HareRumpler Posted October 20, 2023 Report Share Posted October 20, 2023 Hello everybody…and welcome to…Sucker Punch Pro Series: EVOLUTION! What is this all about, you ask? SPPS closed doors just a few months ago after a failed changing of hands, didn’t it?!? The answer to that second question, is, “Yes, it did. And I, Hare, feel awful about the way things went after I turned the org over. But for all things that happen in life, sometimes they happen for a reason! A chance to step back, look at the landscape, see what’s going on, and see…where something new might be needed!” So now we move onto the first question…which is likely coupled with, “Evolution? What Evolution?” So let me answer that question, and I think that’ll set us up to get to all the rest! Over the past almost four months since I stepped away from Sucker Punch Pro Series, I’ve had the chance to sit back and think about some of the trends this game tends to see over and over again. I’ve been around for about four years now, so I’m not new at this point and I’ve had the chance to see not only the minor cycles the game goes through, but some of the bigger, longer trends that have happened as well. Let’s touch on that first part…the typical cycles. I think most of us have seen it…a new ID cycle comes around, say, 390k, 400k, whatever…and you immediately get anywhere (changes slightly over time as the game ages) from 2-5 new orgs popping up that want to run as restricted ID orgs for the new range. And what inevitably happens is one or two of them fall off quickly, either due to inexperience of the owners, or underestimation of the time required to run it well, or just boredom and quick burnout. Not all can survive and we see that happen pretty quickly, usually in the first month or two. Then a few last…for a bit. Eventually one or more of the owners wear down or have priorities in life change…and they either sell out…or merge…to another org. Now you’re down to one or two orgs remaining in that range. That’s usually in the six month to a year range…and then over time eventually you end up with maybe one remaining, if that, with very little choice for folks who have guys in those ranges who aren’t ready for unrestricted yet, but at the same time may not be happy with the way the existing orgs run, or maybe the orgs are being neglected a bit, whatever. Long story short, you get to a point where at least half of the folks in the unrestricted space for those ID’s want to fight restricted still, at least for a bit more, but don’t have many options. That’s where the 380-390k space is right now. There are a couple orgs remaining, but not many. And the few remaining fall into multiple categories…run well but packed to a degree, or neglected a bit with periods of inactivity, or in the case of one, actively looking to be sold and transferred. If you like options, and don’t want to go unrestricted, there may not be many for you at this point. But that will change over time…many of the 380k guys are getting close to ready for unrestricted, or already are. But some aren’t. Some of the guys closer to 385k may be in the same boat, but more are still looking to fight restricted a bit longer. And the scale slides a bit as you move along. THAT’S WHERE *PART* OF THE EVOLUTION KICKS IN!!! First, Sucker Punch Pro Series is rising from the ashes to step into that space. What space, you ask? The 380k+ space?!? Well, yes…and no! The answer is, “That slowly changing space over time where there’s a need for orgs to be around to support them, but one that morphs as we go, that doesn’t need to suddenly go unrestricted or die off…one where the ID scale…slides. Meaning, over time the range will move…eventually to 382k+…then 384k+…etc. As needed. As makes sense and fits the barren space that always seems to exist…and that exists more and more over time as the game does dwindle a bit. *** So for those who just want to know the straight answer: SPPS: Evolution will start up again at 380k+…for now. *** “But Hare, that’s not really an evolution is it?!? We’ve seen that tried a couple other times, more or less. What else makes this an Evolution?!?” Great question! Let’s get into that, because I think it’s part of what’s going to switch this from just fitting a need, to adding some fun value as well!!! SPPS: EVOLUTION BECOMES A PSEUDO ‘LADDER CHALLENGE’ ORG!!! Anybody who has been involved with me and SPPS previously knows darn well that I pride myself on trying to do something a little different, add something a little extra, whatever you want to call it. Not to become all egotistical and patting my own back much here, but I think it’s honest and true to say that SPPS was one of the few, if not one of the only, orgs in modern MMAT times to go completely from startup at restricted all the way to unrestricted…not only successfully…but in the process becoming one of the Top 2-3 orgs in the game. Talking to other peeps, the reasons for that were varied, but some of them were due to the write-ups, some due to the matchmaking, something we spent a TON of time focused on (well over half our time invested) and some of it due to simply trying our best to keep our manager engaged and involved. Those are things we’ll continue to try to do here again. But… …The biggest change here this time around will be the ladder challenge aspect of the org! We’ll be focused on fighter call-outs…giving lower P4P ranked fighters, which in many cases may translate to higher ID, lower aged, a chance to pick who they want to fight next...and allowing that to be the primary and first way that matchups are made. There will be many logistical rules around how that work that I’ll go over later, but suffice it to say that getting to the top will be a challenge. Staying at the top even more so! For many fighters in the org, given the space we’ll be filling, this will be something that prepares those who are getting ready to graduate to unrestricted the chance to really see what they’ve got and if they’re ready! Obviously, if there aren’t callouts on the board for fighters, then I’ll fall back upon my own matchmaking skills, which will probably come into play half the time, but I can assure you I’ll be spending quality time doing those just as before. And those who know me know that at the restricted level, I focus more on ID, age and primary skill evaluations much more than I do P4P rankings. P4P rankings are a primary concern once you graduate to unrestricted in my mind. But I know many of you still do look and care to some degree about that, so this org gives you a chance to focus on that aspect some...and choose your destiny as you work towards the top! Want to know more about the actual details of how this org will run going forward? Head on to the next post! But in the meantime, I’m excited to offer a new option for folks out there, and hope it serves some purpose for those who are looking for something a little different! 1 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted October 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2023 Org Structure and Details Ok, now that we’ve gotten through my (very) lengthy intro and all, let’s move onto the stuff that really matters to you folks! SPPS: Evolution – Restricted ID Range The org will have a sliding ID range over time as the lower ID’s become mostly ready for unrestricted. Initially, the range will start out at 380k+ with a focus on the 380-390k range. If you’re closer to 390k, never fear! Read on about the structure and ladder challenge aspect to things and you’ll understand that this org is designed to support tiers of fighters over a 10k range! Generally speaking, most 18 year old created fighters are getting close to being unrestricted ready by the time they reach 26-28 years old. The fastest learners can be ready by 24-25. So that would be the guideline we use to slide the org range. I suspect that once the org gets moving along, the ID range will slide by either 1k every three months or so, or perhaps 2k every 6 months to avoid a constant scramble. Need and development of fighters will dictate this as we go. Matchmaking – Ladder Challenge Guidelines As I mentioned, the aspect that I hope adds some fun to this org will be the “Ladder Challenge” aspect we put into play that helps you “rise to the top”. And the challenge of staying there once you arrive! Generally speaking, here are the guidelines, and then some Case Scenarios to help folks understand how conflicting requests would be handled. The primary driver for callouts will be P4P ranking (changed from ID)…but fighter ID does come into play as a stipulation to keep the higher end of the ID range from feeling like they can't progress without getting stomped on until the ID restriction of the org slides to put them at the top. 1. Fighters may only call out and challenge a fighter above them in P4P ranking. This was changed from Fighter ID because it became apparent that looking up the ID of prospective fighters from the roster list would be time consuming and tedious for the managers. That said, I want to somewhat "insulate" higher ID fighters in the org from abuse, so there will be an ID requirement associated with this. Callouts are limited to a 1k P4P ranking difference (which may be reviewed/modified as we see how the rankings in the org shake out for a bit). If you're 3600 P4P, don't go trying to jump from 13th in the division up to immediate contender by calling out the 200 P4P guy. Work your way up and earn it. 2. An exception exists for the Top 4 fighters in each division. These fighters have the right to make any callout they want, including those below, within a 4k Fighter ID range. And within the rules and conditionals below in this list. 3. Callouts must be within 4k of Fighter ID. I won't have somebody sitting at 1000 P4P, but a 380k ID, calling out an 800 P4P ranking who happens to be 389k. Sure, should they be able to defend that ranking and such. Yes. And the fighters in this org are in a range where they're getting close to unrestricted where they have to do that. But they aren't yet, so we're going to give them time to grow towards that. There is an exception for the rules here for the Top 4 in each division, see #2 for details. 