762x39 Posted March 6, 2021 Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 Just now, 762x39 said: Well shit I am half drunk, it posted the reply on the video! O well I am on vacation getting ready for my daughters wedding. Good luck Logan I have never been a trash talker, getting drunk doesnt help! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator001 Posted March 6, 2021 Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 Great stuff Joe. Looking forward to seeing your sliders. Just be aware you are not fighting 6-5, 2-6 and 3-5 fighters like your last 3 fights. Great to see you are going to bring it , should be a good one and Im looking forward to the test. Best of luck 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator001 Posted March 6, 2021 Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 Great fight Joe River. Each fight is a bit tougher than the last 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
762x39 Posted March 6, 2021 Report Share Posted March 6, 2021 3 hours ago, Gator001 said: Great fight Joe River. Each fight is a bit tougher than the last Great fight, no way it should have been a split decision you clearly won it! I will say when I got that head kick in round one I got excited and thought I had a chance for a minute! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Therobbsmith Posted March 9, 2021 Report Share Posted March 9, 2021 @HeatSeekerHirst Tonight I take on Colby Ortiz , 30 year old grappler with a brown belt. He has been told he is a ground fighter, I have been told I am all stand up. We're both coming off back to back losses with nothing to lose. Colby is debuting in SPPS tonight and I'm debuting with my new manager and fight team. I am excited for what's to come. Let's seize the day and shock everyone in attendance. #DoubtMeNow #HeatSeeker 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2021 Risa Roo Reviews… Sucker Punch Pro Series 46 Alright folks, tonight we have my daughter, Risa, stepping in for the “main”, or Hare’s, portion of the review for SPPS 46. She’s helping me out because work is still just having it’s way with me this week and really making it tough for me to put full time into this. And for that I apologize! We’ll still get “Donkey’s” portion here, but full disclosure in advance…I’m doing this independently of Risa’s portion, haven’t read her piece (because I don’t have it yet) in advance and if I either contradict something she says, or repeat it, my apologies in advance! So buckle up, get ready for a bit of a bumpy ride, and let’s see what Risa’s got to say about the way Sucker Punch Pro Series 46 shook out! Oh, and here’s the intro she did for you folks: “What’s up Sucker Punch squad. Hare was a slacker (as per usual) and texted me this morning asking me to save his butt and do his long overdue review. Can you believe it? I should make time and a half for this since it’s basically overtime.” Now, to be fair here, first, I (Hare) requested this YESTERDAY, not today. Second, she didn’t even complete it, getting only up to the 8th fight so…um, are we really talking overtime…or are we talking…half price?!? I think half price!!! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Light Heavyweight Sparring Bout Razkan Karmax Defeats Bragi Ulfhedin via KO (Punch) Our first match up from the event was between Razkan Karmax and Bragi Ulfhedin. These are a couple of scary looking dudes… I don’t know if that makes them an even match or if they should both be scared of the other. Maybe both. Ulfhedin (bro your name sounds like a disease, a fatal one) looks like Tarzan in the jungle, if Tarzan had the beard of a pirate that is. The fight went off and within a minute Karmax had a cut. Ouch! That looked like it hurt. Both fighters landed some nasty hits over the course of two minutes, but Karmax caught Ulfhedin with a mean punch to the jaw. KO! Wow, I love me a good knockout and man was that one brutal. Karmax was a real one after the fight and thanked his fans and reminded them that “all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites.” Now I think you took the ass kissing a bit too far there, but nice job bro. Someone check on Ulfhedin please? That jaw looks way worse than before somehow. Donkey’s Takeaways: This was a sparring bout test fight, so I don’t really go into too much detail on these. But, in terms of what the manager, Bwang Jong Sr, was probably looking for in this case we’re talking about finding some key information on Ulfhedin who had yet to lose a fight. Given we knew he had heavy hands already, a decent find, we also knew that he wouldn’t be in this fight unless he also had some decent ability to pick up and learn new skills. That means this was really about looking at his morale and how it might be affected by a loss. Well, he did lose this fight, and his morale dropped by just a smidge over 20%. While that really isn’t horrendous we see that he’s still found himself shopping for new management after the fight. One can only figure that that was just a little more of a drop than manager Bwang wanted to see and perhaps he had decent learning speed, but not good enough for him to want to run with non-ideal morale. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Middleweight Sparring Bout Kwame Redcliffe Defeats Nianzu Zhao via Unanimous Decision The second match was a wee little test fight between Kwame Redcliffe and Nianzu Zhao. This was a quick one rounder. Despite only being a short fight, it was action packed and extremely entertaining. Redcliffe ultimately came out on top. Another kiss ass moment where he buttered up the fans similarly to Karmax. Donkey’s Takeaways: Another sparring bout test fight here before we get to the meat of the card and it’s easy to see what came out of this fight. Manager Action Jackson was looking to see what his boy Zhao had under the covers as well as what his morale might look like upon taking a loss. Similar to the prior fight on the card here that we opened with for the night, but in this case it was also a first look at the tale of the tape. It’s safe to say that Action did not see what he was hoping for here, as the tale of the tape showed intelligence, but none of those coveted hidden traits like a granite chin, big right hand, etc. Add to that about a 50% drop in morale and it’s no surprise that Zhao finds himself in the market for new management this week. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Welterweights Rick Segura Defeats Baldimir Zsofka via TKO (Strikes) Fight three! This one was between Rick Segura and Baldimir Zsofka. Segura’s got a snazzy fedora on, bonus points for style. Fight went off! There were a few interesting moments, but also a handful of boring moments throughout the fight. The referee had to stand them up at one point, even he got bored! Fortunately, it had a pretty dope ending: TKO!!! BOP BOP BOP! Segura made sure that Zsofka would feel that one in the morning. Donkey’s Takeaways: Well, I will say that I nailed the call on this bad boy! Segura via TKO! Zsofka never got going in this fight as he was unable to prevent the takedowns. He threw two punches out of the bell, missed both and was on the ground before he knew what happened. From there, it was Segura dropping bombs. They got stood up briefly, with Zsofka missing a head kick attempt and then it was on the mat with the abuse from above back on the menu! And that was pretty much all it took. With the win Segura is on a roll to start out his run at Sucker Punch with two in a row. He’s looking to be a dangerous opponent with formidable ground skills. Skills that will be thoroughly tested next month when he faces off with submission specialist Carter Ortiz! For Zsofka, a loss in his Sucker Punch debut is no doubt not what new manager Hugh Saber had in mind. He’ll get a bounce back opportunity next month against Justin Kulina, coincidentally another student of Kelly McGrady’s. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Welterweights Cashel Ortiz Defeats Alex Steel Ii via Unanimous Decision Fight four! Cashel Ortiz and Alex Steel Ii. Steel’s got some “album-cover-pop-icon-from-the-80s” vibes going on. It’s 2021 bruh, get with the times! Just because Hare and co act like dinosaurs doesn’t mean you have to! Ortiz is a cardio machine apparently. Like a treadmill? Or is he more like an elliptical, those ones are the real doozies of cardio. Steel on the other hand has a good gas tank. My car does too! Although my gas cap is a little questionable, it keeps getting loose and making my check engine light come on. Good thing I got a new one, am I right? OH! They’re fighting. I should get to that probably. Both fighters held their own and the fight was fairly evenly matched. Lots of back and forth made it interesting enough for it to last all three rounds. It went to the judges and Cortez took the win. Nice job bro! Hare: First, I'll show this brat "dinosaur"! Second, who in the hell is Cortez? Is that just Cashel and Ortiz blended? C'mon man, I pay for this?!? Donkey’s Takeaways: We knew this would be a challenging fight for both parties and that Ortiz might want to try to take advantage of his possible strength on the ground over Steel. He did manage to put it on the ground by pulling guard from the clinch a few times but once on his back just didn’t have the ability to transition and gain opportunities. That said, he was able to land enough strikes on the feet, both in and out of the clinch to score the win with the judges. Steel was unable to capitalize on what should have been a striking advantage, at least on paper. The loss in his debut with us moves him to .500 at 6-6 and we’re still looking to see who next month’s opponent might be. For Ortiz, we’re thinking possibly RJ Cain next but will have to wait until after tomorrow’s fights to schedule that. He’s off on the right foot with us here at Sucker Punch though by grabbing a win here in his debut! *********************** Intermission: Hare is currently mad at me because I took a break from writing this. It’s 65 degrees out though and this poor college student just needed a quick Dunkin run. Someone tell Hare when it’s 65 degrees out sometimes you just have to go for a quick drive with the windows down please. He’s a hater and clearly doesn’t remember the college grind. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Lightweights Repus Revorg (3-1-0) vs. Venali Paetmar (3-5-0) Fight number 5! It’s between Repus Revorg and Venali Paetmar. Repus Revorg sounds like a spell from Harry Potter. Not sure what it would do but it just sounds like it’d come in clutch in a battle. REPUS REVORG! Suddenly your opponent has been turned into a flower or something. The fight was very active, lots of interesting stuff going on. Both fighters landed some nasty hits. Round one came and went, but within the first minute of round two we had a TKO. Revorg pulled out the win and Paetmer earned some nasty bruises for his trouble. Donkey’s Takeaways: Hare’s very own pupil took it to Venali Paetmar here in a fight that on paper looked like a very even match, but with the age and training advantage should have given Paetmar the edge in physicals and secondary skill development. Instead, Paetmar found himself tied up in the clinch almost immediately and was unable to break free or mount an effective offense or defense inside it. He took a ridiculous amount of abuse from Revorg through the entire first round, eventually getting rocked shortly into the last minute but lasting through the bell. Being taken into the clinch almost immediately again in the second pretty much spelled out his doom though and just shy of the two minute mark it was game over, TKO for Revorg. Revorg gets off to a swift start here at Sucker Punch with four wins in a row and most of those fights against opponents with winning records. He’ll have his work cut out for him next month when he has to face J. W. Hardman’s very talented Yip Man Ii though! He better come prepared and with god on his side! Pray my son! For Paetmar, something just seems to be failing to click for him as his skills are solid but they just don’t come together for a winning combination once he steps into the cage. With four losses in a row here at SPPS he desperately needs to figure out what the missing component is and fix it this coming month otherwise it may be next to impossible to justify a contract extension. His fight against Pure Striker, a fighter who has come to the cage completely unprepared on this card, is an absolute ‘MUST WIN’. *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Welterweights Carter Ortiz Defeats Sebastian Ramirez via Submission (Guillotine) Fight six! This one was between Carter Ortiz and Sebastian Ramirez. Ramirez has a snazzy purple mohawk. It’s not quite as cool as the pink highlights I have in my hair but its pretty close. I respect the drip. The match went off! After a bit of back and forth Ortiz went for a sub attempt. So close! Another sub attempt! Triangle? NO! Ramirez escapes. Wait… Ortiz locked in a guillotine! Ramirez tapped. I would too, Ortiz really put everything he had into that. Ramirez seemed pretty bummed after his fight. He said sorry to Maribelle and that he hated letting her down. Awwwww. Listen dude she took a chance on the purple mohawk but she sounds like the type who might go looking for a winner instead, especially after that loss… Donkey’s Takeaways: Well, called the submission by Ortiz here and if not for an extremely slick and fast armbar by Furioto in the fight immediately following this one it would have been the ‘Sub of the Night’ winner. And not because it would have been the only submission, but because this guillotine was very, very nice!!! There are two things that could not be more clear about Ramirez at this point. First, obviously he has a gaping hole in his game when it comes to the ground. It’s a huge area of vulnerability for him. There is a good chance he’s going to be matched with Lors Loria next month and that should give him a chance to focus on what he does do well, standup, and also buy him an extra month to work on tightening those ground skills up. The other thing that is apparent is that this kid lacks focus and confidence. His morale dropped to almost zero after this loss and that’s a huge thing to worry about. In order to get ahead in fights and not have his confidence go into the toilet he’s going to almost always have to adopt an aggressive approach and strategy. That limits options when a counter attack might be more useful. Especially against…oh, I don’t know…let’s say…ground fighters? Ortiz improves to 10-1 overall and comes back strong from his failed Top Contender bid in his bout with Igor Vovchanchyn last month. Ten wins, ten submissions, only one loss via decision. He has yet to be stopped! Now, his submission skills, transitions, defensive grappling and overall ground game will be truly tested next month when he faces off with Rick Segura, a wrestler and ground and pounder who will try to gain top position and rain down the pain! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Lightweights Maximus Furioto Defeats Pure Striker via Submission (Armbar) Fight numero 7 was between Maximus Furioto and Pure Striker. Is that your real name “Pure Striker” or is it a fake name? Who are you hiding from? Something smells fishy here… Anyway! This fight lasted 31 seconds. 31 SECONDS! Furioto almost immediately caught Striker in an armbar and made him tap. 31 SECONDS! Who only lasts 31 seconds? Striker, apparently. Ridiculous! Furioto promised his fans that he’ll do even better in his next fight. Considering you won in 31 seconds, that’ll be tough bro. Donkey’s Takeaways: This fight was over before anybody knew what happened, including Pure Striker! Thirty-one seconds, the bell rang, Furioto took him down and there goes baby, submission and all! Striker came in unprepared and paid the price, dearly. Hare had this to say in the preview, which more or less nailed it, “Furioto will hit a takedown within the first minute of action. Probably on the first, and if not, the second attempt. After that, it shouldn’t be more than one, two or three submission attempts before Striker just sighs and taps. Hell, if he doesn’t just throw himself on the ground and scream uncle when the bell rings!” That pretty well describes what happened, as Furioto hit the takedown IMMEDIATELY after the bell and then nailed the submission on the first attempt. Hell, I’m not sure if he even had to finish the takedown, Striker might have just fallen down on purpose. Striker will get one more shot to get his crap together next month in a fight against Venali Paetmar who has been struggling in the worst way. One of these two HAS to win, I’d think?!? For Furioto, he takes the easy win and runs with it! As anybody would. At 11-5 with two wins in a row now, we’re still determining who he might face next month. It’s likely to be St. Claire or Oosthuizen. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Middleweights Wilfred Ainsworth Defeats Mitch Malone via KO (Punch) Fight 8! It was between Wilfred Ainsworth and Mitch Malone. Another short fight, this one was over in just over two minutes! Lots of fun finishes to fights from this event! Very exciting! Both fighters had some strong hits during the first minute. CUT! Ainsworth got a nasty cut from Malone. BOP! Ainsworth gets his revenge and rocks Malone! BOP part 2! KO!!!! Ainsworth gave Malone a little souvenir to remember this fight in the form of a busted up jaw. He then, like everyone else, buttered up the crowd a little in his post fight interview. Donkey’s Takeaways: In the preview I said that, “Ainsworth is tough as nails and never backs down. I do enjoy that just a bit. The only loss of his career to date was a DECISION loss to Machado. Nobody has ever finished or stopped this man. At the same time, I do share some concerns about Malone’s chin. He can prove us totally wrong tonight by standing up to Ainsworth and not backing down, not quitting and not hitting the canvas!” Unfortunately for Malone, he was unable to stay upright and the questions about his chin linger. These two didn’t tiptoe around at all and were dropping bombs from the word “Go!”