Guest Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 http://www.mmatycoon.com/images/company/logo/1315676599logo.jpg Hi everyone. After running Warbringers for 18 months, I felt that I needed a new challenge. I wanted to do something unique, something that hadn't been done before. So I have started Epic FC in Los Angeles. Epic FC consists of two semi-openweight divisions (under 170lbs and over 170lbs). We are only interested in signing fighters with IDs of 150k and above to these divisions. With this kind of restriction in place, we feel that everyone gets fairer fights, and that we will be able to provide a great platform to help develop some possible future stars. Despite having previously run a top 25 ranked org worldwide, with this new venture I am more than happy to ignore org rankings and simply concentrate on providing a great org for new players and new fighters. If you have a fighter in Los Angeles and his ID is 150,000 or above, then we would love to sign him. Send a message to Jeff W and we will get a contract offer over to you as soon as possible. Over the coming weeks and months, I will be keeping this thread updated with news/event previews/posters, etc, so check back frequently :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbrookins Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 will there be any other WC in the future? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 The reason for having two large weight classes right now is because I am severely limited in the fighters that I can sign (due to the ID restriction). Unfortunately the only way that I can get a decent roster is to combine some weight classes. That said, I imagine that a few months down the line when there are many more fighters over 150k, it would be easier to get a good selection of fighters in other weight classes. I am definitely not opposed to doing this, but at the moment I don't think that it would work. So in short, there will most likely be other weight classes in the future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 Welcome to LA, great idea btw, unfortunately you won't be the only one in town. http://www.mmatycoon.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=25219&st=0&p=298456&hl=ascension&fromsearch=1entry298456 The over >150K ID restriction is a great idea though, let me know if we can ever help out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 13, 2011 Report Share Posted September 13, 2011 Wow. That's incredibly similar. I hope you don't think I stole your idea - it was definitely unintentional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 Epic: Hanks vs. Czech September 23rd @ Paddy O'Malley's http://www.mmatycoon.com/images/posters/1316123184hanks-czech.jpg http://www.mmatycoon.com/orgupcomingeventpublic.php?EvID=714923 On Friday September 23rd, Paddy O'Malley's Irish Bar will play host to the inaugural Epic FC event. Originally the card was supposed to have around seven or eight fights, but after an influx of new talent and fighters we are delighted to be able to present a 10-fight show that we hope will have fans going home happy. The card is made up of primarily MMA rookies and newcomers, but topping the billing is a contest between two fantastic Light-Heavyweights. Read on for the fight-by-fight preview. Fight One: Ben "The Beast" Ibanz vs. Brian Larsson. To kick off the night, we have a fight between two men who are yet to record an MMA win. Ben Ibanz (0-3) has been a very active fighter over the last month, and even though he has gone 0-3, we have seen a clear progression and improvement from him in every one of his fights. Most recently, he hung with Zahir Nolam for a full three rounds and was unfortunate to be on the losing end of a judges decision. When Ibanz steps into the cage against Brian Larsson (0-1) in our first fight of the night, it will have been a good few weeks since his fight with Nolam, which should have given him time to regain his energy, learn a few more things in the gym, and come into this bout as an even further improved fighter. But will that be enough to defeat Larsson? To be honest, we don't know much about the Swedish born Larsson. We know that he is a man-mountain and that he is physically very imposing, but we don't know a lot about his technical ability. In his only MMA fight so far, he was knocked out early in the first round and so didn't get a chance to show off his skills. I think that in this fight, Larsson is going to try to close the distance and use his considerable size to bully Ibanz to the ground before looking to punish him with some ground and pound. The key for Ibanz is to stay at range, avoid takedowns and try to get back to his feet whenever he gets taken down. Jeff's Prediction: Brian Larsson by Decision Fight Two: Toni "White guy" Valtonen vs. Jerry "Typhoon" Nassoon. Up second, we will see rookies Tony Valtonen (0-2) and Jerry Nassoon (0-1) squaring off, and they are also both looking to record their first career wins. Stylistically I think this is going to be a rather interesting fight. In one corner we have Valtonen, a boxer from Helsinki, who stands at a gigantic seven feet and two inches, and loves nothing more than to take centre cage and throw heavy punch combinations. In the other corner we have Nassoon, who himself is a decent striker, but can also use his wrestling ability to go to the ground and land ground and pound. In this fight, I think it only makes sense for Nassoon to avoid a striking match - he is, after all, facing a man with an unprecedented fifteen inch reach advantage. If Nassoon has done his research and studied Valtonen's previous fights, he will also see that when taken down and put on his back, Valtonen looks far from comfortable. It would seem that Nassoon has a clear route to victory if he takes this fight to the ground, but if he gets over-confident in his own boxing ability and decides to strike with Valtonen, it