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Open Weight Tournament





Championship Play Off – Quarter-Final



Fight 1



Antoine “La Casserole” Pierre (222lbs, 4-0 Season/5-0 Overall) vs. Gargan Morus (221lbs, 3-1 Season/3-1 Overall)



Our first fight of the knockout stage features undefeated Group B show-runner Antoine Pierre and he’ll be taking on a very tough Gargan Morus who battled to a comfortable second place finish in Group A.



So far this season early favourite Antoine Pierre has made things look positively easy. Coming into the tournament off the back of an eighteen second submission win in his QFC tune up fight, Pierre has practically walked through his Group A opponents and has yet to need more than five minutes of fight time to get the job done. Now, with his impressive finishing record of five fights, five first round submission victories, Antoine Pierre looks to navigate the unforgiving knockout stages of the tournament and will do so as potentially the man to beat in this side of the bracket.



His opponent is Bhutan’s Gargan Morus. Standing at 186cm’s and weighing in at 221lbs, Morus has had a solid season so far and has looked very good during his three victories after managing to finish all by first round TKO’s. His only defeat has come against Group A winner Early Grayce in a fight that Morus almost made away with after having dropped his opponent in the early seconds of the first round and leaving his mark with a big cut. With obvious power in his hands, Morus definitely stands as a legitimate threat going into this knockout stage and is definitely not to be overlooked.



At first glance it would appear that Morus has, surprisingly, more about him and potentially more weapons at his disposal going into this one. Sporting some respectable Muay Thai skills and a proficient base in Wrestling, Morus has also a decent Blue Belt level of Jiu-Jitsu which could be an absolute key factor going into this match up against Pierre’s aggressive submission based fighting style. As mentioned before, Morus has the power in his hands to trouble anyone’s chin and Pierre will not want to spend any amount of time standing in front of him. Morus will know what Pierre will be looking to do but herein lies the problem; so has everyone else. Without any discernible striking skills to speak of Pierre’s game plan is an obvious one but as yet no one has been able to stop him. Pierre is also guided by a former Top 10 ranked management team and it is this factor alone that makes Pierre the probably favourite going into this one.



Prediction: Pierre by Submission and move on but it is a surprisingly close one as Morus knows very well how to find the chin of his opponents.



Fight 2



Kenji “The Wolf” Kozlov (225lbs, 4-0 Season/4-0 Overall) vs. James Isaac Abraham (215lbs, 3-1 Season/2-1 Overall)




Next up in the top half of the bracket, undefeated Group D winner Kenji “The Wolf” Kozlov takes on Group C runner up James Isaac Abraham who will be coming into this bout after suffering his first loss of the season.



Thought to be another ground based wrestler at the start of the season, Kenji Kozlov has instead both surprised and impressed with his grinding clinch based tactics and has so far lived up to expectations of qualification from Group D. Kozlov has also made some large improvements in his striking skills over the course of the season so far which will only serve to make him even more dangerous in the clinch and now also on the outside at range. Currently undefeated at 4-0 and with all four wins having come by first round KO’s, Kozlov only seems to be getting better and better and will certainly be feeling confident going into his first knockout round fight.



His opponent is Filipino Muay Thai specialist James Isaac Abraham who despite qualifying for the knockout stages in second place, could have actually taken the group if he was to have won his last group fight against Ed Wood.


Abraham has looked decent so far this season though due to one of his opponents not showing for a scheduled fight he has had one fight less then Kozlov and that lack of experience may be something that Abraham will feel he is missing going into this fight. He has racked up two KO wins during his two victories so far this season and his only loss came against eventual group winner Ed Wood in a fight that looked to be pretty even up until the KO finish from Wood. Now facing a tough quarter-final match up, James Isaac Abraham has a lot of work to do if he is to progress further than this point.



This fight is likely to be a stand up war with neither fighter having shown any interest or aptitude for the ground based arts. Kozlov has a little extra weight on Abraham, some ten centimetres in height and ten pounds in weight, and this could definitely lend a hand towards Kozlov’s favoured clinch approach. Abraham too has shown that he is capable in the clinch but it’s unlikely that his feeble wrestling will be able to cope with Kozlov’s wonderful skills and instead we may find Abraham looking to put his advantage on the outside to good use.


Kozlov so far undefeated in four fights and has yet to really be truly tested at any point. Abraham has done ok but looks to have fallen a little behind some of the other fighters in terms of progression at this point. Abraham does posses power however and that makes anything possible but Kozlov looks to be a class above at this point and will go into this fight as a favourite to move into the semi-finals.



Prediction: Kenji Kozlov by KO in the clinch. Abraham is decent but Kozlov has made some very big strides in his striking to compliment his already wonderful wrestling.




