2015-11-17
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Slaughterhouse 7 Preview

Slaughterhouse FC, Fight Organization, Las Vegas
Company profile by Donald Canmore

SLAUGHTERHOUSE 7 PREVIEW

 

UNDERCARD

 

Ryan Genningsunit v Dominick Snooze – 135 lbs

 

Two wrestlers making their Slaughterhouse debut in this bantamweight matchup. Not too much is known about either fighter making this a hard one to predict. Genningsunit hails from New York and has made two career appearances so far, one win and one loss; Snooze is a Californian with an MMA record of one prior appearance – a submission win via kneebar. Both fighters are 25 years of age. The lack of tape to work with is a mixed blessing for both fighters; neither will know what to predict from the other and the winner of this bout may well be determined by who has the higher fight IQ and the ability to adapt as the matchup unfolds. The victor? Who knows, but if I had to pick between the two I would give Genningunit a small edge as he has faced slightly tougher opposition in his prior outings.

 

Prediction: Genningsunit by decision.

 

Dawid Dzingis Han v Joe Johnson – 265+ lbs

 

Another fight between two competitors making their Slaughterhouse debut. Very little is known about Joe Johnson, this is not only his first appearance in Slaughterhouse but his first MMA fight ever. The only information we have to go on is what his coaches have told us, which is that he is a well balanced fighter who is itching to mark his inaugural appearance with a win. Dawid Dzingis Han is a Polish mixed martial artist who specialises in wrestling and BJJ. He has an MMA record of 4-0, three wins via submission and one unanimous decision. His last fight ended a mere 36 seconds into the bout with Han successfully applying the Kimura from side control. Han's prowess on the ground is unquestionable, but there are big questions over his standup ability – he has been so successful in shooting for takedowns that his opponents have barely had a chance to test Han on his feet. Unless Johnson has a hidden ace up his sleeve, chances are he will want to play away from his opponent's strengths and keep this fight standing.

 

Prediction: Han by first round submission.

 

David McFadden v Walter Black – 185 lbs

 

David McFadden is a 23 year old hailing from the Granite City, Scotland. In technical terms, McFadden is an outstanding fighter with exceptional Muay Thai and well rounded understanding of the other aspects of the game. However, he has a tendency to cut and his chin is somewhat suspect – his MMA record thus far is 0-4, although it is worth noting that all of those fights have been against high caliber opposition. Unfortunately for McFadden, this is not going to be an easy matchup either. Walter Black is 26 years of age and is primarily a ground fighter but like McFadden is also more than capable on his feet. He has a record of 8-2, with one no contest – of those eight victories, seven came via knockout. Given his wrestling background it would be easy to assume that those knockouts come from pummelling his opponents with ground and pound, but no – the majority of those knockouts actually come from Black standing on his feet. Make no mistake, this lad can pack a punch. And that is precisely what I predict will happen in this bout, McFadden will display his technical excellence before Black catches him with a monster punch dropping him to the floor.

 

Prediction: Black by first round KO.

 

Billy Bulge v Neil Murray – 205 lbs

 

This is a light heavyweight matchup between two very evenly matched fighters. Both Bulge and Murray suffered defeat the last time the entered the arena so this should be a real battle of determination and heart as both fighters seek to return to winning ways. Bulge is a versatile fighter who likes to take his opponents into the clinch, he is also more than capable of grinding an opponent down with ground and pound and his ability to deliver kicks to the legs and body is underrated. His opponent prefers to keep the fight on the outside where his boxing skills can truly shine, Murray seldom tends to mix it up but when you possess his sort of power in the punch why would you? Six of Murray's seven victories have come via knockout. Murray will have learnt a valuable lesson the last time he appeared in Slaughterhouse when he took one Kocoa Ebone into the clinch and found himself out cold less than a minute later, so expect him to keep this one on the outside at all costs. Bulge will be looking to close the distance and make things as uncomfortable as possible for Murray, if takedown opportunities present themselves expect Bulge to try and take this fight to the floor. Hard one to call, but I think Murray's knockout power might just give him the edge.

