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Main event, Bantamweight title fight: Sean Tallon 19-9 (3-3 EVO) v Viktor Tsoi 21-5 (6-0 EVO)
Viktor Tsoi has cemented himself as one of the best bantamweights of all time, and is now laying the foundation for a claim to be one of the greatest fighters of his generation. The man has virtually no holes in his game, his grappling has always been one of the main tools in Tsoi's arsenal with many of his early wins being submissions. As his career has progressed we have seen him develop a lethal striking game which has shown in his last five fights where he's stopped his opponents with striking alone.
Facing off against him on saturday though, is one of the few fighters who it could be claimed have a better striking pedigree than Tsoi. Tallon is a former EFFA and CEC champion, so it goes without saying he is one of the best kick boxers in the world. The big questionmark has been his grappling, his last loss where he lost the CEC belt, was a split decision where the grappling of Titan Rain edged him the fight. After that loss though he has looked phenomenal walking through the top contenders of the Evo bantamweight division before crowning his winning streak with an impressive decision win over current Syn champion Geralt of Rivia.
The last time these two fought Tallon showed he had the edge with his technical striking in the first round, but in the second round Tsoi clipped him and never let him recover, I think that the main difference between these two fighters is that Tsoi can probably hold his own against Tallon in the striking game with a slight edge to Tallon, while Tallon will have a hard time on the ground if Tsoi gets a dominant position.
Keys to victory
Tallon: Kicks, he has to destroy Tsoi's body and feet, weaken his shoot and wear him down on his feet.
Tsoi: He has to mix it up, he can give as good as he takes on the feet, and is always a threatening opponent on the ground. If he can keep Tallon worried about the takedowns his striking will be that much more effective.
Co-Main event, Bantamweight: Uebishe Lesnoe 32-6 (1-1 EVO) v Dzuzaska Guzman 34-12 (5-3 EVO)
In a match that's quite possibly a title eliminator to fight whoever comes out victorious in the main event two men with scores to settle have one more hurdle to pass before getting a chance at redemption.
Lesnoe lost his Evo debut in a grueling five round fight against current #1 contender Sean Tallon, while Guzman got knocked out by current champion Viktor Tsoi, so both men should be fired up to get a shot to avenge their last losses and possible add a new belt to their wardrobe in the near future.
Neither fighter should look past their opponent on this card though, as Lesnoe is one of the most lethal grapplers in the Bantamweight division today, the BJJ black belts last two stoppage wins where by Triangle, but he's also shown an excellent understanding of the finer points of the striking game.
He's become a real tough nut to crack and having won four of his last five matches he is coming in to this fight confident as ever.
While Guzman is no slouch on the ground, Lesnoe is on another level, Guzman's strength is his striking, which he showcased when he won his last fight with a devastating first round knockout, he will be looking to do the same to Lesnoe in this fight, but will have a hard time of it as the Lithuanian grappler has never been knocked out in his 46 fight career.
Keys to victory
Lesnoe: Being someone with an iron chin he can take more chances than most grapplers could vs a striker of Guzman's level, I'm expecting him to engage in striking and look for an opening to get the fight to the ground where he has the marked advantage.
Guzman: Punch him in the head, it sounds simple, but that really should be the extent to his gameplan. Outwork Lesnoe in the striking game, avoid his takedowns and he should be getting the decision.
Super heavyweight title fight: Holy Jenova 28-11 (8-2 EVO) v Rockford Knight 36-11 (12-6 EVO)
This is a big fight, between big men, with big hands and questionable chins. Betting on a decision in this fight would give you great odds with no return. These two fighters have almost 600 pounds, 51 knockout wins and 18 knockout losses between them. With these numbers in mind I think we can easily establish what will happen in this fight. Both these giant fighters will tee off in the middle of the cage, possibly go to the clinch and not end until at least one of these beasts of nature has received some good old fashioned traumatic brain injury.
Both fighters are previous title contenders in Evo and share three title fights between them against now retired former champion Rinky Spider. With the super heavyweight belt recently vacated this is the perfect time for one of these two gentlemen to take the step up and get a hold of one of the most coveted items in MMA, the Evolution championship belt.
Keys to victory
This fight is too close to call, and it will likely come down to who connects cleanly first, fight of the night?
Featherweight: Grin Ribber 14-4 (6-1 EVO) v Burt The Hurt 23-10-1 (5-1-1 EVO)
In a more stylistic matchup we have submission specialist Grin Ribber vs striker Burt The Hurt.
