HareRumpler Posted February 27, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2021 POST EVENT CHEAP SHOTS…The Donkey Edition Sucker Punch Pro Series 43 Folks, I have to apologize in advance for this being very late…and also very brief with only Donkey being able to step in for comments. Unfortunately work has been brutal for the Rumpler-man this week and simply has not allowed time for him to sit down and focus on banging these out. Now, the race to see if he can provide SOMETHING of a preview for tonight’s SPPS 44 which is coming up in just about 5 hours! So here you go, hope you enjoy at least to some degree and see you shortly, probably in two hours, as I try to get Hare off his butt to do the preview for tonight’s event! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Lightweights Brendan Wallace Defeats Ryo Hazuki via Unanimous Decision Donkey’s Takeaways: I’m a bit shocked that this one wasn’t finished by either fighter here with the fight being put into the hands of ‘those people’! Or the “Nasties” as Hare would normally say. But with the decision victory Wallace extends his record to 3-1 and settles in as a very real long term threat in the division. Hazuki continues his struggles with another loss, making it two in a row to start out the career and will definitely come in focused on trying to get his first professional win next month! For now though, he’s going to have to deal with some ribbing from his Team Lundgren teammates no doubt about being the “anchor” for the team until he gets that first win. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Middleweights Sirus Hall Defeats Alexei Rodionovich via Submission (Arm Triangle) Donkey’s Takeaways: Rodionovich found himself on the outside looking in for this fight as he was never really able to get any momentum going. Hall tagged him several times before he could even establish himself in the cage and left him rocked after a series of strikes and then a sharp jab. Rodionovich tried to buy some time to get his composure in the clinch but found himself being taken down shortly after and from there this thing was all Hall’s with the inevitable submission coming midway through the first. With the win Hall finally finds himself above .500 again and will look to extend his success into next month. Rodionovich is struggling to find his way and is now 1-4 in his prior five fights. He needs to find that way sooner than later at this point and while he’s been resigned to a new contract, it was a nominal “prove it” three fight deal to see if he can turn it around. If he can’t find a way to win soon though, he likely won’t see that full contract played out. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Middleweights Roddy Richards Defeats Craig Kraig via Unanimous Decision Donkey’s Takeaways: Hare and I didn’t go into much detail about this match in the preview because both of these kids came into the ring unprepared for the fight. As such, Hare had said, “Here’s what I can tell you about this match tonight…for Richards, this is do or die for his contract. Two times unprepared by the same amount, still wearing the same default clothes (so no attempt to fix the morale yet) and if that results in two losses straight…well, he’ll be gone. Kraig, despite winning, is on a very short leash at this point. Honestly, even if the wins keep coming I’d still be tempted to let him go after the next fight or two just out of principle as he too has his tighty whities on. There’s no reason he should be low on morale after three wins in a row outside making zero effort to change clothes.” Hare absolutely meant every bit of that and lucky for Richards he found a way to pull off a win and in the process saved his own skin…for now. But this was a fight that if EITHER fighter had showed up prepared they could have won via a finish rather than a drawn out decision over an equally unprepared opponent. The good news; Roddy Richards’ manager has been in touch with us and we’ve got it on good word that he’s actively working on taking our suggestions and advice to improve his fighter’s morale and overall preparation. That’s a fantastic thing to hear! For Kraig, the lack of attention to detail finally catches up this fight and he takes the ‘L’. Something that was very unavoidable. He has one fight left on his contract and as of today still has not changed his clothing. We haven’t decided if he’ll see that last fight yet or not but if he does it’ll likely be the last regardless. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Lightweights Artemyev Valeryevich Defeats Bruno Souppe via KO (Punches) Donkey’s Takeaways: Valeryevich heads off into a three month (one year MMAT time) sabbatical as he tries to find himself. Although if you ask me he’s been finding plenty of goodness without the break given he’s now 4-1 overall and a perfect 4-0 here at Sucker Punch! We’ll see what the future holds for him after his holiday. Souppe is floundering so far in his professional career with a 0-3 start, 0-1 here at Sucker Punch, and looks more like the guy who might need a trip to the monastery for some quality internal reflection time! He’ll need a win next month if he wants to maintain a career in MMA as at the age of 28 his time is running out to turn things around. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Welterweights Pietro Marchionni Defeats Lors Loria via Unanimous Decision Donkey’s Takeaways: Another decision on the evening here, making it three in five fights so far with Marchionni walking away with the win! This one got pretty good reviews from the fans overall for a decision and certainly will excite the Marchionni camp as he ends the string of L’s before it gets to three. Now can he string a couple W’s together? Outside the first two fights of his career he has been unable to do that over the past ten fights. Clearly the focus next month must be on finding a way to keep things on course! Loria has now dropped three straight since joining Sucker Punch and is 2-5 overall under current management. At 29 years old, the ability to pull together a winning streak soon is badly needed! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Middleweights Chris Harms Defeats Tyrion Lannister via TKO (Strikes) Donkey’s Takeaways: Harms makes his Sucker Punch debut against an opponent who used to be feared on the ground for his submission skills here. Unfortunately, it appears that time and skill levels may have passed poor Lannister by. At least his performance lately might suggest that. He’s entered the cage lately and fought as a pale comparison to his former self and in doing so this evening gives Harms a well earned sixth win in a row, making him 6-0 under his current management! He’d be in line right now for a title shot in all honesty if we didn’t already have a couple folks in line waiting their opportunities ahead with more time in at Sucker Punch. However, with another win next month Harms will definitely get a Top Contender battle and it’ll be well earned at that point, both in overall record and here at Sucker Punch! Unfortunately for Lannister his third and possibly final management team has decided it was time to part ways. He found himself on the Free Agent market following the fight and while I can’t say for certain that he won’t be picked up I’m thinking the chances might be slim. Could he still be redeemed? *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Welterweights Baldomir Barbosa Defeats Kahdi Mandinos via KO (Punch) Donkey’s Takeaways: In the preview I had said that, “He (Barbosa) has to be able to dominate on the feet and make his opponent pay for not finishing if he (Mandinos) gets that shot.” I suppose the key there turns out to be the “if he gets that shot” part, huh? Mandinos never had Barbosa…hell, he never had his car…ask any racer… Um, wait, I think I just slipped into Hare’s role here and that’s probably not the same show we’re talking about anymore! Anyways, Mandinos never came close to getting a shot to put it on the ground and finish! Instead he was cut within ten seconds and rocked within another ten seconds! He never got a chance to try a takedown, never had a strike thrown, hell, he simply took four shots to the ole melon and it was lights out, Barbosa with the ‘W’! Barbosa now has four wins in his past five outings and is quickly sneaking up on earning another contender opportunity. For Mandinos things have been a bit rough with a 1-2 record over the past three. But there’s plenty of time to turn it around again and start figuring out what works again. But some evolution, and protection of that chin, may be necessary! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Middleweights Joseph DeAngelo Defeats John Wick via TKO (Strikes) Donkey’s Takeaways: Unfortunately this fight turned into more a formality than anything else. And that’s after Hare had such high hopes for a huge showdown between these two! Wick had been on a roll but then came into this fight completely unprepared, serving himself up as an easy win for DeAngelo. And DeAngelo didn’t fumble the opportunity either. He did what he came into the cage to do, which was take care of business, and walked out with his second win here at Sucker Punch expanding his record to 9-2 overall! He’ll now be in position, along with Harms, to go chasing after a contender opportunity within the next couple months. Hell, it’s likely that Harms will be his next opponent as we start to separate the boys from the men! Wick unfortunately has now had a big opportunity squandered and with his manager gone for the past 19 days may be finding himself unemployed sooner than we ever would have expected even just a month ago. Sad. *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Lightweight Bout Yip Man Iii Defeats Jamal Jameson via TKO (Strikes) Donkey’s Takeaways: J. W. Hardman’s camp comes through big with the first of two huge wins on this card here in the Co-Main Event. This from the preview is just about all you need to know about this fight, as Hare said, “Yip Man actually will have the advantage with his wrestling. But it’s likely he’ll want to use that to simply not allow this fight to make it to the ground in the first place and instead take advantage of his big edge in standup skills.” True to that statement, Yip man defended against multiple takedown attempts by Jameson and dropped him with a counter a half minute into the fight. Then, just past the two minute mark, he dropped Jameson again with a big uppercut. Still not done taking the heat, Jameson came back for more but was sent down a final time with a big right just past the halfway point of the round. It’s been a very rough week at work for Mr. Rumpler, so he hasn’t sorted through and done the next set up matchups yet, but there is an excellent chance that Yip is now just one step away from a title shot. For Jameson, the opportunity to put together a triple threat of wins in a row goes out the window and he’ll have to start working back up the ladder a bit after taking a bit of a bump down. *********************** Main Event: Featured Featherweight Bout Jake Drake Defeats Destin Craven via Submission (Americana) Donkey’s Takeaways: Craven talked a bit before the fight about this one being a contest to see if Drake could drag it to the ground and if by chance it did get there, then this thing becoming ‘game on’ and a battle for the win down on the mat. Drake has a history of submission victories and the ability to brutalize his opponents on the ground but it had been several months since we’d seen him put those submission skills into practice! Well, we got a reminder of just what he could do in this one as he ended it just barely into the second round with a quick takedown and then a beauty of an Americana. Drake earns the title shot against Aalto with the win and Craven will try to figure out what he can take away from this to help him elevate his game just a bit more! With twenty-two attempts to transition into better positions and only one moment of success, clearly that’s one area in need of improvement for Craven. *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! There we go folks, we’re only hours away now from more action over at Hard Knocks – Sydney! We’ll catch up with you tomorrow and see SPPS 44 turned out and take a look at where it leaves things, but until we hope this late review hit the spot! And as always, don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted February 27, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 44 Hey all! I know, I know…could this be ANY later? Well, yes, it could actually, but not by much! Anyways, as always, we’re going to try to get some form of a preview out here for our Sucker Punch faithful as I, Hare Rumpler, along with our analyst, Donkey “Dan” will give you a quick and dirty thanks to the Rumpler workplace being a real bitch to him this week! No excuses, I know, you guys don’t wanna hear it, you just want your damned preview! Well, here it is…but it’s going to be quick as we jump into the action that will take place tonight at Hard Knocks – Sydney for SPPS 44! We can’t forget our sponsor and merchandise partner though for a few words first! Shadow Warrior Nutrition will be on hand at the event tonight and I cannot say enough about how much we appreciate having them as our merchandise partner and sponsor here at Sucker Punch! Do yourself a favor…better yet, do your fighters who you spend so much time developing and preparing a favor…and stop by the stand tonight or visit their store to grab some of their Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q. It is literally the best energy loss reduction supplement money can buy and will keep your fighter in the gym training rather than sitting days out resting! Stop on over there today, you will NOT be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Heavyweights Brutus Ryker (1-5-0) vs. Iasnfunsufnsud Tsmfimsfnd (4-5-0) I’ll be honest, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to call…um…Ias? Yes, we’ll go with Ias! Anyways, Ias is new to Sucker Punch and our Heavyweight division and he gets a hearty welcome this evening from Brutus Ryker. Or, well, he’ll get something. Not sure if it’ll be a welcome or not, but I’d like to think that even a swift shot to the nuts is some form of welcome, even around here! One thing Ias is going to have to learn VERY quickly around here is that we take preparation very seriously. And frankly, if you want wins, you should too. Ias is still wearing his tighty whities and as such his morale is suffering for it after several losses and no clothing changes to help restore his morale. That said, despite some strong ground and wrestling skills, Donkey is very likely to bet on him taking a loss this evening. Ryker, managed by Kyle F, lost via KO to Anton Meshkov last month in his Sucker Punch debut. He’s a well-rounded standup fighter who would normally have his work cut out for him due to only having a white belt in BJJ against the likes of Ias. However, Ias’ morale issues may very well give Ryker the help he needs in keeping this fight on the feet and getting a win with his hands! Donkey, got a pick for us…? Donkey’s Pick: Ryker via TKO (Strikes) Ryker will still have his work cut out for him because ground based guys can be dangerous anytime, but especially early on until skills start to develop across the board for guys. That said, I cannot pick the guy who comes in unprepared so the nod is given to Ryker in this over Ias. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Featherweights Jean Jacque Custo (3-4-1) vs. Mike Ehrmantraut (2-2-0) Erhmantraut, under fairly new management, will attempt to get his first win tonight under the guidance of Knockout Bob. He fell just short last month in a decision loss to Herve Cabrera and will be looking to make this fight the one that puts him back over .500. A standup fighter who also has a brown belt in BJJ, it’s more likely he’ll want to stay standing than go to the ground in this one. That’s never more true than an evening like this where he’ll be facing Custo who enjoys the ground and pound approach in life! Custo is 3-4-1 overall but has struggled for consistency here at Sucker Punch. His past three fights have been a loss, a win and then a draw to Jake Drake. Drake is one tough competitor though, so a draw against him is nothing to sneeze at! Donkey, who gets it…? Donkey’s Pick: Custo via TKO (Strikes) Both fighters are struggling to find consistency and firm success in their approach. Custo’s ground skills, especially his wrestling, may give him the advantage he needs to control the action and put him in position to land some good strikes this evening. Ehrmantraut’s task will be to show us what he can do to counter that and find a way to win! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Heavyweights Anton Meshkov (4-3-0) vs. Victor Ballsawash (4-5-0) Meshkov heads into the cage tonight prepped and ready to go for the most part minus a bit of energy, likely having forgotten to rest the last two or three sessions before this fight. But that’s still a vast improvement over his past trips into the cage and we’ll take it! With wins over Demon Mask and Brutus Ryker in the past couple months Meshkov has an opportunity here to create some real momentum if he can continue his dominant striking and keep the fight standing. Keeping the fight standing is the real challenge there though in this fight. There are two things we know about Ballsawash…he likes throwing a ton of combinations and when he’s not doing that he’s trying to get the fight to the ground so he can work the ground and pound! How does this one turn out Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Meshkov via TKO (Strikes) There’s one big factor that comes into play potentially here and that’s that from what we’ve seen Ballsawash may have a bit of a suspect chin. We know that Meshkov has a granite, so he’ll likely withstand the combo onslaught on the feet. If he has any ground defense at all, it may be a tough night for Ballsawash to get a finish and Meshkov may get the opportunities he needs to test Balls’ chin himself. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Welterweights Lukas Reeves (1-4-0) vs. Darry Curtis (5-3-0) Well Donkey, Reeves’ opponent disappeared on us so out we went to recruit somebody good to keep Reeves busy! Who did we find? None other than another talented fighter from the Joe River camp, Darry Curtis! He’s in on a one fight deal with us to get the action pumped, so hopefully this is a great fight this evening! Formerly with Checkmate, Curtis is coming off back to back losses with his last win coming against our very own Ispa Perkele! He’s lost and won…although definitely more winning than losing…most of his fights via TKO with only his last fight going to a decision. He’s a kickboxer who loves to abuse your legs with kicks while striking with the hands as he’s worked to slow down your movement. Reeves is an extremely talented fighter…on paper at least…who just hasn’t found the way to bring the skills together yet in a way that generates success. Perhaps the key that brings it all together is a change of manager? Kwest walks him to the cage tonight for the first time and we’ll get a shot to see if this changes up Reeves’ fortunes any! Despite having a granite chin, Reeves has lost most of his fights via TKO and KO. Is there a heart or confidence issue? Tonight we’ll find out which combination of skill Kwest instructs him to use and how he approaches the fight with Darry! What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Reeves via TKO (Strikes) I think that perhaps Reeves goes after Curtis’ blue belt in BJJ. That’s the only area of weakness we see potentially in Curtis’ toolbox so we’ve gotta call it out. However, if Reeves does lack heart or confidence, this could be yet another TKO or KO loss and we’ll have to seriously question what’s going on at that point! *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Light Heavyweights Abraham Barnes (3-4-0) vs. Julian Rourke (3-2-0) Barnes basically gets a gimme here tonight. Not because it was designed that way or anything, but because Rourke is coming to the cage with zero morale. His manager has been inconsistently involved in managing him and has now been away for the past eight days. Without proper direction and with his focus anywhere but on the fight, this should be an easy win for Barnes who will likely put this fight on the mat quickly and then initial a brutal case of “Say you’re sorry! *punch* Come prepared! *elbow* You have no right being here right now! *pow!*” Yeah, it’s gonna be like that this evening! Well Donkey, have a pick for us here…? Donkey’s Pick: Barnes via TKO (Strikes) Correct in that Barnes will likely exploit Rourke’s blue belt and work to make this a night he’ll regret. I just don’t see it going any other way with no morale or focus for Rourke. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if this thing ends with Rourke being dropped before a takedown is even attempted though! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Light Heavyweights Tank Tribute (6-3-0) vs. Devin Ecker (3-3-0) Ecker has had mixed results so far in his professional career with all six fights here at Sucker Punch. To date it’s resulted in a .500 record. Coming off a loss to Rourke, who was a very different fighter as far as preparation goes last month, he’d like nothing more than a nice turn-around win over Tribute later this evening! Tribute lost to Zygmunt Krol last month in his SPPS debut but that’s not taking anything away from him as Krol is a tough customer! That said, at 6-3 he’s still looking for his first win under new manager John Wayne who was the one who brought Tribute to us after taking over management in November before spending a couple months working on some skill development. Historically Tribute has gone all-out boxing on his opponents with an aggressive striking attack both to the head and body. His wonderful boxing and sensational Muay Thai skills with remarkable wrestling certainly support that approach. Ecker won’t want to stand and trade with Tribute tonight. He’ll likely want to utilize his sensational wrestling to put this fight on the mat and use his ground and pound skills to capture the win. This should be a very fun one eh Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Tribute via TKO (Strikes) This is one of those ones that’s all about who can dictate where the fight takes place. If it stays on the feet, Tribute has the advantage. On the ground, the edge moves to Ecker. Honestly, I’m taking a stab in the dark here as you could make a call either way! Bring it on, it should be a good one! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Featherweights Herve Cabrera (7-1-0) vs. Heismann Haa (1-1-0) Ok Donkey, we have another here where we really didn’t want to leave our boy Cabrera sitting so we went out and recruited Haa thinking this would be a great contest between two talented fighters and managers! Freako Wimp hasn’t escorted his boy Haa down to a cage in over five months so there’s a lot of shroud around what type of approach his team will take tonight! At 1-1, both prior fights were QFC matches and really tell us next to nothing. Given Haa’s skills though, I’d have to guess that he’ll utilize his exceptional Muay Thai and Superb grappling at some point to instigate a clinch. He’s also shown some comfort working the striking game separated so I’m thinking that Cabrera needs to be prepared for Haa to want to be on the feet. What Haa wants he may not be able to get though unless he has the skills to keep Cabrera from forcing the fight to the ground. And that’s very likely to be Cabrera’s goal as he has wonderful wrestling and a brown belt, skills that have helped him secure three submission wins in over his four fight winning streak! Donkey, this one all about who can force the fight to happen on their terms…? Donkey’s Pick: Cabrera via Submission (Kimura) Exactly Hare, but neither of these guys is “weak” per se in any given area, so there’s a very good chance they have defensive skills to make life difficult for their opponent tonight. This is going to come down to strategy, intangibles and maybe even a little bit of luck this evening! Somebody’s going to earn a ‘W’ I think, and when I say earn, I mean EARN! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Welterweights John Fuller (6-4-0) vs. Marcus Megnus Maximus Jr Maximus Jr (7-5-0) Wooooo! Two more that are ready to rock and roll, pumped up and focused, ready to get in there and give it everything tonight! Nice. M&M&M&M has had a bit of mixed results so far with us as he’s got a win over Marchionni and then a loss last month to DJ Costune. That last one was a heck of a fight though that went to a decision and earned them both ‘Fight of the Night’ honors! Maximus has heavy hands but also an ability to finish on the ground using his strong wrestling and purple belt in Jiu Jitsu to score submissions. Fuller used to stay mostly focused on his boxing until he could work the fight into the clinch and then to the ground where he’d work the ground and pound while opportunistically work a submission attempt in here or there as a distraction. Seldom did he end it via submission though, at least until last month when he pulled off a surprise rear naked against Mason Jones! Essentially these two have fairly similar styles with an ability to stand and strike or work the ground skills. It should be an awesome battle! Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Fuller via TKO (Strikes) Fuller has picked up some momentum lately and for that reason alone I’m going to give him the nod this evening, thinking he may be very determined to make it three in a row! This is a great battle though and you couldn’t be faulted for picking either way this evening as it’s a contest between two very well matched opponents! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Lightweight Bout Kira Yoshikage (4-1-0) vs. Tua Graves (6-8-1) Our Co-Main Event has Tua Graves stepping into the cage tonight with a hot Kira Yoshikage. Graves has struggled of late with a 1-4 record over his last five. The losses typically come via KO or TKO, so to say that there is some question about his chin might be an understatement. His wins almost always come via submission, so it’s a solid guess to think he’s going to be working for a takedown early and often this evening! Yoshikage has won four in a row here at Sucker Punch and is 4-1 with us overall, with his other fights all having been grappling contests over at CACC. His most prominent win came last month against a tough Rey Bargos which he managed to push to the limit and get the call from the judges. There isn’t much secret to his game, as he likes the rough stuff on the mat just as much as he likes to do the fancy stuff! Either way, he’s going to want the fight on the ground as well so he can pick between ground and pound when the opportunity is there or submissions if he sees the chance! This is going to be one heck of a ground battle I think Donkey…you…? Donkey’s Pick: Yoshikage via TKO (Strikes) It is and you could go either way on this one just as you can several of the fights before this tonight. A great card of competitive fights is what I see! But I do like the flexibility Yoshikage has to go with whatever opportunity presents on the ground and wonder if Graves will be able to take many of those rough shots Yoshikage likes to dish out down there. *********************** Main Event: Light Heavyweight Championship Jacob Parker (6-1-0) vs. John Doe (5-0-0) Our Main Event Donkey…and could this be the test that our Light Heavyweight Champ has been looking at for a bit now wondering if this might be the toughest fight of his career? That’s quite possible as the challenger John Doe is anything but some generically named schmuck off the street! Doe has a perfect 5-0 record with the last four wins here at Sucker Punch coming under the meticulous planner and trainer P J Jones. His skills are wonderful or better across the board with victories via decision as well as (T)KO’s. He doesn’t typically go to the ground sticking more true to the teaching of Jones and having a varied kickboxing attack. That doesn’t mean he CAN’T go to the ground though and that’s always a threat that you have to worry about as his approach could change at any time in the future! Could that change of approach come tonight? Parker is about as strong a fighter on the feet as you get, but if there is one spot he MIGHT have a slightly lesser skillset it would be on the ground and specifically with his Jiu Jitsu being he “only” has a purple belt. Parker won the belt four fights back via KO over Aleks Kuznetsov and has cruised along finding a way to come out victorious despite tough challenges over the last three title defenses! All three defenses have resulted in TKO’s when all was said and done though, so despite the skills he may bring to the cage tonight, Doe will have to bring his very best if he wants a piece of Parker that he can handle! Donkey…who walks away with the belt this evening…? Donkey’s Pick: Parker via Split Decision I’m going to tell you something I normally wouldn’t here. I was and am very tempted to pick Doe on the upset this evening. Jones has a way of finding that one angle to get past his opponents and guide his boys to victory. But Parker is not your typically opponent to be walked over and exploited and has overcome several TOUGH challenges to retain. And for that, he gets my respect and the nod until it’s proven to be wrong. *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! If you aren’t already over at Hard Knocks – Sydney tailgating and having a great time, showing Sydney what’s up when Sucker Punch fans are out on the town…well, then you should be! If so, then we’ll be over there shortly as well and ready to have a great action packed night of fun! For those at home, catch the free live-stream and we’ll talk all about the results later this weekend! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator001 Posted February 27, 2021 Report Share Posted February 27, 2021 At the hospital,busted up and eating through a straw but am very happy. Parker is a monster 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne95 Posted February 27, 2021 Report Share Posted February 27, 2021 Great preview as always Hare. Looking forward to that review ?. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfuhrer Posted February 27, 2021 Report Share Posted February 27, 2021 Great work on the previews Hare 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted February 27, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2021 11 hours ago, Gator001 said: At the hospital,busted up and eating through a straw but am very happy. Parker is a monster Unbelievable fight! Doe put on his ass not once but twice and has the heart to get up and keep going...damn. 3 hours ago, wayne95 said: Great preview as always Hare. Looking forward to that review ?. 1 hour ago, kfuhrer said: Great work on the previews Hare Thanks both of you, I know they were running super late but if it was possible for me to get em out I wanted to do that. Our managers deserve it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2021 POST EVENT CHEAP SHOTS Sucker Punch Pro Series 44 Hello out there again all you Sucker Punch crazies! I’m Hare Rumpler, along with our analyst, Donkey “Dan”, and we’re finally getting a chance to sit down here and take a look back at SPPS 44 which kicked off this past weekend for us. Now, I’m going to say up front that while this event didn’t turn out to be one of our higher rated ones it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of great fights and entertainment! No, indeed this card outperformed what I expected we’d see based upon the hype going in and I think the rating was more a factor of it lacking some of the higher hyped fights up front. But it did NOT disappoint, and anybody who came out to Hard Knocks – Sydney or caught the broadcast knows this one brought it, and brought it good! Kudos to our fighters here at Sucker Punch for making it a great one, proud of both them and their managers! Let’s just jump right into the good stuff here and look at each of the fights in more detail right after we get a word from our sponsor and merchandise partner! Our fantastic and respected sponsor is Shadow Warrior Nutrition! Many of you already know them as the providers of Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q., THE energy loss reduction supplements! For those of you who aren’t in the know on that, you should be, because this is the way you keep your fighter training more often and not taking sessions off to try to keep his energy above 90%! If you aren’t using this supplement, hurry over and check them out today, you will not be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Heavyweights Brutus Ryker Defeats Iasnfunsufnsud Tsmfimsfnd via KO (Head Kick) Ryker was able to take advantage of the situation here against an unprepared Ias Tsmfimsfnd. While we mentioned that a ground specialist can always be dangerous, despite the preparation issue, Ryker didn’t seem to let that phase him! Ryker was more than prepared with his takedown defense for this one and frustrated Ias repeatedly both in and out of the clinch as Ias failed on five takedown attempts total. Ias was the one instigating the clinch, wanting to use it as a mechanism to move to the ground but Ryker was able to break free frequently and often enough to get back to range and back to dishing out the punishment! Ryker was going heavy to the body throughout, both with his hands and feet, and was using those body shots to set up some nasty head kicks! Suprisingly Ias actually lived through the first six head kicks that landed. But there are only so many times you can have your head used as a soccer ball and the seventh did the trick… “That's three minutes gone in the round. Ryker explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work. Brutus Ryker is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs. Ohhhhhhhhhh, brutal head kick from Ryker! This one is all over!” Boom! and ALL OVER eh Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: A solid win for a very, very young Ryker as he moves to .500 with a 1-1 record in MMA now! For this kid to be coming in here and taking on guys considerably ahead in training, regardless of preparation, well, you have to be impressed. We’re looking to see who his next fight might be with or if he’ll spend some time training to catch up first. For Ias, well, his manager has been MIA for over two weeks and brought him in unprepared. He already had a somewhat dubious record but we were sorta giving him a “second chance” opportunity. It’s been squandered so this was his first and last fight with us. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Featherweights Mike Ehrmantraut Defeats Jean Jacque Custo via Uanimous Decision While we did have a general feel for how this fight might go, at least for where it may take place, I have to admit that we were off on our guess as to who would gain the advantage! Custo got this fight to the ground multiple times but Ehrmantraut demonstrated some solid ground skills defensively, preventing Custo from gaining prime positions to work his ground and pound. In the process Ehrmantraut even managed to work on some submission attempts of his own. Ultimately he was unable to land any but the effort was there and enough to keep Custo from gaining the upper hand. In between when on the feet Ehrmantraut was really the only aggressor showing offensive life. That pretty much guaranteed that without a finish he would get the nod from the judges, which is ultimately how this one played out! Donkey, thoughts…? Donkey’s Takeaways: A very solid win for Ehrmantraut that grabs the first win under his new management team of Knockout Bob’s. It also proves he can hang in there with a talented ground and pounder. Moving over .500 on the record at 3-2 is also a great move in the right direction and a tough fight with Destin Craven next month will give Pop-Pop a chance to really step up the rankings if he can stay focused and bring the same level of discipline to the cage! For this is a disappointing and I’m sure, for his team, a somewhat surprising loss after putting up such a strong showing against Jake Drake last month. Unfortunately after speaking with his management team we’ve agreed that Custo’s training has let him fall significantly behind most of his peers here at Sucker Punch and this will be his last fight with us. We do wish him well! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Heavyweights Anton Meshkov Defeats Victor Ballsawash via TKO (Strikes) Great call on this one Donkey as you nailed the pick with Meshkov and the TKO finish via strikes! Meshkov capitalizes on coming to the cage prepared and ready to go for this one and demonstrates what he can do when focused and ready! He frustrated Ballsawash the entire round, preventing a dozen takedown attempts and only fell victim to three of Ballsawash’s five combo attempts. Outside that he was dominant in the standup striking game, landing over half his strikes. Meshkov’s focus and prevention of the takedowns combined with his effective striking enabled him to quickly exhaust Ballsawash who was getting close to fumes by the time this one ended. Frustration and desperation had to come into play and allowed Meshkov to capitalize with a counter to finish after rocking Ballsawash right before the four minute mark… “Ballsawash misses with a takedown and Meshkov counters with a big right hand! Oh Ballsawash is in trouble here! Meshkov follows up with more strikes and that's it! The ref has stopped it!” A big win there for Meshkov, Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Takeaways: Absolutely! With this one Meshkov puts a trio of victories together and learns that preparation makes all the difference in the world! Suddenly he’s gone from looking to have a career teetering on the brink to having many of the fans out there wondering just how far this guy can go! Let’s see if he can stay focused and continue to bring it next month as well. Unfortunately for Ballsawash he heads in the opposite direction with the trifecta of losses piling up for him. He was on a tear before these three with four wins in a row but has seemed out of sorts of late. Can he turn it around next month against Jairzinho Teixeira? *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Welterweights Darry Curtis Defeats Lukas Reeves via KO (Punch) Darry Curtis was here with us on a one fight deal that was technically a bit of a manager-organization good rapport favor to a large degree. His management was on the edge figuring out whether Curtis had what it takes to continue in this sport. Then he comes into this fight against a technically more skilled opponent and puts up a ‘KO of the Night’ candidate performance! Hmmm…suddenly he’s got a longer more extended contract and his manager is peeking a little closer. Well done Curtis, you’ve forced their eyes back on you and that’s the way you turn a career around! Regarding Darry, before this fight we had said that, “He’s a kickboxer who loves to abuse your legs with kicks while striking with the hands as he works to slow down your movement.” That was certainly true in this one as the leg kicks definitely came into play along with a significant number of strikes to the head and some body shots mixed int. What we didn’t anticipate was the change of pace to get into the clinch where Curtis was able to land 60-70% of his strikes to both the head and body again, really wearing down Reeves! It was a session in the clinch that the bulk of the work towards the end of this one before they came out and then Curtis was able to finish with a cherry on top… “Curtis breaks the clinch and delivers a jab. Reeves is rocked! Curtis lands a nice leg kick that just misses Reeves's sensitive parts. Oh Reeves is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!! Curtis lands with a massive overhand right! Stick a fork in Reeves - he's out cold! Ermm... I think I just mixed my metaphors but yeah... That was a nice KO! Big win for Curtis!” What did you see Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Well, two things were obvious. Given the chance to take care of business, Curtis was able to do just that. The second is that our suspicions of Reeves potentially lacking heart or chin seem to be founded. He definitely has a ton of confidence going into a fight, his morale almost never gets shaken, but once in there he just doesn’t seem to be able to stand tall and strong against decent strikes. He’s under new management with an eerily similar result to his other fights, so I suspect his manager may decide he just doesn’t have it. If he returns. Currently he’s MIA. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Light Heavyweights Abraham Barnes Defeats Julian Rourke via TKO (Strikes) We said that Barnes had a gimme with this fight and boy did he go out there and show us just how right we were! And good on him for taking it to an opponent who just wasn’t in the cage focused on a win. Rourke offered up a feeble, half-hearted leg kick in the opening seconds of this fight. That would be the last token of offense or resistance he’d offer! Barnes made good on his second takedown attempt moments later and from there it was abuse city on the ground! Eighteen shots thrown, seven landing and Rourke clearly just wanted out of that cage and to be on his way home in one piece… “Barnes has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission. Barnes loads up on a big left hand. Rourke felt that one! He's just covering up now, not defending himself intelligently - Barnes looks towards the ref and unloads with 3 more big shots and the ref has no choice but to stop the fight! Rourke can't hide his disappointment, as Barnes celebrates the victory.” Well, what did you think of that one Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: The play by play guys were being kind when they said that Rourke couldn’t hide his disappointment. To me, he looked like he could honestly care less. Although, they may be correct in that he was probably disappointed the ref didn’t call the fight sooner…like right after he tried a leg kick and missed ten seconds into the fight. Outside that, Rourke was never really in that cage, at least not mentally. Clearly with an absent manager and a complete lack of preparation, we’ve let Rourke go after this fight. Boy, a lot of that after this card, eh Hare? Barnes does what you’re supposed to do and opens his run here at Sucker Punch with a victory! Now, build on that and really get something going kid! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Light Heavyweights Tank Tribute Defeats Devin Ecker via KO (Punch) In the preview before this fight Donkey had said, “This is one of those ones that’s all about who can dictate where the fight takes place. If it stays on the feet, Tribute has the advantage. On the ground, the edge moves to Ecker.” That was just about spot on in terms of declaring that this fight would be all about dictating where it takes place! Ecker did manage to get this fight to the ground on one of his four takedown attempts. Unfortunately for him, Tribute was one slippery customer and immediately slithered out and back to his feet! That right there is one of the most frustrating things that can happen for a ground fighter in the cage. Usually you have to work to get those takedowns and when you do the fight can and usually does depend upon making good on it…or not. On the feet Ecker was able to land some strikes and kicks but was clearly outclassed in striking both defensively and offensively by Tribute. Tribute landed more than he missed and really showed the fans what we meant when I said, “Historically Tribute has gone all-out boxing on his opponents with an aggressive striking attack both to the head and body.” With this fight being much more to the head than the body! This contest took a turn for the worse here for Ecker as Tribute puts up his offering for ‘KO of the Night’ consideration… “That's four minutes gone in the round. Tribute lunges at Ecker with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Ecker's hand. Ecker misses with a leg kick and Tribute counters with a powerful cross that connects right on the chin and the lights go out! A massive one punch knock out!” Solid showing for Tribute there Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Absolutely. The decision loss to Krol last month showed us that he can hang in there with a very, very tough opponent. Tonight he showed that HE can be that very, very tough opponent! Tribute and John Fury are both on a march up the rankings in the Light Heavyweight division and next month we’ll find out which one of them gets within striking distance of a Top Contender battle! One will move closer towards a title shot, the other will take a step back potentially and regroup and refine their skills further before coming back to challenge in a division that’s starting to look like a hell of a gauntlet these days! Ecker has been on a tough run the past two months in that he caught Rourke on a “good month” where he was prepared and ready as opposed to his fight from this card and then catches Tribute on a mission to bounce back from a decision loss to Krol. If he can get back into the right mindset that allowed him to grab victories over Titus Fury and Steven Jones we expect to see Ecker rising back up the rankings and adding to the win column again soon. Hare has hinted that his next fight will be with Lindgren and you can bet Ecker will be laser focused on that fight! Suzy Sucker Punch: An intense looking Tank Tribute took to the microphone post fight and gave a little speech. Tank Tribute: That was an impressive win by no other than the amazing!!! ..... "Me"!! Fighting in the Lightheavyweight division suits me. I feel faster and stronger!! I just want to send a message to all 205 in SPPS, I'm coming for you guys. (Dropped Mic) Suzy Sucker Punch: Well, certainly no lack of confidence there guys and clearly so far Tribute has been able to back it up! Devin Ecker also spoke after the fight, saying, “I want to congratulate Tank Tribute for a hell of a performance. You were the better man today. I am sorry I couldn't get the job done tonight.” *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Featherweights Herve Cabrera Defeats Heismann Haa via Submission (Triangle) Our only submission of the night will get the ‘Sub of the Night’ award but even without being the only submission it was worthy! Haa was doing a fantastic job defending against the takedowns in this contest. He got taken down late in the first but there was very little time left at that point for Cabrera to make good on it. After that, Haa was able to fend off all attempts to put this thing on the mat until midway through the fourth minute in the third round. In between Haa worked a good combination of striking with feet mixed in. Lots of leg kicks and body kicks to keep Cabrera off-balance and to limit the number of times Cabrera was able to land shots. That was especially important given that Cabrera was coming at Haa with an aggressive striking game split 50/50 between head shots and the combination of body and combo shots. Cabrera grabbed the first round with the judges with Haa coming back in the second to even the score. Haa was able to limit the damage after the takedown in the third and score a reversal to give himself better position before fending off an armbar attempt by Cabrera. It was the final sub attempt from Cabrera with less than forty seconds left in the contest that turned the tide here and determined the outcome of a contest that had been evenly fought up to that point… “That's four minutes gone in the round. Cabrera has managed to work for a loose triangle. I think Haa should be able to defend this one pretty easily though. Oh, Cabrera has tightened it up now! Haa should have reacted faster there - he's in big trouble and yes, he's tapped out! This one is all over!” An exciting one with lots of action huh Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: An absolutely fun one with two aggressive warriors going at it before the ground game of Cabrera’s and his determination to stick to it paid off! Haa had come over to us on a one fight deal to keep Cabrera active and boy, did he give him a fight he’ll remember for a long time! Cabrera is probably very happy that Haa is not a long-time part of the division here at Sucker Punch because he’s clearly a formidable opponent. For Cabrera the win was absolutely key. A tough opponent and a win that makes it five in a row and two since joining Sucker Punch! He’s now put himself in position for a Top Contender battle to see if he can earn a title shot in the Featherweight division. Well-earned young man, well-earned! Marky Mark is undoubtedly proud of his student. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Welterweights John Fuller Defeats Marcus Megnus Maximus Jr Maximus Jr via Unanimous Decision Donkey, you had this to say in the preview, “Fuller has picked up some momentum lately and for that reason alone I’m going to give him the nod this evening, thinking he may be very determined to make it three in a row! This is a great battle though and you couldn’t be faulted for picking either way this evening as it’s a contest between two very well matched opponents!” Clearly you were on the right track even though you picked Fuller to win given this was a tough fought fight between two closely matched fighters that went the distance! With Maximus driving this fight to the ground within the first minute of action of all three rounds we found ourselves watching a ground war in this contest! Plenty of attempts to improve position and get the better of the other guy down there, some good attempts to land solid strikes on both sides with each landing a half dozen nasty shots during the fight and a chess match of submissions and attempts to find a way to finish the other! None of that came to be, with these two battling it out to a stalemate as we mentioned despite plenty of activity and no lack of trying! Fuller ended up with the win by taking the last two rounds but I’d love to see how the judges came up with it as this was a really tough one to call! Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: The fans seldom appreciate the nuances of a big time ground war. It doesn’t bring the flash of huge strikes on the feet unless there is a sudden and dramatic finish via submission or somebody gets their head bounced off the canvas like a basketball. So it didn’t get the rating you and I might have given it Hare. Maximus drops two in a row to go 1-2 so far since joining SPPS and stepping up a division into the Welterweights. This may just be an adjustment period for him as he gets used to the lay of the land. Next month we should learn a lot more on that front. Fuller makes it three in a row and really turns the corner after he lost a pair of contests to Mandinos and Barbosa. With the roll he’s on he may soon find himself earning an opportunity to go after a Top Contender spot yet again shortly! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Lightweight Bout Kira Yoshikage Defeats Tua Graves via TKO (Strikes) Our Co-Main Event saw red-hot Kira Yoshikage finish in a personal record time over his last five fights! Yoshikage came into Sucker Punch back in August and dropped one to Mike Snot. After that loss via a nasty Superman Punch, he pulled up his straps, straightened that back and really bore down from that point forward! Determined to never see another man’s arm raised in the cage with him again he has plowed through each opponent over the past five fights capped off with this first round TKO over Tua Graves! We knew this was going to be a ground battle with both men wanting to put the fight there but for different purposes. Graves was going to be likely looking for a submission. That’s not something he was given an opportunity to go after by Yoshikage in this contest though! Instead, Yoshikage had pure pain on his mind…for his opponent. After using a bit of an awkward hip toss to put Graves on the ground Yoshikage ended up in side control and from there was in the driver’s seat for dishing out punishment! Nine nasty shots later we had the ref stepping in… “Yoshikage grinds an elbow into Graves's temple. Graves is rocked! A big shot lands for Yoshikage! That's hurt Graves! Will he recover? Yoshikage fires away with more strikes and the referee has to step in to stop the fight!” Donkey, where do these guys go from here…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Fantastic, dominant showing from Yoshikage where he was able to dictate the fight, obtain the ideal position and work the fight his way. He’s earned a top contender status or at least a fight for it at this point but we’ve been told by his manager that he needs just another fight or so to support his development and preparation for the top of the division. That’s fair enough as the kid is still in that developmental range! A fight against Winston next month instead should be just what the doctor, who in this case is Hare, ordered! For Graves a tough one that leaves him with a run of three losses and a 1-5 record over his past six fights. This is a very tough position to be in at this point especially now that he’s 27 years old. It may very well be that the learning speed of others has caught up to him and a hard look at how his camp can focus his remaining time learning and building skills may be in order to make something of what he has left. *********************** Main Event: Light Heavyweight Championship Jacob Parker (6-1-0) vs. John Doe (5-0-0) And here we go with our Main Event and a huge battle between two fantastically talented fighters in the Light Heavyweight division Donkey! Some might be surprised that this fight went the distance (spoiler alert…oops, too late!)…but I’m not. And nor should anybody who realizes that P J Jones was in the corner of one of these fighters. Jones is known for working the long-game in fights with his boys and knows how to do what it takes to get on the good side of the judges! No, no, I’m not saying that he bribes them or anything…although I’m also not saying he doesn’t…but he definitely knows how to work a fight and conserve energy while scoring points. Now, before we get into all that…why don’t we get a peek back at our very own Juice Fluffer as he came into the cage the other night to make the introductions! Juice Fluffer enters the cage… “Ladies and gentlemen…this is the Maaaain Event of the evening!” “The judges for this bout are Donatello Bradman, Darius Henderson and Bruno Hogan.” “Our sponsor for this event is Shadow Warrior Nutrition.” “Annnnnnnd Now! For those in attendance and Sucker Punch fans around the world…this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for!” “LIVE!, from THE Hard Knocks in Sydney, Australia…” “Iiiiit’s TIIIIIIIME! Five rounds for the Undisputed Sucker Punch Pro Series Light Heavyweight Championship of the World!” “Introducing first…fighting out of the blue corner. Holding a professional record of FIVE wins, NO losses and NO draws, he stands 188 centimeters tall, weighing in at exactly 205 pounds, he’s 23 years of age. From the United States and generally off the streets or a friend’s couch and currently fighting out of your very own Sydney, Australia…The Challenger and Top Contender in the Sucker Punch Pro Series Light Heavyweight division…Johhhhhhhn…”Shot-calllllllerrrrr”…DOOOOOOEEE!!” “And nowwwww…FIGHTING… out of the red corner. With professional record of SIX wins, one loss and NO draws, he stands 189 centimeters tall, also weighing in at exactly 205 pounds…he’s 23 years of age…hailing from Kailua, Hawaii, United States and fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada… THE REIGNING….DEFENDING…UNNNNNNDISPUTED Sucker Punch Pro Series Light Heavyweight Champion of the World, Jacoooooob…PARRRRRRKERRRR!!!” And it was time Donkey!!! Time for these two to face off, touch gloves and get at it! And get at it they did! They came out and the audience really got a show right from the bell in this championship fight. Back and forth with shots in a round that saw them stand and go. Parker drew blood right from the bell but in the end Doe eeked out the round with the judges. Doe attempted to set the tone from the bell in the second, with a dominance implying combination assault that caught Parker off-guard!... “Doe stalks Parker and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Parker's face. Parker staggers backwards, shaken. Parker shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.” But a champion does not get shaken and back down simply by being tagged early in a round! That is not how you become a champion or manage to defend that status three times as Parker has! Instead, he came back three minutes later to rock Doe’s world for a moment or two, informing him that, “Here I am bud, come get some more!” “Doe tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Parker is able to avoid easily. Doe misses with a right hand and Parker counters with a stiff right hand. Doe is rocked!” Doe traded that little bit of brain matter that got scrambled for the call by the play by play guys that he’d taken that round as well and was now up 2-0 in the five round championship fight! The third round saw more of the same back and forth with Doe then deciding to try his hand at the ground game! After a takedown in the first minute he worked for a sub attempt that was repelled by Parker and not long after the ref had seen enough of this nonsense and stood them back up, obviously knowing that nobody came here to see these two tussle on the mat! Halfway into the fourth minute of that third round Parker decided to punish Doe a second time, probably as payment for that silly ass takedown… “Doe is looking to chop away at Parker's legs. Parker feints and then winds up with a huge right hand that connects perfectly and sends Doe sprawling to the canvas! Doe rolls over backwards and springs off the cage and manages to regain his footing - how acrobatic! Oh, he's still wobbly - can Parker finish him?!” I’ll just say what we were all thinking Donkey…that this thing was over! Parker puts you on your ass with your wits spinning like stars over your head twice and frankly it’s probably in your best interest to stay down and out. But not Doe! This man likes his brains scrambled apparently and he came right back at Parker, phased or not, and brought the aggression! Damn, Parker is a beast…and Doe has some hella heart let me tell you! Ok, I’m dragging this out aren’t I Donkey? Here we go…so Parker gets that round. Frankly, I’m not sure how he didn’t have the second round also after rocking Doe there. But anyways, 2-1 for Doe so far! The fourth round saw some significant clinching and lots more action on the feet with the guys trading and Doe getting yet another round, making this a fight that Parker now needed a finish in to win most likely! The fifth round was very similar to the fourth, again, with some clinch action thrown in but overall a round that saw both men giving anything they had left, both with gas tanks on just about or at empty…and both putting their heart and soul into one hell of a fight to claim the belt as theirs! With the final bell, the call went to the judges with Juice Fluffer stepping back into the cage along with the ref and both fighters waiting for the decision… Juice Fluffer enters the cage as the referee has both fighters in the middle of the cage… “Ladies and gentlemen, after FIVE rounds of action we go to the judges’ scorecards for a decision!” “Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight 47:49 for Doe…Judge Darius Henderson scores the fight 46:49…and Judge Bruno Hogan scores the fight 45:50…” “Declaring the winner…by Unaaaaanimous Decision…ANNNNNNDDDD NEWWWWW…Sucker Punch Pro Series…UNNNNNDISPUTEDDDDD…Light Heavyweight Champion of the World…“Johhhhhhhn…”Shot-calllllllerrrrr”…DOOOOOOEEE!!” And we have a new Light Heavyweight Champion Donkey!!! Wow, after all this time, somebody has finally found a way to overcome the beast, the phenom, the imposing spectacle of a man that is Jacob Parker! Can you believe it Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: I don’t even have a lot to say here. A phenomenal fight! The heart that Doe walks around with beating in his chest is incomparable I’d have to say after being rocked not once but twice by a dominant champion like Jacob Parker! Congrats to the new champ. Now remember this: Parker and every other talented Light Heavyweight at Sucker Punch Pro Series now has their sights set on. YOU. Welcome to the gauntlet my friend! And I thank both of these fighters for a fantastic night of amazing action! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! If you missed it you missed a great one! We’ll be back at it tomorrow night as SPPS 45 comes at you…again from Hard Knocks – Sydney! Take care everybody! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suske127 Posted March 2, 2021 Report Share Posted March 2, 2021 Destin’s Title Fight Spotlight Sucker Punch Pro Series 45 Thoth Chontamenti vs. ZaDarius Haden: Destin: Hey guys! Welcome back to our Spotlight Series here at Sucker Punch! It’s Incredible that you two were both on the show back before it was cancelled; and you’re STILL here now that we’re bringing it back! You two have both seen fantastic success so far in your careers. Destin: ZaDarius – It's rare that fighters earn rematches here for a belt, but you've done just that! ZaDarius - Since fighting Thoth over a year ago, he has gone on to win 3 fights straight. It's starting to seem to our fans that he's invincible. Are you excited that you may be able to steal that from Thoth tonight? ZaDarius: Yea Destin, I'm very excited to fight for the belt again, and to fight a great fighter like Thoth – and show what i can do. Destin: Nice. We’ll see what you’ve got tonight. Thoth, after defending your belt so many times, does it start to feel easy? Almost like you're invincible? Thoth: Actually, it's quite the opposite. Each time I defend the title, the higher the stakes are raised. The target on my back steadily increases and the pressure to adapt to each opponent is prominent. However, being a champion is what every fighter wants to be and I'll do my absolute best to be a champion for as long as possible. Destin: It sounds like you have the mentality to maintain that belt for a long time coming. Complacency is the downfall of most champions. Here’s a question for both of you guys – The first time you guys fought, Thoth won in mere minutes by forcing ZaDarius to tap with an ugly Kimura. What’s going to make this a different fight than your first meeting? Thoth: ZaDarius has improved a great deal since our first clash. He has worked diligently to become a BJJ black belt, just as I have. Additionally, he has learned more about himself as a fighter and understands what he can and can't do at this point in his career. I, too, have learned more about myself and should this fight become a battle of wills on the ground, we'll see who wants it more. ZaDarius: Yea, In the first fight i did not respect his BJJ as i should have, so I have worked hard to make sure my ground game is up to par. But I have also worked all of my, game and the way that I attacked back then is different from how i do it now. I have more weapons for Thoth to worry about this time. Destin: It Sounds like you guys are both ready for some grappling, which is my favorite part of MMA! It’s like a human chess match. What do you guys respect about each other’s game? ZaDarius: Everything. Thoth is a great fighter and champ. He just seems to do everything right. He does not seem to be afraid to fight anywhere, and mixes it up very well. He’s very well rounded. Thoth: Aww, thanks brother. I appreciate those kind words. Destin, I respect ZaDariuses aggression, and determination to finish an opponent with ground-and-pound viciousness. In that cage, you simply can't be trepid, nor second-guess yourself. The moment you do, you'll find yourself in a world of trouble. Haden is very confident and that's a large reason why he's once again fighting me for the title. Destin: I’m impressed with how well you guys are able to speak about each other! Not every fighter can maintain humility like you guys. Anything else you have to say to each other? Thoth: Everyone sees how hard you've worked and respects the victories you've earned. You and I both know that whomever makes the first mistake will be the one singing the regret song. If you want to prove you're the better black belt, I gladly welcome the challenge. ZaDarius: Your first win wasn’t about mistakes, it was about luck. Hope you don't think you're going to get lucky like last time. Destin: ZaDarius, you’re clearly confident coming into this fight and Thoth, you seem like you’re afraid of no challenge. How is this fight going to end guys? ZaDarius: It's going to be a hard fought war. Three or four rounds in, it’ll end TKO and my arms being raised Thoth: Haha! Funny. Destin, all I know is this will end painfully! Destin: Alright! ZaDarius calling the literal victory exudes confidence but, Thoth’s ominous message would have me pretty nervous for this one. Good luck to both of you in this championship fight tonight! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2021 7 hours ago, Suske127 said: Destin’s Title Fight Spotlight Sucker Punch Pro Series 45 Thoth Chontamenti vs. ZaDarius Haden Awesome! Thank you for the contribution, totally excited to see you back at it!!!! Wooot! And now very excited to see this fight!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suske127 Posted March 2, 2021 Report Share Posted March 2, 2021 Destin’s Title Fight Spotlight Sucker Punch Pro Series 45 Landon McGuire vs. Sean Smith Destin: Hey guys! Welcome back to our Spotlight Series here at Sucker Punch! It’s great to have two fighters of your caliber in the room together with us. Let’s jump right into it. Our fans are all wondering, where the hell did Landon come from?? It seems like yesterday nobody knew his name - but then he came in and shook up the entire division by winning 3 fights straight and taking the 185lb belt. What's your secret Landon? Sean, does it bother you that he got a title shot so much sooner in his career than you? McGuire: I come from a good team and have really well-rounded skills and pick up things very fast in training. Add that to my granite chin and my power and I am a threat to anyone who steps into the cage with me. Smith is going to learn that the hard way. He let his manager talk him into a fight that he is not ready for. Smith: Man, this dude just had matchmaking on his side. That's all it is, really. When you get a shot a Wandy and make the most of it, that's all it takes. This guy basically walks in, beats a scrub, then somehow beats Machado, then beats another scrub, and now he’s here. Matchmaking at its finest. Destin: Sounds like Landon is taking the humble approach of thanking his team, and Sean doesn’t think he’s hot shit and is really just lucky to be here. For both of you guys, this is your first time fighting an undefeated opponent – Are you worried that the man you face tonight will be a tier above your past opponents? Smith: I'm not worried about what tier he is. I'm worried about executing my game plan. If he beats me, he is legit, but if not, he'll never get another run at the Championship. Maybe he should be worried about what tier I am on!! McGuire: Haha, nice joke Sean. I don't worry about anyone I fight. Like Sean said, I know what I can do, now I just have to go and do it. Smith is tough; no way you go 6-0 and not be tough. Anything can happen in a fight. It just takes one lucky shot and even the underdog can pull out a win, but that is what it will take for Smith to win - for me to make a mistake and get caught. He cannot beat me; I will only lose if I make a mistake. Destin: Wow, you guys are both incredibly confident! It’s really unfortunate that one of you will have to lose your undefeated record tonight. What’s one thing that you guys respect about each other’s game? McGuire: I respect that he has some good striking, and only been to a decision once. Not all fighters have toughness, but Sean has a little. Smith: I’m plenty tough. I respect that Landon has the guts to step in a cage with me! But his game ain't been proven. He hasn't been tested on the feet. I haven't been tested on the ground. We'll see what's what real soon. Destin: Oof, tough talk from Sean. Anything else you guys want to say before the fight tonight? McGuire: Good luck tonight. Also, good luck to my brother Guy River in his fight this week. Go out and put Logan away! We need 2 champs from River's Edge in here. Not to mention Darry Curtis just signed a long-term contract. We are going to take over 3 weight classes in the ORG. Smith: Your team aint’ shit compared to mine. I'm proud of my boys, and appreciate all the help getting ready for this fight. Mason Jones, Nyah Hirst, Brennan Brunswick and everyone at the Savage Krew gym. I fought hard to get to this position but couldn't have made it without my team. Destin: Your guys’ teams are definitely powerhouses for the org. One more question - how is this fight going to end tonight guys? Smith: Destin, someone is going to get finished tonight. I don't see either of us taking the easy way out. No man is unstoppable so tonight somebody will remain undefeated and another man won't be any more. McGuire: Yeah, about that Sean – This one is ending with me getting the win, either KO, sub, or decision. It doesn't matter, but there is no way you're walking out with my belt tonight. Destin: Alright! It sure sounds like you two are both roaring to get a shot at each other’s throat tonight, and we can’t wait to see how it goes! Thank you both for joining us here on the Spotlight, and good luck to each of you tonight! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