would be a very risky strategy. Jeff's Prediction: Jerry Nassoon by TKO Fight Three: Paul Ribiero vs. Eli Savage. In our third fight of the night, we get the first glimpse of the Epic FC under 170lb division. The two men who are going toe-to-toe here are Paul Ribiero (0-1) and MMA newcomer Eli Savage (0-0). Personally, I always find it very exciting when an 0-0 fighter steps into the cage for the first time. There is an air of mystery and excitement surrounding them, because we don't know what they are all about and we don't know how they are going to perform. That is exactly the case here for Eli Savage. The only thing we know about him is his name, and the fact that he is a fairly lanky natural Bantamweight. We have been told that he is a sprawl and brawl style fighter, but to be honest we are simply going to have to wait and see. In actuality, we don't really know too much more about Paul Ribiero. We have seen him fight one time before, but in that fight he was steamrolled by Jeff Hatton and we didn't get to see any significant offense from him. We know that he is a bit of a wild striker, and tends to throw more kicks than punches, but other than that we are very much in the dark about him. With so little information about these two fighters, it is pretty tough to make a prediction, but I just have a good feeling about Eli Savage and think that we may end up seeing something quite special from this guy. Jeff's Prediction: Eli Savage by Knockout Fight Four: Tony Jones "Iron Man" Stark vs. Rick Rich. Up next is another fight between the little guys. We have Tony Jones Stark (0-1), who is known as the "Iron Man", and he will be taking on MMA newcomer Rick Rich (0-0). In Stark's MMA debut a couple of weeks ago, he was given a really tough fight. He was matched up against the experienced Evgen Konstantinov and despite the fact he was beaten, he did show some glimpses of promise with a couple of nice kicks and knees landed during the fight. Stark will want to take those positives and try to build upon them here in his fight with Rich, but the problem for Stark is that he is coming up against an unknown quantity in Rich, and that may inadvertently lead him to being over-cautious. We don't know what Rich will bring to the table, we don't know if he is an aggressive fighter or a counter fighter, and we don't know where his main strengths lie, and therefore, you should expect these fighters to start slowly and try to feel the other out. We only hope that the feeling out process doesn't last too long and that both men will do their best to put on a show for those in attendance. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Jeff's Prediction: Tony Jones Stark by Decision Fight Five: Shawn "Mr. Killa" Wallace vs. Rija "Ursa Major" Zafy. Our final undercard of the night looks like it is going to be an explosive one. Shawn Wallace (0-1) is a well-rounded fighter whose only bout to date ended early in the first round due to strikes. It wasn't the best debut for him, but now he gets the chance in Epic FC to show what he is really about. His opponent is rookie Rija Zafy (0-0), who comes in with a reputation as a bit of a badass. Zafy comes from the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, and truly is a physical specimen. He stands at just over seven feet tall, weighs nearly 300lbs, and has a background in amateur boxing. He is hoping that his size and strength, combined with his boxing experience will translate into a great base for MMA. Of course, Shawn Wallace will have to do everything in his power to avoid getting into a striking contest with this guy. If he does get drawn into a brawl, I can only see one possible outcome, and that is Wallace laying face down, unconscious in the centre of the cage. If, however, Wallace is able to somehow get Zafy to the ground, then his well rounded nature will play to his advantage. With the big guy on his back, Wallace may be able to use his superior jiu-jitsu skills and lock in a submission. Failing that, he could possible just maintain a dominant position and score points with the judges. If he can't get it to the ground though, Wallace is in danger. Jeff's Prediction: Rija Zafy by Knockout Fight Six: Darren "DB" Barrow vs. Daniel "Barros" Sasquatch. To kick off the main card on the first ever Epic FC card, we have a really interesting fight. Darren Barrow (0-2) holds a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and is the first real submission specialist to feature on the card. He started his career with a decision loss to a man named Law Junior, and then on the 14th September, took on Daniel Sasquatch (1-0) in another Quick Fight. In that contest, Barrow was steamrolled and unable to mount any offense as he was ground and pounded to a very one-sided decision loss. There is no doubt that Barrow got his tactics wrong on that night, and as a result underperformed the fight, but now he has the chance to set the record straight as we have set up the rematch. In order to avoid succumbing to a similar fate, Barrow is going to have to either really work hard on his takedown defense, or try to beat Sasquatch to the takedown and get top position for himself. The problem is that when Sasquatch is on top of you, it's very difficult to do anything, and so Barrow needs to try to make sure that he is the one in the dominant position. If he does get put on his back, though, all hope is not lost. Barrow has a very potent submission game, and although he didn't really look for any subs last time, it only seems sensible to test Sasquatch's defense. Personally, I am a big fan of rematches. I love seeing the different approaches that fighters take when facing the same opponent for a second time, and a lot of the time this can produce some fantastic fights. I am hoping that this will be no exception. Jeff's Prediction: Darren Barrow by Submission Fight Seven: Rico "The Ambassador" Maglayon vs. "Honey" Jack