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UNFC61: May Vs Hong attracted a full house of Tokyo fight fans on Saturday June 6 to witness a solid event of some of the organizations best strikers. There were 5 finishers and 5 fights that went the distance in an event sponsored by Tokyo’s most recognized clothing company, Sun-Tzu.
Both the main and co-main events went to the judge’s scorecards, giving the fans their monies worth time-wise and skill-wise in a main card stacked with stand-up battles any spectator that favoured striking was sure to enjoy, including a hearty TKO and frenzied Submission due to strikes.
Let’s get into it and take a closer look at how things went down.
[Main Event] May def Hong by Unanimous Decision (29-28 x3)
Brad May (11-1) kept his fine form alive and pushed closer to a light-heavyweight title bout after he earned himself the #1 contender spot with a dominant third round effort, and unanimous decision victory. That’s 4 straight and 11 out of 12 for the #8 ranked UNFC P4P fighter, 4-1 with Tokyo’s finest.
Mayday came out on top in what turned out to be a battle of Muay Thai strikers as he landed 33 total kicks (56%) compared to Hong’s 15 (31%), and also managed to land more punches (28) compared to his world class striking opponent (21).
The fight never hit the ground nor did they attempt to take it in close and work in the clinch. We only saw a single takedown attempt, both men happy to stand at distance and trade strikes in a technical 3 round battle.
Antoni Kristofer Hong (9-3) had the better rated grappling skillset coming in, and it may have been better if he used it more throughout the fight, yet he stuck with his hands. May was up to the challenge, causing Hong to land only 31% of his punches whilst dishing out an impressive 75% of his own.
The Filipino did throw more strikes (113) overall than May (95), but landed less (36) than the Canadian (61) who showed better agility, speed and striking defence to take the first and last rounds according to the judges and open an early cut to ease his chances.
Brad May thanked his opponent afterwards for a good fight, before confirming his ambition to keep moving toward the light-heavyweight gold. “[I want to fight] Anybody that's higher than me in the standings. Why? Because ultimately I want to have a go for the belt, that's the only reason I'm here.”
Antoni Kristofer Hong fought his last fight for the foreseeable future with UNFC this past weekend, his manager confirming the news later that his client won’t be stepping in the cage again with Tokyo’s most recognized fighting organization.
“He is very grateful for the opportunity Scott Park has given him. As he moves forward he will always carry UNFC's and Tokyo’s name. Again we thank Scott Park and the UNFC staff for taking care of Antoni Kristofer Hong.” Topo Topologies said to the waiting media post-fight regarding his fighter.
Given the current divisional standings, May’s next opponent could be a rematch with #3 contender Marlo Karlo for an opportunity to face the winner of Trevor Reznick v Chesney Page in this Friday’s headliner. Even though May wants to face someone higher, beating Karlo would even their rivalry and solidify his spot as the undisputed #1 contender.
It could also be a straight title shot, yet he’d have to wait till the next time the 205 lbs champ is booked to defend the gold. If he’s not one for waiting, Karlo looks a solid main or co-main event matchup to keep things ticking over, yet a loss could have the FinnFighters member lose his chance at the champ.
[Co-Main Event] Hell def Pennypacker by Unanimous Decision (29-28 x3)
Raise Hell (10-2) got off to a good start in an eventual judge’s decision win in which the #1 UNFC middleweight contender clocked his 5th decision victory with the organization. He equalled Alex Alvarez and Malcolm Mitchell for second place on the ‘Most decision wins in org’ list.
AG Pennypacker (10-3-1) got rocked by the precision striking of Hell, a good right hand connecting and a mix of kicks taking the New Yorker off his feet and the fight to the ground very early on. Pennypacker’s resilience showed as he came back to take the second, but the final round went the way of his opponent.
Besides the early knockdown and a third round takedown from Hell, the fight had a good amount of striking as was anticipated. Hell landed 30 of 69 (43%) total strikes compared to Pennypacker’s 34 of 83 (40%), and both mixed in a decent amount of leg kicks to keep things interesting.
