HareRumpler Posted March 20, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2021 WHAT AN EVENT FOLKS!!! Wow, the action was HOT, H-O-T-T, HOT, at SPPS 49 last night! Damn, you folks put up our highest rated event ever with a 211.98!!! Way to go Sucker Punch Crew! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 22, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2021 Hey folks, just wanted to let everybody know that I do still intend to get out a review here midweek for last weekend's event! Haha, but it's just been too damned nice outside to be stuck in working on it and I've been enjoying the fresh spring air and chucking some plastic (disc golf). I'll likely have the review out in the morning for anybody interested. Take care and enjoy the weather if it's nice out for ya folks! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 23, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2021 POST EVENT CHEAP SHOTS Sucker Punch Pro Series 49 Hello out there Sucker Punch fans!!! We’re back and ready to take a look at our best rated event to date here at Sucker Punch as SPPS 49 exceeded expectations and definitely brought the electricity and excitement to Hard Knocks – Sydney last weekend! Before I get started though… As many of you may already be aware, I did a little impromptu random poll last week where I sent out an inquiry to about two dozen of our managers (I said it was a half dozen to a dozen, but I ended up expanding it). I just went down our list of fighters and selected the first two dozen or so managers I came across. The purpose of that poll was to try to get a consensus on preferences for the reviews between the full Hare/Donkey traditional approach, the swapping in of a different writer such as Risa for a different, lighter “feel” to the Hare portion (with a little more from Donkey than usual) or just having Donkey do his Takeaways with a bit more than usual to include something from the fight and then the impacts on the fighters/divisions. I was hoping, as I said, to get some insight and a consensus feel on what people saw as the pros/cons, etc. and preferences. Unfortunately, the only consensus I got from that was that apparently there is no preference or even potentially interest in the reviews outside a couple of managers who did respond. I got four responses out of twenty-four sent out and I do value those few responses I got back. Funny enough though, they were in complete opposition to each other with at least one preferring the shorter, Donkey style review, the other preferring to get as much goodness as possible about their fights, and one in between. That doesn’t give me a consensus, but what does give me a consensus is that the vast majority of the managers really didn’t care enough one way or another to respond. And I have no issue with that, seriously! I’m not complaining. I’m just taking that to mean that the length or content of the reviews is not a major concern in any way. That said, for now unless I get the feel otherwise, I’m probably going to limit the reviews to Donkey’s Takeaway portion. That at least gives a general feel for the fight and then in my eyes does the important part of helping to give a feel for where it leaves the fighter in relation to the division and in the eyes of us here at management so if we’re not on the same page we can get there! So, that said, let’s get moving here and take a look at what went down at SPPS 49 right after a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner! When you think about training your fighters, one of the biggest concerns is keeping them in the gym and actively training, am I right? And you can’t do that if they have to be stopping to recover and rest for sessions here and sessions there! That is why you need to visit our sponsor, Shadow Warrior Nutrition, and specifically 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: Lightweights Jamal Jameson Defeats Ryo Hazuki via TKO (Strikes) Donkey’s Takeaways: The bell rang and this fight was on the ground before Hazuki had time to figure out that a fight was taking place! In the preview Hare had said that, “He’ll (Hazuki) get the chance to turn things around here tonight if he can keep this fight on the feet and win the striking exchanges against Jameson.” Being that Hazuki was unable to do that this thing got ugly fast with Hazuki never landing a strike and immediately being put on defense in an uncomfortable situation. He did offer up a couple token submission attempts from the ground, but for the most part it was all GnP from Jameson, all the time! And that’s pretty much how it went for close to four minutes before Jameson scored the TKO via Strikes. Hazuki takes his third loss in a row and is in a serious funk that he needs to break out of as soon as possible. The positive from this is that when he does lose his morale remains super high. Team Lundgren is struggling to find a way to pull his skills together into an approach that helps him win though. Jameson bounces back from a loss to Yip Man and now makes it 3-1 in his past four fights. That’s a very solid string of fights over recent months and if he can keep things rolling along, string together a few more W’s, etc. he could be looking at being back into contention in the near future! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Light Heavyweights Mike Bard Defeats Nemesis Steed via TKO (Strikes) Donkey’s Takeaways: Steed came into this fight with low morale and paid the price for it. Bard and Steed traded shots on the feet for a bit but eventually, as expected, this fight hit the mat. Once that happened it was the Mike Bard show and he worked his way to an easy ground and pound victory in under three minutes. Hare was going to give Steed another month and the remainder of his contract to get things together but with an absent manager and zero morale there just didn’t seem to be a point. That said, Steed was let go over the weekend and will be looking for new work if his manager ever returns. Bard does what you’re supposed to do by taking advantage of the situation and walking out with the ‘W’, making it two in a row. Now he just needs to build on the momentum and step up for a rematch with Joe Junior next month. They met about six months ago in a contest that started the three fight losing streak that Bard went on. Bard definitely needs to avenge that loss and use his as a way to put all that behind him and show that he’s a new fighter! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Middleweights Stefan De Jong Defeats Craig Kraig via Submission (Guillotine) Donkey’s Takeaways: Unless Connor Kenway, manager for Stefan De Jong, comes back within the next week or so this fight will end up being meaningless. It was a decent fight, with Kraig taking the first round and then De Jong taking the second to tie it all up going into the third. De Jong found a way to finish in the last half of the final round and got himself a nice submission victory in this one. However, overall the effort could be wasted as we alluded to… Kenway has been MIA for the better part of a month now and as such we’ll be letting his two guys (De Jong and Roddy Richards) go unless we see him back shortly. Kraig was already heading out with one foot out the door leading into this fight as we hadn’t extended his contract due to continually coming into fights very unprepared. Essentially, this turns into one of the truly forgettable fights of the evening and I’m glad it was very early on the card. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Welterweights Lors Loria Defeats DJ Costune via Unanimous Decision Donkey’s Takeaways: The only fight of the evening that went the distance and I’m proud to say that I called this one correctly as a decision for Loria! In the preview, Hare made two statements that pretty much spelled out the way this fight went, the first being, “Costune is typically a standup fighter who throws a shit-ton of combinations. Tonight, he’ll actually be at a slight disadvantage on the feet and have the edge on the ground. Does he have confidence in his offense on the ground to go after it there though? ” and then going on to state that, “He (Loria) has remarkable boxing and superb Muay Thai backed by respectable wrestling, so if Costune stays the course and goes with his striking game standing it may play right into Loria’s preferences here.” Sure enough, Costune came into this fight with the same game plan he’s used throughout, heavy on the combinations which typically lead to him getting gassed out if they don’t land. And that’s exactly what happened here again in this fight. With little to no change in approach it’s little wonder that Costune has gone 2-7 over his past nine fights. He’s been a longtime member of Sucker Punch so Hare intends to give him the respect of fighting out his contract but that contract is up after the next fight and we don’t expect to extend it beyond that at this point. Loria did a fantastic job of utilizing the clinch as well as his striking defense when separated to set the tone and dictate this fight. In doing so he snaps a three fight losing streak and potentially saves his career at Sucker Punch, especially if he can string another ‘W’ or two together! *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Welterweights Mandinos vs. Marchionni II Pietro Marchionni Defeats Kahdi Mandinos via TKO (Strikes) Donkey’s Takeaways: Marchionni came in focused on making the most of this rematch and an opportunity to even the score between himself and Mandinos after having come up short in their first meeting a half year back. He was on point with his striking and left Mandinos out of sorts from the very start of this contest. With Marchionni landing a high percentage of his shots at over 70% success he was able to finish this thing via TKO with only twelve seconds remaining in the first. And in doing so made my wish come true for a potential rubber match down the line! This was a big one for Marchionni who puts together back to back wins, improves to over .500 at 7-6 and proves that he could vanquish the demons of the prior loss to Mandinos! Does this mean that he’s the better long term developing fighter? Or just that this was ‘his day’? Maybe we’ll find out in a rubber match as I said in a couple months! For now though the focus needs to be on continuing to tack on W’s for Marchionni. The loss will be a big disappointment for Mandinos who had Marchionni’s number the first time they met but came up extremely small in this fight, almost seeming to not really be in it from the very start. He takes back to back losses here as well as being 1-3 over his past four. Not a desirable spot to be in. However, he gets a shot to bounce back and gain some confidence next month against a flailing Costune who brings a very predictable approach to the cage. *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Light Heavyweights Tarmo Rajantaka Defeats Joe Junior via TKO (Strikes) Donkey’s Takeaways: Again, let’s look back on two key statements by Hare from the preview that pretty much wrote the story of this contest for us. The first was when Hare said, “Rajantaka has sensational Muay Thai and exceptional grappling that will undoubtedly lead to him attempting to put this fight into the clinch where he’ll likely be able to impose his will. He’s done that in past fights and this one should be no exception as it’s definitely his area of advantage.” Then, Hare went on to state that, “Junior has not…um, let’s say…enjoyed the clinch. In the few fights where his opponent has chosen to take it there the fight did not go well for Junior so long as the fight remained up close. ” Those statements are pretty much all you need to know as Rajantaka was able to put this fight into the clinch, keep it there and dictate the action throughout from that point forward eventually leading to a first round stoppage via TKO with twenty-three seconds remaining. Rajantaka bounces back from a loss to Derwent Bolt with this win and makes it 3-1 over the past four fights while here at Sucker Punch. That’s some solid stuff right there and if he can keep developing in the right direction he’ll definitely climb the ladder and find himself in contention eventually! For Junior, this is a disappointing loss that everybody knows he was capable of winning but things just didn’t come together as he’d have liked. A great matchup with Mike Bard next month will give him a chance to bounce back with a quality win if he can focus, have a good camp and come in with a solid game plan! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Light Heavyweights John Fury Defeats Tank Tribute via TKO (Cut) Donkey’s Takeaways: No fighter ever wants the fight to be stopped by the good doctor and that’s certainly true if you’re the one he’s coming into the cage to have a look at. That could have been the case for either of these two in a war that went on for almost a full three rounds and saw both fighters bloodied and battered! In an aggressive fight where both fighters were bringing the pain it’s surprising to see cuts rearing their heads without being preceded by elbows in the clinch! Instead, these were simply due to some heavy nasty shots, delivered repeatedly by both parties! This is a fight that would have gotten ‘Fight of the Night’ honors if not for the final Main Event of the evening stealing that thunder. But this was great quality action and I was sad to see it end despite the gore-fest! Fury managed to be the victor in a battle of ‘who could bleed out who’. With the win he puts together back to back W’s and improves his career record to 6-1. Extremely impressive. With only a loss to former champion Jacob Parker on his resume he may be looking at a chance to get back into title contention sooner than later! Perhaps even via rematch with Parker to see who can get back to the title fight! For now he’ll need to fully focus on Tarmo Rajantaka next month which will be another nasty standup battle most likely with both fighters enjoying the clinch as much as striking from distance! Tribute has put together some hard-fought contests since arriving at Sucker Punch and this one was no exception! With a loss here and a tough one against Krol, he could easily be 3-0 but finds himself at 1-2 here at SPPS. Hare looks at the overall quality of fights though along with record and skill, so Tribute will continue to get opportunities. Next month that opportunity will come against Hare’s former student, Sacrificial Lamb, now managed by Khrog Decklov. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Middleweights Wanderson Machado Defeats Luka Marka via KO (Punch) Donkey’s Takeaways: In the preview I stated, “Are you kidding me? Breakthrough Manager of the Year takes on Manager of the Year?!? This is like a dream fight, and not with some brand new, seeing how they go fighters either. No, here we have two elite fighters battling it out for a shot to go fight for the title! Man, this is AWESOME!” These two did not disappoint as the came out giving it to each other hot and heavy for almost a full round! The exchanges were fairly even while separated, with Machado perhaps landing the more significant strikes, but Marka was able to dish back some of that damage in the clinch especially with the knees to the head and body! It was when they came out of the clinch that things went dark for Marka though as Machado was able to land some well times and accurate shots that first rocked and knocked down Marka and then ended the evening for him in a shot that grabbed ‘KO of the Night’ honors… “Machado drops Marka with a hook right on the temple. He thinks about going to the ground but Marka looks back up at him and smiles so Machado waves him back to his feet - he obviously thinks he can knock him out after that shot landed. Marka is rocked! Marka tries to get into range but Machado steps to the side and lands a beautiful hook that drops Marka! He's faceplanted into the mat, ass in the air... he's out cold! That's an image he won't want to show his grandkids when he gets older! Machado scores the big KO victory!” With the win Machado earns his way back to the title that he helped to establish here at Sucker Punch and held for what seemed like an eternity! Can he gain it back? We’re going to find out!!! Marka, with his manager clearly disappointed in the result but also indicating he felt there was a strategy mistake involved, will look to rebound and get right back into the picture again with a few wins helping to erase this from his memory. *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Light Heavyweight Bout Derwent Bolt Defeats Wille Thai via Submission (Armbar) Donkey’s Takeaways: I got the finish correct but just called for the wrong guy in this contest! We knew this would be a ground battle for submission domination, with the winner being the new crown prince of submissions in this division! And that it was with the fight going to the ground almost immediately, an entire round being spent with these two battling back and forth with one submission offered in exchange for the other and the only surprise being that it made it through a full round without a finish! That wasn’t the case in the second round though where after an early takedown by Thai Bolt was able to offer two sub attempts with the second nailing it and earning him ‘Submission of the Night’ honors due to a beauty of an armbar. With the win Bolt continues to roll along, showing himself to be a lethal opponent with a ground game that seemingly just can’t be stopped. Next month we get to see just how far that game can take him as he’ll now get a title shot! Thai now falls down a notch from the pedestal he was on as the king of submissions in this division as Bolt now claims dominion in that area. At only twenty-two years old it’ll be interesting to see how he focuses his development over the next couple months and if he can get himself back into position for another run at contender…for the fourth time! *********************** Main Event: Welterweight Championship Bout Ronnie Bass Defeats Igor Vovchanchyn via KO (Punch) Donkey’s Takeaways: In a Main Event that was everything we could have possibly hoped for the one thing I don’t think anybody saw coming was this battle going into a fifth and final round. And then being finished! When P J Jones’ guys are involved if they make it that far the fight usually ends in a decision in favor of his fighter! With Vovchanchyn leading 3-1 according to the play by play guys after four the champ, Ronnie Bass, likely knew the situation and turned up the heat! Halfway through the final round Bass was able to finally get the key shots in that he was looking for against a fatigued Vovchanchyn, landing the knockdown that started the end… “Bass sends Vovchanchyn crashing to the mat with a devastating uppercut! Bass is motioning to the referee to let Vovchanchyn up. He wants to try and finish this one on the feet!” Then, at the three minute mark… “That's three minutes gone in the round. Bass closes the distance and lands a brutal uppercut that knocks Vovchanchyn out! We're looking at the replay now - he was out before he hit the floor!” This was a contender for ‘KO of the Night’ as well, but given the effort both of these elite fighters brought to the cage it was instead deemed worthy of the big one, ‘Fight of the Night’, honoring both fighters efforts in this hard-fought championship fight! I cannot do this one justice, it must be watched to truly appreciate it. So if you haven’t already seen it, go back and watch the replays, you won’t be disappointed. Unless you’re P J. Sorry P J, had to get that fun in there! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! And there we have it, all the action that led to our highest rated event ever with SPPS 49 leaving us with nothing but pure adrenaline flowing through the veins! We’ll be back soon this coming weekend with SPPS 50, our last event at Hard Knocks – Sydney before we move back over to the Bondi Outdoor Arena! We’ll be looking forward to it and seeing you all there! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleakardor Posted March 24, 2021 Report Share Posted March 24, 2021 Yeah, I screwed the pooch in that one with Marka. And that's not saying he would have won, Machado is an amazing fighter and Bwang is an even better manager. But I did make some slider errors which I can not blame on anyone but myself. All I can do now is work Marka back to the top and know that the cards will fall for a rematch, rather it be a title fight in the future or a contender match. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 26, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2021 Hey all, just a heads up and sorry for the late notice, but I'm out of town this weekend with my youngest daughter for a big swim meet that she has going on on Saturday and Sunday. Turns out, I left and forgot my laptop. Unfortunately that means that I won't be able to do a preview for the event tonight, but I'll try to make up for it in the review when I get back from the trip Monday! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 31, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2021 POST EVENT CHEAP SHOTS Sucker Punch Pro Series 50 Hello out there to the Sucker Punch nation of fans! I’m Hare Rumpler and as usual I’ll be joined by my pal and analyst, Donkey “Dan” in the studio here as we take a look back at a great night of action at SPPS 50! Clearly I’m way behind on things here as it’s been a hectic week in the Rumpler household with one of the little Rumpler offspring doing her best fish imitation and work kicking into high gear this week so far in the land of non-make believe! Anyways, all the action took place at Hard Knocks - Sydney, the last time we’ll be at this wonderfully intimate venue for the foreseeable future, so it was a joy to be there live with 3,000 of our other rabid fans! We had action from all over the spectrum at SPPS 50 with a quadruple shot of Middleweight fights including the one that opened up the card for us! Mixed into the Undercard was also a Lightweight battle between Brendan Wallace and Trevor Barnes. While that one is very early on the card as only the second fight, it was a “must-see” fight as these two kids are big time up and comers in the division and with Sucker Punch as a whole! We finished up the Undercard with a pair of Heavyweight contests and then flowed into the Main Card with some outstanding Featherweight and Welterweight bouts. After the final two of the four Middleweight fights filled in the middle of the Main Card and the Co-Main Event we got to the biggie for the evening, the Featherweight Championship battle in the Main Event between challenger Jake Drake and defending Champ Michael Aalto! A great night of action overall and now it’s time to get into the details just a bit. First, let’s get a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner and move onto the good stuff! 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: Middleweights Alexei Rodionovich Defeats Bruno Souppe via Decision (Unanimous) This fight went the distance with only nominal action on the feet, both in and out of the clinch. The majority of the strikes while standing came from Rodionovich who also came into this fight at least a little low on energy. We’re not sure about morale as we didn’t get a check in pre-fight for that. This fight spent a considerable amount of time on the ground with Souppe working hard to get it there. Once on the ground, Souppe gave it his best to work for a combination of GnP and submissions, with eleven submission attempts in total. None were successful though and barring a finish via strikes on the ground this one was handed to Rodionovich by the judges due to his aggression and striking on the feet. Donkey’s Takeaways: Rodionovich needed this win in a big way as he was on a two fight losing streak coming into the bout and had lost four of his last five fights as well. This fight evens up his record here at Sucker Punch at 2-2 though and overall draws him closer to .500 at 6-7 on his career. He’s only 22 years old, so he has time on hand still, but clearly Rodionovich needs to start figuring out how to put all of the pieces together for consistency in the cage. He may be fighting a bit of an uphill battle as it appears his learning curve and ability to ingest the skills being taught back at home may be somewhat limited. Our number crunchers here at SPPS tell us that he’s got a 2.0 skill estimate while most of his peers around his MMAT registered ID have between 2.5 to 3.5 ratings. Souppe, who clearly prides himself on his ground skills with proficient wrestling and a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu, just wasn’t able to get things done against Rodionovich despite having the higher skill estimate at 2.5. He falls to 0-4 on his career, 0-2 here at SPPS, and will go into his fight next month against Sirus Hall desperate to tack on that first win! It will be critically important for him to make good on that opportunity as well, being he’s already 29 years old and the clock is ticking for this “kid”. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Lightweights Trevor Barnes Defeats Brendan Wallace via Decision (Unanimous) Back to back fights here that went the distance with this one a contest between two talented youngsters in the Lightweight division! Clearly Barnes’ granite chin gave Wallace a bit of pause as he and his camp were planning out their fight strategy for this one. Rather than come in and get into a battle of strikes Wallace’s camp had him single mindedly focused on getting into the clinch and then attempting to secure a takedown. He was only able to put it on the ground three times, but each of those times Barnes’ was able to mount effective defense and even offer up some strikes on offense with one shot landing. With solid striking both in and out of the clinch, Barnes was able to secure the points he needed to win this one and even almost ended the fight midway through the third… “Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Barnes! This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff. Barnes lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt! Wallace is rocked! It looks like Brendan Wallace has been cut.” Donkey’s Takeaways: Clifton Barnes has his kid Trevor on a roll now with three wins in a row after dropping their first to Hare’s own Repus Revorg here at Sucker Punch. Trevor…Clifton. Hare will obviously be wondering if there’s any relation between the manager and fighter here! A young kid with a ton of talent at only 22 years of age but a 2.5 skill rating, Barnes will be tested next month against Ryo Hazuki who is younger at 19 but carries a 3.0 skill rating. Wallace came into Sucker Punch to much fanfare when he stepped up a division for a single fight contract and won at Welterweight. He then joined Sucker Punch full time at Lightweight and had mixed results over his first two fights with both wins and losses via Decision. Another decision tonight seems to have convinced Robert Smith that he just doesn’t have what it takes to be part of the core stable going forward and the unfortunate Wallace finds himself unemployed! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Middleweights Sirus Hall Defeats John Wick via KO (Punches) There would be no long, drawn out contest in this one like the prior two fights! No, Sirus Hall appeared to be on a mission and was able to put the finishing touches on this thing in just over a minute and a half! As he should have given John Wick was more or less rudderless coming into this fight with an absent manager for the better part of the month and, understandably, very low morale as a result. Wick tried to move this fight into the clinch, and succeeded in doing so, but found his situation was no better there than separated. Unable to get the fight to the ground from the clinch, Wick was left to suffer Hall's strikes until Wick broke the clinch, setting up the big finish by Hall… “Hall connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Wick momentarily. Hall lands a jab and follows it up with a massive straight that knocks Wick out cold! Wick is crumpled in the corner, his head only propped up by the cage! That's one for the organiziational promos right there! Wow, what a finish!” Donkey’s Takeaways: Hall and his team successfully take advantage of an unprepared opponent and move his record to 8-6 overall and 2-1 here at Sucker Punch with two W’s in a row. He’ll face off against very evenly matched Bruno Souppe next month in a bid to continue climbing the ladder in the division! With this loss, making it two in a row with a lack of preparation and his manager apparently MIA, Hare decided it was time to set Wick free. Which is a shame given he had a fantastic run with three wins over quality competition not far back. He looked to be an up and comer in this division with a ton of potential and if he’d been managed properly could have really accomplished some great things. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Heavyweights Jairzinho Teixeira Defeats Victor Ballsawash via TKO (Strikes) Another one here that didn’t go far into the contest before being finished, to the delight of the crowd over at Hard Knocks – Sydney! This thing turned into the ‘Teixeira Show’ as he came out with heavy hands, landing close to half his shots and clearly doing damage on each and every one that landed! Ballsawash was stunned from the start in this one and never had an answer or opportunity to get his bearings. It was the three punch counter combo just before the two minute mark that set things up and led to the big finish for Teixeira… “Ballsawash gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily and Teixeira counters with a three punch combo that has Ballsawash backing up. Ballsawash nods at Teixeira to acknowledge the strikes. Teixeira drops Ballsawash with a big left hand and mounts him. Ballsawash is in big trouble! That's two minutes gone in the round. Teixeira loads up on a couple of big shots to the head that have Ballsawash scrambling to escape. He can't get free though and several more unanswered shots from Teixeira land to the head. The referee has no choice but to stop the fight. Teixeira stands and salutes the crowd.” Donkey’s Takeaways: Teixeira gets the job done in dramatic fashion and bounces back from a pair of losses leading up to this fight. Apparently stepping back to the last guy you were able to fell is just what the doctor ordered for Teixeira! We’re still looking into who the next fight will be with and are seriously thinking about going outside the org to set up the next fight against good, equal competition! Ballsawash came into Sucker Punch during the Cockshot Sorter Series which he was bounced out of in short order, went on a three fight losing streak but then rebounded in a big way to win four straight. Since then, he’s lost four in a row and we thought that maybe the cure would be avenging the loss to Teixeira that started this nasty streak. That didn’t work out for Ballsawash in this fight and he continues to search for a win to break free of the madness and turn things around. He’ll get that shot next month against young Brutus Ryker! *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Heavyweights Gary Porter Defeats Anton Meshkov via TKO (Strikes) Our second of two Heavyweight bouts on the card saw Gary Porter defeat Anton Meshkov via TKO. In thirty-five seconds. Yes, you read that correctly. Thirty-five! Meshkov had been on a roll and seemingly had turned things around, with his manager starting to get Meshkov prepared for his fights with both energy and morale tended to. Unfortunately Meshkov’s granite chin and standup skills didn’t appear to accompany the tools he needed to prevent a takedown and once Porter got that right from the bell it was time for a whole lot of the “ugly”. Porter was able to use his exceptional wrestling and nasty ground and pound skills to put on a brutal clinic from the mat, landing six shots that were more than enough to get the job done and bring in the ref for the save! “Porter lands a couple of elbows. Meshkov is rocked! Porter gets to his feet and stands over Meshkov, holding his ankles. He dives in with a big left hand that connects! Meshkov felt that one! Porter unloads more punches and elbows and this one is over! The ref has dived in to save Meshkov from any more punishment!” Donkey’s Takeaways: Porter had been rolling through opponents until he ran into Devin Hill last month and was taken the distance for a decision loss. He bounces back from that with a big win here that allows him to get right back to training without injury or much loss of energy. The downside for Porter? His manager has been absent for much of this month and we’re not sure if he’ll be returning. That could bring his successful run here at Sucker Punch to a very premature end, which would be a shame. Meshkov will continue to try to bring good preparation to the cage and bounce back from this loss in a contest with Thor Nordquist next month. A very evenly skilled matchup, that fight should really tell us where Meshkov is right now! Another win could send him sailing up the rankings and see him fighting some of the better competition in the org and, dare I say it, potentially offer a run to the top? *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Featherweights Destin Craven Defeats Mike Ehrmantraut via Decision (Unanimous) Our third of four fights on the night that went to a decision is what we’re dealing with here as we opened up the Main Card! This fight went everywhere over three rounds…standup, in the clinch and on the ground, with most of that happening in each and every round! Craven got the better of the striking both on the feet and on the ground while Ehrmantraut was able to hold his own in the clinch. Each of the takedowns was initiated by Craven as he attempted to use his ground game to pull off a win but found that Ehrmantraut was more than capable of not only defending against submissions on the ground but trying a few of his own! Ultimately, this thing went to Craven for landing more strikes and having more aggression, with two of the judges calling it 10-10 in the final round. Donkey’s Takeaways: Craven missed out on an opportunity to get back to a title fight with the loss to Drake last month but turns it around with a good win over Ehrmantraut here. I say good, but not great, only because it went to a decision and Ehrmantraut seemed to be coming on some at the end. Craven has stated that he’d like another shot at Drake sooner than later to prove he’s ready to get back into the spotlight but his manager has also made it clear that he knows there’s a line in this division. We’ll likely see that rematch in about 8 weeks, with another fight in between and while nobody should ever look too far ahead, two wins in a row could put Craven right back into the position that he, well, craves. Ehmantraut has now spent exactly three fights with both his old and new manager and has produced a 3-3 record to date. He’s had some challenging fights since being with current manager, Knockout Bob, but relatively fair at the same time. He’ll get a chance to break free of .500 and move forward next trip into the cage when we likely match him up with Jake Drake. Ehrmantraut has the skill rating advantage in this one along with equivalent MMAT registration ID’s, so the fight should be more than winnable depending upon game plan and execution! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Welterweights Samuel Sanchez Defeats Mason Jones via Decision (Unanimous) The last of our four decisions on the evening was this Welterweight bout between Mason Jones and Samuel Sanchez. And I have to be honest here, the judges gave this fight almost overwhelmingly to Sanchez but if one were to ask me, this thing was at best a split decision! Jones was more effective in the clinch and more aggressive in trying to get it there, but yes, due to a few extra shots landing outside the clinch Sanchez did have the better strike numbers and took the fight to the ground twice. Despite that, this fight was all fairly pedestrian with the crowd having a mixed reaction overall. Donkey’s Takeaways: As Hare said, Sanchez won this fight according to the scorecards but it really could be argued a bit either way. But a ‘W’ is a ‘W’ so Sanchez will take it, run, and count it as two in a row! And three of his last four! We’re waiting for the April 3rd fights to pair Sanchez up for his next fight and it’s likely that opponent will either be Fuller, Prodigy or Maximus Jr. For Jones, a talented young fighter finds himself looking for new management after this fight. Robert Smith informed us he was paring back his stable some and Mason was an unfortunate victim of that paring. With only two losses on his record, albeit the two most recent, he’s still a solid fighter with a ton of potential. Will he get picked up by somebody and continue on with SPPS? We shall have to wait and see! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Middleweights Joseph DeAngelo Defeats Chris Harms via KO (Punches) Our quickest finish of the night comes in this last fight before our two Main Events! Twenty-three seconds is what this one took to come to a conclusion in dramatic style and that’ll result in our ‘KO of the Night’ for this card! These two came out swinging and swinging hard, exchanging shots in the first moments of the contest with Harms getting cut almost immediately but coming a few moments later after eating another shot on a counter to land one of his own right on the button, as the play by play guys would say. Any lapse of concentration in a fight between dangerous strikers can be a critical mistake though, and DeAngelo reminded Harms of that with the brutal finish… “Harms loses concentration momentarily and DeAngelo pounces with a three punch combo! Right, left, right! Harms crashes face first to the mat, out cold! DeAngelo finishes this one with a fantastically precise combo! Great stuff.” Donkey’s Takeaways: Despite having the lower overall skill estimate rating at 3.0 versus 3.5, DeAngelo walks out with an extra notch in the win column here, making it a streak of three wins in a row! He’s now got a perfect 3-0 record at Sucker Punch and only two losses overall in his career at 10-2. He’ll certainly be in the conversation at some point here going forward regarding contendership if he keeps it up and his management wants to take the shot! Chris Harms came into this fight undefeated at 6-0 after carrying 5-0 record into Sucker Punch. After defeating Tyrion Lannister he continued his hot streak right up to this bout. His strength is on the ground though and the opportunity to get there never materialized in this fight and he fell victim to DeAngelo’s strikes before he could get rolling. We’re waiting for the April 3rd fights before setting him up with his next fight so until then it’s get back to the gym and start the process of enhancing his skillsets! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Middleweight Bout Tanaka Matsuda Defeats Paulo Blikstein via Submission (Kimura) Our Co-Main Event saw Blikstein and Matsuda…sounds like a law or engineering firm doesn’t it?!?...go at it in a featured Middleweight bout that had tremendous action right out of the gate! Despite Matsuda’s skills on the ground Blikstein took this to the mat early and then had to deal with Matsuda’s submission attempts. He nearly got what he was looking for though when his ground and pound just about paid off in the fourth minute of action… “That's three minutes gone in the round. Blikstein lands with a punch from half guard. Matsuda is rocked!” The round ended with Matsuda back trying for subs while also fending off Blikstein’s continued punishment from above. Then after some exchanges on the feet in the second round we got a takedown from Matsuda which left Blikstein on his back and not able to mount much in the way of offense. This freed Matsuda up to work on a quality submission which he was able to lock in about a minute before the round ended… “Matsuda in side control, working for a kimura. He's got hold of an arm and he's torquing it... Blikstein is tapping! That's the end of the fight!” Donkey’s Takeaways: It’s a good thing Matsuda ended this when he did because he was quickly burning through energy! This was a huge win for him though and sets him up with an opportunity to earn a title shot in a Top Contender battle with Lester Karnage next month! At 10-2 with a run of three submission victories in a row he’s looking like a dangerous man who could make it to the top. Blikstein misses out on a bit of an opportunity to come into Sucker Punch and get right back to his winning ways by stringing a second win together with the prior one while at GDL. Instead, he’ll get an opportunity to take out his frustrations over this loss in a matchup with Jin Yi next month which will feature two outstanding ground fighters again! *********************** Main Event: Featherweight Championship Bout Michael Aalto Defeats Jake Drake via Submission (Armbar) The Main Event Donkey…and boy did this one JUST ABOUT get to the finish and end up in the hands of the judges! Drake gave Aalto everything he could handle in this one and then some, that’s for sure. But before we get into all that, we’ve got a treat as we look back at our very own Juice Fluffer making the introductions for the fight… Juice Fluffer enters the cage… “Ladies and gentlemen…this is the Maaaain Event of the evening!” “The judges for this bout are Hugh Johnson, John Mangel and Chris Dean.” “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 Featherweight Championship of the World!” “Introducing first…fighting out of the blue corner. Holding a professional record of EIGHT wins, one loss and one draw, he stands 175 centimeters tall, weighing a natural 150 pounds, he’s 23 years of age. Hailing from Freeport, Texas, United States and fighting out of New York, New York…The Challenger and Top Contender in the Sucker Punch Pro Series Featherweight division…Jake…”The Sssssnake”…DRAAAAAAAAKE!!!” “And nowwwww…FIGHTING… out of the red corner. With professional record of EIGHT wins, NO losses and NO draws, he stands 177 centimeters tall, weighing a natural 149 pounds…he’s 23 years of age…hailing from Espoo, Finland and fighting out of Helsinki… THE REIGNING….DEFENDING…UNNNNNNDISPUTED Sucker Punch Pro Series Featherweight Champion of the World, Michaaaaael…AALLLLLTOOOOO!!!” And with that introduction the fight got going Donkey, with Drake setting the tone right from the first bell with an immediate takedown! Reversals were aplenty and on offer quite often in this one as these two battled back and forth on the ground for the entire first round, Aalto going for submissions when given the opportunity and Drake working lethal ground and pound skills! Rounds two, three and four were pretty identical to the first round, with Drake getting takedowns early in the first minute of action and throwing in an occasional submission attempt of his own. Aalta stayed focused on working for a submission throughout despite taking abuse from Drake whenever Drake could get an opportunity to dish it out! By the end of this thing, Drake dropped nineteen shots from above on Aalto out of twenty-six attempts yet Aalto managed to push through and survive. But, with both men just about gassed out, it turned out that nineteen was the lucky number for Aalto, not Drake, as his nineteenth attempt…of a submission that is…finally did the trick almost four minutes into the final round… “Aalto is working actively from the bottom, looking for submissions. He's escaped his hips to the side and he's going for an armbar! Drake has his hands clasped together but Aalto extends and breaks Drake's desperate grasp, forcing a tap out due to armbar! Nice BJJ displayed there by Aalto.” Juice Fluffer enters the cage as the referee has both fighters in the middle waiting for the call… “Ladies and gentlemen, the referee has called a stop to this fight after three minutes and fifty-five seconds of the fifth and final round…” “Declaring the winner…by way of an Armbar Submission…ANNNNNNDDDD STILLLLL…Sucker Punch Pro Series…Featherweight Champion of the World… Michaaaaael…AALLLLLTOOOOO!!!” Well fought by both men out there in that one Donkey, but the Champ is still the CHAMP! Donkey’s Takeaways: Great fight by both, what can you say!?! Michael Aalto retains the Featherweight Championship yet again in his fourth successful title defense! Amazing! He’s starting to cement his legacy as one of the greatest Champions in Sucker Punch history and certainly in the Featherweight division here at SPPS! It’s crazy to think that in order for somebody to dethrone this man, they’re going to have to become the first to ever defeat him in his MMA career. Now, he sits and waits to see if Kurt Cobain wants another crack at him and if not he’ll get a bit more recovery time and await the winner of Cabrera vs. Baptiste! Drake falls a bit short in his first bid for the title here at SPPS but we’ve been told by his management team that they failed to get him prepped correctly for this fight. That’s a shame but also a promising bit of info and suggests Drake will be back in this position again not too far into the future! In the meantime word has it he’s been offered a chance to take on Mike Ehrmantraut. That will be a fight that gives him a rebound shot while also offering Ehrmantraut a chance to prove he belongs further up the ladder. *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! Great action over at Hard Knocks – Sydney in last week and if you weren’t there you missed a good one folks! This week we head over to the Bondi Outdoor Arena for SPPS 51 and we’ll be there on hand as we hope you all will be too! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted April 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2021 Hey Sucker Punch Fans! So it's been a while since I touched on a few of these topics and I just really feel it's important for me to cover them every so often, especially for newer managers or guys who just may not be aware of the particulars with these things! Anyways, this bit of info is to help with Energy, Morale and Flights (and the lack of needing to use them!). First, ENERGY: This one is important for both training as well as on fight day. Training - If your fighter has dropped below 90% energy...he is NOT going to get the very best from his training, which means eventually if you continue training this way, your guy will fall behind others regardless of his learning speed or not. Fights - If you let your fighter walk into a fight without close to his full energy, there is a very good chance you are setting him up for a loss. If he doesn't get lucky and finish the fight early via a KO or Sub, there is a very good chance that as the fight drags on, even as early as late in the first round, he's going to get gassed and be more susceptible to being finished. Give your guy the best shot possible...keep his energy ready to go on fight day, and be sure he's training at above 90%! Regaining Energy: The only way to regain energy is to rest him (set his training schedule to "no training" for as many days as it takes to get back to where you want him. You can find out how many days it will take by going to the little icon at the top right of your fighter's page that looks like a weight, located between the red "VS" and the Eyeball icons. It helps keeping the energy up if you are using supplements as well, but the main thing is to manage those training sessions, lay off before a fight for at least 2 sessions or however many it takes to get back to or close to full energy! Now, MORALE: If your guy has not regained his morale to close to 100%, or at least over 95% or so, then the lower he is the less chance he's going to go into a fight focused and having the confidence to try to win it. Morale will drop for a number of reasons, including a loss in a fight and not changing his clothes often enough. If your poor dude is still wearing his magic white t-shirt and shorts, it's time to change that up. Regaining Morale: You will want to go to "Possessions" in the right hand menu of the page, right down between Sponsors and Finances and check for his clothing and supplement usage there. If he doesn't have any other clothes, you should consider going shopping for some. If his morale needs to be boosted back up, try changing his clothes every day (by using the trash can next to his top and bottom items of clothing to throw away one copy, which will bring the quality back from whatever it is to "150" again) until the morale eventually works back to where you want it. After that, changing them every so often when the quality of them gets down to 140 or lower should keep his morale up barring a loss in a fight. If you need detailed information on how to do this, feel free to reach out to me! Last but not least, FLIGHTS: There is absolutely no need to ever take a flight with your fighter to the fight locations before his fight. Your fighter will automatically take part in the fight card no matter where he's located, so don't schedule a flight of him. Stay in his hometown where his gym is and your guy will simply fight and still be there afterward. No loss of $ sending him to the fight, no loss of energy and no loss of time! So, keep this in mind when deciding upon orgs to join, the location of the org does not factor into things these days ever since Mike turned off the need to fly to your fights about 2 years ago! Anyways, I hope this helps any newer managers out there. Reach out to me or any other experienced manager if you have any questions. Others might have other tips for you as well, but I hope this helps get all of our cheap shot artists in the best shape they can be come fight day and during training! More experienced managers, feel free to jump in here with any additional pieces of information that I failed to touch on, or to correct me as necessary! Take care, Hare 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted April 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 51 Welcome back Sucker Punch faithful! I’m Hare Rumpler and as usual I’ll be joined by my pal and analyst, Donkey “Dan” as we get ready for a beautiful night of hard hitting action over at the amazing Bondi Outdoor Arena in Sydney! With the move to Bondi we move from the relatively intimate 3,000 seat Hard Knocks to a 5,750 seat outdoor venue that can truly let Sydney know what’s going on as we ramp up the energy each time Sucker Punch and our fans get going! Another thing that has me totally excited is that this move over to the Bondi and us going into SPPS 51 tonight marks almost to the day (well, two days shy, April 5th!)…the Sucker Punch Pro Series Birthday!!! Yes, believe it or not folks, we are turning 1 Year Old this weekend! That’s a huge accomplishment and I can’t thank you guys, our managers and our fans, enough for all of your support over the past year. Since we opened for active recruitment on April 5th 2020 we will have 80 Events under our belt here with SPPS 51, including several Proving Grounds events that we got our feet wet with and then the Cockshot Sorter Series events that helped to establish our divisions and crown our first champions here at Sucker Punch! Wow, what a year it’s been! And over the course of that year all of you helped this org get voted in as the 2020 Restricted Org of the Year! That’s just beyond anything I could have hoped for and is an amazing honor. I’d like to think we’re still going as strong as ever now and I look forward to another amazing year with you folks! And to kick off the birthday bash this weekend we have an amazing card for you folks! I wouldn’t be surprised if this one ends up our highest rated event to date as the top five fights on this card alone outweigh most of our prior fights in hype! It’ll all be capped off tonight with a Heavyweight battle for the ages between challenger Sean Hill and the phenom, the beast, the man known simply as Thoth…Chontamenti! Add to that that I’ve been told Suzy has a special edition of her “The Night Before…” coming at you folks later this evening and we’re set to really have some fun here! So, with all that said, let’s get a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner and move onto the good stuff! 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: Middleweights Jouko Juntti Jr (1-0-0) vs. Edward Mills (4-6-0) We’ll kick off the birthday bash weekend for Sucker Punch with old saber toothed, pickle puncher himself, Edwards Mills, as he takes on Jouko Juntti Jr in a Middleweight clash! Mills will have the Muay Thai advantage in this one while Juntti boasts a slight edge in boxing and the better ground skills. Mills has struggled of late with one win in his last four fights and comes into this one off a TKO loss to Breno Pinheiro, one he’d undoubtedly like to have back. He’ll try to take a step back to his success against Kissy ONeill and come out of this one having gotten the best in the striking exchanges. None too bright, Mills nonetheless is a fan favorite for his pure love of the sport and enthusiasm in life as a whole. But make no mistake, his spirits would certainly be a bit higher with a win in this one tonight! Juntti, managed by Dale Saw, won his Sucker Punch and professional MMA debut last month with a first round TKO over Van Der Veer Jr. In the battle of Juniors, Jouko proved to be the superior with on-point striking that got the job done in just over a minute! Will he do the same tonight and choose to go toe to toe with the ole softie Mills, or will he try to exploit his ground skill advantage and utilize his purple belt in Jiu Jitsu? So many questions, I can’t wait to get the answers! Donkey, thoughts…? Donkey’s Pick: Mills via KO (Punch) Until you see a guy actually use his ground skills for offense it’s often safe to assume they’re defensive in nature. Granted, we’ve only had one opportunity to see Jouko so far and he may not have had the opportunity to even think about using the ground game being that he finished his one and only fight in little more than a minute. Mills is due for a bounce back win here and maybe it’s the sentimental portion of me picking here rather than my brain, but I’m going to go with Mills getting a spectacular finish here this evening. It could very well go the other way though, just don’t tell Mills that I said that! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Welterweights Young Prodigy (1-2-0) vs. Marcus Megnus Maximus Jr Maximus Jr (7-6-0) Prodigy comes into our second fight of the evening as the younger, considerably lesser experienced fighter but still touting slightly more advanced skills in boxing and Muay Thai over Maximus Jr. Both gentlemen are more than prepared to get into that cage and give it everything they’ve got though with gas tanks full and morale for days! I love that! Maximus has been struggling a bit of late with a two fight losing streak heading into this one and only one win in his last four. His record so far with Sucker Punch is 1-2 and he’d really like to bring that up to even at .500 after tonight’s contest. How he’ll go about doing that is anybody’s guess as he’s historically brought a mixed bag of striking and submission skills to the table. Prodigy seemed to have gotten off to a rough start on his career prior to joining us last month at Sucker Punch but then came in and got a solid decision win over Justin Kulina to kick off things at Welterweight as he’d previously been fighting at Middleweight. That drop down in division, along with the time off for three months to work on refining his skills, definitely seems to have paid off! Not afraid to go to the ground we’ll see if he and Maximus make this a rolly-polly affair this evening or if he stands and throws hands. His striking and strike defense were both extremely good against Kulina and are what earned him that decision victory. Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Maximus Jr via Unanimous Decision Absolutely not an easy one to pick with two evenly matched fighters heading into the cage! Certainly the fights aren’t looking to be that easy to nail down right from the start here this evening and that’s awesome in terms of the competition we might see tonight! I’m going to go with Maximus Jr’s experience paying off here as he’s seen quite a bit of action in the cage. But I think maybe this one goes the distance! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Light Heavyweights Dolph Lindgren (7-3-0) vs. Devin Ecker (3-4-0) Unless he gets a solid rest in this afternoon Ecker will come into this fight just a bit down on energy. Not a ton, but a small amount that if this fight gets drawn out could come into play! We’ve got another very even contest here and that certainly could turn into a fight where everything counts. Ecker has the wrestling and Muay Thai advantage tonight while Lindgren has the boxing edge, with both fighters holding a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu. Ecker brings a diverse range of skills and varied attack plan to the cage. We’ve seen him clinch up and use some heavy knees to the head and body with elbows and strikes to the head thrown in for good measure. We’ve also seen him offer up a nasty head kick in prior fights. And, we’ve also seen him get to the ground and work the ground and pound. While not much is guaranteed when Ecker’s involved, the one thing we can be sure of is his intention to hurt his opponent in the nastiest ways possible! He’s been on the losing end of his prior two fights and you can only imagine that that has his aggression factored pegged coming into this one! Lindgren is on a mission these days to bounce back from the loss to John Doe two months ago that prevented him from getting into a title fight. He started that mission with an outstanding win over Titus Fury last month, refusing to fall victim to Fury’s ground attack! That was a huge victory. With a granite chin and some clearly heavy hands, Lindgren will undoubtedly be looking to unload his frustrations upon Ecker this evening. Well Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Ecker via TKO (Strikes) They don’t get any easier to pick as we go along, that much is clear here this evening! It’s so difficult to figure where Ecker might try to take this fight and that throws a big wildcard into this thing. However, in order to do any of those things he has to avoid getting tagged hard by Lindgren in the process. But, he can dish it out as well! So this one really is a coin flip! We should see some amazing action in this one no matter if it lasts a minute or three rounds. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Welterweights Ceedee Queen (4-2-0) vs. Darry Curtis (6-3-0) Well Donkey, if you thought the fights leading up to this Welterweight showdown were tough to pick I’ve got bad news for you. It’s not about to get any easier! Curtis and Queen are amazingly well matched with both fighters about equal in boxing and wrestling but Curtis having the Muay Thai edge while Queen will boast the advantage in Jiu Jitsu. And don’t expect preparation to give you an easy out either buddy, because both of these guys head into the cage fully prepared to give the fans everything they’ve got! Joe River was on the fence about Darry Curtis and his future after he fell down a bit towards the end of his stay at Checkmate. Then he came over to Sucker Punch on a one fight contract to give a talented Lukas Reeves some action and walked out the victor via a sensational KO punch late in the second round. That seemed to make Mr. River take pause and reconsider whether Darry has more than he thinks. Now, he’s basically told Curtis, “Show me!” With the gauntlet laid down Curtis comes on with a regular contract and will get busy against Queen this evening. He’s previously fought and downed our own Ispa Perkele as well when at Checkmate and did that with a vicious kickboxing attack combined with effective striking in the clinch when things got tight. Expect a similar approach tonight! Queen has been rolling to the tune of two wins followed by a loss so far in his young career. At 4-2 winning two-thirds of your fights is certainly nothing to scoff at! But if he wants to rise to the top ranks of this division there’s no doubt he has great aspirations! After a decision loss to Red Crow last month that saw Crow move on to a title opportunity while Queen was left wondering “what if?”, Queen will once again attempt to reload with a winning streak and that streak could start tonight over Curtis if things go to plan. Queen’s move seems pretty obvious, at least to us. Get this fight on the ground and establish the dominant position, taking the offense out of Curtis’ game and putting himself in position to utilize his nasty ground and pound skills! What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Queen via TKO (Strikes) I see a hell of a battle in a fight that, yes, is yet another difficult one to pick! It’s not very simple to just say “this is who will likely win” in this one. It really comes down to who can impose their will. If Curtis can keep the fight on the feet or get and maintain position on the ground, this fight is his to lose. But likewise, if Queen gets it to the ground and controls the action, staying on top, the entire fight swings to him. I dunno folks, I know I’m trying to weasel my way out of making the pick here…is it working? *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Middleweights Kenji Gōtarō (2-2-0) vs. Breno Pinheiro (9-4-0) Our final bout on the Undercard will see Middlweights Pinheiro and Gōtarō get at it in the cage and something that could come into play for them may be energy. Neither are ridiculously low, but unless they are resting well today Pinheiro at least and even possibly Gōtarō will likely come into the fight less than topped off. Pinheiro comes in as the older, considerably more experienced fighter with the favorable MMAT registration ID. However, despite those advantages he does give up some skill to Gōtarō, to a small extent in both areas of standup but definitely in Jiu Jitsu. He’s gone through quite a bit in his short stay at Sucker Punch so far, with a loss in his debut under former manager Arthur Jawetz and then a win last month over Edward Mills. That win was driven with a new manager, Jony R, in his corner. Can the new management team and direction utilize his experience and skills to navigate past a dangerous Gōtarō tonight and will the plan be to once again take advantage of his skills in the clinch? Gōtarō has significant ground skills with wonderful wrestling and a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. Despite those strengths, he chose to respect Jim Beam’s ground skills last month and worked the standup game for a TKO victory in his Sucker Punch debut. Will he do the same this month against Pinheiro or instead lean on those ground skills against a less skilled opponent in that area? His win last month was his first under the management of Dead Disney and evened up his overall record at 2-2. If new manager Disney can keep him focused there’s no limit to how far this kid can go! What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Gōtarō via Submission (Armbar) I do like Gōtarō’s chances this evening due to an impressive skillset and, despite the uphill battle against Pinheiro’s considerable advantage in experience, the energy level issue may very well come into play. In his favor. I hate when that factors in, but in a fight that could become drawn out it definitely has to be a consideration! If Pinheiro can get the clinch early and control the fight there while preventing a takedown he could very well prove me very, very wrong though! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Light Heavyweights Jacob Parker (6-2-0) vs. Bjorn Akerfeldt (5-3-0) We kick off the Main Card with a bout that features two guys that many may be surprised to see “opening up the Main Card”! Well, let me assure everybody in attendance that seeing Parker and Akerfeldt step into the cage in only the sixth fight of the evening in NO WAY indicates a fall from grace in terms of the hype they bring to the table! No, it’s simply an indication of just how hyped and ramped up this card is overall this evening. Those heading over to the Bondi tonight are in for one hell of an evening, that’s for sure! And these two come to the cage fully prepared to ensure your satisfaction this evening! Akerfeldt has an amazing set of skills across the board with wonderful boxing, wrestling, Jiu Jitsu and superb Muay Thai. Part of Team Lundgren, Akerfeldt was submitted for the first time in his career in what many saw as an epic ground battle to establish submission supremacy in the division against Wille Thai last month. Well, sort of. Derwent Bolt might argue that point! Tonight will be a huge opportunity for Akerfeldt to establish himself as a top tier talent in the division against former champion Jacob Parker! But to get the job done, he’s going to have to be prepared with the focus, determination and best night of his life as Parker was our first ever defending champion in the division for a reason. Parker has proven against the likes of Wille Thai that he can survive a quality ground and submission game and come out on top. But Akerfeldt bested Thai. Can Parker step up his game just a bit more and still be successful against Akerfeldt? Parker, as we just mentioned, was the first champion in the Light Heavyweight division to grab the belt and hold onto it. And he didn’t just hold onto it in a single title defense. No, he defended it successfully three times before falling to John Doe in a decision loss last month. That’s the kind of loss that doesn’t sit well with most guys and there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s a red hot coal of motivation in Parker’s gut! If he can prove his mettle against this challenge, he’ll be one step away from avenging his title loss as the winner of this fight is likely to get a Top Contender battle with the winner of John Fury/Tarmo Rajantaka next month! A battle to dictate where the fight takes place tonight Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Parker via TKO (Strikes) Parker proved a lot against Thai at one point. This is a whole new level of challenge on the ground though and if it gets there it could be very, very dangerous for him. Akerfeldt can make this happen, but he’s definitely going to need the fight on the ground early and if he gets tagged in the process this thing could go sideways quickly for him. I’m going with the multi-time champ but this is in no way a given for either talented fighter tonight! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Welterweights Barbosa v. Fuller II Baldomir Barbosa (7-4-0) vs. John Fuller (7-4-0) We move along here and get closer and closer to the epic close of this amazing card! But we’re not there yet, as this Welterweight battle is an absolute beast of at matchup with two of the finest Welterweights in the org, both sporting 7-4 records, getting set to go at it! And boy are they ready to bring it, with both fully gassed up, focused and driven, ready to get into it big time! Make no mistake about it, whoever wins this fight WILL be offered the opportunity to take on the one and only Juan Christiano, former champion, in a Top Contender battle for a shot to get a title fight! Do they have to take it? No, they don’t. But you’d have to think anybody in the Top 5-10 of the division would chomp at the bit to get the shot! Fuller has had a series of swings back and forth between success and falling short over his career in Sucker Punch. His history is filled with pairs of wins followed by pairs of losses. However, the last time he faced Barbosa, which was a loss via KO Punch, he bounced back in a huge way and went on a three fight victory tear that has lead him back to this fight! With big wins over Costune, Jones and then Maximus Jr, he’s broken the trend of losing after two wins. He’ll get the chance tonight to extend that winning streak, avenge his prior loss, and prove that he deserves a shot to make a run at the title! And he’s dangerous. Barbosa may have felled him via a KO in the second round last time, but Fuller has proven that he can win in a variety of ways, from (T)KO’s, to submissions, to decisions. He’ll do what has to be done and the Sucker Punch world should expect him to attempt nothing less than that this evening! Ever since his early days in the org here at Sucker Punch, Barbosa has proven to be a force to be reckoned with! In modern memory he’s 4-1 with his only loss coming to the current Champion, Ronnie Bass, who actually went on to fight for the title after defeating Barbosa via decision. Now, let’s stop right there and realize what that’s really saying! Ronnie Bass, who enjoys nothing more than knocking guy’s heads off and putting them to sleep, has an 11-1 record. He’s only lost one time, and some might argue that that was via a potentially lucky and flukey head kick KO, and the only fight he’s ever failed to finish for a win was against Mr. Barbosa here. Two fighters who can knock their opponents into next week and the fight went to a decision. Yeah, Barbosa can put you to sleep…and he’s tough as nails. He’s won his last two fights via KO and if he has it his way, that’s the way he’ll win tonight. But, will Fuller play ball, or will he throw a curve into the mix and try to keep this fight out of Barbosa’s wheelhouse? Donkey’s Pick: Barbosa via KO (Punch) I’m making this pick because I “HAVE” to make this pick! But I have no interest in trying to predict this fight. My interest lies in just SEEING this fight! And so should yours folks! This is an insanely crazy battle that’s brewing and frankly, could be the Main Event on any card and the fans would walk away thrilled! Tonight, it’ll be only the second fight on the Main Card and damn it, you better not miss it! I’ll take Barbosa only because a trifecta of KO’s leading to a Top Contender battle would be pretty cool. For everybody but Fuller, who likely has other plans and that’s what makes this entire thing ridiculously intriguing! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Lightweights Kira Yoshikage (5-1-0) vs. Piney Winston (9-6-0) Next up as we get to the mid-point of the Main Card are highly hyped Lightweights Piney Winston and Kira Yoshikage! Again, two fighters fully prepared to give it everything they’ve got, which has become par for the course this evening and for that I am eternally grateful to our guys! They’re helping to make this “birthday bash” for Sucker Punch a fantastic one! Winston has had his ups and downs after being on what seemed like an unstoppable streak early in his career. He has superb wrestling, a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu and appears to have worked on his standup just a bit in recent months. But make no mistake about it, this man puts food on the table by being excellent on the ground with his submissions! He stumbled for several fights in a row recently with losses to St. Clair, Dominguez and then Jubbly but was able to bounce back last month with a huge win over talented Anike Chukwu with an armbar submission victory. There is no secret to his strategy tonight. Get the fight to the ground and make his opponent tap out. Or put him to sleep. Whatever it takes! Yoshikage is on an extraordinary five fight winning streak and is so hot that despite being somewhat lower in skill estimate we’ve offered him a shot at Top Contendership. At this time, he’s preferred to continue developing skills and will be tested in a big way this evening against one of the few folks in the division who might be able to give him a run for his money on the ground! Yoshikage brings a dual threat approach to the ground game with the ability to work some seriously nasty ground and pound as well as the ability to snap on a slick submission if you’re not paying attention. If he can get a win tonight, he’ll once again be given the opportunity to step into a Top Contender battle…if he wants it. And if he doesn’t? Well, then god help the next guy to get in his way! Donkey, how do you see this one going…? Donkey’s Pick: Winston via Submission (Kimura) All good things have to come to an end eventually and I’m going out on a limb here and listening to the spidey sense tingling on the back of my neck. I think Winston may surprise with his ground skills and pull off the unexpected submission over his ground skill peer here. But Yoshikage hasn’t gone five in a row for no good reason and we shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss his ability to walk away with the big ‘W’ in this one! This one is up for grabs folks, let’s get it on! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Featherweight Bout Herve Cabrera (8-1-0) vs. Brady Jean Baptiste (7-1-1) Donkey, can you believe we’ve had some of those amazing fights leading up to this and we are JUST NOW getting to the Co-Main Event of the evening?!? Seriously, this is an amazingly stacked card. I’ve said it many times, and I can’t say it enough! As you would expect for a fight in this position on the card, this battle has big time stuff on the line as the winner of this Featherweight contest will earn a shot during the first week of May to take on Michael Aalto for the belt! And both of these guys, from what I saw earlier today, are more than prepared to get in there and give it their best shot. Ever since Baptiste changed camps and joined the Laz Staz crew training out of Dr Hatsumi's Clinic he’s gone on a crazy tear winning five fights in a row. Three of those fights have been since joining Sucker Punch after he left Empire. While most of his fights have ended in TKO or KO he’s also proven he can go the distance and win a decision as he did last month against Carlos Villarreal. Which, btw, says amazing things about Villarreal and his ability to go three full rounds with this man! Baptiste tends to mix things up, moving in and out of the clinch with equal success in both. But one thing is clear so far…he prefers to be on his feet. Now… …that preference may be tested this evening as Cabrera is a submission specialist who has, much like Baptiste, won his last five in a row! And, much like Baptiste, only one of those fights went the distance as two months ago he was taken to the judges by Mike Ehrmantraut but got the nod and came out on top. Outside that, this is a man who loves to get you on the ground, work his magic and before you know it he’s clamped onto an arm and doing nasty, wicked things to it! Whether it be an armbar, arm triangle, kimura, you name it, he’s going to latch on and bring the pain! Marky Mark knows what his kid does and does well and no doubt he’ll have him well prepared as they head to the cage this evening. Donkey…you have to be psyched about this one eh…? Donkey’s Pick: Cabrera via Submission (Armbar) Yes sir, you know it, and whoever wins this one is going to absolutely earn their title shot! Cabrera has never been finished by anything other than a single submission with his 8-1 record. Nobody has ever finished him on the feet, which clearly would be Baptiste’s goal this evening. Baptiste has been submitted one time in his career, but that was under his former manager. And it was a long time back. Can it be done now?!? Hell if I know, but being that’s all I have to go by I’m just going to have to run with it! *********************** Main Event: Heavyweight Championship Bout Thoth Chontamenti (9-1-0) vs. Devin Hill (5-2-0) The Main Event Donkey and I have to be honest with everybody here. I’d be lying if I said that Devin Hill was not the underdog in this Heavyweight battle for the Championship! But of course I’d have to say that, when you’re going up against the best the division has to offer…a guy who has literally won every title fight this division has ever seen…you’re going to be the underdog. But man, can you imagine the glory if you’re the one to dethrone the King?!? It will be an uphill battle for Hill tonight as manager Joe Tre escorts him to the cage for the biggest fight of his career. He has all the skills to get the job done if used correctly and a few things go his way. But, you do have to wonder if that purple belt of his might get isolated and picked on by Chontamenti tonight. Hill has won five straight to get this opportunity and his last two fights were against prime time, top of the line competition in Kingston Wall and Gary Porter. Two Top 10 and at times Top 5 fighters within this division. Wall surprised everybody and retired after he lost to Hill back in January, so one could say that Hill is a career ender! Expect Hill to come out tonight using his striking to try to knock down the giant while at the same time playing defense and trying to prevent ending up in a bad position. Chontamenti has developed a black belt in recent months and that’s where the trouble comes in for Hill tonight. With sensational wrestling and that belt obviously the ground is not Hill’s friend and you’d expect Chontamenti to return to his roots and once again work for a submission in this battle. He’s moved away from being a submission only guy over the past four fights as he’d won four of his first five victories with submissions and then went on a run of three TKO’s and a decision finish most recently against ZaDarius Haden. That doesn’t mean the skills aren’t there still! However, there’s nothing saying he won’t decide to try to best Hill at his own game though as Chontamenti also has exceptional boxing and Muay Thai. I’d try to get some info from him, and I think Suzy did the same in her session down at the bar at the hotel last night, but you know there’s no way the champ is going to disclose any crucial information before a big title defense! Donkey…who gets it in this big time showdown…? Donkey’s Pick: Chontamenti via Submission (Kimura) Hill could certainly find a way in this one but until that happens I have to go with the beast and continued dominance in the division. I do think he’ll go with his strengths and advantages in this matchup and if it gets to the ground Hill may be in trouble unless he’s worked on his escapes and defensive grappling in a big way this past month. *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! Need I say more? There’s a birthday bash going down for Sucker Punch this weekend and you’re all invited to celebrate with us at the Bondi Outdoor Arena tonight in this explosive SPPS 51 event! I’m excited to head over there in the next few hours and can’t wait to see all of our fired up Sucker Punch fans! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted April 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2021 Presents The Night Before… …from the hotel bar with Suzy Sucker Punch! ********************************* OMG, hello out there to everybody! It is so great to be back and have a chance to do the little stuff for all our fans out there in the Sucker Punch world! Covid has been rough on everybody worldwide over the past year and it’s taken its toll on everything, including this segment and the ability to sit down a bit more casually with some of our great fighters. And that’s a shame, because I really do feel it’s so, so important for our guys here at Sucker Punch to get a chance to really reach out to the fans, talk about what’s on their mind, and just let themselves be seen as something more than just a guy heading into the cage to fight! So I can’t tell you all how just amazingly thrilled I am to get the chance now with things loosening up a little, more people getting vaccinated, etc., regardless of how you may feel about the topics, but just to give us a little bit of a chance to get together with our guys and do this. We couldn’t just have the fellas coming and going so we put a feeler out in advance to see who might be interested in having a bit of a relaxed sit down here in the bar at the fight hotel the night before the big SPPS 51 event. And with this being Sucker Punch Pro Series’ 1st birthday weekend I was soooo happy that we got not one, not two, not three…but four of our amazing guys to volunteer to meet me for dinner and drinks this evening! ********************************* We had reservations set up and as you all may know, I love the fireplace at the hotel bar. It’s not real but it gives a certain ambiance to the place even during the warm months. So we had one of the big tables nearby set up and ready to go for dinner and my guests all arrived on right on time! We had Kenji "Go Go" Gōtarō, Middleweight from the Disney camp along with former Light Heavyweight Champion Jacob Parker out of Andy Down’s Sweaty Men gym. Also joining us for the evening was Team Lundgren member, Bjorn "Big Bear" Akerfeldt, known throughout the organization as one of the fast up and comers in the Light Heavyweight division! Last but certainly not least, we also had the BMF of Sucker Punch as some people might say, or, as Hare would call him, simply “The Beast”, current and undisputed Sucker Punch Pro Series Heavyweight Champion, Thoth Chontamenti! We got seated and I could barely contain my excitement over getting to chat with these four amazing members of the Sucker Punch org! SSP: It's great to see you guys and I can’t thank you enough for joining me here today! Would you gentlemen like to grab some drinks and food from the bar or restaurant while we chat? JP: Suzy, it’s great to see you, but can we hold up one second real quick? Let’s get to the real question we all want to know! Kenji, why in the hell are you dressed so strange? KG: Suzy, you'll have to excuse the disguise; it is merely an April Fool's joke for fans. It is a hoot, no? The kids seem to enjoy it, but the jaded adults...meh. Not so much. *glares at Parker* BA: Kenj, not to ruin your fun and all, but you do know that April Fool’s day was yesterday right? KG: Well sure, but what good is it if everybody expects it! You have to throw them a twist, no? And who doesn’t like a good bit of fun any day of the year? We have to learn to take ourselves less seriously sometimes! SSP: That’s great Kenji! And I agree, the world needs more fun and all. Especially this past year! I’m all for it and I love your disguise! *laughs softly* JP: You know Suzy, it’s great to be back in town and around the Sucker Punch fans…and these guys…but I think I’m going to need a gin and tonic for this please! *raises his hand to call over the waitress* BA: I’m in with you there Parker, vodka helps cut weight right? I’ll join you! *winks at the waitress and whispers for her to make Jacob’s a double…* Drink up buddy, I need you in tip-top shape for our fight tomorrow night! TC: Actually, I haven’t eaten and could go for some grilled salmon and vegetables. No worries, I got the bill so feel free to get whatever you like. It's on me. I am The Champ after all! SSP: *after ordering a martini and a grilled chicken salad* So, how were your trips into Sydney? Was it good to break camp and get into town for the fights? TC: It was nice to break away Suzy. I need time to adust to time zones, weather and I like to stretch my legs and walk around various places to check out the culture and such. Plus, I'll be honest, it's fun to see how people react to my height and size. *grins and stares at Kenji who pretends to be focused on his water and refuses to acknowledge Thoth’s insinuation that he’s ‘small’ at Middleweight!* SSP: That sounds fantastic Thoth, a great way to mentally get ready for a big fight! But stop messing with Kenji, you know he’s one of the best up and coming Middleweights in the organization! He’s more than capable within his division and you know it! SSP: What about the rest of you guys? BA: Suzy, I think I can speak for most of the guys when I say that it's always a long haul to Sydney but that's the price we pay. I've been off the last day to let everything settle so it's great to not be actively working for once. SSP: You’re not kidding Bjorn. When I come back from the States and visiting my family it always takes me at least two days to get back into sorts. I don’t know how you guys do it! SSP: Regarding camp, did you change anything up this time around, stick to the standard or just make minor modifications for this fight? BA: I was never submitted before the last time out so we worked on my game to cover those deficiencies and little do people know but I've been working on my boxing since I was a teenager so I'm hoping for an all-out war. SSP: Champ, how about you? Any changes this time around? TC: Well, as you know Suzy, each fight and opponent is different. (Sean) Hill brings a lot of power with him so there was a definite focus on making sure I keep my head moving and hands up high. That doesn't guarantee that I won't taste the power he possesses, of course, but it sure as hell helps to try and prevent him from getting any clean looks at my chin. JP: I changed up my training this time around as well. Spent time training up something I haven’t done yet while changing up my sparring quite a bit. My coaches think it'll help my overall game. SSP: *laughs* I love how cryptic that was Parker! Clearly you guys had some things in mind to work on this camp but you’re certainly keeping the information close to your chest there! We’ll have to wait and see I guess. And Thoth, it’s impressive that you’re able to continue staying focused on constantly improving and evolving, working on what might be weak spots potentially. That’s not an easy thing to do especially after so many successful defenses, but that’s what makes a great champ! SSP: Kenji, what about you, any new adjustments this camp? KG: Okay, so before I begin, let me tell you that Dead Disney wants me to stop cursing and stuff during interviews, so I'm going to use words like "flip" and "chute", but you know what they mean, right? *winks* Okay. KG: So, I'm fighting some flipping guy named Bueno Pendejo (Suzy mutters, “Breno Pinheiro”), or something like that. He likes to hold you close and you hit on you. You know, like Harvey Weinstein and chute. So, since he likes to do the assault thing, I figured we would just spend camp working on our "No means no" skills. And if that doesn't work, I figure I'll just punch and kick him until he loses his rowdy libido. SSP: *shaking her head and trying not to laugh hysterically while the guys all laugh and crash their drinks together with a “cheers!”