The Hove Town Hall, Brighton was the location for Sol Gilbert’s tournament event and first up were the heavyweights. Each man was introduced into the ring by MC Ian ‘The Machine’ Freeman to make the full line up of eight, the only change to the card was Martin Thompson replaced by Joe Vedepo.

The night kicked off with Rob Broughton v Neil Wain with a rocked Broughton recovering from a big left hook in the first round to sink in a guillotine choke and go through the semi final’s.

Next up saw Tengiz Tedoradze facing James Thompson. Thompson dominated Tedoradze for the first round with some excellent wrestling and ground and pound. This same strategy was applied again in the second round until referee Grant Roberts stopped the fight and awarded James Thompson the win by TKO.

Now it was the turn of two late replacements Muay Thai fighter Miguel Bernad via Joe Vedepo  (in the UK  as a spa’ing partner for Bisping). Bernad showed what he was made of with well placed thudding leg kick, but Vedepo immediately got the underhook’s and slammed Bernad to his back. Bernad contained Vedepo for a brief period and almost returned to his feet, but at this point Vedepo swung a leg up and pulled off one of the sweetest technical armbars your likely to see which Bernad had no choice, but to tap to.

Next was strongman Oli Thompson vs Boxer Steve Day. Both guys tried to feel each other out with a jab and a few clinches were initiated, but the fight remained standing until Thompson connected with a straight right on to the chin of Steve Day winning him a place in the Semi’s.

For the first fight of the Semi Finals James Thompson fought Rob Broughton. The 1st round appeared to be Thompson’s from some top control and ground and pound, but in the 2nd Thompson stood and traded with Broughton until a big right sent Thompson to the canvas and the referee jumped in to stop Broughton following up with some ground strikes. Broughton commences to the Final’s.

Joe Vedepo v Oli Thompson would decide the other fighter to face Broughton for the coveted prize of 10,000 pounds. This fight was a real stand up war with a few moments of loss of control as Thompson accidentally knee’ed Vedepo in the groin two times and Vedepo had one point deduced for an illegal knee strike to the head of Thompson.  Vedepo came out on top and rocked Thompson with strikes and knee’s to the head from a clinch and secured his place in the final’s against Broughton.

This now lead to an interesting situation. The Tournament was primarily devised as a a concept to decide who was the the best heavyweight in the UK. Now with a very sharp looking Vedepo going into the final could the tournament be won by an American middleweight who came in as a last minute replacement the night before? This was not to good. However this was short lived as following Broughton to the ring came Vedepo with no gloves and ice pack on his hand – he was out from injury. Ian Freeman then announced Vedeop’s replacement would be Oli Thompson.

So the final got underway and for 3 x 5 minutes both fighters gave their best, but ultimately the skill and expertise of Broughton was the deciding factor as Thompson who fought with all of his heart was slowly ground down by Broughton’s clinch and punches. And so the night confirmed what a few of us already expected, that being that Broughton is the number one heavyweight in the UK.

A great night and a big kudos to Sol Gilbert and team whom got this together with the odd’s stacked far from the their favor.  We now look forward to the next event on the 8th of May which will be the light heavyweights.

Record : 0 -  1  -  0 (Win – Loss – Draw)
1 TKO ( 100 %)
Association: Saied Gholimie (wrestling).

Steve Day (27) is a boxer with extensive experience having been in the boxing game for over 9 years. Day’s interest turned to MMA over a year ago when he started to cross train with ZT fightschool and GB Martial Arts, Portsmouth. Since then he has been coached by respected Persian Wrestler Saied Gholimie who incidentally was the man who recommended Day to ZT fightnight’s Sol Gilbert.

Day who stands at 6′2 has already competed in one MMA fight so he is in no way green to MMA. His first fight was as big as a first challenge you can get in the form of Big Ben Smith.  He last fight was a boxing rules  bout against 6ft 8 giant Toby Wood at ZT Fight Night – Trick or Treat in October 2009. This proved to be a battle and ended in a draw and a  broken foot for Day.

Since then Day has recovered from his injury and has been training hard working on his wrestling with coach Gholimie.

Another Dark horse here and someone with KO power and the ability to provide a big upset with his stand up experience.

Miguel Bernard is one of the last minute replacements who stepped up at short notice to fill the places left by the withdrawal of Karlos Vemola and Neil Grove. He is a spanish native and a Muay Thai fighter with a 15-4-1 record. Currently training out of the House of Pain gym in Bournemouth under the tutelage of Andy Lawrence, Miguel has a big learning curve to get up to speed with the MMA game. But with his Muay Thai pedigree he will certainly pose an interesting problem for the rest of the fighters in the tournament.