Fight 3



Ed Wood (212lbs, 4-0 Season/3-0 Overall) vs. Dreamiest Panda (300lbs, 3-1 Season/3-1 Overall)



In the first fight in the bottom half of the bracket we have unexpected Group C stand out Ed Wood and he will be taking on super-heavyweight fighter Dreamiest Panda who managed a second place finish in Group B



Completely unfancied at the start of the season, Ed Wood has thus far been somewhat of a revelation and now finds himself touted as a possible dark horse to take it all this season. He has developed an incredibly well rounded skill set that has enabled him to be ready for any opponent, though to date his opponents have been very much of the striking variety having been given the automatic maximum points against wrestler Antonio Kirby for a no show. Now, as a fighter surely on the radar of those remaining, we may well get to see how well his grappling skills hold out as he takes on three-hundred pound wrestler Dreamiest Panda



Dreamiest Panda is the heaviest fighter in the tournament and has largely put his weight to good use. Finishing up in Group B in second place, Panda comes into the knockout stages sporting a 3-1 record with his one loss being against submission specialist Antoine Pierre. Since that time Panda seemed to have improved his Boxing skills and got to showcase just how well they had developed against a struggling Ben Reed during his final group stage bout. Panda looked capable but in fairness Reed wasn’t the greatest test. Now with options, it will be very interesting to see just how Panda will approach this one.



This fight looks to be a fairly even one with perhaps Panda having a little bit more about himself on the ground though as previously stated, his sole single loss this season came via submission. Wood has yet to be tested on the ground and there would be a definite advantage in the wrestling for Panda should the fight make it’s way there. Wood has so far earned his victories mainly in the clinch and that is somewhere we haven’t seen very much of Panda either.



Prediction: Ed Wood by Decision. A very tough fight for both fighters and a very hard one to predict but Wood has been in great form and looks to be well rounded enough to deal with whatever Panda will be bringing.



Fight 4



Early Grayce (222lbs, 4-0 Season/5-0 Overall) vs. Richard Volg (188lbs, 2-2 Season/2-2 Overall)



Rounding out the bottom half of the bracket we Group A winner Early Grayce who has been making things look easy up until this point and he’ll be taking on Richard Volg who just clinched a second place finish after finishing on joint points with Barry Bludgeon.



Early Grayce was always expected to get to this stage but I don’t think anyone could have predicted the juggernaut way in which he would do so. Coming into the tournament after a solid first round KO warm up fight in the QFC, Grayce has gone on to devastate all four of his group stage opponents including ground specialist Rogerio De Souza and group favourite Blaise Cailloux. Grayce has rarely needed more than five minutes in a round to get the finish and only his final group stage fight against Cailloux happened to last a little longer around the eight minute mark. With his remarkable wrestling skills and brutal ground and pound, Early Grayce will definitely be the man to beat in the bottom side of the bracket.



Facing the unenviable task of eliminating Grayce from the tournament is Richard Volg and question marks are already surfacing as to whether the Norwegian middleweight is even capable to troubling his opponent here. Richard Volg got off to a terrible start to the season dropping his first two fights both by first round KO and the season looked to be all but lost for the fighter originally predicted a second place finish in the group. However, Volg dug deep and managed to come back with a very impressive couple of wins including a key victory over group rival Barry Bludgeon that would be responsible for sending Volg through over Bludgeon. Richard Volg now faces perhaps the toughest match up out of all the first round knockout fights and expectations aren’t at their highest.



There is no question that Early Grayce will be coming into this fight as the strong favourite to move on but the question is can Volg pull off an upset? He certainly possesses the stand up skills to trouble Grayce and has shown that he is a capable fighter when he gets going but Grayce has had little problem with taking the fights to the ground so far and Volg is unlikely to have the takedown defence to stop him from doing so here. Simply put, this is going to be pistols at dawn. It is imperative that Volg get off fast as his only real chance for victory is to finish Grayce before getting taken down. Once on the floor, Grayce has already shown his superiority against some very good ground fighters and unless Volg can pull off a miracle on there, is likely to be chewed up and spat out in no time at all.



Prediction: Early Grayce by KO in Round 1. Volg needs a miracle here and Grayce doesn’t look the religious type.




5th Place Play Off – Semi-Final



Fight 1



Manager Yanic (205lbs, 2-2 Season/2-2 Overall) vs. Rogerio De Souza (196lbs, 2-2 Season/2-3 Overall)



Our first semi-final in the 5th Place Play Off pits Group B’s Manager Yanic against BJJ fighter Rogerio De Souza from Group A



Manager Yanic will definitely be feeling a little sore ending up here in the 5th Place Play Off especially after getting off to such a great start early on in the group stage. Picking up back to back wins against strikers Ben Reed and Violet Dawson, Yanic’s troubles began when ge began to face the grapplers of the group in Dreamiest Panda and Antione Pierre though there is an argument to be made that it was Yanic’s less than powerful striking on the ground that led to his downfall in those fights. With that in mind, this match up could be a potentially bad one as he faces BJJ specialist Rogerio De Souza.



