Scottfutile Posted April 28, 2022 Report Share Posted April 28, 2022 Highland 157 - Diaz vs. Damien On the 6th of May Highland returns to London with a card headlined by a bout between Welterweight Champion Noel Diaz and Jake Damien. The Welterweight Title has become something of a hot potato of late, with the holder changing more often than the Prime Minister of Great Britain changes his story. Diaz, a two-time Welterweight Champion, has held belts in every division down to Bantamweight. He is a certainty for the Hall of Fame and faces an interesting challenge in former IXF Welterweight Champion, Jake Damien. 30 year old Diaz, holding a 22-2-0 record has been there and done it all. A BJJ black belt with decent boxing and wrestling that makes his money on the ground. Having finished over 77% of opponents by submission, his game plan is clear for all to see. The problem is not figuring out his game plan, but stopping it. The two defeats to his name have been decision losses suggesting that there is a problem if the opponent attempts to frustrate him. He will likely try to clinch with his opponent before taking them down where he tends to focus on improving his position to gain submissions. Even though he was the Highland Fighter of the Year 2021, he is not without weaknesses. On his feet, he has proven to be susceptible to leg kicks and takedowns, and whether in the clinch or on the ground he does tend to leave himself open to strikes. Jake Damien may well be surprised to find himself in a title shot. After beginning his career with 8 wins on the bounce, Damien has experienced somewhat of a mixed bag since he joined Highland. Holding a meagre record of 4-4, his professional record has swollen to 14-7-0 overall. Damien upset the applecart when he beat former Welterweight Champion Ottaa Koppia at Highland 149 in just 40 seconds and found himself thrust into a title shot. Damien himself is not too bad at submissions, having won 12 of his 14 fights that way. A fighter who strongly depends on his wrestling, he may find it difficult to enforce his game plan against Diaz. Damien is dependent on hitting his takedowns, and almost ignores striking and the clinch game completely. His gung-ho approach tends to leave him open to counter takedowns. On the ground he tends to focus on maintaining advantageous positions leaving himself open to strikes. The Verdict We have two fighters that both prefer to take the fight to the matt. Diaz, is a tricky BJJ submission master, and Damien is more in the mould of a lay and pray specialist that waits his moment. Realistically it is going to be tough for Damien as he is facing one of the most talented MMA fighters on the planet. If, and it is a big if, he can take it to the championship rounds, his chances will improve significantly. Ultimately, Diaz is likely to once again prove that he is too much. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clydebankblitz Posted April 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2022 PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT We here at #Highland are pleased to announce a partnership with Paddy's Enhancing Drugs (160Q) as our official events partner. Head over to PED for all your supplement needs, and watch the man himself Paddy Mcgillicutty in action on May 8th at Synchronicity 897 FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS Highland 159 Kofi Ousmane (12-9) Vs Remi Chavaski (17-5) Highland 160 Highland Middleweight Championship Guilherme Godoi (19-6) (c) Vs Siale Veainu (20-6) Highland Bantamweight Championship Kaiden Thibodeaux (8-1) Vs Vudu Sims (7-2) Highland 161 Highland Light Heavyweight Championship Torhte Finlayson (29-2) (c) Vs Tama Ruiha (14-8) CONTRACT SIGNINGS Bizzo Colez (1-7) - Bantamweight Smashy Cartwright (9-4) - Featherweight Kazuo Takashi (27-3) - Featherweight Li Bai (6-5) - Welterweight James Gracie (9-5) - Middleweight Lyke Tuytuhlz (5-2) - Middleweight Billy Crawley (11-7-2) - Light Heavyweight 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clydebankblitz Posted May 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2022 HIGHLAND 157 PRIMER How are we already at another Noel Diaz fight night? At Highland 157, Noel Diaz (22-2) is looking for the second defence of his Welterweight Championship, since he defeated Adam Shalashaska in emphatic fashion following their majority decision earlier in the year. Challenging for the title will be Jake Damien (14-7), former long time IXF Welterweight Champion who had 4 defences to his name before dropping the belt to Dick Winters in July 2021. Jake has had an up and down career since joining Highland post season. He ran into 4 different former Highland welterweight champions, but