jain has done well to lock his legs together - this could be big trouble for Petrov! Jain pulls down on the head and a little smile comes across his face - he knows he's got it. Yep, Petrov taps out and this one is all over! Donkey’s Takeaways: This was a big opportunity for Jain to move up the rankings some and get out of the cellar in the Featherweight division. With three wins in a row, including this debut with Sucker Punch, he’s well on his way to turning things around! Now, can he continue the streak against Bremner next month? That’s a quality fight which will demand his very best! With four losses over his last five fights Petrov is having a bit of trouble gaining traction. He came into SPPS with a solid win over Ivan Volkov but has struggled since against Delisle and Jain. Hare tells me that due to current ranking and such that he’s looking to the outside to bring in a final fight on his current contract. The results of that fight may very well be the determining factor for the possibility of a contract extension…or not. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Middleweights Landon McGuire defeats Youssef Alaoui via TKO (Strikes) This next Middleweight bout went well into the third before a decision was reached, but in between there was plenty of action to keep the fans invested in what was one of the better fights we’ve seen! At least for McGuire. Alaoui just found that the day wasn’t going his way in this one and he couldn’t find a way to swing things in his favor. McGuire was getting the best of him boxing and kickboxing, and even after the fight was taken into the clinch it was clear that McGuire was going to direct the activities as he did a ton of damage and softening up there! About two thirds of the way into the first round it was evident that Alaoui was in trouble… McGuire scores with an uppercut up the middle. Alaoui is rocked! McGuire has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Alaoui is trying to keep an underhook but McGuire manages to get the takedown into half guard. The surprising part there was the takedown. I would have figured on McGuire trying to force it back to the feet so he could finish this one out the same way he’d been dominating to that point. Instead, he tried to get cute with some submission attempts and the round came to an end and saved Alaoui! The second round saw McGuire doing most of his clinchwork damage but also saw his corner working furiously on the cut he suffered during the first. In the third McGuire again got cute with the takedown but after a short period the ref had enough of the inaction and stood it back up. That was probably a blessing in disguise for McGuire as we he was able to put this baby to bed just a minute or so later… Alaoui avoids the head kick by McGuire. Alaoui seems to be squinting his left eye. Perhaps he got a poke in that previous exchange. McGuire shows no mercy and swarms him with a barage of strikes! Alaoui is backing up but McGuire catches him with a final right hook that drops him! Alaoui covers up and the referee steps in to end the fight! McGuire Jumps to his feet and flashes his guns to the crowd. Oh yeah, baby! How'd you like them apples?! Donkey’s Takeaways: There’s still some debate as to whether McGuire got Alaoui in the eye or not during that round and if it resulted in the finish. Ultimately, the result will be the same here and McGuire got the chance to play it up to the crowed a bit at the end! This was a big win that McGuire needed to break free of the three fight losing streak he’d been on. I’m told behind the scenes that his manager refocused a bit and that the camp leading up to this fight was much more driven and targeted for McGuire. It clearly worked! Now he gets to go out next month and back it up against hard-hitting Nick Barkley! Alaoui has been hit and miss since joining us at Sucker Punch with a loss, then two win and now this loss. Next month he’ll have a huge rebound opportunity against the struggling Matsuda who will carry four straight losses into the cage. That’s still no gimme as both are talented fighters and Matsuda has a bit of an ID advantage. But if Alaoui comes focused and ready, he’s more than capable of taking home the ‘W’. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Middleweights Nick Barkley defeats Mike Green via KO (Head Kick) Speaking of the hard-hitting Barkley, our fourth fight of the night got us closer to the end of the Undercard and delighted the fans with the ‘KO of the Night’!!! Barkley wanted this one in the clinch, likely to try to soften up Green a bit, but was unable to control and hold it there early on after moving things in close. Green was able to separate and it took a bit of time before Barkley was able to reestablish their slow dance! Being outside the clinch didn’t help Green too much though as Barkley’s strike defense was coming out on top and Green was only able to land a handful of shots while receiving more than his fair share back. Especially to the head! After a solid first round and a ton of tenderizing dished out to Green, Barkley easily won the first and moved onto the second. I’m not sure what his corner told him between rounds but Barkley was ready to end this thing, countering with power on his second shot after the bell…and following it up in devastating highlight fashion… Green throws a right hand that misses letting Barkley counter with a right hand. Crack! A monster head kick from Barkley and Green falls like a tree - timbeeeeeeeeeeerrrr! A highlight reel knockout by Barkley! Donkey’s Takeaways: A finish like that is not only how you get the crowd into a frenzy but also how you walk away with a tasty little bonus with the ‘KO of the Night’! Not to mention a new addition to your highlight reel if you’re Barkley, just as the announcers aptly pointed out! We just mentioned in the post-fight review before this that the win earns Barkley a date with a very talented McGuire and he’ll need to really be focused on this upcoming camp. A win over