Rogerio De Souza was one of the only fighters to come into the tournament off the back of a loss in his warm up QFC fight. A big loss to group favourite Early Grayce in his opening group match up and De Souza was beginning to look like a write off but he battled back and managed a huge upset against Blaise Cailloux and then finished out the season with a 2-2 record. During that time De Souza has looked to improve both his wrestling and his boxing and currently looks a somewhat well rounded fighter overall. Tonight he faces wrestler Manager Yanic and De Souza will have mixed memories of such opponents.



The most interest thing about this match up is that both fighters have had losses against those of their opponents style. Yanic was unable to stop Antione Pierre from snatching the submission win from guard position and De Souza was absolitely annihilated by Early Grayce with ferocious ground and pound. De Souza has improved his skills since the beginning of the season and as a result has more options here whereas Yanic hasn’t looked to have imrpoved much at all, at least on the surface level. Yanic will no doubt be looking for the takedown but will he be hesistant to let his fists fly once on the ground or will he once again get caught by superior submission fighter?



Prediction: Rogerio De Souza by Dec. Even if Yanic gets the fight to the floor, De Souza will still threaten and Yanic has seemingly taken his foot of the gas against the more dangerous grapplers he has faced.



Fight 2



“Brutal” Barry Bludgeon (260lbs, 2-2 Season/2-2 Overall) vs. Zou Li (252lbs, 2-2 Season/3-2 Overall)



Our second 5th Place Play Off semi-final should be an absolute war with Group D’s Barry Bludgeon taking on Group C’s Zou Li



Barry Bludgeon got off to a big start in the group stage with a stunning first round KO over Polish fighter Piotr Maczynski in just over two minutes. Unfortunately for Bludgeon he was unable to keep that momentum going and dropped his next two fights and ending the season with a 2-2 record, narrowly missing out on a second place finish by virtue of having lost to Richard Volg who went through instead. At 260lbs, Bludgeon is obviously a capable knockout artist but how will he fair against his opponent tonight.



Chinese heavyweight Zou Li came into the tournament off the back of an impressive forty-eight second first round KO in his warm up fight in the QFC. Unfortunately matched up with perhaps the toughest fight of his group stage season, Li battle hard to a twenty minute decision victory over early favourite Antonio Kirby that would have kept him out of the gym for some time. Coming back Li had found himself with the unfortunate trait of cutting and lost back to back fights due to doctors stoppages. Facing the prospect of elimination, Li had to work hard in his final bout and once again was able to squeak past with a decision victory over Group C struggler Check Conga. Now, facing the prospect of taking on heavy hitting Bludgoen without much time to prepare, Li will look to see whether he has anything left to give this season.



A very exciting match up as both fighters are typically strikers and both are heavyweights meaning that a KO could be very likely here. It’s no secret that Zou Li has struggled a little during this tournament and with two decision wins in his two victories is either lacking the power necessary to finish fights or is playing it safe during. Bludgeon on the other hand has no such problem and has definitely be more “kill or be killed” during his time in the group stages. Another problem facing Li is that of the cuts and with a history of long drawn out fights, Bludgeon could be able to take advantage here and finish the fight that way.



Prediction: Barry Bludgeon by TKO (Cut). Without the problem of cuts Li could be free to fight the way he needs and it could be a different story but Bludgeon can hit hard and has more time to prepare for this fight.

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This ensures that a wrestler will fight a striker in the finals though we could agrue Dreamiest Panda is both a gnp and striker in his own right. It is also fair to say that both Kenji and Gargan both prepared to do well vs other wrestlers and it will be interesting to see who wins the striking battle for the semi finals of this tournament. I think Dreamiest vs Grayce is going to be epic and i can not wait to see how that goes down.

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Open Weight Grand Prix – S01E07


With only two events left to go before crowning our first ever open weight champion lets take a quick look back on the last weeks event.


A brief recap...


Championship Play Off Quarter Final (S01E07)



Antoine “La Casserole” Pierre (222lbs, 4-0 Season/5-0 Overall) vs. Gargan Morus (221lbs, 3-1 Season/3-1 Overall)


Antoine Pierre had looked almost untouchable up until this point and was the definite favourite going into his quarter-final match up. However, paired against Group A runner up Gargan Morus, he faced possibly the most prepared runner up in the Play Offs and more than a few believed that Morus was looking like a good outside bet.


Things started off predictably enough with Pierre moving straight into the clinch and securing a take down without too much trouble. From there Pierre went submission hunting and was typically relentless in his pursuit. Morus managed to stay composed however and was able to force a referee stand up much to the frustration of Pierre.


