BAMMA kicked off their first ticket of three events with an exciting series of bouts in the light, welter and middle weights.
First up were the lightweights with Zack Jones (3 – 0 – 0) fighting from Gracie Barra Swansea vs Francis Heagney (7-3-0) of London Shootfighter. Heagney took the fight straight to the ground and dominated Jones with a barrage of punches until the fight was stopped in the first round.
Next up were the other lightweights to decide Heagney’s opponent with Tim Radcliffe fighting out of Nova Forca (7 – 2 – 0) vs Abdul ‘The Slam’ Mohamed fighting from Wolfsliar Gym (15 – 6 – 3). Tim Radcliffe showed his future potential with a great show of striking using his hands and knees to pick off Mohamed. Mohamed managed to take the fight to the ground in the second round, although Radcliffe contained Mohamed and so did not receive any damage from the position. Round 3 saw both men standing with Radcliffe getting some decisive strikes and landing some solid leg kicks which appeared to weaken Mohamed’s legs and make it harder to push through takedown attempts. The fight ended as unanimous decision to Tim Radcliffe.
For the welterweights it was Eugene Fadiora (4 – 0 – 0) fighting out of Team supreme vs late entry (and replacement for the injured Tommy Maguire) Nathan Champ (3 – 1 – 0) of Powersports TNT. This fight remained the whole time standing up with Eugene Fadiora getting the better of Nathan Champ to win him a unanimous decision.
Fadiora’s opponents were next to be decided with Edgelson Lua (5 -3 – 0) of DKK Fighters and Nova Forca vs Ch’e Mills (6 – 2 – 1) of Trojan free fighters. This proved to be one of the most exciting fights of the night and a real show case for UK MMA with both fighters battling it out in the cage with some incredible ground work and strikes. In the end Ch’e Mills came out on top and got the win with a unanimous decision, but Lua also deserves a respect due for fighting with such heart.
For the first of the Middleweights it was John Philips (12 – 2 – 0) of Team Predator vs Denniston Sutherland (9 – 2- 0) of Cross Face / Unity Martial Arts. This was a fast paced fight which looked to be a real battle, but unfortunately Philips had to tap out due to a dislocated shoulder so an Automatic, but still well deserved win went to Denniston Sutherland.
Next up was considered by many to be the Main card of the night with John Maguire (10 – 0 – 0) of Tsunami Gym facing Tom Watson (8 – 3 – 0) of Jacksons MMA. For this fight both players had their favoured style with Maguire taking the fight to the ground and Watson playing a striking game. Maguire managed some great takedowns and kept Watson locked down for large periods of the first round, but Watson showed his great conditioning by getting himself to his feet again. The second round followed more of the same until the third round where Watson landed some lethal knee’s and elbows which proved to much to Maguire and provided a Win by stoppage to Watson.
All in all a great night for BAMMA and for the UK MMA scene. All fighters were respectful of each other and really provided a great show.
The next event will be on the 15th of August. More information on BAMMA and tickets to the event can be found at the BAMMA website.
Tom Watson def. John Maguire
• via TKO at 2:47, R3
Denniston Sutherland def. John Phillips
• via TKO (Strikes) at 3:22, R1
Che Mills def. Edgelson Lua
• via Unanimous Decision, R3
Eugene Fadiora def. Nathan Champ
• via Unanimous Decision, R3
Tim Radcliffe def. Abdul Mohammed
• via Unanimous Decision, R3
Francis Heagney def. Zack Jones
• via TKO (Strikes) at 3:08, R1
Adam Stanton def. Dan Mohavedoi
• via Submission (Side Choke) at 1:08, R1
Kes Kpokpogri def Ben Craggy
• via Unanimous Decision, R3
Radek Piechnik def. Spencer Morris
• via TKO (Strikes) at 1:57, R1