. Or the bell, whatever. Just a minute and a half in Ainsworth was able to rock Malone’s world and then just past two minutes he finished it with a highlight reel shot that earned him ‘KO of the Night’. Ainsworth knew what was on the line here. Another title shot. And he went out and took that opportunity, good on him! He’ll face a tough, tough McGuire next month on April 7th, a fight I think everybody is looking forward to! Malone drops his Sucker Punch debut here and including the two losses he carried in from prior management now finds himself on a three fight losing streak. His next fight has not been officially booked yet, but it’s very likely he’ll be looking across the cage at Longsun Zhao next! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Light Heavyweight Bout Eemeli Lampi Defeats Choctaw Bloode via TKO (Strikes) Hare stepping in here... You may notice there's nothing here from Risa. That's because after taking two days to do this, she abandoned me after the eighth fight and claimed some nonsense about, "having to go get ready for swim team practice" or some BS like that. Yeah, right. And probably make another Dunkin' run...or hang out on the quad with her friends! The nerve. Anyways, maybe she'll finish these last two when she gets back tonight. Maybe not. We won't know until the time comes I guess and until then, I guess you just get Donkey's ramblings. As if you weren't just looking straight to Donkey's words of wisdom anyways! Donkey’s Takeaways: Our Co-Main Event of the night lived up to the hype and brought it big time, narrowly edging out the Main Event Title Fight for ‘Fight of the Night’ honors! I know many are clamoring that the Main Event with its twists and turns deserved the award, but hey, this is not a science and with the two fights both being great we just felt that this warm-up to an already hyped up title fight really gave us so much that it earned it! This was a fight with a title shot on the line. Bloode, brand new to the org but with an extensive resume was in some ways looked at as the actual favorite in this fight. And if you were to go by the way the fight progressed, you’d have been right thinking that! He was in the driver’s seat through most of this one, winning the first two rounds fairly convincingly. But it only takes ONE nasty shot to end somebody’s night in the worst way and that’s exactly what Lampi did. He hung in there, allowed himself to pull a “Rocky” and be a human punching bag for a bit, took a ton of punishment but never gave up and when Bloode started to wane… BOOM!, Lampi jumped on the opportunity… “Bloode takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired. Bloode gets clipped by a big right hand and goes down spinning to the canvas! Lampi gets the back mount and begins to drop bombs on his rocked foe! Bloode is too out of it to defend against the strikes and the referee jumps in to save him from the beatdown!” So Lampi gets the title shot against the waiting John Doe in April! Bloode put up a great show in his debut and obviously we’ll be looking forward to his fights going forward. Next up for Bloode…we think quite possibly Lukasz Wieczorek, which should be another fantastic battle! *********************** Main Event: Lightweight Championship Frankie Logan Defeats Guy River via Split Decision Note from Hare... See the prior fight's intro portion. Yeah, she bailed. She's like that. College students, so unreliable! Donkey’s Takeaways: I’ll be straight with you folks out there. The judges called this a split decision. To some degree even I agree with them. But many fans, many of the other fighters and even the champ and Guy River himself seem to think that it wasn’t as close as the judges called it. Still, River hung in there to go FIVE rounds with the longtime champ! And that’s a hell of a go at a fight of this magnitude. And here’s the thing; About three and a half minutes into the first round of this fight a joint GASP! was uttered by the entire crowd as it very much looked like River had pulled it off with a nasty head kick that looked like it took Logan’s head clean off and left him rocked on his ass, flat on his back! “Good work by Logan as he checks the leg kick. River lands a big head kick that sends Logan tumbling to the mat! River takes a step backwards and waves Logan back to his feet - he wants the finish! Logan is rocked!” But we shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that Logan recovered from that and went on to make this a hell of a fight, pulling it out in the end! This was an exciting one, and damn well almost had ‘Fight of the Night’ except I had to make a tough decision between it and the Co-Main Event. Both were deserving! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! A really fun one folks and it got a really decent rating from the fans across the board. Our fighters really do make these things the best around! We’ve got even more action coming up tomorrow night mid-week here as we bring you SPPS 46 in just over 24 hours from now…so stay tuned, get over to the arena at Hard Knocks – Sydney tomorrow and buckle in for another wild ride! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 9, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 47 Ok folks, well now that I’ve finally gotten our resident slacker, Risa, to finish up the Review for SPPS 46 we can hurry up and get moving on the Preview here for SPPS 47 which takes place tonight over at Hard Knocks – Sydney! As always, I’m Hare Rumpler here with my partner and analyst, Donkey “Dan”, and we’re excited to take a look forward to tonight’s action and talk a little about what’s in store for our amazing Sucker Punch fans out there around the world! Can any of you believe that we’re already almost halfway through March? For many people around the world we are just about at the one year anniversary of the lockdowns for Covid and wow, what a crazy year it’s been! When it first happened I know most of us thought it was for a few weeks, then a month, then maybe the summer…but this thing has just dragged on. Luckily, I know all you folks out there are staying strong and motivated, finding the silver lining in life and looking for what blessings you can find among all of this! Remember, it’s truly an ill wind that blows zero good. The linings are there, find them folks! So with that little message of encouragement, let’s jump into all the action tonight and look at the nine fights, yes, we’re short one, that we have on tap and see what fun we can find in this mess! Right after we get a word in about our sponsor and merchandise partner, of course! Our fantastic and respected sponsor is Shadow Warrior Nutrition! Many of you already know them as the providers of Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q, THE energy loss reduction supplements! For those of you who aren’t in the know on that, you should be, because this is the way you keep your fighter training more often and not taking sessions off to try to keep his energy above 90%! If you aren’t using this supplement, hurry over and check them out today, you will not be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Light Heavyweights Morioka Shigemasa (3-2-0) vs. Andrei Averyanov (1-0-0) Kicking things off for the evening will be our Light Heavyweights, Averyanov and Shigemasa! Wow, there’s a mouthful for ya between those two names! Averyanov makes Sucker Punch debut this evening in his first professional fight in almost a year. The prior fight, last April, was simply a test fight before any true development had taken place, so this will be the first chance we get to see him go at it with a full set of skills and true plan in place. With remarkable boxing, wonderful Muay Thai and superb wrestling you’d have to expect him to want this fight to stay on the feet. Shigemasa has had mixed results so far in his professional career with a 2-2 record here at Sucker Punch. A kickboxer by nature, Shigemasa will find himself with the Jiu Jitsu advantage in this fight while giving up a slight edge boxing. Would he consider a ground attack tonight? We’ll see, but history says he’ll keep this standing as well and these two will likely strike it out both in and out of the clinch. Donkey, thoughts…? Donkey’s Pick: Averyanov via TKO (Strikes) Tough one because we don’t really know what we’re getting with Averyanov. I do believe this fight probably stays on the feet and if it does, Averyanov should have a slight edge. I’ll lean in that direction for now but we’re going to learn a lot about these two tonight! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Light Heavyweights Abdul Raheem (8-5-0) vs. Sacrificial Lamb (6-5-0) Our second bout of the evening will be another Light Heavyweight matchup that sees Hare’s former fighter Sacrificial Lamb, now managed by Khrog Decklov, facing off against Jake Braun’s Abdul Raheem in his Sucker Punch debut! Raheem has two fights under the management of Braun so far but will see his first action with us here at SPPS after moving over from Checkmate. The two fights at Checkmate under current management were losses, so with the change of scenery he’ll also be looking for a change of fortune! Raheem is a striker with all career wins coming via TKO and KO due to his remarkable boxing and proficient Muay Thai which is complimented by his strong grappling. Lamb has one fight so far under new management and finds himself coming into this fight tonight on a three fight losing streak. He tends to stick to his striking and clinchwork skills despite having a brown belt, but you never know when he might decide to lean on those ground skills. Tonight would be a good night for that! Otherwise, much like our first Light Heavyweight fight of the evening, this one will stay on the feet and be very similar to that first bout! Donkey’s Pick: Raheem via TKO (Strikes) Really tough one to pick due to fairly new management for each fighter and both still seeming to try to find “their way” with the fighter’s individual skills. Raheem has slightly better skills on the feet and if it stays there he should have the advantage so I’m going to lean that way similar to the first fight. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Featherweights Petsuwan Sitsongrit (4-1-0) vs. Akara Kongsangchai (2-6-0) A couple of our Featherweights hit the cage here in the third fight of the evening. This is a very evenly matched fight with Sitsongrit holding a very, very small edge in boxing, Muay Thai and wrestling while Kongsangchai will have a bit more of an advantage with his Jiu Jitsu. While most of the members of Team Lundgren have started out 2021 a bit stronger than their showings in 2020 the one exception to that rule is Kongsangchai. His last fight in 2020 was a loss and since then he’s tacked on an additional two losses in 2021 extending the draught to three in a row and, worse, six of his last seven to put his overall record at 2-6. This is a fighter in desperation mode no doubt and tonight he’ll want to use every bit of his remarkable boxing, exceptional Muay Thai and superb wrestling to pull out a win no matter what it takes! Sitsongrit will not make that an easy task if this fight stays on the feet. He has exceptional boxing, sensational Muay Thai and wonderful wrestling. So the edge on the feet will remain with him and Kongsangchai may have been well advised to work on his ground skills this past month as a path to success. If it stays on the feet, Sitsongrit may very well be in the driver’s seat. Three wins in a row over opponents with solid standup skills would certainly support that. Donkey, does Kongsangchai try a different approach here…? Donkey’s Pick: Sitsongrit via TKO (Strikes) I think he has to Hare. That or take his shot that he can land the right shot at the right time and hope for the best in standup. If he does decide the ground is the way to go, he’ll have to contend with solid wrestling from Sitsongrit and find a way to control the fight down there and gain the advantage. Let’s see if he can come through. I think Sitsongrit will like his chances of getting back to his feet here in this one, if it gets to the ground that is. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Welterweights RJ Cain (11-7-0) vs. Mister Lee (2-3-0) Well Donkey, as we close out the Undercard for this evening I’m thrilled to say that so far everybody looks to be coming to the cage tonight fueled up, ready to go and set to give it their best! That’s awesome! And Lee and Cain here in this fight are no exception! Good for these guys. This fight is very similar to our last one in that these two are very closely matched in boxing, Muay Thai and wrestling with Lee appearing to have the advantage with his Jiu Jitsu as he carries a brown belt into the cage. He’s had a yo-yo go so far here at Sucker Punch under two different managers as he had a win and a loss under Dead Disney and now comes to the cage tonight with a win and loss string under current manager Runt. Runt’s approach has certainly kept it exciting as Lee has grabbed ‘Fight of the Night’ honors in both outings with Runt dictating the strategy! Lee is an aggressive fighter on the feet regardless of whether it’s up close in the clinch or not. If the fight ends up on the ground he’s certainly shown he’s not afraid to try out a few sub attempts either! Cain makes his Sucker Punch debut this evening after a long run with HFC and BFC. Zeke Gunner clearly decided a change of scenery and a new direction was needed to shake things up though when Cain found himself stuck in the depths of a four fight losing streak before coming over to Sucker Punch. He’ll be looking to revive his career now by coming in with a strong showing against Lee this evening! Before that run of losses he was carrying around an extremely impressive 11-3 record, so this man has the skills to get it done. And most of the time when he did, it was via KO! If this fight stays on the feet tonight, it may be a fight full of hard hitting action versus all out aggression! This should be fun! What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Lee via Submission (Armbar) Lee could dictate the fight on the fee this evening potentially as he looks to be at least as strong there as Cain. But I think if it were me, I’d have been shoring up my ground game this past month planning to exploit that. If so, Lee may show us some new tricks tonight! If not, then yes, you’re going to get your war on the feet Hare! It may not last long though, as either of these two could finish at any time. Be ready for this one folks, it’s going to be a great fight to close out the Undercard this evening! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Heavyweights Herleifr Conchobhar (7-4-0) vs. Banana Republic (5-3-0) As we move into the Main Card here we have Republic, who appears to have been branded a liar of sorts, and Conchobhar who seems to find that very entertaining! Is there something we should know here? Has Conchobhar been playing some pranks on Republic leading up to this fight? We’ll leave that for you folks to wonder about! Two entirely different areas of advantage will clash here this evening Donkey. First, Republic will have the Muay Thai advantage. But then, Conchobhar has the Jiu Jitsu edge. Both by about the same amount in their respective areas. So this is a closely matched contest with diverging strengths! Republic opens up his run here at Sucker Punch with this fight. Prior to this he was a longtime part of Checkmate under three different managers starting with Grumpy Bastard, then moving over to work under Marky Mark briefly before finally landing with Sairanix Lokren for the past two fights. His results with Lokren have been mixed with a win and then most recently a loss, both fights ending up in Unanimous Decisions. Those fights were the first of his career not to see a finish via (T)KO, either in victory or defeat, up to that point. While he has very strong Muay Thai skills he has not used the clinch in any significant way, instead preferring to stand and box. Aggressively. Brad Bombada will corner his boy Conchobhar in the cage this evening and has led him to a 4-1 record under his control. All but one of those fights was with BFC with the last being a loss as he now starts his run with us here at Sucker Punch this evening. Much like Republic, he has shown a tendency to stand and throw hands, aggressively, and has not used the ground game much. So while Republic and Conchobhar may have strengths over each other in Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu respectively, I don’t know that we’ll see either put into practice this evening. Instead, expect a standup battle full of aggression and striking with little to no feet, clinch or groundwork involved. Another all-out brawl on the feet Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Conchobhar via Unanimous Decision It could very well be just that Hare. Unless one of these kids decides to pull a fast one and switch things up on their opponent this evening. Or perhaps both do! That would certainly create some interesting action. Either way, I expect this to be a drawn out war that may very well go the distance. *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Middleweights Nyah Hirst (6-2-0) vs. Colby Ortiz (9-5-1) Now Donkey, finally a fight that I am certain will put opposing styles up against the other in this one! No doubt about it! Colby Ortiz is making his debut with Sucker Punch Pro Series this evening after having been with BFC for a LONG time and HFC before that. Heck, he even hearkens back from SMASH and a single fight with WCF before that! This boy has seen some action in the cage, that’s for sure! Ortiz likes to strike just as much as Hirst does with the difference being that he wants to do it in good ole ground and pound fashion! He has exceptional wrestling and a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu and the last thing Hirst is going to want is to end up on the bottom weathering the abuse Ortiz will rain down if that happens! Hirst, a prior Middleweight champ here at Sucker Punch who defeated the acclaimed Wanderson Machado before losing the belt in his first title defense to Jim Beam will be looking to turn things around and get back on track. Since his win of the belt he’s taken two losses in a row, the loss to Beam that saw the belt change hands and then a rematch with Machado that would have been him a shot at the title again if he’d managed to pull off another win against the former longtime champion. Hirst is a striker with exceptional boxing and Muay Thai and will want to keep this fight standing tonight. He only has a blue belt in Jiu Jitsu and that would put him at a significant disadvantage on the ground. But he’s also a dangerous man standing who can finish it there, so Ortiz needs to tread carefully this evening! Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Ortiz via Submission (Armbar) I’d think that most of the money is probably going in the direction of the former champ here. But I just have one of those little tingling feelings going on the back of my neck tonight for this fight and think that maybe it ends up on the ground and we see some great skills from Ortiz that allows him to sneak a win here and really break into SPPS in a big way. We’ll find out, this is a ‘must see’ fight folks! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Light Heavyweights Lukasz Wieczorek (8-3-0) vs. Aleks Kuznetsov (4-3-0) Our last fight before we get into the Main Events for the evening and the trend continues here tonight with yet another pair of fighters who are locked and loaded and ready to get at it with their very best effort this evening! Love it! Kuznetsov was on an absolute tear, beast that he is at Light Heavyweight, with four wins in a row, three here at Sucker Punch and a win over my very own Sacrificial Lamb at the time to take the belt and become Champion! Then...he ran into Jacob Parker in his first title defense and once again, as had been the case leading up to this point in the Light Heavyweight division, the title was lost in the first defense. That seemed to be a curse that had fallen on this belt until Jacob Parker got hold of it and ran with it for a bit! Anyways, back to Kuznetsov…since then his fortunes have turned and he’s been on a run of three losses in a row with defeats from John Doe and Bjorn Akerfeldt piling on. Three wins and then three losses here at Sucker Punch and tonight he begins the quest to turn that tide and start marching back in the other direction! Kuznetsov will certainly have his work cut out for him as he begins that quest tonight. He’ll be looking across the cage at a very talented, accomplished and skilled Lukasz Wieczorek, formerly managed by Dr. Octagon and now cornered by the very knowledgeable and formidable Grumpy Bastard himself! Sometimes there is a bit of a burning in period when a new manager takes over a fighter but in this case you have to figure that having a former #1 ranked and currently #55 ranked manager in the box there offsets that! Wieczorek has strong boxing, exceptional Muay Thai and superb wrestling. He also has a purple belt, but historically he tends to stay on the feet and, if possible, at range to use his boxing skills with aggression to fell his opponents. Now, under new management that approach may change, so on-guard! The same can be said for Kuznetsov who has sensational boxing and remarkable Muay Thai. He doesn’t tend to put the fight on the ground by choice and you wouldn’t think he will tonight. So does that also play into Wieczorek’s decisions and strategy? Donkey, how do you see this one going…? Donkey’s Pick: Kuznetsov via Unanimous Decision I’m going out on a limb here with the Kuznetsov pick due to the better standup skills, at least on paper. But, it’s a very, very precarious limb to be on! As you said Hare, Grumpy is an extremely knowledgeable manager and a sneaky, shrewd one at that. Kuznetsov has piled up a few losses recently due to having a couple things exposed. I won’t get into what they are. But there’s a strong chance Grumpy has already keyed in on those things. Also, Wieczorek may have been instructed to work on his ground skills considerably this past month and if so, this fight could go sideways fast and end up on the ground. If that happens, it’s a whole new ballgame! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Featherweight Bout Brady Jean Baptiste (6-1-1) vs. Carlos Villarreal (10-6-0) Our Co-Main Event brings our fans a fight with a lot on the line for both Villarreal and Baptiste here in the Featherweight division at Sucker Punch! For Villarreal a win in this fight will allow him to rebound from his recent loss and start the trek to the top of the division with a victory over an opponent who is on the verge of Top Contendership. For Baptiste it’s just that…a chance to move into a Top Contender battle with Cabrera next month to see who gets a title shot in late April or early May! These two fighters are very closely matched with Baptiste having a bit of an advantage boxing and maybe the smallest edge in wrestling. Outside that their skills match up well on paper. At 23 years old, Villarreal is slightly older by a year and has been training in MMA for quite a bit longer than Baptiste and that may allow him to make up for the apparently difference in skills on paper. Villarreal is a kickboxer who will stay on the feet and directly the majority of his kicks to the legs of his opponent. Outside that, he’s a boxer through and through with an aggressive approach that directs over half his strikes to his opponents’ heads with the remainder a mix between body shots and combos. Baptiste, coming off four wins in a row under current manager Laz Staz, has won his prior fights via TKO, TKO, KO and KO, with the final KO helping to earn a ‘Fight of the Night’ award. He typically doesn’t choose to take the fight into the clinch but if the fight makes its way there he’s proven to be quite effective there. He has a granite chin to weather the strikes from an opponent and tends to wait on his chances to counter with power when boxing. Donkey…you have to be psyched about this one eh…? Donkey’s Pick: Baptiste via TKO (Strikes) Absolutely! This is a real test for both fighters and should feature some great striking! But I think we’re going to see two different approaches here and find out which one can bring victory. Will the aggressive approach of Villarreal wear down Baptiste and lead to victory? Or will that approach gas him out potentially and/or leave him open to some powerful counters by Baptiste for the highlight reel finish? Either way, I very much doubt this fight makes it to the judges’ scorecards! *********************** Main Event: Featured Welterweight Bout Red Crow (7-2-1) vs. Ispa Perkele (10-4-0) The Main Event for the evening Donkey and we can expect and awesome Welterweight battle here to determine who gets the next title shot! And you couldn’t ask for a more balanced fight here with these two as the skills are just about even. Crow has a slight Muay Thai advantage while Perkele has the wrestling edge. Also, making this even more intriguing, this fight pits Yabai alliance mates Mikey C and Esiah Xavier against each other this evening as each tries to guide his kid to a title fight opportunity! Perkele is formerly of Checkmate and spent his time under three different managers during his stay. First he was trained in MMA techniques under the oversight of Ispa Murhapuro and then spent a period under Django Waits. He fought his last fight over there under current manager Mikey C and scored a win before changing scenery and moving here to Sucker Punch! We’re excited to have him and at 10-4 with wonderful or better skills across the board he’s immediately one of the top ranked fighters in the division. He mixes things up in his standup in and out of the clinch. We haven’t seen him spend much time on the ground, but his skills suggest he could go there if desired. Given the opportunity there is an excellent chance that Crow will attempt to find out just how good or not Perkele’s skills are on the ground. Historically Crow’s fights do end up on the mat at some point with him attempting to dominate the position from the top and then implement “Project Pain” as he works some nasty ground and pound! Will he still be willing to do that tonight against an opponent who has sensational wrestling and a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu as well? That’s a great question and one we’ll get the answer to this evening! Donkey…who walks away with a title shot in hand this evening…? Donkey’s Pick: Perkele via TKO (Strikes) It’s really difficult to pick and choose when your alliance mates are about to go at it in a heated battle! Perkele appears to come into this fight with the better overall skillset. But among managers in Yabai Esiah has had the great success to date. That isn’t to slight Mikey C, who has come along fast and is rising up the ranks quickly! But Esiah has proven he can put together runs and fights with his boys of a caliber that has placed him in the Top 20 ranked managers in the game. I’m going to go purely by skills here, but this is anybody’s contest and will be well earned for a title shot! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! A really fun set of fights all lined up for you folks over at Hard Knocks – Sydney tonight folks! Be there or…well…or I guess catch it on the live stream! Either way, I’m looking forward to it and we’ll be over there in just under 12 hours to get this party going! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleakardor Posted March 9, 2021 Report Share Posted March 9, 2021 I feel like I'm being excluded.... how dare I not have a fighter on every card?! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Therobbsmith Posted March 10, 2021 Report Share Posted March 10, 2021 @HeatSeekerHirst We came in with a strong game plan and we got the win. Am I still one dimensional?!? Took down a exceptional wrestler at a rate of 100%. Put the brown belt is a position to capitalize and I neutralized him. The comeback is always greater than the set back. Thanks to the Savage Krew for getting me right for this one. #HeatSeekerHirst 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2021 POST EVENT CHEAP SHOTS Sucker Punch Pro Series 47 Welcome back Sucker Punch fans! I know it’s been a few days but I also want to be sure we get some follow-up info out there for you guys and at the very least see what Donkey has to say about where the fights leave folks from SPPS 47, where things are going and generally what we can take away from each of these fights! This was a crazy evening of action as our first two of the nine fights ended in TKO and KO…and then we proceeded to have SEVEN Unanimous Decisions in a row!!! That’s absolutely unbelievable to have so many fights string together and go the distance but speaks well to the competitiveness of the fights on this card! Are the finishes fun when they come? Absolutely! But fast ones can sometimes mean that the fight was lopsided (or somebody got that good move in that finished it, obviously). Now, obviously going the distance can also mean that both fighters really didn’t go for it and were just kinda lingering, but usually that isn’t the case with our folks here at SPPS! So, without further delay, let’s hear about things from our sponsor and merchandise partner and get into the fight Takeaways with Donkey! Our fantastic and respected sponsor is Shadow Warrior Nutrition! Many of you already know them as the providers of Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q, THE energy loss reduction supplements! For those of you who aren’t in the know on that, you should be, because this is the way you keep your fighter training more often and not taking sessions off to try to keep his energy above 90%! If you aren’t using this supplement, hurry over and check them out today, you will not be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Light Heavyweights Morioka Shigemasa Defeats Andrei Averyanov via TKO (Strikes) Donkey’s Takeaways: We start out with one of only two fights that were finished on the evening as Averyanov was a bit of a question mark in our minds coming into this. He answered many of those questions for us! Two things are clear here. The first is that his striking, at least the head shots, was on point. The second is that his strike defense was as well. Shigemasa stood toe to toe as we expected would happen in this fight but was shut down with only a couple shots getting through. Outside that, this was the Averyanov show and he was able to end it via TKO just over two minutes in. A 2-0 start to the career is very promising and we’ll look forward to seeing what Alex Maniatakos works on with his kid in the coming month. Shigemasa on the other hand appears to have run out of leash with Clubber Winger and finds himself looking for new management following the fight. With two losses in a row that management was clearly thinking should be wins, and a big drop in morale after each loss, team Winger has clearly decided that Shigemasa just doesn’t have what they’re looking for. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Light Heavyweights Abdul Raheem Defeats Sacrificial Lamb via KO (Punches) Donkey’s Takeaways: Lamb chose to keep this fight on the feet despite appearing to have an edge in ground skills. Apparently he and his camp just aren’t confident in those skills from an offensive standpoint. Despite the decision to stay standing against an opponent who appeared to have the advantage there Lamb’s game plan was working out well and he was clearly winning the fight for a bit in this one. He took the first round convincingly with more strikes landed and his opponent quickly dropping energy. His move to the clinch several times, while not resulting in a ton of offense, was effective in allowing him to get several shots in that were not returned. Definite advantage there. Raheem was able to bide his time and find his spot though and when a counter opportunity presented itself in the opening minute of round two he capitalized with one of the many combos he’d unleashed in the fight, this sequence landing fully to rock Lamb and put him on the ropes and setting up yet another jab-straight right combo that would end it and give Raheem ‘KO of the Night’ honors! A big come-from-behind win for Raheem and a much needed win to get him back on track after losing three in a row between RRFC and Checkmate. This is the way you start off a run at a new promotion! For Lamb, a disappointing loss in a fight he had in hand that leaves him on a run of four losses in a row, two under current management and a 1-5 record in his last six fights. He’ll be desperate for a win next month. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Featherweights Petsuwan Sitsongrit Defeats Akara Kongsangchai via Unanimous Decision Donkey’s Takeaways: We weren’t sure if Kongsangchai might try his chances on the ground in this one knowing he’d be at a disadvantage standing and striking. That never happened. Not because he couldn’t get it to the ground, but because he never had it as part of his strategy and plan for this fight. Instead, the clinch was the move his camp decided to go with clearly feeling that was their best shot. Unfortunately for Kongsangchai, Sitsongrit was more than up to the challenge and landed anywhere from half to three-quarters of his shots in the clinch while only taking back about half that from Kongsangchai. With the advantage both in and out of the clinch, Sitsongrit was able to rock Kong in the first, put him on his butt again in the second and, despite not being able to finish the fight, ride this out to an easy decision for the judges. With the win Sitsongrit easily sets himself up as the fourth or fifth ranked fighter in the division and if not for the win (spoiler alert) by Baptiste later in the evening would be in a Top Contender battle next month. If he wins again in April he’ll certainly be next in line for that opportunity! Clearly this loss leaves Kongsangchai in a tough spot with tough decisions to make. He’s lost four in a row and seven of his last eight and now holds an overall 2-7 record. He’ll need a win next month in the worst way if he decides to give it another go. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Welterweights Mister Lee Defeats RJ Cain via Unanimous Decision Donkey’s Takeaways: Lee tried his chances on the ground in this one which was something I had said I’d probably do if I were in his shoes. Fortunately, he got it there once and was able to see what he could do with it. The result was three submission attempts that Cain was able to fend off. Unfortunately, he was only able to successfully put it on the ground with one of his seven takedown attempts. Ultimately, that didn’t matter much as he was able to dominate the action on the feet, both in and out of the clinch, with his kicks to the legs slowing down Cain and making the difference in a fight that went the distance and saw the judges giving Lee the nod. Lee continues to bounce back and forth between wins and losses in a trend that continues across two different management teams. The good news is that under current manager Runt, Lee has now gone 2-1 and has a chance to break that trend next month and start stringing wins together. Cain is in a very rough spot here as he came in with a four fight losing streak at BFC and doesn’t see his fortunes change with this change of scenery. Lee was just about gassed out in this one, so Cain had the opportunity to finish towards the end but just wasn’t able to find a way. He now has five losses in a row and more concerning is the complete and total loss of morale with the loss. This kid lacks confidence and that limits the approach he can take in the cage, practically forcing him to have to use an aggressive approach in every fight. *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Heavyweights Banana Republic Defeats Herleifr Conchobhar via Unanimous Decision Donkey’s Takeaways: In the preview Hare had said, “Much like Republic, he (Conchobhar) has shown a tendency to stand and throw hands, aggressively, and has not used the ground game much. So while Republic and Conchobhar may have strengths over each other in Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu respectively, I don’t know that we’ll see either put into practice this evening. Instead, expect a standup battle full of aggression and striking with little to no feet, clinch or groundwork involved.” That turned out to be just about the call, with only Republic spicing things up a tad with a takedown towards the end of the first which was immediately followed by an escape back to the feet by Conchobhar. Ultimately in a battle that saw a ridiculous number of strikes thrown over three rounds, including over 100 head shots attempted by Chonchobhar, Conchobhar managed to get the call from the judges at the end of three. I will be honest here, I’m not really sure how the judges made this call. Republic landed thirty five shots to Conchobhar’s twenty-two, pulled off a takedown and was much more efficient with his striking. Yet, the judges didn’t award him a single round. I suppose they decided that Conchobhar’s uber aggression earned him the nod instead. If I was Republic, I’d probably feel a bit wronged after this fight though. The fight leaves him with a loss in his SPPS debut, stringing two together and he saw a fairly sizable morale loss. Nothing good comes of this other than perhaps his managers telling him he “should” have won the fight. Perhaps they’ll contest the result and demand a rematch? Conchobhar gets the ‘W’ and starts out his SPPS run on the right foot. With five wins in six fights he’s definitely on the right path and could see himself getting big opportunities in the future! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Middleweights Nyah Hirst Defeats Colby Ortiz via Unanimous Decision Donkey’s Takeaways: This fight went the distance but easily could have been finished as Ortiz was fully gassed by the end. Hirst clearly indicated this week that he has some frustration over being known as a “striker only” and came into this fight with a little bit of an attitude and a goal to prove that, as Bernie Mac would say, “I ain’t afraid of you muthafuckas!” when it comes to being on the ground! Most, including Hare, would have considered the ground a “no-no place” for Hirst in this fight with Ortiz who is more than comfortable on the ground in most fights. Instead, Hirst took it to the ground three times himself and proved that while he may not be able to offer up a lot of offense down there that he can certainly survive and hold his own. He also threw a twist into things on the feet as he swerved away from his normal approach there and went to the clinch for most of the fight where he was able to dictate the action and dominate Ortiz in striking. Ortiz was solely focused on achieving takedowns and offered no strikes of his own in the clinch. Nor, it would seem, any defense. With no finish, the fight was easily called by the judges in favor of Hirst and his new management team makes a big statement with their first win guiding this young man. This is the type of win Hirst needs to move himself right back up into contention within the middleweight division. A couple more of these and he’ll be making the case that he’s still a contender around these parts! Ortiz will be disappointed in the loss which makes it a trio now in a row and drops his debut here at SPPS. Look forward young man, not back! Next month is a new start. *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Light Heavyweights Aleks Kuznetsov Defeats Lukasz Wieczorek via Unanimous Decision Donkey’s Takeaways: Turns out this fight stayed on the feet after all which is what we would have expected given history for these two fighters but was somewhat in question also given Wieczorek’s potential ground advantage. It appears that Wieczorek and manager Grumpy went after Kuznetsov with an aggressive standup game choosing not to bother with a counter approach. Fortunately for Kuznetsov, he and his team must have been working on strike defense quite a bit this month because his ability to fend off the attack from Wieczorek was rock solid. Kuznetsov mixed in a good bit of kicks to keep things on edge, and certainly that was never more true than when he unleashed a low one after the third minute of action in the second round… “Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Kuznetsov lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Wieczorek has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Wieczorek and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.” Totally uncalled for, especially when you’re already winning. I guess insurance is never a bad thing? Hare would have been so proud if he were telling the tale here! With both fighters gassed out at the end of this one they certainly left it all in the cage and that effort may very well get them ‘Fight of the Night’ honors! We appreciate that sort of “got get it!” attitude! Kuznetsov gets back on track after a three fight losing streak and clearly looks focused on trying to make a run back up the rankings. Perhaps eyeing another shot at regaining his title in the future? Wieczorek takes his first loss under new manager Grumpy, making it two losses in a row now and certainly not starting things out at Sucker Punch the way the team had planned. Next month is a new one though and no doubt he’ll come back focused and ready to start tacking on some wins with an eye towards the top! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Featherweight Bout Brady Jean Baptiste Defeats Carlos Villarreal via Unanimous Decision Donkey’s Takeaways: These two decided to really take Hare’s words from the preview and toss them on their head! First, we had said that Baptiste rarely takes it into the clinch. Well, he said, “Oh yeah? Watch this!” and did just that several times during the contest. And a good move on his part as he was effective there and managed to really do some damage wearing down Villarreal with the head and body shots in tight. On the other side of things Hare had mentioned that Villarreal is a striker through and through but Villarreal also mixed things up on us and went into kickboxing mode, using his feet extensively especially with the leg kicks. Baptiste wasn’t half as reserved as we thought he’d be, offering up much more offense and less counter than we’d seen in the past from Action Jackson managed fighters and that was probably a good thing in this one as it helped to gas out Villarreal and score the points he needed in the second and third round to come back and grab a decision with the judges. Another fight that is under consideration for ‘Fight of the Night’ honors and we’ll have to see if they get it or if it goes to Kuznetsov/Wieczorek. With the win Baptiste earns himself a shot to become Top Contender and will face Herve Cabrera next month to see who goes on to a title shot! Villarreal drops his first two fights with SPPS but it certainly helps us figure out where he stands in the overall rankings. With his record coming in it appeared he was poised to immediately make a run to the top but it may take a bit more development and time to establish himself before that happens. *********************** Main Event: Featured Welterweight Bout Red Crow Defeats Ispa Perkele via Unanimous Decision Donkey’s Takeaways: Our last fight of the evening saw Yabai alliance-mates Mikey C and Esiah Xavier go at it in a bid to get a title shot for their kids! Again, much like the prior six fights, this one went to the limit and the judges had to be called up on to make a decision. Now, I’m a bit shocked here that Crow never decided to take this fight to the ground. Normally that’s one of his big moves where he’ll then work the ground and pound but he never made a single attempt at that in this contest. It looks like instead he was confident in his boxing and kickboxing skills and Esiah had him stand and trade with his buddy’s kid. Mikey C, are you going to take that disrespect like that, having Esiah basically say, “Yeah, we can beat this kid at his own game, we don’t even need our normal tricks!” Haha, ok, that’s not how it went down, at least not from what I saw in our chat, but it would have been funny! Crow landed a ton of leg kicks to slow Perkele down and his hands were able to take care of the rest to walk off with the ‘W’. With the win Crow finds himself waiting to see who comes out holding the belt after the upcoming Welterweight Title Fight next week between current champ Ronnie Bass and Igor Vovchanchyn. Once that’s determine, he’ll be able to really focus on a camp that sees him preparing to take on the winner towards the middle or end of April! Perkele will take a week or so to lick his wounds and then he’ll focus on his next challenge which is still to be determined at this time. Perhaps Mister Lee? We’ll see! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! A very fun night out at Hard Knocks – Sydney and we had a blast, as always, with our Sucker Punch faithful in attendance! SPPS 47 is now behind us but we’ll be looking forward to SPPS 48 tonight and hope to see you guys there! If not, catch the live-stream for all the action and we’ll be back to talk about it shortly! 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...
Andrew1221 Posted March 12, 2021 Report Share Posted March 12, 2021 tonight gon be a big night boys! camp beatdown going 2 - 0 tonight! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2021 4 hours ago, Andrew1221 said: tonight gon be a big night boys! camp beatdown going 2 - 0 tonight! Haha, love it! Working on the preview now, now that I'm back from a half day off work and enjoying some fresh air in the park for a change! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleakardor Posted March 13, 2021 Report Share Posted March 13, 2021 Fresh air? pfft, what's that? I live in Houston.. ain't nothing fresh here.. except inventing new fresh ways to ruin a football team, I suppose... lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 48 Hello out there again to all our Sucker Punch fans worldwide! We’ve got another fun one coming at you this evening over at Hard Knocks – Sydney with a full ten fight card, no title fights, but a ton of action from the Middleweight classes on down through Featherweight! Four Middleweight bouts to be exact, along with a trifecta of Featherweight fights, a pair of Lightweight battles. Then a Main Event that features two of the best Welterweights around as Sucker Punch newcomer Keisuke “Kamikaze” Matsuzaka takes on longtime Sucker Punch badass Psiris “Everybody Dies” Fuhren! We’ve got a lot to take a look forward to here and I’d like to get this out several hours before the fights, so I’m going to cut this wordy intro short and we’re going to dive right into the details right after a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner! Do you find that you’re resting your fighters too often? Two, three, maybe even 4 times a week sometimes? If that’s the case, you’re probably not supplementing their training, and if you are I’m thinking you’re not doing it with Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q, which is Shadow Warrior Nutrition’s outstanding energy loss reduction supplement. It’s the best money can buy and will keep your fighter in the gym training rather than sitting days out resting! Stop on over there today, you will NOT be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Middleweights Jouko Juntti Jr (0-0-0) vs. Van Der Veer Jr (4-9-0) Our first fight of the evening will see a somewhat less than prepared Van Der Veer Jr face off against newcomer to Sucker Punch, Jouko Juntti Jr. A couple Juniors going on here! Oh, and Donkey, for Juntti, this isn’t just his Sucker Punch debut, this is his professional debut as well which is pretty damned awesome! He’ll have a somewhat easier time potentially tonight than he might normally due to Der Veer coming into the fight with only about half morale. Der Veer Jr also makes his Sucker Punch debut and I wish I could say I was more impressed. But, he is new to us and perhaps other orgs never spent much time impressing upon their managers and fighters how important things like morale and energy are? Perhaps. Who knows? I will reach out to his manager, Young Chin after tonight to see if I can help with any information on that. He’s a proficient wrestler with a blue belt in Jiu Jitsuand looks to have come by his few wins via submission. Can he pull off the same tonight? We have very little to go by with Juntti Jr obviously given he’s never stepped foot into the cage for formal competition until tonight! But, he looks mostly ready to go, minus just about 10% morale, and from the looks of it has a pretty solid build across the board with proficient boxing and wrestling, some Muay Thai and a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu. If Der Veer was planning to get his win via submission, his skills in that particular secondary skill area had better be very good because it appears Juntti is more than prepared to try to defend if the fight gets to the ground. Can’t wait to see what he and his manager, Dale Saw, try to get done in the cage this evening and how they go about it! Donkey, thoughts…? Donkey’s Pick: Juntti Jr via TKO (Strikes) A really tough call to make with so little to go on. I’m going to assume that at least Juntti’s defense is in place for the ground game given his higher belt in Jiu Jitsu. I also see that he’s more advanced on the feet so that should give him the advantage he needs to pull out a win. Certainly when Van Der Veer’s morale is taken into consideration. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Lightweights Francois Oosthuizen (9-1-0) vs. Bobolo Jubbly (7-4-0) Our second bout of the evening will be your classic striker versus submission artist battle! Both are prepped and ready to go Donkey, something you and I always love to see! Jubbly, as we’ve spoken about so many times before, has exceptional wrestling and a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu and is single-mindedly focused on getting the fight to the ground and working out a submission. That’s how he won his last fight against Giuliani, against Winston before that, and the four of the other five wins he has! Oosthuizen is no slouch on the ground as he has exceptional wrestling and a purple belt. But the goal tonight you’d think would be to avoid flirting with danger and stay off the ground in this one. If he can do that he should be able to absolutely dominate this on the feet. He has exceptional boxing and remarkable Muay Thai, which his wrestling will definitely compliment well. But that’s just the thing, in order to take advantage of those tools he needs to stay on the feet! Donkey’s Pick: Oosthuizen via TKO (Strikes) Both of these fighters have exceptional records and back to back wins putting them in position to make a run at a title shot! A win here for Oosthuizen would give him a second shot at Frankie Logan and the coveted Lightweight Championship belt. For Jubbly, this is his second shot in a Top Contender battle that could give him that same shot. He fell just shy of getting a title shot last time and certainly will be looking to change his fortunes this time around! *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Middleweights Obama Filth (4-3-1) vs. Kiryu Kazuma (4-5-0) Next up we have our second Middleweight contest of the evening with Kiryu Kazuma looking to get back to his winning ways. He started out 2021 by putting up a back to back win on his last fight in 2020 when he defeated Harold Kerzner via decision but then stumbled against a tough as nails Luka Marka last month. Filth, who will be looking to avoid being a rebound win for Kazuma tonight, wants nothing more than to string two of his own W’s together after defeated Jin Yi last month via TKO. Both fighters are prepped and ready to go and have very close skillsets. Kazuma is the slightly more experienced and older fighter while Filth appears to have slight advantages in Muay Thai and with his brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. Donkey, does Kazuma make better use of the clinch tonight…? Donkey’s Pick: Filth via TKO (Strikes) The crazy part is, Kazuma had Marka pretty good and rocked him in the third round of their match. He just couldn’t finish with kudos going out to Marka’s heart and drive on that one. If it weren’t for gassing out and losing via TKO he might have had a hard-earned win there. He tends to go for the clinch quite a bit but then sometimes struggles with effectiveness once there. If he improves upon that, he’s going to become very dangerous. Filth has dangerous skills across the board and put his boxing on full display in the last fight against Yi. Against Kazuma, I think we can expect more of the same hard hitting action. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Middleweights Jin Yi (4-3-0) vs. Jim Beam (5-6-0) Another Middleweight showdown, making this three of our first four fights that feature the Middleweights from our little org! Donkey, it’s almost a travesty here that we have the former Champ in an Undercard bout. But hey, it is what it is as my youngest Rumpler kid at home would say and well, the MMAT gods have deemed this contest to belong right where it is! Both of these men are ready to get at it and I mean gas tanks on full and proper focus and drive heading into this thing! Beam would have already been back in contention for a title shot and a chance to earn back his belt if not for a stumble against Kenji Gotaro last month where he was felled via TKO in the second round. This man has the ability to finish via strikes or submission so no area of the fight is really safe for an opponent. Yi will hope to prove that that’s not entirely true and that a true ground specialist can show Beam a thing or two. With wonderful wrestling and a black belt, it’s highly likely that Yi will want this fight on the ground despite superb boxing and Muay Thai. He’s lost his last two fights via TKO and Decision to some of the better fighters in the division but a win tonight against former champ Beam could turn everything right around! What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Yi via Submission (Armbar) I have to say that I feel bad doing this, and feel like I’m probably disrespecting the former champ, but I like Yi’s overall skills in this one and feel like he’s just not had it all click up to this point. Something tells me that maybe it does tonight. Or, Beam could prove to us once again why he was champ in the first place and start his march right back towards that belt! *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Featherweights Luke Skywalker (5-5-1) vs. Kaoru Nagashima (4-6-0) Ok Donkey, we break into the tiny-tiny’s here with the Featherweights and with it comes ole crazy eyes himself along with young Skywalker! Both are ready to go minus just a bit of energy for Nagashima. With the way things have going lately, that 10% energy could end up playing in! Normally I don’t worry about 10%, but tonight I just have a hung about things. Nagashima comes into this one off a very, very much needed win over Dino Ebedi after having lost five in a row. Yes, FIVE. That’s a rough go for a bit but the submission kneebar he put up was a beauty and perhaps he’s back to getting it done in the cage! He’ll have the Jiu Jitsu advantage again tonight and it would be the perfect time for him to capitalize on that advantage and make it two in a row. Skywalker has been falling in the worst way possible lately…with those nasty judges calling for decisions against him. His last two fights have seen the judges give the fight to his opponents and no doubt he’s sick of that crap! Now the question is, what will he do about it and how does he plan to go about that? He has remarkable boxing but lately has tried to utilize his ground game with exceptional wrestling and a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu. Being that he doesn’t have the advantage on the ground tonight, will he still try to work for a submission? He just might take his chances. What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Nagashima via Submission (Triangle) Nagashima has a brown belt and if Skywalker hasn’t adjusted his tactics and strategy it could play right into ole crazy eyes’ hands. However, if Skywalker switches things up I could definitely see him winning this on the feet as several, such as Red and Cobain, have done before him. Let’s see what happens, I expect a good one here! *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Featherweights Mickey Dismantle (6-3-1) vs. Broklyn Red (4-2-0) Another pair of Featherweights get ready to go at it here as we get into the Main Card. Mickey Dismantle, who looks to no longer be deserving of the emphasis in his last name and has now been stripped of his “I”, will face a tough challenge from Broklyn Red this evening. Now, I’m told that this fight may hold a little bit of home taunting at stake given there may be a son-mentee battle taking place that hopefully won’t result in too much ribbing from one side or the other when all is said and done! This is a battle between two fighters who bring just about equal skills to the table. Dismantle will have the slight edge in Muay Thai while Red has just the slimmest of advantages in both wrestling and boxing. Red will come to the cage for the second time under Alexie Smirnov’s management tonight and if his first outing against Yellow Belt Casey is any hint he’ll try to put this fight into the clinch quite a bit and hope that he can control the action and dictate the pace, taking the striking from range out of Dismantle’s hands. And for Dismantle, that’s likely to be exactly what we can expect to see, an effort to extract himself from Red’s clutches if he gets taken into the clinch and back to range where he excels. When he’s striking and striking well, he’s a very dangerous opponent and the only times he’s fallen really are against significantly skilled grounds specialists. That’s not Red, so this fight is going to be a painful one for at least one, if not both fighters, this evening. Another all-out brawl on the feet Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Dismantle via TKO (Strikes) Dismantle is coming off a disappointing loss in a title fight against Michael Aalto and gets just what the doctor ordered. A good ole fashioned slobber-knocker to get his bearings and put a smile, if not some blood, on his face! Or his opponent’s. And now that he’s no longer saddled with the burdens of too many capital letters the stars are the limit! Or Red could crash this party. We’ll find out tonight! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Lightweights Raleigh St. Clair (8-3-0) vs. Montesh Dominguez (2-5-0) Moving right along Donkey and now we get a couple more Lightweights into the cage here with this one. And again, mostly ready to go, minus maybe some morale and energy for Dominguez here but nothing substantial. Dominguez has stepped up recently and done well with two wins in his last three fights. He gets a real test to see where he stands here against Raleigh St. Clair, very close to him in registered MMAT ID and an excellent challenge to see if he can overcome a fighter who was just in a title fight. A win here would be huge and really propel Dominguez up the ladder! Both of his recent wins were via decision so this is a man who can go the distance and push things to the limit. Even his loss to Oosthuizen was a decision as well. He’s well rounded and will use his boxing, kickboxing or his Muy Thai to get the job done, whatever is needed! Raleight St. Clair is coming off a decision loss to THE Frankie Logan for the title. He’s prepared to be NOBODY’s stepping stone and will absolutely throw down on the feet with Dominguez if that’s his game this evening. With two strings of four wins in a row over his last ten fights he’s won all of them via TKO or KO. This is not a man to be trifled with on the feet and if Montesh wants to really show something tonight, well, he’s got his work cut out for him! Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: St. Clair via KO (Punches) It’s not that I don’t think Dominguez can do it, he can. It’s just that I have to see it first and I know damned well that St. Clair earned his way to that title shot. And took it the distance against a truly amazing champion in Frankie Logan. Perhaps that will also be Dominguez some day. An upset victory this evening could prove to everybody that I’m wrong and this is Dominguez’ destiny now! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Middleweights Brennan Brunswick (6-5-0) vs. Longsun Zhao (6-5-0) We’re getting so close to the Main Events now as we head into our last fight here before we get there! Zhao will take on young upstart Brunswick in this Middleweight contest to see if he can put an end to the kid’s run and undefeated streak! Zhao had a bit of a setback for a while having lost five of six fights over the course of six months. He seems to have come out of that funk and risen above now with two wins over Bill Sherman and Volkov over the past two months. Via KO and TKO with the KO gaining him ‘KO of the Night’ honors! It didn’t take him many strikes against Volkov to end things, so he’s definitely been bringing the heat with those punches and kicks lately! Brunswick has a perfect 5-0 record with three of those wins coming via TKO and KO, similar to Zhao’s path to victory. Where they differ is that Brunswick tends to enjoy dancing up close in the clinch and will likely try to drive the fight there tonight as well given that’s never been a tendency for Zhao. Can he drive this fight the way he wants to walk away with that goose egg intact in the ‘L’ column? Donkey, how do you see this one going…? Donkey’s Pick: Zhao via KO (Head Kick) You know, it wouldn’t surprise me if Brunswick changes things up and runs with his Jiu Jitsu advantage tonight. But until we see that happen we’ll just assume that it’s defensive in nature. Everything tells me that we should look to the undefeated young whippersnapper in this one, but I have that tingling sensation telling me that we might have an ‘of the Night’ coming in this one, and a Head Kick KO would certainly be the thing that grabs that! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Featherweight Bout Kurt Cobain(8-3-0) vs. Yellow Belt Casey (10-6-0) Our Co-Main Event will give us another one of those classic striker versus grappler matchups! Casey is very skilled on the ground and will have the advantage there with his proficient wrestling and brown belt. He’s been known to pull off a sub or two and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him try to get this thing on the ground to avoid Cobain’s more than just a little bit dangerous striking this evening! Cobain is working to try to get back to the top and gain another shot at the title after losing to Aalto in his last bid four fights ago. He’s certainly been making a solid case over his last two fights with wins over Kongsangchai and Luke Skywalker. We noticed that today is Cobain’s birthday and when speaking with Andrew Wittig, his manager, we were told the following: “Yeah, it’s his birthday and he been talking all week bout how he can’t wait to knock a bitch out. Now that it is fight night, I am thankful because I was kind of afraid he may have been talking about his GF at first.” The last thing we want is Cobain getting into legal trouble and bringing the heat down upon SPPS, so let’s get this kid in the cage and give him a legitimate target for his aggressions! Casey had better be prepared for those hands we think! Donkey…you have to be psyched about this one eh…? Donkey’s Pick: Cobain via TKO (Strikes) Well, certainly when you see that Cobain is amped and ready to rock somebody’s world. And that somebody happens to be Casey. Casey won’t just roll over and take it though. Actually, he might, but only because he’ll want this on the ground and can be VERY dangerous there! If it gets to the ground, Cobain had better have some solid defense ready to go and an ability to get back to his feet. Otherwise, this thing may not go the way he’s so eager to see it go! *********************** Main Event: Featured Welterweight Bout Keisuke Matsuzaka (9-3-1) vs. Psiris Fuhren (7-3-0) The Main Event will see newcomer to Sucker Punch, Matsuzaka, face off against a familiar face around these parts, Psiris Fuhren! And nothing says “welcome” like having to face a man who is pissed off because he’s had two shots at the title and been unfortunate enough to fall just shy both times! Fuhren took his frustrations out upon poor Weston Hodkiewicz last month and then saw the man retire from the sport afterward! Now, he’s looking to put a hurting via TKO or KO on his next victim by giving Matsuzaka a rude welcome to our little corner of the world down in Sydney! Donkey, hell, Fuhren’s promo and bio info even states… “Two-time title challenger in Sucker Punch. Fuhren has killed one man in the cage and retired another.” Matsuzaka, managed by general all-around good guy G Wad, hasn’t worked his way to a 9-3-1 record by being stared down and intimidated by opposing fighters. Previously with BFC and the new BBFC after leaving Checkmate earlier in his career, Matsu is coming in to Sucker Punch off a TKO victory over Bo Garrett. He’s pretty straightforward in his approach with mad boxing skills and a desire to dish out pain! He’ll deal with the clinch if you insist but has done most of his work with his fists from range, not really going to the feet much. Pure boxing, no-nonsense. Come get some is what he’s likely offering Fuhren this evening! Donkey…who gets it in this big time showdown…? Donkey’s Pick: Matsuzaka via TKO (Strikes) This is a hell of an evenly matched fight with two confident, talented and dangerous strikers! You could flip the coin, but that’s taking the easy way out. I’m going to call for the newcomer to find a way this evening with Matsuzaka grabbing a victory. But I’m only picking one of these guys because it would be wimping out not to and really, this is just a ‘MUST-SEE’ fight for all fans! It’s a hell of a Main Event! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! Great action over at Hard Knocks – Sydney in just about two hours from now and it’d be a mistake to miss this one folks! No titles on the line but a hell of a lot of important fights with guaranteed thrills to be had! Be there or catch the live broadcast, but either way, don’t miss it! Till then, have fun and don’t forget… Keep it cheap and dirty…Sucker Punch Pro Series 355k+ style! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2021 POST EVENT CHEAP SHOTS Sucker Punch Pro Series 48 Welcome back all you crazy Sucker Punch fans! It’s been a few days now since SPPS 48 went off over at Hard Knocks – Sydney and I’ve had a chance to go through, process everything from this event as well as the last and get matches set up for this coming month (for the most part, with some exceptions for guys I’m waiting on better matchups for). So, as usual, let’s get ready to look back on the action from the other night! I’m Hare Rumpler and as always I’ll have my friend and analyst, Donkey “Dan” with me here in the booth as we pick apart all the action from Saturday! SPPS 48 took a totally different path than its predecessor, SPPS 47, did! While SPPS 47 midweek last week was full of fights that went the distance and put things in the hands of the judges, SPPS 48 this past weekend was the total opposite with only a single fight going to a Decision! On top of that, only a single Submission finish as well, with all of the other eight fights ending via TKO or KO! So if you like hard hitting action that leaves a mark, well, this one was for you folks! Our two Main Events were KO’s as well with both ending just barely into the second minute of action! Big time finishes that earned those two fights ‘KO of the Night’ and ‘Fight of the Night’ honors for closing out the card with a BANG! Let’s shut me up and dive right into the details right after a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner! Our fantastic and respected sponsor is Shadow Warrior Nutrition! Many of you already know them as the providers of Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q, THE energy loss reduction supplements! For those of you who aren’t in the know on that, you should be, because this is the way you keep your fighter training more often and not taking sessions off to try to keep his energy above 90%! If you aren’t using this supplement, hurry over and check them out today, you will not be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Middleweights Jouko Juntti Jr Defeats Van Der Veer Jr via TKO (Strikes) Juntti got himself off to a great start with the career here by scoring a first round TKO over Van Der Veer that took barely more than a minute to get done! Van Der Veer unfortunately came unprepared and paid the price for that sin, as happens more often than not! Just ask Donkey, as he’s a firm believer in the Church of Preparation when it comes to success or not in the cage here at Sucker Punch…or anywhere for that matter. Der Veer surprised nobody when he made the move to get a takedown in this fight with four attempts over the course of a minute. Clearly he felt that that was his one and only path to victory as he never threw a strike. Juntti did attempt to take this fight into the clinch several times, succeeding once early but then exiting almost as quickly. After that it was just a demonstration of accurate and hard striking as he almost went perfect, landing all of his head, body and combination shots but missing a single leg kick! And that was all it took as Der Veer’s lack of confidence and focus coming in allowed Juntti to take the fight out of him really fast and really effectively… “Juntti Jr connects with a good right hand that stumbles Der Veer Jr. Der Veer Jr circles away out of range and recomposes himself. Juntti Jr walks forward and throws a big overhand right! Der Veer Jr drops to the floor like a sack of potatoes! Juntti Jr swarms on him with more punches until the referee wrestles him away from Der Veer Jr's unconscious body! Wow, that was brutal!” Donkey, thoughts…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Hare, on any other night this probably would have easily been in contention for ‘KO of the Night’ honors! But tonight the hard hitting action was abundant and with a few high profile fights on tap it just couldn’t grab that award. Juntti Jr certainly did a fantastic job getting things