McGuire would make it four of his last five and likely propel him into Top Contender conversations! Green’s camp clearly got to their wits end here and didn’t like what they saw in terms of jaw and heart. Shortly after this fight was over we found out that Green would be on the free agent market seeking a new camp and management team. We wish him the best and we’ll be waiting to see if he’ll step into the cage for Sucker Punch again! *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Heavyweights Colin Penn defeats Andre Powell via TKO (Strikes) The first of our two big boy fights from SPPS 126 and we get our fifth finish in a row! A straight streak for the Undercard folks! You can’t ask for more from the folks who get the magic brewing for the fans in attendance. Much like the last fight, this one barely made it into the second round before Penn was able to bring home the ‘W’. The first round was dominated by ground activity after a quick takedown by Penn and subsequent string of submission attempts over the course of four minutes. Powell was able to get a couple attempts of his own in but the constant threat and move from one attempt to the next by Penn left him mostly on the defensive. Penn was able to take the round by virtue of a couple strikes standing before it went to the mat, another strike from the mat and having accomplished the takedown and pushing the pace offensively. The second round, what little there was of it, went an entirely different direction. Meaning it started out like the first, but ended well before any takedown was in question! Powell seemed a bit out of sorts at this point and Penn came at him with some intensity right from the bell, ending it in a fine sequence of boxing action… Penn cracks Powell with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd. Powell misses with a hook to the body and Penn counters with a quick right hand to the jaw. Penn paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button. Penn throws a monster overhand right that drops Powell! Penn follows up with more strikes from mount and the fight is all over! Donkey’s Takeaways: Penn is still in the process of working his weight down so he can drop to Light Heavyweight. But in the meantime, he continues to rack up wins at Heavyweight to the tune of three in a row since joining Sucker Punch! As such, it’s time to see just where he stands and with Conchobhar eager to get back into the cage also…and their rankings, skills and such matching so, so nicely…it was almost impossible for Hare to ignore the opportunity to throw two fighters on three fight win streaks against one another. Both will have all they can handle next month and it’ll definitely propel one forward nicely and let them both know where they stand! With two losses in a row now, Powell will likely get a chance to step back in time a bit and revisit Teixeira as an opponent next month once Teixeira finishes his next fight with Ashwin Tyson. Powell and Teixeira have a history, having met twice before at different periods of their careers both early on and midway through. They’ve split the prior meetings, Powell winning the first but not the second. This rubber match might tell us if that was just an off day or if Powell is trending downward while Teixeira, who is 2-0 in his last couple outings and possibly 3-0 by the time this next fight comes, may be trending in the opposite direction? *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Heavyweights Herleifr Conchobhar defeats Bjorn Olafsson via Decision (Unanimous) Our first of only two decisions on the entire evening gets us rolling for the Main Card here. Also our second of only two Heavyweight battles! When the big boys get in there and take it the distance it’s always a surprise for me! For whatever reason, I always assume that putting two monsters in the cage will result in somebody’s bell getting rung! Olafsson was determined to get this fight into the clinch and work the head and body once there throughout this fight. THIRTY-SIX clinch attempts, FIFTEEN times succeeding in getting the slow dance started! Unfortunately for him, he was unable to keep it there with Conchobhar repeatedly breaking free. Risa would have a song about that I think, probably from High School Musical! But you don’t get her prime time wit in this review! Olafsson’s accuracy was on point in this fight, landing a good percentage of his shots, especially while boxing…but he just wasn’t active enough outside the clinch and that’s where Conchobhar managed to capitalize as he was the opposite. Perhaps Olafsson was looking to land that finishing power shot? Without Olafsson finding a way to land that finishing shot Conchobhar was able to grab the points he needed in a very closely fought affair that was consistently scored 29-28 across the board by the judges. Donkey’s Takeaways: We talked earlier after Penn’s fight about how Conchobhar and Penn will both be tested heavily next month as they’ve paired on a date in April. I don’t think it’ll be a romantic one! With three wins in a row following this fight, Conchobhar will be looking to tack on another and start making the case that despite a 3.5* skill rating he has to be looked at as a potential top tier fighter in the division. Certainly that won’t be in question with another win if he can snag it. Despite the loss, Olafsson’s camp was in high spirits following the fight and were already looking towards getting back in the gym, working hard and coming with even more intensity next time out! We love that attitude here at Sucker Punch and clearly they believe they can get right back to the formula that earned them two wins here at SPPS prior to this loss. At this time Hare tells me that we’re probably looking at a matchup with Noah Anderson if he should lose his next fight against Thoth Chontamenti. Both are about the same ID but Anderson does have a slight skill advantage. It’ll be a solid test for Olafsson to see if he’s ready to step into the big time lights of Main Card action more regularly or if he still needs some time to develop further and ratchet it back just a notch! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Featherweights Heller Cabrera defeats Gauthier Delisle via TKO (Strikes) Back to the Featherweights here as we get closer and closer to the Main Events of the evening! Two more of the unrestricted, unrestrained crowd came at us in this one and once again, as has been par for the course on the night, we got a finish even with the small fries in the cage! Many times when we get finishes with the small beans in there, it’s from ground action. And if Delisle had had it his way on this night that’s exactly what we would have gotten as he has a strong history of submissions. That has been more difficult to come by of late though and this contest with Cabrera proved no exception to that rule. He managed to get the fight to the ground early, but Cabrera was prepared and managed to get it back to the feet without too much danger. Thirteen other takedown attempts proved unsuccessful for Delisle and that led to Cabrera having more than enough opportunities to punish him on the feet with his power shots! Cabrera didn’t need many to land, but the few he did certainly were felt and this one, just over a minute into the second round, got the job done… Delisle is trying hard to land a takedown here. Cabrera sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet. Cabrera rushes Delisle and starts throwing punches like they are going out of style! Delisle is up against the cage and has nowhere to go. Cabrera piles on the pressure and Delisle crumples to the floor! This one is all over! Donkey’s Takeaways: Cabrera is 13-1 on his career and has come roaring into Sucker Punch with two wins after this victory. He’s also undefeated under his current management team with Marky Mark and is quickly making a case for himself to be considered for a Title Shot! With both the Featherweight champ, Chulalongkorn, and pending challenger, Joseph, slated to take part in the Olympics we’re going to have some delay in TS opportunities over the next month. The way this very well may play out is that the winner of Cabrera and his next opponent, former champ Aalto, may get one last contender fight with the winner of Sitsongrit/Volkov…and that may very well determine our title fight that comes at the end of April or early May! Delisle lets one slip away here and goes 1-1 since joining Sucker Punch but a bit more concerning for his camp, most likely, is the 2-5 run he’s been on since being with Combate and SMASH as well. He needs to find a way to turn things around more consistently as he was finding submissions easier to come by earlier in his career. Hare is currently looking to the outside for his next opponent to give him an opportunity to claw his way up the rankings! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Light Heavyweights Tank Tribute defeats Eemeli Lampi via TKO (Strikes) If it wasn’t for our final fight of the evening being a Title Fight and also getting a high rating as well, this would have very likely have grabbed ‘Fight of the Night’ honors for these two warriors! It was fantastic battle that wasn’t over too fast, giving the fans plenty of action for their buck, but also found a finish before sending it to those nasty judges! This one was tightly contested through the first two rounds with Tribute taking the first despite getting cut and then Lampi coming back strong to take the second. Both were trading power shots with Lampi also attempting to take things into the clinch successfully on two occasions but finding no opportunities to do damage while up close and personal with Tribute! The opposite actually happened with Tribute landing a trio of shots to the head and another few to the body while in the clinch. When the third round came it was obvious that both of these competitors had no intention of taking the fight and putting things in the judges’ nasty hands…they were determined to end it one way or another and the crowd definitely appreciated the effort! The announcers made it clear that this was a fight that was being universally enjoyed throughout! Despite doing some additional damage to the cut that was dealt to Tribute early in the fight, Lampi wasn’t able to avoid the big ones forever in the third and Tribute finally capitalized… Tribute lands a big right hand that sends Lampi crashing to the mat! Tribute stays standing though and waves Lampi back to his feet! Lampi is rocked! Tribute circles and sees the opportunity to plant his feet and throw a really nice straight left hand that drops Lampi to the canvas! Lampi doesn't know where he is but he's trying to survive - Tribute keeps piling on the pressure and forces the referee to step in! This one is aaaaaall over! Donkey’s Takeaways: Tribute has been positioned for a shot at the belt before but found that John Fury was too much to handle back in November. Since then, yes, he’s fallen to a very talented unrestricted Ibrahim Camara but he also has huge wins over top talent in Abraham Barnes and former two time champion Eemeli Lampi in this most recent battle! He’s looking to reestablish himself as one of the elite in the Light Heavyweight division and next month a battle with the loser of Izanagi/Ecker will likely give him that exact opportunity! Lampi has since had his management team contact the SPPS front office for a move to Heavyweight. A confirmation of a plan that we’ve known about for some time now. It’s likely we’ll see a showdown between this power striker and another in ZaDarius Haden after Haden’s fight is complete on the 20th! That’ll be a “must-see” fight for every Sucker Punch fan! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Lightweight Bout Frankie Logan defeats Greg Connor via Decision (Unanimous) These two went at it for three rounds in their rematch from the fight they had at Featherweight a couple months back in December. But unlike what happened then, this time out Logan was back in his element at Lightweight and you have to wonder if that did some positive things for his psyche? This time around he was able to get back to his technical striking style to control the fight for the full three rounds, winning things easily with the judges for our second decision on the evening. Connor just was unable to land a finishing shot with his power punches this time out as he clearly adjusted back away from the aggressive, technical striking he used the last time out. He also was unable to grab the advantage in the clinch that he was looking for. Outside that, this one was appreciate by the fans for the pure talent and skill involved, but many would call it a somewhat boring outing. We’ll leave it to Donkey’s Takeaways to discuss a bit more of what came from this fight! Donkey’s Takeaways: Despite the loss of the belt to Duvernay upon returning to the Lightweight division after his walkabout at Featherweight, Logan made it clear in the forums that he was back in form and that the rest of the division was being put on notice again! There had been some mumbling about “blood in the water” and such, but Logan was quick to dispel those thoughts after avenging the loss to Connor… Frankie Logan: We tried some new things over the last few months that didn’t work as expected. We were close every one of my last 3 fights but couldn’t quite get there. After that lots of disrespect came my way but it’s all good, I am back focusing on what I should have been the whole time. For the rest of the division, those cracks you thought you saw were self-inflicted and are gone. That win put Logan right back in the driver’s seat and he’s slated to take on the winner of Maeda/Verreira for the title after their fight on the 20th. Look for Logan to come back with a vengeance around mid-April folks! For Connor, the loss had to be a disappointment after he was able to defeat Logan at Featherweight back in December. With the move to Lightweight he clearly had intentions to repeat that performance and to on for the gold! Given his considerable skills and continued outstanding record at SPPS, with only losses to Logan and Sitsongrit so far, he’s still very much on track to make that happen eventually. It’ll just take a little longer to get the opportunity now and require a few wins in between. It's clear that he’s been unhappy with the technical striking and decision strategy that some of the fighters he’s been up against have been utilizing as his bio clearly puts his thoughts front and center… Greg Connor: Pussy ass pillow fighting (biting) little bitches in this place! Itzpapalotltotec and Tonon are scheduled to fight for a Title Shot opportunity on April 6th and after that Connor will likely get a look at the loser from that matchup! *********************** Main Event: Middleweight Championship Bout Kiryu Kazuma defeats Wilfred Ainsworth via KO (Head Kick) Our Main Event and Middleweight Title Fight went off explosively at SPPS 126 with the fight going into a third round but not coming close to going the distance into the championship rounds thanks to Kazuma’s continued ability to end his fights in spectacular fashion! Ainsworth won the first round of this fight and appeared to be in the driver’s seat heading towards potentially grabbing that belt that has eluded him two times previously! He was also doing well in the second round, despite this bit of delightful action that had the crowd blowing the roof off the Tokyo Dome… Kazuma avoids a lazy jab quite easily. Kazuma lands a big right hand that sends Ainsworth crashing to the mat! Kazuma stays standing though and waves Ainsworth back to his feet! Ainsworth is rocked! Ainsworth was able to not only recover, showing some fantastic heart, but even win the round with the judges due to his overall performance outside that nasty knockdown! Things were looking pretty good for Ainsworth! Fast forward another minute…almost two…into the third round and Kazuma found the trick to turning out the lights for Ainsworth! It seems all kicks are not created equal…and that the second one that came at Ainsworth, clearly unexpectedly here, was NOT just another leg kick ladies and gentlemen… Ainsworth connects with an inside leg kick. Ainsworth wants to stay close but Kazuma steps back to make room for something. Ainsworth seems frozen to the spot and bam! huge swing of the leg from Kazuma and Ainsworth drops like he has been shot! A huge head kick and it's all over! Donkey’s Takeaways: Given the battle that took place in that one and the outstanding 77% fight rating the fans gave it afterward…along with the fact that Ainsworth was winning until that gasp inducing final shot from Kazuma that completely turned things upside down…this fight walked away with the ‘Fight of the Night’ honors and deservedly so! Kazuma tacks on a second successful title defense in this second run of his as Champion at Middleweight! He now has five wins in a row, including three for the championship, and all five have ended with his opponent wondering what just happened…or in the case of the last fight with Machado…simply a bloody mess! Kazuma clearly is sending a message to the division that if you want the belt, you have a hell of a fight waiting for you and you’d better be prepared to lose your head if you lose focus! He’ll take on Zett Jukassa after the Olympics on April 10th and has a long line of other talent all salivating for their chance with him. Perhaps foolishly! Ainsworth gets knocked back a step here after three straight wins earned him this third title fight opportunity. The Title Fight remains his Achilles heel here at Sucker Punch. We’ve been told just recently that he’s accepted a fight with Hare’s Darwin Zambrano for next month and an opportunity to start his trek right back up the mountain! This man has proven before he will not stay down…don’t expect to see it anytime soon folks! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! A great time out at the Tokyo Dome last week for SPPS 126 and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! Next up, SPPS 127 tonight at the Colliseum in LA and we’ll be there waiting for you shortly! Apparently it’s kicked off already and we mistimed things today as I thought we had another 3 hours to get the preview out for it! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series style! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 13, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2022 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 127 Hey Sucker Punch fans all over this good ole planet Earth! Welcome back as we just finished the review of SPPS 126 and now, in a bit of a hurry, we’re attempting to get out this preview for SPPS 127 which takes place, I believe, in just about three hours! Well, more like probably an hour by the time I finish this preview with Donkey. Unless I screwed up, because it appears the event has disappeared from my list already and I’m a bit confused at the moment with daylight savings time having kicked in. Arg! But let’s get to it just in case here! Alright, let’s start with my other mess up! I scheduled a Heavyweight bout between Shima and Balkan late, after most of the card was already in place. I forgot to re-sort the fights. Damnit. This fight should have been one of the Main Events most likely, and my botching this is going to severely affect the event’s ratings and results. Bugger! It’s also a bit disrespectful to both of them to have them opening the card, so again, my apologies! We’ll have two other big boy fights on this card, the second midway through the Undercard and the other opening the Main Card. The Welterweights are heavily represented with four battles on hand, three of which are on the Main Card and one of them now (mistakenly) being the Co-Main Event! That’s ok, perhaps Mental Warrior and Rick Segura will bring the heat and make it a fight to remember!!! We’ll have Featherweights Figueroa and Lomanchenko on tap as well, along with Light Heavyweights Andrei Avenryanov and Caleb DeCoteau finishing up the Undercard and our big ole Main Event, Izanagi and Ecker bringing the heat as one of them will re-establish the Light Heavyweight title here at Sucker Punch by the time this is all said and done…barring a draw. God forbid! LOL! Sound pretty good? I’d say so! If you don’t think so then frankly, I don’t know what to tell ya! Now, let’s jump to a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner and get to the fun stuff! Shadow Warrior Nutrition will be on hand at the event 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 sponsor’s stands at the Tokyo Bowl or visit their store 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, you will NOT be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Heavyweights Alright, let’s start with my biggest mess up of the day! As I said in the intro, I scheduled a Heavyweight bout between Shima and Balkan late, after most of the card was already in place. I forgot to re-sort the fights. Damnit. This fight should have been one of the Main Events most likely, and my botching this is going to severely affect the event’s ratings and results. Bugger! It’s also a bit disrespectful to both of them to have them opening the card, so again, my apologies! These two are so evenly matched…on paper…that it’s crazy! I think if there’s any difference at all it’s possibly just a small edge for Balkan in Muay Thai. Hardly likely to factor in I’d think. As for what to expect in this fight, well, prior to last month I’d have said I could tell you at least what Balkan might be planning to do. Shima continues to be an enigma from one fight to the next due to his extensive and varied skillsets and willingness to bring a different approach to the cage time and time again. But Balkan went from the striker that we all know and love to suddenly scoring a surprise submission over ZaDarius Haden last month! Wow. Yep, ok, we knew he was working on some grappling of late…but dammmmn boy! Shima is your two-time, very accomplished, prior champion here at Sucker Punch. He only just lost the title in February to Will Wrecks who surprised him and the crowd with a huge TKO to swipe the gold! Prior to that, Shima had mowed through opponents on his second run as champ with wins over Chontamenti (twice, via cuts and KO!), Haden via submission and Harrison also via cuts! Boy, Shima does not shy away from dishing out the pain and the bloody punishment! So yes, what he’ll do tonight is a total guess folks! What I do know is that it’ll be exciting! Bring it on! Make a pick there Donkey boy! Donkey’s Pick: Shima via TKO (Cuts) Making a call for a finish via cuts is always a gutsy way to go. But Shima’s done it twice recently so clearly he can dish out some serious damage to decorate the cage…something he may try to do early tonight to turn the environment into something out of a slasher film for the rest of the fights coming later! Also, Balkan has fallen via cuts as recently as his fight with Billy Bob Brown just before joining us from HFC. So yeah, out on a limb I go here! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Welterweights Ok, stepping into what should have been our true Undercard opening fight on the night here we’ll have a showdown between Boxaaja and Martin. Both unrestricted, unrestrained fighters and both desperately looking to claw and fight their way out of the basement here at Sucker Punch in the Welterweight division. Boxaaja was actually brought in specifically to give Martin a chance to prove himself without having to have somebody else in the division step down to his current ranking. With four losses coming in and a morale meter that’s not quite up to snuff, he may offer just that opportunity to Martin. But he’s also got the talent to win and if Martin takes him too lightly he’s likely to find himself losing rather than capitalizing on this chance. If that happens, well…I probably won’t have to search for another fight after this for Martin! I’d love to tell you what to expect of these two, but outside Martin’s QFC TKO win over Leif Wolden in January it’s been so long since either has won that that’s a difficult call to make. Donkey’s Pick: Martin via Unanimous Decision Martin should be able to get this win here. It would have been a much more evenly contested matchup if Boxaaja had come in prepared, but he didn’t. Therefore this is a must win for Martin. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Heavyweights Republic is the more talented of these two fighters despite Alzado having a significant age and ID advantage as an unrestricted, unrestrained fighter coming into SPPS. That said, Alzado struggled against my own Akuma Manivong last month in his Sucker Punch debut and fell in twenty-five seconds via KO. Ouch. He’s fueled up and ready to go but a win is almost a necessity. Republic should know what to do here tonight but the problem may be that his morale is off slightly, as we’ve seen a few times lately. And with that there will be a question as to whether his manager prepared him for this fight strategically. He’s coming off two recent losses to ZaDarius Haden and then, most recently, Bobo Brazil. He needs a win here to get back on track and prove he can start showing some consistency. Both of these guys need to look at this fight tonight as a do or die scenario. Without that eye of the tiger, one of them is likely to find themselves on the search for a new career… Donkey’s Pick: Alzado via TKO (Strikes) Republic is a fighter who likes to work both his boxing and the clinch for a decision with the judges. He doesn’t take huge risks and goes for the points. Alzado can finish, and has for a large number of his wins…either via strikes standing or by dishing out punishment on the ground. At least two of his fights have ended with his opponent a bloody mess. This is a tough pick to make but you know I tend to go against those that are less prepared…so it’s Alzado for the pick! *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Featherweights Two of our younger crowd will go at it here in the Featherweight division as both are in the 360k+ range for MMAT ID. They’re also just about equally skilled minus perhaps the slight edge that Figueroa gives up to Lomanchenko in boxing and wrestling. It’s a very small edge though! Lomanchenko comes in under the guidance of the very accomplished Bradley Burns. That said, it’s very hard to say what we can expect here as his impressive four wins prior to joining Sucker Punch have the side note that they were all QFC wins. Org competition is usually a different animal! If we can take anything from those wins it’s that Lomanchenko doesn’t mind working a diverse and balanced kickboxing attack while also looking for opportunities to clinch up and work it close in the fight situations…against the right opponents. Figueroa comes in under the management of yet another very accomplished manager with Dead Disney in his corner. This fight may come down to management tactics and strategy tonight more than the skills of the fighters themselves given the names backing each kid! Figueroa has a six fight winning streak going back through not only current management but the two prior teams as well. Last month he was able to defeat Destin Craven via TKO in his Sucker Punch debut. If there’s anything that’s clear from Figueroa’s current tactics under Disney, it’s that he wants to hit you in the friggin’ head. Repeatedly. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s while boxing, as in his last two fights, or clinched up as he did in the fight against Jon Sterling back in October. Donkey’s Pick: Figueroa via Unanimous Decision This pick comes down to one simple thing. I’m going to need to see Lomanchenko against non-QFC competition before I can pick him. It’s as simple as that! *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Light Heavyweights Our final bout of the Undercard and we’ve got a Light Heavyweight contest between DeCoteau, who comes in with his morale slightly off, and Andrei Averyanov who finally shook off the funk he was in for three fights and has put back to back wins together coming into tonight. Surprisingly, at 26 years of age DeCoteau only has two professional fights under his belt. One was a QFC bout while the other was his SPPS debut last month where he overcame Misak Grigorian via TKO in the early moments of the second round. He’s well rounded with his skills, but from what we can see so far he prefers to box it out or, if need be, clinch up occasionally. Both wins were via TKO so we’re guessing he won’t be holding a lot back. Averyanov is a very similar styled fighter as DeCoteau except that he likes to kickbox a bit more. And has less Jiu Jitsu expertise. Given DeCoteau’s lack of extensive experience in the cage, we don’t know if that’s something that Averyanov will have to worry about this evening or not! Donkey’s Pick: Averyanov via Unanimous Decision Averyanov has a granite chin and could very well rely upon it tonight. That, and DeCoteau is not entirely prepared morale wise, so I have to pick against him here. *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Heavyweights We’ll get the Main Card going tonight with a Heavyweight battle between very close in ID giants, Brazil and Amir! From a skill perspective, Brazil will have small edges in Muay Thai and wrestling, making us wonder if he’ll go to the clinch tonight, while Amir has a boxing advantage and holds a black belt in Jiu Jitsu over Brazil’s brown. Brazil comes off a win over Republic last month which was a turnaround from the two losses to Chontamenti and Magomedov prior to that. Both of those fights were against top tier talent at Heavyweight and he managed to take the Magomedov fight to a decision which was impressive. With four wins prior to those losses, Brazil was on the right track and will look to rebuild that trend with another win here tonight. Amir, brand new to Sucker Punch, is the second fighter on tonight’s card backed by Bradley Burns. His last two fights, the only on his career under Burns so far, were both QFC battles but showed his flexibility and willingness to work a win from any angle as the first fight was a KO over Cedric Pollard and the most recent an armbar submission over Rock Batista. Both first round finishes. Donkey’s Pick: Brazil via Unanimous Decision We know that Amir has a solid chin but we also know that Brazil has a granite. That should allow Brazil to strike without fear so long as he respects Amir’s ground skills and the potential to take a loss via submission. I won’t lie, this is a shot in the dark though, this fight could easily go either way! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Welterweights Queen vs. Lankinen II Woooo Donkey! We’ve got a nice, evenly skilled match here that would be just about perfect if it weren’t for Queen’s somewhat off morale coming into the fight! Queen will have the smallest of edges in wrestling while Lankinen holds the Muay Thai advantage. Both fighters come in with good wins under their belts in recent fights. Queen has a trifecta of wins heading into this one and was slated to potentially be looking at a Top Contender battle after this with a win, should he accomplish that. So it’s a bit surprising to me that he’s not fully prepped for this one! This is the second meeting between these two and Lankinen is the last fighter that Queen fell to prior to his run of wins, so it’s especially important to show he can avenge that loss here before moving up into Top Contender territory! Lankinen carries two wins of his own into this fight and is on a 4-1 run including the win under former manager Jamal Jamison. His only loss over that entire period is against my own Lou Valentine! *bows* That’ll probably earn me a nasty word or two and a rematch challenge, I’m sure! LOL! With a win over Queen he’d make it 2-0 in their meetings and move himself one step closer to potential TC territory with a likely matchup against Barbosa or Aleksy awaiting him. Lankinen is more than happy to work whatever the situation presents. Kickboxing (more boxing, less kicking), clinchwork or even ground and pound if the opportunity is offered. Queen is very much a kickboxer so we can expect him to want to keep this fight out of the clinch and off the ground if history repeats. Donkey’s Pick: Lankinen via Unanimous Decision Everybody knows I love to root for rubber matches! I actually like Queen to repeat in this one here but to play devil’s advocate I’m going to put my pick in Lankinen’s corner just to be a troublemaker! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Welterweights Our final fight before our two Main Events is another Welterweight matchup between our longtime SPPS resident Lee and relative newcomer Kai Rossiter, who is part of the recent incoming unrestricted crew. Lee technically has the primary skill advantage heading into this one but gives up a bit in the age and experience department. He’s also been struggling of late with a 1-3 record over his last four, including the loss to Queen via decision in February. Those losses have taken their toll and he’s been freefalling in the rankings, something he and his management team under Runt likely are very focused on correcting…starting tonight! Rossiter, minus the loss to Queen, has been on a heck of a roll with a 5-1 record over his last six fights. Since being with SPPS he’s also managed to get wins over Bea Mason, another unrestricted fighter, and Rick Segura last month. He’s a power striker who loves to headhunt for the finish! Donkey’s Pick: Lee via Submission (Armbar) It’s important not to forget that Lee’s skills are not limited to just standing. He’s proven against Hare’s own boy Valentine and Leroy Jinx that he can pull off a submission as well. And that’s what I’m going to go with tonight, the surprise ground game! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Welterweight Bout The Co-Main Event tonight is a big opportunity for both Segura and Warrior to right the ship at Welterweight. Segura has seemed to lose his way recently with three losses in a row after previously being considered a future Top Contender. Warrior has lost three of his last four, including the last two coming into tonight and very much needs a win to avoid going 1-3 here at Sucker Punch. Both fighters are skilled and both need this win to turn things around. Warrior will hold a small edge in both areas of standup tonight while Segura brings the ground game with him. Segura has proven in the past that he can work a nasty ground and pound. Warrior on the other hand very, very much prefers a pure boxing approach, one filled with aggression and accuracy, a technical striker if you will. But he can also bring power to the table as he did against Mehdi Kanaani back at Cali MMA. So this fight comes down to who can dictate where the fight takes place. If Segura can get it to the ground, he earns the advantage. Otherwise, Warrior may very well be able to out strike on the feet! Donkey’s Pick: Segura via TKO (Strikes) I’m a big believer that unless a fight can be ended early a ground based fighter will eventually get it there. Warrior typically hasn’t gone for the early finish of late so I’m going in that direction here. *********************** Main Event: Light Heavyweight Championship Bout One last fight remaining as our Main Event brings two of our very best Light Heavyweights into the cage to re-establish the Championship here at Sucker Punch tonight! Ecker will have a small edge in wrestling this evening but Izanagi has a bit more of an advantage in both areas of standup. He’ll likely plan to put that wrestling edge to full use as he very much relishes the opportunity to get the fight on the ground and rain down pain on his opponents! Ecker has earned this opportunity thanks to a quality run of four wins in a row, all via TKO…and, if you go back further, a 6-1 record with all wins via finish! That’s highly impressive and given that some of those wins were against the likes of Wille Thai, a ground submission