Daniels. In the seventh fight of the evening, two of the smallest and youngest guys on the Epic FC roster will fight to see who will collect their first ever MMA win. On one side of the cage will stand Rico Maglayon (0-1), a natural Bantamweight who will be the hometown fighter. Standing across from him will be Jack Daniels (0-1), a Featherweight from California. Looking at this fight on paper, it is pretty hard to work out what will happen and who should be the favourite. Maglayon is quite well rounded, having equal skills in all areas, but Daniels is a bit more of a muay-thai and jiu-jitsu centred fighter. If the fight ends up on the ground, or in the clinch, Daniels would probably have the advantage, but in a pure boxing match Maglayon would stand the best chance. I think this is purely going to come down to whichever fighter comes into the contest with the best gameplan, and whichever fighter executes that gameplan more successfully on the night. Apparently, Jack Daniels is quite an intelligent fighter and has a really high IQ, which may help him to establish a good gameplan, but I believe that Rico Maglayon is going to come into this fight in better shape and have superior conditioning, and in a half-hour long fight, that may just edge it for him. Jeff's Prediction: Rico Maglayon by Decision Fight Eight: Przemyslaw "Kiti" Kitowski vs. Jon Cudi. Up eighth are two more MMA newcomers, but unlike a lot of first-timers, these men have a little bit of hype and popularity surrounding them before they have even stepped into the cage. As you could probably guess from his name, Przemyslaw Kitowski (0-0) comes from Poland, and he stands at a colossal seven feet and four inches tall. He is quite possible one of the biggest fighters that you will ever see, and that alone makes him a must-watch fighter. Going up against this mammoth of a man is Jon Cudi (0-0). Cudi himself stands at an impressive six foot five, and weighs in at two hundred and ninety pounds, which usually would see him tower over his opposition, but against Kitowski he is going to be the smaller man by some considerable margin. If we put physique, size and strength aside, then all of a sudden this looks like a fight that Jon Cudi cannot lose. In comparison to Kitowski, Cudi has much more technical boxing. While Kitowski's striking isn't bad, it certainly isn't on Cudi's level. That said, it is unfair to judge this fight with size and strength aside, because that will surely play a huge part in the outcome. When we take everything into consideration; the striking, the grappling, the height, reach and strength advantage of Kitowski, I do believe this is going to be a really close fight. Jeff's Prediction: Jon Cudi by Decision Fight Nine: Will Ferrell vs. Steve Nash. Our co-main event of the evening was thrown together at rather short notice. Steve Nash (0-0) was originally scheduled to take on Dynamic Dave on this card, but after not hearing back from Dave regarding the fight offer, we decided that we had to find somebody else or risk Nash not fighting on the card at all. We put out a call to arms, and up stepped Will Ferrell (1-0) to take on Nash on under a weeks notice. Regardless of how rushed the booking of this fight was, it looks like its going to be a fantastic bout. Steve Nash is both a solid wrestler and solid grappler. Unlike a lot of the new young jiu-jitsu fighters that are crossing over into MMA, Nash possesses both the ability to get a fight to the ground, and the ability to finish it once it is there, and that is very rare in such a rookie. Similarly, Will Ferrell has show that he has no trouble taking opponents down and finishing them off once on the ground. Ferrell's strategy of choice is not to look for submissions, though. Instead, he works his way into dominant positions, and then unloads with savage and explosive ground and pound which for many is overwhelming. We don't know enough about Nash to determine whether he would be able to withstand a barrage of blows from Ferrell, or whether he is good enough at jiu-jitsu to look for submissions from his back. All we know is that this fight is most likely going to hit the mat, and when it does it could end in any number of ways, with either fighter coming out victorious. Jeff's Prediction: Will Ferrell by TKO Main Event: Fred "Headstone" Hanks vs. Peter "Pay" Czech. After what will hopefully be nine entertaining fights between lots of potentially very exciting prospects, we will reach our main event - and what an amazing main event this should be. Fred Hanks (12-7) is a ferocious striker who is known for his brawling style, immense knockout power and granite chin. In his twelve MMA victories, he has collected eleven knockouts, nine of which were in the first round. If this isn't impressive enough, he also has a nice collection of "of the night" awards, which consists of four fight of the nights and one knockout of the night. Over the course of his career, Hanks has gained a big fan following due to his never say die attitude and his tendency to be in amazing fights, and we are certain that he is going to be in another here against Peter Czech (8-3). Czech is also a striker and also has an impressive resume; out of his eight career wins, seven have been by knockout. Czech's striking style is rather different than Hanks' though, and that is why I feel this will be an interesting fight. While Hanks sometimes resembles a berserker with his striking, Czech is much more disciplined, more technical and more accurate. Czech's knockouts are usually as a result of sustained punishment over the course of a fight rather than one punch KOs. He is patient, will chip away at an opponent, and then when the time is right, turn up the heat and go for the stoppage. This has worked really well for Czech in the past, but I simply have to question if he will be able to use the same tactics successfully against a wild brawler with an