4. The highest P4P rank will get priority when it comes to multiple callouts. Meaning, Player A calls out Player B, but Player B also calls out Player C. Player B has the higher P4P ranking between A & B, so Player B gets the fight they requested. With a few scenario exceptions, read below... 5. Refer to #3 above when it comes to tiebreakers or conflicts on callouts – But that assumes that none of the fighters are coming off prior callouts. If some are, but others are not, then the ones who did not make a callout for their prior fight get priority. This makes it fair so that if a higher ranked P4P fighter gets picked and has to take the callout, they don’t get forced to continue potentially fighting “down”. Next time around they have a better chance of calling above and balancing that out (or below if they are in the top 4 in the division). If nobody is coming off a callout fight, or all fighters are, then the rule on #4 applies. 6. You may not call out the same fighter two times in a row. If the fighters have already fought twice, I reserve the right to mix up the fights going forward for a bit to prevent tripling or quadrupling up. 7. Exceptions to the P4P guidelines will be made for the bottom 6 fighters in each division. Obviously I have to get everybody fights, and if that means I need to match up a 4k P4P fighter at the bottom with a 1k P4P fighter who is 3rd from the bottom in the division, so be it. Don’t want to be in that situation? Win and move up!!! 8. Callouts cannot happen with less than 14 days rest between fights or more if needed for injuries. The fighter making the callout can request a fight date if available which I will need to confirm based upon offered fights on any given card. No more than 32 days out though. 9. Call outs (as well as matchmaking done by me, Hare) will all be processed on Mondays with new fights for cards set up at that time. So, if you want to make a callout using the guidelines above, they must be submitted to me via mail to my manager account (not here in the forum) by 12 midnight ET (Sunday into Monday), or around 5:00 (AM) GMT (game time) Monday. If there is a situation where you are unsure what the P4P ranking of the fighters might be pending existing fights then conditional secondary requests can be made. I'll hold off on matchmaking on my own for those involved until P4P and pending fights are resolved. If no callouts are in play, I will match make as I normally would. Situational Examples: Example 1 – Fighter C calls out Fighter B above him. Fighter B has also put in a request for Fighter A. Neither Fighter C or B are coming off existing callouts (that they made). The fighter with the higher P4P ranking between Fighter C and B would get their requested fight. Example 2 – Fighter C calls out Fighter B above him. Fighter B has also put in a request for Fighter A. Both Fighter C and B are coming off existing callouts (that they made). The fighter with the higher P4P ranking between Fighter C and B would get their requested fight. Example 3 - Fighter C calls out Fighter B above him. Fighter B has also put in a request for Fighter A. Fighter C has the higher P4P ranking, but is coming off an existing callout (that they made). Fighter B fought last due to my own matchmaking or was called out the prior fight. Fighter B would get their requested fight. Example 4 – Fighter C and Fighter B are both calling out Fighter A above them. Assuming neither fighter is coming off a prior callout that they made, the higher P4P fighter would get the fight. Otherwise, tiebreaker rules as specified above would come into play. I think this gives the general idea of things. It will look more complicated than it is, but it’s really not. There will be plenty of managers/fighters who won’t bother making callouts and I will do the matchmaking, so expect fair fights all around. NOTE: The above challenge structure was modified from the original post to be more based on P4P ranking rather than ID to facilitate ease of fight selection for the managers...since Fighter ID is not readily seen on the roster listing in orgs. PLEASE NOTE – At the range of ID’s we are talking about here, close to unrestricted, but not quite yet, nobody is a “new fighter” just starting out. All should be able to make a decent run at anybody calling them out based upon ID. If not, then the situation probably involves a very slow learner or a 25 year old creation where they’re unable to handle the higher ID. YOU MUST TAKE A FIGHT THAT YOU ARE CALLED OUT IN when the guidelines are within play, meaning the fighter calling you out is below you in P4P ranking and within the appropriate Fighter ID range. If you decline, you will be asked to exit the org early. If your fighter has to take a tough fight in this manner, realize you’ll likely have the option to make your own callout the next fight for something you’re more comfortable with or I’ll be doing the matchmaking and that should be more equitable. Honestly, if your fighter can’t handle a callout from a fighter below you in P4P ranking but within 4k of ID at this point, then you should probably be considering whether your fighter is going to make it long term. Hope that makes sense. Contract Payscales and Signing Bonuses One of the big, BIG changes I am making this time around with the org relates to contracts and signing bonuses. Gone are the days where I’ll offer contracts with big signing bonuses along with reasonable fight and win pay along with it. There are simply too many instances where managers sign, fight one or two, then bail and sack their guy after laundering the signing bonus cash. Or never fight at all. Going forward, all contracts will be based upon “fight to earn your pay, including the bonus”. Meaning, the normal signing bonus I’d offer folks will be prorated into the fight pay. So you’ll see contracts with higher fight pay, and then smaller win bonuses. The higher fight pay is to allow the fighter to earn the pay as well as the signing bonus as they fight out their contract. Generally speaking, the fight pay will probably look something similar to this and most contracts will be offered for 4 fights: · 200 P4P or higher – 1/50/20 · 200-500 P4P – 1/25/15 · 500-1000 P4P – 1/20/10 · 1000-2000 P4P – 1/15/10 · 2000+ P4P – 1/12/8 Obviously, these ranges will be adjusted as needed or on a case by case basis depending upon need within divisions and such. They are guidelines for now. Roster Sizes and Division Limits Let's discuss roster size and my goal of keeping things to about 1 card per week. Obviously, that implies only about 80-100 fighters in the org. I’ll stretch that to perhaps two extra cards per month, or 2 every other week, but that would be the max. That would put us at about 120 fighters max assuming some going AWOL or MIA, or other conflicts. My goal is to have fighters fighting approximately every 20-30 days on average. That said, I’m targeting the following: · 14-16 fighters per division ideally. · 16-20 fighters max, which would put us at 120 fighters over 6 divisions if full. · If a division is at 20 fighters, I will not expand beyond that even if the total roster is under 120. · Fighters who go four fights in a row with losses or who fall below 4k P4P ranking are subject to early cuts to make room for new blood. I hope that doesn’t happen often. Engagement and Interaction Last but not least...my goals regarding engagement and interaction! One of the reasons I want to keep the roster size down and only do 4, but maybe 6, events per month is so that I can keep up with write-ups for our managers and fighters! On top of that, I really, really want to encourage more interaction with managers and their fighters, get more of that flavor going. So, I'll be doing a thing where I have a list of stock questions that are available for folks to send me info on leading into events. Answer one, a couple, whatever you like. Give me something to work with, and your fighter/manager will be focused on more in the previews or reviews. Don't engage...I'll still touch on your fighter and the matchup, but it may not be as fun and interesting! Get as much out of this as you like! Matchmaking Schedule See Item #9 above in the "Matchmaking – Ladder Challenge Guidelines" section for information on fight scheduling and call out timeframes/deadlines. Essentially: - I will arrange fight offers on Mondays and process both call out requests as well as my own matchmaking if no callouts are made at that time. - If you want to make a call out for a fight (or fights if you have backup choices), they must be submitted to me by mail in game by midnight ET (eastern US, essentially New York timezone) between Sunday and Monday, or 5 am GMT (game time). - Please submit: a) Your fighter (name and ID), b) the fighter you'd like to call out (name and ID), c) two card dates that you'd like to fight on, primary preference first and secondary preference second (from the events created for the org, please check for valid card dates that have been scheduled). Remember they have to be at least 14 days out or longer if there are injuries involved. No more than 32 days out. If you would like to request a date that has not had the event created yet, check with me on whether the date is viable. I have to go by availability of arenas as well as spacing the cards enough that we can support full cards. - If you potentially want to make a call out for a fight but have not decided yet which you prefer or are waiting to see the results of fights pending, you may request to be put "On Hold" for another week. Sending me a mail in game to my manager (not here in the forum) with that request should include a) your fighter name and ID and b) the statement that you'd like to be put on hold until the following Monday's date. As such, I will not matchmake for your fighter until the following week. - Any fighters who have come off recent fights or do not have one scheduled and have not made any callouts will potentially have a fight set up by me (Hare) on Mondays. If I do not set a fight for you, or you've requested an extra week to ponder potential choices, I will let it roll until the following Monday and process at that time. - Once there are at least 10 fighters signed to the org in your weight class, I will start allowing fights to be scheduled for that division. Hoping this sounds exciting and fun for all involved! As I said, worst case scenario, I do the matchmaking which has always been looked upon favorably by most managers in the past! Please send me feedback if you have any folks! I’ll be opening up the roster for sign-ups immediately and also sending out contracts. I’ll apologize in advance, but I will offer contracts to those without the “needs contract” check box checked ONE TIME ONLY, because there may be those who are simply training because there isn’t a roster they want to be on right now and perhaps we may be what they’re looking for. I won’t do it again beyond this coming week though. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted October 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2023 Energy, Morale and (Unnecessary) Flights! Hey Sucker Punch Fans! Posting this here as a regular reminder for everybody, although I'll probably post it every so often as a new post also. A few important topics that I just really feel it's important for me to cover 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 for him (ever! Except to change base if you need to for your gym!). 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 3 or more 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...
