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:
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
No comments:
Post a Comment