done in there though and both he and his management team should be ecstatic going into next month and eager to get into the gym to continue moving forward. Der Veer Jr absolutely must fix his morale or he’ll take another loss next month and be done before he gets going here at Sucker Punch. Hopefully Hare gets off his butt and remembers to message his manager to see what we can do to help out. You hear me Hare? Do your job man! *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Lightweights Francois Oosthuizen Defeats Bobolo Jubbly via TKO (Strikes) Donkey, I have to tell you that I think Oosthuizen just about shocked most of the Sucker Punch world in this one!!! In the preview I had said, “Oosthuizen is no slouch on the ground as he has exceptional wrestling and a purple belt. But the goal tonight you’d think would be to avoid flirting with danger and stay off the ground in this one.” Well, he proved me right on the first part…and then went a step further and said, “I can do a bit better than that!” Jubbly went for and, on his second try, got the takedown you’d expect from him. And from there the inevitable string of submission attempts began in earnest! This was the part where Oosthuizen proves he can handle himself on the ground…as he goes the entire round fending off sub after sub attempt and walks out of the round alive. Yes, SIXTEEN sub attempts by Jubbly and Oosthuizen was able to avoid being finished! Impressive. The second round is the part that shocked most of the SPPS universe and also the part where Oosthuizen clearly decided to show me a thing or two! A half minute into the round, the fight goes to the mat again. Only…not by Jubbly’s doing. Say what?!? Yep, you read that correctly…Oosthuizen did the honors and this time he had the top position after landing in Jubbly’s guard. Of course, you know that won’t stop Jubbly’s submission attempts…and of course can and probably did make them even more dangerous than ever given Oosthuizen was now busy not only fending them off but landing strikes from above in return! About three and a half minutes in the brutal assault of over twenty ground and pound shots took it’s toll and Jubbly was rocked! But not so much that he wasn’t willing to offer up one last submission attempt in a ‘last gasp’ type scenario. Oosthuizen was having none of it though and went in for the kill… “Jubbly has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Oosthuizen is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Jubbly. Oosthuizen in side control here. He's dropped a big elbow there and Jubbly looks hurt! Oh, he is hurt! Oosthuizen turns on the heat and pounds him out for a TKO victory! Good killer instinct there!” Exceptional turn of events Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Oosthuizen showing some serious new direction there with his strategy and moves in this fight! Jubbly went into this probably expecting to be the viper on the ground and the last thing he expected was to find he was dealing with a mongoose! Again, if it weren’t for a couple high profile fights later in the night this one right here would have taken ‘Fight of the Night’ honors! That just tells you what a fun card we were dealing with. Seeing Oosthuizen’s evolution at this point of his career shows me that this kid and his team are 100% focused on making him a force to be reckoned with! His loss to Frankie Logan for the title four fights back has clearly motivated him to come back infinitely more dangerous than he was before with this fight earning him a rematch. Frankie had better not come into the title fight in April thinking he’s facing the same Oosthuizen or he’ll be sadly mistaken! Jubbly stumbled a bit here in a fight that got moved into his own kitchen. That’s perhaps a little concerning and we’re going to run things back a little bit next month and see what happens in a Jubbly/Furioto rematch. They met about six months ago in the cage and Jubbly came out on top. Is he still the superior ground specialist or has Furioto caught up and passed him? *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Middleweights Kiryu Kazuma Defeats Obama Filth via TKO (Strikes) Well Donkey, your first missed pick of the night so far here with this one. You had taken Filth via TKO but Kazuma turned that one around on you! And he did it in under a minute! In the preview I’d asked, “Donkey, does Kazuma make better use of the clinch tonight…?” But who would have known that he’d say, “To hell with the clinch!” and just flat out bring the heat?!? Kazuma and his corner came into this fight with a brand new strategy and that was clearly to drop bombs! He was aggressive out of the gate and landed some heavy hands four times on eight head shots in under a minute. And that was all it took! He out-struck a striker in Filth and some might even suggest that perhaps a month’s worth of frustration over not finishing Marka in the prior fight when he had the chance was unleashed in this one! Bombs like this…will get the job done folks…especially when they have a lot of pent up frustration behind them… “Kazuma lands a big uppercut and Filth crumbles to the floor! The ref thinks about stopping the fight but Filth looks OK. Kazuma waves Filth back to his feet! It looks like Obama Filth has been cut. The crowd are loving this. Great action here. Kazuma drops a shoulder and throws an uppercut that cracks Filth right on the button. Filth goes down! Kazuma follows him to the mat and finishes the job with more strikes! Kazuma gets the win via TKO!” Donkey, was this a therapy session for Kazuma…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Well, that could certainly be one way of looking at it Hare! Only I think Filth was the one paying for the session in that case. This was certainly just what the doctor ordered for Kazuma though. With three wins out of his last four, Kazuma absolutely has a brand new attitude. As Team Lundgren seems to have overall in 2021! We’re going to find out just how far that new attitude can take him next month when he faces former champ Nyah Hirst. A win there would propel Kazuma right into the Top 10 and have him in position to make a run at contention! Filth on the other hand finds himself without management after this one. Tomo the Chosen One has clearly decided that Filth is no longer HIS chosen one. You have to suspect he’s questioning Filth’s chin and/or heart at this point. Filth is still a highly skilled fighter though and perhaps simply needs a new approach. We’ll find out if anybody takes a flier on him. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Middleweights Jin Yi Defeats Jim Beam via Submission (Kimura) Wow Donkey! Look at you calling for the submission victory in this one over former champ Jim Beam! I’m certain that the Craven crew is not appreciative of that! But you did get it right and Yi appears to have had things click for him just as you said with, “…but I like Yi’s overall skills in this one and feel like he’s just not had it all click up to this point.” Beam came into this fight with what appears to be a plan to use the clinch to get some serious work in on Yi’s body to prep him for a finish. Unfortunately for him, Yi seemed to have taken my words to heart in this one when I said that, “This man (Beam) has the ability to finish via strikes or submission so no area of the fight is really safe for an opponent. Yi will hope to prove that that’s not entirely true and that a true ground specialist can show Beam a thing or two.” Show it Yi did, as just before the two minute mark of the contest he scored a takedown and the race for a submission between these two began! Beam got two of his own attempts in but was unable to pull them off before Yi got his turn, with the second being the one that paid off… “Yi in half guard on the top. He's looking for a kimura... He's got it locked and he's managed to free his trapped foot. Beam tries to escape but it's on too tight and he has to tap! Great BJJ skills there from Yi!” Where does this put these guys Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Well certainly for Yi this win was huge! A win to stop the bleeding after two losses and over a former champ at that. Nothing better to get the tide turned and things on the right track! Beam on the other hand finds things in a bit of a predicament and both he and his team have to be scratching their collective heads trying to figure out what little piece of the puzzle has come undone. A loss of the belt in the first defense and then two follow-up losses since is not the direction a top caliber fighter expects to see things go! I’m told by their team that they’re going to be looking at making some big changes going forward so the next time we see Beam fight things could get very interesting! *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Featherweights Luke Skywalker Defeats Kaoru Nagashima via Unanimous Decision We finish up the Undercard here Donkey with a fight that, while not scoring a huge rating with the fans, absolutely thrilled me! Why? Because we got to see a fighter desperate for a win make the necessary adjustments and pull it off beautifully! In the preview I had said, “He’ll (Nagashima) have the Jiu Jitsu advantage again tonight and it would be the perfect time for him to capitalize on that advantage and make it two in a row.” And Nagashima certainly did make that attempt. The first round of this fight was spent almost entirely on the ground after he scored a takedown and he was having his way with Skywalker both with the ground and pound as well as some decent submission attempts! But Skywalker showed us two things; First that his ground defense against submissions was ready and strong enough to get the job done and second, that he can take some abuse and has the heart to push through it! Now, that’s not to say that you want to stay in that position if you don’t have to! And with the start of the second round Skywalker clearly had had enough of the “taking” and was ready to do some of the “giving”! He stepped up his takedown defense with a few words and notes from his corner and from that point forward repelled every attempt Nagashima made to return the fight to the mat! For two full rounds twenty-three takedowns were declined with a polite, “No thank you!” And in between Skywalker was able to adjust his game plan beautifully, moving from focusing on the ground game as he has in the past to keeping this on the feet and striking efficiently! He did that for a solid two rounds and, with it, flipped the script from losses via decision as had been happening lately to a much needed win! Solid win for Skywalker, Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Very solid. And this win puts Skywalker above .500 for the first time in a while after some losses to tough opponents in Aalto and Cobain, with that Aalto fight having been for the belt. At 22 years old, Skywalker is still young and has plenty of development in front of him still. It will be exciting to see where he goes from here and how he develops! He’ll take on Godefroy Courtial, newcomer to Sucker Punch, next month. A proven winner, Courtial will certainly test Skywalker to see where he stands, and likewise, Skywalker will do the same for Courtial! Nagashima is in a tough spot at this point. With six losses in seven fights he’s really in desperate need of some positivity. Next month, he’ll get a chance to fight on his own terms as Yellow Belt Casey will likely be happy to join him on the ground. Nagashima needs to prove that given the chance to fight down there he can get it done. If not…well… *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Featherweights Mickey Dismantle Defeats Broklyn Red via KO (Punch) We get into the Main Card here and kick things off with our first true called KO of the evening! And in just under two minutes…impressive! Andrew Wittig, manager for Mickey Dismantle, pulled a fast one on me and his opponent in this fight. We had noted that while Dismantle had the advantage in Muay Thai he almost never chooses to go there. On the other hand with a look at his most recent fight under new management, Red has indeed used the clinch effectively. Our thought was that Dismantle would come into this wanting to strike at range while avoiding the clinch with Red. Not so. Instead Dismantle was the one to move up close and get personal with Red. And once in the clinch, Red decided he was going to try to work the ground game in this one, making nine attempts to get the fight to the ground from the clinch. Ok, we probably could have been more right about how this fight was going to go! Haha. After getting a couple shots in on Red but missing several knees to the body Dismantle was able to separate after another failed takedown by Red and got back to what he does best…striking from range. Ahhhh, now this is what we were expecting! Sure enough, just a half minute later… “A lazy left from Dismantle finds its target. Red is rocked! Dismantle darts in and lands a big hook, right on the button! Red's legs crumble underneath him as he falls to the canvas! The ref tackles Dismantle before he gets to land any more shots to his stricken foe.” And the crowd goes, “Oooooh!” Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Dismantle was on a tear and that’s why he got the title shot last month. He’s been dominant in this division outside the Top 5 his entire career and at just 22 years old is still putting the final pieces and touches on his full set of skills! This man definitely has the ability to be back in the title picture and not just once. Expect to see him lurking and biding his time until he’s ready to pounce! Red has been back and forth, back and forth and that remains under new manager Alexei Smirnov. At 21 years old he’s got an exceptional level of skill and is going to be an exciting fighter to continue watching in this division! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Lightweights Raleigh St. Clair Defeats Montesh Dominguez via TKO (Strikes) Sometimes just being able to dictate where the fight takes place is the actual battle in itself. That was certainly the case in this fight as St. Clair’s ability to control the fight, force it to take place both in the clinch and on the ground and then capitalize on his advantages in both was the key to victory! The strategy here by St. Clair was ideal in that he was able to keep Dominguez from being where he wanted to be, which was in a position to take advantage of his kickboxing. Dominguez has had success in the clinch in the past and was able to land some good shots in this one as well, especially with his diverse attack using hands, knees and elbows, but St. Clair’s aggression gave him the advantage. It was when this fight moved to the ground in the second round that Dominguez was truly removed from his element as St. Clair was able to gain position and rain down the abuse. There’s nothing worse than being terrorized on the ground and then having to lay there while seeing your opponent go celebrate up on the cage… “St. Clair postures up from his opponent's guard, before exploding into some vicious ground and pound! Dominguez covers up, he's hurt! St. Clair keeps throwing the strikes, glancing at the referee... Will he stop it?? One more big shot from St. Clair and the ref steps in to end the fight! St. Clair can't hide his delight as he celebrates with his corner.” Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: St. Clair bounces back from his title fight loss to Frankie Logan with this win and returns to the hunt for his next opportunity. We’re not sure who he’s going to face next but we may be searching for a good fight from the outside as many of our existing fighters are scheduled up at the moment. Dominguez seemed to have turned the corner a few fights back and has been able to capitalize when the fights are in the middle of the pack range. Against Oosthuizen and St. Clair though, two of the top tier fighters in the division, he’s struggled. It may be that his niche is in the middle of the pack, for now, until he develops further. He’s only 21 years old so there is plenty of development ahead for this kid! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Middleweights Brennan Brunswick Defeats Longsun Zhao via TKO (Strikes) Our last fight before the Main Events and I’m not going to lie Donkey, this one was a little bit shocking! Young Brunswick continues to impress as he holds onto his undefeated record, moving to 6-0, while taking out a much more experienced opponent in Longsun Zhao! I’m also not going to lie about the fact that I’m 100%, totally and completely shocked that Zhao never offered any offense in this fight. I mean…nothing. Not a single strike thrown. Granted, Brunswick came out of the bell aggressive, working for the clinch, getting it most of the time and battering Zhao from the outset…so perhaps Zhao was thrown of his game entirely right from the start and found himself gassed and body-beat before he could get going…but it was still a bit…crazy. Less than halfway into the second round, with Zhao just acting like a punching bag that Brunswick was humping on and having his way… “Brunswick creates some distance for himself and unleashes a massive uppercut that sends Zhao's eyes rolling into the back of his head! Zhao drops to his knees and Brunswick pours it on with more strikes until the referee steps in to end the bout!” Donkey, what do you make of that…? Donkey’s Takeaways: I’m just as shocked as you are Hare. I’ve never seen Zhao offer no resistance whatsoever. It’s like somebody shot his dog earlier in the week or something and he was just mentally nowhere to be found. With the loss he moves back to .500 and while he still has plenty of time to get things going in the right direction let’s hope there aren’t more performances like this one. Maybe facing former Top Contender Sean Smith next month will wake him from his funk? Brunswick is just red-hot at this point and despite being only 19 years old it’s clearly only going to be a matter of time before he starts eyeing the top dogs in the division. His manager will have his work cut out for him to keep this kid’s enthusiasm in check! But I know one thing, we’re not trying to keep the fans’ enthusiasm in check, not one bit! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Featherweight Bout Kurt Cobain Defeats Yellow Belt Casey via KO (Punch) Our Co-Main Event delivered the ‘KO of the Night’ award winner after Cobain went and called his shot leading into this contest! Andrew Wittig was amped about his kid’s chances in this fight, clearly feeling that Cobain needed an outlet for his aggression over the past month. He couldn’t have been more thrilled that fight night was upon them and he didn’t have to keep trying to keep Cobain in check. You know who could have been more thrilled about it? Yellow Belt Casey. This guy got one shot at a takedown that he needed, wanted and had to have. Cobain wasn’t cooperating. Instead, they ended up trading shots, with Casey landing a couple combos, but that is NOT an activity that most people want to spend any quality time in with Cobain! Donkey had said in the preview that, “…you see that Cobain is amped and ready to rock somebody’s world. And that somebody happens to be Casey. Casey won’t just roll over and take it though.” Unfortunately, it seems Casey didn’t have a lot of say in the matter on this night. Unable to get this fight to the ground, Casey was left to fend for himself on the feet and really it was only a matter of time before Cobain delivered… “No joy there for Casey, who threw a few shots but didn't land. Cobain getting the better of the striking in that exchange. Casey is rocked! Casey walks into a picture perfect straight right hand from Cobain! He's gone down face first to the canvas, unconscious before he even hit the floor! Ohhhh. My. Goodness! That boys and girls was a beautiful knockout! Give that man a biscuit!” Donkey, the fans certainly enjoyed it even if Casey didn’t, eh…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Cobain is showing that nasty side again that got him into position to be a Top Contender and earned him a shot at the title once already. If it weren’t for Herve Cabrera and Baptiste already scheduled to fight for the Top Contender status Cobain would already be next in line, perhaps with only Petsuwan Sitsongrit having something to say about it. Cobain is going to get his shot again sometime in the next couple months and you better believe he’s leaving ‘Mr. Nice Guy’ at home when that chance arrives. Casey clearly didn’t see this fight go anywhere near the way he’d hoped. With losses to Red and now Cobain, he’ll be looking to rebound and refine a few skills as he moves forward. He’ll get a big chance to play where he likes, on the ground, against Nagashima next month! *********************** Main Event: Featured Welterweight Bout Keisuke Matsuzaka Defeats Psiris Fuhren via KO (Punch) Here we go Donkey, the Main Event as well as our ‘Fight of the Night’!!! Donkey called this fight and everything about it! In the preview, his comments after making the pick were, “This is a hell of an evenly matched fight with two confident, talented and dangerous strikers! You could flip the coin, but that’s taking the easy way out. I’m going to call for the newcomer to find a way this evening with Matsuzaka grabbing a victory. But I’m only picking one of these guys because it would be wimping out not to and really, this is just a ‘MUST-SEE’ fight for all fans! It’s a hell of a Main Event!” This fight turned out to be every bit of that…for what little bit of time it lasted! Ending in just over a minute and a half, these two fearsome strikers came out tossing bombs! You don’t normally see Welterweights who take Hurt’s “Ten Ton Brick” and make it their theme song, much less two guys who come at you the same way, but I’ll be damned if it shouldn’t be the walk out for at least one of these two! And after the way this went down, maybe Matsuzaka has earned the honors! Five shots by Fuhren, two landing…Seven shots by Matsuzaka, four landing…but these are the ones that counted… “Fuhren throws a combination that misses and Matsuzaka counters with a crisp right hand that drops Fuhren! Matsuzaka lets Fuhren back up to his feet, looking for a finish! Fuhren is rocked! Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd. Fuhren misses with a jab to the body and Matsuzaka counters with a powerful cross that connects right on the chin and the lights go out! A massive one punch knock out!” When you throw big, you drop big, eh Donkey…? Donkey’s Takeaways: Oh hell yeah! This one may not have lasted long, but the fans certainly didn’t mind! They were on their feet watching every one of these bombs come crashing down. Everybody in the building could see from the look in both of these guys’ eyes that somebody was going to sleep! They didn’t disappoint. Matsuzaka immediately establishes himself as a concern for everybody at the top of this division and stakes claim to a future Top Contender battle sooner than later. Probably after one more big win if he can snag it over the very skilled Mister Lee next month! That’s a fight I can’t wait to see. For Fuhren, a definite setback on his comeback bid. But he’s been a little out of his element at this weight and we’re in discussions now about a possible return to 185, which would be intriguing to say the least. *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! TONS of great action from SPPS 48 and I can’t imagine having missed this one! If you weren’t there or didn’t catch the fights on the stream, you have to go back and catch up folks! For all our fans out there, I can’t wait to get back to our action this coming weekend as we’ve got SPPS 49 coming your way featuring Ronnie Bass defending his Welterweight Championship Belt against Igor Vovchanchyn! Now there…is a MUST WATCH fight! 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...
HareRumpler Posted March 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2021 SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 49 Welcome to Friday…and Saturday down undah in Sydney…to all our Sucker Punch fans out there! And you know what that means! That means it’s time for us to get back to the action tonight at Hard Knocks – Sydney for SPPS 49! 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 forward at what should be a fantastic night of action. We’ll be watching a lot of the “middle ground” stuff tonight with only a sole Lightweight bout kicking us off. Then we’ll be spending the majority of our evening checking out the Welterweights and Middleweights along with our Light Heavyweights, who have four fights scheduled on tonight’s card! The last of those four Light Heavyweight bouts will be the big showdown between challenger Igor Vovchanchyn as he steps into the cage in the final stage of his quest to get his belt back from now current Champion Ronnie Bass! We’ve got a lot to take a look forward to here so let’s get a word about our sponsor and merchandise partner and move onto the good stuff! Shadow Warrior Nutrition will be on hand at the event tonight and I cannot say enough about how much we appreciate having them as our merchandise partner and sponsor here at Sucker Punch! Do yourself a favor…better yet, do your fighters who you spend so much time developing and preparing a favor…and stop by the stand tonight or visit their store to grab some of their Shadow Warrior Tea 160Q. It is literally the best energy loss reduction supplement money can buy and will keep your fighter in the gym training rather than sitting days out resting! Stop on over there today, you will NOT be disappointed! Now, let's get to it! *********************** Undercard Bout #1: Lightweights Jamal Jameson (5-4-1) vs. Ryo Hazuki (0-2-0) We’ll open up the night with this Lightweight battle that pits Hazuki’s standup striking skills against Jameson’s ground and pound approach to the striking game! Hazuki has had a rough start to his career as he’s dropped his first two professional MMA fights both here at Sucker Punch. First against potential future Top Contender Yip Man and then last month against young upstart Brendan Wallace. He’ll 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. Jameson, as mentioned, is a ground and pounder who has a 2-1 record since joining Sucker Punch from Checkmate. He started out strong with wins over Tua Graves and the very same Brendan Wallace who downed Hazuki last month, giving Wallace his only loss to date. However, he too fell short in his bid against Yip Man so both he and Hazuki have that in common. Tonight he’ll want to move this fight to the ground and test Hazuki’s grappling and defensive skills down there. Donkey, thoughts…? Donkey’s Pick: Jameson via TKO (Strikes) I need to see Hazuki figure out how to put the pieces of the puzzle together to give him an effective run in the cage before I can give him the nod. Also, this will be a chance to see if his ground defense has improved since the Yip Man fight. I think if Jameson can get this fight to the ground he might be able to control it there. But that’s the key, if he can get it to the ground. *********************** Undercard Bout #2: Light Heavyweights Mike Bard (5-5-0) vs. Nemesis Steed (4-2-0) I’d love to tell you that this Light Heavyweight matchup will be a tough fought one tonight but honestly, Donkey, that just isn’t true. Steed will come into this fight unprepared, again, with his morale about half what it should be and that’s likely to result in yet another loss. That’ll make it three here at Sucker Punch as he adds onto the other two against Rajantaka and Junior and will likely give Bard a chance to move above .500 to 6-5 overall. Steed’s two losses have come from as different approaches as possible with one via head kick KO and the other via a submission. However, his prior win in the QFC was a TKO that he finished in the first thirty seconds of the fight so he does have the ability to finish on the feet. Granted, that was against a considerably inferior opponent with zero morale. If he intends to win tonight, he’s going to have to be aggressive and get ahead on the scorecard to counter his lack of morale heading into the fight. Bard was having a bit of a rough go of it over his five fights prior to last month with a 1-4 record and three losses in a row leading up to his battle with Atilla Dorn. He turned it around a bit against Dorn by taking it the distance and getting the nod from the judges. A chance to walk in tonight, go about his business in a solid way, and walk away with a win is just what the doctor ordered! Given Bard’s history and Steed’s general lack of ground skills we can absolutely expect to see this fight on the ground in short order and then a healthy dose of ground and pound dished out by Bard. Donkey’s Pick: Bard via TKO (Strikes) I don’t think anybody really had to bother asking me for my pick in this one given Steeds lack of morale. By now everybody should know I won’t pick for the unprepared. So Bard likely gets this one. I won’t call it a lock because a lucky shot can always happen early especially when takedown attempts are being made, but it’s as close to one as you can get. *********************** Undercard Bout #3: Middleweights Stefan De Jong (8-7-0) vs. Craig Kraig (5-3-0) Donkey, normally you know that I’d be flat out pissed off about a situation like this one where not one fighter, but both, come into the fight unprepared. But I’m not and do you know why? Because I fully expected it given the history on these two fighters. Kraig had been coming into fights unprepared for as far back as I can recall. He’d gotten lucky several times and managed to pull out wins, which honestly is disappointing because that means this kid has potential but is just being wasted by mismanagement, but it was only a matter of time until it caught up with him. He’s on the last fight of his contract and it won’t be renewed. I had high hopes that Stefan De Jong was going to turn things around and start showing up prepared though. I’d been in contact with his manager, we’d helped with some funds for clothing and both he and Roddy Richards, his teammate, were showing some progress. And then their manager, Connor Kenway, appears to have gone MIA for the past two weeks and…well, here we are. Well Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Kraig via TKO (Strikes) Kraig will likely win this one and he’ll be able to take a little bit of hype and popularity with him to his next gig. Along with a very misleading 4-1 record over his past five fights. But let me make this very clear…if he hadn’t been fighting the bottom of the division the entire time, he’s have stood zero chance in these fights due to lack of preparation. De Jong will also probably find himself looking for a new gig after this fight as well so the outcome hardly matters in the long run for SPPS. *********************** Undercard Bout #4: Welterweights Lors Loria (6-5-0) vs. DJ Costune (5-6-0) Alright Donkey! Finally, a couple of Welterweights here as we get towards the back end of the Undercard and these two actually seem to give a damn! Woot! So…well, then so do I! Costune had been on just a…well, is horrible the right description for the run he was on? Traumatizing? Infuriating…at least for him and his team? Maybe just troubling is the word. Anyways, he’d lost five in a row here at SPPS and if you go back two more fights it had been 1-6. That’s more than rough. But, last month he bounced back for a big win over M^3 in a Unanimous Decision that saw the two of them put on the ‘Fight of the Night’! Nice. Now, can he back it up with another tonight? 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? That’ll be interesting to see. Loria is coming in off a three fight losing streak and wants nothing more than to snap that skid and walk away with a ‘W’ over Costune this evening. He 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. That said, in the striking game any shot landed can be the difference maker so he’ll need to come with solid striking defense queued up! His prior three fights were lost in just about every way possible, with a KO loss to Sanchez, a submission by Mandinos and then a decision last month to Marchionni, a fight that was well fought and earned ‘Fight of the Night’ but still goes down as an ‘L’ for Loria. It’s time to learn from those losses and turn things around! What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Loria via Unanimous Decision This is a very difficult fight to pick as overall these two have very even skills and recently a similar record. Both have a burning need to come in tonight and get a win. The only aspect I can use to give an edge to one side or the other is if Costune comes in with the same approach, either by choice or need if he doesn’t have the ground game offense, and then I think the slight edge goes to Loria. *********************** Undercard Bout #5: Welterweights Mandinos vs. Marchionni II Kahdi Mandinos (8-5-0) vs. Pietro Marchionni (6-6-0) Ok Donkey, Mandinos versus Marchionni is a rematch as they last faced each other almost six months ago. Here in MMAT, that’s a lifetime practically with six fights between. They’ve had a lot of time to evolve and modify their approach to the fight over that time and it’ll be intriguing to see what each brings to the cage this time around! The rematch made a lot of sense for us at this point as both are 22 years old, both are close in MMAT registered ID, they’re close in record and their skills are very, very evenly matched. That is, evenly matched, but with Mandinos having the stronger ground game while Marchionni will clearly have the advantage on the feet and in the clinch. That won’t keep him from potentially wanting to play footsies on the ground though, as both have been known to take it to the mat for some action and Marchionni is not afraid of that scenario! The first time these two met, Mandinos got the win on what many felt was a fluke TKO via slam! The only one that we’ve ever seen here at Sucker Punch! Granted, he also had Marchionni rocked late in the first round due to a nasty ground and pound game, so we’re here to find out what Marchionni will do this time around to swing things to his advantage, and how Mandinos may counter! What do you see here Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Marchionni via TKO (Strikes) I’m expecting an absolutely fantastic battle here as we close out the Undercard and think that perhaps Marchionni finds a way to tie up this series with Mandinos! Do I hear rubber match at some point?!? Or is that just wishful thinking? *********************** Main Card Bout #1: Light Heavyweights Joe Junior (7-3-0) vs. Tarmo Rajantaka (6-5-0) We kick off the Main Card here Donkey with a really awesome fight between Light Heavyweights Rajantaka and Joe Junior! 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. He came into Sucker Punch on a roll with two wins in a row but then lost by submission last month to Derwent Bolt. Clearly the ground game is an area he’ll want to work on if he hasn’t been already, at least with his Jiu Jitsu as he shows a blue belt in that area. Junior has shown us several things in the past which make this fight very, very interesting. First, he can definitely throw hands when separated. He’s a nasty boxer who can land them with some pop! We also know that when things end up on the ground his superb wrestling and purple belt in Jiu Jitsu have allowed him to handle his business defensively. Now, the other piece of information we have is something that both he and Rajantaka will hopefully have taken a note on this past month. 