HareRumpler Posted October 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2023 Org Ratings I'm not here to beg for ratings, seriously. I don't use having a "100% satisfaction" rating as some sort of ego boost or anything like that. But, like many org owners, what I do worry about is when it drops below that and nobody's said anything to me about the issues they may have. That's my primary motivation, to figure out what somebody is unhappy about and to fix it if I can. Or, hell, if they feel they're just stuck in a contract until it runs up, simply give them the option to be cut loose sooner if that's what they'd like and we can't make the situation better for them. As I said, I think that's probably one of the most frustrating things for org owners. Getting a low rating by somebody, or more than one person, and not knowing why. Honestly, I'm usually very content if we're sitting somewhere in the high 90's for rating %. Sometimes we'll drop, and that could just be normal trolling, that happens. Somebody from another org gets a fighter in with rival orgs specifically for the purpose of ranking them low. It's stupid, but it happens. Or, it could be somebody who's truly unhappy. If that's the case, please come chat with me! ************************* In the meantime, for those who don't know, contract ratings/feedback are given by going to your contracts page, and then clicking on the red X/green check up in the top right! No obligation to do so folks, but for those who wanted to know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted October 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2023 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted October 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2023 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjsquirrel Posted October 20, 2023 Report Share Posted October 20, 2023 I see you know the trick to get likes for a post containing only 3 dots 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skuzbukit Posted October 20, 2023 Report Share Posted October 20, 2023 Dingle Dangles are shaking in fear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted October 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2023 19 minutes ago, jjsquirrel said: I see you know the trick to get likes for a post containing only 3 dots Love it! LOL!!!! Much more info coming very shortly. Tonight or tomorrow. 1 minute ago, Skuzbukit said: Dingle Dangles are shaking in fear! As they should be! They had their time off, now it's time for them to grow eyes in the back of their...dangles...again! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted October 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2023 Initial posts updated with detailed information folks! Enjoy, please send me any questions and hopefully I can clarify for all as needed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjsquirrel Posted October 21, 2023 Report Share Posted October 21, 2023 What do you do once you climbed to the top of the ladder? Just enjoy knocking down challengers until the id range moves and you get kicked out? Sounds like you will need to do some belt strippings. And if you get on top with a younger fighter I suppose all id rules on callouts against you are off. I'll be in this one way or another, as soon as I have a fighter in the right range. Lets see how it evolves. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtieBanks Posted October 21, 2023 Report Share Posted October 21, 2023 15 hours ago, jjsquirrel said: I see you know the trick to get likes for a post containing only 3 dots We give the likes because we know what Hare brings to the table. SPPS for a long time was my favourite org in the game. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted October 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2023 1 hour ago, jjsquirrel said: What do you do once you climbed to the top of the ladder? Just enjoy knocking down challengers until the id range moves and you get kicked out? Sounds like you will need to do some belt strippings. And if you get on top with a younger fighter I suppose all id rules on callouts against you are off. I'll be in this one way or another, as soon as I have a fighter in the right range. Lets see how it evolves. As much as I wanted to stick to using ID for the ladder, the more I've mulled this over and over on top of your observation about a young fighter...I'm realizing a little bit of the challenge, and not in a good way, of our managers comparing matchups for callouts based upon ID...mostly because the MMAT tools don't allow managers to see the ID's in the roster list and managers would have to click through each one to look at them. They would anyway in scouting, but why have to do it for guys you can't go against by ID? So, from that perspective, I may re-architect this a bit to be more based upon ranking callouts, but in that case we'd definitely have a guideline for ID range as well so that we keep those at the bottom of a 10k range feeling like they can move up, but not get destroyed by somebody 10k ahead. Granted, at this level in the range of unrestricted relative to readiness for unrestricted, that isn't as HUGE a concern, but it's something I wanted to have in place. As for what to do when you are on top...that's the same in any org, any league...kick the ass of all comers from below! LOL! I'll likely be modifying the org details in a bit when I get home today. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjsquirrel Posted October 21, 2023 Report Share Posted October 21, 2023 2 hours ago, ArtieBanks said: We give the likes because we know what Hare brings to the table. SPPS for a long time was my favourite org in the game. Same here, just thought it funny I was far from the only one to click like there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted October 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2023 Note for all: With Mac's feedback, as well as consulting with several other managers who I've used as a sounding board in the past, the decision has been made to slightly modify the callout structure to more closely align with P4P ranking as the primary driver rather than Fighter ID. This is due to a number of reasons, but most of which revolve around "if you want managers to engage in callouts, the ID lookup of each fighter is too tedious given the tools on the org roster page." I completely agree with this upon further thought, so while we'll move to more P4P based callouts, there are still restrictions in play regarding Fighter ID to keep the higher ID fighters from feeling like they'll be picked on. Won't happen...unless you need picked on! Hahah! So please review the details above, it won't change anything drastically, but does change things some and definitely makes it easier for our managers. Oh, and Mac, regarding the need to strip belts due to folks either sliding off our ID structure, or simply leaving to move on to unrestricted, etc. I'm prepared for that and ok with it. My goal here is targeting guys who are approaching unrestricted but aren't there quite yet. If they're winning their divisions here, they're getting ready for unrestricted, and I've accepted that's going to entail folks moving on from us, even while holding the belt. I'm ok with the hype hit that will cause, it's part of the design and we'll just eat that! Great points and feedback though, appreciate it all. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtieBanks Posted October 21, 2023 Report Share Posted October 21, 2023 2 hours ago, HareRumpler said: Note for all: With Mac's feedback, as well as consulting with several other managers who I've used as a sounding board in the past, the decision has been made to slightly modify the callout structure to more closely align with P4P ranking as the primary driver rather than Fighter ID. This is due to a number of reasons, but most of which revolve around "if you want managers to engage in callouts, the ID lookup of each fighter is too tedious given the tools on the org roster page." I completely agree with this upon further thought, so while we'll move to more P4P based callouts, there are still restrictions in play regarding Fighter ID to keep the higher ID fighters from feeling like they'll be picked on. Won't happen...unless you need picked on! Hahah! So please review the details above, it won't change anything drastically, but does change things some and definitely makes it easier for our managers. Oh, and Mac, regarding the need to strip belts due to folks either sliding off our ID structure, or simply leaving to move on to unrestricted, etc. I'm prepared for that and ok with it. My goal here is targeting guys who are approaching unrestricted but aren't there quite yet. If they're winning their divisions here, they're getting ready for unrestricted, and I've accepted that's going to entail folks moving on from us, even while holding the belt. I'm ok with the hype hit that will cause, it's part of the design and we'll just eat that! Great points and feedback though, appreciate it all. There is 10 minutes while a fight runs - if you strip the champions inside of that 10 minutes then it does not effect your org hype etc as the org hype was already input when the fights start to run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfuhrer Posted October 21, 2023 Report Share Posted October 21, 2023 I'm thinking one of the all time greats might need his Son signed up. "The Son of Mr. Pickle" aka Mr. Pickle Jr.! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The1rstSaint Posted October 23, 2023 Report Share Posted October 23, 2023 Bastien Harris "My days in Heartless Fighting championships has come to an end. Weren't always beautiful rainbows but I enjoyed my time as HFC Welterweight champion. Moving forward though I am looking for a fresh start here at the rebirth of Sucker Punch Pro Series." 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted October 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2023 Folks, please see the section above for "Matchmaking Schedule" in the post: It details out the schedule I will be using to matchmake and send fight offers, as well as the timeline/requirements for sending fight call outs if you so desire. Let's have some fun, but keep your head on a swivel and protect those dingle-dangles!!!! ~ Hare 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted November 9, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2023 Sucker Punch Pro Series November 10th - Sydney, Australia Well, hello there Sucker Punch faithful!!! It’s been a minute eh?!? For those of you who may have forgotten (I hope not!) or just aren’t aware, I’m Hare Rumpler and as usual I’ll be joined tonight by my buddy and colleague, Donkey “Dan” as we take a look at all the excitement and energy surrounding the upcoming battles at… Evolution 1!!! That’s right folks, Sucker Punch Pro Series is back in a slightly new format but somethings, like our cruel love of the low-blows and shots “down undah”, haven’t changed! So prepare to protect those dingle-dangles everybody, it’s ONNNNN! And, I’m also happy to announce that Suzy Suckerpunch will be back with us as she handles all the interviews and back room discussions with our great managers and fighters leading up to each big event. We’re also trying to focus on keeping our events right where they belong, DOWN UNDAH, so tonight’s event will be taking place at the highly esteemed and boisterously loud…SYDNEY SUPERDOME! Some great action tonight as we kick off the Evolution of Sucker Punch Pro Series folks! Obviously, at the top of the card in the Main Event you’ll get to see up and coming Heavyweights Conrad Cartwright and Master Petrov…clearly, as that’s their mugs right there on the poster, eh? But we’ve also got a card that features the first ever official callout in Evolution history, as our first fight on the Main Card, and sixth overall fight of the night, brings you Grant Owens who asked for and got fellow Middleweight…er…uh, Donkey, I may need a hand here…Fran. Can we just go with Fran? No? I really don’t want to have to try this…but…Fran “Pillow Hands” Stalinovskovichdaviddivitchski. Dang, well, his strikes may be easy to handle, but that last name most definitely is not! I guarantee when we get to that fight’s preview, you’re just getting FRAN from me going forward! Suzy also got a chance earlier this week to sit down with Lightweight Zeke Hester and his team at Robert Smith Fight Management, so there’s some great discussion to be had there when the time comes for the Co-Main Event!!! Now, without further delay, let’s get into it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Light Heavyweights Danny Chase (0-1-0) v Billy Kidman (0-1-0) Donkey, this is exactly what I’m talking about and what I want to see as we start things off with the new iteration of Sucker Punch!!! Two young fighters who haven’t really gotten their careers going yet, haven’t really established themselves in rankings, but come into the fight fully prepared to give it everything they’ve got…both for themselves, as well as for the fans! If you’re an MMA fan, and I have to assume you are if you’re reading this, this is the time to latch onto one of these two and later be able to say, “I’ve been a fan since…!” Billy Kidman will bring everything he’s got tonight as he goes after another 0-1-0 record holding Danny Chase in an effort to start climbing that ladder in the Light Heavyweight division. Barring a stupid draw, one of these two will walk away with the first notch in the ‘W’ column and a chance to start building their legacy! Now, we don’t know much about these kids so far. What we do know is that Kidman is the more skilled Jiu Jitsu artist while Chase has a considerable advantage striking with superb boxing skills. Kidman’s first fight as a QFC battle back in early October…of 2022! So despite having “something” to look back on, I think it’s safe to say that the GnP loss he took back then means nothing considering the substantial development and evolution of his skills since that time. Chase also lost his first fight, and while we don’t have to go back over a year to look it up, it was still back in May this year and that’s a long time in MMAT life! So that decision loss to Claudio Benedetti means almost nothing at this point. So, Donkey, what do you think? Donkey’s Pick: Kidman via Submission (Armbar) Really, you’re going to start me out with something like this to have to decide, huh bunny boy? With no relevant history to speak of, this is really a shot in the dark here. As Hare mentioned, we have to assume that this is going to be your standard striker versus grappler contest. Anybody who knows me knows that I do lean towards the ground game when things look equal, so I’ll take Kidman in this one. But this first contest here at Evolution 1 is really going to be where we learn a ton about these two 20 and 21 year olds! Oh, and Kidman…watch the family jewels…strikers are known to give a good shot when you’re trying to come in for that takedown! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Welterweights Trevor Price (0-3-0) v Vadim Volyas (0-4-0) Our second fight will bring Welterweights Vadim Volyas and Trevor Price to the cage with both looking for that first notch in the belt. Both are slightly off on morale, although nothing to be worried about and while Volyas could use a slight rest, my guess is he’s doing just that prior to the fight here and should be ready to go by fight time! Let’s hope that’s the case, as his walking weight is 184 and he’ll need to cut a considerable amount prior to the fight. Something that may sap a bit of energy in the process. Volyas is the older fighter by a year here at 23 years of age. He’s also got one more fight under his belt, but with seven losses between them they only thing they’ve proven to know so far is how to lose. Tonight, hopefully one of these two will grow in experience as they learn how to win! Volyas will have the edge in standup, and even a bit of an edge in Jiu Jitsu also. I’ll leave it to Donkey to make predictions but it looks like this may be Volyas’ fight to lose. Price will have his work cut out to step up and show that he can take it to his opponent! His three losses have all come on the ground, two via submission and one due to a brutal ground and pound in his last fight against Manuel Tillich. However, it’s been over a year since those fights took place, so he’s likely a very different fighter now and we’ll learn a lot more after this battle! Now, over to you Donkey! Donkey’s Pick: Volyas via TKO (Strikes) Volyas showed some serious power, both with hands and feet, in his last fight but was unable to complete the job. A decision loss was the result and you know he’d like to change that script this time out. The issue for his camp will be trying to figure out what price is coming to the cage with tonight as it’s been entirely too long since Price’s last fight to take any guesses there. I’ll go with Volyas given what we know, but watching these two start to figure out where they stand in the Welterweight division is going to be a blast!!! Somebody’s getting a ‘W’ tonight hopefully, Hare! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Lightweights Anders Pettersson (1-1-0) v Stanley Yelnats (0-0-0) Risa’s Take: Alright, mixing things up here in multiple ways as we head into our third bout of the evening! But I’m happy to say that the one thing we’re not mixing up is preparation! Three fights so far, three fully prepped scenarios with both fighters primed and ready! Nice. What does change here in this Lightweight battle is that Pettersson comes to the cage tonight with a win under his belt. He’s the first in Evolution history to do that so arguably he’s the most experienced fighter we’ve seen so far. That win came just 17 days ago in a QFC battle against Pwel Nastula where his managed to finish via TKO. Not surprising, given he comes into this battle with the standup advantage with both his boxing and Muay Thai as well. Yelnats is a babyfaced rookie to the professional cage as he makes his pro debut here at SPPS Evolution 1!!! Woooot! His skills appear to suggest he’ll lean on a strong ground game, and potentially even more on his Jiu Jitsu specifically, tonight. We won’t know for sure until we see these two go at it though! Donkey, what do you think? Donkey’s Pick: Yelnats via Submission (Triangle) Pettersson looks like he brings some serious power to the cage. It only took him 57 seconds to dispatch Nastula in that last fight. But we don’t know for sure as his conditioning and stamina have covered up whatever his early tales of the tape may have shown. Yelnats will need to keep his head on a swivel or it could be knocked into the second row of fans this evening! But, that said, I like a ground game in the classic striker versus grappler matchup, so I’m going to lean towards a surprise first fight, first win victory here for Yelnats! *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Sparring Bout Frank Dux (2-0-0) v Bruce Li (1-0-0) We’re going to gloss over this next fight quickly as it’s nothing more than a sparring bout/test fight between two of my own fighters. Just looking to see how one holds up with a loss, what the morale drop is like, etc. Both are evenly matched, both have wins under their belts, it’s just a matter of seeing if they have long term potential to go with those granite chins or not! Donkey’s Pick: Nope! I don’t get paid to make picks for sparring