specialist, he’s also proven he can take on different styles and still come away with the victory! Reminds me a bit of Wrecks at Heavyweight! Izanagi has two wins in a row here at Sucker Punch leading into this opportunity, the most recent of which was against multi-time champion Eemeli Lampi which helped solidify his shot at the title! He also defeated fast rising talent, Aboubacar Mandiang and over his last six fights has only fallen to Dempsey ONeill, former champ here at Sucker Punch! He can win via decision or via strikes, so he’s flexible and can adjust his style as needed to the opponent. His goal tonight has to be to either finish on the feet early or score plenty of points while defending against the takedown attempts that undoubtedly will come from the GnP’er, Ecker. Donkey’s Pick: Ecker via TKO (Strikes) Everything tells me that by all accounts I should probably lean towards the skill advantages that Izanagi has on the feet. But as Hare said, Ecker has some of those qualities that we see in the HW champ, Wrecks, in that he likes to finish, he’s sadistic in dishing out the abuse, and he just seems to find a way…he may have that ‘it’ factor. We’ll find out tonight!!! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! Less than an hour left before fight time folks! Donkey and I are now set to head over to the LA Memorial Colliseum for a great night of fights and we hope you’ll join us! And don’t forget to stop by the booths of our sponsor, Shadow Warrior Nutrition! Get those free gifts peeps! We’ll see you in there or hope you catch it on the amazing three hour LIVE PPV folks! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series style! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 14, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2022 Hey Sucker Punch Fans! So it's been a while since I touched on a few of these topics and I just really feel it's important for me to cover them every so often, especially for newer managers or guys who just may not be aware of the particulars with these things! Anyways, this bit of info is to help with Energy, Morale and Flights (and the lack of needing to use them!). First, ENERGY: This one is important for both training as well as on fight day. Training - If your fighter has dropped below 90% energy...he is NOT going to get the very best from his training, which means eventually if you continue training this way, your guy will fall behind others regardless of his learning speed or not. Fights - If you let your fighter walk into a fight without close to his full energy, there is a very good chance you are setting him up for a loss. If he doesn't get lucky and finish the fight early via a KO or Sub, there is a very good chance that as the fight drags on, even as early as late in the first round, he's going to get gassed and be more susceptible to being finished. Give your guy the best shot possible...keep his energy ready to go on fight day, and be sure he's training at above 90%! Regaining Energy: The only way to regain energy is to rest him (set his training schedule to "no training" for as many days as it takes to get back to where you want him. You can find out how many days it will take by going to the little icon at the top right of your fighter's page that looks like a weight, located between the red "VS" and the Eyeball icons. It helps keeping the energy up if you are using supplements as well, but the main thing is to manage those training sessions, lay off before a fight for at least 2 sessions or however many it takes to get back to or close to full energy! Now, MORALE: If your guy has not regained his morale to close to 100%, or at least over 95% or so, then the lower he is the less chance he's going to go into a fight focused and having the confidence to try to win it. Morale will drop for a number of reasons, including a loss in a fight and not changing his clothes often enough. If your poor dude is still wearing his magic white t-shirt and shorts, it's time to change that up. Regaining Morale: You will want to go to "Possessions" in the right hand menu of the page, right down between Sponsors and Finances and check for his clothing and supplement usage there. If he doesn't have any other clothes, you should consider going shopping for some. If his morale needs to be boosted back up, try changing his clothes every day (by using the trash can next to his top and bottom items of clothing to throw away one copy, which will bring the quality back from whatever it is to "150" again) until the morale eventually works back to where you want it. After that, changing them every so often when the quality of them gets down to 140 or lower should keep his morale up barring a loss in a fight. If you need detailed information on how to do this, feel free to reach out to me! Last but not least, FLIGHTS: There is absolutely no need to ever take a flight with your fighter to the fight locations before his fight. Your fighter will automatically take part in the fight card no matter where he's located, so don't schedule a flight of him. Stay in his hometown where his gym is and your guy will simply fight and still be there afterward. No loss of $ sending him to the fight, no loss of energy and no loss of time! So, keep this in mind when deciding upon orgs to join, the location of the org does not factor into things these days ever since Mike turned off the need to fly to your fights about 2 years ago! Anyways, I hope this helps any newer managers out there. Reach out to me or any other experienced manager if you have any questions. Others might have other tips for you as well, but I hope this helps get all of our cheap shot artists in the best shape they can be come fight day and during training! More experienced managers, feel free to jump in here with any additional pieces of information that I failed to touch on, or to correct me as necessary! Take care, Hare 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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