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Honour Fighting Championships Presents:
HFC 24 McCarthy vs Foster III
November 19th, 2016
at The Underground - London (1000)
Author: Master Po
Under Card:
Jason Taylor vs Nummer Trenton:
Opening up the event is a bout between a well rounded 18 year old in Jason Taylor, and another 18 year old more specialized in striking and wrestling, Nummer Tretton. Tretton will be making his MMA debut while Taylor is 2-1 with 1 KO. We'll see how Tretton fares with proficient striking and a 10 cm reach advantage. Taylor is more experienced, but he is coming off his only loss by a similar opponent.
Prediction: Trenton first round TKO (Strikes).
Wouter Leg Lock vs Eric Hambro
Lock, out of Belgium, is 2-2 in the organization. He's a respectable boxer with evident KO power. Hambro is a superb wrestler with a blue belt in ju-jitsu, who has been struggling to put together a successful fight strategy in his last two fights. Two guys trying to make a name for themselves. I feel like Lock is due for a W since his last four fights went W, L, W, L. Yes, I really did that.
Prediction: Lock second round Submission.
Jack Jackhammer vs Jan Rey Reyes
Jackhammer from Bulgaria is 2-1 with 1 Submission. Reyes is 0-1 in a quick fight where he was matched up with a guy with, oh, 66 more fights than him. Of course the guy was 52 years old but hey, you gotta learn something from that experience level. Jackhammer seems to have the edge in experience, but Reyes looks promising. I have to lean toward Jackhammer in this one, but I wouldn't be shocked at all to see Reyes catch him cold either.
Prediction: Jackhammer Decision (Unanimous).
Dorian Prine vs Harry Duncan
Finishing off the under card we have Dorian Prine, 2-1 with 1 Submission vs Harry Duncan, 1-2. Prine is a 19 year old who looks rounded out in all skills. His manager, Mariagata Debrine told me that Prine wants to be a successful man soon, and that he needs to bite the dust and figure this thing out on his own. I tried to recommend specializing him in 1 or 2 areas to make paths to victory a bit easier to discern. Duncan is an 18 year old who is proficient in wrestling and starting to show promise in Muy Thai. He started his MMA career 0-2, but he won his last fight utilizing some of that Muy Thai training by winning a decision victory where he pretty much dominated the clinch with as many knees as he could possibly throw. I think he will take this one in similar fashion.
Prediction: Duncan Decision (Unanimous).
Main Card:
My Name vs Justin Duponte
Two Bantamweights at 3-2 take us into the main card. We have My Name, of Hong Kong, with remarkable wrestling prowess and proficient Muy Thai, taking on Justin Duponte a Canadian boxer who has been working his wrestling game under manager Igor Valopran. Duponte came into MMA with a quick fight he lost. He then joined Honour and went 3-0 with 3 KOs. With that momentum he got a title fight against Mike Perry in his last fight at HFC 20. Name has ruthless elbows and can cut an opponent with a quickness. Unfortunately he also seems to be susceptible to cuts. Four of his five fights have been stopped due to cuts. Two times he did the cutting and two times he got gashed. This will be a very interesting one to watch. Duponte has a ridiculous 20 cm height advantage over name. This will come into play one way or another in this one.
Prediction: Duponte first round TKO (Strikes).
Farnad Behpour vs Kurt Angle
The big boys square up in this one. Behpour is 225 cm and 300 lbs. He is a respectable boxer with a decent background in wrestling and has been working his BJJ which he currently holds a blue belt in. Word on the street is he used to be a personal bodyguard for an Iranian president and actually suffered a stab wound in the line of duty. These guys are eerily similar. Kurt Angle is a strong boxer as well with near mirror image wrestling and BJJ when compared to Behpour. This is the third matchup between these two beefcakes. Behpour has won both battles. I can't imagine what would stop him from making it 3-0
Prediction: Behpour first round KO (Punch).
Luke Rockhold vs Libio Do Santos
A 185 lb title fight with Luke Rockhold and Libio Do Santos is next on the list. The placement of this fight on the event clearly shows that the popularity of the fighters in the Honour organization is growing at break neck speed. This is obvious when you see a title fight that isn't even a main or co-main event. Rockhold lost his first MMA fight which he might have jumped into a bit hastily but since then he is money going 4-0 and winning every fight by TKO. This guy was an Olympic boxer in his hometown Rio. He also was ranked in the top 10 in his country in college wrestling. He loves to stand and bang and fight fans love this young man. Do Santos is no stepping stone. He doesn't have the level of striking that Rockhold has but that may not make a difference. Do Santos, also from Rio, wrestled with Rockhold in college, but went on to hone his skills in ju-jitsu. He is 3-0 winning every contest by Submission. This is sure to be an entertaining fight. Do Santos has a reach advantage, but oddly enough that may be a disadvantage for him here.
Prediction: Rockhold second round TKO (Strikes).
LazovicZ The BIG MaN vs Tito Jones
LazovicZ is 3-1 with 1 KO and 2 Submissions. Tito is 3-2 with 1 KO and 1 Submission. LazovicZ started out his MMA career 3-0 and only recently suffered a demoralizing TKO loss to Enok Jepsen. Tito's two losses come against the current champ Rockhold. Both of these fighters have potential, but have work ahead of them. Tito is managed by yours truly. He was the first fighter I ever decided to manage and we seem to be on a steep learning curve. If the guy don't get it together soon he may be buffing the floors at my personal gym for a living. All these things being considered I think BIG MaN may come out the victor.
Prediction: LazovicZ Decision (Unanimous).
Cub Lamas vs Punt Hardman:
British boxing extraordinaire Lamas comes into the final fight building up to the main event at 5-1 with 3 KOs. Hardman from Tennessee is at 4-1 with 4 Submissions. On paper these guys look evenly matched everywhere other than boxing where Lamas has a huge edge and BJJ where Hardman holds the reins. Physically it's the same story. The only difference is that Lamas is naturally about 7 lbs heavier than Hardman. These guys have met in the cage before in HFC 8 fighting for the then vacant title. Lamas made short work of the American who couldn't manage to connect on takedown which proved to be critical. Lamas countered all attempts and secured what looked like a fairly easy TKO. I'm leaning toward a repeat here.
Prediction: Lamas second round TKO (Strikes).
Main Event:
McCarthy vs Foster III
265 lb Title
McCarthy vs Foster
By now McCarthy and Foster are names we are all familiar with. This is the third meeting between these champions. Foster won their first meeting for the vacant Super Heavyweight title by a first round submission. McCarthy came back in the next meeting to KO Foster in a KO victory that lasted all of 24 seconds. Since then McCarthy is 3-0 defeating all challengers by KO. Since losing to McCarthy, Foster has defeated two opponents by submission while training hard at Liverpools Red-Triangle MMA & Fitness. My friends at FIERCE gym, where McCarthy has been working, tell me he looks better than he ever has. British McCarthy is ranked 6 within the organization. Fellow Brit Foster is ranked at 12. Surely there is mutual respect and disdain between these two warriors. Both knowing well that this fight has a snowball chance to go the distance, I'm sure they are bringing their A games. This fight can really go either way, but I have to go with McCarthy due to a slight edge in experience and a fighting style that is a little better suited to MMA.
Prediction: McCarthy first round TKO (Strikes).
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