bouts! *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Welterweights Angus Scott (11-7-1) v Phoenix Peterson (6-2-0) A couple more Welterweights are set to step into the cage here this evening as we prepare to close out the Undercard folks. Unfortunately, this is the first instance where one of the fighters isn’t ready to go. With morale almost full-on in the gutter, Scott is going to find getting up for this fight to be very difficult and may very well just fall down on his own as soon as the bell rings without being touched! I think I know where Donkey will go with this one… Peterson is ready to get in there though and we have to give him some big kudos for that. He’s also looking like he’s got the edge in the ground game and even perhaps a touch with his boxing. He’s 6-2 on his career so far and most of those wins have come via finishes. Under his prior manager he was very big on the clinch and his Muay Thai skills drove him to several TKO wins. Recently under Van dal he’s been more willing to be patient, stand back, and exchange strikes…and usually gets the better of that deal. Donkey’s Pick: Peterson via TKO (Strikes) Scott does have a run of wins lately in his last four outings, but all were against QFC opponents and we know that doesn’t stand up in actual org life. Several of them also came against opponents with low or no morale as well. Again, as Hare mentioned, the lack of morale is probably going to lend itself to a very quick finish tonight. Have to lean towards Peterson here! *********************** Alright folks!!! We’re taking a quick lunch break and we’ll be back soon with the Main Card!! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Middleweights Fran Stalinovskovichdaviddivitchski (10-4-0) v Grant Owens (5-2-0) We open the Main Card with one of the fights I’ve been waiting for Donkey! These two middleweights weren’t necessarily matched by me…instead, Grant Owens’ team made the callout and wanted Fran “Pillow Hands” Stalin…er. Let’s just stick with Stalin! Anyways, let’s send this over to Suzy for a quick word on that! Suzy Suckerpunch: That’s right guys, Grant Owens’ team reached out to us shortly after Hare set up the stipulations for how the ladder aspect of the org would work. He was eager to get a shot at somebody above and we think that the nickname “Pillow Hands” for Stalinovskovichdaviddivitchski tempted him to test just how soft those hands might be. Unfortunately, he may have overlooked two things; First, despite the moniker, his opponent has ten wins in his professional career. Nothing to sneeze at. Second, it appears that Grant Owens’ camp may be having some issues either managing his workload leading up to this fight, or perhaps keeping him in from partying and getting properly rested. His energy is down a bit and even the remaining time before the fight doesn’t appear to be enough to remedy that situation. I won’t call this a win for his opponent yet, that’s for you guys to handle, but most of the fans I’ve talked to seem to think that things don’t look good for Grant Owens and would be surprised if he pulls off the win. Back to you Hare! Wow. Well, not what I was hoping to hear as a result of our first ever callout, but it is what it is folks! Anyway, Owens has a slight, and I mean slight, advantage in Muay Thai and wrestling, so maybe he’ll clinch up and try to work the body tonight? On the other hand, things could go anywhere for my buddy Fran over there…he has the boxing advantage as well as the better Jiu Jitsu skills. Donkey, your turn bud! Donkey’s Pick: Stalin via TKO (Strikes) I’m thinking most of those ground skills are defensive in nature for Stalin as his wins have mostly come thanks to his standup skills. And specifically his hands. He likes to throw, and he likes to throw often. And often…at his opponent’s noggin. Owens had better have a solid chin or his lack of rest is going to get the best of him! Maybe Owens comes out swinging for the homerun instead? Let’s find out tonight! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Lightweights Brandon Hendrix (9-3-0) v Lee Huang (6-5-0) Alright!!! Hendrix and Huang step into the cage tonight ready to get into it!!! Energy…topped off. Morale…both eye of the tiger! Oh yeah, these Lightweights do not plan to disappoint their fans as they step into the cage with one another and prepare to improve their winning records! Huang is just over the .500 mark at 6-5 career but holds the only primary advantages in this contest. He’ll likely have an edge if he decides to use the clinch this evening as his Muay Thai and Wrestling are both slightly better than Hendrix’s. That said, his short run at RISE recently in August and September this year resulted in two losses, both TKO’s, and the last one against one of my own young kids, Kimi Enqvist. His early fights showed that he can muster some serious KO power, and his mid-career fights so far definitely put it on display. But we have to wonder about whether the chin is there to go with it? We know that Hendrix has also shown he may have some power to dish out as most of his wins have come via TKO and KO. What we also know is that he’s supposed to have a granite chin. If those two things really are present and his heart is there as well, he could be required to register as a deadly weapon! He’s under new management now, so we have to see how the transition goes as sometimes the first fight or two can be a bit hairy with a new management team. Donkey, give us a winner? Donkey’s Pick: Hendrix via KO (Punch) Well, both appear to have some pop to dish out, but Hendrix appears to have the better chin. And that’s enough for me to go with for a pick here. Huang may want to roll the dice and just come out with a solid kick to the dingle-dangles to start things off! You know, set the tone, so to speak. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell what the result of that may be…will it humble and back off the opponent, or just turn him into a raging bull?!? Tiny bulls, given these are Lightweights, but I’d still love to find out and fans of straight up striking battles may be looking forward to this fight tonight! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Heavyweights Kristoph Kringle (6-2-1) v Munkh Tengri (5-2-0) Back to our Heavyweights for the last bout before our two Main Events here! Tengri and Kringle are so closely matched it’s difficult to really see who might have an advantage in this huge, and I do mean HUGE, contest! Now, if we want to get particular about things, Tengri epitomizes the “huge” part of that, at 200 cm and over 278 pounds natural weight. Kringle comes in smaller at 194 cm and 245 pounds, so he’s giving up a bit of pure brawn there but at the same time he won’t have to cut weight to make weight for this one! Ah, sometimes not having to sit in the sauna is a good thing! Both come fully prepared, so we go to prior fights to see if anything separates them perhaps? Tengri is under new management, so perhaps that comes into play. Sometimes there is a bit of a hangover when a fighter and new manager hook up till they get on the same page. He is coming off four straight wins under his former manager though, so this man has some momentum and loves to finish with the (T)KO! Usually by early in the second round, if not the first. Kringle comes in off a loss, a KO from a nasty Head Kick in his final fight with Enigma. And not only did that one probably hurt physically, but emotionally as it was for the title. But he’d earned that title shot with back to back wins, both with KO and TKO finishes. I’m seeing a war on the feet between these two tonight. Fans of the BMF type fights are going to love this one! Donkey, what do you think we get from this? Donkey’s Pick: Tengri via TKO (Strikes) Hell, your guess is as good as mine, Hare! Really difficult to say, but I’m going to go with pure size on this one and just pick Tengri. Not for any great reason, just because. There, now can I get paid? *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Lightweight Bout Mae Joon (7-4-0) v Zeke Hester (4-1-0) Donkey, I’ve been waiting for our Co-Main Event!!! Why? Because Suzy managed to get some great time in with Hester and his management team and we’ve got a bit of a back and forth discussion between them to present here! Now, I’ll also say I’m disappointed with his team at the same time. Again, why? Because he’s coming in with low morale and I have to wonder what that’s about…maybe we’ll find out in the interview? Ok, over to you Suzy!!! Suzy Suckerpunch: As Hare mentioned, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Robert Smith of RSFM (Robert Smith Fight Management) and we discussed this upcoming fight. More than that though, Robert Smith had this to say about his prior relationship with Sucker Punch Pro Series: RSFM: Rober Smith Fight Managment is excited for the SppS Evolution Card and the Return of Sucker Punch!! Former RSFM fighters Sean Smith and Brennan Brunswick spent a lot of time with Hare and the SPPS family. Combined they went 13-4 inside the SPPS banner. Now a new generation of fighters from RSFM are joining the organization starting with Zeke Hester at Evo 1. Suzy Suckerpunch: And I know that Hare and Donkey, both, are excited about the inclusion of Zeke Hester in this new venture. So much that they got him on the very first Evolution card. Is Hester coming into this fight with confidence? RSFM: Hester, at 4-1 MMA, has his hands full against BJJ black belt Mae Joon in his debut with the company. But I think his excitement and confidence in our training will see him through. Let me turn this over to him so you can get it straight from the horse’s mouth? Suzy Suckerpunch: That would be great! Zeke, it’s great to have you also, tell us how you’re feeling heading into the very first Evolution event and your thoughts on your opponent, Mae Joon? Zeke Hester: Mae Joon is a tough opponent. