FFG 37: Last Stand Preview

With two mega-fights headlining  FFG 37 will be the biggest show in the history of the organization. With entertaining fights all over the card including : top heavyweights going at it, top lightweights squaring off and more. That's only the prelude though as the Welterweight Super-Fight in the Co-Main Event, and the Light Heavyweight Title fight assuredly will make this night a very memorable one.

Undercard Bouts to Watch:

Heavyweight

Congo Ashantie (4-0)
Strengths: Well-Rounded, Accurate Low Kicks
Last Fight: @FFG 30 vs. Fidel Castroy; W (1st rd. KO)

Vs.

Frank Tiera(6-2)
Strengths: High Takedown Success Rate, Good Ground & Pound, Decent Boxer
Last Fight: @FFG 32 vs. Dirk Bandana; W (UD)

Outlook: Our first bout to watch consists of two heavyweights near the top of the ladder with completely different styles and levels of experience. In one corner you have a young up-and-coming striker who has looked unstoppable, and in the other corner you have a veteran who can attack from multiple angles, whether it be boxing or whether it be a very high takedown success rate mixed in with very accurate ground & pound. Just on paper you have to give it to Ashantie who has become the much more skilled fighter after a great training camp. However, I wouldn't put it past the veteran Tiera to capitalize on the inexperience of Ashantie and use all of the skills at his disposal to pull out the victory which will earn him a rematch with John Jane.


Lightweight

Dan Smith (7-1-1)
Strengths:  Punching Power, Strong in Clinch
Last Fight: @FFG 33 vs. BJ Penn; W (1st rd. KO )

Vs.

Fa Sho (7-3)
Strengths: Effective Boxer, Experienced
Last Fight: @FFG 33 vs. Darren Frost; L (1st rd. KO)

Outlook:Former FFG Lightweight Champion Fa Sho had the unfortunate luck of being Darren Frost's last victim, but that is not going to stop him from making his run back up the lightweight division ladder. He will need to use his superior technical boxing to stay away from the brutal punching power & clinch of Dan Smith. If he does this effectively, I think Fa Sho will have a clear advantage in this one. But! Fa Sho has a little bit of a suspect chin, having fallen victim to Darren Frost very quickly in his last fight. So if Dan Smith gets a hold of him, it could be a short night for the former champion.

Co-Main event
WW Super-Fight

Darren Frost (9-0)
Strengths: Deadly Accurate Kicks, Very Elusive, Never Been Stopped
Last Fight: @FFG 33 vs. Fa Sho; W (1st rd. KO)

Vs.

Aggo Ko (7-0)
Strengths: Very Good Boxer, Good KO Power, Never Been Stopped
Last Fight: @FFG 32 vs. Pikkuseen Darraa; W (1st rd. TKO)

Outlook: It's always an exciting fight when the two competitors going on are a combined 16-0 in their professional careers.


    If I had to describe Darren's career in FFG with one word, the word that comes to mind is 'untouchable.' Although he does not possess brutal KO power, what he lacks in power he makes up in deadly accuracy. Darren's ability to avoid damage and wear down his opponents with deadly leg kicks & body kicks has become his calling card and it is hard to see anyone slowing down the welterweight champion.

    If anyone is going to stop Darren, world class boxer Aggo Ko is a good candidate to do so. Aggo Ko took FFG by storm by moving up five weight classes and knocking off the very dangerous Light Heavyweight Champion, Pikkuseen Darraa. He was not the only victim of Aggo though, as the boxer has finished four others in the first round.

   Who will get the fight into their rhythm. Remember that because whoever accomplishes that will win this fight. Both of these men are strikers with completely different skills and method of attack on the feet. It's hard to say who is going to get that rhythm since neither fighter has lost a single round. Aggo will need to get on Darren early, take away his kicks and look to exploit a chin that hasn't been truly tested. Darren needs to get Aggo into his machida-like game of catch me if you can, and then when Aggo cannot catch him, punish him and wear him down with deadly accurate low kicks. So if Darren can avoid the early onslaught of Aggo, look for him to slow down the pace of the fight and pick the dangerous boxer apart. It can really go either way though, Aggo could end it all with 1 punch, we'll have to wait & find out.