incredible chin who could clip him and knock him out at any moment. Technically, Czech is the superior fighter here, but I am unsure if he can put Hanks away, and over the course of a thirty-minute fight I believe there will be plenty of opportunities for Hanks to land a knockout punch. Jeff's Prediction: Fred Hanks by Knockout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 Epic: Herzog vs. Jacques October 7th @ Paddy O'Malley's http://www.mmatycoon.com/images/posters/1317243023herzog-jacques.jpg http://www.mmatycoon.com/orgupcomingeventpublic.php?EvID=715334 After the surprising success of Epic FC's first event, which saw the org rise into the top 10 ranked orgs in Los Angeles, we are back with our second event which we hope will prove to be as exciting as our first. Topping the billing is a fight between two highly regarded and experienced Welterweights in Chris Herzog and Giorgio Jacques. As well as this, we have plenty of fights in our Openweight divisions which will see thirteen fighters making their Epic FC debuts, and of these thirteen, five taking part in their first ever professional MMA fight. From start to finish, it looks like it's going to be a cracking night of MMA action, and hopefully we will get to see lots of finishes! Read on for the preview. Fight One: Darren "DB" Barrow vs. Brian Larsson. Starting off the show are two fighters who came out on the losing end of their fights at Epic: Hanks vs. Czech. In the event preview for that show, I had predicted that both Darren Barrow (0-3) and Brian Larsson (0-2) would emerge victorious, but on the night that's not how it went down at all. Barrow suffered a shock submission defeat to Daniel Sasquatch, and Larsson was tapped out by Ben Ibanz. But now, both fighters get the chance to put those losses behind them and focus on getting their first Epic FC wins under their belts. For Brian Larsson to win this fight, he is going to want to stay on his feet and land some strikes. Before Ibanz took him down in their meeting, Larsson was starting to get comfortable and connect with a few decent blows. He showed that he definitely has some potential. If Larsson can avoid Barrow's takedowns here, he stands a very good chance of getting the win. As we saw in Barrow's fight against Sasquatch, getting the takedown constantly proves difficult for him, and now coming up against a man that has a big size advantage over him, it's going to be more difficult than ever. Let's hope that Barrow has been practising his wrestling and his takedown offense in the gym, because if he hasn't, I can see this being a very one-sided fight. Jeff's Prediction: Brian Larsson by TKO Fight Two: Dynamic "Fooking" Dave vs. Dean Sparks. It was originally planned that Dynamic Dave (0-1) would fight on the very first Epic FC show, but inactivity meant that unfortunately in the end it didn't happen. Instead, Dave has been put onto this card against another Epic FC newcomer, Dean Sparks (0-1). We only have very limited footage of Dave and Sparks' other MMA fights, but from what we can tell about them, this is going to be a striker vs. grappler matchup. Dave has a background in boxing, and is a very aggressive fighter - to the point where he is sometimes verging on barroom brawling. When he stays disciplined, he throws lots of nice looking combinations, and is blessed with an impressive reach which really works to his advantage. Sparks, on the other hand, prefers fights on the ground. Once there, he looks for any opening he can find to latch onto a submission, and also mixes in strikes to keep his opponent guessing. We saw in Sparks' MMA debut that he is not scared to go for something high risk if the chance presents itself. Immediately after getting his first takedown of the fight against Hoss Typhoon, Sparks gave up top position and dropped back looking for a leg lock. Although it didn't come off, it was a sign that he is looking to finish fights whenever he can - and that is what we like to see in a young fighter. This is a fight that really could go either way, but from the very small amount we have seen from these guys, it looks to me like Sparks could be the more dangerous fighter. Jeff's Prediction: Dean Sparks by Submission Fight Three: Ben "The Hammer" Rodriguez vs. Krackin "Be Smackin" Yourface. Sticking with the theme of striker vs. grappler matchups, our third fight of the night features Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt Ben Rodriguez (0-1) in his Epic FC debut against MMA newcomer Krackin Yourface (0-0). Just from looking at this fight on paper, I believe that it's going to be explosive, and a very short fight indeed. We have a jiu-jitsu brown belt in Rodriguez who will be shooting for takedowns non-stop, looking to put Yourface on the ground, and trying to detach one of his limbs. At the same time, Yourface is going to be trying to stuff the shots, rough up Rodriguez with strikes and then land a big bomb and put him to sleep. Even though Rodriguez has only had one MMA fight, there is already a slight question about how strong his chin is. In his MMA debut against Leonard Gonzalez, he ate a left-hook which instantly turned his lights out. Yourface will almost certainly be trying to recreate this scenario, but the question is will he be able to stay standing long enough to deliver the all-important killer shot? And, if he cannot avoid the initial takedown, will he be able to get back to his feet and try again, or will Rodriguez finish him off quickly on the ground? Jeff's Prediction: Ben Rodriguez by Submission Fight Four: "The Call From Islam" Abdul Raheem vs. Herschel Walker. After back-to-back striker vs. grappler fights, we move on to a striker vs striker fight in which both competitors are making their professional MMA debuts. But will it be Abdul Raheem (0-0) from Mecca in Saudi Arabia, or will it be Herschel Walker (0-0) from Georgia, USA that starts their career off with a win? As with