Back to the feet and once again Pierre moved into the clinch though this time round Morus was better prepared and was able to stifle Pierre’s attempts to pull guard. Morus broke the clinch and began to land shots on Pierre, one of which opened up a nasty cut on Pierre’s forehead. Desperately Pierre fought to move the fight into the clinch and drag the fight back to the ground but Morus would not be denied and began to punish Pierre for his failed attempts. Midway through minute five of the first round, a straight right from Morus wobbled the legs of the young submission wizard and, following up with a massive overhand, sent him crashing down to the canvas where the referee had no choice but to step in and stop the fight.


"Ladies and gentlemen, after 5:30 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Gargan Morus!"


A superb victory for Gargan Morus and a definite upset in the top half of the championship bracket meaning we say goodbye to one of the most charismatic fighters of the season and a former Top Ten manager in Ibrahim Camara.



Kenji “The Wolf” Kozlov (225lbs, 4-0 Season/4-0 Overall) vs. James Isaac Abraham (215lbs, 3-1 Season/2-1 Overall)



In the second fight of the top half bracket, wrestling based clinch fighter Kenji Kozlov faced off against underdog James Isaac Abraham and things went largely as predicted.


Kozlov had managed to tear through his Group D opponents and came into the quarter finals an undefeated 4-0 and with every fight having been won by first round TKO. Abraham had started the season well but fell short in his crucial final season match up against Ed Wood that sealed his fate as Group C’s runner up and unfortunately for him into the path of Kozlov.


Abraham did know a thing or two about TKO’s himself and as such there was a definite chance for him against Kozlov though it really would come down to not getting caught in the clinch. Ultimately that’s where the fight would end up and Abraham's lack of wrestling really came back to haunt him as Kozlov dictated the action and landed shot after shot on the inside. Without the strength and technical expertise to match the Madagascan light-heavyweight, Abraham quickly fell behind and started to take some real punishment.


"Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:58 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Punches). Kenji Kozlov!"


Another opponent and another first round TKO for Kenji “The Wolf” Kozlov to set up a tantalising showdown with hot prospect Gargan Morus in the first Semi-Final match up. Commiserations to James Isaac Abraham who’s title aspirations now come to an end.



Ed Wood (212lbs, 4-0 Season/3-0 Overall) vs. Dreamiest Panda (300lbs, 3-1 Season/3-1 Overall)



In the bottom half of the bracket there was another storm brewing and two extremely tough and well matched warriors were about to go to war. Undefeated Group C stand out Ed Wood, who had emerged from unfancied obscurity to sit at the top of the pile at the end of the group stage would take on three-hundred pound wrestler Dreamiest Panda who had looked fairly promising himself except for a blip against submission wrestler Antoine Pierre and had amassed a 3-1 early season record.


Coming into this fight I had predicted an Ed Wood victory, purely down to the well rounded skill set that Wood had developed over the course of the season and the idea that he would be able to deal with whatever Panda would bring but I probably glossed over just how much Panda had improved also over the course of the season with his striking.


The fight started out with both fighters trading shots. Some landed but most were missing from both fighters. A couple minutes into the first round Panda managed to get the fight to the floor and from there really started to take control of the fight. Giving up over eighty pounds in weight to the rotund wrestler, Wood found himself powerless and unable to attempt even the slightest improvement on the ground and over the course of the next several minutes was battered with sharp, stinging ground and pound that forced him to turn his back and leave the referee no choice but to stop the fight


"Ladies and gentlemen, after 6:44 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Dreamiest Panda!"


A tough end for Ed Wood who had showed much promise from his earliest prediction of not making it through the group stage but a superb victory for Panda and a great opportunity to go on and see just how far he can go



Early Grayce (222lbs, 4-0 Season/5-0 Overall) vs. Richard Volg (188lbs, 2-2 Season/2-2 Overall)



The final bout of the quarter-finals featured Group A juggernaut Early Grayce, undefeated in 5 fights and all by first round KO’s take on Group D slugger Richard Volg who after a disastrous start to his season managed to scrape his way back into a second place finish.


Not many gave Volg any real chance of moving past Grayce, mainly down to his lack of wrestling ability but despite his slow start to the season, Volg had displayed some heavy hands and with that comes a punchers chance.


Surprisingly Grayce opted to stand and trade early on in the fight and this was certainly music to Volg’s ears. Grayce’s sloppy basic striking was no trouble for Volg to avoid and instead was punished at every opportunity and resulted in a small cut on the face of the wrestler. Perhaps this was enough to wake up Grayce who shortly after hit a nice take down and took Volg to the mat. From this point on it was game over as Volg struggled to improve his position. Instead Grayce took the opportunity to return the favour and began to hammer Volg with viscous ground and pound. Volg held on for an impressive amount of time but after several minutes of taking solid shots the referee once again stepped in and put him out of his misery.


"Ladies and gentlemen, after 7:44 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Early Grayce !"


Little surprise for those betting but perhaps not the best showing for Early Grayce who took a while to warm up in this one. Once he did however it was full steam ahead and now he moves into the Semi-Final and will take on the three-hundred pound wrestler Dreamiest Panda. A solid effort from Volg who really wasn’t expected to even be competitive in this one.