Main event
Light Heavyweight Title Bout

Pikkuseen Darraa (7-2) (Champion)
Strengths:  Very Accurate Puncher, Good in Clinch
Last Fight: @FFG 32 vs. Aggo Ko; L(1st rd. KO)

Vs.

Ledil Kuch (8-0-1) (Challenger)
Strengths: Power Puncher, Dominant in Clinch, Never Been Stopped
Last Fight: @FFG 32 vs. Leeroy Jenkins; W (1st rd. KO)

Outlook:  Finally after two months, the FFG Light Heavyweight title will be on the line once again.

    Although he caught a snag in his previous fight, Pikkuseen Darraa has been the most dominant Light Heavyweight in FFG History and when it comes to fighting for title Darraa has been near flawless. First by disposing of then champion Nyrkki Kyllikki in the first round, gaining the clinch and just unloading a flurry of punches that brutalized his opponent. Then Darraa successfully defended his title in an amazing five round war against the always tough Nikk Napalm. With those two notches under his belt, Darraa is looking to add a third and cement his hold atop the FFG Light Heavyweight Division.

    The challenge will be a tough one because standing across the cage from the Darraa will be Former SFO Light Heavyweight Champion Ledil Kuch. Kuch has had an amazing career in his own right, fighting in multiple organizations around Amsterdam. Starting his career strong with the SFO Ledil eventually became their champion before moving on to the SFL where he managed to compile a 2-0-1 record. Now here in FFG, he immediately showed the fans why he was signed, destroying fast rising prospect Leeroy Jenkins in the very first round.

    Personally I had this match up envisioned from the moment Kuch was signed, and I'm very excited to see how it all plays out. Ledil and Darraa have been most effective in their respective career's doing the same thing, and that is using the clinch to effectively out strike and sometimes finish their opponents. Just looking at Kuch's wrestling & Muay-thai, combined with how he's performed in his fights, I have to give him the advantage in the clinch. However, Darraa is the far more accurate boxer, connecting with 98% of punches to the head throughout his career. That is an astounding amount of accuracy when you also have 5 KOs in 7 wins. Not to mention both fighters have a tremendous amount of heart. Like I said, really excited to see who takes this one. It has five-round war written all over it.

FFG 35: Razor Preview

While FFGs 35th installment won't be packed with super-fights, champions, & title fights. It does have many exciting fights, which will bring in the fans. There's a great under-card filled with competitive match ups, & to top it all off a great rematch in the co-main event and a very exciting battle of strikers in the main event.

Undercard Bouts to Watch:

Middleweight

Arm N (3-1)
Strengths: Well-Rounded Striker, Vicious Combos
Last Fight: @FFG 31 vs. Jackson Hawthorne; W (1st rd. KO)

Vs.

Nixon Red(3-1)
Strengths: Well-Rounded Striker, Knockout Power in Hands & Feet
Last Fight: @FFG 29 vs. Bruno Kuchinta; L (UD)

Outlook: Our first bout to watch features a pair of exciting, young, middleweight strikers. Even though he was defeated in his last bout, Nixon Red has huge upside. A great learner, with a granite chin, & brutal KO power. He's definitely on the list of fighters to watch in the future. Unfortunately for him though inexperience & lack of a well-rounded MMA game hurt him in his last fight and he's got no easy path when he takes on Arm N. This fight will be much different though. Arm N brings in a style that caters to Red's strengths. So in this clash of similar styles it will be interesting to see which fighter can come out of the cage victorious.

Welterweight

Balu Baluu (5-1)
Strengths:  Aggressive Boxer, Solid Knockout Power, Durable
Last Fight: @FFG 30 vs. Tony Croix; W (UD)

Vs.