With very little known about Miguel, we decided to track him down for an interview so UKMMA fans can get to know a little more about this fearless fighter who in 2 days time will be taking part in one of the most anticipated MMA events to take place in the UK:

• Hi Miguel, thanks for taking the time to talk to us and giving the UK fans the opportunity to get to know a little more about you. Not many people in the MMA fraternity will have heard of you, all we know is you are a Muay Thai fighter…so can tell us a bit more about your Martial Arts background and how you came to be entered into the tournament? ..

Ok, here goes…I’m Miguel Bernad, 26 year old Spanish native. At 7 years old my dad put me in Muay Thai classes so I would not be out on the street getting in fights all the time..That proved to kill two birds with one stone, I was not out on the street no more but spent most of my time in the gym training, and street fights were now called ‘competition’…I loved it. I started to compete in semi contact, full contact and kickboxing at the age of 12, and moved on to Muay Thai at 16…Continued with just Muay Thai till 21 and then added bodybuilding to the mix. Competed in several bodybuilding competitions and learned that the improvement in strength greatly contributed to my fighting skills and the self discipline that competitive bodybuilding requires also lifted my fight training to a whole new level.

I got involved in this tournament by a stroke of luck.I teach Muay Thai classes at the House of Pain gym in Bournemouth. The owner of House of Pain, Andy Lawrence, approached me a little over a week ago and told me that two fighters had pulled out of the upcoming MMA tournament, if I would be interested to fill one of the spots. Me??…fighting MMA in the UK??…in 9 days???…Kidding me??.. Hell yeah!…So I agreed immediately, and the next minute I was on the list to fight. That’s when the realisasion creeped up that I was about to enter the ring with highly experienced MMA fighters and that I had 9 days to prepare for it. That’s where we are now…in preparation…a lot!..

• Have you ever competed in MMA before?

No..never..Always wanted to though, therefore I’m so excited about this opportunity. I follow it religiously on television and sometimes while watching I found my mind wondering off thinking what it would be like if that was me in that ring. Hard to grasp that it will actually happen this saturday..I’m looking forward to it, to say the least…

• Coming from a muay-thai background as you do, I imagine the wrestling /ground game is a little more alien to you. What training have you been doing to sharpen up these areas of your game. Who have you been working/training with?

When MMA veteran Andy Lawrence approached me for this fight,he immediately added that he would train with me everyday till showday to shave off the rough edges and polish where needed. If it wasn’t for his dedication, expertise and believe in me as a fighter I don’t think I would have had the guts to jump off the deep end like this. We have been training like maniacs for the past 9 days and when tournament day rolls around I will be ready!…

• What is your typical training regime? Taking a fight at such short notice puts you at a disadvantage compared to those you have been in camp for 6 to 8 weeks…are you prepared for the possibility of taking three 15 minute fights in one night?

As ready as I ever will be…It’s hard to say, I’ve never fought one 15 minute MMA fight, let alone 3. All I know is that I’m in good physical shape, have been consistantly training for many, many years, strong as an ox and sheer determination gets you a long way my grandma used to say…Pray to God she is right!

• I understand that you are fairly light for a heavyweight. Does the size of the opponents in this tournament bother you? People like James Thompson and Rob Broughton will outweigh you by quite a lot I would imagine?

Not really..This opportunity was warped into my lap out of nowhere, I never dreamed of measuring myself in weight nor in skill with the likes of James and Rob, fighters that have my utmost respect…I find it an experience in itself to be at the same tournament with them. I don’t waste my time on contemplating the possible outcome of my fights on Saturday. I’ll go into the ring with the pledge that I will give it my all and some and see where that takes me. As they say…something comes down to nothing but a chance. My chance is here…and I’ll grab it with both hands.

• Is there anyone in the tournament you would like to fight more than any others, someone whose style you think fits yours better?

Not really. I try not to zone in too much on the other fighters at this moment because I would drive myself crazy. Regardless of who I’m up against on saturday, I need to deliver..stand my ground to the best of my abilities, that’s all I’m focused on right now.

• So i assume you have no comment on any fighters you would like to avoid then?

Erm..All of them???…I’m kidding Seriously, this is such a new experience to me that it’s hard to say who I would like to fight against or who I would like to avoid. In principle I would like to say I don’t want to avoid anybody..it’s all part of a new journey and will add to my experience as a fighter and as a human being.

• Are you nervous to be taking part in such a huge event in UKMMA?

