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It’s time to step into the world of British mixed martial arts, and we’re once again paying a visit to the MAPP UK promotion, to take a look at their second show, The Champions 2, held at Cedar Court in Leeds, Yorkshire, back in August 2008.

The show began with John Moore facing Nate Simpson in the final of the Caged Steel in the Club tournament. It was an okay fight, nothing overly spectacular. Moore looked like he could get the win in the second round, but his lack of any submission attempts when he had control on the ground cost him. Both fighters looked exhausted in the third, and it looked like it would peter out until Simpson got the submission win with a rear naked choke.

Next up was Richard Belcher against Kevin Coop. This one featured some nice, fast paced action. Both men definitely came out to fight here, and although the action was a little messy at times, it was fun to watch. It could have gone either way, the way these two were banging, but Coop got the win here, dishing out some brutal ground and pound until a series of knees to Belcher’s ribs ended things with a referee’s stoppage.

Then it was on to Bryan O’Connor against Dean Thorpe, in the first blink and you’ll miss it affair. After a quick exchange of blows, O’Connor got a takedown, only to fall prey to Thorpe’s guillotine choke. O’Connor quickly tapped, fight time – just thirty nine seconds. Explosive and impressive stuff from O’Connor here.

Richie Ryder versus Kenny Dugay followed. This one was brutal, and it was obvious from the start that it wasn’t going to go to the ground as the heavy blows started as soon as the bell rang. Ruder was quickly cut open by a knee in the clinch, but the medics let the fight go on, and things continued in the same vein. It wasn’t long before the claret began to flow for Dugay as well, but in the end another big knee to the head sent Ryder reeling, and as Dugay followed up with a torrent of blows, the referee stepped in to stop the onslaught, giving the Dugay the TKO win. Well, it was brutal to watch, but also strangely compelling.

An encounter between Dennis Webb and Paul Durber followed. This was another fast paced fight with plenty of back and forth action, and saw both men going all out from the opening bell. The exchanges were lightening fast, but as the round went on Webb was visibly tiring, so much so that when he got a take down, Durber quickly reversed things and took the guard, soon synching in an arm bar for the submission win. Great action throughout here.

James Parker versus Jon Waterhouse followed. This was a far more technical battle than any of the previous fights. Parker showed some great ground work after escaping from Waterhouse’s guillotine attempt. Once Parker got the fight back down to the ground he went to work, first going for a key lock, then a kimura, before finally getting the submission win with an arm bar, rounding off a great technical display, a  welcome change to the previous slugfests.

James Anderson against Philip Hoban proved to be a very interesting fight, fought at a quite frantic pace over it’s two round duration. Hoban was clearly the better man in the stand up game, rocking Anderson as he swung for the trees, but when the fight went down to the ground it seemed as if the fighters struggled a little. Hoban went for a couple of arm submissions, but that was it, and it was his superiority in the stand up game that probably earned him the unanimous decision.

Then it was on to Nij Wright against Matthew Earnshaw. This fight had the spark that the previous one lacked. Wright took control early on with a big slam, but after the fighters got to their feet there were some frantic exchanges before Earnshaw defended a take down attempt, took side control, and synched in a key lock for the submission win, bringing to an end a good fight.

Liam O’Neil then faced Qasim Shafiq. This was another of those rather interesting fights that went the distance. Both fighters showed some good take down skills, but after they got there they just lacked that certain spark, and although there were some submission attempts, nothing came of them. Neither man had any real success in the stand up either with their wild brawling. In the end the unanimous decision went to Shafiq, although it could have gone either way.

Mark Stoker and Andrew Farrell followed that particular affair. Now this was more like it. Farrell looked intense as he came to the ring, and went to work straight away, taking Stoker down and soon moving into position so he could apply an arm triangle for the submission win, the second blink and you’ll miss it fight on the show.

The penultimate fight saw James Williams facing Mark Aldridge. This was another exciting fight. Williams looked even more intense than Farrell in the previous fight, and you could tell what was on his mind during the pre-fight instructions. He got the immediate take down, and went for the ground and pound. Aldridge’s brief escape only delayed the inevitable, which came after Williams took Aldridge’s back and delivered more punishment. When Aldridge stopped defending himself, the referee stopped the onslaught, giving Williams the well deserved TKO win.

The main event saw Tomasz Wisiniewski taking on Justin Wring. This was a good little fight, with Tomasz getting the quick take down, and soon moving into the mount where he went for some ground and pound. He then quickly moved to the side, applying an arm bard for the quick submission win.

DVD extras come in the form of a photo gallery, fighter intros, a highlight video and a segment featuring an MMA fighter taking on a professional wrestler. Now this isn’t as good as it sounds, because it’s obvious from the outset that it’s a complete work. The supposed MMA practitioner uses several pro wrestling moves, and the execution and selling of the moves is really poor.

In conclusion – a mixed bag of action here. While there are some good fights, there’s also some quite messy affairs, especially as far as some of the fighter’s boxing skills are concerned. So, if you willing to take the bad with the good, then you may find something here to your liking.

With thanks to Tom Tailford for supplying a copy of this release. For more information on how you can get a copy, Tom can be contact via www.fight-factory.co.uk.

THE TWO SHEDS REVIEW by Julian Radbourne
E-mail: julian@twoshedsreview.com
Website: www.twoshedsreview.com
Blog: www.myspace.com/twosheds316
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THE TWO SHEDS REVIEW by Julian Radbourne
E-mail: julian@twoshedsreview.com
Website: www.twoshedsreview.com
Blog: www.myspace.com/twosheds316
Facebook: www.facebook.com/twosheds316 – add me as your friend!
Online Store: www.lulu.com/twosheds316 – download Anglo-Force & The Valkyrie Chronicles for FREE!