Jakob Tyler (5-2)
Strengths: Efficient Boxer, Good Takedowns
Last Fight: @FFG 31 vs. Uwe Hirschman; W (UD )

Outlook: One fight removed from an ugly title fight with Champion Darren Frost, Balu Baluu looks to be on the road back to a title shot. To accomplish this, he will have to deal with FFG veteran Jakob Tyler. Tyler, who is riding a three fight win streak, will be making his seventh appearance inside the FFG cage. While these fighters do share many similarities in boxing, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu their numbers and tactics are a bit different. Both are aggressive in the stand up game, averaging over 50 punches thrown per fight, but Tyler seems to be more accurate and efficient, using his strikes to set up take downs and ground & pound. On the other hand though, Baluu has been known to put people to sleep once & a while and can deliver that brutal strike at any moment to end the fight. This effectively gives Baluu a slight advantage in the striking department from this point of view. That difference could easily be made up in the take down department. Tyler has very good take downs with a 53% career success rate on take downs, he's actually been great to this point. It will be interesting to see if that is the difference in the fight, or whether efficiency is the difference, or whether it comes down to power & aggression. This should be a good one.

Co-Main event
LHW Title Eliminator

Riku Haukka (8-2)
Strengths:  Never Been Stopped, Very Good Defensive Fighter,
Last Fight: @FFG 27 vs. Erik Skarsgard; W (3rd Rd. Submission)

Vs.

Mike Van Rijn (8-3)
Strengths: Experienced, Never Been Stopped, Very Good Kicks
Last Fight: @FFG 30 vs. Jeffrey Gill; W (1st rd. TKO)

Outlook: A rematch is always fun. There's always more on the line in a rematch. 


    Nothing is further from the truth for 8-3 Riku Haukka who has been in there against some of the best including current FFG LHW #1 contender, Ledil Kuch. Haukka has yet to be tested while in FFG, cruising to three consecutive unanimous decisions. A couple more wins and he could see himself fighting for the gold.

    Standing in his way is Old SFO Rival Mike "The Hammer" Van Rijn. In their first meeting, Van Rijn was completely outclassed by Haukka as Haukka cruised to an easy 30-27 decision. However, that was five months ago and Van Rijn has improved drastically. Now on a three fight win streak of his own, Van Rijn is looking to show the world how much he has improved by avenging his last loss & moving up the ladder towards a potential title fight.

   Since they fought so long ago, it's hard to predict who will take this one. At times opponents have really struggled to mount offense against Haukka. So it's likely the fight will be decided on how Van Rijn approaches the rematch. If he can utilize his kicks, which opponents have not done well with in the past, then Van Rijn has a good chance to avenge the loss. However, he'll have to prove he can deal with the boxing of Haukka, which overwhelmed him in the first fight.

Main event
Light Heavyweight Title Eliminator

Joe Davola (4-0)
Strengths:  Extremely Well-Rounded, Brutal Kicks, Four 1st Round KOs
Last Fight: @SFL 37 vs. Felix Aguinaga; W (1st. rd. KO)

Vs.

Tom Gabel (9-3)
Strengths: Ferocious KO Power in Hands & Feet, Experienced
Last Fight: @FFG 28 vs. Will Kennedy; W (UD)

Outlook:  This is one of the most explosive battle of strikers we've seen to date in FFG.

    Tom Gabel is a well-traveled fighter who spent most of his early career in Brazil fighting for RHOE. After being completely baffled by Badr Ramsay in a special appearance Main Event, Tom Gabel showed exactly why he was brought over from Brazil with a brutal 14 second KO over a very tough opponent in William Head.

    His opponent, Joe Davola is not nearly as experienced. Davola has only been in the cage a combined total of 4 minutes and 21 seconds over four bouts. To put it simply, Davola has massacred every opponent that has stepped across from him, some of them lasted only seconds. No one can seem to stand in front of the monster, and to top it all off, he's extremely well rounded in every aspect of MMA.