5th Place Play Off – Semi-Final



Manager Yanic (205lbs, 2-2 Season/2-2 Overall) vs. Rogerio De Souza (196lbs, 2-2 Season/2-3 Overall)


A chance for a little redemption in the 5th Place Play-Off for those fighters that managed a third place finish in their groups.


Our first semi-final was Group B’s Manager Yanic, a wrestler who’s form in the second half of the group stage matches did much to undo his good work early on, taking on BJJ specialist Rogerio De Souza who had really blown hot and cold during his Group A campaign.


The fight started and it was Manager Yanic’s strongest attribute that was possibly his undoing. The wonderful wrestler had absolutely no trouble in taking De Souza down to the mat but unfortunately he landed straight into De Souza’s guard who found a way to navigate the ground and pound from Yanic and secure himself a submission just before the halfway mark in Round 1


"Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle). Rogerio De Souza!"


A disappointing performance for Yanic who may feel as though luck played a small part in his overall season results but congratulations must go to De Souza who has put a lot of effort into improving his skills from just a jiu-jitsu fighter and now goes into the 5th Place Play Off Final



“Brutal” Barry Bludgeon (260lbs, 2-2 Season/2-2 Overall) vs. Zou Li (252lbs, 2-2 Season/3-2 Overall)


Another interesting fight in the other 5th Place Play Off Semi-Final with the KO power of Group D’s Barry Bludgeon going against the solid chin of Chinese fighter Zou Li from Group C.


Both fighters had their share of long gruelling fights during the group stages and this one was no exception. Li had developed a nasty habit of cutting during the course of his young career and the early prediction was that Bludgeon would take advantage of that.


As if to confirm that prophecy, Bludgeon landed a cute combination in the opening minute of the fight busting open an old cut on Zou Li and things could have gone very bad from there but luckily, the gods of the cage where watching and decreed that this fight would not end so cheaply. Instead both fighters gave it their absolute all over the course of the next twenty minutes fighting on the outside and in the clinch and when it was over, both fighters, exhausted, awaited the decision from the judges.


"Ladies and gentlemen, after 2 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.

Judge Chad Campbell scores the fight as a draw!

Judge Reed Andrews scores the fight for Barry Bludgeon!

Judge Lou da Vinci scores the fight for Barry Bludgeon!


Barry Bludgeon wins by majority decision!"


Another gruelling fight but another victory for Barry Bludgeon who now makes it into the finals of the 5th Place Play Off. Though not an amazing tournament run for Zou Li, it was a memorable one with perhaps bad luck playing more than a few tricks on him during the course.


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Open Weight Grand Prix – Semi-Final


The Open Weight Gran Prix now comes down to four fighters and it fair to say that in each semi-final match up there this is a definite favourite.



Gargan Morus (221lbs, 4-1 Season/4-1 Overall) vs. Kenji “The Wolf” Kozlov (225lbs, 5-0 Season/5-0 Overall)


Our first semi-final features Gargan Morus, fresh from his quarter-final upset over Antione Pierre and he’ll be taking on undefeated clinch fighter Kenji “The Wolf” Kozlov


Gargan Morus has already proven that he is not to be overlooked after his stunning upset over submission specialist Antione Pierre. In that match up he showed some incredible ground awareness to fend off Pierre’s relentless submission attacks and then some solid power in his shots to put him away afterwards. Morus now stand at 4-1 this season and though this is an extremely tough test for him, there’s no reason to believe that he can’t pull of another upset.


Kenji Kozlov has been phenomenal so far this season and has yet to be taken further than the first round. Barry Bludgeon gave him probably his toughest test to date in a fight that lasted just over eight minutes but in the end the fight ended with a cut and bloodied Bludgeon staring up at the ceiling and a triumphant Kozlov looking on towards championship gold. Kozlov is a confident fighter and though we aren’t entirely sure what that means for his results so far this season, it definitely hasn’t hindered him in anyway after five fights and five first round knockouts.


In terms of match up it’s fair to say that if Morus held any kind of advantage in his last fight, he certainly doesn’t in this one. Both fighters are stand up fighters and have impressive records of knockouts but Kozlov has put a lot of effort into improving further than just his wrestling skills and as a result has surpassed Morus in Boxing and is at least on par with him in his Muay Thai. What this means in theory is that Kozlov will not only be dangerous on the inside where he has been so destructive so far, he will also be a danger on the outside where Morus has preferred to do his work up to this point. There is one area in which Morus looks to hold the advantage and that is on the floor and it’s possible that Morus may attempt to test his blue belt level jiu-jitsu against Kozlov’s novice white. It’s unlikely Kozlov has spent any time in the gym working on his ground game and is relying solely on his wrestling take down defence. If Morus could get the fight to the floor it would definitely make for a very interesting situation for both fighters but whether Morus could get the fight there however is another question.