It’s time to step into the mixed martial arts world again, and this time we’re going to take a look at the debut show of British promotion Martial Arts Partnership Promotions UK, and their debut show The Champions, filmed by A1 Productions and held at the Cedar Court Hotel in Leeds back in May 2008, with a massive thirteen fights on the card.

The show began with Kevin Coop facing Alfas Miah. This proved to be a very enjoyable contest, but sadly it had a rather unfortunate ending. After putting in a very good performance, Coop connected with what looked like an inadvertent low knee. After a few moments it was deemed that Miah was unable to continue, with the MC saying that it was due to a blow to the head, which did confuse me a little. The fight was therefore ruled a no contest, which was a shame, because Coop would probably have won, given his performance here.

Fight two saw Dave Kettlewell taking on Chris Noon. Two rounds of great action here, with numerous take downs, reversals and submission attempts. Both men put on a good showing, impressing this particular writer. The end came in the last minute of the second round. Noon slammed Kettlewell close to the corner, with Kettlewell verbally submitting almost instantly, ending a nice little fight, with Noon just edging it for me performance wise.

Declan Williams against Oobie Rahman was next. This one was fought at a frantic pace, with Williams getting the first take down, Rahman countering, Williams countering him, and so on, and just over a minute into the fight Williams scored with another take down, locking on a guillotine choke with Rahman duly tapped out to. Not quite a blink and you’ll miss it affair, but good action nonetheless.

Then came the only fight of the show to go the two round distance, with Qasim Shafiq going up against Peter Lynch. Shafiq put in a tremendous performance here, seemingly able to take Lynch down at will, and almost getting the win with a kimura attempt that seemed to last for an age. It was pretty much the same for the entire fight, although Lynch took Shafiq’s back briefly, but didn’t really do anything. Shafiq took the unanimous judges decision for his display of dominance, and rightfully so.

Things returned to normal with the next fight, Neema Hashima against Bryan O’Connor. Hashima showed some good skill here, with some crisp-looking transitions, before locking in a triangle choke for the submission win. Nice stuff from Hashima here.

The next fight was a back and forth affair between Shadu Ali and Lee Jones. Both fighters showed some good skill with their striking and submission attempts, with Jones clearly winning the first round, and Ali really upping his game in the second, applying an arm bar early on in the round for the submission win, tapping off a nice comeback, and ending a very good fight.

Philip Hoban and Chris Jones (not sure if he’s any relation to Lee) almost went into the second round. Hoban was the dominating force here, working well on the ground, first getting the mount for some ground and pound, before transitioning to side control for a couple of submission attempts. Jones looked utterly helpless at times, and just thirteen seconds before the end of the round Hoban locked in a triangle choke, with Jones quickly tapping. A great performance from Hoban here. Jones didn’t really get a look in at all.

Tom Cunnington versus Pete Hill was the first blink and you’ll miss it affair of the night, and it had a rather strange beginning. As Hill entered the ring he took off his fight shorts, wanting to fight in his underwear. Of course, the referee was having none of that, and ordered him to put his shorts on again. This little exchange lasted longer than the fight. Hill got a quick take down and immediately went for an arm bar. Cunnington soon tapped. A nice performance from Hill here, but what was the deal with his underwear?

Andy Reid against Scott McClellan was just a few seconds longer than the previous fight. It was also a rather odd fight. Reid began with a kick before a right knocked McClellan down. The referee checked McClellan, and the fight continued. Then another quick right sent McClellan back down. McClellan promptly got up, and a third right promptly sent him down again, with the referee calling a halt to proceedings at the thirty-two second mark. I’m really not sure what to make of this one.

The fight number reached double figures with Tom Widnieski facing Steve Martin. (No, it’s not THAT Steve Martin). Widnieski was another of those fighters who dominated his opponent, able to transition at will. There was a brief stand up, but they soon went back down to the ground, with Widnieski going for a couple of kimura, and getting the submission at the second attempt in a really impressive outing.

Marcin Gorzala against Nathan Joseph was next. Another fight that went into the second round, the only thing of note to happen in the first was when the referee warned Joseph for kneeing Gorzala in the head while they were in the north/south position, and it was from that particular position that Gorzala got the win, unloading with a series of punches to Joseph’s mid-section, and when Joseph failed to respond to this attack, the referee stepped in and stopped the fight, giving the TKO win to Gorzala. This was an okay fight, but it was the first time I’d seen someone get a TKO victory from the north/south position.

The penultimate fight saw Danny Carr face Niko Gjorka. Round one began with a quick exchange of blows, before Gjorka attempted a guillotine choke that seemed to last for ages. Not even a slam from Carr could get him to break the hold. Eventually Carr did, and he came back strongly in the second round, getting the win with a rear naked choke. This was a very exciting fight, and the fight of the night for me.

The main event saw Dave Hirst against Richard Taylor. Hirst put in a good little performance here, getting the take down after a clinch in the corner, and quickly moving to side control so he could lock in a side choke for the submission win.

DVD extras come on the form of a highlight reel, set to the tune of Queen’s classic “We Are The Champions”, and still photos from the event.

In conclusion – in case you haven’t guessed already, I really enjoyed this DVD. While I wasn’t exactly familiar with any of the fighters on show here, I was really impressed with some of the dominating performances here. It’s another case that if you scratch below the surface of the top MMA companies here in Britain, you may find something you like. So this DVD comes highly recommended.

With thanks Tom Tailford of A1 Productions for supplying a copy of this release. If you would like to purchase a copy of MAPP UK The Champions, visit either www.mappuk.com or www.fight-factory.co.uk for more details.