UCMMA: Never Back Down.

There are some things that you start to rely on in life, regular and steady  events that keep a pulse against the tapestry of a hectic modern life. One particular event which resonates through the UK MMA monthly cycle is UCMMA down at the Troxy in East London’s, Bethnal Green.

UCMMA have now consistently continued to provide an interesting mix of match up’s and become a mainstay of the UK MMA Scene and so their next event ‘Never Back Down’ follows through with more enterainment in heart of  London’s East End.

For ‘Never Back Down’ first up is heavyweight title fight between Cypriot fighter Stav ‘Crazy Bear’ Economou and the  South African heavy hitter Neil ‘Goliath’ Grove.

Grove who stands at 6″6 will be looking to get himself back in the running’s after his last fight with the now new UFC addition Karlos Vermola fell through. Grove known for his heavy hands last fought back in October 2009 when he lifted a smaller 6″2 Martin Thompson clear off the ground on the end of a big right hook.

Stav Economou look’s to continue to build upon his 10 -1 record after defeating Shola Adeniran & Linton-Vassell.  Only three of Economou’s fights have made it out of the first round where he has notched up 5 TKO’s and 2 KO’s.  When you compare this to the 6 TKO victories and 2 KO’s that Grove has amassed it look’s very likely that someone is going to get Knocked Out. This one certainly has the potential to be a heavyweight bang fest.

One of the top UK Light Heavyweight’s Jimi Manuwa will face off against Reza Meldavian for the Light Heavyweight Title. Manuwa was due to originally meet Valentino Petrescu, but Petrescu had to pull out from Injury to provide Meldavian, a gym mate of Petrescu with the opportunity to fight Manuwa.

This is a risky fight for Manuwa and certainly shows that he is not hand picking a fight career as Meldavian is lower ranked, but game fighter – so a loss would cost Manuwa a lot more dearly then Meldavian. Meldavian is known for being a front on fighter quite willing to stand with his opponents, but Manuwa is a well rounded skilled fighter who has consistently showed ability to decisively end fights.

Paul “Boom Boom” Cahoon makes a very welcome return to the UK scene to fight a UCMMA regular, Earl Brown. Cahoon started out in MMA back in 1998 and has had some very memorable fights with top class guys such as Melvin Manhoef (Twice), Ian Freeman and Elvis Sinosic. Earl Brown will be looking for a win after losing his past two fights. Cahoon’s experience may well prove the decisive factor in this fight.

In a Karate meet’s Muay Thai mix up Dyson Roberts meets Jamaine Facey. Roberts a powerful welterweight and Goju Karate practitioner looked very aggressive in his last fight when he finished Brett Bassett in the first round.  Jamaine Facey on the other hand is a skilled striker with some great kicks and a knack for knocking out his opponents. This fight is a real prover for both men.

Cage Rage Veteran Mark ‘The Beast’ Epstein will meet Luke Sines for a UK-1 bout.

Another interesting fight is Dan Smith from Semtex gym vs Brad Wheeler for the Feather Weight UK-1 title. This particular bout is sanctioned as stand up Kickboxing fight but using 4 ounce MMA gloves. We have yet to see this on UK shores so it will be an interesting fight dynamic to see.

Full Fight card:

STAV ECONOMOU V NEIL GROVE (HW TITLE)

JIMI MANUWA V REZA MELDAVIAN (LHW TITLE)

LUKE SINES V MARK EPSTEIN (MW UK-1)

PAUL CAHOON V EARL BROWN (MW)

STEVE ELLIOTT V SCOTT JANSEN (LW)

DYSON ROBERTS V JAMAINE FACEY (WW)

LEE WIEZOREK V DEAN BRAY (WW)

JODY COTTHAM V COLIN FRENCH (WW)

STEVE DOSSETT V BOLA OMOYELE (MW)

DAN SMITH V BRAD WHEELER (FW UK 1  TITLE)

JOE HOLDER V MICHEAL BROWN (WW GP TITLE)

DJO LEMA V GALORE BOSANDO (WW)

CARL KINSLOW V LUKE NEWMAN (WW)

TOM DIXON V DAN SHORTMAN (FW)

For more details please visit www.ucmma.com

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