 

Prediction: Murray by second round KO.

 

Cappy Christian v Jared Tillion – 170 lbs

 

Muay Thai specialist vs. wrestler, as Cappy Christian seeks to rebound from his title fight loss against Kezz The Convict by taking on Slaughterhouse newcomer Jared Tillion. Christian will have been absolutely devastated to lose his last fight in the manner he did; by all accounts he was far ahead on the scorecards having subjected the current champion to a series of nasty looking elbows and knees before finding himself on the wrong end of a triangle submission in the fourth round. Christian will be fired up for this fight and that could spell bad news for the Norwegian on his debut. Tillion possesses an MMA record of 8-2 with most of his wins coming via ground and pound. The expectation is that Tillion will shoot for the takedown early and often as he seeks to avoid the striking prowess of the veteran. At 37 years of age some might be beginning to question how well Christian's body and chin are holding up, but so far he has shown no evidence of decline and I suspect Christian's standup ability will prove too much for the newcomer.

 

Prediction: Christian by first round KO.

 

Harley Crowe v Howard Stern – 185 lbs

 

Another fascinating matchup for the cards. Both fighters are skilled Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners; Stern is a black belt with an MMA record of 13-5 while Crowe possesses a red belt with a record of 18-9. Stern comes into this fight fresh of a win against Nyffe Pehmytkudos in his Slaughterhouse debut and he will look to continue that trend here. Crowe will be making his first appearance under the Slaughterhouse banner. It is also worth noting that this is Crowe's first fight under new management, so it will be interesting to see if there are any significant adjustments to Crowe's usual gameplan. I would expect this fight to find its way to the ground early on – Crowe has an excellent takedown success rate and Stern doesn't tend to dedicate much time to takedown defence as he prefers to operate on the floor anyway. Both fighters will be looking for submissions (between them they have notched up a total of eight submission of the night awards) but with both opponents being so well versed in Jiu Jitsu this fight may go to a decision. A knockout is not of the question – five of Crowe's victories have come via KO, although Stern is no slouch either when it comes to the standup game. For the technical purists out there this will definitely be one to watch.

 

Prediction: Crowe by decision.

 

Kezz The Convict v Sweet Jones – 170 lbs title fight

 

Kezz The Convict has notched up thirteen straight wins and the Brit will be looking to make it fourteen here as he seeks to defend his welterweight title. Although it looked like he had met his match in his last outing, Kezz snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a fourth round submission of Cappy Christian to retain the belt. The challenger for this matchup is 25 year old Sweet Jones who hails from the Bahamas; a talented boxer, Jones will undoubtedly be looking to keep this fight standing although, unlike Kezz's last opponent, Jones also possesses a solid background in BJJ so (at least in theory) should be much harder to submit. Kezz thrives off submissions so if the challenger can prevent this fight going to the ground that may well swing this matchup in his favour. Jones has a three inch height advantage which will play to his strengths while the fight remains standing but must remember to keep those long limbs tucked in if Kezz does manage to secure the takedown. I quite like Jones' chances here, Kezz looked somewhat exposed in the standup phase last time and if Jones can capitalise on that he is in with a good shout. Both fighters have chins of granite so cardio may play an important role here if the fight goes through to the championship rounds.

 

Prediction: Jones by decision.

 

Peyton Rudger v Eli Frankham – 265+ lbs

 

A battle of the atlantic as Lincolnshire lad Eli Frankham takes on New York's Peyton Rudger in this super heavyweight matchup. Both fighters like to operate out of the clinch where they can use their natural Muay Thai and wrestling abilities to the full advantage so expect this fight to go close and personal. Bar their countries of origin, these fighters actually have a lot in common – Rudger is 26, Frankham 25 and both are making their Slaughterhouse debut following their exits in the recent heavyweight tournament at The Island. With no weight limit in this bout, Rudger will be coming in at 265 lbs while Frankham enters the ring at his natural weight of 280 lbs – these are some big guys and an early knockout seems like a distinct possibility. This is a tough one to call as both these fighters have the ability to send their opponent out cold, but Frankham might just have the edge – he has shown tremendous striking defence in his previous matchups and has barely been bruised, his sole loss coming by way of submission.