Ribber is on quite a winning streak, after losing his Evo debut in a very close decision he's racked up six impressive wins in a row, propelling him towards the upper echelon of the Evo featherweight rankings. The Hurt on the other hand came back with a win after breaking a seven fight undefeated streak against the former #1 contender Edward Scissorhands. No doubt he will be looking to string two together come saturday.
Ribber is as mentioned a submission specialist, he's got eight stoppages under his belt, seven of which are submissions, the BJJ black belt has shown himself to be adept on his feet, it is however on the ground he has earned himself the impressive winning streak.
Hurt on the other hand relies on his boxing and wrestling to grind people down, he takes his opponents out of their comfort zone using overwhelming them with punches then grabbing a hold of them, pushing their back into the cage and then punching them in the head some more.
Keys to victory
Ribber: It's simple, we take The Hurt down, simple in theory at least, on the ground Ribber has a huge advantage so to be successful his takedowns have to be crisp.
Hurt: With sixteen knockouts under his belt Hurt's options are A) punch him in the head or b) punch him really hard in the head, look for him to try to overwhelm Ribber and finish the fight early.
Light Heavyweight: Jimmy Hyatt 27-12-1 (3-1 EVO) v Tonton Hong 27-13 (0-1 EVO)
22 knockout wins in 27 fights are scary numbers if you're Jimmy Hyatt, Tonton Hong's pedigree as an elite level striker are undeniable, however he has shown that he has developed a decent ground game and often uses his newfound skills to broaden his arsenal and take the fight away from his opponent's stronger areas.
Regardless of Hong's pedigree though, Hyatt is also an elite level strike in his own right, while he's not a knockout artist at the same level his striking and work in the clinch is scarily accurate. He's also shown some mastery of the ground game, but it's his excellent striking abilities that have made him a top level competitor today and it is what he is going to use when he tries to defend that status on saturday.
Keys to victory
Hyatt: Hyatt has shown much better work in the clinch in his last few fights than Hong, I expect them to trade and Hyatt to try and get the fight to the clinch where he offers some excellent dirty boxing.
Hong: His knockout power is simply too stupid to overlook, one shot is all he needs and it is what will be the deciding factor should he win this fight.
Undercard:
Light heavyweight: Rauli Raunio 12-7 (3-2 EVO) v Tyson Kahn 19-10 (EVO debut)
Making his Evo debut is Tyson Kahn, a well established fighter from the Ackmerican fight circuit, the man has won four of his last five fights in Syn and is looking to come to europe and make an impression, mostly on Raunio's face.
Raunio has three wins in his last five and haven't had the greatest of time since debuting in Evo, the knockout artist is hoping that his phenomenal fists will prove the deciding factor and make Kahn's debut in europe a short one he would soon enough forget.
Featherweight: Marc Spector 8-3 (5-2 EVO) v Tuju Kilju 25-6-1 (7-4-1 EVO)
Both these fighters are beginning to become veterans in the Evo featherweight division, spector is coming off a loss while Tuju has lost three fights in a row now after coming painfully close to a title shot. Both these well rounded fighters want to turn their careers around and get the W, but only one can get it.
Featherweight: Richmond Finch 26-12-2 (9-8-1) v Boyd McGuire 15-8-2 (5-2 EVO)
Finch's career has taken a big drop off as of late, the 34 year old Canadian first lost his shot at the lightweight belt, then lost his own featherweight title, and then three more fights in a row racking up a five fight losing streak.
Quite a fall from grace from a fighter once thought of as a contender for the #1 P4P crown. Now he's back to his winning ways winning two of his last five. Facing off against him is 29 year old American Boyd McGuire who's one of the up and comers of Evo's 145 division having won four of his last five.
Light heavyweight: Winston Hughes 9-4-1 (0-1 EVO) v Feodor Shemelianenko 16-11-1 (2-2 EVO)
Hughes crashed hard in his Evo debut, the knockout artist got overpowered standing, in the clinch and on the ground, now he's looking to make up for some lost time by taking on one of Evo's gatekeepers in Feodor Shemelianenko. Feodor is coming off a split decision win, but is hoping for a more dominant performance on saturday seeing this big step up in competition.
Middleweight: Pops Maellard 11-5 (2-3 EVO) v Zeus Obliteratii 7-2 (EVO debut)
In the first fight of the night Zeus Obliteratii is making his EVO debut, the man ran up a four fight winning streak in UPG, and now that theyve shut down their doors he is taking his services to one of the truly elite organizations in MMA to prove his skills.
His opponent Maellard has lost three of his last five and is really in dire need of a win here on saturday to stay relevant in such a competitive organization.
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