most 0-0 fighters, very little is known about these guys at this moment in time, but after this fight we will know a lot more. All we can tell you at the moment is that Raheem stands at 6'4" and tips the scales at over 250lbs, while Walker stands at 6 foot even and will weigh in at around 200lbs. As mentioned previously, both of these guys are strikers, but their striking styles do differ and should make for a decent contest. Raheem is a pure muay-thai fighter who we should expect to throw plenty of knees, whereas Walker has a more versatile background which combines muay-thai, kickboxing and traditional boxing. Walker may well still throw knees and kicks in this fight, but there is a good chance that he is going to mix this up with punch combinations too. If you are looking to see some nice technical striking with a possible chance of a brutal knockout, then this is definitely one fight that you don't want to miss. Jeff's Prediction: Herschel Walker by Knockout Fight Five: Thomas "Sin Locc" Smith vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. The final undercard fight of the evening sees hard hitting wrestler Quinton Jackson (0-1) start his journey in Epic FC against expert grappler Thomas Smith (1-2). In Jackson's only other MMA fight, he faced another jiu-jitsu specialist called Antonio Rogerio Nogueira who took him down with ease and ended the fight by rear naked choke. Jackson has a lot of potential, but his ground game still has some big holes in it, and it looks very probable that if this fight reaches the ground, it will end with another submission defeat for him. The difference between this fight and the Nogueira fight, however, is that Nogueira had excellent takedown ability, whereas Smith only has a 12% success rate in getting his opponents to the canvas. I believe that the gulf in wrestling class between Jackson and Smith means that this fight is going to play out a whole lot differently from Jackson's debut. I think that Smith is going to struggle to get Jackson to the ground, and as a result is going to end up eating quite a few punches. Smith has a good chin, but will be able to survive a sustained onslaught from a big powerful dude like Jackson? Personally, I'm not so sure that he can. Jeff's Prediction: Jackson by TKO Fight Six: Rija "Ursa Major" Zafy vs. Lou Ferrigno. To kick off the main card, we have another fight that has the potential to produce fireworks. Rija Zafy (1-0) made a great start to his MMA career when he debuted in Epic FC last month, knocking out Shawn Wallace within the first thirty seconds of the first round. It was a complete mauling from Zafy, and it did enough to earn him a knockout of the night award. For Zafy to follow that performance up with a second win, he is going to have to defeat fellow striker, Lou Ferrigno (0-0). Similarly to Zafy, Ferrigno has really good technical boxing ability. Against lesser strikers, I would certainly tip him to do well, but against Zafy here, things are going to be a lot closer. The problem for Ferrigno is that he is going to have quite a significant reach disadvantage, and that means that Zafy will be first to the punch the majority of the time. Having not seen him fight before, I cannot say whether I believe Ferrigno has the power to trouble Zafy, or whether he has the chin to withstand the heavy punches in Zafy's arsenal, but it's definitely going to be fun to find out. The likelihood of this fight going to the ground is extremely low, and instead I think that we could well have a knockout of the night contender on our hands. Jeff's Prediction: Rija Zafy by Knockout Fight Seven: Rafael "Slam" Yetdarta vs. Carrington Byndom. After a fight between two straight-up boxers, we move on to what should be a more varied striking matchup. Rafael "Slam" Yetdarta (0-0) and Carrington Byndom (1-0) are both making their debuts in our under 170lb division, and both bring entirely different styles to the table. Byndom has shown both pure boxing ability and excellent ground and pound in his career so far. On top of that, he has shown that he is a smart fighter. If he feels that he would hold more of an advantage on the ground, he won't hesitate to change levels, take his opponent down and then start to drop hammer fists. Yetdarta, on the other hand, is more of a flashy striker. He throws knees, kicks and creative punches, and generally is just a lot more of unorthodox. We don't know how well Yetdarta can handle himself on the ground at this point in time, and I would expect that Byndom will try and exploit that fact. He will be well aware that Yetdarta could potentially cause him problems on the feet, and therefore his gameplan is most likely going to consist of a little bit of standup, but then takedowns and probably ground and pound. How well Yetdarta can defend the takedowns is going to be key in this fight. Jeff's Prediction: Carrington Byndom by TKO Fight Eight: Hoss "Bullmoose" Typhoon vs. Will Ferrell. While we were out scouting potential recruits to bring in to Epic FC, we watched a fight between Dean Sparks and Hoss Typhoon (1-0). In that fight, Typhoon really impressed us. He showed good takedown defense, good takedown offense, and solid ground and pound as he took Sparks to a decision, which he won fairly easily. After that showing, we simply had to offer him a contract, and we were delighted when he signed on the dotted line. Welcoming Typhoon to Epic FC on Friday is Will Ferrell (1-1), who had a decent MMA debut of his own, but then unfortunately faltered in his first Epic FC fight against Steve Nash. In this fight, both Typhoon and Ferrell are going to be fighting against near mirror images of each other. They have almost identical styles, which centres around takedowns and ground and pound. The difference though, is that Typhoon will have a size and weight advantage over Ferrell, and that's going to give him a slight edge. On the feet, this one really isn't