There is no doubt that Kozlov is the favourite in the fight and it will take either an absolutely genius game plan or a massive right hand for Morus to make it further then this point but Morus has a competent management team and if one thing is certain, it is that Team Morus will be more than motivated to take another tournament favourite scalp.


Prediction: Kozlov by TKO in the second round.



Early Grayce (222lbs, 5-0 Season/6-0 Overall) vs. Dreamiest Panda (300lbs, 4-1 Season/4-1 Overall)


The second semi-final features undefeated wrecking ball wrestler Early Grayce as he attempts to bulldoze his way through three-hundred pound Japanese fighter Dreamiest Panda.


Touted as a potential favourite from the very beginning, Early Grayce has shown no reason to doubt those predictions as he has remained undefeated in six fights and as yet has needed no more than one round in order to take out his opponents.


On the other side of the cage will be underdog Dreamiest Panda who will be coming into the fight with a 4-1 record and his only defeat so far coming by way of submission, something he is unlikely to come up against with Grayce. In fact, in many ways Panda is very similar to Grayce in that he likes to strike before taking the fight to the floor and ending things with ground and pound. The big question will be can he survive being on the receiving end of it?


On paper it is Panda that looks like the more evolved fighter with some big improvements in his striking that is likely to be of concern for the Lexington, Kentucky native. He will also have a razor thin edge in the wrestling though it’s not likely that either would have very much problem in taking the other down should the opportunity present itself. On paper, Grayce looks as though he will have his hands full here and also the added problem of dealing with an almost eighty pounds weight disadvantage. On top of all of that is the fact that Grayce will be coming into this bout off of possibly his worst performance so far. Though it ended well, Grayce looked vulnerable on his feet and would probably be wise to curb his enthusiasm for trading blows and risk getting caught with a stray bomb.


All in all, Early Grayce has been a destructive force so far and is also guided by a former number one manager so for everything “on paper” that appears to be against him, experience and knowledge will always count for a great deal. However, is it possible that Grayce has fallen too far behind to compete further past this point when other fighters have made such strides in their overall skills? Can he overcome the weight and striking advantage that Dreamiest Panda will have over him? While it’s true that if anyone can, Grayce can, many can smell an upset here and wouldn’t be at all surprised to see his championship aspirations end here.


Prediction: Dreamiest Panda by TKO. Grayce will need to get this fight on the floor very quickly but even there Panda is just as competent and will have a massive weight advantage should he manage to end up on top.



5th Place Play-Off Final


“Brutal” Barry Bludgeon (260lbs, 3-2 Season/3-2 Overall) vs. Rogerio De Souza (196lbs, 3-2 Season/3-3 Overall)


Ladies and Gentleman, though not deciding the overall winner of the tournament, the 5th Place Final still brings about itself a certain amount of redemption for those fighters that ended their regular season in a disappointing third place for whatever reason and tonight, we will see who was the best of those fighters.


First up we have New Zealander “Brutal” Barry Bludgeon who at 260lbs has some obvious power in his hands and that has been obvious in his two out of three KO victories though he has been finished by KO himself on two occasions this season.


His opponent is Rio native Rogerio De Souza who has displayed a very competent submission based style that has earned him submission of the night twice so far but again, De Souza has been stopped on three occasions during his short career making him a little inconsistent overall.


This fight will be very much a grappler versus striker affair and though De Souza has done well to move beyond just a one dimensional jiu-jitsu fighter, he still finds himself second best when it comes to striking. Bludgeon will need to respect De Souza’s skills however and will need to be very careful not to end up on the mat with him. He possesses the power to stop De Souza on the feet no question but just as much is true for De Souza on the ground. In fact, it could be said that the gulf between them is very much larger in terms of ground fighting then it is striking and as such De Souza possibly has a few more options going into this.


Overall though, it feels as though Bludgeon will be too strong for De Souza to handle standing up and many predict that De Souza wont be able to stand in front of him long enough to figure out a way to get the fight to the ground


Prediction: Bludgeon by KO in the first round
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Hey guys. Not sure if any of the eliminated managers still keep tabs on this topic but would like to announce the start and creation date for Season 2. I'll try to reach out to those that already competed in this season as I would love to get as many of the same managers back again.

 

Anyway, creation date will be 19th August. The day after this tournament ends. The first fight will be 3 weeks after that (Sat 8th September) and then every two weeks after that as normal.

 

Was thinking that we should go with 135lb'ers for this one as the game surely needs some love for the little guys?

 

Everything else will be the same but one thing I would like everyone's opinion on is one of the deciding criteria for the Group stages. Was considering making "Time" more important than having the win over the person you are tied with? My reasoning is that it would make things more exciting overall as defeated fighters would have more hope of qualifying rather than it be so cut and dry as it is? It would also give a lot more incentive to finish fights quickly? What do you guys think?