..Nah..piece of cake..;) haha….Of course I’m very nervous, but I seem to do well under pressure, it helps me focus..at the same time I’m very excited as well that I’m going to be a part of this awesome tournament, regardless of what the outcome may be.

• Win or lose, this tournament is going to bring you to the attention of UK MMA fans, will you pursue MMA now or continue to fight Muay Thai?

I would love to pursue MMA, I would never held possible that an opportunity like this would appear right in front of me…so first and foremost I’m excited to find out where the road may lead. I’m game for everything and anything that comes my way.

• Looking ahead, what are your long term goals for your fight career?

To be honest, I haven’t even thought that far. As you know I’m a Spanish native, and have been living in the UK for a little over 2 years. In Spain having a fighting “career” is next to impossible, a “career” there means teaching Muay Thai classes and that is what I’ve done for many years. With great joy I have to add. Fighting is my passion…it’s my hobby, it’s what I know and what I’ve done for most part of my life..Just the thought that this could be the dawning of what could grow out to a career in fighting makes my toes wiggle with anticipation.

• Finally Miguel are there any shout outs you’d like to give to anyone?

First and foremost to Andy Lawrence from House of Pain for creating this opportunity, his belief in my ability to do well and dedication to me as a fighter and MMA as a whole, without him all this would not have happened. To all the people in my surrounding who have been extremely supportive with me. To Sol Gilbert for organizing a tournament of this calibre and to all of you here at UKMMANews. Everything is really really appreciated.

• Miguel thanks once again for talking to us and all the best for the tournament. It’s great that you have stepped up and I hope everyone gets behind you in this event! Good luck.

Record: 23 – 8 – 1
Wins:
15 (T)KOs ( 65.22 %)
5 Submissions ( 21.74 %)
3 Decisions ( 13.04 %)
Losses:
4 (T)KOs ( 50 %)
4 Submissions ( 50 %)

Weight: 242lbs (110kg), City: Barnsley, Gym: ???

Georgian born Tengiz Tedoradze is a bit of an old school UKMMA legend. He was arguably the best wrestler in the domestic heavyweight division, throwing opponents effortlessly and then mauling them with devastating ground and pound. Getting “Tengizzed” became forum-speak for opponents getting a beasting at the hands of world champion Greco Roman wrestler.

With 14 wins in his first 16 fights (both losses coming by way of triangle – one at the hands (or legs) of none other than strikeforce star fabricio werdum – he became a force to be reckoned with and gained a cult following in the UK. He had an unknown background which only added to his mystique and appeal to the avid followers of UKMMA at the time. Fans often debated whether he was georgian secret police, an ex-bodyguard to the georgian prime minister and whether he even trained MMA at all or just liked to get in the cage now and then and put the hurt on somebody!

As far as fellow tournament competitors go: He has wins over Rob Broughton and James Thompson but lost his most recent fight (back in 2008) to Martin “the ox” Thompson.

Whilst he remains a firm favourite one could argue that the numbers are against Tengiz in this tournament. He is easily the oldest combatant at 43 years of age. He hasn’t fought in nearly 2 years and MMA has moved on a LOT since his heyday with everyone being much more skilled in all ranges of the game.

For me personally, the jury is out on Tengiz doing well in this tourney, but the old school fan in me would love to see him rampage through this tournament with his trademark slams and viscious G’N'P. If he is anything like the Tengiz of old then the other fighters still have a lot to fear from the “Barnsley Gladiator”.

*for a blast from the past.. check out this old 2003 interview from SFUK:*

Record 8 – 4 – 0 (Win – Loss – Draw)

Wins:6 (T)KOs ( 75 %)
2 Submissions ( 25 %)

Losses:2 (T)KOs ( 50 %)
2 Submissions ( 50 %)

Martin “Ox” Thompson came onto the scene back in 2006 when he fought the UFC’s Mostapha Al-Turk at Cage Rage 16. He lost to Al-Turk via TKO in the first round. Two months later he fought his second pro fight against fellow ZT fightnight entrant Rob Broughton at War in Workington but also lost this fight via a Guillotine choke.

After his first two fights were marked up as loses the ‘Ox’ went on to win some major victory’s by defeating Matteo Minonzio, Wolflairs Tom Blackledge, UFC veteran Colin Robinson and the biggest scalp of all the number 1 rated Tengiz Tedoradze.

Thompson is known for loading up knockout power in his punches and train’s out of Whitehaven No Holds Barred.

He stands at 6″1 and has fought at both light heavyweight and heavyweight and is the brother of Kevin Thompson.