going to be pretty. Both fighters are awkward strikers and don't have very good technique yet, but on the ground both are really talented. As we see all the time in MMA, wrestlers aren't all that comfortable when fighting off of their backs. That would lead me to predict that whichever fighter gets the first takedown may end up finishing this fight rather quickly. Jeff's Prediction: Hoss Typhoon by TKO Fight Nine: Daniel "Ramos" Sasquatch vs. Toni "White Guy" Valtonen. Filling the co-main event slot at Epic: Herzog vs. Jacques are two fighters that competed at our inaugural event last month, and emerged victorious. Daniel Sasquatch (2-0) took on Darren Barrow in a rematch of their QFC fight, and this time managed to finish the job with a rear naked choke after eight minutes of the second round in a grueling fight. His opponent, Toni Valtonen (1-2) picked up his first ever mixed martial arts win over Jerry Nassoon, also by rear-naked choke. That sets the scene for this over 170lb showdown, and hopefully it should prove to be a very entertaining bout. Prior to Valtonen's Epic FC debut, we thought that he was simply a striker that used his big size to gain an advantage, but we were very wrong. He showed us against Nassoon that there is much more to his game than size, strength and punching. We found out that he also has some surprisingly good jiu-jitsu technique. When we consider what we already knew about his striking, and then add to that his newly discovered ground skills, Valtonen suddenly looks like a tough opponent for anyone in the division. We know that Sasquatch has a good all-round ground game, and that he can both ground and pound or submit opponents successfully, but we've never really seen what he is capable of in the standup. Based purely on the fact that I think Valtonen has a few more tools on his belt, I am going to pick him to win a really close fight. Jeff's Prediction: Toni Valtonen by Decision Main Event: Chris "The Inverse Midas" Herzog vs. Giorgio Jacques. We then move on to the main event of the evening - the fight that the fans are coming to see. I know both Chris Herzog (14-7) and Giorgio Jacques (13-4) from my time running Warbringers in Rio de Janeiro, and one thing that I can guarantee is that these two men will not disappoint. One thing that can be said about Chris Herzog is that, although he may not be as technically proficient as some of the truly elite Welterweights out there, he is as tough as nails. Whether you win or lose against Herzog, you are going to know that you've been in a fight the next morning. It doesn't matter where the fight goes, Herzog will find ways to hurt you; whether it's via head kick, dirty boxing, stinging leg kicks, powerful takedowns, ground and pound or submissions. I know for a fact that Giorgio Jacques is going to be in for a tough fight. That said, Jacques can definitely pose problems for Herzog. If you have followed this guy's career, you will see just how much he has improved in a short amount of time. About eighteen months ago Jacques made his MMA debut, and to be honest he was a very one dimensional fighter. He would shoot for takedowns, hold opponents down and land a few strikes. Nothing too exciting, but enough to get the job done. Fast-forward to now, and Jacques looks like a totally different fighter. He has a highly dangerous submission game, is more versatile with his standup, and has a lot of momentum due to being on a five-fight winning streak. Jacques will be giving up five years in age to his opponent Herzog, but at the end of the day I don't think that is going to make too much of a difference. Both of these guys are quality fighters who will know what they need to do to win, and I believe they are going to come out on Friday night and give us a fight to remember. Jeff's Prediction: Giorgio Jacques by Decision Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 16, 2011 Report Share Posted October 16, 2011 Hey Jeff I'm assuming your new org is open to any ID level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Showdown Posted October 21, 2011 Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 Hey Jeff I'm assuming your new org is open to any ID level? His org is open to 150K ID and above. But he has been bringing in veterans with a little hype to fight in the main events. I'm assuming eventually it will be 150K only, once all the new guys start getting enough hype. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 21, 2011 Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 Showdown is exactly right. I want to the org to be mainly about the new fighters and new managers, but I'm also happy to take some more experienced guys on 1-fight deals to give the cards a bit of a ratings boost. If your fighter is 150k+, you will only ever be matched up against other 150k fighters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 21, 2011 Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 Epic: Taylor vs. Kartov October 22nd @ Wild Bob's http://www.mmatycoon.com/images/posters/1318872776taylor-kartov.jpg http://www.mmatycoon.com/orgupcomingeventpublic.php?EvID=717588 After his scintillating performance at Epic: Hanks vs. Kovacevic, we managed to get Sorgi Kartov to agree to get straight back in the cage only one week later to face another monster opponent. This time, he is taking on Thomaz Taylor, who is flying in from Tokyo especially to take the fight. Due to my illness over the past week, this event didn't really start to take shape until early in the week, and I am truly grateful to all the managers that have worked with me to get this card filled on such short notice. Thank you guys! Read on for the preview. Fight One: Rafael "Slam" Yetdarta vs. Ben "The Hammer" Rodriguez. At Herzog vs. Jacques, both Rafael Yetdarta (0-1) and Ben Rodriguez (0-2) came out on the losing side of fights that they felt that they should have won. Ben Rodriguez is a jiu-jitsu brown