The fight edged toward the eventual winner, Hell, with his time on top on the ground. The first round knockdown follow-up and a timely third and final round takedown, which turned into a wet blanket session, pushed the decision in his favour. Otherwise, Pennypacker got the better of the stand-up.
The win gives Raise Hell his 4th straight victory, 10th overall and the American is now 8-2 with UNFC and sits just outside the top 10 P4P fighters in the organization at #13. The Broken Halo Pride allied member came into the bout as the #1 ranked middleweight and with the champ currently without a bout, we may just see the two duke it out next for the title.
AG Pennypacker retains his #3 spot in the 185 lbs division, yet Aznar Thrul has found some good form and with a win in his next appearance he’d more than likely push past Industrious. Given Thrul’s win on the night, the two facing one another next time out for the #3 spot could also be likely.
Farniev def Madhaki by Submission (Strikes) at 03:21 of Round 1
Debutant Batraz Farniev (7-2) technically added a submission victory to his near perfect TKO to wins record (6 from 7), as he continued his dominant ground and pound success. He chalked his third first round finish to enter the top 10 UNFC light-heavyweight contenders list at #8.
A quick takedown started things, the Russian then patiently worked his way into full mount and smashed away with his heavy hands until Madhaki couldn’t take the onslaught any further. Madhaki tapped himself out to his first ever pro MMA loss.
Josh Madhaki (8-1) wasn’t able to stuff Farniev’s takedown, and as a result the gifted boxer was unable to handle the ground pressure from his opponent. Before the mount, Madhaki defended the ground and pound quite well, overall denying 11 of 16 attempts, but the difference in grappling and ground skill eventually took its toll.
As Farniev improves his position in the standings on his first time out in front of Tokyo’s fight fans, he made it clear to the rest of the division he was on a path straight to the top. “I'm coming back guys to be champ, so take it easy.”
Madhaki came into the fight in a respectable place in the division at #11, yet with his first round loss he takes a tumble to the outer fringes of the 205 lbs top 15 rankings (#16).
Both fighters have ample time to make a splash with UNFC, and “Heartless” Josh Madhaki shouldn’t be too concerned about losing. It’s his first loss since he began his career and after fighting with MMA Helsinki he’s facing much tougher opponents.
Batraz Farniev is already in the top 10 of the division with his first fight and his game-plan is quite solid. There are many great grapplers and BJJ specialists in the 205 lbs division, so he’ll have some good competition as aims for the top.
Thrul def Rose by Unanimous Decision (29-28 x2, 30-27)
In a 3 round judge’s win, Aznar Thrul (6-4) bounced back from his previous loss to Raise Hell to record his 3rd hand raise with UNFC, 6th overall and 1st judge’s nod, in which the Spaniard showcased his superior wrestling skills.
“The Amazing” Thrul used his grappling to take the fight where he wanted; a perfect 6 from 6 takedowns evidence he was the stronger of the two when it came down to it and his size also a factor when you compare the fighters.
Axl Rose (4-3) did land more punches (18 – 5) and got some solid shots in when they clinched but the American just couldn’t keep the fight standing long enough or do enough on the ground to pull out a win. He did land a nice hook to cut Thrul open in the first round, but wasn’t able to do any more damage than that.
Thrul’s takedowns, time on top and ground strikes landed (9 of 17) were enough to have the judges rule in his favour. Rose did get points from referees Shigeki Sano and Yasuomi Hirokawa’s for the first round, most likely due to the cut and striking, but beyond that it was all The Bomb Squad’s representative.
Thrul is now the #4 contender to the UNFC middleweight title with his win. He’s a slither behind AG Pennypacker in the short-stacked 185 lbs division and has won his last 4 of 5 bouts as well as 3 of 4 since joining UNFC.
When asked about his thoughts on the current division, this is what Thrul had to say: “They are on borrowed time, I am on my way up [and] they are on their way down.” He also made it clear who he’d like to fight next. “Terry Opdauhl. It is a good fight that I've wanted since signing with UNFC.”
