ZT Fightnight | UK MMA NEWS

ZT FightNight fighter profile: Neil Wain

Jan 282010

Record 5 – 1 – 0
Wins: 5 (T)KOs ( 100 %)
Losses:
1 (T)KOs ( 100 %)

Weight 254lbs (115kg) , City: Doncaster, Gym: ??

Neil “Old Skool” Wain is a devastating striker with serious KO power. Of his 5 wins ALL have been first round T/KO’s. He took his first loss in his UFC debut after coming up against another powerhouse in Shane Carwin. He initially inked a 4 fight deal with the UFC but was unfortunately dropped after his loss to Carwin.

“Old Skool” will be looking to make a big impact in this tournament and show the UFC what they are missing out on by not having him in their marquee division. With another fight on Trojan MMA’s inaugural event on 27th feb already pencilled in, Wain is clearly intending to get active this year and make his way back to the big show.

Looking at the other fighters on the bill you can’t put him up there with the favourites and if I was a betting man I would have to put him down as one of the rank outsiders. That said with fists like his, he is ALWAYS in with a chance and the UFC obviously saw enough in him to give him a shot on the big show which is something none of the other fighters on the card claim.

* Visit Neils website

Zt Fightnight fighter profile: James Thompson

General Content 1 Response »

Jan 272010

Record 14 – 11 – 0 (1 no contest)
Wins:
9 (T)KOs ( 64.29 %)
4 Submissions ( 28.57 %)
1 Decisions ( 7.14 %)
Losses:
9 (T)KOs ( 81.82 %)
2 Submissions ( 18.18 %)

Weight 272lbs (123kg), City: London, Gym: London ShootFighters

James “The Collosus” Thompson is one of the more experienced fighters in the tournament and is arguably the biggest worldwide name appearing in the event. He boasts a 26 fight career record spanning Cage Rage, Elite XC and Pride amongst others. The win/loss ratio is not as impressive as some but in his first 14 fights he lost only twice: to fellow ZT tournament fighter Tengiz Tedoradze and also to the “little” Emelianenko, Aleksander.

After beginning his career in MMA on one of the early UK MMA shows “Ultimate Combat” with great success, he was then picked up by Pride. Despite losing his debut to Emelianenkojunior, the Japanese audience immediately took to him and particularly enjoyed his “Gong and Rush” start to fights, which eventually became expected of him. He didn’t fight exclusively on Pride and took fights on other shows, most notably Cage Rage. His Pride run made him a star and he scored big KO wins against Miller, Lungu, Giant Silva and Yoshida as well as one of the fighters who inspired him to take up MMA – Don Frye. In Elite-XC he had less success and was robbed of a win against Kimbo Slice by some poor refereeing.

He has been known to be a bit “chinny” in the past…. with almost half his KO losses coming inside the first minute of the fight. Equally though, if he hits you with those clubbing punches you are going to know about it and he possesses big power. He has moved gyms a few times, leaving his home of Trojan Free Fighters after his win-streak ended, to seek out better training partners closer to his weight at Extreme Couture. He now trains out of London Shootfighters.

He will be taking this tournament very seriously – as it represents a great chance for him to re-launch his career and end a 5 fight losing-streak. With prior losses to 2 of the other competitors in the tournament (Broughton and Tedoradze) the chance to avenge these will also be a great source of motivation for the megapunk!

Although he is not tipped as a favourite for this tournament, he is certainly one to watch and I’m picking him as a dark horse. The draw for the first round will be significant, if he can avoid the favourites and get a good win to boost his confidence he could go all the way.

(couldn’t resist including this Random JT pic. Best cauliflower ear EVER! ):