 

Prediction: Frankham by first round KO.

 

CO-MAIN EVENT

Andriy Kuzmenko v Reijo Rento – 265 lbs

 

Two KO machines come head to head in our co-main event of the evening. 25 year old Ukranian, Andriy Kuzmenko, looks to avenge his loss against current heavyweight champ Magnus Cross with a victory over 30 year old Finn, Reijo Rento. Rento might be an even tougher opponent than cross though and the former LFC champ will be looking to start his Slaughterhouse career off with a bang as he seeks to make his mark on the heavyweight division. Rento likes to take his opponents into the clinch before dropping them to the mat and rearranging their facial features with some brutal ground and pound. Kuzmenko also likes to work in the clinch and will actively be looking to target the head throughout this bout; he rarely goes for body shots, preferring to rattle opponents chins with those fists of steel.

 

For this matchup Kuzmenko may prefer to take on the role of outside fighter. Rento is undoubtedly a threat on his feet, but perhaps even more so on the ground. Although he doesn't tend to go for submissions, the BJJ black belt will happily use his superior knowledge of grappling to transition to superior positions – keeping this fight standing will be a priority for the younger Ukrainian. Kuzmenko has the potential to deliver a knockout blow at any point in this match so Rento will need to maintain concentration throughout, but with the Finn's more rounded abilities and four inch height advantage I think Rento will take this one.

 

Prediction: Rento by first round KO.

 

MAIN EVENT

Magnus Cross v Connor Mac Burns – 265 lbs title fight

 

Our main event of the evening sees heavyweight champion Magnus Cross take on Irish boxer Connor Mac Burns. Cross is 23 years of age and is chalking up win after win as he seeks to maintain his dominance at the top of the division. A standup fighter with immense power behind his punches, Cross' fights never go the distance – thirty three appearances so far and almost all have gone by way of KO, and more often than not it's Cross who is doing the knocking out. Cross doesn't really tend to mix it up, he doesn't throw kicks and, although he's taken opponents to the floor on occasion, his gameplan primarily revolves around those lethal punches. And with all twenty three of his victories coming via knockout it's not hard to see why. Amusingly Cross has made four appearances in kickboxing bouts, where he has simply beaten the living daylights out of his opponents using his fists – kicking be damned. The Australian isn't too happy about this matchup, complaining on buzz that Burns isn't deserving of a title shot so expect Cross to come out all guns blazing as he seeks to prove a point.

 

Meanwhile Burns will be relishing his first title fight. The 24 year old Irish man is a talented boxer with a well rounded ground game to back up his striking prowess. With an MMA record of 8-5, this will be his second appearance at Slaughterhouse. Burns shows versatility in the standup game and likes to mix in leg kicks which can wear an opponent down over the course of the fight, however he has looked vulnerable in the clinch and this is one area the champion may well seek to exploit. He has shown an ability to operate on the ground with three of his eight wins coming via submission, so it will be interesting to see if he plays away from his natural boxing tendencies and tries to take this fight to the floor. It's worth mentioning that Cross stands a massive fourteen inches taller than the Irish man so Burns may well seek to turn this into a slugfest in order to nullify that substantial reach advantage – staying on the outside is not a viable strategy in this instance.

 

Arguably, Burns is the more well rounded fighter and certainly is a prospect to watch for the future, but in this instance I think Cross will simply be too much for the contender. The combination of knockout power and vastly superior reach should enable Cross to dictate and ultimately dominate this fight. If Burns can take this fight to the ground he is in with a chance, but with this fight scheduled for five rounds I predict the champion will find the final knockout blow sooner or later and be walking home with the belt come the end of the night.

 

Prediction: Cross by second round KO.

 

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