    All I can say is this is a great main event for the fans, because Gabel is the perfect opponent to test exactly how good Davola really is. Davola has never been in the cage with an opponent as tough, as experienced, or as dangerous of a striker. In my mind it's a tossup, but I do believe we will see Davola tested for the first time in his young career. Will he have enough to defeat the dangerous veteran? We'll know on Sunday

FFG 34 Review

FFG 34 Review

Event Rating: 81.36
After a couple post 100 event ratings took a small step back by visting it's old stomping grounds at The Underground in Amsterdam. The rating may not have been the best, but the owner is happy anytime FFG puts on a show infront of a capacity crowd.

Undercard
Glad Rosebush def. Ronny Machine via 1st rd. TKO(Strikes)
AJ Pencil def. Veijo Vinssi via 1st rd. Submission (armbar)
Phil Pantera def. Sho Stoppa via UD
Sonny Ramires def. Ivo Reis via UD
Mikko Ilmeinen def. Melhim Abu Shahin via 1st rd. TKO(Strikes)

KO of the Night: Frankestein Mir
Frankestein Mir made had a very impressive FFG debut. Also Co-Main event

Sub of the Night: Lamb Chops
For Submission win over VJ Mathani, which also won Fight of the Night.

Fight of the Night: Lamb Chops vs. VJ Mithani
Both fighters were happy to fight to each other's strength as there wasn't a single strike thrown in this back and forth grappling battle. On the feet, Mithani had the better takedowns, landing a perfect 5 out of 5, but everytime he took the fight to the floor, it put a smile on the face of Lamb Chops who has finished 8 of his opponents by submission.

The two traded submissions for the bulk of the fight, collecting a ground total of 26 attempts. This continued into the third round when Lamb Chops finally latched ahold of an arm. Mithani couldn't escape the hold and was forced to tap to a beautiful armbar.

Co-Main Event: Frankestein Mir vs.Randy Rutten
Two promising young fighters went head-to-head in the co-main event of the evening. On paper, it seemed like it was going to be your classic striker vs. grappler, but Frankestein Mir had other ideas. Mir unleashed a previous unseen clinch game upon Rutten, controlling him and punishing him with strikes until he couldn't take anymore. After this fight people won't think of Mir as just a one trick submission artist anymore.

Main Event: Carribean Knight Vs. Alberto Moneymaker Jr. (MW non-title)
Desperate to get Middleweight Champion, Carribean Knight back into the FFG Cage. FFG picked up experienced, but undersized for Middleweight Alberto Moneymaker Jr. Undefeated in his previous 7 bouts, CK is not used to being pressured, and right off the bat he was pressured in this fight. Right of the bat, the two competitors furiously traded strikes, before Moneymaker made the mistake of bringing the fight to the ground. After a very brief struggle on the ground, CK was able to secure himself an armbar and pick up his eight straight victory and pull to 8-0.

FFG 33: Renegade Review

FFG 33 Review

Event Rating: 100.36
The event was a good follow up to FFG's biggest event. Even though it was a 40 point lower rating, we only dropped 7 ranks. Hopefully FFG can continue to produce events over 100 and stay inside the top 50.

Undercard
Louis Roederer def. Blood Wizard via 1st rd. TKO(Strikes)
Meekus Thunder def. Tono Gallego via UD
Mark Chase Def. Sam Stan via 1st rd. TKO(Strikes)
Raymond Hood Def. Ichi Blunts via 2nd rd. TKO(Cut)
Jason Romziel Def. Raul Mendoza via UD

KO of the Night: Dan Smith
SFL Veteran Dan Smith made a huge splash in his FFG debut by destroying his opponent, BJ Penn in under 20 seconds with one brutal combination. Definitely an impressive show of power.