 

I've got a rough idea of who would be interested in season 2 but if you don't think it's obvious please give me a shout and I'll save you a space.

 

Cheers all and best of luck to those in the semi-finals and for the 5th Place Play Off Final

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Interesting fun fact, it is no secret the way Gargan and Kenji are built were to be good defensively vs the ground fighters they expected to see in this tournament but now they have to fight it out to see who is the best striker left in the tournament. Gargan has only fought one striker this tournament so far and that person went 0-4 so it is fair to say he is very untested vs other strikers but has proven to be good vs wrestlers so if he is able to beat Kenji than he would have a good match up in the finals. On the other side of things Kenji started with 12 wrestling to surprise people that he was actually a clinch fighter, and with that comes a lot of wrestling for tdd but he has only fought 1 wrestling in this tournament and surprisingly has been able to prove that he is one of the better strikers in this tournament even though he started with 2 mt and 1 boxing. Kenji may have a lot of wrestling but has only gotten to show his tdd once so far and it is unclear if he would fair well vs either of the two wrestlers in the other side of the bracket. Question is can Kenji prove even with starting so low in stand up skills that he became the best striker in this tournament and if so will his 12 wrestling white belt be enough to take home the finals of the tournament? I believe that if Gargan can win this fight he will have the better chance of winning the finals as he has proven and it would be funny to see group a winner vs group a runner up in the finals for a rematch but on paper he seems a bit outmatched by how quick Kenji has been able to learn. 9 boxing 7 mt when you start 1 and 2 in said skills is pretty impressive to do in 1 year of age in this game. I also could go on a whole another rant about how much i really like Dreamiest Panda who also has 9 boxing and has shown that he can also strike as well as ground and pound and it may be the difference maker if the predictions are correct about a Kenji vs Dreamiest finals.

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Yes...this kind of stuff really shows how much fun this kind of round-robin system is.

 

Gargan keeps on surprising ME, and I'm the one who's in the gym with him everyday :)

I do like the round robin system, the fact that someone who went 3-1 is predicted to make the finals amazes me especially where the division winner of that group lost round 1 of knockouts to you. I am very curious to see how Gargan does vs a striker since the only striker so far he has fought went 0-4 in your division. Good luck and may the best man win our match for the semi finals.

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The surprising domination of both matches in the semis does set up for an interesting finals. Kenji proved that his starting 2mt 1boxing stand up strategy worked and he was the best striker in the tournament while Early proved that he was the much better gnp fighter in the tournament. Now we have a gnp vs sprawler match up where the clinch fighter is the one who has more wrestling.

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Congratulations to Barry Bludgeon on his 5th Place Play Off victory against Rogerio De Souza. Despite an extremely rough first round in which he found himself fighting for his life against De Souza's relentless submission attacks, he held on to come back in the second round and win by TKO at 1:07. Bludgeon now ends the tournament with a respectable record of 4-2 though what the future holds for the nineteen year old slugger remains to be seen.

 

No real surprises in the semi-finals though the decisiveness of the victories from Kenji Kozlov and Early Grayce was frightening to behold and now sets up an absolutely fantastic championship final between two undefeated fighters.

 

Comiserations for Gargan Morus and Dreamiest Panda who might both feel a little disapointed in their performances but will now get the opportunity to fight for 3rd Place.

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Open Weight Grand Prix – S01E08 (18th August 2018)




Championship Fight




Kenji “The Wolf” Kozlov (225lbs, 6-0 Season/6-0 Overall) vs. Early Grayce (222lbs, 6-0 Season/7-0 Overall)



There really couldn’t be two more deserving finalists for this Open Weight Grand Prix then clinch fighter Kenji “The Wolf” Kozlov and ground and pound wrestler Early Grayce Both fighters effortlessly cleaned out their respective qualifying groups and came into the knockout stages with perfect records. Now after a further two stages of elimination, our final two warriors will go head to head and we will witness not only who is the greater fighter but also, who has the better style. Both fighters are undefeated and neither have needed more than a single round to put away their opponents. Fight fans, this is going to be one hell of a championship final.



Our first fighter is Early Grayce, a natural light heavyweight fighting out of Lexington, Kentucky, USA. Grayce smashed his way through his group stage opponents with ease as quickly confirmed his potential and credibility as a potential tournament winner. In his quarter-final match up against Richard Volg, Grayce actually looked a little off for the first time and began to let the underdog Volg into the fight and get the better of the striking exchanges. Eventually Grayce was able to step it up a gear or two and not long afterwards end the fight with his patented ground and pound but it was definitely a moment in which Grayce’s shortcomings were on display. Not one to dwell on a less then perfect performance, Grayce came into his semi-final bout against three-hundred pound wrestler Dreamiest Panda with the sole intention of making a statement. After three and a half minutes of absolute destruction that statement was clear; Early Grayce is a bad, bad mofo. Panda was not only expected to be competitive, he was expected to trouble Grayce but Grayce showed his championship credentials certainly in that one and once again, like most of his season, made it look easy.