none the less he managed to cause a massive upset in his rematch with Ottaa Koppia, on April Fool’s day no less, setting himself up for this huge title match. Noel Diaz really feels like he’s just going through the motions in the Welterweight division now, and although we all know there’s a future rubber match with Adam on the cards, Noel wants to add as many names to his resume as possible to mimic the legendary success he had at the 3 previous weight classes. Some fans and some in the back offices have been clamouring for Diaz to add yet another weight to his insane catalogue of titles, but the Highland BMF Champ has had just 4 fights at Welterweight thus far and has plenty of fresh challenges ahead of him if he wishes to stay in the division. Also on the card, four former Heavyweight champions fill out the main card with Ricky Thompson welcoming Sonatane Veainu to the upper heavyweight card in the co-main event slot. Special thanks to our sponsors: - Paddy’s Enhancing Drugs, Darvin Nutrition, SynCity Fightwear, Ma Balls Is Hot Clothing and KOMBAT CLOTHING. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clydebankblitz Posted May 6, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2022 HIGHLAND 158 PRIMER A huge rematch at Lightweight goes down on May 8th in the Wombley Arena as Anthony Epolito (13-5) makes the first defence of his 155lbs strap against Necmettin Hoca (14-11). This fight goes down EXACTLY one year on from their IXF XXII undercard match up which saw Hoca defeat Epolito in the Fight of the Night. Fun fact, that card also featured both Arturo Vargas and Jorlan Vieira, the next two Highland Heavyweight title challengers. They would later fight once more in the end of season tournament, with Hoca again winning convincingly. It's not often you see the champion chasing down revenge, but that’s exactly what we’re going to see here. Following The Island, Anthony Epolito dropped to Featherweight and had a commendable 6-2 run, including a trilogy with Bye Bye and a very commendable win over Miguel Azevedo Souza. He moved up to Lightweight whilst on a win streak and took on the champion Ed Green. Epolito came in as a slight underdog, but against all odds managed to win every round on the judges scorecards and finally get his hand raised as Highland Champion. Things haven’t went quite as well for Hoca. Necmettin would go on to finish The Island as the final Lightweight Champion of IXF, and entered Highland with a huge KOTN win against Liam Murphy. He would be hand picked as the next opponent for Noel Diaz, the champion, due to his history with the IXF belt. However a loss to Diaz, followed by two more losses to Murphy set him on a bad path. He recently broke a five fight losing streak with a decision win over Shug Skinner, so Hoca is really just in the right place art the right time with a man he’s 2-0 finally sitting on the belt. This card will also feature two aforementioned fighters; Ed Green and Shug Skinner, as well as a big showdown between the mega hyped Kwame Nti and long time Highland contender Biscuit Oliva. Special thanks to our sponsors: - Paddy’s Enhancing Drugs, The Dirty Needle Project and KOMBAT CLOTHING. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottfutile Posted May 11, 2022 Report Share Posted May 11, 2022 Just got an email from the boss... Highland 159 Primer It’s all going down at Highland 159 on May 13th as we see one of the biggest rematches in Highland history; Kazuo Takashi (27-3) Vs Brett Shoenfeld (16-12). Following The Island, Brett crashed out in the very first round and left the season on a 3 fight losing streak, a far cry from his consistent status as a title contender and a former IXF Bantamweight Champion. Meanwhile, Kazuo left undefeated with a perfect 18-0 record and a string of amazing accolades behind him, including 7 Highland BW title defences, an IXF FW title win and the end of season tournament champion. However, things immediately went astray. Brett got a crack at Kazuo due to being the only Island champion Kaz was yet to beat, and not only did Brett upset the odds with a submission finish, he did it again one month later. Kazuo had the first two losses added to his record, and Brett reigned as the champ. In the months since, Kaz would drop the belt to Remi Chavaski but pick it back up again last November. He dropped the title a final time to Enzo Williams in January and unsuccessfully challenged Ricky Luciano in Feb. He moved up to FW at the start of April and made quick work of long-term Featherweight fighter Frank Dux. Some might claim Kazuo got ran out of the division by Brett. He would immediately leave Bantamweight behind, moving up by 10lbs and beating all contenders