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 Tonight on MMA Hype, Jared Asante and Brett Clarke are having a beer at Wild Bob’s Bar in Los Angeles, discussing LFC 4 that will be held this Saturday. This will be LFC’s last official event held at Wild Bob’s, since they will be moving to a bigger venue afterwards.
Here’s Jared and Brett.
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Jared Asante: Good evening ladies and gentlemen! We are currently sipping on a beer at Wild Bob’s, and man are we excited to talk about LFC 4 tonight. I feel like the LFC just started yesterday, but we already see familiar faces on the fight card, since some fighters are at their 2nd LFC fight.
Brett Clarke: Yes, and that’s really impression when you think about it. There’s even a fighter, Johnny Kane, who fought 2 weeks ago at LFC 2, who’s looking to get his 4th straight win in just over a month. That right there is the kind of fighter that any fight organization owner wants to have in his roster.
Jared: The LFC roster in general is pretty great from what I’ve heard from owner James Listerman. He said that a lot of fighters have been asking to fight more often than not, which makes it way easier on matchmaking. It’s just a matter of time before he plans title fights for each divisions.
Brett: About title fights, I actually had a conversation with Listerman regarding that. The championship belts are almost ready, he should get them really soon, and he’s planning to start those title fights sooner than later. He originally said that LFC 10 would be a good event to host a couple, but chances are it will be sooner.
Anyways, let’s talk about the LFC 4 fight card now.
265 - Richard Ramirez v John Gacy
Brett: John Gacy has the weirdest start to a MMA career I ever seen. 1-0-2, the guy needs to get either a winning or losing streaks, because all those draws will most likely ruin his mental game. Being a really small heavyweight and, not really important, but big musicals fan, he will need to use his speed to control the fight. He hasn’t shown anything out of the ordinary, but the potential is there.
Richard Ramirez will be a tough opponent. Only 1 fight to show in his career as of now, but it took him just under a minute to beat up an intelligent brawler. Ramirez looks like he can be very powerful on the ground, so expect a quick takedown following by some ground and pound from him.
Jared: Gacy needs to buy himself some clothes man. Those whities he’s been wearing are really not helping his morale, he didn’t look 100% last time I saw him.
170 - Jason Landings v Brodie Nickoson
Brett: Two welterweights making their pro debut. Jason Landings is coming off as a well rounded MMA fighter. For those who don’t know him yet, he’s known as “The Viking” in his hometown of Turku in Finland. I was talking with one of the coaches at Midnight MMA in New York, and he was saying that Landings is a very tough matchup, since he’s unpredictable, whether it’s standing or on the ground.
We’ll see if that means anything when he faces Brodie Nickoson on Saturday night. Nickoson has been bragging his wrestling quite a bit lately. He’s done a lot of wrestling sparring and wants to take the fight to the ground, which is where he says he’ll be dominant. He sure will be happy to be back in his native country, since he’s been living in Tokyo for quite a long time now.
Jared: It’s always an interesting fight when 2 fighters make their MMA debut one against another. You can’t predict anything and always judge by looking at their physical build. Those guys are almost identical in terms of physical shape, so I’m unbiased.
170 - Calvin Lowder v Dick Jawbreak
Brett: On a scale of Lowder to Jawbreak, how do I describe this matchup? Dick Jawbreak will be the elder of a couple years, but will be the smallest foe. He’s won 2 fights via armbar, and that under 3 minutes of total time inside the cage. Some will say about him that he didn’t gain enough experience, and that if he find a durable opponent, it might be a totally different outcome.
We will see that, since he’s facing Calvin Lowder, who’s been known for having quite the solid chin. Lowder also classifies himself as a grappler first, even though he lost his first pro fight via submission, he’s dominated and out-grappled his opponent in his last fight, winning via an impressive RNC.
Jared: I feel like both fighters still need a few fights in before we can really tell what they are capable of. The only thing we’re really certain about is, they want to control the fight on the mat, whether it’s on their back or on top. Somehow, they have that in common with my wife.
155 - Nick Hein v Joe Walker
Brett: A familiar face right here, Nick Hein, the first ever fighter to win a fight at the LFC. A brought his A-game at LFC 1 and KOed his opponent in just over a minute. While he’s still considered to be an underdog in this fight, we think he will be completely ready and shock the world when he faces young sensation Joe Walker.
Walker is a really young fighter coming out of Wolf Training Lair. Training with a lot of top fighters, his manager is already claiming that he will be the next big thing, and that he will most likely be a future champion. Not that I’m against that saying, but with that hype, he will have a lot to prove. The 16yo will sure have a lot of pressure in the first couple years of his career, but if he can handle it, sky is the limit.
Jared: Well Hein will be a really tough matchup for Walker. Walker is one of the rare fighters to start his career at 16. It would be really impressive to see that get win a title fight before he’s 18, don’t think I’ve seen this before.
185 - Mario Lee v Johnny Kane
Brett: What happens when you put confidence, heart and determination in a blender? You get a Johnny Kane. Kane fought 2 weeks ago, at LFC 2, and requested for a fight at LFC 4, calling out his opponent Mario Lee. He’s been looking to challenge himself and gain cage experience, so for him, Lee is the perfect opponent, being his elder and well rounded. The fight will sure be a test for Kane, but being already 3-0, all wins via submissions in the first round, he have what it takes to become a serious 185 contender.