belt but he got rocked on the feet against Krackin Yourface and then went on to get submitted on the ground. Similarly, Rafael Yetdarta was beaten up pretty badly in his fight that night at the hands of Carrington Byndom. This is now a chance for Yetdarta and Rodriguez to put those losses aside and finally try to obtain their first mixed martial arts wins. Yetdarta is going to want to keep this fight standing and land some strikes, while Rodriguez will be intent on getting to the ground and proving that his previous submission loss to a purple belt was a pure fluke. I think this will be an excellent start to the night, and I do not think that it will go the distance. Jeff's Prediction: Ben Rodriguez by Submission Fight Two: "Nicest Badass Ever" Quinto Conner vs. AJ "Green" Hanson. We have been waiting a while to give AJ Hanson (0-1) his Epic FC debut. Since signing the guy, we have put a few potential opponents in front of him, but finally he has settled on Quinto Conner (0-2) as the man that he will face in his first fight with the organisation. Hanson's only other MMA fight to date was a bit of a disappointing performance, as he was taken down and submitted within the first round against Nick Diaz - hopefully against Conner he will be able to show us what he is truly all about. Quinto Conner is also no stranger to losing by submission, as that is how both of his career fights thus far have finished. He doesn't appear to be super comfortable on the ground, but against Hanson I feel that might be his only way to victory. Hanson is known as a solid muay-thai kickboxer, and so if Conner doesn't take this fight down, he could end up getting outstruck all night long. On paper, this looks like a very tricky fight for the "Nicest Badass Ever". Jeff's Prediction: AJ Hanson by TKO Fight Three: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Herschel Walker. In our third fight of the night, the big guys finally take centre cage. Quinton Jackson (0-2) was unfortunate to be submitted in his last Epic FC bout. He managed to take Thomas Smith down with ease, and then started working a little bit of ground and pound, but was really unlucky to get caught in an armbar while doing so. Jackson probably wasn't ready to be fighting such a talented jiu-jitsu guy at that stage of his career, and in this fight he will feel more comfortable on the ground as he takes on a fellow white belt, Herschel Walker (0-1). Walker's MMA debut came to an abrupt end after only thirty-three seconds against Abdul Raheem last month - he was dropped by a headkick, and the subsequent punches forced the referee to stop the fight. This will be Walker's second chance to kickstart his fight career, but he will need to tighten up his defenses a little if he is to stop Jackson from bulldozing him in a similar manner to Raheem. Jackson has good ground and pound, and won't hesitate to use it. Jeff's Prediction: Quinton Jackson by TKO Fight Four: "The Gentleman" Jefferson Hanbury Brown vs. Brian Larsson. It was absolutely ridiculous how many different opponents turned down a fight against Brian Larsson (0-3). We must have gone through at least 5 different fight offers before we finally managed to find somebody to take him on. Interestingly, the man that did agree to fight Larsson is a completely unknown entity to us. All we know is that he comes from the mean streets of Windsor, England and goes by the name of Jefferson Hanbury Brown (0-0). We don't know what areas Hanbury Brown specialises in, what his gameplan will be, or how on earth he plans to deal with a big guy like Brian Larsson, but it's going to be interesting to find out. Larsson has lost all of his MMA fights so far, and all in the first round, but we remain hopeful that this might be his night and he could pull a win out of the bag against the rookie Hanbury Brown. Jeff's Prediction: Brian Larsson by Knockout Fight Five: Darren "DB" Barrow vs. "Mr. Killa" Shawn Wallace. If you're looking for a fighter that started off their MMA career with a bunch of losses, but then managed to turn it around, you need look no further than Darren Barrow (1-3). After three back-to-back defeats, some fighters might have called it a day, but not Barrow. He picked himself up, brushed himself off and got himself back into the gym. He trained more, trained harder, and improved his game. Then, in his return fight at "Herzog vs. Jacques", Barrow showed off the new and improved him with a seamless submission over Brian Larsson. Barrow will be hoping that he can continue his winning ways when he fights Shawn Wallace (1-2) in the final undercard fight of the night. In Wallace's last fight, he put on a dominant striking display, but then managed to put an exclamation point on it by sinking in a rear naked choke halfway through the second round. Barrow's ground game is probably at a slightly higher level than Wallace's, but once Wallace lands some big punches and kicks on someone, any small technical edge they may have disappears. Jeff's Prediction: Shawn Wallace by Decision Fight Six: Dean Sparks vs. Ben "The Beast" Ibanz. When Dean Sparks (1-1) made his debut in Epic FC last month, he wowed us by putting a ground and pound clinic on Dynamic Dave, eventually taking a very one-sided judges decision. Over the thirty minutes that the fight lasted, we got to have a really good look at his skills, and we liked what we saw. His striking defense looked good, his wrestling solid, his top control suffocating and his ground and pound very decent. It was a complete performance from Sparks, and it justified our decision to sign him up in the first place. In his second fight for us, he faces Ben Ibanz (1-3) who very recently broke his own losing streak with a rear naked choke submission win over Brian Larsson. Ibanz didn't get off to the greatest start in his MMA career, but his persistence and willingness to improve has to be respected. His first three MMA fights