before picking up the title against Chavaski in January. He did briefly drop the title to Anwar Rinda, but after a rubbermatch Kaz ends the series 2-1 and has defended the belt 3 times since. There’s some bad blood in this fight. Kazuo has never avenged his two losses and the fact that he left the division showed a little bit of weaknesses. Perhaps he didn’t think he’d ever beat Brett. But now as the king of the mountain at Featherweight, he’s faced with an old foe once more, and Brett has bags of confidence that he can prove lighting can strike not once, not twice, but three times. Also be on the look out for Nikolay Leonov taking on New Car in a Middleweight rematch. Special thanks to our sponsors: - Paddy’s Enhancing Drugs, Pound Town INC, Offseason nutrition & LAUNDRY and Voodoo Nutrition. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottfutile Posted May 13, 2022 Report Share Posted May 13, 2022 Highland 160 - Thibodeaux vs. Sims Highland 160’s first title fight of the night sees Kaiden Thibodeaux face Vudu Sims for the vacant Bantamweight Title. These two men, both terrifying specimens in their weight class are both getting their first taste of the big time. Putting the possibility of nerves aside, these two fighters are very much yin and yang in terms of skill sets. Kaiden Thibodeaux is riding high on a five fight win streak, carrying his record to 8-1-0 and won the Highland $6 Million Bantamweight Tournament. He is primarily a wrestler with phenomenal power in hands. Unbelievably he has won all eight of his fights by TKO and never fought more than two rounds. He is a fighter that likes to bully his way into the clinch where it is very much a case of focusing on quality over quantity. On average Thibodeaux lands around 90% of head shots from the clinch, and 86% of his body shots. Those numbers are utterly terrifying. When you couple that with his Muay Thai and Wrestling advantage it makes him a frightening prospect. The question remains, how do you go about stopping him. The only man who defeated him, Ronny Narden, did so having been rocked several times. Narden tried to compete in the clinch and was throughly outclassed. Only when he pulled guard onto his back did he manage to somehow find an armbar and upset the odds. It raises questions over Thibodeaux’s submission and defence. Five months have passed though, so the question is how much has Thibodeaux improved. The only other chink in his armour is the remaining questions over his gas tank. Personally if I was fighting Kaiden Thibodeaux my strategy would be thus: climb out of the cage and RUN. The challenger facing an uphill battle is not without his own merits. Vudu Sims uses a mixture of Boxing and BJJ to mercilessly torture his opponents. Holding a record of 7-2-0 with a fight of the night, and a KO of the night to his name, Sims could well be the right opponent to guarantee a highlight reel finish. With five TKO’s from his seven wins, we know he has power, additionally, unlike Thibodeaux, “The Witch Doctor” has gone the distance on three occasions. Sims absolutely isn’t as accurate as Thibodeaux, but few fighters are. He is vulnerable to takedowns(his opponents have an 85% success rate against him) and the even worse news comes in the form of the clinch. Sims has a tendency to eat strikes in the clinch(over 90%) and unless he has improved that area of his game dramatically we could be in for a short night. Is there a way “The Witch Doctor” can unlock Thibodeaux? The most striking statistic here is that Sims will tower above his opponent by 22 centimetres. It will mean he has a significant reach advantage and that Thibodeaux will require a step ladder if he wishes to punch him in the face. He must utilise the jab and not be afraid to throw leg kicks. If Sims stalls in the early rounds, he may end up taking Kaiden into deep waters in Rounds 4 and 5. And finally he must not be afraid to pull guard in the clinch and try to fight from his back. It is an incredibly hard task and one that may well make for a fascinating match up. The Verdict It’s a horrific fight to call as on paper Kaiden Thibodeaux looks to be the stronger fighter. It will absolutely come down to game-planning, the question is whether he can survive Thibodeaux’s early onslaught. If I was forced to call it one way or the other, I would have to favour Thibodeaux because he scares the bejesus out of me. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottfutile Posted May 13, 2022 Report Share Posted May 13, 2022 Highland 160 - Godoi vs. Vealnu On May 15th one of the bravest men on the Highland roster, Guilherme Godoi, returns to the cage to defend his Middleweight Title against Siale Vealnu. It will be the fifth time these two fighters collide with the scores even at two a piece. It is interesting to note that none of their meetings have ever gone to the judges scorecards. To make matters somewhat more challenging for Godoi, his training camp has been interrupted by the injuries he sustained in his defeat to Torhte Finlayson. He had been a valiant attempt to become a double title holder. By fighting for the open weight title, Godoi found himself up against a fighter on a nine fight win streak and a twenty pound weight advantage. It is no wonder he found himself cut to ribbons. After Godoi’s five fight win streak came to an end, he has taken this short notice return against Vealnu. Primarily a boxer with quite decent wrestling he has a tendency to nip in and out and rarely plants his feet and swings for the fences. Just about 32% of his punches thrown are combinations, so the question is where does he do his damage? Godoi excels at dirty boxing. He likes to get in close, hold on and truly unload for short range when his opponents have no chance of escape. Now we know Godoi has power in his hands, after all he has finished seventeen of his nineteen opponents, but what is behind the six defeats? Two things stand out. The first is typical of many boxers, and that is a static front leg. Opponents have found it easy to land leg kicks against him at a whopping 79% success rate. The second is that he sometimes gets carried away in the clinch and get carried to the matt. On the ground he has shown a vulnerability to ground and pound and that could well be the key. On paper Siale Vealnu is easily the better fighter. He is more well-rounded and more explosive. He has finished all twenty of his victories. Vealnu looks stronger in every area of mixed martial arts. Despite being the better boxer of the two fighters, I would expect him to rely on his Muay Thai skills for this one. However, like Godoi, Vealnu is also a fan of grabbing hold of someone and punching them in the face. Vealnu rarely uses his feet, and fights in a similar fashion to Godoi, the only true difference is that he is more of a head hunter in the clinch, and a body snatcher on his feet. It’s fair to say that Vealnu’s game planning has left something to be desired as a fighter with his skillset should have had no problems running through Godoi in the past. The Verdict This is really difficult to call as there are significant question marks over Guilherme Godoi’s fitness as he recovers from the beating he took at the hands of Torhte Finlayson. It should be an ideal situation that Siale Vealnu could take advantage of, but with questions over his fight IQ it is likely to descend into a gunfight. The longer the fight goes on, the more the odds will likely favour Vealnu, and I could easily seeing him winning by TKO in the third round. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprooch Posted May 29, 2022 Report Share Posted May 29, 2022 Karockas “Rockafella” Thibodeaux: “Oy, @clydebankblitz! I’m out here fucking these boys up on the island and you don’t e’em talk about your best brand ambassador. Is thisis where I’m to sign at ?” 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clydebankblitz Posted May 30, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2022 On 5/29/2022 at 1:22 PM, Sprooch said: Karockas “Rockafella” Thibodeaux: “Oy, @clydebankblitz! I’m out here fucking these boys up on the island and you don’t e’em talk about your best brand ambassador. Is thisis where I’m to sign at ?” Unfortunately with a lot of travelling recently, I don't talk about my world champions let along my top brand ambassador haha. But safe to say I'm watching like a hawk. I'm already setting myself aside some time so I can write the entire write up for The Island season tournament so Karockas is going to get his due priase! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clydebankblitz Posted May 30, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2022 HIGHLAND 165 PRIMER It’s that time again. The legendary Torhte Finlayson (30-2) returns in the aims of making the 7th defence of his Highland Light Heavyweight Championship, and including his previous title reign, the 18th defence overall. The first ballot future Hall of Famer, who recently claimed the SYN Super Heavyweight Championship, is one of the scariest strikers in the world but with a BJJ Brown Belt under his belt too, who is supposed to stop him? Stepping up, perhaps nervously, is Hayato Sakuraba (10-9). Despite not having the strongest record in the world, Sakuraba is actually a former champion. In July 2021, Hayato Sakuraba picked up the Highland Middleweight Championship with a guillotine victory over Cathair McKay. However, the