Sub of the Night: Mordecai Carver
Mordecai Carver put on an impressive display of Jiu-Jitsu in his second FFG bout. After landing one kick, his opponent quickly brought the fight to the floor where it just became a matter of time before Mordecai swept the position, took his opponents back, and finished him with the rear naked choke.

Fight of the Night: Dom Holch vs. Pikku Hiawatha
If most of you know, I don't pick fight of the night by fight rating. I pick it by how competitive the fight actually is. A one sided beat-down with a 100% rating is not a fight of the night in my opinion. I like it when fights go back and fourth, and this one did just that.

Dom Holch went into this fighting believing his superior wrestling would keep it on the feet, and that he'd be able to pick apart Hiawatha with his boxing.  To Holch's credit, from the opening bell, he controlled the pace of the standup, but what he didn't expect was for Hiawatha to be so deadly with his takedowns. Hiawatha was 44%(4 out of 9) on takedowns, which really set the tone for the whole fight. The high take down ratio, followed by a great jiu-jitsu performance really led the way to a razor close decision. I'm sure Holch was upset with the decision, but hopefully he has learned from it, and earns himself a rematch in the future.

Co-Main Event: Jyn Karinzo vs. Ludwig Manres (MW #1 Contender fight)
Taking on the biggest challenge of his career, Ludwig Manres put on a simply dominant performance. Taking out the much more experienced Jyn Karinzo in a fashion that left many speechless. Manres showed no respect for the striking game, didn't even try to throw anything resembling a punch. Yet it didn't matter, because he's that good of a grappler. The scary thing about that is, he was going up against arguably the best grappler in FFG. Ludwig Manres could be looking at gold in his future.

Main Event: Darren Frost vs. Fa Sho (LW Super-fight)
There's not much to say about this fight that hasn't been said about Darren Frost already. Even a seasoned former champion such as Fa Sho was unable to pose any threat to the reigning FFG Welterweight Champion. Darren went in there, Landed 99% of his strikes, left the cage untouched, and collected another knockout victory.

FFG 33 Preview

FFG 33: Renegade Preview

Renegade is the follow up to the biggest event in FFG history. I hope this show opens a few eyes to the type of quality shows that can be presented on a regular basis here at FFG. No titles on the line again, but what this event lacks in title fights it makes up in Star Power. A main event featuring unbeaten Welterweight Champion Darren Frost and Former Lightweight Champion Fa Sho will definitely go down in the record books as a historic super-fight.

Undercard Bouts to Watch:

Middleweight

Dom Holch (5-1)
Strengths: High Takedown Success Ratio, Underrated BJJ, Never Been Stopped
Last Fight: @ SFL vs. Viktor Krueger; W (30-27 UD)

Vs.

Pikku Hiawatha(3-2)
Strengths: Good All-Around Grappler, Finished Last 2 opponents
Last Fight: @FFG 27 vs. Veijo Vinssi; W (1st rd. TKO)

Outlook: This is an interesting fight because both fighters have the same strength. However, there are clear differences. Their overall grappling backgrounds & focuses are different. While Hiawatha is a good wrestler, his BJJ is clearly the strong part of his game. On the other hand, Holch is the stronger wrestler, but the less progressed BJJ practioner. Who do you give the edge to in that battle? Primaries don’t tell the story here and both fighters are too new to the FFG cage to tell which fighter will take this. ‘

Lightweight

Ichi Blunts (4-4)
Strengths:  Aggressive Grappler, Good Submissions
Last Fight: @FFG 27 vs. Marcelo Dourado; L (UD)

Vs.

Raymond Hood (4-2)
Strengths: Strong in Clinch, Well-Versed Striker
Last Fight: @SFL vs. BJ Penn; L (UD 30-27)

Outlook: Since starting his FFG career 3-0, Former Lightweight Title Contender, Ichi Blunts has been on a slight losing streak. Four fights is not so slight though, making this a must win for Ichi Blunts as he welcomes SFL Veteran Raymond Hood to FFG. There’s not much to say as far as predictions go. Blunts is the better grappler, Hood is the better striker. At the risk of sounding Cliché, I’m going to have to say whoever goes in there and executes their game plan the best will take this fight.  