were against tough opponents, and he came up short, but in his Epic FC debut he was given a fairer fight, and excelled. Now these two are going to go head to head, but only one will be able to emerge from Saturday night holding a two-fight winning streak. Will it be the submissions of Ibanz or the ground and pound of Sparks that prevail? Jeff's Prediction: Dean Sparks by Decision Fight Seven: "Lancelot" Lance Stargrove vs. Rico "The Ambassador" Maglayon. In the space of one week, Rico Maglayon (1-2) is going to have fought two times. As mentioned previously, we were struggling to fill this card, and Maglayon jumped at the chance to fight again on short notice and potentially get back into the win column. The last time we saw him in the cage, he got outworked and eventually submitted by Paul Ribiero but this time he is determined to put that right. He faces MMA newcomer Lance Stargrove (0-0), who comes from San Mateo, California. From what we can ascertain, it appears that Stargrove is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades fighter. There isn't one particular area that he excels in, instead he is solid everywhere, and that is what may cause problems for Maglayon. Whatever Maglayon decides to do in this fight, Stargrove should be able to compete. If Maglayon keeps it standing, Stargrove will oblige, if Maglayon wants to go to the ground, Stargrove will be comfortable. Fighting an opponent like this makes game planning much harder, but it should give all the fans in attendance a more competitive and exciting fight. I think this fight is going to be extremely close, but Maglayon's experience may just win it for him. Jeff's Prediction: Rico Maglayon by Decision Fight Eight: Rick Rich vs. Paul Ribiero. Epic FC has been open for a couple of months now, and we feel like it is about time that we started putting fighters in contention for title shots. Therefore, it has been decided that the winner of Rick Rich (2-0) vs. Paul Ribiero (2-1) will go on to fight for the title sometime in the next month. Rich came to Epic FC as an 0-0 MMA newcomer, but quickly put together consecutive submission wins to show that he belongs on top of the division. His opponent Paul Ribiero is also a submission fighter, and has also gone 2-0 in Epic FC, with both wins coming by submission. On top of this, Ribiero has collected two "of the night" awards so far; a fight of the night at "Hanks vs. Czech" and a submission of the night award at "Hanks vs. Kovacevic". With both of these men having won 100% of their fights by submission, it seems highly likely that this fight will hit the ground sooner rather than later. I would predict that the outcome of this fight is going to come down to whoever is able to land the most takedowns and secure top position for the longer periods of time. In the fights we have seen so far from these guys, it has been Rick Rich that has been most successful with his takedowns. In fact, Ribiero's takedown success rate is surprisingly low, and that could very well factor in to the result of this fight. Jeff's Prediction: Rick Rich by Submission Fight Nine: Will Ferrell vs. Daniel "Ramos" Sasquatch. The winner of the Rich vs. Ribiero fight is going to be awarded a title shot in our under 170lb division, and in our co-main event of the evening, two over 170lb fighters compete to move one step closer to a title shot of their own. Will Ferrell (2-1) impressed us in his last fight, in which he came back from losing the first round to turn things around and finish strongly. In the end, his ground and pound was simply too much for his opponent. In fight nine on this card, Ferrell takes on the undefeated Daniel Sasquatch (3-0), who is 2-0 in Epic FC and has won both of those fights by Kimura. In his two fights so far, Sasquatch has shown us that he is extremely well-rounded. Against Darren Barrow he showed some excellent high kicks, powerful takedowns, accurate ground and pound, and then finished with a submission. In his next fight against Toni Valtonen, he again mixed it up well by combining standing strikes, lots of takedowns, ground and pound and a submission finish. It is only early in Sasquatch's career, but already he looks as if he has a bright future ahead of him. Will he be able to continue that against Will Ferrell in the co-main event? If he can, a title shot will probably be on the horizon for him. Jeff's Prediction: Daniel Sasquatch by TKO Main Event: Thomaz "Damn It Feels Good To Be" Taylor vs. Sorgi "Killbox" Kartov. This time last week, Sorgi Kartov (9-5) was getting himself ready for a huge main event against Thor Omega. Unfortunately I was unable to do an event preview for that card due to illness, but if I had, I would have almost certainly predicted that Kartov would lose. On paper, Omega was just too technically good, but on the night, there was a huge shock. Kartov may have been the underdog, but you wouldn't have thought it from watching the fight. He used his striking versatility to brutalise Omega over the course of thirty minutes, and easily walked out as the victor. So impressed were we, that we immediately gave Kartov the chance to fight again on our next card. Kartov was game, but we then needed to find an opponent for him. The call went out, and up stepped Thomaz Taylor (7-3). Taylor is managed by the legendary Big Boss, and has flown all the way from Tokyo especially to take this fight. We are extremely grateful to him for helping fill our main event, and we hope that both guys can raise their stock with a quality performance. Once again, on paper, it looks as if Sorgi Kartov is the underdog, but we know this time not to underestimate him and rule him out completely. I'm sure this fight is going to be a lot closer than it looks, but I still give Taylor the edge. Jeff's Prediction: Thomaz Taylor by Decision Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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