Terry Opdauhl is a place behind Thrul in the divisional standings, yet does face Remy LeBeau this Friday at UNFC62. A win for Terry could see him pass Thrul in rank, and the two could meet sooner rather than later. A word to Scott Park or an official call-out may even quicken the process.
Rose did have a little to say post-fight that did allude to the difference in strength in the fight. He said: “I need to hit the gym, I feel like my physicals are slightly behind those of my peers.” Since UNFC61, Rose has parted ways with manager Aylib 2.0.
McGuiness def Hawk by TKO (Strikes) at 01:07 of Round 3
James McGuiness (12-10-1) has notched back-to-back wins for the 5th time in his career. In a fight that most likely had him down on points, McGuiness showed great heart and his superior boxing skills to light up his opponent for the TKO stoppage.
The first two rounds went the way of Thomas Hawk (8-5-1) who landed more strikes overall (34) than McGuiness (23), had better accuracy (49%) than his opponent (39%), landed more kicks (12 to 0), controlled the clinch, got the only takedown of the fight and spent more time on top on the ground.
Enter the third round and the Irishman’s hands made the first two redundant, a left right combination rocking and sending the American crashing to the mat. Moments later a massive overhand right gave Hawk a return ticket to the UNFC canvas, this time Sully followed and made sure he wasn’t getting back up.
James McGuiness makes it 3-1 with Tokyo’s leading fighting promotion and moves just outside the top 10 contenders in the welterweight division, taking the #11 spot. The Dublin born also adds another TKO to his record and makes it 11 of 12 wins by way of his well respected boxing credentials.
After all was said and done, Hawk called out McGuiness for a few more rounds after the event, saying: “Nice job James, I need a beer, your treat”. Obviously no hard feelings for Tommie on the spectacular comeback win for his opponent; he goes 2-2 since his stint started with UNFC and drops to the #15 spot in the 170 lbs division.
McGuiness is steadily climbing and edging his way toward the best form of his career. If he can manage time between his drinking establishment and training, he may just surpass what he’s previously done and even surprise himself.
Undercard
The prelims had more than half of the event’s finishers including two first round victories. One was for Kalle Palikka (7-5) over #13 ranked UNFC welterweight Eduardo Silva (7-7) with a vicious series of hooks. Palikka recorded his 1st TKO victory and put Silva on 3 straight losses.
The other was the following fight when debutant Rocky Austin (6-2) KO’d #14 ranked UNFC heavyweight Don Machete (6-6) with a nicely timed counter right-left combo, then a thunderous right hook that had Machete out cold. Austin now has 6 TKO finishes in 6 wins, 5 in the first round.
We also saw Dixie Small (3-1) take matters into his own hands in the final round in a very close fight, knocking out Jimmy Johns (6-6-1) from some heavy ground and pound in the guard position for his 2nd win with UNFC.
The first two fights on the card went the way of decisions, including Frane Harm (4-2) decisively over Hubert De La Bath (1-1) and Cornelius Berkeley (2-0) comfortably over Pete Damato Jr (0-2). Harm and Berkeley both start their UNFC careers with a win, whilst their opponents get the short end of the judges stick in their respective UNFC debuts.
Undercard short results:
Small def Johns by KO (strikes) at 02:55 of Round 3
Austin def Machete by KO (Punches) at 02:49 of Round 1
Palikka def Silva by TKO (Punches) at 02:37 of Round 1
Harm def De La Bath by Unanimous Decision (30-25 x2, 30-27)
Berkeley def Damato Jr by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-28, 29-28)
UNFC60 sponsors:
Sun-Tzu: The fight gear spawned from the greatest battles on earth, punched to perfection by shaolin monks to outlast mankind.
Sponsorship is available with Sun-Tzu for all UNFC Tokyo fighters. Get in touch with owner ‘The Philosopher’ to represent Tokyo’s #1 clothing company. Sponsorship deals are available for both new and old fighters.
Coming up:
UNFC62: Reznick Vs Page, Friday June 12 at Shinjuku Indoor Arena, Tokyo.
UNFC63: Camacho Vs Mitchell, Saturday June 13 at Shinjuku Indoor Arena, Tokyo.
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