His opponent is also a natural light heavyweight but will be representing somewhere in Madagascar by way of New York. Like Grayce, Kenji Kozlov carved his way through the opening group stages like a hot knife through butter and also like Grayce quickly proved his prediction of potential finalist correct. Kozlov dominated in his quarter-final match up against James Isaac Abraham to set up a semi-final showdown with in form Gargan Morus. It was a short lived affair and Kozlov only needed a minute and a half to finish the fight but Morus was no push over and tried to keep pace up but in the end it was Kozlov’s obvious physical superiority that game him is biggest advantage in the fight. Now, with a record of 6-0, Kenji Kozlov prepares for his final fight of the tournament



This fight will truly be a classic, old school grappler versus striker match up. Kozlov has been unstoppable in the clinch and has yet to meet anyone who could keep up with him in that department. Grayce too has not really found his equal on the ground once he gets on top.



As is usually case in these sorts of match ups, the winner will be the fighter that manages to get the fight where he wants it to be. Kozlov has shown practically nothing in the way of ground skills and Grayce has looked rocky on his feet. Nothing has changed since the semi-final match up that would lead us to believe that either fighter could surprise us in those areas and so we have a very good idea of what to expect from Kozlov and Grayce.



If we were to go through each fighters results with a fine tooth comb it would seem that Kozlov has looked the more dominant fighter this season but there is definitely an argument that Grayce has fought the tougher competition. One thing that isn’t up for debate is the fact that Grayce has competed against a very wide range of different fighters this season and has always found a way to come out on top. Kozlov in comparison really hasn’t fought anything other than strikers and mirror matches though he does have a TKO win over 1-3 wrestler Robert Burner who retired shortly after failing to qualify from his group.



Kozlov has greatly improved both his boxing and Muay Thai since starting this tournament and could conceivably walk into any 333k org and not look out of place. Grayce on the other hand would probably need a little time to work on some areas before he would be ready to fight. Picking a winner here is extremely difficult as both fighters have been fantastic this tournament and really, I couldn’t say with absolute certainty who I believe will win but it is this overall improvement in his skills that I believe gives Kozlov the slight edge going into this fight though simply it all comes down to whether this fight is fought standing or on the ground.



Prediction: Kenji Kozlov by TKO in Round 2. Kozlov will know what is coming as Grayce doesn’t really have many options in this fight and has looked shaky when he has tried to mix it up though Grayce is guided by a former number one manager and that knowledge will be invaluable.




3rd Place Fight




Dreamiest Panda (300lbs, 4-2 Season/4-2 Overall) vs. Gargan Morus (221lbs, 4-2 Season/4-2 Overall)



Fighting for 3rd Place we have three-hundred pound Dreamiest Panda and the natural light heavyweight from India, Gargan Morus.



Both fighters were expected to make a much better showing in their semi-final match ups and will no doubt be disappointed with their performances, especially after working so hard to make it that far so there will definitely be an element of redemption on offer here as well as the 3rd place prize.



Both Dreamiest Panda and Gargan Morus have looked good for the most part during this season and have certainly both had their moments during. Panda’s best performance was no doubt against undefeated Ed Wood in the quarter-finals where he managed a first round TKO to secure a spot in the last four and for Morus it was without question his superb TKO upset over Group B stand out Antione Pierre also in the quarter-finals. These impressive performances certainly gave the impression that either fighter could be a contender for the overall title but after suffering decisive losses in their previous semi-final bouts and dropping their records to 4-2, neither can really argue that a 3rd Place finish isn’t the most deserving spot they could hope for when this is all said and done.



In terms of match up this should be a very competitive one. Panda started out as a wrestler but has since put a decent amount of effort into improving his boxing and can now put forth a strong effort on that front. Morus began mainly as a striker but has since earned his blue belt and has made something of a habit of taking out ground fighters. His defence on the ground has no doubt been boosted by that jiu-jitsu knowledge.



Panda will have a weight advantage of around eighty pounds although the weight hasn’t always meant that much as he as lost twice now to fighters of a similar disadvantage as Morus. Morus has some decent power in his hands that has helped reward his slick submission and anti-wrestling defence and I believe that will be a big factor in this fight here. Panda has lost to ground fighters but has yet to lose to a striker. What he hasn’t faced is a striker that has good ground skills too. Morus on the other hand has mainly fought grapplers though has yet to face a grappler that could strike too. On paper, Panda looks to hold the advantage due to his much superior wrestling but really, this fight will come down to superior game plans and Morus seems to have been most attentive during this tournament.



Prediction: Gargan Morus by KO in Round 2. I expect this fight to hit the floor at some point but also for Morus to spoil Panda’s ground and pound attempts and regain his feet where he will pick up the win from there.

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