fact that the name Cathair McKay has been seldom mentioned over the past 12 months since says a lot about how times have changed. Now let’s address the elephant in the room. These men fought each other almost 6 months ago at Highland 117. This was during the brief period where Torhte was looking to build back towards a title shot after dropping the belt to Sonatane Veainu. And the fight? WAS THE BEST FUCKING THING WE HAVE EVER SEEN. Sakuraba walked into that fight like the fucking terminator. Just after the first minute, Torhte drops him and rocks him. Par for the course from a Finlayson fight and it should be over a minute later. Sakuraba recovers. The fourth minute of the round lands and Torhte drops him again not once but twice. Saved by the bell you might think. Well round 2 comes. Torhte immediately drops Sakuraba. Then he drops him again. And again. And again. And again and again and again until Sakuraba has been put down 12 times in under 10 minutes. Each times, he stands back up, dusts himself off, walks forward and gets put down again. Like a zombie, he keeps going. However, Torhte didn’t for a second start to tire out or get discouraged. Like the legendary scrapper he is, he kept composed, and at 4.41 of round 2, Sakuraba couldn’t get up. Now will this happen again? Probably not. This was a once in a lifetime crazy fight. However, we’ve just seen Odd Job submit Noel Diaz for the Highland WW title, so crazy things are happening in the org right now. But if this fight is even half as good as the last one was, the rest of the fighters can kiss Fight of the Night goodbye. Also featuring on the card are fan favourites such as Maro Pjetlic, New Car and Kwame Nti, so make sure you tune in on June 3rd. Highland 165 is brought to you by Paddy’s Enhancing Drugs, SynCity Fightwear, Voodoo Nutrition and PWNAGE Elite. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curix Posted June 1, 2022 Report Share Posted June 1, 2022 Jerry "The Officer" Short (379233) "STUPID BITCHES, JERRY SHORT IS BACK. DON'T BREAK THE LAW. COOOMMIN' FOR ALL RUDE BOYS!!!" 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clydebankblitz Posted June 1, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2022 On The Island, another clothing company arrived claiming itself to be a "non-profit". What they really meant was "Company that makes no money". Here's what a real non-profit company looks like. Expenses (total) : Staff Wages: $0 Stock Orders: $50,724 Fighter Sponsorships: $245,000 Loan Repayments: $94,711 Manager Withdrawals: $0 Misc Expenses: $0 Income (total) : Stock Sales: $267,812 Merchandise Sales: $31,642 Manager Deposits: $0 Net Profit (total) : -$91,032 245k put straight back into the pocket of all of the Island fighters. Sure, a $5 t shirt is fine, but the savings they make on their merch isn't going to help them stay training in a 1k gym for 6 months. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curix Posted June 6, 2022 Report Share Posted June 6, 2022 Jerry "The Officer" Short (379233) "HEY HEY HEYO HO, VUDU, YOU FUCKER, YOU ARE NEXT! I KNOW YOU ARE USING ILLEGAL STEROIDS, YOU FUCKER! POLICE RULEZ. POLICE RULEZ. POLICE RULEZ. SEE YA SOON, BOY!!!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junder Posted June 9, 2022 Report Share Posted June 9, 2022 First, lower your intake of wheat and soy [phytoestrogens], foods containing high levels of pesticides, herbacides and fertilizer [xenoestrogens], eliminate all foods stored in plastic and all your plastic utensils https://jbhnews.com/8-benefits-of-stacking-dianabol-pills-and-testosterone/30024/, plates and cups, and eliminate all substances with perfumes or colognes or scents [hormone disruptors]. Then start taking extract of sarsaparilla that has hormone precursors, so if you body needs to make more testosterone, the precursor is handy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprooch Posted June 9, 2022 Report Share Posted June 9, 2022 On 6/1/2022 at 5:59 AM, Curix said: Jerry "The Officer" Short (379233) "STUPID BITCHES, JERRY SHORT IS BACK. DON'T BREAK THE LAW. COOOMMIN' FOR ALL RUDE BOYS!!!" Kaiden Thibodeaux 10-1 (MMA) BW Champ (1x) "Shut the fuck up...before I make the ref save you a third time, pig. Laws, just like your nose last time out, are meant to be broken. Stop coming around here like you can save the world when the ref always has to save you. #FuckThePolice #Fuck12 #TheLittlePiggyThatCouldnt" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curix Posted June 11, 2022 Report Share Posted June 11, 2022 On 6/9/2022 at 8:37 PM, Sprooch said: Kaiden Thibodeaux 10-1 (MMA) BW Champ (1x) "Shut the fuck up...before I make the ref save you a third time, pig. Laws, just like your nose last time out, are meant to be broken. Stop coming around here like you can save the world when the ref always has to save you. #FuckThePolice #Fuck12 #TheLittlePiggyThatCouldnt" Jerry "The Officer" Short (379233) "OH YOU AGAIN. TALKING SHIT AND TALKING SHIT. NO SHIT. STOP THAT SHIT BRUUUH. POLICE FOEVA!" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curix Posted June 18, 2022 Report Share Posted June 18, 2022 Jerry "The Officer" Short (379233) "SEAMUS! I WILL SMASH YOU MAN. POLICE. POLICE. POLICE. POLICE. POLICE. ONLY POLICE, BRO." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clydebankblitz Posted June 22, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2022 HIGHLAND HALL OF FAMETORHTE FINLAYSON This is as undeniable as it gets for a Hall of Famer. The problem with making inductions before a fighter retires is you don’t manage to get any final stats on the fighter’s legacy, and with Torhte, we might just be getting started. It didn’t take long for Torhte Finlayson to become a championship fighter. He won his first championship in Colossus MMA, defeating Space Jesus in the first round. When CoMMA merged with Highland soon after, he fought Murtaz Vatsadze for the inaugural Highland Light Heavyweight Championship, and from there we were off to the races. Torhte would defend this championship an unfathomable 11 times before winning the Island Season 12 Light Heavyweight Tournament. Although he did drop the title in a pair of fights to Sonatane Veainu, it didn’t take him long to bounced back and in his second reign to date, he has defended the championship 9 times and avenged his loss to Sonatane for good measure. To add to these achievements, Torhte is the 2021 Highland Fighter of the Year Silver Medallist, and winner of the SYN Open Weight Championship. The lethality of Torhte’s striking is stuff of legend, and he’s been very capable of defending himself whenever the fight spilled to the floor. A fighter who’s achievements will never be met, and who’s accolades are limitless as they are still being written. His record currently stands at 31 wins and 2 losses and only one of those two numbers looks to continue increasing. We hope you will join us in welcoming Torhte Finlayson to the Highland Hall of Fame. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clydebankblitz Posted June 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2022 Our Island Haul! We've been able to welcome some great depth to our divisions with some Island recruitment and while there's most to come, here is a run down of our latest additions. Don Beast (4-3) – Featherweight Fighting for VFC during The Island, Beast was notable for his slick submission skills which saw him go 3-2 during the season with two submission of the night bonuses. Don submitted Ikuma Arishima in round 1 of the end of season tournament before coming up short in round 2 and relocating to Las Vegas. In Highland, 145lbs is notable for it’s heavy grappling base with fighters such as Kazuo Takashi, Anwar Rinda and Miguel Azevedo Souza being some of the more accomplished. Beast hopes that given enough time, he’ll join those greats at the top. Mike Fallon (1-3) – Welterweight Mike had a tough time during his Island run, going 1-3 including a loss in the first round of the tournament. Mike’s 3 losses have all come at the hands of grapplers though, so it’s a positive sign that in his one fight against a striker he won by an impressive head kick. Mike will be hoping that je cam focus on improving his wrestling skills whilst coming up against some strikers during his time in Highland. Eli Vieira (5-5) – Heavyweight A consistent middle of the pack member of the VFC heavyweight division, Eli takes a big step up to Highland due to the strong working relationship between his manager, Rodrigo Rojas, and the promotion. Rodrigo has brought many fighters to long and fruitful careers in Highland, and he believes that with the right preparation, Eli can be there too. Eli is a submission specialist who will be looking to focus on taking opponents down straight away rather than stand and trade, at least until he can build up his striking skills. Vinicius Tonioli (3-3) – Middleweight Another of Team Rojas, Tonioli likes to fight in the clinch and has looked to have great cardio to wear opponents down over the rounds. He has struggled with some of the bigger power punchers, but if he can spend some time to work on evading those shots while he closes the gap, he could have some success tying opponents up and forcing them to expend energy trying to escape. Billy Crawley (6-5) – Light Heavyweight Following in the footsteps of Charles and Billy Crawley, Bob is the latest of the family to