762x39 Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 Great job! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 45 Well hello again to all our Sucker Punch faithful out there! I’m Hare Rumpler, and boy does it feel like I just sat in the booth here with my partner and analyst, Donkey “Dan”, working on a piece for you guys! Oh, wait, that’s because we did due to my being such a slacker and us just getting the review for SPPS 44 out last evening, haha. Well, we’re coming right back at you today with a preview of SPPS 45 which will take place tonight over at Hard Knocks – Sydney! We’re only a few weeks away now from what I believe will be our return to the Bondi Outdoor Arena! Yes, we’re close to testing the waters and moving back up into the fantastic 5,500 person outdoor venue that we all know and love and I’m very excited about that. As much as I love Hard Knocks and it’s more intimate atmosphere I’m also very stoked to be able to pack more fans live into the place to see our amazing fighters go at it live! That said, let’s talk about Sucker Punch Pro Series 45 here tonight! Because we have a HELL of a midweek card on tap for our fans around the world! Not one, but TWO, big Championship fights scheduled for this evening with both the Heavyweight and Middleweight titles on the line. Damn! Donkey, back in the States we have an old ancestral saying that goes something along the lines of March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb. I guess what that’s supposed to mean is that traditionally if the beginning of March has some ferocious weather then by the end of March things will have settled down and it’ll be fairly calm. Well, I can guarantee you that here at Sucker Punch we’re coming ROARING into March, but I can make zero guarantees out us coming out of it calm! Ha! Heck, I sure as all hell hope not! I say keep up the intensity, the crazy action and never let em rest boys! So let’s move on here and get into the details of our fights this evening right after we get a word in about our sponsor and merchandise partner! Do you find that you’re resting your fighters too often? Two, three, maybe even 4 times a week sometimes? If that’s the case, you’re probably not supplementing their training, and if you are I’m thinking you’re not doing it with Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q, which is Shadow Warrior Nutrition’s outstanding energy loss reduction supplement. It’s the best money can buy and will keep your fighter in the gym training rather than sitting days out resting! Stop on over there today, you will NOT be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Welterweights Justin Kulina (1-1-0) vs. Young Prodigy (0-2-0) Alright Donkey, I was already all amped up over this card because it truly is a fantastic lineup for tonight…but having these two be the first ones to open up the card and seeing them come in with gas tanks topped off and morale through the roof warms my nasty, black heart! Haha! Prodigy makes his debut for us here at Sucker Punch tonight although under a well-known banner as he’ll be cornered by Yamashita Craven’s camp! Coming off two MMA losses in a row from late last year Prodigy will clearly want to start down a new path this evening. Prodigy has a granite chin yet those two losses were via KO and TKO, so it remains to be seen if there is a heart issue at play. Or perhaps he just needs a bit more defensive skill in the striking department. We’ll see if he changes things up at all tonight against Kulina but in the past Prodigy has boxed when he had to but then moved into the clinch with the goal being to get the fight on the ground and work on submissions. He hasn’t landed them in MMA action, but that hasn’t stopped him from trying! Kulina had a successful Sucker Punch debut in January with a win over Patricio Silva via decision. Kulina also has a granite chin but despite that was rocked twice in that fight but had the intestinal fortitude to get his ass right back up and keep coming at Silva! It paid off, clearly. He brought an uber aggressive style to that fight with striking from every angle with those weapons he calls fists. In three rounds he threw over one hundred head shots alone without even looking at the body shots and combos! Donkey, got a pick for us…? Donkey’s Pick: Kulina via Unanimous Decision I think this is going to be a close one but with two granites in there it could go the distance. If that happens, I think perhaps Kulina’s style and crazy aggressive nature could get him the call from the judges. I can also see this going the other way for Prodigy, but I need to see him win in MMA first before I can start picking him. Go get it boys! Open this show with some fire! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Heavyweights Ultima Kekkonen vs. Thor Nordquist (2-2-0) Awwww man! Donkey, this is what I’m talking about baby! I knew this card was going to be great! Here we go, second fight of the night and we’ve got yet another pair that are locked and loaded, ready to get at it! Ooh, yeah, damn, I might have to start considering putting out bonuses simply for nights like this, I dunno how I’d do it, but damn, it might be worth it because it really does get me fired up when I see two guys both ready to get it done! And this is one closely, closely matched fight folks! Damn, if you’re not here on time tonight and think you’re just going to show up before the end of the Undercard and just come wandering in all nonchalant, I think you’re going to miss some great shit folks! These two don’t have winning records. Yet. But tonight barring a draw one of these two will even things up at .500 and be on the right track! Nordquist came into the year 2021 as part of a Team Lundgren crew that has a new attitude. It hasn’t meant winning every match so far, but it certainly has gotten them off to a better overall showing! With a win over Victor Ballsawash in January via a fourteen second KO that earned ‘KO of the Night’ honors he’s primed for another big showing tonight! There was no secret to his approach that night…he came out swinging and two shots to the melon later it was lights out for Ballsawash! Can he do something similar against Kekkonen tonight? Kekkonen didn’t get the debut with us that he was looking for at the end of January against Patrick Murphy, losing a close one via decision. Despite the fight being a loss he did rock Murphy pretty good at one point showing off some skill on the feet! In his prior fight, a win over McManus via TKO, he used kicks combined with the clinch more. Will we see more of that tonight against another striker? Donkey, who gets it…? Donkey’s Pick: Kekkonen via TKO (Strikes) I think if Kekkonen gets things into the clinch often enough and can control the action to keep it there he likely gains the advantage tonight. Let’s see if his combination of Muay Thai skills and wrestling comes through to prove me right though! If this stays striking from distance it’s any man’s game I think! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Middleweights Breno Pinheiro (8-4-0) vs. Edward Mills (4-5-0) Another one where both fighters are ready to go tonight…for the most part. Pinheiro is slightly off on morale but it may not be enough to play into things. I guess we’ll see about that! Mills channeled his inner saber tooth tiger in January to take down Kissy ONeill via TKO. He’d had a couple losses in a row via the same means, so getting things turned around was a big deal for him. What he wants to do tonight is avoid the repeating sequence of a win followed by two losses, rinse, repeat! Mills is a pure, lovable, hard-headed striker. We’ll see if he’s also worked on some other skills in addition to his tiger like pouncing and pickle punches, but don’t expect it folks! Pinheiro would like nothing more than to keep Mills on track with his routine of W,L,L, repeat. Coming off two losses himself including his Sucker Punch debut Pinheiro will not want to see a third in a row get added to his record. He started out his career the fast way, streaking out to a 7-1 record on the Island. However, ever since leaving the Island he’s been finding that life out in the real world is a bit different! His wins, as well as losses, are always via TKO or KO and with superb Muay Thai combined with wonderful wrestling his most effective move is to get into the clinch. How does this one turn out Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Pinheiro via TKO (Strikes) We know that Pinheiro has heavy hands from his earlier fights and we’re pretty sure that Mills does as well. Two hard hitters always make it a tough pick because either could land that shot that ends things with a quickness at any given time! Pinheiro is due, so I’ll go with him on a toss of the coin tonight…but for the sake of ending the streak of W,L,L, Mills had better try to prove me wrong! *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Heavyweights Sam Cooper (5-2-0) vs. Hero Shima (2-2-0) I sound like a broken record at this point Donkey, but the trend continues and these two big boys head into the cage tonight amped and ready, eye of the tiger baby! I said it already, and I’ll say it every time…not much thrills me more than two guys who come to the cage fully prepped and ready to go! I love this matchup tonight because these two are so, so closely matched in skills! Shima has the slight edge in both boxing and Muay Thai but Cooper will have the wrestling advantage. They both tote brown belts in Jiu Jitsu into the cage! Shima started out a bit rough by taking two losses to start his MMA career. Granted, the first one was a test fight and probably intended to be a loss. Then his SPPS debut had him take a TKO loss to ZaDarius Haden. Afterward, he and his team took a step back for two months to refine a few things with his technique. He came roaring back and defeated both Lanuola Sefina and Harry Kane last month via TKO and submission respectively. Shima has a granite chin, a nasty standup striking game and clearly the ability to finish on the ground. He’ll continue to be a terror in the division going forward and is going to be one heck of a test for Cooper to figure out this evening. Cooper also has formidable skills. Perhaps even more so on the ground that Shima from a defensive perspective. He may have offensive skills as well but to date he hasn’t put them on display yet. Instead he’s relied upon a vicious boxing attack that somehow ZaDarius Haden was able to overcome in late January to earn a title shot. Can Shima do the same this evening? What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Shima via Submission (Armbar) Cooper fell to Haden in a hard fought battle that ended in decision. However, the prior win over Sparrow was, admittedly, against an inferior opponent. Still, you can only beat who you face and he took care of business in that fight in under two minutes, so give credit for that. Bautista was a much more comparable fight three back and that win was very impressive. I want to see him win tonight before I can take him against some of the top guys in the division though. I won’t be surprised if he pulls it off, but for now, Shima is on a roll and looks rock solid. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Lightweights Conor Aldo (6-4-0) vs. Ramon Rabbit (7-7-0) Both Rabbit and Aldo head to the cage tonight ready to see who the best is this evening! Nothing come down to lack of preparation or anything like that as both are ready to go as have all of our fighters been so far this evening! Aldo may be just a smidge low on morale, but it’s not enough to really factor in significantly. Very much like Edwards Mills earlier in the evening, Rabbit has had a disturbing trend going over his fights here at Sucker Punch. Outside the first three he’s also been doing the Win, Loss, Loss, Win, Loss, Loss, repeat thing. That has to be concerning for his management team as he continues to struggle to find consistency and consecutive wins in the cage. Perhaps tonight he can bounce back from the loss to Furioto in January, avoid two in a row and start a new trend of winning! To do so he’ll likely try to make the best use of his kickboxing skills as he has tended to struggle on the ground. Aldo will likely offer no argument this evening about keeping this thing standing. He’s not known for a ground game and would rather stand and strike with both hands and feet! Heck, his fighter bio even reads, “Just let me bang bro!”, channeling the infamous Julian Lane, a UFC TUF house member back in the day! While Aldo’s morale right now isn’t bad off, one thing of note is that he’s never changed his clothes. This certainly leaves him slightly less prepared for his next fight after a loss and makes it surprising that the losses having come more frequently. But the opposite is true for Aldo from Rabbit’s pattern, with Aldo going L,W,W repeat over his career. If that pattern holds true this evening, he’s due for a win! Well Donkey, have a pick for us here…? Donkey’s Pick: Aldo via KO (Punch) Well when you have two trends both indicating which way to pick for the evening, who am I to go against them?!? Sure, ok, Rabbit’s says he’s due for a loss and Aldo’s a win. Now would be the time for Rabbit to spit in the face of that trend and say, “To hell with that!” Let’s make it a good one boys, strikefest style! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Heavyweights Patrick Murphy (3-3-0) vs. Zygmunt Krol (3-3-0) Krol comes into this match tonight on the back of two wins in a row including a unanimous decision victory over Tank Tribute in his Sucker Punch debut. This is a man who likes to stand an throw hands, feet, hell, just about anything he can hit you with he’s probably willing to use! He’s got exceptional boxing, sensational Muay Thai and wonderful wrestling to support and compliment those skills. A purple belt in Jiu Jitsu is likely there for defensive purposes. Murphy came into SPPS on the right note back in January with a win over Ultima Kekkonen via Unanimous Decision. Murphy worked the takedown game, as expected given his extremely strong wrestling and Jiu Jitsu skills, and from there initiated a brutal ground and pound attack over and over throughout the three round fight! Credit to Kekkonen for weathering one hell of a storm that included over thirty shots landed on the ground! That said, tonight’s battle with Krol will likely feature more of the same from Murphy if he can get the fight to the ground and capitalize on his advantage there! Two different styles, a fun one Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Krol via TKO (Strikes) This one is certainly going to test that granite chin of Krol’s if the fight ends up on the ground or at least you’d think it will. It remains to be seen if Murphy will be able to gain position down there against Krol’s wrestling. Or if the fight will get to the ground at all. This will be a battle to dictate where the fight takes place and who can make the best use of the situation once there! I’m banking on Krol’s chin holding up and making it a tough fight for Murphy to finish. Don’t be surprised to see this one go to the judges though! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Light Heavyweights Titus Fury (11-3-0) vs. Dolph Lindgren (6-3-0) As usual Fury comes into the fight tonight slightly off on morale but to be honest not nearly as much as usual! So bonus there I suppose! This will be your classic striker versus submission battle this evening as Lindgren has the definitive advantage on the feet. Donkey, one might be surprised to learn that Lindgren actually has a slightly higher skill level wrestling in this one as well. However, going to the ground is probably the last thing anybody would suggest to Lindgren this evening given Fury has made a career so far out of submitting his opponents! After going 6-2 on his career and scoring two wins in a row here at Sucker Punch, Lindgren was given a shot at the Top Contender status in the Light Heavyweight division at the end of January. He lost that fight to John Doe, a result that carries no shame given Doe has since (spoiler alert) gone on to win the Title on this very same card! Fury’s goal in this one, as we alluded to, is straightforward. Get the fight to the ground and have Lindgren tapping morse code for his life! Donkey, this another one all about who can force the fight to happen on their terms…? Donkey’s Pick: Lindgren via TKO (Strikes) I would think so Hare, with it coming down to whether or not Fury can get it to the ground and if he does whether Lindgren can fend off the submission attempts! The best move for Lindgren would be to simply finish this standing before it ever gets to that point. He has good solid ground skills though so perhaps he’s up to the task even if it does end up on the mat! We’re gonna find out! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Heavyweights Bubba Wallace (13-2-0) vs. Lanuola Sefina (6-3-0) Alright!!! Our last fight before the Main Events and we have two mighty warriors heading into the cage here this evening as these Heavyweights prepare for an epic clash! This is the last one where I’ll be going in-depth because, as many of you have probably already noticed, we’ve been treated to extended coverage of the two Main Event title fights this evening in the return of Destin’s Spotlight series! Sefina, simply put, loves several things. And those are getting the fight to the ground and then trying on a dizzying array of submissions while trying to distract you by rocking your world with brutal ground strikes from above! Yep, that’s about the short and sweet of it! And you should expect to see plenty of that tonight as well… …because while Wallace has a formidable standup game and, to be honest, better than most wrestling skills…he also has a white belt in Jiu Jitsu that Sefina will try to exploit. Wallace has an incredible 13-2 record with a 2-1 record under current management but comes into this Sucker Punch debut off a loss to Jax Chambers over at Checkmate. Now, due to a difference of opinion on a few things that I won’t get into this will likely be a single fight here at SPPS for Wallace and his goal will clearly be to walk away with a ‘W’ and head into his next promotion on the winning side of things! On the other hand, Sefina would like nothing better than to catch a solid win over a very strong opponent here before the opportunity escapes! Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Sefina via Submission (Armbar) Sefina will have to be very careful in this fight because Wallace has his record for a damned good reason! If he catches Sefina the right way before he can get this fight to the ground the thing may be over before Sefina ever gets a chance to try to work some magic. And there’s a very solid chance of that happening! But I do have to look at the advantage of Sefina on the ground over that white belt and think if it gets to the ground, the advantage shifts heavily to Sefina. *********************** Co-Main Event: Middleweight Championship Landon McGuire (4-0-0) vs. Sean Smith (6-0-0) Our Co-Main Event features the first of our two Title Fights this evening folks! I won’t go into extensive detail here because as I mentioned in the prior fight the two Championship contests this evening have been covered via a fun interview by our own Destin in the return of his Spotlight series! I’m so friggin’ thrilled with that btw! Suffice to say that these two had plenty of confidence going in the interview and clearly each respected the other while at the same time casting some serious doubts on the other’s accomplishments to date! That clearly makes for an explosive situation tonight when they square off in the cage at Hard Knocks – Sydney and boy, does it make me excited to see this one! Undefeated 6-0, Sean Smith versus 4-0, Undefeated and Defending, Undisputed Middleweight Champion Landon McGuire!!! Smith has won all but the last of his fights via KO or TKO…which already sets up some amazing anticipated right there with the challenger. Then you have McGuire who has proven he can go the distance, KO your ass as he did against Kirill Krasnov or even pull off a surprise submission as he did to win the title against Jim Beam! That’s the kind of flexibility and diversity of game that can cause havoc in preparation for any challenger and opponent! Donkey…you have to be psyched about this one eh…? Donkey’s Pick: McGuire via TKO (Strikes) McGuire claims that Smith has stepped up to the plate and bitten off more than he can chew in this fight. I’m not sure that I necessarily think that’s the case, but I do respect the Champ and the evolution of his skillsets as he demonstrated against Beam. I have to tip my hat to a guy who has shown he can win and do it in any way that it takes! Smith could shock the world tonight and make good on his side of the interview and if so, wow, what a night it’ll be! *********************** Main Event: Heavyweight Championship: Chontamenti vs. Haden II Thoth Chontamenti (8-1-0) vs. ZaDarius Haden (8-2-0) Our Main Event Donkey…and again, I feel like a broken record, but let’s just get it out there for those who may only see this section! This fight and the lead up to it have been covered in the return of Destin’s Spotlight series and I’m thrilled to see that back in action! These two had a good time talking with Destin together and honestly, I was shocked by how courteous, respectful and civil both fighters were! I mean, I’m not saying I expected these two to be dicks or anyting, no, they’re genuinely good guys, but there was no posturing or mind games being played. Or if there were, it was so above my league that even I didn’t see it! Haha. With eight wins for each of these guys and only three losses between them you know that both of these great fighters know a thing or two about being in the cage and getting the job done. The challenge for Haden tonight? Look the monster in the eyes, again, and this time find a way to overcome the biggest obstacle he’s ever faced! Haden faced Chontamenti in Thoth’s first title defense after he won the belt following the Cockshot Sorter Series against Rumble Johnson. At the time, Chontamenti’s ground game and submission skills came out on top. Now with three more successful defenses in between and Chontamenti still reigning supreme as the evil overlord of the Heavyweight Division…haha, I kid, nothing evil about him…I don’t think…it’s time to see how much evolution has occurred for these two and how they approach this rematch! Each guy told you exactly how they felt about this thing in the Spotlight series piece. The strengths, the possible weaknesses, the goals and what they expect to see. Now…who is the best in the cage tonight? Woooo, almost time to find out Donkey! Donkey…who walks away with the belt this evening…? Donkey’s Pick: Chontamenti via Unanimous Decision I can’t go against the beast, the baddest mofo in Sucker Punch, the King of the Heavyweights here. Not till Goliath falls at least. But I also can’t tell you that Haden won’t be the one! These two have developed some hella skills over their time here at Sucker Punch. This could easily be one of the most epic battles we’ve seen in the history of SPPS to date! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! Well, do I need to say more? Get your ass to Hard Knocks – Sydney folks, join the fun and the party and get ready for some pulse pounding action! Ten great fights, each building upon the one before it until the final confrontation in two epic Championship battles! What more could you want?!? Come get some! We’ll see you there in just a few hours, enjoy! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfuhrer Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 Great stuff Hare. Return of of the Pickle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 Guys, I am so friggin' thrilled and honored...for SPPS as well as our amazing managers and fighers...that THIS is the mid-section of the MMAT home page today! Names in lights baby! Doesn't matter to me one bit that it's a Wednesday, it's AWESOME!!! 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Therobbsmith Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 Sean Smith : The moment I've worked for. Sitting outside the Hard Knocks arena is Sean Smith. A cameraman is filming his every move just hours before his Middleweight Championship fight. " He talks , I talk . His manager talks , my manager talks. In a few hours all that shit ends. The talk ends and man I'm ready for it to end. I come from a war zone in Compton , California. None of my friends from school are still alive and half of my family are gone or locked up. I got away from all that , I made something of myself by hard work and perseverance and bet ya ass I persevered. So tonight's the night, the rich hipster from New York takes on the dirt poor kid from the streets. Now that the talkin' is pretty much over I'll come at y'all straight like I always do. Landon is a legit athlete , the dude beat Machado and he is well rounded. Landon says my manager bit off more for me than I'm ready for but we're both fuckin human. We both young in this game. Maybe he better at some shit than me but maybe I'm better at some shit than him. If I lose then I lose. Like I said half my friends and family are in prison , the other half are buried. If I lose all I do is train longer and harder. I'm young ya know?!? But…. But….. IF I win!!! If the young gun , the dirt poor kid from Compton wins a World Championship then that changes everything. If I win tonight it shows every kid in the hood that dreams can come true. Every kid that got a Momma on crack and a Daddy in the streets that they can do it on their own. They say be the change you want to see , so here I am. This is the moment I've worked for and this is our time. Savage Krew , Compton, let's go get this ship'." Sean Smith stands up and walks into the arena. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Therobbsmith Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 @YoungGunSmith My ground game was a weakness. I've spent months training and it wasn't enough. I got no excuses. I'll go to the back of the line and l will keep working. I'm sorry to disappoint my team and my fans. This feeling sucks man empty inside ... it really f'n sucks but I ain't quitting. The grind continues. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
762x39 Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 3 hours ago, Therobbsmith said: @YoungGunSmith My ground game was a weakness. I've spent months training and it wasn't enough. I got no excuses. I'll go to the back of the line and l will keep working. I'm sorry to disappoint my team and my fans. This feeling sucks man empty inside ... it really f'n sucks but I ain't quitting. The grind continues. Good fight Smith. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clydebankblitz Posted March 3, 2021 Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 6 hours ago, HareRumpler said: Guys, I am so friggin' thrilled and honored...for SPPS as well as our amazing managers and fighers...that THIS is the mid-section of the MMAT home page today! Names in lights baby! Doesn't matter to me one bit that it's a Wednesday, it's AWESOME!!! This is bullshit, no way is this above Highland 3!!!!!!! Haha good work man. Just came on the thread to say I love the original posters. Like an improved, more personalized version of something I tried back in the day. Love going on the main page and seeing an actual, fresh poster for the event. Makes the game feel more alive. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2021 2 hours ago, clydebankblitz said: Haha good work man. Just came on the thread to say I love the original posters. Like an improved, more personalized version of something I tried back in the day. Hahaha, thanks man, appreciate the kind words and the enthusiasm! However, you need to head to an optometrist...your posters from then still remain head and shoulders above mine. Mine are quick and dirty, yours were clean and refined. 10x's better, love them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator001 Posted March 5, 2021 Report Share Posted March 5, 2021 Its that time of the month again ye bastards Frankie The Evil Scotsman Logan 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2021 3 hours ago, Gator001 said: Its that time of the month again ye bastards Frankie The Evil Scotsman Logan LMFAO!!! Friggin' LOVE it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 5, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2021 POST EVENT CHEAP SHOTS Sucker Punch Pro Series 45 Hello again Sucker Punch fans! It’s been another crazy week around casa de Rumpler with work seeming to be determined to require me to actually earn a paycheck! Damn, the nerve! Haha. Anyways, gonna try to run through a quick commentary and takeaways from SPPS 45 here with Donkey taking over for me while I take care of work duties and then later this evening we’ll step into a look ahead at SPPS 46 which is coming at us tonight! With not one but two title fights included this one was crazy full of action and we had a great event rating come out of it! As I mentioned in the preview, we’re close to moving back to the Bondi Outdoor Arena in Sydney come April, so we’ll be ramping up the numbers of those with us live in attendance to closer to 6,000 once we do that! That’s exciting and will add even more energy into the fights! It’s time for a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner so we can get to Donkey’s takeaways! Do you find that you’re resting your fighters too often? Two, three, maybe even 4 times a week sometimes? If that’s the case, you’re probably not supplementing their training, and if you are I’m thinking you’re not doing it with Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q, which is Shadow Warrior Nutrition’s outstanding energy loss reduction supplement. It’s the best money can buy and will keep your fighter in the gym training rather than sitting days out resting! Stop on over there today, you will NOT be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Welterweights Young Prodigy Defeats Justin Kulina via Unanimous Decision Donkey’s Takeaways: I mentioned in the preview that, “I think this is going to be a close one but with two granites in there it could go the distance. If that happens, I think perhaps Kulina’s style and crazy aggressive nature could get him the call from the judges.” SO close to making the call here as Kulina indeed came out uber aggressive but Prodigy’s strike defense and better overall accurate striking at 60+% carried him through to a decision with the judges! Prodigy opens his Sucker Punch run on the right track after taking a few months off before joining us. Maybe he just needed a little self-reflection? We’ll see how he fares against Eminemineminem next month! Kulina will feel Kelly McGrady’s wrath this week as they go back to the drawing board. With a .500 record here at Sucker Punch full focus will be on a rebound next month after his next fight is determined, likely Baldimir Zsofka! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Heavyweights Ultima Kekkonen Defeats Thor Nordquist via TKO (Strikes) Donkey’s Takeaways: Well, I was wrong in calling for Kekkonen to get this into and win the fight from the clinch! Instead, he simply got the better of the exchanges boxing for two minutes and out-struck Nordquist! Would he have utilized the clinch had the fight gone longer? We’ll never know! Nordquist is now on a backslide with a 1-4 record over his past five fights. He desperately needs a win, and then another win, starting pronto! He’s likely looking at a very evenly contested match with Banana Republic next which will tell us a lot about where both guys stand at that point. Kekkonen gets on the right track with this win making his overall records as well as that at SPPS here .500. Now it’s time to really put them together and show what he has. He’ll have that opportunity against Zygmunt Krol next month! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Middleweights Breno Pinheiro Defeats Edward Mills via TKO (Strikes) Donkey’s Takeaways: Mills gets into troubling territory here having lost three of his last four and five of his last seven. More disappointing than the loss is that it’s a loss after he had his opponent Pinheiro rocked around a minute and a half into the second round and failed to capitalize with a finish. Instead, Pinheiro was able to rebound and finish the fight himself via TKO just two minutes later. Mills is likely in desperation mode at this point, as he should be. A battle with Roddy Richards next month will help tell us if he has any hope for a comeback. Pinheiro comes roaring into his second fight with Sucker Punch and scores a win for brand new manager Jony R! Next month will be a tough contest with Kenji Gōtarō which will tell us just how good his ground defense is also. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Heavyweights Hero Shima Defeats Sam Cooper via TKO (Strikes) Donkey’s Takeaways: Shima handled this one in short order during a thirty-two second striking exchange that ended with Shima standing victorious! He took one jab to the nose for his trouble from Cooper but dished out the rest of the punishment landing five of seven head shots and putting this one in the books! The fans loved it too. After the fight and having dropped two here in Sucker Punch Cooper’s manager had seen enough against better quality competition and clearly felt that Cooper didn’t have what it’s going to take long term. Cooper finds himself looking for new management despite excellent skills. On paper at least. Shima is now on a roll with three straight wins since taking a break to regroup and collect himself back in October! With this win under his belt he finds himself in a Top Contender battle next month with Patrick Murphy who has also been on a roll. One of these two is going to get a title shot! *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Lightweights Ramon Rabbit Defeats Conor Aldo via TKO (Strikes) Donkey’s Takeaways: My comments in the preview were, “Well when you have two trends both indicating which way to pick for the evening, who am I to go against them?!? Sure, ok, Rabbit’s says he’s due for a loss and Aldo’s a win. Now would be the time for Rabbit to spit in the face of that trend and say, “To hell with that!” Well, apparently Rabbit took that advice to heart! He came out kickboxing like his life depended upon it in this one, cutting Aldo during the first minute of action and riding that success right to the finish line three minutes later! Aldo had a top contender shot recently but fell just short. Apparently he’s having a little bit of a hangover here still from taking that loss. We’ve noted before that Aldo appears to both live and die via the (T)KO. He’s going to need to figure out a way to avoid taking them while trying to dish them out! Next month he’ll get the chance to put that in practice against Tua Graves. In the meantime, he should really change his clothes to help in recovering his morale. For Rabbit a strong showing that was just what the ‘Donkey’ called for to help him break the cycle and get things on track! Also nice to see a decisive finish rather than a hard fought decision. With full energy he can get right back into the gym and work on his preparation for next month against…well, it’s not scheduled yet, but likely Pure Striker! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Heavyweights Patrick Murphy Defeats Zygmunt Krol via Unanimous Decision Donkey’s Takeaways: When fights go deep into the rounds Action Jackson’s guys usually benefit as he has a knack for having his guys wear down the opponent until they are ripe for a TKO! Not so in this one, as Murphy and his corner work up a plan and follow through on it that had him putting this fight on the mat quite a bit to control the action, no pun intended, reduce the damage over a long fight and even score points with the judges. The plan worked out to perfection and Murphy walks out on top! Krol is an intimidating fighter from his avatar. But so far in his career he’s .500 overall, with a 3-3 professional record and 1-1 here at Sucker Punch. He’s young and likely to really start picking up the pace in short order under Action Jackson (full disclosure, an alliance mate of mine). The fight next month with Ultima Kekkonen should be a fantastic one! Murphy gets the job done against a tough opponent, goes 2-0 since joining Sucker Punch with a 7-2 overall record and earns a battle with Hero Shima next month to determine Top Contender and a title shot for the winner! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Light Heavyweights Dolph Lindgren Defeats Titus Fury via TKO (Strikes) Donkey’s Takeaways: Lindgren tried to follow our advice and finish this thing before it ever got to the ground. He was doing a good job of preventing Fury from moving it to the mat for most of the first round until the last minute of action. He may have surprised Fury a bit once that happened though as he was willing to offer up sub attempt for sub attempt with Fury! I’m convinced that had Fury come into this fight fully prepared with his morale topped off it may have been a different outcome. Instead, he struggled for far too long to get this fight into his kitchen. For the second round, Lindgren made good on our advice and wanted nothing more to do with the ground game, instead, deciding it was time to just finish it as he rocked Fury a half minute in and finished it up shortly after. A quality win for Lindgren as he bounces back from his loss to John Doe which could have earned him a title shot. If he keeps putting up solid wins like this though that opportunity may come back to him sooner than later! He’ll get a chance to continue building some success in a battle with Devin Ecker next month. Fury finds himself struggling back and forth with wins and losses over the past several months as other fighters are not only developed past him on the feet but are even starting to catch him on the ground. The fights will only get tougher from here on out and he may need to evolve to stay relevant. He’ll be tested by Nemesis Steed next month most likely. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Heavyweights Bubba Wallace Defeats Lanuola Sefina via TKO (Strikes) Donkey’s Pick: Sefina via Submission (Armbar) “Sefina will have to be very careful in this fight because Wallace has his record for a damned good reason! If he catches Sefina the right way before he can get this fight to the ground the thing may be over before Sefina ever gets a chance to try to work some magic. And there’s a very solid chance of that happening!”, was what I had to say in the preview. Well, that’s pretty much all she wrote…well, not she, but me in this case. Sefina got one shot to take this thing to the ground. Before that, Wallace was able to get some solid shots in on the feet and after, well, his striking showed why he has the record he has! “Wallace cracks Sefina with a nasty uppercut that draws ooohs from the crowd and sends Sefina tumbling backwards onto the mat. He tries to recover but Wallace pounces and lands a hail of unanswered strikes that forces the referee to step in to end the fight! Sefina is not happy but he gave the referee no choice!” We won’t be seeing Wallace back with us as this was his one and only fight before we cut the contract short. He’d have been a menace in the division for sure and given guys plenty to think about, but some things are more important to me than that. For Sefina, a lost opportunity to really take a huge step forward here against a quality ranked opponent. Two in a row actually. He’ll want to bounce back and really take it to his next challenge, which looks to be Andre Powell. *********************** Co-Main Event: Middleweight Championship Landon McGuire Defeats Sean Smith via Submission (Guillotine) Donkey’s Takeaways: Well, I know that our participants in the title fights on this card are going to be disappointed that Hare is not involved in the review here tonight, because with him comes Juice Fluffer. Sorry about that folks, Juice just doesn’t respect the Donkey and therefore withholds his services I guess! Our Co-Main event was a stark contrast to the Main Event in terms of longevity! While the final fight of the night went the distance, this one was over in the first round. Smith was trying to work the body and combos in this one and even decided that the clinch was where he wanted to be. Once he got there though, he wasn’t really able to do a lot with it and McGuire used it to work his way to the ground where once again he showed the evolution of his game and proved that the submission he used to take down Beam and gain the championship was in no way a fluke! McGuire got the takedown just before the two minute mark and tried on sub but was being controlled well by Smith. After the two minute mark he’d squirmed enough to get what he wanted from the bottom and with Smith staying in close in the guard saw the opportunity for a guillotine…which he locked onto for all he was worth… “Smith is sitting in close to McGuire's body. McGuire has gone for a guillotine from the bottom. Oh damn, that looks pretty tight! Smith is panicking - it looks like this one could be all over! Yes, Smith is tapping! That was a very nice submission by McGuire.” With the win McGuire answers any questions about who he’s fought and whether he’s a champion’s champion! Joe River and company have to be thrilled as some will say you’re not a true champion until you’ve defended. Well folks, there’s a heck of a defense! Annnnnd STILLLLL! The young Sean Smith takes the first loss of his career. But what a loss to take having fought for the title in your seventh professional fight at the age of only 22! The future is bright for this kid! *********************** Main Event: Heavyweight Championship: Chontamenti vs. Haden II Thoth Chontamenti Defeats ZaDarius Haden via Unanimous Decision Donkey’s Takeaways: Our Main Event of the evening and I managed to call the winner and result in this one! I just had a feeling that this one was not going to be finished quite so easily this time around and that Haden was ready to get in there and play the long game! Sure enough, he proved he could hang a full five rounds with the big-bad Chontamenti and did it well. “This could easily be one of the most epic battles we’ve seen in the history of SPPS to date!”, was what I said heading into this fight. Going by scorecards, some might question whether that was the result, with Chontamenti taking every round with all three judges. But here’s the thing; Chontamenti has never been taken the distance so long as he’s been champ. And outside the championship only one other time by Aron Egomi in the semis of the Cockshot Sorter Series. With a now fully developed and beastly Chontamenti, going the distance shows about as much grit as you can get! I’m proud of Haden. The difference maker in this one was the varied skills and approach that Chontamenti brought to the cage. Haden hung in there shot for shot boxing. But Chontamenti was there for the full standup experience, using kicks as well along with the clinch. And in those areas he was able to dominate and score the points he needed. The fans got a treat as Chontamenti…who loves to hear the words ANNNND STILLLL uttered, gave the fans this shout out… “During a confident post fight interview, Thoth Chontamenti thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.“ *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! A fun night of action folks and with the Rumpler household slacking off again we’re just about to get into all the action coming at you in our next event, SPPS 46, tonight in Sydney! We’ll be over at Hard Knocks to witness all the fun, hope you’ll be there as well! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForwardPressure Posted March 5, 2021 Report Share Posted March 5, 2021 John Fuller and YaIgottagoshitma Craven...Baldo bravely accepts your challenge. The result will undoubtedly be the same as last time, but as we told Hare, Fuller is leaving the cage on a stretcher. Win, if you can. Survive, if Baldo lets you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 46 We’re at it again folks! As always, I’m Hare Rumpler here with my partner and analyst, Donkey “Dan”, and we’re excited to take a look forward to tonight’s action over at Hard Knocks – Sydney where SPPS 46 will be taking place for our amazing Sucker Punch fans! We creep closer and closer to April when we’ll be moving back into the 5,750 seat Bondi Outdoor Arena and I’m very excited about that. Move people live, more people to rock Sydney with the energy that our fans put out and more people to scream and cheer for our amazing fighters who go to war for this sport and for our fans! We’ll have a lot of the mid to lower weight classes in action this evening for you folks. That is, right after we warm things up with a couple of sparring bouts between two Light Heavyweights and another pair of Middleweights. But after that little bit of test action we’ll have three sets of Welterweights on tap, two of those contests on the Undercard and one to kick off the Main Card…a Middleweight and Light Heavyweight matchup that will rock the place in the lead-up to the Main Events and the Co-Main Event and several Lightweight contests, the last of which will be the Title Fight between challenger Guy River and Champion Frankie Logan! So let’s move on here and get into the details of our fights this evening right after we get a word in about our sponsor and merchandise partner! Our fantastic and respected sponsor is Shadow Warrior Nutrition! Many of you already know them as the providers of Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q, THE energy loss reduction supplements! For those of you who aren’t in the know on that, you should be, because this is the way you keep your fighter training more often and not taking sessions off to try to keep his energy above 90%! If you aren’t using this supplement, hurry over and check them out today, you will not be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Light Heavyweight Sparring Bout Razkan Karmax (1-1-0) vs. Bragi Ulfhedin (1-0-0) We’ll kick off the evening with a quick little one round, three minute sparring bout between two of Bwang Jong Sr’s kids, Ulfhedin and Karmax. Karmax is a bit older and experienced here and will have an advantage in most areas outside Muay Thai. This contest will clearly be a matter of seeing what Ulfhedin can bring to the cage and if he can handle being put in a tough, possibly losing situation. Donkey will get the fight off for this one before he joins us for the third bout of the evening since he doesn’t do picks for the sparring matches anyways! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Middleweight Sparring Bout Kwame Redcliffe (0-2-0)vs. Nianzu Zhao (0-0-0) We’ll keep warming things up here with our second “fight” of the evening as we have another short one rounder on tap. These two kids, both part of Action Jackson’s stable, will go at it for three minutes in an attempt to see what they bring to the cage and if they’re keepers. We already know that Redcliffe has a granite chin and can handle taking a loss pretty well. The secret here is what Zhao is hiding under the covers. Much like the prior matchup, Redcliffe has an advantage in most areas outside Muay Thai. Can Zhao overcome the deficit. Has he been told to try? Haha. Again, we’ll see Donkey shortly when he joins us for the next fight, but he won’t make picks here for a sparring bout. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Welterweights Rick Segura (1-1-0) vs. Baldimir Zsofka (1-0-1) Formerly part of Dead Disney’s stable, Zsofka makes his Sucker Punch debut this evening under the new leadership of Hugh Saber. Zsofka fought to a draw in his first fight a little over a half year back but then recently won via a head kick in later January. Here’s what we know…this man has remarkable boxing, superb Muay Thai and proficient wrestling, all things that tend to suggest he’ll be a force on the feet. Also, we know he can puff out his chest and hold his breath really well, at least going by his actions in his avatar picture! Rick Segura will be escorted to the cage by none other than Kelly McGrady. McGrady led Segura to his first win last month in his Sucker Punch debut with his only other fight being what was clearly a test fight nearly a half year earlier. If this contest tonight were about nothing more than style, well, Segura would have the win locked up already due to his very impressive hat, something he clearly likes and values. But, it’s not, and instead Segura will be forced to rely upon his ground skills and the brutal way he likes to beat the hell out of guys down there! GnP for the win Donkey? What do you think…? Donkey’s Pick: Segura via TKO (Strikes) That could be the case, but this is going to be your typical “who can dictate where the fight takes place” type of battle. If Zsofka can keep it standing, he claims a huge advantage and likely wears out Segura from attempted takedowns. However, if it gets to the ground Segura’s exceptional wrestling and purple belt should do the trick. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Welterweights Cashel Ortiz (4-2-0) vs. Alex Steel Ii (6-5-0) Steel makes his Sucker Punch debut tonight Donkey, something that seems to be a common trend so far for a few guys here! Nice to see some new faces and give the fans something to get excited about, claiming “I remember when…” for the first time they saw these guys. Now, that being said, many MMA fans may already know Steel as he has eleven fights under his belt already with nine of those coming from his recent stay at Checkmate and two before that at Conquest. This is a man who lives and dies by the (T)KO. He brings a varied attack to the cage and doesn’t mind ending up in the clinch but one thing’s for certainly, those feet are going to fly at some point! And fly high they will as an eventual kick to the head is inevitable if this fight goes long enough! Although Ortiz and Steel have never fought one another there is a good chance they’re more than familiar with each other’s work. Ortiz, previously managed by Arno van Rensburg, is now under Alex Conor’s banner upon his arrival here at Sucker Punch tonight. But before this, he was also part of Checkmate! Unlike Steel, the vast majority of Ortiz’s fights have gone the distance with the last four ending in two decision losses followed most recently by two decision victories. He has exceptional boxing and proficient Muay Thai, so it will be interesting to see if he stays on the feet and trades shots with Steel or if he takes it to the ground in an attempt to use his superb wrestling and brown belt in Jiu Jitsu this evening! What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Ortiz via Submission (Armbar) What do I see Hare? A very tough fight to call! Yes, plenty of fights between them, but still not an easy fight to determine who will find the advantage. While we’ve seen Ortiz work for submissions on the ground before he hasn’t finished in that manner so we have no idea just how good or average his submission skills are. If he has any at all that’s probably the direction I’d take the fight tonight in order to not stand and trade with another striker. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Lightweights Repus Revorg (3-1-0) vs. Venali Paetmar (3-5-0) Full disclosure here Donkey, this fight features one of my own fighters tonight in Repus Revorg! That said, this is clearly a closely matched fight with neither fighter having much of a skill advantage in any area. Perhaps the only slight advantage is in Revorg’s Muay Thai, but it’s practically insignificant in the grand scheme of things. These are, however, two fighters on different trajectories lately, with Paetmar struggling through a three fight losing streak while Revorg has won his last three fights. That’s where the advantage ends for Revorg though. Paetman is by far the more experienced and trained fighter at 3-5 and close to 4k in fighter ID advantage. What does that tell us? Well, it tells us that if Paetmar is any sort of decent learner then Tom Brunner probably has him very shored up with physicals and secondary skills and that this should be a fight he can physically dictate the action in. Paetmar will occasionally try to take the fight into the clinch but for the most part he prefers to stay separated and work the kickboxing game. At only 21 years old my boy Revorg also gives up seven years of age to Paetmar this evening. Both of these kids are prepped and ready to go, so we’re going to get the best from them no matter what. That’s awesome. Revorg is fairly evenly skilled across the board with only his Muay Thai sticking out as a bit more developed. In his last fight with Chester he worked back and forth between boxing and the clinch to get the advantage and eventual win. Well Donkey, have a pick for us here…? Donkey’s Pick: Paetmar via TKO (Strikes) You know I can’t go all ‘homer’ and pick your boy here Hare. Although if I’m being honest, despite his age I think he’s got a fair shot. But as you mentioned, Paetmar does have the advantage in training time, age and general experience. By all accounts that should all count for something and if he plays his cards right he should be able to snap the losing streak and walk out of here with a win this evening! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Welterweights Carter Ortiz (9-1-0) vs. Sebastian Ramirez (0-2-0) This battle tonight should come down to your classic opposing styles with Ramirez preferring to stand and strike while Ortiz works the ground and submission angle! Ramirez is still looking for his first taste of MMA success after switching over from grappling two fights back and joining Sucker Punch at that time. He dropped a tough split decision to Chaz Campbell and then lost via TKO to Rick Segura last month. We’re hoping that in this past month he’s tightened up two areas…his strike defense and his defensive grappling…both of which were exploited a bit by Segura last month. Ortiz will certainly test whether the latter part of those were worked on or not. Tonight he’ll no doubt look to get the fight on the ground so he can look for submissions. Up until last month when he lost a Top Contender battle with Igor Vovchanchyn he’d never been defeated, with all of his nine victories coming by way of submission. Including three here at Sucker Punch over Campbell, Driver and Zapata, all strikers. Two different styles, a fun one Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Ortiz via Submission (Armbar) It could be Hare, if Ramirez focused on his defensive grappling and counter-submission skills over the past month in camp. If not, this could be over fast should Ortiz put the fight on the ground. In the same stead, Ortiz was unable to finish Vovchanchyn, so clearly it is possible to thwart him even after a takedown. But has Ramirez developed skills comparable to Vovchanchyn’s on the ground? Vov is not known for being a skilled ground fighter, so perhaps it wasn’t too far a stretch? *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Lightweights Maximus Furioto (10-5-0) vs. Pure Striker (6-6-0) I’m seriously not sure what surprises and disappoints me more about this fight Donkey. Let’s see, is it that this is our second fight into the MAIN Card and we a fighter who is almost totally unprepared? Or is it that I was very much hoping for another awesome contest of striker vs. ground specialist here tonight to keep the ball rolling on that theme and now it’s ruined by a guy who just doesn’t seem to have bothered with caring to prep up? Or is it that that same fighter is managed by a guy who has been MIA now for 10 days leading up to this fight, essentially sending his poor guy Striker down to the cage this evening unattended? Yeah, you’ve got it…all of the above! Furioto’s manager has told me that he fancies Furioto can get back into contention I this division again and not to count him out! Well, certainly you can only defeat those put in front of you in the cage, but Striker is going to make Furioto’s life a lot easier tonight than it might have been and help him further his quest! Let’s be honest here…Striker has no chance. He’s coming to the cage with only 70% energy and zero, nada, zilch to speak of in the morale department. And can you blame him, would you be focused or driven if your manager pretty much abandoned you and left you to find your way from London all the way to Sydney, Australia on your own? Furioto will hit a takedown within the first minute of action. Probably on the first, and if not, the second attempt. After that, it shouldn’t be more than one, two or three submission attempts before Striker just sighs and taps. Hell, if he doesn’t just throw himself on the ground and scream uncle when the bell rings! Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Furioto via Submission (Kimura) Furioto will win. Yes, for all those reasons. If Striker doesn’t see his manager return shortly and show significant improvement he’ll also be out the door. Who am I kidding? Hare won’t wait, he’ll do it already with this crap show that’s been offered up. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Middleweights Wilfred Ainsworth (6-1-1) vs. Mitch Malone (7-4-0) Our final fight before the Main Events here and it’s great to see these two loaded up and ready to hunt after that last fight! And it makes sense, there’s a lot on the line here tonight for these two! First, Ainsworth is in position to earn himself a title shot with a win here and would get the chance to take on McGuire next month if he wants it. On the other side of things here, Mitch Malone is under new management and after running along with a 7-2 record for a while put up two losses in a row over at Checkmate with his prior manager. At that point he was let go, picked up by Lisca Doido and brought over to Sucker Punch here looking for a new start! And what a way to start out if he can take out a solid, top quality Ainsworth this evening and prove that he’s closer to the top than those two losses in a row suggest! When Malone was winning, he was doing it with an aggressive boxing attack and the use of the heavy hands he showed early in his career. Now, the one question I think his last manager started to have, and one that his new manager will have to contend with is…what kind of chin does he have? There is some suspicion that it might be a bit susceptible to abuse. Ainsworth is a tough as nails brawler who had a shot at the future HoF’er Machado in Machado’s last successful title defense before he lost the belt the following month to Hirst. You know that’s gotta be eating at his insides! Since then, he’s defeated a tough Jin Yi, fought to a draw with Filth that was intended to figure out which of the two was on track for a future Top Contender battle…and then managed to make right on that draw by defeating Filth last month! Well, tonight, he’ll get a chance to step into the cage and test Malone’s chin in a bid to make his record 3-0-1 in recent fights and earn a title shot against waiting Champ McGuire! Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Ainsworth via KO (Punch) Ainsworth is tough as nails and never backs down. I do enjoy that just a bit. The only loss of his career to date was a DECISION loss to Machado. Nobody has ever finished or stopped this man. At the same time, I do share some concerns about Malone’s chin. He can prove us totally wrong tonight by standing up to Ainsworth and not backing down, not quitting and not hitting the canvas! If he does, he’ll be on the fast track in this division and Ainsworth will be an even more feisty individual than he already is! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Light Heavyweight Bout Eemeli Lampi (5-1-0) vs. Choctaw Bloode (8-3-0) Our Co-Main Event features two top-tier Light Heavyweights in a bid to determine the Top Contender in this division and who is ready to face John Doe for the Championship! This one is for all the marbles baby! Well, almost all of them, maybe not all, because it’s not a title fight…but it sure is for all the marbles in that if marbles were what you needed to cross the river Styx with John Doe waiting, belt in hand, on the other side, well, then yes, this would be for all of that! Ok, it’s getting late and I’m getting loopy I think! Bloode is making his Sucker Punch debut this evening under the management of G Wad. Yes, I know exactly what you’re thinking. And if you’re not thinking it, then for consistency’s sake, you should be. And that is, “Wait, how in the hell did he walk in here and get a title shot? Hare doesn’t do that. You almost always have to prove your worth here at SPPS regardless of what you’ve done outside, at least for a fight or two or three!” That is all very true. And in most circumstances exactly the case. But…we were in a strange spot in this division where there were no other fighters on streaks that were ready for the shot yet aside from Lampi, Lampi was ready and waiting for the challenge to get his shot and well, Bloode’s history does give him quite the resume. Former champion at Checkmate up till his last fight, winner of five fights in a row including a title defense, has previously defeated our very own, and very tough, Bjorn Akerfeldt along with Blake Phoenix, Smash Machine…and previously had defeated Defoe who took the belt from him in that last fight. Yes, Bloode is the most qualified at the moment. There are others very close, but this was a no-brainer for me given the current state of the division THIS month. Bloode is fantastic at taking fights the distance and working pinpoint boxing. He can also work the clinch incredibly well as well. With five wins in a row coming into this fight, two from Empire and the last three here at Sucker Punch, Eemeli Lampi will give Bloode a hell of a battle tonight! His wins have all been via TKO or KO. He doesn’t tiptoe around. He doesn’t play games. He doesn’t like “cute”. He should be the namesake for Cobra Kai, living the saying, “Strike First. Strike Hard. No Mercy.” If Bloode wants this in the clinch tonight, Lampi can do that. If he wants to stand and box…Lampi will accommodate. Who hits harder, more accurately and more effectively? I don’t know, but we’re going to find out! Donkey…you have to be psyched about this one eh…? Donkey’s Pick: Lampi via TKO (Strikes) Absolutely! This is going to be a toe to toe, slobber knocking strike fest! Who will be more aggressive? Who may hold back and go the counter method instead? Who is going to have the better striking defense? All of that may very well come into play along with a whole lot of heart and soul! I can’t wait. For now, I’m going with our home-grown boy, but Bloode is the real deal, trust me on this. *********************** Main Event: Lightweight Championship Frankie Logan (9-1-0) vs. Guy River (4-2-0) Our Main Event Donkeyand this will cap off the evening baby in a huge showdown between these two amazingly talented Lightweights! Make no mistake about it folks, Guy River comes into this fight tonight on a three fight winning streak and no doubt a gnawing, gut churning desire to join his training partner Landon McGuire as a Champion here at Sucker Punch! He’ll have his work cut out for him as in order to accomplish that task he will first have to overcome the awesome, the ruthless, cheap shot loving Irishman known as The Evil Scotsman! Yessir, Frankie Logan, who has been carrying the belt for over six months now with FIVE successful title defenses. He’ll intend to make this number SIX tonight! River has worked his way to this point with a rock solid boxing game, solid defense on the ground when it’s been called for and conservative use of both kicks and the clinch as necessary here and there. More than anything, River simply knows how to be efficient and effective. If there is any weak spot in his game, it’s that his defense on the ground, while effective as we said, has been able to be overcome twice for submissions. Logan has never come straight out and gone after his opponent with his wrestling or Jiu Jitsu skills, but it’s worth noting that he DOES have exceptional wrestling and a brown belt. Could tonight be the night he decides it’s time to open up that arsenal? Maybe! If he doesn’t then it could just be a very long night of work for both individuals with River finding out what it means to truly be pushed to the limit. The Evil one knows how to take it the distance and win via Decision. He excels at it. He’s done it in his past three defenses against top notch challengers. He won’t be above doing it again tonight if need be! Donkey…who walks away with the belt this evening…? Donkey’s Pick: Logan via Submission (Armbar) Love River, love his drive, love everything about this man. But I have to stick with one of our two current champions who has been riding the wave of “unstoppable” for a while now and I just can’t see myself giving the nod to anybody else until we have a new champ! Tonight might be that night. Every king falls. Every ruler ceases to rule at some point. Is tonight Logan’s night? He won’t think so, and if River is going to make that happen, he has a heck of a job in front of him! Get it boys! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! WOooohoooo! We’re only hours away from kicking off all of this crazy action and it will be a blast folks! Let’s get the weekend moving along right by rocking Sydney to her core as SPPS 45 lets the world know where all the pulse pounding adrenaline is…in Hard Knocks – Sydney this evening! We’ll see you there, enjoy the show folks! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
762x39 Posted March 6, 2021 Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 10 hours ago, Gator001 said: Its that time of the month again ye bastards Frankie The Evil Scotsman Logan Good luck Logan. The only chance you got is because of Guy's slow learning. You might win this fight if your chin holds up. We will see if KO power and sliders can beat learning speed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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