* Kenji, sometimes I don’t know what to do with you! SSP: The weather is supposed to be a marvelous 76 degrees tomorrow and we've moved back to the Bondi Outdoor Arena which makes it perfect! Are you guys excited to be fighting in that venue? BA: Not at all Suzy! I like fighting in a gym locker, haha, I prefer the air conditioning, reminds me of back home. TC: Bjorn, you’re a damned nut man! Suzy, absolutely! I love warm weather, plus my body gets warmer faster in a perfect temperature like that. It'll be an honor to be in that arena and under that glorious sun with the outstanding Sucker Punch fans in attendance! That's the most exciting part for me. I greatly respect fellow warriors cheering each other on during these odd times, but the fans just really get into it and get that adrenaline pumping big time! SSP: Thoth, as you mentioned earlier, you’re scheduled to take on Sean Hill as you defend your Heavyweight title tomorrow night. How do you like your chances and do you expect any surprises or adjustments by your opponent? TC: I have to like my chances due to the rigorous training regimen during camp. Like me, Hill is a well-rounded fighter and there's no predicting exactly what he'll do in that cage against me. However, the same holds true on my side of this fight. I do my best to keep my opponent's guessing about what I'll do against them to keep that very slight edge in my favor. I don't think there'll be any surprises from Hill. He's going to try and turn out my lights, plain and simple. SSP: I overheard Hare and Donkey discussing the fight when they were working on the preview and that sounds pretty much in line with what they were predicting as well, Thoth. SSP: Bjorn, what about you? I’ve seen you half glaring, half analyzing Parker over here. You two are stepping into the cage to face each other tomorrow night in what can only be called a huge matchup for the Light Heavyweight division that will have an almost immediate impact on the layout of the division and path to the title. How do you like your chances against the former champ? Don’t hold back on us now! BA: I'm scared as hell but my team always backs me up Suzy. Jacob Parker is a great competitor and after all he is a former champion so this is like a title fight for me in itself. I'm expecting him to come out swinging hard and I can't rely on the ground because he's just as good as me if not better. SSP: Well Bjorn, that to me sounds like a bit of gamesmanship and potential mind games if I’ve ever heard it! But don’t worry, we won’t tell Parker what you’ve said! *smiles at Jacob* Parker, you’ve been quiet for a bit here, what are you thinking? JP: I like my odds against the Bear, especially since I've beaten the guy who just beat him, so he’s pretty ballsy to step in the cage with me, Suzy. I don’t expect anything new from this guy *reaches over and pats Bjorn on the shoulder*, and if he tries to stand with me, it'll be over quickly for him. SSP: Wow, well, with a statement like that I’m not certain if Bjorn really is afraid or not, but I know I would be! SSP: Let’s get into the fun stuff that lets the fans really get a glimpse on the inside guys! Everybody has their little superstitions or routines they like to go through leading up to a big fight. Have any that you want to tell the Sucker Punch world about? JP: Suzy, you’ll laugh, but my psychotic manager used to stalk my opponents training like some spygate shit, but lately he can’t be bothered to hardly tell me how to game plan for my next opponent anymore. SSP: That is a bit obsessive, but that’s exactly the kind of stuff the fans love to learn! Kenji, how about you? KG: Nothing special. I usually just move my training camp up to high altitudes and smoke menthols for six weeks. That's flippin' elite chute right there. I can do at least an eight of a round after that. Flipping easy. SSP: Seriously Kenji, I don’t know when to believe you and when to just call bullshit, excuse my French, with you half the time! *laughs* TC: I like to meditate for 30 to 60 minutes to get myself grounded and focused before a big fight. There's a lot on the line each and every time we step into that cage and I try to ensure my mind, body and spirit and balanced so I can accept whatever is thrown at me and deal with it to the best of my ability. KG: Thoth, you need to lighten up big guy. Seriously, so flippin’ serious all the time and chute! TC: That’s how you become and stay a champ little guy! Study up! BA: You guys have all got it wrong my friends! Moose meat, every major fight take a little bit of moose meat from a fresh kill and make love to a beautiful swedish woman (Hi Inga!) and you'll have the strength of 20-30 Irishmen. SSP: Bjorn, we’re in the land down undah, I think you’re probably going to have to settle for Kangaroo meat instead and a pretty aussie lady! SSP: Win or lose tomorrow, what do you see coming for you within the division at SPPS? If you could map out the next one to three months, where do you see yourself? How about you Parker? JP: Hopefully this win will get me back into title contendership (is that a word?) and get me back to that belt eventually again. That loss taught me a lot and will only make me better. Hopefully, Doe still has the belt when it’s my turn! SSP: Bjorn? BA: Just like Jacob there my dream is to be a champion so win or lose, the only difference is how much it hurts tomorrow getting back to the gym to train. Win or lose, I'll be back to training, fight comes, I'll be training, I win a championship, I'll be training, and once I finally take 205, we'll see where I go from there. SSP: What about you, Champ? TC: I see this fight establishing that I am a fighting champion who respects all challengers and does his best to push himself and his opponents to the limit. TC: And if I can manage to keep myself from being laid up in recovery from brutal fights over the next one to three months, I want to challenge myself to be very balanced in every facet of combat so I can adjust to any situation very comfortably and confidently. Naturally, I hope to remain undefeated in this outstanding organization but that's a very tall order. There are numerous outstanding heavyweights gunning for this title and I have to be in top form at all times. SSP: Well guys, we’re running out of time here and I know you all need to rest, focus and be ready to give it your best tomorrow night! Anything else you'd like to say to your fans, opponents, the division, SPPS management, etc.? BA: Absolutely Suzy! Donkey Dan, when are you going to teach me that lethal Donkey kick!? *everybody laughs* KG: And don’t forget kids, tobacco is the chute. Go, Go Gōtarō!!! SSP: Kenji!!! SSP: Thank you so much for joining me guys! It's been fun and I appreciate you stopping into the bar here at the hotel and giving us some of your time today! *Thoth snakes the bill from the waitress as she comes back by the table…* TC: Let the Champ get this one boys! Focus on those fights tomorrow and let’s all make it a great one. SSP: This will be an amazing birthday present for Sucker Punch, the fans, and the world of MMAT! I wish you all the best of luck tomorrow. Take care! ********************************* Enjoy the show at Sucker Punch Pro Series 51 over at the Bondi Outdoor Arena tonight folks! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForwardPressure Posted April 6, 2021 Report Share Posted April 6, 2021 A statement from the desk of Baldo Barbosa: "Juan, I'm going to punch you in your Christiano. Hard." Thank you, Slick Gunderson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted April 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 51 Hey Sucker Punch fans! I know we’re running very behind on this one given I have a Preview for SPPS 52 that will be coming out later today as well. That said, we’ll get right into this and move along! I’m Hare Rumpler and as usual I’ll be joined by my pal and analyst, Donkey “Dan” as we take a look back at all the action from SPPS 51, the first time back to the Bondi Outdoor Arena in Sydney in quite a while! It was a great event full of fantastic action, with only a single fight going the distance to a decision, and ultimately came in as our second highest rated even to date! What a way to kick off the weekend of our one year anniversary/birthday for Sucker Punch! You guys really made it special. Now, I’m not going to drag this out as we have limited time before tonight’s upcoming event, so let’s get in a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner and move onto the good stuff! 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: Middleweights Jouko Juntti Jr Defeats Edward Mills via TKO (Punches) We opened up the action for the night with a bout that we suspected MIGHT go to the ground if Juntti had any ground offense. Turns out the mat would never see action in this one and while the exchanges were fairly even overall, with Mills capitalizing in the clinch but Juntti getting the better of things when separated, it was Juntti’s strikes that had the bigger impact and perhaps Mills starting to show some signs of potentially questionable chin that led to the TKO victory for Juntti. It only took eleven strikes, the majority of them to the head, and a single leg kick to finish things off in just over three minutes of action. Donkey’s Takeaways With the win, Juntti starts out his young career with two in a row here at Sucker Punch! A great way to get things going and he’s looking very strong for such an inexperienced fighter. He’s going to take a little more time to train a few key areas before his next fight which is showing a ton of patience by his management team. Can’t wait to see who this kid takes on next and how he approaches the step up in competition! Mills failed to get the bounce-back win he needed so badly and has now dropped two in a row, four of his last five and more concerning, six of his last eight. If he doesn’t start winning soon he’s never going to be able to afford that saber toothed tiger he believes will be the light at the end of the tunnel and set him on a winning path! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Welterweights Young Prodigy Defeats Marcus Megnus Maximus Jr Maximus Jr via Submission (Triangle Choke) Prodigy got the takedown early in the second fight of the night and almost earned ‘Submission of the Night’ honors if not for a close call giving it to Piney Winston later in the evening. After the early takedown it was actually Maximus Jr working for the submissions over the course of the first minute before the second and third minutes of action saw more balanced attempts from both sides and a reversal that put Maximus on top. After trading a few tries it was Prodigy who won the chess match in this one… “Prodigy working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Maximus Jr doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Oh but Prodigy is tightening it up a little... Maximus Jr has to be careful here... He's got his foot tucked under now, this looks tight! Maximus Jr reacted too slowly and this one could be over in a matter of seconds! YES! Maximus Jr taps out! Nice BJJ there by Prodigy !” Donkey’s Takeaways: Prodigy goes two in a row since joining Sucker Punch and really turns things around here from his 0-2 MMA start! With wins now over both Kulina and Maximus he’s ready to take it to the next level heading into late April or early May. His next opponent is as yet undetermined but it’s highly likely that it will be Baldimir Zsofka after tonight’s fights. Maximus came into Sucker Punch on a high note with a big debut win over Pietro Marchionni. Since then, he’s had a rough go with three straight losses and he’ll be looking for a big comeback I the second half of May after we determine his next fight. We’re waiting for the April 21st fights to determine who that will be with a high likelihood that he’ll see Lors Loria or Kahdi Mandinos next. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Light Heavyweights Devin Ecker Defeats Dolph Lindgren via KO (Strikes) An extremely exciting fight here for our third of the night that came very close to swiping one of the ‘of the Night’ awards, being in the running for both ‘Fight of the Night’ and ‘KO of the Night’ but falling just shy on both. But not for lack of value, as this fight was well worth of both! This one went back and forth with Ecker claiming the first according to the play by play guys which was capped off with some nasty ground and pount over the final two minutes of the first round action. The second round saw Lindgren scoring points boxing before Ecker got the takedown, but even then Lindgren was active and aggressive looking for submissions from his back. Lindgren evened it up after the second and this looked to be heading towards a tough decision for the judges. That plan was derailed early in the third round though when Ecker got tired of the early strikes by Lindgren and turned it around in just a couple nasty shots…first a jab-hook combo that sent Lindgren to the mat, rocking him and drawing blood…and then… “Lindgren is rocked and it looks like he’s been cut. Ecker creates some space for himself and unloads with a monster right hand! That one landed with a sickening thud - Lindgren is out cold and this one is all over! Ecker climbs onto the cage to celebrate with his corner!! He's shouting something into the camera but he's still got his mouthpiece in so God knows what he's actually saying.” One could easily argue the case that this was indeed the ‘Fight of the Night’, but that’s what makes this fun Donkey! Donkey’s Takeaways: Ecker pulls one out and while it’s not surprising that he got the win I admit I thought it might have to come on the ground! This was a much needed one after two losses and he certainly capitalized on this opportunity, big time. He’ll be challenged next month by Lukasz Wieczorek and you can expect that to be another fight potentially worthy of ‘of the Night’ consideration! Lindgren is no doubt disappointed with this loss and likely saw this as a “winnable” one. But it slipped away as quickly as he took the lead in that first round. KO’s can do that! He’s still got a very solid record at 7-4 and has traded wins and losses over his last four. It only takes a couple fights to get that momentum going again and next month he’ll have a huge opportunity against Aleks Kuznetsov if and when he takes the fight. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Welterweights Ceedee Queen Defeats Darry Curtis via KO (Strikes) This was an all-out war that saw Curtis and Queen unload upon each other for two full rounds before Queen finally had enough, took the fight to the ground and finished it with some solid ground and pound! In the preview, Donkey stated that, “If Curtis can keep the fight on the feet or get and maintain position on the ground, this fight is his to lose. But likewise, if Queen gets it to the ground and controls the action, staying on top, the entire fight swings to him.” That proved to be pretty telling, as the play by play guys had Curtis winning both rounds early while they remained on the feet, with the entire fight swinging to Queen in the third once he took it to the ground and got top position! Another that could have easily been considered for ‘KO of the Night’ for Queen, this one instead garnered ‘Fight of the Night’ honors for both combatants due to the way they just let it go and put everything into this fight. The fans appreciated it and so did we! Curtis won’t remember this part…but here was the ending from the ground… “The cut above Darry Curtis's eye is starting to cause him problems now. This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff! Queen postures up and throws a massive shot that knocks Curtis out cold! Two more strikes to his unconscious opponent for good luck and this one is all over! Queen goes absolutely crazy with his corner! Wow, you can see how much that win means to him!” Donkey’s Takeaways: Queen absolutely did what he had to do to get a win in this one despite trailing after two! That’s the sign of a real warrior to never give up and just FIND A WAY! He got the takedown he wanted and boom, this thing went completely sideways for Curtis from that point forward. A big win after dropping a decision to Red Crow, a fight that could have earned him a title shot. If he can string together a couple more wins like this he’ll be looking at that opportunity again! Joe River will be disappointed with Curtis for taking this loss but at the same time should take some comfort in knowing that the game plan was working well through a full two rounds. We’ll just have to see how he either adjusts or takes it out on his poor fighter after this. We’re not yet sure who the next fight will be with although we are leaning towards the loser of the Lee/Matsuzaka fight that’s coming up on the 17th with Queen likely taking on the winner of that same fight. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Middleweights Kenji Gōtarō Defeats Breno Pinheiro via KO (Punch) Our final bout on the Undercard resulted in a very fast, thirty-eight second finish that gave Kenji Gōtarō the ‘KO of the Night’ award for his efforts! In the preview I had stated that, “Gōtarō has significant ground skills with wonderful wrestling and a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. Despite those strengths, he chose to respect Jim Beam’s ground skills last month and worked the standup game for a TKO victory in his Sucker Punch debut. Will he do the same this month against Pinheiro or instead lean on those ground skills against a less skilled opponent in that area?” Surprisingly, Pinheiro tried to take this fight to the ground not once, but twice. Unsurprisingly, he also tried to get it into the clinch which was probably well advised but something we was unable to accomplish. Those efforts were pretty much all that time allowed as Gōtarō chose to go the direction of showing off his striking skills for the second fight in a row, ending this in three big shots to Pinheiro’s melon and turning off the lights in the process…! “Gōtarō lands with a right hand. Pinheiro is rocked! Pinheiro misses with a body shot and Gōtarō counters with a right hand from hell and Pinheiro is out cold! A vicious knockout!” I’ll tell you though Donkey, I think the most dangerous thing about Gōtarō though is his continued pushing of tobacco upon the kids at home, this time taking the opportunity with the mic post-fight to once again suggest we should be giving some smokes to the kiddos! Man, somebody’s gotta stop this madman! Donkey’s Takeaways: Gōtarō’s goes 3-0 over his last three fights now with the most recent two being under the management of Dead Disney. This man is definitely on a roll and has been showcasing a completely different approach in the cage than we’ve been expecting! Fun! He’s going to take 45 days between this fight and the next to continue fine-tuning a few things but if he can return strong and put together another couple like these last two I can definitely see him at the top of the division and making his case for a title shot! Pinheiro has a win over Mills and a loss to Gōtarō now since changing managers to Jony R. We’re not sure who his next fight will be with yet as he recently rejected a fight offer with Chris Harms, a fighter who while slightly more skilled on paper has a registered ID 1,200 some spots behind Pinheiro. We’re still reaching out to determine what the reasons were so we can negotiate a different fight, if that’s possible. *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Light Heavyweights Jacob Parker Defeats Bjorn Akerfeldt via KO (Punches) We kicked off the Main Card with Akerfeldt and Parker and we stated that in order to win this fight Akerfeldt would have to come focused, determined and with his ‘A’ game. It looked like he’d brought just that when he got a takedown right out of the bell. Then…the cray-cray kicked in. Having gotten exactly the type of advantage he needed, with the fight on the ground and in position to take advantage of his ground skills…Akerfeldt stood back up! Yes, you heard me, he STOOD BACK UP! That was a critical, mortal mistake and there was no way that Parker was going to waste that gift...and just over halfway into the first round he made sure Akerfeldt paid for that mental lapse… “Parker drops Akerfeldt with a hook right on the temple. He thinks about going to the ground but Akerfeldt looks back up at him and smiles so Parker waves him back to his feet - he obviously thinks he can knock him out after that shot landed. Akerfeldt is rocked! Parker connects with a stiff jab that staggers Akerfeldt - oh and he follows up with a huge uppercut that knocks him out cold! Man, that was brutal!” Donkey’s Takeaways: There’s a chance Parker, who proved his ability to handle himself and survive on the ground against Thai, may have still come out on top in this one. That goal was certainly made easier for him than it may have been otherwise though! As a former champ, Parker knows that you take a win any way you can get it though and you don’t look back. He’ll only look forward now and await his next opponent. An opponent who will very much represent a hurdle to get past in his quest to get back into a title fight as this next one will be for Top Contender! I really don’t know what to say about Bjorn Akerfeldt and his camp today. This is one they have to be smacking themselves for. If the decision to stand was just a brain-fart on the part of Akerfeldt, well, they’ll be lambasting him for a good bit after this fight as the loss makes it two in a row and definitely sets him back. If the loss was due to a strategy miss on the part of his team, well, then that’s something they’re going to have to think about and use as a “live and learn” moment. *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Welterweights Barbosa v. Fuller II Baldomir Barbosa Defeats John Fuller via TKO (Strikes) In what we expected to be an epic battle…and certainly came out to be one of the best overall fights of the night, easily in contention for ‘Fight of the Night’…Fuller had his shots. Yes he certainly did! He got the fight on the ground three times, especially early in the fight, and had several opportunities to slap a submission on or rough up Barbosa a bit with some GnP. Unfortunately for Fuller, Barbosa was up to the task on defense and once he started getting this fight into the clinch later in the fight Fuller was unable to move the fight to the ground from there, despite seven attempts. From there this was all Barbosa’s game as he was near perfect in the clinch with strikes landing seemingly at will. Once the third round arrived, with Fuller having taken the first and Barbosa changing the momentum to take the second, Barbosa was able to take advantage a gassed out Fuller and put the finishing touches on this work of art from the clinch… “Barbosa lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage. Barbosa lands a right hand. Barbosa lands a big right hand that drops Fuller! The killer instinct kicks in and Barbosa finishes his opponent with a series of strikes from mount. A dominating finish by Barbosa!” Donkey’s Takeaways: Sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for. Perhaps that’s the situation here for Barbosa and perhaps not! With this win, he earns himself a Top Contender battle and with it a chance to move on to challenge for the title. But before he can do that, he now has to face what is likely the toughest opponent of his career as he’ll face off against former champ and “waiting it the wings” #2 in the division, Juan Christiano. The last time Barbosa was in this position was ironically against Ronnie Bass. Bass capitalized on a win over Barbosa to challenge for and win the belt from Christiano. Now, to get a chance at the title Barbosa will have to go through the man that Bass unseated! I can’t wait! Fuller was on a run again after three wins in a row but falls short of avenging his prior loss to Barbosa! At this point, Barbosa is essentially Fuller’s kryptonite and a huge thorn in his side! Samuel Sanchez is next on tap for Barbosa and will pose a significant challenge as well as a huge opportunity to start his march right back up the ladder. So long as Fuller focuses and comes in ready to start winning all over again! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Lightweights Piney Winston Defeats Kira Yoshikage via Submission (Armbar) Our last before the Main Card earned Piney Winston ‘Submission of the Night’ honors, but not before a bit of other excitement kicked in earlier in the fight! Shortly after the bell to get this bout going we had this bit of fun by Yoshikage which had the crowd in a roar! “Winston has taken the fight to the clinch. Yoshikage has picked Winston up - he's going for a ride! Yoshikage dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.” Still a bit shaken apparently, Winston had to fight off a Yoshikage submission attempt shortly after once Yoshikage was able to work around for position a bit. He also took some hella abuse down there after that slam as Yoshikage was laying the ground and pound on thick! Once Winston had his wits back about him he was able to offer up several sub attempts of his own though to help ward off Yoshikage to some degree and keep him honest. The second round saw Winston instigating the clinch and Yoshikage then taking the fight to the ground again. Once down, he went to work on his own attempt for a triangle from the bottom while Winston worked and maneuvered for his opportunity. That shot came after a reversal by Yoshikage that put Winston on his back, but apparently caused Yoshikage to let down his guard... “Winston is actively looking for submissions from his back. He's worked himself a little space on the bottom and seems to be going for a triangle. No, he's switched into an armbar! That was slick! Yoshikage rolls with it to try and escape but Winston cranks on the arm and Yoshikage is forced to tap out! This one is aaaaaaaaall over!” Donkey’s Takeaways: Winston has rebounded in a huge way from three straight losses to stack up a pair of wins now after defeating Chukwu in February and now Yoshikage. With continued success and focus this 22 year old could be well on his way to re-entering the Top 5 and potentially working towards an eventual title shot. But first…just focus on the wins baby! He may be looking potentially at Trevor Barnes down the line after his fight on the 21st. Yoshikage came into this fight with five wins in a row and appeared to be in the driver’s seat quite a bit in this one. Unfortunately, the final result has to be hugely disappointing for him. I suspect he may want his revenge sooner than later and I wouldn’t blame him. Frankly, I’d want to see it as this was an excellent battle! We’re still looking at who may be up next for Yoshikage but there’s an excellent chance it may be Jamal Jameson after the 17th. *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Featherweight Bout Brady Jean Baptiste Defeats Herve Cabrera via Unanimous Decision Unfortunately I don’t really know what to say about this fight that Co-Main Evented the card. Neither do many of the fans apparently who had a lukewarm reaction to the fight, but frankly, decisions can do that at times. Baptiste did what he does, which is kickbox his way to a decision and a victory. Cabrera gave it his best shot to hang in there in the striking exchanges. He tried to use an active, aggressive approach to try to outpoint Baptiste on the off-chance he couldn’t get the fight to the ground and win it there. Unfortunately for Cabrera, he wasn’t able to out-point Baptiste in standup and Baptiste was able to avoid falling victim to a submission. Donkey’s Takeaways: With this strategic plan to go in and win via points Baptiste earns himself a title shot on April 28th against the waiting, defending Michael Aalto. One more big one and he could be draped in gold. But it’s going to take focus and a solid strategy to overcome Aalto who has now moved from “surprise”, quiet champion to having successfully defended the Featherweight title more than anybody else in SPPS history. Cabrera takes a step back, but having come into this fight with five wins in a row it’s not a HUGE setback. He still has to be considered one of the top fighters in the division and somebody you have to potentially beat if you want to make it to the top. And don’t expect him to just step aside! Next month, he’ll get to stake his claim to being the “next to last stop” if he can defeat former champ Destin Craven! *********************** Main Event: Heavyweight Championship Bout Thoth Chontamenti Defeats Devin Hill via Submission (Armbar) Donkey, first the pros to this fight for Devin Hill. He managed to push this thing well into the fourth round and made a solid showing of it for himself, putting on a surprising show of defense on the ground against a very talented and skilled ground specialist like Thoth Chontamenti. Something that honestly, we did not expect if the fight ended up on the mat! Now the downside for Hill. Thoth dictated a large portion of this fight having put it on the ground four times, pushing Hill to be solely on defense most of that time fending off submission attempts, and found himself stuck in the clinch much of the time on the feet where The Beast punished him with an untold amount of abuse. Credit to Hill, he absorbed all of it and never folded, never got taken out with a ridiculous amount of shots to the head and body, and gassed or not never knew the word “quit”, at least not from strikes. But it was the fourth round that allowed Thoth to find the key on the ground… “That's two minutes gone in the round. Chontamenti is actively looking for submissions from his back. He's worked himself a little space on the bottom and seems to be going for a triangle. No, he's switched into an armbar! That was slick! Hill rolls with it to try and escape but Chontamenti cranks on the arm and Hill is forced to tap out! This one is aaaaaaaaall over!” Donkey’s Takeaways: Chontamenti does it again and has now held the title through seven title fights here at SPPS, our longest running champion and the only Champion that the Heavyweight division has ever known in Sucker Punch existence! That’s frankly unbelievable, but when you listen to him in interviews like the ones with Suzy, you understand what makes him the champion that he is. Next up…he’ll be defending in May against the winner of Patrick Murphy and Hero Shima! Hill takes his first loss after five straight wins. But hell, how many can say they even worked to a title shot?!? And with a record like his he won’t be bumped down too far. With a few more wins, time to regroup, rebuild and evolve, he may be right back here again looking for a different result! In the meantime, he’ll likely restart the quest either against newcomer to SPPS, Ashwin Tyson, or possibly Sefina or Powell after their fight tonight! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! There we have it folks, a lot of fun and we’ve got even more in store tonight as we head right back over to the Bondi Outdoor Arena for SPPS 52 this evening! Hope to see you all there for another night of pulse pounding action! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted April 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2021 3 hours ago, ForwardPressure said: A statement from the desk of Baldo Barbosa: "Juan, I'm going to punch you in your Christiano. Hard." Thank you, Slick Gunderson LMFAO!!!! ? Nothing say "Sucker Punch" and "Cheap Shots Experts" like being punched in your Christiano. Hard. LOL!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted April 7, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 52 Hello out there in Sucker Punch land! We’ve got a cool one coming at you this evening with SPPS 52 as there are not one, but two titles on the line with both the Light Heavyweights and Middleweights preparing to get it on! As always, I’m Hare Rumpler and alongside my pal and analyst, Donkey “Dan” as we get ready for a beautiful night for some hard hitting action over at the amazing Bondi Outdoor Arena in Sydney! Landon McGuire and Wilfred Ainsworth highlight the card as Ainsworth challenges McGuire for the Middleweight title. Leading into that big fight will be the challenge from Eemeli Lampi as he takes on current Light Heavyweight Champion John Doe in a bid for his title! We’ll start the night out with some Welterweight action as Baldimir Zsofka takes on Justin Kulina and then in between that and the big ones we’ll have action see-sawing between Lightweight fights, four of them to be exact, and a trio of Heavyweight contests! Each and every one of these fighters on the card has a lot on the line, whether it be their attempt to start progressing up the ladder, a move to keep the momentum building or being on the cusp of glory as a top contender in their division. So you can be damned sure they’re going to be bringing what they’ve got and making this a night to remember for everybody in attendance! So, with all that said, let’s get a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner and move onto the good stuff! 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: Welterweights Justin Kulina (1-2-0) vs. Baldimir Zsofka (1-1-1) We’ll get things going tonight with this Welterweight battle that gives both of these fighters a chance to turn things around and get on track! Zsofka fell in his Sucker Punch debut to Rick Segura last month via TKO towards the very end of the first round. He’ll have the advantage in Muay Thai this evening and, much like his opponent, comes into the fight gassed up and ready to go! Great preparation, but with both fighters looking good this is likely to come down to strategy and training! He tried for a couple sub attempts against Segura when taken to the mat but his strong wrestling and blue belt in Jiu Jitsu just weren’t enough at the time. Will be fall back on his remarkable boxing and superb Muay Thai instead this evening? Kulina is also coming off a loss and has a .500 record here at Sucker Punch at 1-1 with a 1-2 overall MMA record. Both his win and loss while at SPPS were via decision, so going the distance is something he’s fairly familiar with. Against Prodigy last month he found himself defending against both strikes and submissions on the ground for a bit, but when standing was super aggressive with his striking. Not a high enough percentage of the shots landed though and that’s why the fight ended up in Prodigy’s hands. Will he make the adjustments needed tonight to win on the feet if Zsofka decides to stand and go? Donkey, thoughts…? Donkey’s Pick: Kulina via Unanimous Decision We don’t have a ton to go by for these two but we do know some general tendencies. Kulina will have the minor advantage in boxing and wrestling and I’m going to say that maybe he uses that to his advantage and finds a way, modifying his approach from last fight just enough to score the points needed in this one. This could easily go either way. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Lightweights Venali Paetmar (3-6-0) vs. Pure Striker (6-7-0) Well, there’s not a whole lot to be said about our second fight of the evening. Will there be two guys in the cage going at it? Sure. Will somebody win and somebody else lose? Most likely. Will each employ some form of strategy that speaks to their skills, both offensively and defensively? They should. Will be go into a lot of detail about that here in the preview? NOPE. But why you may ask? Why won’t we get into this one like the rest of the fights, Hare? Why are you being like this? Why you ask? Well, because one guy felt the need to show up absolutely and completely unprepared for this fight. That person would be Pure Striker, who is down 20% on energy coming in and has zero morale. He also has zero chance of winning. Ok, fine, maybe not zero, but it’s pretty close to 95% or so! The one I feel bad about here is Paetmar. He showed up ready to go. And despite being the slight underdog with regard to skills in this fight, he’s very likely to walk away the winner anyways! Good for him! He’s coming into this one on a four fight losing streak and frankly this fight is ready made for him to give it a solid go and come out with a ‘W’. Given his history he’ll probably try to take this into the clinch, if the fight lasts that long, and wear down his already somewhat disadvantage opponent when it comes to energy. Smart move. Now go make it happen! Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Paetmar via TKO (Strikes) I won’t candy coat this one. This should be Striker’s final fight with Sucker Punch as he doesn’t really deserve to step foot inside a cage ever again, at least not under current management. He’s come to the cage repeatedly unprepared and therefore doesn’t deserve somebody else’s time and energy spent training to fight him. Now, I also won’t candy coat the situation for Paetmar. He should win this fight. It should snap his losing streak. If it doesn’t and he goes 0-5 over the past five fights, it’s probably time to hang them up. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Lightweights Conor Aldo (6-5-0) vs. Tua Graves (6-9-1) Our third fight of the night features two very experienced fighters who are definitely no strangers to the cage with twenty-seven fights between them! Graves is coming in off a trifecta of losses and is 1-5 in his last six fights. He’s struggled at best and has repeatedly been stopped via TKO or KO. His one win in the last six was a submission over Montesh Dominguez and if he wants to win tonight he probably needs to think about trying to repeat that process, putting his competent wrestling and purple belt in Jiu Jitsu to work, while avoiding having his very questionable chin tagged. Aldo has superb wrestling and a purple belt as well, so defensively he may very well be able to give Graves some fits. He’s never shown an inclination to use his ground game for evil though, so Graves may be safe on that front. What Graves will want to be very wary of, as we already hinted at, is Aldo’s wonderful boxing and exceptional Muay Thai which will be complimented by the aforementioned grappling ability. If Graves can’t get this to the ground and take advantage of his offensive capabilities there, this fight is likely to end in a way that Graves won’t remember. Well Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Aldo via KO (Punches) Aldo may get the chance to break up his two fight losing streak if he can keep the fight standing and capitalize on his striking advantage. If this one goes to the ground it really becomes anybody’s game. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Heavyweights Zygmunt Krol (3-3-0) vs. Ultima Kekkonen (2-2-0) Well Donkey, what we have here is an extremely evenly matched contest between two big boys who are both fully prepared to get at it and have some fun in the cage this evening! Kekkonen has wonderful skills across the board in a very balanced approach to his MMA training. He comes in off a win over Thor Nordquist via TKO that he finished in the first round with solid, hard hitting strikes. He will throw out the occasional leg kick to slow down his opponent as well but it’s those fists to the face that you really need to worry about! Krol has only the slightest of edges in each of the standup and wrestling categories. He lost to Patrick Murphy last month just as Kekkonen did the month prior. With a granite chin he can stand and take the abuse but sometimes unless you can give it back just as good or better that results in a decision loss. As it did in the Murphy fight. When he’s on you can expect a solid all around kickboxing attack as he dished out for Tank Tribute two fights ago. What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Krol via TKO (Strikes) I’m not seeing a huge advantage either way for one fighter or another in this one outside the granite chin for Krol over what we found out about Kekkonen early on which was that he was determined. I’ll go with that as the difference maker here. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Heavyweights Lanuola Sefina (6-4-0) vs. Andre Powell (6-4-0) Two 6-4 records go at it here as we close out the Undercard with these two very large men putting it on the line in the cage this evening! Powell will have the boxing advantage tonight and if his last two fights are anything to go by he certainly knows how to use it, finishing those fights via KO and TKO in succession. He’ll stand and throw from distance if need be but really seems to enjoy getting up close and personal with his opponents in the clinch. Sefina’s Muay Thai is the weakest of his MMA skills so there’s no reason to expect Powell not to try to exploit that this evening. Sefina is coming in off back to back losses to Hero Shima and Bubba Wallace. Two tough opponents and he’ll want to return to his winning ways from before that when he won four in a row. He’s been susceptible to TKO’s and KO’s in his career and being that he showed inexperienced early on there is some question about his chin. He’s best on the ground working the nasty ground and pound and it’s very likely that’s where he’ll want this fight this evening, on the ground, out of Powell’s comfort zone and away from his clinch! What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Powell via TKO (Strikes) If this gets to the ground early my prediction/pick could go very wrong, very badly, very quickly. If it doesn’t and Powell is able to both take it into the clinch and prevent the takedown from there as well then this thing should easily swing in Powell’s favor, especially if he can start abusing the body enough before Sefina can get rolling. For Sefina, this is very much about dictating that the fight NOT take place where Powell wants it. *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Lightweights Guy River (4-3-0) vs. Ramon Rabbit (8-7-0) We get into the Main Card here with a Lightweight battle that will see Rabbit and River match up very well with perhaps the only differentiator being Rabbit’s advantage in Jiu Jitsu. Rabbit has struggled for consistency when it comes to putting his varied skills to best use and walking out of the cage with a win. Bouncing between wins and losses, with occasional pairs of losses thrown in, he’s managed to carry on at just below .500. With a win over Aldo last month he’d be doing himself and his quest to start finding that consistency a huge favor by making it back to back’s tonight! When he wins it’s usually with a solid and balanced kickboxing approach. When he loses, it’s always on the ground via submission, clearly an area of weakness for him. That’s not something he’ll need to worry about this evening. River won’t have to worry about this fight going to the ground most likely despite Rabbit’s Jiu Jitsu advantage. Rabbit has never been particularly eager to get to the ground and when he has it’s gone badly. However, Rabbit has one every standup fight he’s gotten into so that is a point of concern for River given River’s wonderful boxing and sensational Muay Thai pretty much dictate that this fight is staying on the feet until one party gets dropped! A battle to dictate where the fight takes place tonight Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Rabbit via TKO (Strikes) I’m not one to go against patterns and trends, so for this one I’ve got to go with the fact that Rabbit has always won on the feet and never lost there. River may be the first to change that trend though and streaks are made to be broken! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Heavyweights Patrick Murphy (7-2-0) vs. Hero Shima (3-2-0) This is a top contender battle between two guys looking for a title shot in May, plain and simple. And with both on impressive streaks one of these two will be very deserving of earning the opportunity to go fight for the belt! Hero Shima’s record may say 3-2, but it’s the 3-0 record in recent fights since he took a break to refocus his training that really matters! He’s defeated top caliber opponents in Sefina, Kane and Cooper over the past four months. Now, he gets what is undoubtedly the toughest test yet outside his early loss to ZaDarius Haden, a loss he used as motivation for that refocusing effort! Murphy will have his hands full figuring out what angle Shima may take when coming at him offensively this evening as Shima has won both ‘KO of the Night’ and ‘Submission of the Night’ awards in his past two fights! With sensational skills across the board, barring his exceptional wrestling, this is a man with no obvious weak spots. Murphy loves the ground and pound and given that his standup will be the weak point this evening versus Shima’s you can expect he’ll try to get this fight on the ground and gain the dominant position. However, even if he does gain top and the opportunity to drop nasty bombs on Shima he will have to be wary the entire time not to get caught in a submission as Shima has proven he can pull off. With two back to back wins since joining Sucker Punch over quality talent such as Krol and Kekknonen, Murphy has earned being one step away from a title shot! Donkey’s Pick: Shima via TKO (Strikes) I have to go with Shima here solely because in this particular matchup Murphy’s success appears to hinge entirely upon a perfect scenario of gaining top position on the ground. Standup is dangerous tonight and so is getting caught by a sub whether on top or bottom in the ground game. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Lightweights Yip Man Iii (9-2-0) vs. Repus Revorg (4-1-0) Staying objective will be tough for me in this one this evening as, full disclosure, Repus Revorg is my own kid from my stable! He’s prepped and ready to go as well as any fighter can be heading into the cage this evening but admittedly he appears to be a bit of the underdog heading into this contest with potential Top Contender Yip Man Iii! Yip Man will definitely have the striking advantage on the feet this evening while Revorg appears to have the advantage in Jiu Jitsu…if he has any offensive ability there. He’s never demonstrated such, so that’s very questionable. This fight made sense from a number of standpoints though as the next best fight to test Yip Man before a title shot. Revorg had amassed a decent record against above part competition to date and skill rating wise they matched fairly well. Yip Man will have a considerable development advantage though, but, being that he’s the younger of the two at 20 years old appears to have been actively training in MMA since about the age of 16! There’s no doubt that Man will attempt to use his edge in boxing, Muay Thai and solid wrestling to overcome the challenge from Revorg this evening. The question will be, can Revorg overcome the disadvantages there, will he have any ability to leverage the ground or will his intangibles come through and allow him to have the heart to just “find a way”! Revorg’s not one to dodge a fight, so he says, “Bring it on you goofy staring bastard!!!” Donkey, how do you see this one going…? Donkey’s Pick: Man Iii via TKO (Strikes) Unfortunately for you I cannot pick your boy tonight Hare! Little birdies tell me that Revorg’s ground game may not be strong enough to get it done and if that’s the case this fight is Man’s to lose. With the win Man can earn the title shot you mentioned, something he’s also unlikely to come in and squander a chance at so expect him to have fully prepared and strategized for this fight without overlooking or underestimating Revorg. *********************** Co-Main Event: Light Heavyweight Championship Bout John Doe (6-0-0) vs. Eemeli Lampi (6-1-0) Our Co-Main Event of the evening will have the Sucker Punch Pro Series Light Heavyweight Championship of the World on the line! Wow, now there’s a mouthful! Lampi, managed by Taina Valkoinen, has gone on a six fight winning streak, including four here at Sucker Punch, ever since losing his initial test fight back early last year. That fight hardly mattered so for all intents and purposes Lampi is essentially undefeated. Much like his opponent, the current champ, is tonight! One thing I will say is that manager Taina Valkoinen knows how to lead his guys to success and that is a huge factor in this one tonight! Valko, if I may, is ranked #4 overall in manager ranking amongst his MMAT brethren and will bring significant skill and challenge to this contest as proven by his ability to lead Michael Aalto, another of his pupils who happens to be our Featherweight Champion here at SPPS. While Lampi has decent ground skills there is no big secret to his success. He likes to box and he likes to hit hard! He’ll go to the clinch if he needs to but given the choice he just wants to take the life out of your body and punch you in the face, hard, to finish things. What makes this fight tonight especially epic is that given all the acclaim and accomplishments I just touted for Valko and his pupils…one could make the argument that John Doe’s manager, P J Jones, is no less accomplished! Currently ranked #33 overall with a best all-time ranking of #12, P J Jones not only manages current champ and defender this evening John Doe, but also longtime and current Lightweight Champion and future Sucker Punch Hall of Famer, Frankie Logan! Frankie is one of only two original and solo champions at Sucker Punch with the other being Thoth Chontamenti in the HW division. Clearly, Jones knows how to lead his guys to success as well and taking the title from Doe this evening will be no small feat! That said, this is Doe’s first title defense since defeating Jacob Parker to gain the belt and sometimes jitters do happen! Jones is adept at leading his pupils and coaching them to take the long approach to fights, wear down the opponent, fight for a decision if needed but if the other gasses out jump on the advantage and finish! Expect the unexpected with Jones tonight, but Lampi had also better be ready for the long haul if need be! Donkey…you have to be psyched about this one eh…? Donkey’s Pick: Doe via Unanimous Decision This is a war of the ages between two premiere fighters and even more two premiere managers! One is going to have to fall this evening but I’d be hard pressed to tell you which! Therefore, I’ll give the current champ the respect he deserves until Lampi can prove otherwise! Let’s get it on boys! *********************** Main Event: Middleweight Championship Bout Landon McGuire (5-0-0) vs. Wilfred Ainsworth (7-1-1) Our Main Event this evening will see the Middleweight Championship on the line as Landon McGuire prepares to defend for the second time, this time against Wilfred Ainsworth! Let’s get to what’s immediately really interesting to note about this fight tonight given recent history! McGuire won the belt initially two fights back and then successfully defended it with submission victories in both instances. He has exceptional wrestling and a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu. While that is very, very good, it’s not what you usually expect of a submission specialist champion, especially concerning that purple belt. Ainsworth will have a thing or two to say about that potentially tonight as he walks into the cage with wonderful wrestling and a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. Now, Ainsworth has never won via submission nor hinted at any desire to really spend any quality time down there on the ground. He did very well fending off the attack of Jin Yi four fights back, a talented grappler and submission artist, so clearly he does have the defensive skills to handle himself there. Will McGuire still attempt to utilize the ground game tonight despite these factors? Or will this entire fight end up spending a massive amount of time on the feet pitting Ainsworth’s wonderful boxing and Muay Thai against McGuire’s exceptional boxing and remarkable Muay Thai? It’s intriguing because McGuire is 5-0 and just FINDS a way to win! Even over the likes of Wanderson Machado who he has previously defeated, a feat not many have ever pulled off. Tonight, he may very well be getting the biggest test of his career as he defends against the very talented Ainsworth. An Ainsworth who is beyond hungry, having previously fallen short in a title shot against Machado. And then missed out on another opportunity to go to a title fight when he fought Obama Filth. It’s unlikely he’s overlooking this big time opportunity to finally get it done, so whoever wants this the most had better have come prepared with their ‘A’ game this evening! Donkey…who gets it in this big time showdown…? Donkey’s Pick: Ainsworth via TKO (Strikes) I can almost hear the backlash already over my doing this, because I almost never pick against the champ, but I have a very strange feeling about this one this evening. I’m not exactly sure how this will go down, but I feel like this one is going to end spectacularly after a brutal battle! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! Two huge championships on the line! Ten amazing fights overall! A beautiful night just waiting for our fans to set Sydney’s pulse pounding from the amazing Bondi Outdoor Arena this evening! We’ll be heading over to the arena in just an hour or two, we’ve been told the tailgating has been going on already for hours, and the fans are ready for this amazing mid-week treat! Let’s get it on! 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...
HareRumpler Posted April 7, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2021 This is a job well done folks! 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForwardPressure Posted April 8, 2021 Report Share Posted April 8, 2021 The contract has been signed. Victor Veidt's SP debut is set for May 1. It's a win-or-go-home deal. And Rogerio Duarte, I promise you...The Iron Crotch has no desire to go home. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted April 8, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2021 1 hour ago, ForwardPressure said: The contract has been signed. Victor Veidt's SP debut is set for May 1. It's a win-or-go-home deal. And Rogerio Duarte, I promise you...The Iron Crotch has no desire to go home. I have a feeling that if you keep calling Duarte out, Veidt may very well need that Iron Crotch! This is Sucker Punch after all! ? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted April 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2021 Risa Roo Reviews... Sucker Punch Pro Series 52! Heyo Sucker Punch fans. It’s Risa, back at it again with another review! Hare procrastinated AGAIN and had to rope me into doing this one for him. Considering that I shouldn’t be working during these hours, I think I should be getting paid overtime. Fund my chicken nugget addiction. On to the fights! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Welterweights Justin Kulina Defeats Baldimir Zsofka via Unanimous Decision First fight of the night was between Justin Kulina and Baldimir Zsofka. Kulina looks like the kind of guy who orders his steak well-done and doesn’t see anything wrong with that. Just an observation. When I chatted with Donkey before the fight he told me that he felt it could go either way in terms of who wins, and both of our fighters certainly had something to prove. It was a good three round fight that ultimately went to a decision. These fighters clearly have a lot of respect for each other. They shared a crisp high five in the last minute of the fight in between hits and swings. BESTIE VIBES! Kulina ultimately took the win. Nice job brochacho. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Lightweights Pure Striker Defeats Venali Paetmar via Unanimous Decision Fight number two! It’s between Venali Paetmar and Pure Striker. These two dudes are polar opposites. Paetmar’s face is so big, but hair is so small. Striker’s face is so small, but hair is SO big. Like bro. Get some Frizz-Ease (not an ad, sponsor me please Frizz-Ease, Hare doesn’t pay me enough). Donkey predicted that Paetmer would win this one by way of TKO (I WISH) but this fight went to a decision. BO-RING. Despite coming in EXTREMELY unprepared with almost no morale, Striker pulled out the win. Yikes, not a good look for Paetmar to lose this one. His manager should make him run suicides until he pukes. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Lightweights Conor Aldo Defeats Tua Graves via KO (Punches) Fight 3! This fight was between Conor Aldo and Tua Graves. Donkey picked it and Donkey was right. KO!!! Aldo knocked out Graves in 30 seconds. WOOP WOOP! If it wasn’t for Aldo’s ego I’d say he could be one of my favorite fighters. But you know what they say, a bad attitude makes a bad… I don’t know, a bad something. I’ll get back to you all on that. Anyway, awesome KO, sucks to be Graves tonight. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Heavyweights Zygmunt Krol Defeats Ultima Kekkonen via TKO (Strikes) Fight 4! It’s between Zygmunt Krol and Ultima Kekkonen. Kekkonen kinda looks like that one dude from WWE. Kinda wack. Maybe they’re long lost cousins. How crazy would that be? Two rounds went by and it seemed that Kekkonen had the upper hand throughout the fight. Start of the third round. BAM BOP POW KABLAM!! Krol comes swinging and pummels Kekkonen into the ground. TKO! Kekkonen you were so close! Your WWE brethren would be disappointed in you. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Heavyweights Andre Powell Defeats Lanuola Sefina via KO (Punches) Fight five! It’s between Lanuola Sefina and Andre Powell. Sefina looks like a Soundcloud rapper who thinks he’s going to make it big but only gets 100 streams per song. Yes, you can quote me on that. The match lasted just under two and a half minutes. Speedy match! Guess how it ended. No you have to guess! I’m not telling you unless you guess right. Yes! KO!!!! I love me a good KO (and in my professional opinion all KOs are good KOs). I’m watching WWE while reviewing this fight. You know they barely have any good KOs anymore. Bring the Big Show back. Sorry! Sorry! Back to Sucker Punch! Powell won with a mean KO! Sefina dropped to the ground instead of dropping verses this time I guess. Stick to Soundcloud rapping my guy. *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Lightweights Guy River Defeats Ramon Rabbit via Unanimous Decision Fight 6! It’s between Guy River and Ramon Rabbit. River just got back from a business meeting with Al Capone, and while he’s still dressed for the meeting, I’m sure he’s ready to throw some hands! Donkey also picked TKO for this fight, but this one went to a decision. This fight was a pretty good one. There weren’t a ton of big moments, much to my disappointment, but it was a fun and fast paced fight. Ultimately River took the win with the unanimous decision. I told you he was ready to throw some hands. *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Heavyweights Patrick Murphy Defeats Hero Shima via Unanimous Decision Fight numero seven! It’s between Patrick Murphy and Hero Shima. Murphy looks like a 25-year-old hipster who orders his coffee with oat milk and plans to leave his boring desk job to be a travel blogger someday even though he knows deep down it’s not going to happen. Shima looks like a badass who took on a whole army alone and won. Now I know we aren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover, but my money is on Shima. Now did I read Hare and Donkey’s preview for this fight? Nope! Am I going to? Nope. I’m basing this purely on looks. This wasn’t the best fight of the night by far, and it went all three rounds so you can imagine the yawning that has ensued on my end. Shima went for a plethora (SAT word!) of sub attempts but none were successful. Ultimately Murphy took the win. Well cover me in feathers and send me out into the lake because I was a silly goose for judging Murphy so fast. I still think he gets his coffee with oat milk. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Lightweights Yip Man Iii Defeats Repus Revorg via Unanimous Decision Fight 8! It was between Yip Man Iii and Repus Revorg. I don’t know who Revorg’s manager is, but can someone who does reach out and gently suggest Revorg see someone like a therapist. He seems to be projecting rage in the form of arson. Slightly concerning. Just slightly. This was another match that went all three rounds to a decision. Another fun, fast passed match with lots of good fighting for sure. Ultimately, Iii took the win. Nice job bro! He was very humble after the fight too, what a standup guy. Edit by Donkey: Revorg is Hare’s dude and pretty funny that Risa didn’t realize that and just blasted on our guy! Ouch. *********************** Co-Main Event: Light Heavyweight Championship Bout John Doe Defeats Eemeli Lampi via Unanimous Decision Fight 9! This one’s a CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH between John Doe and Eemeli Lampi. 5 rounds for the LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLDDDDDDD! Woo! Exciting! Man was this an exciting match! The best up until this point, which is to be expected from a championship match. Both fighters left their all out there, with Doe wanting to retain and prove why he’s the champ and Lampi wanting to take home a shiny new title. Ultimately it went to the scorecards, and DOE RETAINS! Not surprising considering he dominated every round. Lampi put up a good fight but was no match for the reigning champ. *********************** Main Event: Middleweight Championship Bout Landon McGuire Defeats Wilfred Ainsworth via Unanimous Decision LAST FIGHT OF THE NIGHT! Whew, I need a Capri-Sun (also no sponsored please sponsor me Capri-Sun) after all of this writing. This match is between Landon McGuire and Wilfred Ainsworth McGuire walked out to a Godsmack song. Nice choice! 10/10 on the song choice. Now I was made aware of an exchange between Hare and Runt about this match. Donkey supposedly jinxed Ainsworth by actually picking him as the winner, since apparently the only other time Donkey picked Ainsworth to win a match, he lost. Geez Donkey. Why’d you have to do him like that bro? Rude. This title watch wasn’t quite as great as the last match, but it was still an engaging and exciting match and both fighters put up a good showing. After 5 long rounds of action, MCGUIRE RETAINS! Poor Ainsworth, Donkey really is an ass for jinxing you, huh? No title changes tonight my friends. Next headline fight: Runt vs Donkey: Revenge for Ainsworth. *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! I’ll probably go back through tomorrow and edit this up a little bit more, perhaps adding in at least Donkey’s Takeaways to give a feel for where these fights left our guys in the grand scheme of things. In the meantime, hope you enjoyed and let’s have some great fights over at the Bondi tonight for SPPS 53! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted April 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 53 Welcome back Sucker Punch faithful! We’re getting ready for SPPS 53 this evening and a ton of action that will dictate who moves up, who moves down and who can make name for themselves within the divisions! No titles on the line this evening, but that doesn’t mean this won’t be a blast over at the Bondi Outdoor Arena in Sydney! As always, I’m Hare Rumpler and will be alongside my pal and analyst, Donkey “Dan” as we get ready for some outstanding action in the cage this evening! Much of the action tonight will revolve around the lower end of the weight class spectrum with three Featherweight bouts on tap, a pair of Welterweight contests and then some middle of the road stuff with a Lightweight battle between Maximus Furioto and Bobolo Jubbly to start off the Main Card, then a Middleweight showdown between Sean Smith and Longsun Zhao and a Light Heavyweight bout between Andrei Averyanov and Abraham Barnes! Those will take place midway through the Main Card and Undercard respectively. Your featured bouts this evening will be the Featherweight showdown between Petsuwan Sitsongrit and Mickey Dismantle in the Co-Main Event and the Main Event Welterweight fight between Carter Ortiz and Rick Segura! So, with all that said, let’s get a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner and move onto the good stuff! 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: Sparring Battle Gaizka Elizondo (0-0-0) vs. Sun Lutang (0-0-0) Things will get rolling this evening with a little three minute, one round sparring contest between two of Laz Staz’ young kids who are hoping to make a big impression and end up a permanent part of the Staz Stable! Not much really to say here as neither kid has any official cage experience so far. Elizondo appears to have a bit more training under his belt as he’ll have the wrestling advantage tonight but other than that your guess is as good as ours what happens here. It doesn’t really matter though as this spin around the cage is really just about seeing what these kids have under the covers and how one takes and handles a loss. Donkey, thoughts…? Donkey’s Pick: Nope I don’t make picks for sparring bouts but this is like Hare said. A chance to see if maybe one kid has a great chin, maybe the other has some serious KO power…or, maybe they simply enjoy gardening, moonwalking and bleeding out. Let’s hope not in the latter scenarios at least! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Featherweights Jihadi Joseph (2-1-0) vs. Akara Kongsangchai (2-7-0) As we get the real action going with our second fight on the card we’ve got two very, very evenly matched opponents. Joseph will have the edge in boxing and wrestling while Kongsangchai has the distinct advantage in Muay Thai. Kongsangchai has been on a serious losing streak of late though with four in a row coming into this fight. And seven of the last eight! Ouch. That’s more than ugly, that’s just brutal! Kongsangchai typically attempts to get into the clinch and work from there. The issue seems to be that perhaps his supporting skills just aren’t fine-tuned enough to support his clinch game. Even when he does get into the clinch he tends to come out a little behind many times in the exchanges in there. You would expect that given it’s his advantage this evening, he will try to put it there again…but has he made enough adjustments in training to be the more effective fighter if he can dictate the fight going there? Joseph makes his Sucker Punch debut this evening and undoubtedly he’ll want to reproduce the success he had against Hooper two fights back. In that fight he was able to use solid striking along with a bit of clinch to work his opponent over and get the TKO finish. He may want to forego the clinch tonight given he’ll be the lesser skilled in Muay Thai, but if he doesn’t and he still succeeds then there are bigger issues for Kongsangchai than we thought. Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Joseph via TKO (Strikes) I’m making this pick for simple reasons Hare. Kongsangchai just hasn’t been able to pull it together of late and until he does I have to pick the other guy. That’s about the only rationale here. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Welterweights Cashel Ortiz (5-2-0) vs. RJ Cain (11-8-0) I’d love to think that this third match of the evening, a Welterweight contest between RJ Cain and Cashel Ortiz, will be as or more competitive than all the others tonight but unfortunately that just may not be the case. Why? Because Cashel Ortiz is coming into this thing tonight about 25% off on morale. Does that mean he’s going to lose? Not necessarily, but it certainly doesn’t help and Donkey will likely pick against him for it. Cain will have the slightest of edges in both Muay Thai and wrestling tonight. He dropped his debut fight with Sucker Punch last month via Unanimous Decision to Mister Lee. He’s certainly no stranger to those sort of losses though as he had four in a row prior to joining us over at BBFC, all lost in the same fashion to the judges. If anybody’s had time to figure out what it takes to win or lose a fight on the cards, it’s this man! He’d be well served to get back to his old ways from early on where he tended to win via KO and never let it get to the judges in the first place. Against a fighter who is low on morale tonight would be the perfect time to do that! Ortiz won his SPPS debut last month over Alex Steel Li via…Decision. Something that Cain likely does not want to see but certainly gives Ortiz something to smile about coming into this fight against an opponent who has struggled with those types of losses. The morale issue could very well play in. However, there are a lot of unknowns for Ortiz given he changed management just prior to joining Sucker Punch and it’s hard to say what changes new manager Alex Conors will make in the first few fights here. Well Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Cain via TKO (Strikes) I actually do somewhat like Ortiz’s chances in this one tonight. But I just can’t pick a guy who comes in unprepared. This fight could still go either way though. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Light Heavyweights Andrei Averyanov (2-0-0) vs. Abraham Barnes (4-4-0) One thing I can guarantee tonight with this fight Donkey is that strikes will be thrown! But it’s just a matter of determining whether they’re going to be thrown standing or on the ground. Barnes will likely attempt to utilize his exceptional wrestling and brown belt to get the fight on the ground where he can pour on the pain with some brutal ground and pound. That’s what he did against Julian Rourke in his Sucker Punch debut in late February and it’s what he’s done previously as well. He needed that win last go in order to avoid a three fight losing streak. Now that he’s moved past that it’s time to focus on building a winning streak instead! Averyanov also made his SPPS debut last month and realistically that was his first real MMA fight. His prior fight was a test fight most likely intended to be a loss. He defeated Shigemasa last go round with solid, accurate and likely heavy landing strikes combined with a bit of kickboxing. But the head shots were really what got the business done. Expect the same tonight while he attempts to keep Barnes from pulling this thing to the ground. What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Averyanov via TKO (Strikes) Barnes will want this on the ground as you said Hare. And if he gets it there he could very well turn my pick upside down here. But he’s going to have to be careful not to get caught and tagged on his way in to get that takedown. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Heavyweights Haden v. Cooper II ZaDarius Haden (8-3-0) vs. Sam Cooper (5-3-0) We finish up the Undercard with this big, and I do mean BIG in a physical sense, showdown between Heavyweights Cooper and Haden. Unfortunately it may not end up as competitive as it could have been because Cooper is coming into this fight with only about half morale. Extremely disappointing to be completely honest. That said, Cooper is under new management and there is a good chance that management is simply doing what they can in a short time to try to get this guy right. If that’s the case we can expect strides forward over his first 2-3 fights. This first fight is a rematch with Haden to see if new management can lead him to a better result. The last time these two met, their standup was somewhat comparable with Cooper able to land about a third of his strikes. He held his own on the ground, but wasn’t able to muster anything offensively so the little bit he did give up there made the difference on the cards. If anybody is a truly different man from the last time these two met it may be Haden. Since the fight with Cooper he’s gone on to take The Beast we all know and love as Thoth Chontamenti to a decision…which Haden lost…but a decision nonetheless. That’s significant against a fighter like Contamenti! Haden now has a black belt, so we’ll see how much that comes into play tonight as he did attempt several takedowns the last time these two met and worked the ground and pound once there as we mentioned earlier. What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Haden via TKO (Strikes) I’d have been tempted to say that under new management I’d give this to Cooper given he can bring the unexpected to the cage this evening with a new manager. But with the morale being off about half it’s just impossible for me to pick him. Haden should be able to dictate the fight due to that lack of morale. *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Lightweights Maximus Furioto (11-5-0) vs. Bobolo Jubbly (7-5-0) As we get into the Main Card here we have what is undoubtedly going to end up a master chess match on the ground between submission artists Jubly and Furioto! The only difference between these two, when you look at it on paper, is that Furioto has built up SOME standup skills at this point. Will he use them? It’s possible, but doubtful. Instead, this fight will end up on the ground with these two vying for submission opportunities! The last time these two met Jubbly was able to walk away with a submission victory that earned him ‘Submission of the Night’ honors. Since then, it appears that Furioto may be the one who’s been developing faster (or still) as he now has sensatational wrestling, which is only a smidge better than Jubbly’s, and the same brown belt. At the same time, he has woeful boxing and feeble Muay Thai, which don’t sound impressive, but they’re certainly better than nothing! Now that I think about it a little bit, you know, I probably would put them to use tonight and see what they bring! Hell, if a finish via sub doesn’t happen tonight, those skills may be the difference with the judges for a few points! Any standup, or all ground tonight Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Furioto via Submission (Armbar) I think there’ll be SOME ground, but just enough as you said to get a few shots in and earn points for the round. After that, this thing probably ends up on the ground but I have a feeling Furioto may be up to the task this time around. *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Middleweights Sean Smith (6-1-0) vs. Longsun Zhao (6-6-0) Alright Donkey, here we go! Finally a pair ready to get in there and get it on, fully gassed up and focused on the fight at hand! Zhao is the more advanced Muay Thai artist here in this pairing. Smith will hold an edge in boxing and Jiu Jitsu with both being about even in wrestling. Zhao had gotten back onto a bit of a roll with wins over Bill Sherman and Volkov, but then he hit a roadblock last month against young Brennan Brunswick, getting stopped via TKO in the second round. What’s concerning about that fight and what it says about tonight’s bout for Zhao is that Brunswick was able to not only take the fight into the clinch himself, but dominate there. Zhao had a strange fight last go around where he simply offered nothing. NO strikes, no defense, no clinch, nothing. It’s almost like somebody swapped him out with a zombie and stuck him in the cage. I have to think that doesn’t repeat tonight. Prior to last month’s fight Smith was a perfect 6-0. Then he met up with Landon McGuire for a title shot and came up just short with McGuire finding a way to earn victory via submission! That’s a less than thrilling way to get your first loss…by also losing out on a shot at the belt. But, you have to be that good in the first place to be in that position! Smith has almost always won via TKO or KO and he’ll do it via boxing or in the clinch. Doesn’t matter to him. Just show him who to punch or kick…or elbow or knee. Whatever! If Zhao doesn’t come focused tonight and just stands there like last time, Smith is going to make it a painful night to remember. Donkey’s Pick: Smith via TKO (Strikes) I don’t know what happened in that last fight for Zhao but we better hope they’ve figured it out and fixed it. If not, this one could be over fast. I’m going with the other guy, Smith, until Zhao shows he hasn’t been a victim of bodysnatching. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Featherweights Godefroy Courtial (10-1-1) vs. Luke Skywalker (6-5-1) Midway through the Main Card here and we’ve got a Featherweight battle that may fool many who just glance at the records! Skywalker may look to be significantly far behind in the W/L column numbers but he holds the advantage in boxing, wrestling and Jiu Jitsu heading into this bout. Courtial however will have the Muay Thai advantage as well as a proven history of finding a way to win! It should be a great battle with both parties completely ready to rock and roll! Part of the reason why Skywalker comes into this contest with a record just a tad over .500 is due to having fought two tough ones back to back. First, he had a title shot against Michael Aalto that he managed to go the distance in but fell short on the judge’s cards. Then, he did the same against an extremely tough, dangerous, hard hitting Kurt Cobain. True to form with pushing the fights to the limit of late, Skywalker managed to once again go the distance in his last fight against Nagashima, this time walking away with the ‘W’ and getting back to his winning ways! Using mostly boxing in that fight, he managed to land over half to get the job done. Courtial comes to us from PANDA and will throw a curve into the mix as this is his first fight with Sucker Punch. Kid Sunshine has lead him to two straight wins, both via KO’s with hands and feet respectively, and has him primed to come in with a bang here tonight! Expect hard hitting action from both of these fighters as they face off this evening in what could be an ‘of the Night’ bout in the making! Donkey, how do you see this one going…? Donkey’s Pick: Courtial via TKO (Strikes) Honestly, I’m taking a shot in the dark here, practically flipping a coin! This will be a fantastic fight, but I don’t think it’s going to a decision as so many have lately for Skywalker. One of these guys is turning the lights out for the other this evening! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Featherweight Bout Petsuwan Sitsongrit (5-1-0) vs. Mickey Dismantle (7-3-1) Our Co-Main Event will likely determine the next person in line for a title shot in the Featherweight division, should they want that shot. There may be potentially one more fight in between if needed to allow for proper spacing and such, but more or less these two are at the top of the hill and knocking on the door! And this is a ridiculously even match with almost exact skills in primaries across the board. Dismantle went after the title two months back but fell short when Michael Aalto, then and still champ, was able to sink in an armbar submission just before the end of the first round. Up to that point the fight had been a back and forth, shot for shot contest! Dismantle came back last month and took his frustrations out on Broklyn Red with a first round KO before the two minute mark. No doubt he’ll be looking for a similar result this evening but it will be interesting to see if he changes up the approach any knowing that Sitsongrits are notorious for playing the long, take it to the judges, decision style fight. Sitsongrit comes into this fight with four wins in a row, the first of which was against the same Broklyn Red who Dismantle just vanquished last month. That was a TKO victory but since then, true to the “Sitsongrit” name, the most recent three fights have all been won via Unanimous Decision. The first of those Decisions against Dismantle’s own stablemate, Kurt Cobain. Cobain and Dismantle have similar styles so will Sitsongrit go for the same approach or change it up some for this follow-up contest? Donkey…you have to be psyched about this one eh…? Donkey’s Pick: Dismantle via TKO (Strikes) Truly a war to see if one can pick apart and point the other to death or if the big shot comes and gets the job done! Yes, they may switch things up, but I’m thinking the odds are they don’t. And I think that you can only avoid those big shots for so long, eventually one finds a way through! *********************** Main Event: Featured Welterweight Bout Carter Ortiz (10-1-0) vs. Rick Segura (2-1-0) Our Main Event will feature two talented Welterweights all set to go at it. Well, sorta. This is our second Ortiz to hit the cage on the night, both managed by Alex Conors, but while the first names may have changed what hasn’t changed is the preparation. Once again, another Ortiz steps into the cage this evening with less than full prep as Carter Ortiz is off on his morale by about 25% and his energy isn’t quite topped off either, coming in at about 90%. That’ll potentially play into the results of this Main Event and certainly affect Donkey’s pick. Segura joined us two fights back here at Sucker Punch and since has put together a pair of wins coming into this battle tonight. Both wins via TKO, he’s proven that he can wait you out and wear you down as he did against Sebastian Ramirez when he got the finish in the third round or, if given the opportunity, end it in the first early as Baldimir Zsofka found out last month. One thing is consistent with these wins though…they’re obtained via the dirty and nasty with a brutal ground and pound game after finding a way to put the fight on the mat! Ortiz is a ground specialist as well but makes a living off submissions. That’s going to make him very dangerous for his opponent this evening as Segura will likely want to work the GnP as usual, but Ortiz will working the chess game trying to grab and twist anything he can get ahold off! He especially likes arms, having finished most of his fights via armbars, kimuras, arm triangles, americanas, you name it, but has also pulled off the full gambit of moves with guillotines, rear nakeds, triangles, etc. Donkey…who gets it in this big time showdown…? Donkey’s Pick: Segura via TKO (Strikes) I’m going to pick Segura here solely because I refuse to pick an unprepared fighter. That said, this is a very dangerous fight for Segura and if Ortiz isn’t badly affected by the morale and energy issues this could get ugly if an arm or head is left in the wrong position. Even if Segura gains top position, enabling the ground and pound, it’s still a dangerous place to be with a submission specialist on their back! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! A lot of fun in store for everybody this evening over at the Bondi Outdoor Arena in Sydney! We hope you’ll be there for the great weather, the great fights and the great fun! If not, catch us live on the livestream and we’ll be back in the next day or so to take a look at the results and what this does for the divisions! 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...
762x39 Posted April 9, 2021 Report Share Posted April 9, 2021 48 minutes ago, HareRumpler said: RESERVED Saving this spot for the SPPS 52 Review that my daughter Risa Roo is apparently working on...or so she says. Haha! Glad to hear she is writing it, I am starting to question your judgement going against Landon McGuire with your pick. Just kidding everyone I was worried about the last one myself and the next one could go pretty bad and it wouldnt surprise me at all. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted April 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2021 4 minutes ago, 762x39 said: Glad to hear she is writing it, I am starting to question your judgement going against Landon McGuire with your pick. Just kidding everyone I was worried about the last one myself and the next one could go pretty bad and it wouldnt surprise me at all. Hahaha, I'm getting it from both sides on this one! I've had somebody else (I'll let them give it to me or, more aptly, Donkey) themselves that basically wants to hunt down Donkey and kill that ass for jinxing and picking them! lol!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runt Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 Donkey. I'm comin for you ya bloated mule. 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForwardPressure Posted April 11, 2021 Report Share Posted April 11, 2021 On 4/8/2021 at 2:27 PM, HareRumpler said: I have a feeling that if you keep calling Duarte out, Veidt may very well need that Iron Crotch! This is Sucker Punch after all! ? During one of Veidt's regional fights as an amateur, Victor took a swift kick to the nether region and the fight had to be stopped. Not for Veidt, but rather his opponent whose foot came apart from his ankle. It was disgusting. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted April 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2021 POST EVENT CHEAP SHOTS Sucker Punch Pro Series 53 Hello out there Sucker Punch land! I’m Hare Rumpler along with my pal and analyst, Donkey “Dan”, and we’ve been busy this week looking over things even more closely than normal and preparing to do a long overdue rankings update this coming weekend! But for now we have the business of taking a look back at all the action from SPPS 53 and where it left our boys relative to their divisions and the impact that those fights may have had on some of these kids’ futures! There’s no reason to drag this out. There weren’t any title fights on the card but that doesn’t mean these fights were hella important to those in them! They were, trust me, and that resulted in a big mix of action with four decisions, three TKO’s, a KO and two submissions! The ‘KO of the Night’ and ‘Submission of the Night’ awards were slightly easier than normal to pick out but there were plenty of great fights to choose from for the ‘Fight of the Night’ which ultimately went to Sitsongrit/Dismantle! Now let’s get a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner and move onto the good stuff! 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! Let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Sparring Battle Gaizka Elizondo Defeats Sun Lutang via Submission (Armbar) For what was supposed to be a simple sparring bout that only lasted three minutes I have to say that this fight ended up a lot more fun and exciting than we’d normally expect! Typically a manager may send his boys out there and tell them to hit the mat, roll around an bit, lay there and just get through it without injury. Or come out with pillow-hands, countering and maybe throwing a combined ten strikes or less over three minutes. But not in this one! Laz Staz took advantage of the opportunity to see these two unknowns really go at it and show something with the ground skills! It went to the mat, but there was no laying and praying or controlling and stalling, nope, these two were working the submissions right away and eventually that led to a victory for Elizondo! “Elizondo has isolated one of Lutang's arms. Lutang looking to fight him off but Elizondo twists into an armbar. It's tight... Will he tap?? YES, he's tapped! This one is all over!” Donkey’s Takeaways: Elizondo may have won this fight, but did he really? His Tale of the Tape showed intelligent and while not the worst thing in the world that clearly wasn’t and isn’t what Laz Staz is looking for in his young prospects. Despite winning Elizondo finds himself unemployed without a team and management. Maybe he’ll be picked up by somebody else. Or maybe he’ll end up Door Dashing! Who knows! The “loser” in this one, Lutang, was actually the big winner! He showed a granite chin and that’s something that manager Staz was definitely thrilled to see. In addition, the loss barely moved the needle on his morale! That’s fantastic on top of what you’d have to assume is fast learner if he made it this far through the Staz testing process! Keeper boys! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Featherweights Jihadi Joseph Defeats Akara Kongsangchai via TKO (Strikes) Both men took this fight into the clinch at one point or another in the contest. On paper, that appeared to be the one area that Kongsangchai might have the advantage but it turns out that he was out-struck and definitely out-worked once these two got up close and personal! He ate over seventy shots from Joseph while the two were clinched up, was rocked in the second round and then found himself in serious trouble and giving up the win in the early seconds of the third round before Kongsangchai could even move in for a clinch. A clinch that probably wouldn’t have helped given the first two rounds results. “Kongsangchai closes the distance but Joseph moves to the side and Joseph scores with a counter punch that sends Kongsangchai to the canvas! Joseph smells blood - he's punishing Kongsangchai with more strikes and the ref has stopped it! Kongsangchai has no idea where he is - he's tackled the ref... oh dear, poor guy, the crowd is in hysterics! Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:05 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Jihadi Joseph!” Donkey’s Takeaways: In the preview I mentioned that, “I’m making this pick for simple reasons Hare. Kongsangchai just hasn’t been able to pull it together of late and until he does I have to pick the other guy.” The inability to figure things out and turn the corner continues to haunt Kongsangchai as he now moves to FIVE losses in a row and an overall record of 2-8. It’s time to call it like it is folks and admit that this kid just doesn’t seem to have what it takes. He’ll have one more fight on his contract next month and barring some sort of magical intervention where he suddenly shows up and puts a hurting on Mickey Dismantle we might be looking at the end of this kid’s career. Despite the desire, determination and devotion the intangibles just aren’t there. Joseph makes his Sucker Punch debut a successful one by extending Kongsangchai’s torturous losing streak for him. A TKO here gets Joseph back to the winning ways after the loss he suffered in a majority decision to Lindsay Apollo back in January when he was with the King of Fighters promotion. He’s now fighting at closer to his natural weight rather than 10 pounds over and not having to cut down may benefit him greatly. This was certainly a solid way to get that effort going. Next month he’ll get his chance to step forward once again against Luke Skywalker, a fight that on paper looks extremely well matched. Will it turn out that way? *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Welterweights Cashel Ortiz Defeats RJ Cain via Majority Decision Our third fight of the night went to the judges and was close enough that a Majority Decision was called in favor of Cashel Ortiz. Honestly, this fight could have easily gone either way though. Ortiz put this fight into the clinch repeatedly but the action was even there and without being able to pull off a takedown Ortiz was never able to use it for much of an advantage. Outside the clinch the aggression was definitely brought by Cain but the higher percentage shots were landing for Ortiz. Ultimately this fight was mostly decided by Ortiz’s ability to mix in leg kicks here and there and his ability to take the fight into the clinch as needed, giving him the bonus with the judges. One could argue it either way as I said though. Donkey’s Takeaways: Cain suffers his sixth loss in a row, all via decision and two since joining Sucker Punch, as he seems unable to get the monkey off his back! Despite having a bit of a leg up in this one due to Ortiz not being fully prepared coming in. This all comes after he had won ten out of twelve fights in HFC/BFC earlier in his career that led to him getting a title shot in BFC against Conor Butcher. That title fight loss is the ‘L’ that started it all so to speak and perhaps the memory of that loss is holding him back from being able to move forward? Next month he’ll likely face Marchionni or Steel and you know he’ll be hoping, praying, sacrificing chickens, whatever it takes in an effort to ensure that one comes out a ‘W’! Ortiz may not have been fully prepared coming into this fight but somehow the preparation he had was JUST ENOUGH to get the job done at SPPS 53. He now has two straight wins under current manager Alex Conors and four in a row including the two he had prior to joining Sucker Punch and changing management. Next month he’ll likely see Marchionni if Marchionni wins his fight on the 17th which would pit Cain against Steel. If he proves his mettle in that fight he can expect an opportunity to step into contendership shortly after as he’s be 7-2 with five wins in a row. But first things first, he has to focus on winning next month! *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Light Heavyweights Andrei Averyanov Defeats Abraham Barnes via TKO (Strikes) The bell rang out, this fight got going and Barnes walked into a cross after a jab fake from Averyanov. Then, he went for the takedown that would essentially make or break this fight for him as he needed this fight on the ground to gain the advantage. With a failed attempt to put the fight on the mat it left Averyanov in the driver’s seat and sure enough it took less than two minutes for his boxing to shine through and give him the win! “Averyanov cracks Barnes with a big right hand that sees him stumbling back against the cage! Barnes falls to his knees and Averyanov doesn't need a second invitatation - he rushes in and fires off several unanswered shots that force the referee to stop the fight! This one is all over!” Donkey’s Takeaways: In the preview Hare had mentioned that this was going to be all about the striking, whether standing or on the ground was the only question remaining. Barnes’ failure to get this to the ground meant that Averyanov had his opportunity with the advantage boxing and he made good on it! This win gives him two in a row at Sucker Punch and three overall if you count a test fight from about a year ago. He’s well on his way up the ladder in the LHW division here at SPPS and will likely have a date in the cage with Lindgren, Dorn or Rajantaka next month. Barnes is fairly young but the loss still sets him back a bit as he now has three in his past four fights and is 1-1 here at SPPS. He’ll look to turn it all around next month and will likely be paired with a similar group as Averyanov, most likely either Shigemasa, Lindgren or Dorn depending upon circumstances and best fits after each of their next fights are in the books. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Heavyweights Haden v. Cooper II ZaDarius Haden Defeats Sam Cooper via Unanimous Decision Haden did just enough in this fight that went the distance and closed out the Undercard for us. Both men made attempts to put this fight on the ground throughout the three rounds with Haden seeming to have a clear game plan once there…ground and pound baby! Cooper on the other hand seemed a bit lost on the ground and unsure what to do with himself lacking quality opportunities for submission attempts. Cooper brought a well-rounded and varied attack to the cage but seemed to struggle to get past Haden’s defenses. The strikes Haden was able to land, not the least of which included nineteen on the ground, were enough to give him a solid lead on the judges’ scorecards in all three rounds. Donkey’s Takeaways: We’d heard through the grapevine (meaning some of Suzy’s sources) that Haden and his camp were a little bit dismayed to find themselves on the Undercard of this fight. Certainly that’s not what we’ve seen in the past but this win will certainly help to ensure that it’s unlikely to happen again soon! Now, who his next fight will be against may help to dictate whether he’s back up in the Main card or not and right now we’re searching on the outside for that next fight as most within the division are committed for the next few weeks. We have two potential options on the line and both should be a challenge for Haden, but his star power may have to carry him back up the card with both options. The good news? If he wins it’s very likely he’ll be back on the verge of Top Contendership and looking forward to challenging the champ at that point yet again! Cooper was let go by his management team after his loss to Hero Shima two fights back and finds himself back in the exact same situation again after this fight. Kishion Matthew gave Cooper a look but didn’t like what he saw with the lack of morale after the loss. That is a concern, as it means you have to instruct the kid to almost always go out with accuracy and aggression to ensure he doesn’t fall behind early in a fight and get discouraged. Will he be picked up by a fourth management team or is this the sunset of his career? *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Lightweights Furioto v. Jubbly II Maximus Furioto Defeats Bobolo Jubbly via Submission (Kimura) Donkey called this one right on the head when he said that he expected most of this fight to be on the ground and that he had a feeling Furioto would find a way to come out on top in this rematch, possibly setting up a future rubber match! Indeed, the action went to the ground immediately in both rounds with Jubbly taking it there right from the bell in the first and then Furioto doing the same in the second. The submission attempt action was hot and heavy throughout with these two sparring and trading attempts, each working to get the advantage and sink one in that would put the other away. After a combined thirty failed sub attempts it was lucky number THIRTY-ONE that got the job done for Furioto though… “Furioto maintaining the dominant position here and is working for a kimura. He's locked it up! Jubbly could be in real trouble here! He's trying to wriggle out but Furioto has cracked it and Jubbly is screaming in pain - he's tapped out! Great finish by Furioto!” Donkey’s Takeaways: Furioto is on another streak having beaten three in a row since his title shot against Frankie Logan back in December. Two of those fights have resulted in ‘Submission of the Night’ honors against Pure Striker and this one against Jubbly. He’s hot right now, but will likely have to face a top tier talent in the division to show he’s ready for a title shot again in the future. Conor Aldo is the type of striker who’s one click or so away from becoming exactly that and will potentially push Furioto to bring his best if we do that matchup next month! Jubbly has a history of bunching up both wins and losses at times, never going more than two or three of one before falling back on the other. He’s now had two losses in a row via totally different means as he was felled by Oosthuizen via TKO and then lost this fight via submission. But I can’t understate how streaking Jubbly is and he can turn things around just as fast next month as he turned off. We’ll see what happens when he faces Tua Graves in Graves’ last fight with SPPS next month! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Middleweights Sean Smith (6-1-0) vs. Longsun Zhao (6-6-0) Donkey, I’m not entirely sure what happened in this fight but it almost seems like Sean Smith and his team just weren’t on the same page and his execution of the plan during this fight was more of a “flailing and failing” than results driven! He made thirty-six clinch attempts over the course of just more than two rounds of action and succeeding in getting the clinch going a dozen times. But, once in the clinch he seemed to have almost no focus on a goal and many times broke the clinch again almost immediately. A good way to waste a serious amount of energy, but more than that, just a good way to get yourself countered potentially going in for the clinch. After dealing with the yo-yo like circus that was the clinch action for that entire period of time, during which Zhao was able to land an occasional shot to the ole melon of Smith here and there, Zhao finally had enough when it started again in the third round. This time, after Smith broke the first clinch he was ready with ‘Operation Skull-Kick’! and unleashed a big one that rocked Smith and set up the eventual finish…a finish that earned him ‘KO of the Night’ honors! “Smith tries to close the distance and clinch up but Zhao swats him away and circles back towards the center before landing a big head kick that sends Smith tumbling to the mat! Zhao takes a step backwards and waves Smith back to his feet - he wants the finish! Smith is rocked! Smith ducks into an uppercut from Zhao and that's knocked him out cold! This one is all over!” Donkey’s Takeaways: In the preview I said that, “I don’t know what happened in that last fight for Zhao but we better hope they’ve figured it out and fixed it.” Well, he sure showed me how you fix it, eh? Instead, Smith seemed like the one who was invaded by the body snatchers this time around, really strange! Zhao manages to shake off that weird loss to Brennan Brunswick last month and has now won three of his last four. That’s solid and he’s now on the precipice of being able to lay claim to a Top 5-8 spot in the division and boast the potential to be a contender again. He’ll get a big test in a fight with a young up and coming Joseph DeAngelo next month that should tell us just where he stands in that quest! Smith stumbles in a fight that he and his team had to think was a winnable one for them. Now with two losses in a row after falling short in his title bid last month he’s looking to find his confidence and reestablish his winning attitude, both in his own head and in the cage! Jouko Juntti Jr is a young up and coming fighter with an unbeaten record so far that seems to have “it” and will be a test to see if Smith can focus and get passed a confident, skilled fighter next month! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Featherweights Luke Skywalker Defeats Godefroy Courtial via Unanimous Decision Donkey had said that there was no way this fight went to a decision and that one of these fellas was having the lights turned off in this encounter…well, apparently not so much! But not for lack of trying. Outside the clinch they traded strikes with Courtial using a more varied kickboxing approach to Skywalker’s straight up boxing. But these two spent a ton of time during this fight in the clinch with both fighters taking it there. Once in the clinch Skywalker not only worked to trade strikes with Courtial on just about a 1:1 ratio but also was working to get the fight to the ground so he could work the GnP. He succeeded several times and definitely left a mark down there, but nobody was walking away with a finish in this one as both guys proved their toughness! Donkey’s Takeaways: Well, to be fair, while I didn’t get this pick right I did say it was a coin flip, so there’s that. Skywalker gets the better of the exchanges in the later rounds of the fight while the majority of the judges gave the first round to Courtial. That was enough to give Skywalker the win though and he’ll gladly take the ‘W’ and run with it! With two wins in a row since his two fight losing streak Skywalker has only lost two of his last ten fights, with a draw thrown in there against Dino Ebedi almost half a year back. The first of his two losses four fights back was in a title fight against Michael Aalto. He’s making good time on getting himself right back into the conversation as a Top Contender here and if he can come away with a win next month against Jihadi Joseph, a tough new up and comer in the division, I would say he’d have a pretty strong case! Courtial drops his debut here with us in Sucker Punch after having a two wins back to back with PANDA before joining us. He’ll get a chance to use his superior striking against a ground specialist next month against Jake Drake in a fight where the goal will be to keep the fight standing and exploit his opponent’s weaker standup and striking! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Featherweight Bout Petsuwan Sitsongrit Defeats Mickey Dismantle via Unanimous Decision This Co-Main Event turned into an all-out slugfest with just a little bit of clinch thrown in for seasoning! Both fighters were uber aggressive in this one with Sitsongrit using a more varied attack including his kickboxing abilities while Dismantle was more traditional with a whole lot of shots thrown at the head and a few to the body just to keep Sitsongrit guessing! In the end, Sitsongrit’s accuracy combined with strike defense allowed him to sneak off with the win via a Decision as guys from the Theksit camp have a tendency to do! It was a highly rated fight though as the fans clearly anticipated the possibility of a big finish at any given point in time and were on the edge of their seats waiting for it. For that, it gets the ‘Fight of the Night’ honors. Donkey’s Takeaways: Ok, the part I was correct about in the preview was, “Truly a war to see if one can pick apart and point the other to death or if the big shot comes and gets the job done! Yes, they may switch things up, but I’m thinking the odds are they don’t.” The part that I was admittedly wrong about? When I said, “And I think that you can only avoid those big shots for so long, eventually one finds a way through!” Sitsongrit manages to avoid the shot that takes him out in this one which was probably about the only way that Dismantle was going to walk away with the win. It was clear that one style would have to overcome the other and it would either be dramatic…or not. It wasn’t, but it gets the job done for Sitsongrit who now earns himself a shot at the title next month once we know the winner of Aalto/Baptiste! There is nothing more frustrating than being in a fight with somebody who is floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee. That’s pretty much what Dismantle had to deal with here and without being able to get that ‘lights out’ shot to land he was at the mercy of the points going the opposite way with the judges. Next month a fight with Kongsangchai should be one that fits both their styles and definitely brings the “BOOM” for one of them! *********************** Main Event: Featured Welterweight Bout Carter Ortiz (10-1-0) vs. Rick Segura (2-1-0) In the preview for this, our Main Event, Donkey laid it out pretty much exactly as you needed to hear it with the following: “I’m going to pick Segura here solely because I refuse to pick an unprepared fighter. That said, this is a very dangerous fight for Segura and if Ortiz isn’t badly affected by the morale and energy issues this could get ugly if an arm or head is left in the wrong position. Even if Segura gains top position, enabling the ground and pound, it’s still a dangerous place to be with a submission specialist on their back!” What’s the best way to deal with a submission specialist when your approach is also to be on the ground and working strikes? Well, apparently it’s to hit them as hard and as often as you can so they have better things to think about than locking in a submission! That’s what Segura did in this one to give Donkey the correct call with the win via TKO (Strikes)! He got the takedown halfway into the first minute of action and grabbed the dominant position, exactly where he wanted to be. By the minute and a half mark, he’d already connected on several nasty shots and was posturing up and landing with some great ground and pound that had Ortiz rocked! Ortiz was able to pull thing together enough after that to make several submission attempts but none were locking in. With a reversal he changed his fortunes some and it seemed he might nullify Segura’s top position advantage and turn off the strikes, but Segura was able to reverse right back and once again Ortiz was suffering his wrath! The second round opened to an immediate takedown by Segura again only this time it almost seemed as if the fight and will to go on had been drained from Ortiz! With hammerfists, elbows and strikes of all varieties punishing Ortiz, it was just a matter of time before this came just shy of two minutes into the second… “Segura scores with a big shot! Ortiz's head bounced off the canvas with a huge thud! More strikes land and the referee has jumped in to save Ortiz! He was hurt real bad - good stoppage!” Donkey’s Takeaways: Segura is proving himself a more than capable young fighter as he just took out another young fighter who had a 4k advantage on him in overall MMAT registration ID. That’s huge and speak volumes to the future for this kid within the division. As he continues to develop it’s clear that at some point he’ll move into a spot in his development where he starts to look to the big boys with the thought, “I can take them, it’s my time!” That time may not be now, but it’ll come undoubtedly. In the meantime he’ll likely face off with Lors Loria next month and have another shot to continue his evolution and development! Ortiz had been on a run since joining Sucker Punch with only a single loss in five fights. That loss was to a very talented Igor Vovchanchyn! However, he came into this fight a bit unprepared and may have paid the ultimate price for that lack of preparation. If he’d been fully ready for the fight would the result have been different? We’ll never know. But it certainly wouldn’t have hurt! He’ll get a chance to prove that with preparation he can beat the McGrady team as he’ll face off against Segura’s teammate, Justin Kulina, next month! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! We had a great time at the Bondi this past weekend folks and I hope you all got out for the great weather and amazing action in the cage here with us at Sucker Punch! Next up, SPPS 54 again at the Bondi Outdoor Arena in Sydney this coming weekend. Don’t miss it! 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...
HareRumpler Posted April 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 54 Welcome back Sucker Punch faithful! We’re getting ready for SPPS 54 this evening and with no title fights on the card this evening the focus will fully be on the guys who are trying to make big moves within their divisions and climb those ladders! As always, I’m Hare Rumpler and will be alongside my pal and analyst, Donkey “Dan” as we get ready for a great evening of fun and big time action over at the Bondi Outdoor Arena in Sydney! The big boys will dominate the action tonight as we have four Heavyweight fights on tap! Those will be accompanied by a pair of Welterweight bouts, a Middleweight contest and a both a Featherweight and Lightweight bit of action as well! We’ll start the evening off with a little one round, three minute sparring bout and then really get off and running after that! So, with all that said, let’s get a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner and move onto the good stuff! When you think about training your fighters, one of the biggest concerns is keeping them in the gym and actively training, am I right? And you can’t do that if they have to be stopping to recover and rest for sessions here and sessions there! That is why you need to visit our sponsor, Shadow Warrior Nutrition, and specifically 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: Sparring Battle Hristo Borgatov (0-0-0) vs. Bartolomeu Ganz (0-0-0) Just like the last card at SPPS53, we’ll get rolling this evening with a little three minute, one round sparring contest between two of Laz Staz’ young kids who are hoping to make a big impression and end up a permanent part of the Staz Stable! Not much really to say here as neither kid has any official cage experience so far. Both are brand new to the sport and come in with almost identical base skills. I will say that Ganz appears to be pretty intense though based upon his avatar! This spin around the cage is really just about seeing what these kids have under the covers and how one takes and handles a loss. Donkey, thoughts…? Donkey’s Pick: Nope I don’t make picks for sparring bouts but this is like Hare said. A chance to see if maybe one kid has a great chin, maybe the other has some serious KO power…or, maybe they simply enjoy gardening, moonwalking and bleeding out. Let’s hope not in the latter scenarios at least! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Heavyweights Brutus Ryker (2-5-0) vs. Victor Ballsawash (4-7-0) Skillwise these two are a very interesting matchup this evening Donkey! The only difference in their skills is that Ryker has the Muay Thai advantage while Ballsawash has the Jiu Jitsu edge. Outside that, they’re very evenly matched although I wouldn’t necessarily expect either of their areas of advantage to be a focus for them during this fight. Historically Ryker has preferred standup but hasn’t use the clinch a ton to work his game, at least not over his two MMA fights. He’s 1-1 in MMA while his other fights have all been KT. Ballsawash may have the advantage in Jiu Jitsu but he hasn’t shown an inclination to use the ground game since July of last year. Could he surprise and change it up tonight? Possibly. And that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad move given he’s lost his last four fights. Donkey’s Pick: Ryker via TKO (Strikes) I have to take Ryker here because Ballsawash has simply struggled to put things together over the last several months in a way that allows him to make use of his tools. If this fight stays standing then Ballsawash falls into Ryker’s strength while also putting himself in the same position that’s led to defeat in his prior four fights. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Heavyweights Anton Meshkov vs. Thor Nordquist (11-8-0) Our second Heavyweight bout of the evening will see Nordquist and Meshkov both seeking a win that is badly needed by both parties. Meshkov will immediately be at a disadvantage in this contest though as he comes in with only about 55-60% morale this evening. That’s a disappointment given he and his management team seemed to be making positive strides in that area up until Meshkov’s loss to Porter last month. Team Lundgren has Nordquist ready to go and as such have given him the best shot possible to get his second win in three fights, something he badly needs as he’s 1-4 over his last five outings. He’s a standup fighter who will try to utilize his boxing to his best advantage this evening. He’ll definitely get his opportunities to do so this evening as Meshkov prefers to stand and throw hands as well! Donkey’s Pick: Nordquist via TKO (Strikes) This pick was made easy for me due to Meshkov’s lack of preparation. That doesn’t mean the fight will necessarily go to Nordquist, but for me, it certainly pushes the odds in that favor and I expect Nordquist to come out on top in the exchanges this evening. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Featherweights Yellow Belt Casey (5-5-0) vs. Kaoru Nagashima (4-7-0) As we get four fights into our evening we have two Featherweights who are both geared up and ready to get to this thing! That’s what we like to see Donkey! This matchup is very, very even with Casey having the smallest of edges in both areas of standup while Nagashima will have the grappling advantage. Nagashima has struggled mightily and Team Lundgren will want nothing more this evening than to see him and his teammate, Nordquist who fights just before this, come away with wins. To do that Nagashima is going to have to find the spark that’s been missing over his last seven fights as he’s gone 1-6 in that time and comes into this one off a loss to Luke Skywalker. Nagashima is likely to want this fight on the ground this evening so he can work the submission game. That’s something Nagashima will have to go about very carefully as Casey is no stranger to the ground and submission game himself with a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. Casey has also shown that he’s more than happy to stand and bang and honestly that’s what I think he’ll lean on this evening as there’s no reason for him to give Nagashima any help unless this thing is forced to the ground. Donkey’s Pick: Casey via TKO (Strikes) Nagashima has been struggling and unless he can find that “spark” that Hare referred to he may again. If he’s going to find that spark, tonight is the night as Casey has had his own fair share of struggles. Casey comes in with two losses in a row and that means he may be fighting just a bit tight. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Lightweights Jamal Jameson (6-4-1) vs. Bradley Brunswick Jr (3-1-0) We’ll finish up the Undercard here with these two hungry Lightweights. Brunswick will come into this one with his morale just a tad off at 85% which is highly likely due to his manager being a bit busy with other matters lately. It likely won’t play in heavily but in a tightly contested fight could potentially slip in as a difference maker. This will be his Sucker Punch debut this evening and he arrives with a 3-1 record, with that solo loss coming in his last fight while with RFC over four months ago. Brunswick has had his whole persona changed under new management. That will make judging his approach this evening tough but if history repeats he tends to work his boxing and then mix in a bit of clinch where again he sticks mostly to the hands. Jameson won’t be looking to play around with either of those scenarios as his move is to get the fight to the ground and then rain down the abuse from above! He has the advantage wrestling and considering Brunswick has quite the edge in both areas of standup you can expect Jameson to want this fight on the ground so he can get to work with his go-to as quickly as possible! Donkey’s Pick: Brunswick via TKO (Strikes) I’m thinking that perhaps the young kid comes in ready to go and fired up for his SPPS debut this evening, enough to pull off a ‘W’! However, Jameson has never been one to roll over and just let another guy walk over him, so I wouldn’t be surprised for a moment if he comes in focused and ready to move this fight to the ground quickly. If he does, the advantage swings right to him! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Welterweights Pietro Marchionni (7-6-0) vs. Alex Steel Ii (6-6-0) We’ll get the Main Card going with two very closely matched records, two closely matched skillsets and a fight that should be one of the best contested of the evening! Both Steel and Marchionni are fully gassed up and focused coming into this one so there’s no reason to expect anything but a great fight! Steel will have the small edge in both boxing and Muay Thai while Marchionni has the wrestling advantage. Steel has struggled to find his way and put things together of late as he’s gone 1-3 over his last four fights and comes into this one with two losses in a row. He started his stint with Sucker Punch last month and that was a Decision loss to Cashel Ortiz. Steel tends to rely upon a varied kickboxing attack and will work in the clinch if need be. Marchionni doesn’t tend to shy away from trading strikes and will box but when in trouble tends to switch to the ground game where he’ll work a heavy ground and pound along with opportunistic submission attempts. I think it’s fair to say that Steel will want to keep this remaining on the feet this evening while there’s a strong chance Marchionni is taking this to the ground at some point! Donkey’s Pick: Marchionni via TKO (Strikes) My guess is that this is going to be a close fight up until it finally gets to the ground. At which point we’ll find out if Steel li has much defensive skill there or not. If not, this thing is going to end up Marchionni’s to lose. *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Middleweights Nyah Hirst (7-2-0) vs. Kiryu Kazuma (5-5-0) Donkey, this may very well be the closest matched pair of skillsets heading into the cage together that we’ll see all night tonight! Kazuma, yet another fighter from Team Lundgren as they seem to be sending half the squad here to Sydney this week may have a .500 record at 5-5 but is right there with Hirst in terms of overall skill in the main disciplines. Hirst is a former champ who unseated the once unstoppable Wanderson Machado but then fell short in his first title defense against Jim Beam. He was then defeated in a rematch with Machado and at that point lost his manager in Don Xyel but fell in with Robert Smith’s crowd shortly after. Speaking of multiple kids from the same crew, this is at least Smith’s second fight under his management this evening as well! Hirst will bring exemplary boxing skills to the cage tonight and it’s a smart call to say he’ll likely want to stand and use those skills all night. Kazuma has been known to work the clinch and a takedown here or there in his career. But it certainly hasn’t been his bread and butter move. With exceptional boxing and remarkable Muay Thai, as well as superb wrestling, there’s no reason to expect that he wouldn’t stand and try his chances against Hirst! Donkey’s Pick: Kazuma via Unanimous Decision I’m leaning towards the “upset” in this one mostly because I happen to know that Hirst’s manager, Robert Smith, has had his attention diverted a little lately. That said, a close fight like this could be made or broken by the little stuff. But I don’t expect this to be a gimme for either fighter this evening! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Heavyweights Syd Rummel (7-2-0) vs. Banana Republic (5-4-0) Our last fight before the Main Events and let me just say Donkey, I am thrilled with the preparation most of our fighters are bringing to the table tonight! Again, we have two fighters here who are ready to rock and roll and I appreciate that immensely! Republic is a big boy who brings some big standup skills to the cage. Under current management he’s started to have his fights go the distance with two decision victories at Checkmate before coming to Sucker Punch last month and dropping a fight with Conchobhar via the same. He’ll look to get his SPPS run going in the right direction tonight with a victory over newcomer Syd Rummel! Now, I say “newcomer” only because Syd Rummel, formerly known as Sith Rebel, is under new management and clearly has been “reborn”. I don’t know if there’s any sort of religious adjustments going on there as well but certainly under Doc Dannis we can expect to see a completely new persona and with it, perhaps a differnet approach to the cage? Sith…er, I mean, Syd had his last fight with SPPS back in January when he took on The Beast himself, Thoth Chontamenti, for the belt. He fell short in a TKO loss there, but he remains a force to be reckoned with as he’s got a 7-2 record overall. With big wins over the likes of ZaDarius Haden and Andrew Powell you can expect he’ll give Republic a good test and then some! There’s no reason to think that Republic would want this fight on the ground. But if he wants to stay standing he better bring his ‘A’ takedown defense because Rummel is known for working the fight to the mat and going for the GnP! Donkey’s Pick: Rummel via TKO (Strikes) I need to see Republic put on a defensive showcase and if he does my picks will definitely start to go in his direction going forward! But for now, I have to think that Rummel is going to work hard to get it to the ground and if he does he may be able to control this fight. *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Welterweight Bout Keisuke Matsuzaka (10-3-1) vs. Mister Lee (3-3-0) Our Co-Main Event again brings us two fighters who are fully prepped and ready to get at it! I love it Donkey, I love it man! Lee, managed by Runt, is 3-3 overall, 3-2 with Sucker Punch and 2-1 under current management! Wow. That’s a string of stats there! Yes, a lot of changes in his recent past and hopefully with his last win over RJ Cain he’s had a chance to start to settle in, get fully acclimated and just focus on the task at hand…training and being ready to give it his best in the cage! Lee is an aggressive boxer who will also send a litany of kicks to his opponent’s legs. He also likes to clinch up and his last fight showed that from there he’s willing to both strike as well as try to move the fight to the ground. We don’t know yet if he’s developed striking skills for the ground game or if maybe he’s looking for submissions, so perhaps that’s something we’ll discover tonight! Matsuzaka joined Sucker Punch last month and immediately made an impact with a first round KO over Psiris Fuhren! Boom! Now that’s the way you make an entrance! It was our fight of the night and definitely got the crowd pumped! He has an excellent 10-3-1 record overall and was a former champ at BFC. If he can pull off a second win here tonight against a tough opponent like Lee he’ll have set himself up to be considered a potential Top Contender here in the Welterweight division. Likely a fight to establish just that and potentially earn a title shot would be waiting…but he has to focus on this fight first! Donkey’s Pick: Matsuzaka via TKO (Strikes) This is probably the toughest fight I’ve had to call all night so far! And I have no doubt that this fight will be part of the conversation when we’re trying to decide upon awards after this night is over! I just don’t know which one, or who, might be part of that conversation yet. I’m going to pick Matsuzaka based upon his history and experience in these big fights. But Lee should absolutely NOT be counted out in this one! *********************** Main Event: Featured Heavyweight Bout Simon Slade (7-2-0) vs. Herleifr Conchobhar (8-4-0) Last but certainly not least we have a big time matchup between Heavyweights Conchobhar and Slade here in the Main Event! Unfortunately, this one could potentially end up being less competitive than I was hoping it would be as it appears Slade is coming into the fight with less than stellar morale at about 60-65%. Everybody knows what that typically means for Donkey’s picks so it should be no surprise when the time comes for that! Conchobhar came to Sucker Punch last month and took his very first fight with us to the limit, putting the call in the hands of the judges. He came out victorious over Banana Republic and got his first ‘W’ with us. That made him 5-1 under his current management and really sets him up as a fighter to watch in the Heavyweight division! With just a bit more skill development it’s entirely possible we may be looking at a future contender in the near future! His last four fights have gone the distance, including the loss to Jimmy King two fights ago, so this man knows how to hang in for the long haul in a fight. He’s an uber aggressive fighter who goes about his business at a breakneck pace. He’ll need to watch that this evening as gassing out is a real risk if this fight goes deep. Slade would like nothing more than to see Conchobhar gas out and to gain that advantage most likely. However, that also means he’d be trying to weather the storm of intense pressure from Conchobhar and given Slade’s morale issue coming in that could be a problem. Although Slade’s Muay Thai isn’t his strongest trait he used the clinch extensively in his last fight. That might be the best way for him to slow this one down as well if he thinks he can control the action there. Donkey’s Pick: Conchobhar via TKO (Strikes) This pick should surprise nobody given Slade’s morale issues. Combine that with Conchobhar’s aggressive nature and there’s a good chance Slade could be overwhelmed and we see an end to this before the first round is over. I certainly don’t expect it to go the distance this time around as many of Conchobhar’s recent fights have. *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! I’m ready for some great action over at the Bondi Outdoor Arena in Sydney tonight for SPPS 54 and I sure hope you are too! Get over there early, tailgate with the crowd and let’s get ready for a great evening of intense fights here at Sucker Punch! Till then, have fun and 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 April 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 55 Hey Sucker Punch crew! I’m Hare Rumpler and will be alongside my pal and analyst, Donkey “Dan” as we get ready for SPPS 55 over at the Bondi Outdoor Arena in Sydney this evening! I’m not going to delay getting into this as I’ve been very tight on time this past week due to work and, frankly, great weather which has demanded my attention outdoors! That said, tonight’s card is without a title on the line but certainly doesn’t lack for huge hype as some of the best in their divisions get at it! We’ll have five amazing fights on the Undercard and then light things up with two Light Heavyweight bouts on the Main Card, first Joe Junior takes on Mike Bard and then a huge matchup in the Co-Main event between Wille Thai and Titus Fury! That fight is sure to be a submission artists dream match. Also on the Main Card we’ll have Middleweights Jin Yi and Paulo Blickstein starting out the Main action and then right smack in the middle of it all will be young Brennan Brunswick going into the cage to face Colby Ortiz! Last but not least we’ll see more Middleweight action in the Main Event as Tanaka Matsuda and Lester Karnage go at it to see who will be next in line to go after the Middleweight Title after the McGuire/Machado fight on May 8th! Unfortunately as I said I’ve been tight on time this week and that meant no Review for SPPS 54. But we let our windbag selves go on and on quite a bit in the preview so I think we’re ok there. The same may be the case for this event as it seems most are more interested in the previews than the reviews anyways, at least given the feedback (or lack thereof) regarding a poll I sent to over two dozen managers a couple weeks back. So, with all that said, let’s get a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner and move onto the good stuff! When you think about training your fighters, one of the biggest concerns is keeping them in the gym and actively training, am I right? And you can’t do that if they have to be stopping to recover and rest for sessions here and sessions there! That is why you need to visit our sponsor, Shadow Warrior Nutrition, and specifically 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: Lightweights Miguel Lopez (0-0-0) v Montesh Dominguez (2-6-0) We’ll start the evening out with young Miguel Lopez stepping into the cage for the very first time in his career against relative veteran Lightweight Montesh Dominguez. Lopez is on with us here at Sucker Punch for a single fight contract as he came in to give Dominguez some action, fill a hole in our roster due to availability and give his manager a chance to see what he’s made of under the covers! While we don’t have much…well, nothing actually…to go on in terms of past fight tendencies, what we do know is that Lopez has strong to respectable standup skills but with that he’s got sensational wrestling and a blue belt in Jiu Jitsu. If I had to guess, I’m thinking he may be leaning on the ground game this evening but only time will tell! On the other side of the cage we’ll have Montesh Dominguez who looks to get back to his winning ways, relatively speaking, as he’s been bouncing between wins and losses over his past four fights with the most recent being a loss to Raleigh St. Clair. He scored ‘Fight of the Night’ honors in his prior two fights, one a loss to Oosthuizen and the other a win over Paetmar so there’s a good chance this will be a very entertaining fight to kick off the action for the evening! Dominguez doesn’t mind clinching up and working close but also has shown a tendency to want to get back to boxing, or more appropriately, kickboxing in the past. It’s unlikely he’ll want the fight on the ground so if it goes there it’s definitely due to Lopez’s doing I’d think. Donkey’s Pick: Dominguez via TKO (Strikes) Honestly, I’m just making this pick for lack of anything else to go by for Lopez and not knowing what hiddens he may have. He may have great ones and this thing may go his way or it may not turn out that way, with him being more focused on gardening, and Dominguez could prove my shot in the dark pick right here! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Lightweights Trevor Barnes (5-3-1) v Ryo Hazuki (0-3-0) Two more Lightweights get at it here with our second fight of the evening with one difference being that Barnes is coming in just a bit off on morale. Our last pairing was all set and ready to go so this is slightly disappointing to see. Barnes is a young 22 year old who is on a hot streak with three straight wins making his overall record with Sucker Punch 3-1. His only loss came to my own Repus Revorg when he first arrived at SPPS. How’s that for a nice “Hello to ya?”!? Two of his prior wins came via TKO while his very last fight against Brendan Wallace went the distance. He mixed things up between his kickboxing and the clinch in that fight and there’s no reason to think he won’t have a similar approach this evening. Ya stick to what works eh? Hazuki heads into the cage this evening as part of Team Lundgren and unlike the majority of his team who have had some level of success he is still seeking his first win since starting out his career at Sucker Punch. He’s 0-3 with losses to Man Iii, Wallace and Jameson. He comes in even younger than Barnes at 19 years old and will need every bit of the advantage Barnes has yielded to him in this one due to low morale to pull off a win and get that goose egg removed from his Win column! Ryo has solid standup skills with competent boxing and wonderful Muay Thai but to date seems content to get to the ground and go after submissions. Will he try to do that again this evening with a goal being to use his proficient wrestling and purple belt to snag his first submission finish? Donkey’s Pick: Barnes via TKO (Strikes) I have to go with Barnes at this point until Hazuki proves he can put together a game plan that allows him to utilize his skills to snag the win. It’s really as simple as that. This could easily go either way especially with two different styles potentially colliding in this one! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Welterweights Lors Loria (7-5-0) v Sebastian Ramirez (0-3-0) Ramirez comes arrives tonight an 0-3 record despite a substantially developed ground game. He’s also off just a tad bit on morale, somewhere between 10-15% down. That’s something that may or may not play into the fight. Ramirez has previously faced Chaz Campbell, Rick Segura and Carter Ortiz here at SPPS but has been unable to convert any of those opportunities into wins with a split decision loss, a TKO and a submission all factoring in. He’s young at 22 years old and will need to overcome the wiles and experience of Loria tonight if he wants his first MMA victory. He’ll have the advantage on the ground over Loria’s respectable wrestling and blue belt, so if there was ever a time to put it together in the ground game it’s now! Lori came into SPPS and struggled to find his way to his first win over the course of three fights against Sanchez, Mandinos and Marchionni. Much like Ramirez he lost in a variety of ways including KO, submission and decision respectively. He broke through with his first win last month in a contest with DJ Costune as he was able to go the distance and score with the judges. Tonight he’ll lean on his remarkable boxing and superb Muay Thai, combined with some respectable wrestling, as he tries to keep the fight on the feet and dispatch his opponent via a striking finish! Donkey’s Pick: Ramirez via Submission (Armbar) I’ve just got a hunch that maybe Ramirez breaks through tonight. He’s young, he’s developing and not to be mean, but Loria isn’t getting any younger at 29 years old. Perhaps tonight is the night where the skills catch up and he gets this fight to the ground for the advantage? *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Light Heavyweights Tank Tribute (7-4-0) v Sacrificial Lamb (6-6-0) Four fights into the evening and our first Light Heavyweights get into the action with Sacrificial Lamb and Tank Tribute squaring off! Lamb has struggled over his past four fights taking two losses under former manager…well, me…and two under new manager Khrog Decklov. The most recent two were KO’s which will start to be concerning if it continues as it could limit his career further and indicates a potentially concerning trend. Sacrificial Lamb’s prior success mostly came via TKO’s of his own and tonight, despite having the edge in skills on the ground, you’d have to think he’ll probably look to find a way to stand and do the same unless his current management team has been focusing on improving his ground offense. Tribute has been off and on…and off…since changing management teams and being led by John Wayne. With a recent loss to John Fury he’ll want to turn things around tonight against Lamb and pick up a win similar to two fights back against Devin Ecker where he landed a KO Punch that earned him ‘KO of the Night’ honors! He’ll have the advantage in standup this evening and as we said, unless Lamb has improved his ground offense he may get a chance to cash in on that advantage. Donkey’s Pick: Tribute via TKO (Strikes) We’ll have a completely different view on things for Lamb next fight if he comes in and surprises us with new ground skills developed over the past month. If he doesn’t it would appear that Tribute will have the striking advantage this evening. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Welterweights Kahdi Mandinos (8-6-0) v DJ Costune (5-7-0) We’ll close out the Undercard this evening with a Welterweight battle between Costune and Mandinos! Both are ready to rock and roll which is awesome to see. Costune, led by Matthew White, has struggled over the last seven fights with only one win, coming two fights back, to show for his efforts. Most recently he fell to Lors Loria via Unanimous Decision. Once thought to possess a pair of dangerous hands and a bright future, Costune’s chin has been suspect over the more recent string of fights since his early success. He’s a balanced fighter with respectable to proficient skills across the board. The biggest knock on Costune based upon prior analysis is that he tends to go for a TON of combinations but fails to land a fairly high percentage. That tends to leave him open and gassed. Surprisingly, despite Costune having a dozen fights here at SPPS and Mandinos having the same these two have never met in the cage before! Mandinos has now gone two fights in a row without a win as he’s dropped first one to Baldomir Barbosa and then a rematch to Marchionni that has evened the score between them. Mandinos has been known to work the takedowns in the past looking to GnP his way to submission opportunities but also has no issue standing and striking. Given that his chin is also a bit suspect, much like Costune’s, will he stand and strike tonight or try to move away for Costunes strength…and weakness…and go to the ground instead? Donkey’s Pick: Mandinos via TKO (Strikes) Costune could easily land that big one and with Mandinos having a suspect chin it might get the job done. The same could be said in reverse. Given that Mandinos could also profit from the ground game we’re going with him due to having a few more options on the table. *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Middleweights Jin Yi (5-3-0) v Paulo Blikstein (7-4-0) Our Main Card is up next and we’ll get straight into some Middleweight action to kick things off! Blikstein heads into the cage for the second time with Sucker Punch tonight after dropping his SPPS debut to Tanaka Matsuda last month via a Kimura. He has had quite a bit of success prior to joining Sucker Punch though with a record of 7-3 upon arriving here with all of those wins coming in his prior eight fights. He’s a ground and pound specialist who will stand and strike in or out of the clinch if he needs to. With sensational wrestling and a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu Blikstein may be tempted to take it to the ground this evening as well. If he does, he’s going to have to be very careful as he’s up against a wrestler with wonderful skills in Yi, as well and a black belt, which makes Yi a dangerous submission artist! Yi has five MMA victories which have all come via various submissions. He’s only been stopped once under current management and that was via TKO to Obama Filth who went on to get a title shot after that win. Yi will be looking to gain a win over Blikstein as he tries to advance back to Top Contender status. Donkey’s Pick: Yi via Submission (Armbar) The biggest question for this bout will be whether manager Matheus Silveira has Blikstein adjust and what those adjustments are for this fight against a submission specialist. If he can make the right adjustments, this fight could be his. But if not he’s going to end up watching his fighter tap out which is something no management team wants to see! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Light Heavyweights Junior versus Bard II Joe Junior (7-4-0) v Mike Bard (6-5-0) Our second fight of the Main Card and this is one that I think a ton of fans out there just can’t wait to see! The first time these two Light Heavyweights met was about six months ago and Joe Junior walked away the victor via a TKO (Strikes). Bard will want to see a different result this evening obviously! With two wins in a row Bard is riding a confidence high coming into this rematch with Junior. He’s won by going the distance, as he did against Atilla Dorn, and via TKO over Steed. Bard is particularly fond of his striking on the ground and will try to use his superb wrestling and striking skills to get the fight there and put Junior at the disadvantage. Junior, managed by Sc Tiurpe, has been riding the ebb and flow of the tides with a few wins in a row followed by a loss over his last seven or eight fights. Most recently he had a two fight winning streak over Dorn and Steed just as Bard did but then lost to Rajantaka last month via TKO. This seemed like an excellent time to see if his skills have evolved, if they’re still just plain very good on the feet or what and how he might stack up against Bard again and his ground game! Donkey’s Pick: Bard via TKO (Strikes) Maybe it’s just me liking to stir the pot and see a rubber match but I’m going with Bard to even the series between these two and extend his winning streak to three. Junior won’t want to see another loss after the one to Rajantaka so you can bet he’ll be looking for the TKO finish yet again against Bard! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Middleweights Brennan Brunswick (6-0-0) v Colby Ortiz (9-6-1) One last big one before we get to the Main Events and unfortunately I have a bit of bad news for Donkey here! As has become a trend this month with the Ortiz gang led by Alex Conors Colby Ortiz is coming into this fight with low morale just as his brothers/cousins did on the past couple cards. His energy is also off by about 10% so I think it’s easy to say Donkey will likely predict a move to 7-0 for Brunswick! Ortiz, despite being low on morale and a bit unprepared, may have something to say about Donkey’s pick being he has exceptional wrestling and a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. That means that despite the situation, he’s still going to be very, very dangerous if the fight gets to the ground. At 6-0, this is a contest that had to happen for Brunswick to see just where he belongs in the division and whether he has well-rounded skillsets that allow him to fend off ground specialists and strikers alike. With respectable wrestling and a purple belt he’s far from helpless on the ground but certainly he’ll be looking to keep this fight on the feet where he can use his advantage in boxing and Muay Thai. Donkey’s Pick: Brunswick via TKO (Strikes) This is a risky pick as well as a risky fight. The pick for me, the fight for Brunswick. If Ortiz does get the fight to the ground Brunswick is going to be seriously tested, especially those defensive ground skills such as grappling, transitions and escapes. But the morale for Ortiz may factor in here preventing him from being able to successfully put this fight on the ground. *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Light Heavyweight Bout Wille Thai (8-3-0) v Titus Fury (11-4-0) Surprisingly, despite having been with Sucker Punch now for close to a dozen fights each these two Light Heavyweight submission specialists have never come face to face in the cage up till this Co-Main Event! Now, normally I’d say that this is a major league showdown that could potentially propel one of these two towards Top Contender status in the near future. However, recently Fury declined a fight with Lamb and I think it goes without saying that anybody who’s remotely close to contending doesn’t decline fights. So there will be some time before Fury can find himself back in position to vye for a TC status. Thai on the other hand has been in position to take a shot at the title a few times now. First, in a title fight with Lamb early on after the Cockshot Sorter Series and then more recently in a loss to former champ Jacob Parker. He also had a shot to become Top Contender recently against Derwent Bolt but Bolt was able to get the better of him on the ground and Thai found himself losing via submission for the first time in his career rather than dishing it out! Tonight’s fight will determine which of these two is next in line in the pecking order when it comes to submission specialists in this division! Although, be careful, Fury has been known to pull out the hands and go for a win via strikes as well! Donkey’s Pick: Fury via TKO (Strikes) I think perhaps Fury pulls a fast one on us all and goes with the hands in this one as a first move rather than taking, or allowing, things to go straight to the ground. However, if not, and if this thing goes to the ground this entire thing goes right up in the air and it’s anybody’s game! *********************** Main Event: Featured Middleweight Bout Tanaka Matsuda (10-2-0) v Lester Karnage (4-2-0) Our Main Event of the evening will determine which of these two tough Middleweights is ready for a big title fight in the near future! This is a Top Contender determining matchup with big things on the line! Karnage, currently 4-2, will have a slight advantage on the feet as Optimal MMA escorts his student to the cage tonight. Formerly managed by Blake Phoenix, Karnage changed management teams but lost his last fight at CMMA to Joe Exotic before slipping over here to Sucker Punch where he’ll make his debut this evening. This fighter did start his career out with SPPS, in an early test fight on one of our very first cards, Proving Grounds 2! He went on to win three fights with CMMA, all via TKO and KO, and has an impressive skill set that makes him an immediate threat and potential contender in the division! He has the ability to strike on the feet or on the ground so Matsuda has his work cut out for him this evening. Matsuda, 10-2, is managed by Zeke Gunner and has been on an absolute roll of late with three wins in a row, two of which came at BFC and BBFC after the merger and the last win coming here at Sucker Punch in his debut for us. That was a submission victory via Kimura which made it three submissions in a row! His submissions are always showstoppers which is why this man has earned ‘Submission of the Night’ honors an astounding NINE times in his career! With exceptional wrestling and a brown belt…and a history like that with submissions…I’m sure you can’t guess what he might try to do this evening! Donkey’s Pick: Matsuda via Submission (Guillotine) You know I love me a great ground game and tonight may turn out to be more than just a little of that! Karnage isn’t afraid of the ground, especially if he can gain top position, but if he does he still needs to be very careful as submission can come from the bottom as easily, if not more so, than the top! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! Awesome action on tap over at the Bondi this evening for SPPS 55 folks! I hope you’ll be with us to catch all the action and if not, check out that live stream! In the meantime, have fun, stay safe and enjoy the fights! 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...
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