Mario Lee has been staying in the US ever since he’s joined the LFC. He already proved to be a solid striker, with a 2-0 record, but has never been tested on the ground yet. He will have his hands full against Kane, who will do whatever it takes to bring him down to the mat to try and submit him early. Lee is growing fast in popularity in the LFC, and winning on Saturday night could grow his fanbase even more.
Jared: That’s a fight I’m looking forward to. We’ve seen both those fighters already, and they both want to put on a show. The winner of that fight could probably earn a shot at the vacant title pretty soon.
170 - Dmitry Donskoy v Raymond Richards
Brett: Two LFC newcomers that have been testing the MMA market for quite a while. Donskoy is already 2-0 outside of organizations, and will be looking to improve that record. He’s been having a tough camp in St. Petes, especially after his manager went AWOL for the past few days. He’s worried that his manager won’t be present for his fight, and it’s making him very nervous, which is affecting his morale quite a bit.
Raymond Richards will try to take that to his advantage, him who’s having a hard time getting a win streak going. Richards has been away from the gym scene for a few weeks, saying he doesn’t to train to prepare for a fight, all he needs is good sleep and alone time with himself. I didn’t want to comment on that, but we’ll see what happens on Saturday night.
Jared: Richards is a weird character. Everytime I tried to have a decent conversation with him, he always changed subject and started talking nonsense. I don’t like to use those words, but he’s kinda special.
155 - Brodie McDonald v Toga Bean
Brett: Another fight between 2 LFC “veterans” if we can call them that way. Both fighters are coming off wins at their LFC debut, so another win Saturday night would already put them at the top of the contender list. Brodie McDonald has shown a lot of versatility, being very solid all around his MMA game and also shown good durability, which will come in handy against Bean.
Toga Bean is still undefeated, can take a punch, but hasn’t really showed natural power as of yet. He’s been quite dominant in his previous fights, but seems like he favors the ground game. He could have his hands full against McDonald if he doesn’t adapt to the randomness of his moves, could be a real interesting fight.
Jared: Bean is quite small for a 155 though. This could very well be the reason why he’s not able to finish fights, even though he dominates.
155 - Conor McGregor v Joel Leone
Brett: McGregor has recently found himself a new manager to help out in his career. We can say it’s a good move, since it got him a contract with the LFC. He’s fought once since then and looked very good, getting a triangle submission in just over 30 seconds .That’s impressive. He can grapple and he can bang, it’s just a matter of finding the perfect strategy against an opponent, and that’s what the new management is for.
His opponent, Joel Leone, another LFC newcomer, is looking to keep a perfect record. Leone is a solid striker who finished all of his fights very early, so he will be looking to repeat that Saturday night. Expect him to start the fight aggressively and not give up much space by punching the hell out of his opponent.
Jared: McGregor and Leone is a very good matchup. I think they are very evenly skilled on their feet, so if they decide to stand and bang, that will be one hell of a treat for the fans.
155 - Didier Leroy v Vasili Zhirkov
Brett: For the co-main event of the evening, we’ll get to see another lightweight bout. Didier Leroy will be welcoming undefeated Vasili Zhirkov to the LFC. Leroy lost a decision at LFC 1 and was really disappointed about it. He told us he could have won that fight, he just wasn’t feeling too great, and had a bad training camp to prepare for the fight. He should be ready for this one, and get back to his winning ways, which he will need if he wants to climb the lightweight ladder.
Zhirkov has recently signed with the LFC, after going 5-0 in his MMA debut. He’s shown excellent skills on the ground already, and seems to be able to take his opponents down with quite some easy, making it easier to control and dominate his fights. A win at his LFC debut could probably make him a serious contender in the lightweight division, and would send a message to all other fighters of the division, that this guy means business.
Jared: Leroy seemed to want to grapple, judging by his last fights, so I doubt Zhirkov will have a hard time getting the fight to the ground. Thing is, I think Leroy really improved on the ground. He’s been focusing on that in the gym, so this could be interesting.
265 - Anderson Silva v Iwan Ochrymiuk
Brett: The main event of the evening, heavyweights that mean business! This is a fight where we could very well see the winner get a shot at the vacant title in the near future. I don’t want to start rumors, but I would lose to see that.
Anderson Silva has an impressive 5-0 record, winning his LFC debut a few weeks ago. He can strike, and he’s strong as a beef, so he will be a very dangerous opponent. We currently don’t know anything about his training camp, but I’m sure it went very well. One thing that could hurt him is the ground game, cause he’s still untested there, but if he fights the way he usually fights, it should be a no brainer that he’s getting the win.
On the other side of the cage will be the experienced, Iwan Ochrymiuk. Iwan has been training intensively at The Shit House in LA, and already has quite the fanbase in the LFC. Expect him to be the crowd favorite when he enters Wild Bob’s Saturday night, but he won’t have an easy time in the cage against Silva. Iwan could be the biggest threat to Silva yet, being a very skilled wrestler, but he will need to take control of the fight very early in the first round, or it could be good night for him.
Jared: I love those kind of fights. Heavyweights are unpredictable, and anything can happen. The fight can switch with just one move. The fan will go nuts on that one, so will I.
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