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried but I'm also excited. I've heard stories about this company and I'm very intrigued to see what the future holds for me here. Suzy Suckerpunch: So guys, clearly Hester and his camp aren’t giving much up for the other side to feed on. If anything, they’re showing some respectful deference to them and perhaps trying to lull them into a false sense of security? I’ll send it back to you guys and get your take on things! Well Suzy, can’t thank you enough for spending some time here and giving the fans a bit of an inside look for this matchup, at least from the Hester camp side of things! What I see out of this is two things. You could take it as quiet gamesmanship. Or, you could take it for what it seems, a little bit of trepidation perhaps? Given that I’ve been told that Hester’s morale is off a little bit, I have to wonder if maybe it’s a bit more of the latter? Tell ya what, I’m not going to draw this out. Let’s toss this to the Donkey boy for his take and move along here! Donkey’s Pick: Joon via Submission (Triangle) Thanks bunny boy. From Joon’s side of things, you have to think they’re looking at this matchup as an opportunity. Sure, Joon gives up some skill in Muay Thai, but the risk of getting into the clinch with Joon is that he might get the trip takedown. And if that happens, he has a definitive advantage with his Jiu Jitsu which the RSFM team acknowledged. Joon has won his last four fights via submission, so that’s a very, very real danger. I like the history of hard hitting battles that the Robert Smith kids have brought to the table in SPPS previously. But unless he lands that killer shot early, this one could get messy! I have to lean towards Joon tonight. *********************** Main Event: Featured Heavyweight Bout Conrad Cartwright (15-4-0) v Master Petrov (6-5-0) So this is our Main Event. And these boys have their mugs plastered all over the fight poster for Evolution 1! But, I won’t sit here and lie and tell you I’m not at least a little disappointed. Cartwright is off a bit on energy, more than he can recover before fight time. Petrov’s morale is a little low. At least that part I can understand. I was told that his management team inadvertently accepted this fight even though their other business ventures were pulling them away and leaving the fight team on the back burner. So Petrov feeling like this isn’t a fight they wanted at this time and maybe feeling a little unprepared is a bit understandable. But, a fight will happen, whether they’re ready or not!!! And Petrov had better be ready to use his standup game to his advantage. And he does have the advantage, both boxing and Muay Thai. That said, he’s coming off a four fight losing streak including two QFC fight losses. Not a great sign and you have to wonder how long he’s been feeling like his career is being overlooked? Some of those losses have come via TKO or KO…actually, quite a few. But one a few fights back against Lemuel Denver at HFC Fight Night 13 in September was a submission loss via triangle. You have to think that that’s playing in his mind and he might be having nightmares of a repeat tonight? Cartright has been with Biro management for his past two fights with a split result. TKO win back in August, but a KO loss to Werewolf Night in September. Leading up to that loss, he’d won seven straight, including six under prior mangaer Floyd Mayweather Jr, all via finish and most in the first round. Hmmm…interesting! No submissions unless you go back to his fights under Cian Coggins almost a year ago. So…is the submission still a concern?!? We’re going to find out tonight because if there was ever a night to pull one out, it may be tonight! Donkey’s Pick: Cartwright via KO (Punch) Honestly, this one screams finish on the ground. But…I think Cartwright sticks with the tried and true of late and takes his chances on the feet against Petrov. Petrov has shown he’s susceptible there as well, and nothing destroys your opponent’s spirit faster than taking them out in their own game. While I can’t guarantee that and there’s a lot we don’t know heading into this final fight of Evolution 1, one thing I can tell you is that this is a fight every MMA fan should be waiting for! *********************** So we’re all set folks! SPPS is BACK baby! And it’s evolved…EVOLUTION STYLE! There’s still a need to guard the dingle-dangles, there’s still that same Sucker Punch excitement level…but now it all happens Down Undah, just the way it should be! Get out to be part of a raucous crowd tonight at the Sydney Superdome folks, or, if hopping on over to aussieville isn’t in the cards, catch the live 3-hour Pay Per View! Because, you know, big or small, we’re gonna put on the best production possible for our fans! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series style! 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daudy Posted November 15, 2023 Report Share Posted November 15, 2023 Miss these writeups, very good! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlVandal Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 Great write up, keep them coming. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted November 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 On 11/18/2023 at 7:38 PM, AlVandal said: Great write up, keep them coming. Thank you, definitely will be back to it this week. Unfortunately I got sent out of town on business last week unexpectedly, so I wasn't able to cover SPPS Evo 2. But we'll get some more fun out there this week and get back to SPPS business as usual! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted November 30, 2023 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2023 Sucker Punch Pro Series December 1st - Sydney, Australia Welcome back MMA fans worldwide…and especially our very own cheap shot loving, low blow craving, Sucker Punch Pro Series fanatics! Been a couple weeks since we did our preview for SPPS Evolution 1 due to holidays and work travel for our executive team, but we’re back and ready to get into the action here for Sucker Punch Pro Series. A lot of fun and excitement is lined up for everybody tonight in what should be a very intimate, loving, comfortable environment over at the 2,000 seat Hayashi’s Lounge in Sydney. Well, ok, maybe not so loving…but definitely intimate and comfortable! So let’s settle in and get ready for a bumpy one here as we go over all the upcoming action at… Evolution 4: Anudo vs. Mineiro Brought to you in partnership with Furnace Performance nutrition! When you need supplements to take your game to the next level and get the absolutely most out of your training, you need to light that fire…from the Furnace!!! Stop over to the stands at our event tonight and find out what you’ve been missing folks! Now, without further delay, let’s get into it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Middleweights Michael Dewire (6-4-0) v Karl Falcao (1-2-0) Two of our young Middleweights, Dewire and Falcao, will get things going for us this evening but I can already tell that Donkey’s not going to be happy with this matchup. Why? Because Falcao is coming in with his morale completely in the gutter while Dewire’s is a third of the way there. C’mon peeps, change those clothes, get that morale up!!! We post about it all the time, we provide tons of information on how to correct that, along with energy and the lack of any need for flights. If you haven’t found that info on our forum, get to it! Alright, trying to ignore the fact that these two aren’t ready to put on their best performances for the fans, we’ll move into taking a look at the matchup here anyways. Although it’s gonna be brief…if you’re unprepared, I don’t spend much time on ya! Falcao will have a definitive advantage on the feet tonight as he’s the better boxer and has a marked edge in Muay Thai. Surprisingly, given those skills, he’s lost two QFC fights via KO in standup but won his last fight via submission. I’d be shocked if that trend continues this evening. He, like his opponent, is still in some very old clothes…hell, his t-shirt is the original he was given when he took up MMA training. Peeeeeeeee-yuuuuuuuuu! Dewire on the other hand is a grappler and Jiu Jitsu artist primarily with the majority of his wins coming via submission. That hasn’t worked out as well for him lately as he comes into this fight on a two-fight losing streak and has lost three of his last four. He also stinks to high hell from what I’m told by our media personnel…which isn’t a surprise since he works out, trains, goes to dinner, sleeps and everything in between in his original tighty-whities still! Alright, get ready for it, Donkey…over to you bud… Donkey’s Pick: Dewire via Submission (Armbar) You know I’m not thrilled to give this prediction Hare. You knew it ahead of time, yet you threw me this anyways! It drives me crazy when guys aren’t prepared for their best fight, and neither of these two are. Dewire is at least not as bad off as Falcao though and also seems to have skills and results that are in line with his fight strategies. He’s the better ground fighter here tonight and that seems to be Falcao’s go-to move even though he’s better in standup…technically. But with zero morale and no taste for battle heading into this one, I don’t expect it to last long and Falcao should be finished comfortably within the first round. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Lightweights Lorenzo Smashotti (3-4-0) v KJ Hoodwell (11-15-0) Hoooooooooo-boyyyy! I’m almost afraid to toss this one over to Donkey here after a quick look at this fight. Hoodwell and Smashotti will hook it up here in a battle of Lightweights but as with the last fight we’ve got one coming in unprepared. Well, at least it’s not both, right?!? Right? Hoodwell is good. This isn’t on him that we’ll have to hear Donkey get pissed. But…Smashotti owes his fans a bit of an apology as he’s coming to the cage with almost no desire to really be there. His morale is in the tank and honestly, if I was knocked out in three of my last fights, mine might be low also. But you gotta change those clothes and fix that crap up! Make the man look good, and he’ll start feeling better about himself…even if his record doesn’t reflect it! Hoodwell is still going to have his work cut out for him this evening. He may be amped up and looking like a rabid dog ready to get in there and tear some heads off…but he gives up the advantage on the feet which is where this fight is likely to stay. He’s got an extensive bit of experience at a young age, although that experience has been more on the losing end than the winning one. Maybe he starts a new story here tonight? Now, over to you Donkey! Donkey’s Pick: Hoodwell via TKO (Strikes) Hoodwell will need the morale and heart advantage to even this one up some. If he can get to Smashotti early, he may be able capture the momentum and get the dub! I’m a little on the fence as to which way this one will go, but given Hoodwell is prepared and Smashotti isn’t, I refuse to pick any other way! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Middleweights Daniel Gable (7-7-0) v Valeri Vakhvakhishvili (1-1-0) Finally we’ve got a pair that are both ready to get in there and get at it! Well…sorta. Gable here is a little bit low on morale heading in and slightly off on energy, but if he’s resting as we speak that may resolve itself by fight time. These two Middleweights are still the best prepared of the three fights we’ve discussed so far though! So let’s go with the positive! Vak…er…Vakha…um…shit, why do you folks do this to me?!? We’ll just go with Vak! Vak has slightly better wrestling in this matchup but gives up some in Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu. A strange combination that I normally don’t get to point out. He’s the lesser experienced in this matchup and going back to his early tale of the tapes it’s hard to see what this guy may be hiding. He was born with a ton of flexibility so that masked anything else. He has one win, a TKO over Sabatory, under former manager Dan and then lost an open weight bout against Josh Aldarisio via decision in early November. Not a lot to know so far for this guy, so tonight’s battle should start to give us some sense of what this guy is all about! Gable has an extensive amount of experience in the cage professionally for such a young dude. So far he’s riding the .500 mark at 7-7 and most of his wins have come via submission with a sneaky TKO over Rico Rodriquez thrown in there from back in May. All of this was under former manager Jack Matrix and he heads to the cage tonight for his first professional fight under new management with Robert Smith and company. RSM camps typically tend to focus more on striking, so it’ll be interesting to see if he keeps with the submission and ground focus or if he’s been working on rounding out the skills. Donkey, what do you think? Donkey’s Pick: Vakhvakhishvili via Decision I almost always go with the more prepared fighter. This one was a tough pick though given I also know Robert Smith’s track record with his kids. Granted, sometimes there is a bit of a learning curve between fighter and new manager, so we’ll continue to slide towards Vak on this one with the thought that it goes the distance! Should be a solid battle for the fans out there! *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Middleweights Fran Stalinovskovichdaviddivitchski (11-4-0) v Jules Ann (11-12-0) The parade of Middleweights, three contests out of four so far, continues with our next to last Undercard battle tonight! And…what in the heck is going on, you guys all just having some fun with me here now tonight? Another name that I have zero hope of ever pronouncing?!? At least Jules Ann made it nice and easy for us! This is a closely matched contest where Stalin has only a small advantage in the ground game but both fighters are very evenly matched on the feet. And both have extensive in-cage experience, so nobody is giving up that aspect of things, albeit Stalin’s trips to the cage have been more consistently in his favor so far. Ann has shown KO power from the start with the very first Tale of the Tape, and since then most wins have come via KO or TKO for them. Unfortunately, there have also been eleven losses along the way that have come via just about every method possible…decision, TKO, submission, you name it. You have to hope that with continued maturation and a new manager change coming into this fight that things are starting to settle in for this young fighter. Stalin showed a hidden trait of determined early on in his career. A lot of managers will dump a guy who comes in with that, despite being a nice intangible to have as a fighter. But, it usually means that the chin is so-so at best and that there isn’t much in the way of any KO power, etc…something that can be important at the Middleweight and above weight classes. That said, I myself have a fighter that showed Determined early on and he’s turned into easily one of my best kids ever, so hey, run with that stuff there my man! Donkey’s Pick: Stalinovskovichdaviddivitchski via TKO (Strikes) Hare mentioned that Stalin has a determined mindset, but he’s also already shown a proclivity to turn out the lights for opponents, so there has to be some level of power in those shots. Add to that that he dished out so much damage in his SPPS debut that he won via TKO (Cuts)! Can he keep the good times rolling now that he’s got back to back wins? We’ll find out! Ann is coming in off two losses and under new management. Have to believe that there are bright days ahead for the kid, but sometimes that first fight is a feeling out process for new manager and fighter. I have to lean towards Stalin here tonight. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Heavyweights Conrad Cartwright (15-5-0) v Simon Cross (3-2-0) Our final fight of the Undercard and for those of you who absolutely love the BMF’s of the MMA world, the behemoths, the beasts, yep, your Heavyweights, well, this one is for you…as well as two more on the Main card including your Main Event this evening! Unfortunately, while this one may be for you, at least one is fairly unprepared and the other is…well…ok…but not fantastic. Cross comes into the fight tonight with his morale less than 50%. That’s not ideal by any stretch when you have a monster on the other side of the cage trying to take your head off. And that’s likely what the scenario will be given he’s at a disadvantage in standup while having the edge on the ground, especially with his Jiu Jitsu. Which means, despite not being entirely there with his heart and confidence, he’s going to need to find a way to get this to the ground fast and get a submission. Even if it means forcing Cartwright to give up just due to the stench from his old, stanky, very used tighty-whities he’s still sporting. C’mon, give this man some new clothes…and change them several times to get that morale up! As we mentioned, Cartwright heads into the cage tonight with morale just slightly off. Not relevant considering how off Cross is though. He’s coming off a loss in his SPPS debut to Master Petrov and that made back to back losses with the loss he took to Werewolf Night before joining us. He’s three fights deep with relatively new manager Biro, so moving to .500 and going from there would be a huge step in the right direction! This is a man who lives and dies by the KO, but did show some skill on the ground in fights from a year back. Over to you Donkster! Donkey’s Pick: Cartwright via KO (Punch) Whether Cartwright has maintained and progressed with his ground skills or let them fall off will be the big test tonight. It’s ok if he didn’t maintain them offensively, but defensively it’s a must against this opponent…that, or a flash KO to end it early! His opponent is the one who really has the pressure on though…with bad morale coming in, a quick win is absolutely necessary or his chances to win plummet. That means not only getting an advantage quickly, but using it to get to the ground and end things. I don’t see that happening, although it’s always possible. *********************** Alright folks!!! We’re taking a quick lunch break and we’ll be back soon with the Main Card!! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Lightweights Saurabh Pandeya (11-6-1) v Pupp Eye (4-3-1) We open the Main Card with our two best prepared fighters of the night!!! Leave it to the “little” guys to absolutely know they need to BRING IT!!! Love it folks, there’s a reason why the Feather and Lightweight divisions are my favorite after the big boys in the Heavyweight division! The skills these two bring to the cage are going to make for a very interesting matchup in this one as well folks! Eye is about even with Pandeya in boxing and wrestling…but Pandeya holds the advantage in Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu. Apparently this guy just likes to be up close and personal! Don’t know if that’s the way this will go, but on the surface that’s the first instinct I have. Eye comes off back to back fights with Gary Andary over at SM Fight Liga. First a draw, then a loss in the breaker. His career thus far, as short as it may be in just over a year, is riddled with decisions and TKO’s. Both for and against. Don’t know if he’s good or bad on the ground yet, but that’s something we may find out this evening. One thing we do know is that he’s always been quick, since he first got in the cage for his initial pro fight. We don’t know much else because he was too much of a blur for us to find out more! Pandeya comes to us from HFC (which one I can’t tell, because I’m lazy and don’t want to click on it, haha!) where he last scored a decision victory over Amosov in early November. Back to back losses before that were preceeded by a set of wins. He’s never lost more than two in a row, and never won more than three despite a pretty extensive fight history for such a young fighter. Slightly streaky, but never going too long without a change in momentum. Donkey, your turn bud! Donkey’s Pick: Pandeya via Unanimous Decision I was curious if Pandeya would be in position to score a win on the ground tonight, and while I haven’t dug deep enough to determine if he has ground and pound skills, I do know that he’s won at least once via submission. But also lost twice to the same. A lot of decisions for and against in this guy’s history, in line with the weight class as a whole. I’m not sure a pick is going to be easy or guaranteed in this fight tonight! Given he’s got the better overall skillset and more experience, I’m going to lean in his direction over Eye this evening but won’t be surprised if Eye closes Pandeya’s either! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Lightweights Brandon Hendrix (10-3-0) v Nick Peterson (5-4-0) Alright!!! Clearly I was on the right track when I said that the Lightweights know how to come ready to battle, because these two are just as ready as the prior pair to get in there and give the fans their money’s worth! Love that, thank you gentlemen! Peterson will have a small edge in both Muay Thai and wrestling tonight, so I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if we see him trying to clinch up and work the body and head up close and personal! He’s been described as having heavy hands, but we’re not sure about the chin yet and whether it’s also up to the task. Given history so far, I’d say it’s a mixed bag and his opponents have gotten to his chin as often as he’s dished out the juice. So the jury is certainly out on whether he’s got the chin he needs to stand and go toe to toe, fight after fight, consistently enough to be a champion who can defend. With almost a seesaw of wins and losses over the past year he’s looking to get the ‘W’ and then break that trend going forward. Hendrix steps back into the cage tonight for his second dance under the SPPS banner. He came away from SPPS Evo 1 with a TKO over Lee Huang midway through the third round. That’s nothing new for him, as he’s never been finished on the feet and almost all wins have come via finish outside an early decision over Kovaci almost a year and a half ago. He’s got a granite chin, so he has the ability to step in and really go aggressively for the KO’s, or outlast opponents with technical striking as he matures and evolves later in his career. Donkey, give us a winner? Donkey’s Pick: Hendrix via TKO (Strikes) I took Hendrix in his first fight and I’m going to do it again here. This fight should be much more closely fought and on paper it looks like it should be a fantastic one. I wouldn’t be surprised to see another three rounder here this evening and I definitely won’t check out on the possibility that Peterson lands the one that counts. But right now, given history and intangibles, I like Hendrix’ chances here. It’s going to be a lot of fun to see a Lightweight battle where either man can turn out the lights, something we don’t always get with the lower weight classes! Watch out, this could be ‘Fight of the Night’! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Heavyweights Malig Mferi (9-4-0) v Kimbo Wahwah (6-11-0) Our last fight before our two Main Events and this should be a crowd pleaser with two of the biggest boys in the biz stepping into the cage and squaring up! Wahwah gives up the edge in everything but Muay Thai, including professional record as well, and also comes in significantly shorter than his opponent. That said, he put Rutger Petrov to sleep in a recent QFC battle and has a granite chin at his disposal to help him weather the storm from Mferi this evening. A win in his SPPS debut would be huge and also set him up to start a heck of a nice winning streak…that, aside from not wanting your own lights turned off, should be more than enough motivation for this man! Malig, who comes from the iconic Ispa Murhapuro stables originally, obtained the coveted “i” for his last name that only some are gifted with. I have no idea why some get it and some don’t! Maybe it’s an indicator that your time is temporary, as he was shipped out by Ispa and now has landed with Justin Hive’s squad? Dunno…and I’ve already spent more time pondering it than I probably should have! Mferi comes off a win in his last fight with Ispa in his one and only dance with the MMA Helsinki org. The TKO victory was obtained while fighting open weight but still resembled the result he gets in a lot of his fights! He’s only been stopped once, a nasty KO to Pate Ro in his last fight at HFC at the end of October which was quick…but probably not painless…midway through the first round. Apparently he wanted to shake it off fast because that last win at MMAH came just three days later! He’s had a month to rest now and should be ready to get in there to throw bombs tonight! Alright Donkey, give us a final take on this one? Donkey’s Pick: Mferi via TKO (Strikes) Mferi is by far the younger fighter here by three years and would normally be considered the underdog. But this kid has progressed quickly at the tender young age of 22 and shows no signs of slowing down. Wahwah has to show he has what it takes to keep up with the younger, faster learning kids or eventually maybe go into promotional work instead. This is Mferi’s fight to lose I think, with Wahwah’s job being to step in there and pull the upset over the young upstart! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Welterweight Bout Julian Avila (12-7-0) v Israel Carlson (3-1-2) Donkey, we’re almost there and this is our Co-Main Event of the evening! And yet again, two fighters ready to get at it! The Main Card has definitely come prepared tonight and that’s what you expect from your spotlight fighters!!! Well done boys, well done! Avila comes in with a significant experience advantage as well as being the heavier of the two fighters…which could be good or bad at this weight class. He’ll have to cut some weight for the fight, but if he wants a KO, that poundage is going to help put a little oomph behind those shots! He’s also got the better overall record as Carlson has been hit and miss so far in his career. That said, on paper the skills look to be in his opponent’s favor as he only holds an advantage in Muay Thai and gives up a big edge on the ground with a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu versus Carlson’s brown. Carlson has the Jiu Jitsu advantage as we discussed, and has the ability to pull a submission, but so far it’s only been done by beating the snot out of his opponent until they yell, “Uncle!”, or “"Matté!” All joking aside though, some of his early fights did display some GnP ability so don’t be surprised if that rears its head this evening by chance! Tell ya what, I’m not going to draw this out. The fight itself will be entertaining enough I think! Let’s toss this to the Donkey boy for his take and move along here! Donkey’s Pick: Avila via Unanimous Decision I agree that this one will likely be one of the best fights of the night. And, while everything on paper tells me that Carlson is the man to go with, outside his current record, there’s a tingling on the back of my neck that tells me there are intangibles at play here and a man who has been to, and obtained the strap in, a championship fight knows how to get it done. I have to throw my hat to Avila tonight in a three round unanimous decision. *********************** Main Event: Featured Heavyweight Bout Mac Anudo (20-9-1) v Elinho Mineiro (14-12-0) Our Main Event for Evo 4 and we get the big boys in the cage for this one folks! The men whose mugs are on the poster, these are the guys the fans know and will be cheering for! And what an evenly matched one we have for you folks! Like the potential future champs they are, these two are ready, tanks full, eye of the tiger, everything…and dang, some skills that are really too close to split hairs over. Mineiro gives up some weight in this one at 240 pounds versus Anudo coming in at exactly 265, but I don’t know that I can say whether the agility, stamina and speed will be more valuable or that size and bulk in a contest of this…er, size! Mineiro had been on a losing streak from hell over at the Steel Penn Fighting Temple with five L’s in a row. Ouch!!! He finally snapped that streak by taking a QFC fight and abusing his opponent, Damien Hawthorne, with a guillotine submission. This man loves the ground and submission game, although he did lose one via submission just three fights back when Kakuto got his back and locked in a rear naked. That said, submissions are what gave Mineiro his first title while at RISA in June of 2022 but it was lost in the first defense due to just two minutes into the fight. The chin and standup are not this man’s friend, but when he gets to the ground the fear should swiftly flow into his opponent! Anudo’s career, from a general standpoint, somewhat mirrors Mineiro’s…also making this even more of an intriguing fight. He too won the belt and held it for a single fight, although more recently over at New York Fighting Championship. He too, lost it via KO the very next fight, only 38 seconds in! Ouch. Where they differ is that Anudo seems to be more diverse in his offensive approach, winning via submissions, decisions and even TKO’s. But here’s where it gets interesting…several of his fights have ended in copious bloodshed! One win or two via cuts…could just be coincidental. Three or more…yeah, man has a serious sadistic streak! If you’re stepping into the cage with this man, be sure to bring a great cut man along with you! Donkey, give it to us baby! Let’s close this thing out! Donkey’s Pick: Anudo via TKO (Cuts) This is a HELL of a fight to finish up with and probably the most difficult for me to make a pick for on the night! I’m expecting a great one, a contender for an ‘of the Night’ award for sure. I’d be shocked if we don’t get it. I have to flip a coin here, both of these men have the ability to finish…and if we do get the finish, the only thing I’ll predict is that it would be a submission for Mineiro or a TKO for Anudo. I can’t say which will happen though, so flippy-flip we go…and…heads says Anudo! Alright, I’ll try to do my job somewhat here and go a bit further…Anudo via third round doctor stoppage! *********************** So we’re all set folks! Are you excited? Because we are!!! Prepare to watch grown ass men try to protect their dingle-dangles all while trying to dish out a cheap shot of their own! The action happens Down Undah, just the way it should be! All the action is at the Hayashi Lounge in Sydney tonight, a great, small, intimate venue to watch the best MMA fighters abuse each other…lovingly of course! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series style! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The1rstSaint Posted November 30, 2023 Report Share Posted November 30, 2023 Bastien Harris "I am not very happy with my performance in my debut fight here at Sucker Punch Evolution. My opponent's record does not reflect on the abilities he has as a fighter. Never being Knocked Out before is one thing, and though I would have loved to be the first I just don't think it was the way to go. Of course, the route I went nearly cost me a braincell or twenty-two but we got the win(all be it controversial). KO Jacckson has fully earned my respect. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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