Co-Main event
Middleweight #1 Contenders Fight

Jyn Karinzo (7-3)
Strengths:  Battle Tested, Dominant Ground Fighter
Last Fight: @FFG 27 vs. Erik Skarsgard; W (3rd Rd. Submission)

Vs.

Ludwig Manres (6-1)
Strengths: Aggressive with Submissions, Never Been Stopped
Last Fight: @FFG 24 vs. Bruno Kuchinta; W (1st rd. submission)

Outlook: The road to the top couldn’t be any different for these two men...

    Jyn Karinzo came into the FFG a highly touted 4-1 prospect who had some success in the Organization Crashforce. However, being introduced to FFG competition was not kind to Karinzo as he first ran into the buzz saw that is current Middleweight Champion, Caribbean Knight and then into Former Middleweight Title Contender  Stringer Bell. After two devastating knockouts, it looked as if the sun was about to set on Karinzo’s FFG career. Everyone must have thought that but Jyn himself. Eager to prove his worth, Karinzo re-signed with FFG and has carved out a completely unexpected three fight win streak, which culminated with in a thrilling 3rd round submission over former UVT Middleweight Grand Prix competitor, Erik “The Viking” Skarsgard.

    Ludwig Manres’ path to contender ship has been quite different. Manres who has been fighting with FFG for about 8 months was a member of the inaugural FFG Show, “Road to Glory.” Since that time, Manres has gone 6-1, only losing a close decision in a #1 contender match vs. Alex Antonsen. After that fateful fight in July, Manres stopped his next three opponents all by submission, solidifying his second claim to a #1 contender’s match.

    This is a fight that really has me excited. I’ve seen both of these guys fight for a long, long time. While it looks like an even match in the primaries, it’s not really that even in terms of experience. Karinzo has been in the cage with some of the toughest FFG has to offer. He’s significantly battle tested. I’ve yet to see Manres in enough tough fights to see how he will respond to this situation. But this is a great chance for him to PROVE to everyone what a great fighter he actually is, and earn the title shot which has eluded him for so long.

Main event
Lightweight Super-Fight

Darren Frost (8-0)
Strengths:  Undefeated, Deadly Accurate Kicks, Very Elusive
Last Fight: @FFG 30 vs. John Jane; W (UD)

Vs.

Fa Sho (7-2)
Strengths: Knockout Power, Experienced, Deceptively Good Takedown Defense
Last Fight: @FFG 28 vs. Will Kennedy; W (UD)

Outlook:  its super-fight time here at FFG. In this installment, current FFG Welterweight Champion, Darren “Jack” Frost will be taking on Former Lightweight Champion Fa Sho.

    Words almost can’t describe Frost’s run in FFG. A natural 155 pounder when he made his debut, no one gave Darren much of a chance in the FFG Welterweight Division. Since then, he’s made every single opponent he’s come across look like they belong directing traffic instead of a fighter. It was that bad, Darren is truly a dominant champion.

    Although Fa Sho has not been as dominant of a fighter as Darren has. It could be argued that Fa Sho has had a much tougher road. The former FFG Lightweight Champion has had to deal with a whole plethora of different competitors, while the fighters Darren faced were almost identical. This is the chance Fa Sho will have to settle that dispute, and prove that he is the best fighter under 170 pounds in FFG.

    This is a solid main event that FFG fans, including myself, have been waiting for. It’s a fight that is likely going to come down to Fa Sho’s punches vs. Darren’s kick & clinch. That’s the matchup Darren has been so good at taking advantage of throughout his career. Based on that, I have to give Darren the edge going into this bout. Fa Sho probably won’t like to hear that, but that’s good. Hopefully he will come looking for blood.