sign on the dotted line at a Highland promotion. As of writing this, Billy is currently the number one contender for the Highland Light Heavyweight Championship, so Bob has big shoes to fill. Bob is happy to take a shot to give a shot and always put on a war. The crowning achievement of his career to date was his TKO win over reigning VFC Light Heavyweight Champion Stevo Caruga. Jiggabo Cane (5-4) – Middleweight Most of Kane’s success came early into his career, fighting on the independent scene and submitting everyone he faced. He’s had a slightly tougher time since he signed up to Vandals Fighting Club in April, but he thinks he’s got plenty left in the tank to slowly rise up the ranks and bring about a new era of Highland. Expect him to be looking for those submission of the night bonuses in every fight. Evan Gilbert (3-4) – Featherweight While this may look like a losing record, bear in mind that whoever the corrupt Island tournament matchmaker was, they gave him Robbie Hall in the opening round. Gilbert likes to get in close in the clinch and rough opponents up with knees and elbows. He’ll have to make sure he gets in the gym and works on his wrestling skills, but Evan believes he’ll be able to challenge some opponents if they want to stand and trade. San Yan Chong (5-2) – Heavyweight The stable of Delyo Haidutin is very strong, boasting names such as Kikuchiyo Mifune, Shichiroji San, Richard Ramirez, Li Bi and former Highland fighter Charles Sobhraj. Add to this list, San Yan Chong. San was looking like one of the next killers at Super Heavyweight, but unfortunately came up against two of the toughest guys and finalists of the end of season tournament back-to-back. San hopes to bounce back strong in Highland, although he currently comes in a little over the 265lbs weight limit, so he’ll need to get on the vegetables and treadmill quickly to be able to compete. Ikuma Arishima (5-3) – Lightweight Another of Delyo’s men, it’s a very similar story for Arishima. He brought his samurai spirit into the cage in his first four fights, but has stumbled slightly since he debuted in VFC. Now with The Island firmly in the rear view mirror, Arishima will want to restart things a big and take advantage of the big gyms available to him to be able to train up and compete with at the lower end of the Highland Lightweight division until the time is right to step up like his other stablemates have in the past. Andre Mith (5-5) – Light Heavyweight There aren’t many managers who can boast that they guided a fighter to a Highland Championship, let alone a manager who can claim it twice. But Coach Steve is one of such men, bringing Ricky Thompson and Brett Shoenfeld to glory in the promotion. Andre Mith is his latest Highland fighter, joining after a long independent stint. He has been mostly successful in his Island endeavours following his early stint in Rogues. Mith packs a punch so he’ll be focusing on elevating that side of his game over the coming months. Ryder Young (6-3) – Heavyweight Lately it’s been mostly Wayne Kerr writing about Highland fighters, so it’s a bit of role reversal to do the opposite. Ryder Young recently partnered up with Kerr following an unsuccessful challenge at the VFC Heavyweight Championship. Ryder packs some big power and has been a success story for every manager who’s had the fortune of training with him. Kerr may still be looking for his first win with the big man, but if his power doesn’t look set to leave any time soon and many would tout him to be in line for a few scalps amongst the Highland ranks. Antonio Luciano (9-2) – Middleweight The crown jewel of our Island recruitment, Antonio Luciano is a former Rogues Middleweight Champion who hasn’t let a single of his 11 fights leave the opening round. Anyone familiar with Highland will know that name, and you’re right, Antonio is the nephew of former IXF & Highland Champion Ricky Luciano so you know he’s got some serious skills in his locker. While Ricky has not settled down to a permanent management team in his career, this is the first time John Wayne has brought a fighter to Highland so hopefully Antonio has an easier time settling in to his management. Julian McGavin (7-5) – Bantamweight A strong addition to the young Highland Bantamweight division, The Juicer has seen almost every one of his fights spill to the floor. When on the mat, Julian likes to take risks. Sometimes he’ll get caught, sometimes he’ll catch you, and that’s what adds to the excitement. McGavin had a few appearances for VFC but fought mostly independently so he’ll be delighted to finally tie down a long term contract here at the best 25 year old organisation around. Bo Tsoy (5-4) – Middleweight Fighting entirely independently on The Island, Bo has still crossed paths with some decent fighters and had the ability to showcase some lethal power during his run. He has mostly fought at Welterweight but had his last outing at 185lbs which is also where he’ll call his home in Highland. Bo wants to show everyone that you don’t need to sign with one of the big orgs to make something of yourself from The Island, so he comes in with a chip on his shoulder and a rock in his glove. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curix Posted July 2, 2022 Report Share Posted July 2, 2022 Jerry "The Officer" Short (379233) "Fight is so close. Feel so ready! Big motivation to finish it spectacular! The best policeman in MMA game!" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clydebankblitz Posted July 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 HIGHLAND 173 PRIMER Headlining our Highland 173 card is the incredible future hall of famer Kazuo Takashi (29-3), as he looks to make the 6th defence of his Featherweight Championship. One of the greatest fighters we've ever seen compete, Kazuo has the ability to dominate or dig deep depending on his opponent's skill level, but in having avenged every single loss he's taken, Kazuo is as lethal as we've ever seen. Challenging him is Magnus Goddard (9-6) in his first crack at the Highland title. Magnus has put together 2 wins, both by submission, for the first time in his Highland career and with a lack of clear contenders to Kazuo's belt, the time was right for Magnus to step in. While this appears as a mismatch on paper, the important aspect to take into account is Kazuo is a submission fighter. Magnus is a BJJ brown belt with 8 of his 9 victories coming by submission, and Kazuo has been caught slipping against opponents such as Anwar Rinda and Brett Shoenfeld in the past. The bookies will heavily favour Kazuo, with good reason, but Magnus is determined to not let this opportunity pass him by like it did when he challenged for the SICKNESS 145 belt many moons ago. Also on the card we have four former Highland champs in Ottaa Koppia, Jorlan Vieira, Miguel Azevedo Souza and Valerio Falto. This event is sponsored by Highland Clothing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clydebankblitz Posted July 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 HIGHLAND 174 PRIMER It's rubber match time! No one expected Odd Job (16-11) to upset the odds when he defeated Noel Diaz (24-3) for his Welterweight Championship back at Highland 162. The shock went around the world, but Diaz managed to get his vengeance at Highland 167. Now, with the score set at 1-1, we're back again. In their last outing, Diaz didn't want to go to the ground. He tried to keep the fight standing at all costs and managed to hurt OJ. When OJ did get the fight to the floor, unfortunately he jumped straight into a Diaz armbar. This will be a hard fight OJ of course, but if he can prove that lightning strikes twice, he'll come out of this series as the king. Middleweight king Siale Veainu (22-6) is just getting started on his second reign as Highland Middleweight Champ and has one defence to his name. As lethal a striker as there is in Highland, Siale has been desperate to get some fresh blood in the cage with him and that's Muchy Cartwright's cue to enter. Muchy is coming into this with two first round finishes. He had one crack at the 185lbs title back at Highland 151, but he's back for more. Muchy likes to fight either in the clinch or on the ground. He likes to embrace the grind and make the fight dirty. Siale is much more content working the space and landing a perfect shot. With the potential of a move up to light heavyweight looming above Siale for a while now, Muchy wants to spoil his plans and take him out early. Also on the card we have four former Highland champs in Ed Green, Ricky Luciano, Murtaz Vatsadze and Enzo Williams. This event is sponsored by Highland Clothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curix Posted July 4, 2022 Report Share Posted July 4, 2022 Jerry "The Officer" Short (379233) "Scottie Lamez, hey, bitch! I'm commin' for ya!" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curix Posted July 14, 2022 Report Share Posted July 14, 2022 Jerry "The Officer" Short (379233) "Come on, I need a fight..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprooch Posted July 16, 2022 Report Share Posted July 16, 2022 On 7/4/2022 at 4:07 AM, Curix said: Jerry "The Officer" Short (379233) "Scottie Lamez, hey, bitch! I'm commin' for ya!" Kaiden Thibodeaux: “I ended his career already.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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