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. We already mentioned that this is a strength of Rajantaka’s, so the key for Junior will be staying out of the clinch or potentially having worked on improving his skills there. An all-out brawl on the feet Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Rajantaka via TKO (Strikes) I would think so! I’m dying to see if Junior can take care of business and keep this fight from getting into a nasty up close and personal affair. If he can’t, then this fight will swing right into Rajantaka’s favor. Prepare for a very entertaining fight folks! *********************** Main Card Bout #2: Light Heavyweights John Fury (5-1-0) vs. Tank Tribute (7-3-0) Our third of three bigtime Light Heavyweight bouts this evening will likely be an all-out war on the feet between Tank Tribute and John Fury! Ooh, this is going to be a hard-hitting one I’d think Donkey! Tribute brings a really solid 7-3 record to the cage this evening and while he has remarkable wrestling and a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu he’s definitely known more for his aggressive boxing, especially as demonstrated under new manager John Wayne last month against Devin Ecker! Before that he had a standup war with Krol that went the distance and showed that Tribute definitely has some heart and a chin! Fury, a former Top Contender who had a title fight with Jacob Parker two months back that went well into the third round, has only a single loss on his record. From that title fight. He bounced back last month to put things back on track with a decisive first round KO of Sacrificial Lamb, continuing the trend of wins via finish with a 3:2 ratio of KO’s to TKO’s! Fury also likes to stand and throw similar to Tribute but has also been willing to mix it up some in the past by taking the fight into the clinch. Will either fighter mix it up and bring some surprises to the cage tonight or will this just be an all-out slugfest Donkey…? Donkey’s Pick: Tribute via TKO (Strikes) I’m not sure who wins this one to be honest and I’m simply taking the “underdog” here to controversial! Haha. The only thing I do know is this; This fight will not get to the judges. No way, no how. Somebody’s getting the salts at the end of this one tonight folks! *********************** Main Card Bout #3: Middleweights Wanderson Machado (9-2-0) vs. Luka Marka (7-2-0) Donkey, up next we have a fight that while not one of the two Main Events is certainly more than qualified to lead right into them! This is one of the most exciting fights of the evening as both Marka and Machado have a chance to get back into the title picture with the winner here getting a shot afterward! Marka has been working up to this point for quite a while and has been on a steak of putting together two wins in a row here at Sucker Punch but then letting one slip by. Each time he’s been in position to earn a title shot and tonight he’ll be looking to make good on the opportunity and move on to the big one! With huge wins over Weston Hodkiewicz and Kiryu Kazuma in the past two months he’s proven that he’s a fighter to be reckoned with in the division! Led by the 2020 Breakthrough Manager of the Year - J.W. Hardman, his elite wrestling along with formidable striking and brown belt in Jiu Jitsu allow him to get the fight to the ground and then dominate from above with a nasty ground and pound. Can he do the same against the former longtime champ…? …And speaking of the former longtime champ, Wanderson Machado returns to the cage tonight after brief hiatus under new management! As if it wasn’t bad before with this man being led by one of the best managers in the game in Mac Little, he now comes trotting down to the cage under the guidance of Yabai’s own Bwang Jong Sr! Bwang, who snagged 2020’s Manager of the Year, will probably want to smack me now for saying all that but I don’t think he really believes in jinxes. Wanderson is a shoe in for a HoF ballot eventually here at Sucker Punch but his legacy is far from complete and tonight he takes one more step towards returning to his former glory! He defeated Nyah Hirst in a rematch to right the wrong of having his belt stolen from him in a split decision three months back. Now, he takes on Marka in an attempt to get back into a title fight where he feels most comfortable! Donkey, how do you see this one going…? Donkey’s Pick: Marka via TKO (Strikes) 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! You know me Hare, I tend to err on the side of the ground fighter when I can’t make a decision. So without being able to truly call this one either way, I’m going to just throw that one out there and sit back and get ready for some amazing action in this fight tonight! This one is a treat for the fans and us here in the booth alike! *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Light Heavyweight Bout Wille Thai (8-2-0) vs. Derwent Bolt (4-0-0) Our Co-Main Event is yet another with some amazing action on tap for us this evening! Much like the fight before this between Marka and Machado, this one is another with immediate title shots on the line as the winner will go on to fight for the title against the victor of John Doe/Eemeli Lampi in early May! And this fight really brings something for everybody to the table tonight! If you’re a fan of big striking, well, you definitely had some of that on tap earlier this evening especially in the Fury/Tribute fight. If you love chess matches and intrigue to see who will try to do what and how they’re going to maneuver a fight, well, then the last one between Marka/Machado is just what you wanted! But if you want a fight that will feature a chess match contest of wits and wills on the ground, then this is the fight for you! Bolt is an undefeated, 4-0 upstart who has sailed right through his first four fights including the three here at Sucker Punch with all being finished in the first round via submission. Tonight he’ll get his first true test on the ground against another extremely skilled ground and submission specialist in Wille Thai! I spoke with his manager last month and Bjorn O’Donnell told me that if Bolt can pass this test he’ll be a true believer in this kid, who otherwise doesn’t have ‘what it takes’ on paper yet somehow finds a way. His words, not mine Donkey. Thai and manager Shape Shifter are not going to just lie down and allow themselves to be used as a stepping stone! Hell no. Will they lie down? Well, maybe, but only because they want to be on the ground going for submissions and are perfectly comfortable doing that from guard! Thai just defeated another fella named Bjorn last month against Akerfeldt via a triangle. Now he gets to face a Bjorn as a manager. Hmm…any relation Donkey? Ya think? Probably not. Thai has had two shots already to become champ. First against my own Sacrificial Lamb (who now fights under new management) and then four fights later against then champ Jacob Parker. He came up short in both opportunities but a win tonight would give him a third one that I highly doubt he will take for granted! Thai has never been defeated on the ground, with his two losses both coming via TKO’s on the feet. Will that trend continue tonight against a tough, talented and skilled ground specialist as well? Donkey…you have to be psyched about this one eh…? Donkey’s Pick: Thai via Submission (Armbar) Absolutely! It takes a special breed of fan to truly appreciate the intricacies of the ground battle. I’m one of them. This is an exciting matchup and one I really can’t call, although I suppose I have to. Here’s the thing; I don’t think this thing gets to the judges but yet neither of these two have ever been beaten on the ground. Hell, Bolt hasn’t been beaten at all. Does that change tonight? I really can’t say it will. But I’m going to say that Thai’s experience pays off in this one along with his drive and desire to get back to a title shot and prove himself! *********************** Main Event: Welterweight Championship Bout Ronnie Bass (10-1-0) vs. Igor Vovchanchyn (6-3-1) The Main Event Donkey…and guess who’s back? Igor Vovchanchyn! And he wants his belt back! You know what though? Ronnie Bass has zero interesting in acquiescing to Vovchanchyn’s desires nor any interesting in this being a second title defense that goes the same way as the first! Both of these men have been, and in the case of Bass still are, champions! They know what it takes to win it. They know what can happen that can take it away! Vovchanchyn defeated Konrad Wagner three fights back to win the Welterweight Championship, but then lost it in the defense to Juan Christiano. After defeating Carter Ortiz in a TC battle last month he’s back looking to regain what he believes is his! Bass first won the belt almost a half year ago against DJ Costune. Then, in the first defense, much like Vovchanchyn, he lost it to young upstart Konrad Wagner. He went on a mission after that and defeated both Samuel Sanchez and Baldomir Barbosa to earn his way back into the title picture and made good on that opportunity last month against Juan Christiano! Is that dizzying enough for you folks? Suffice it to say that Vovchanchyn knows these opportunities are tough to come by and wants his shot to prove himself a true champion again! Bass also knows what it takes, having climbed that mountain twice and wants nothing more than to properly defend his title this time around! We have two strikers here and both can land huge shots but also have the ability to bring strategy on the feet. This is a title fight that is ready made for an absolute war! Donkey…who gets it in this big time showdown…? Donkey’s Pick: Bass via TKO (Strikes) I sound like a broken record, but again, this is amazingly tough to choose! Vovchanchyn has been on a mission. Bass has been on fire. I’m going to lean towards the champ, well, the current one, holding on and defending his title this time around! But folks, if you are a fan of MMAT and Sucker Punch, you just can’t miss this one tonight! *********************** So there we have it Sucker Punch fans! Great action over at Hard Knocks – Sydney in just about two hours from now and it’d be a mistake to miss this one folks! The Undercard is full of some fun warm-up action, but the last two fights are ones you don’t want to miss. The Main Card…well, you’d have to be insane not to be locked in and ready to go when the action starts in the top half of the card! Enjoy folks, we’ll see you there! 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...
Bleakardor Posted March 19, 2021 Report Share Posted March 19, 2021 I sure hope you're right Hare! lol, This is going to likely be the toughest fight of Marka's career. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suske127 Posted March 19, 2021 Report Share Posted March 19, 2021 Oof. Always sucks when a fughter comes in with poor morale. Nemisis Steed has really got to stop slacking 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suske127 Posted March 19, 2021 Report Share Posted March 19, 2021 Destin’s Title Fight Spotlight Sucker Punch Pro Series 49 Bass vs. Igor: Destin: Hey guys! Welcome back to our Spotlight Series here at Sucker Punch! Ronnie, it’s Incredible that you were on the show back before it was cancelled; and you’re STILL here now that we’re bringing it back! Igor, congrats on earning this title shot! Destin: Ronnie – how does it feel to have such a history of dominance over your division? Igor, how do you feel about fighting a champion of Ronnie’s caliber? Bass: Well, it's great to be on top, that's for damned sure! Great to be here again. I haven't had a long run as champion, but was able to climb back to the top. So, I guess you can call it dominance, just never thought of it that way. I kind of like the sound of it Destin! Igor: Yes, we fought before in the original sucker punch tournament when I was the big favorite. Unfortunately for me, Ronnie got the big win there and I was stopped. It's great to get the chance to reverse that result. We’re a very good match up Destin: Ronnie “Dominance” Bass – rolls off the tongue pretty good huh!? Igor, it seems like you don’t care about Ronnie’s high hype and that you’re just excited to reverse the result of the prequal to this fight from early in your careers. Destin: Let’s get real here guys – we all know that Ronnie is a striker. He’s got a blue belt in BJJ opposed to Igor’s Brown belt. Ronnie, are you worried about fighting Igor on the ground? And Igor, is this a plan of yours? Bass: I've submitted plenty of fighters! Don't you see their heads tap the ground when I knock them out? But on the real, I am always worried about guys who are skilled in BJJ. But it's respect, not fear. I respect the skills of a good BJJ artist. My counter to his BJJ skills is simply my fist. I have to put him to sleep before he can grab and yank on my balls. Igor: Yank on his balls? What is this a fetish convention? Anyway Destin, nice try – I'm spilling no gameplan secrets tonight. I can go anywhere, and believe I’ll win tonight whether on the feet, or on the ground. Destin: LOL this is certainly NOT a fetish convention! We all know that cheap shots are allowed here though, so I would watch your back Igor. On an unrelated note from testicles - What’s something you guys respect about each other’s game? Igor: I guess so Destin. Well Ronnie obviously has real, natural ko power. He has definitely polished his skills in recent time. We know he is a good hammer but not sure about how he handles being the nail. We’ll see. Bass: Thanks Igor. I just respect that he's such a well-rounded fighter. We all know I'm a striker, and you asked me about his BJJ. So, he's known as a grappler. But that man is a striker too. He just approaches the fight differently than I do. He'll use whatever advantage he can find to win. So I respect that. Destin: “He’s a great hammer, but is he a great nail?” What a quote! Anything else you guys want to say before your scrap tonight? Bass: Destin, there is no such thing as an easy fight once you strap on this gold. This may be my toughest fight yet. Respect. (looks towards Igor) What do you say, let's bang bro! Let's on a show tonight! Igor: Sounds good to me Champ. Good luck tonight, let's get it on! Destin: Hell yeah guys! I’m getting hyped to watch this one! One more question – how is this bout going to end? Bass: Well, if you go into a fight thinking you won't win, you're already fucked. I'm gonna’ do what I always do, not let the judges have a say. That's HIS game. I'm gonna’ knock his ass out Destin! Igor: No no no no, this guy is wrong, don’t listen to him. I will win by ko/tko tonight. Just watch. Destin: If you two say so! After hearing you two speak tonight our fans and myself included will be expecting a BIG ko from one of you two! Well, thank you both for joining the show tonight and being here for our fans and org. Good luck in the cage later on! 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HareRumpler Posted March 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2021 46 minutes ago, Suske127 said: Destin’s Title Fight Spotlight Sucker Punch Pro Series 49 Bass vs. Igor Awesome stuff!! Thanks! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleakardor Posted March 20, 2021 Report Share Posted March 20, 2021 Both fighters seem pretty damned cocky.. does that make this a good ole' fashion cock fight? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator001 Posted March 20, 2021 Report Share Posted March 20, 2021 good stuff on the preview and the fighter interviews. Thanks guys 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator001 Posted March 20, 2021 Report Share Posted March 20, 2021 Bugger!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornmma1 Posted March 20, 2021 Report Share Posted March 20, 2021 Derwent Bolt 5-0-0 Bolt is active off his back here, looking for submissions. http://www.mmatycoon.com/images/fight/sub2.gif Thai is posturing up here but Bolt has hold of an arm and he's gone for an armbar! Thai tries to roll out but it's too tight and Thai has to tap! Slick submission there by Bolt! Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:35 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Derwent Bolt! Derwent Bolt opened up his post fight interview with a scream to camera that he wants a title shot! Whether he deserves the shot will be up to the management of the organization, so I guess he'll have to wait and see. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornmma1 Posted March 20, 2021 Report Share Posted March 20, 2021 19 hours ago, HareRumpler said: SUCKER PUNCH PREVIEW Sucker Punch Pro Series 49 Welcome to Friday…and Saturday down undah in Sydney…to all our Sucker Punch fans out there! And you know what that means! That means it’s time for us to get back to the action tonight at Hard Knocks – Sydney for SPPS 49! 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 forward at what should be a fantastic night of action. *********************** Co-Main Event: Featured Light Heavyweight Bout Wille Thai (8-2-0) vs. Derwent Bolt (4-0-0) Our Co-Main Event is yet another with some amazing action on tap for us this evening! Much like the fight before this between Marka and Machado, this one is another with immediate title shots on the line as the winner will go on to fight for the title against the victor of John Doe/Eemeli Lampi in early May! And this fight really brings something for everybody to the table tonight! If you’re a fan of big striking, well, you definitely had some of that on tap earlier this evening especially in the Fury/Tribute fight. If you love chess matches and intrigue to see who will try to do what and how they’re going to maneuver a fight, well, then the last one between Marka/Machado is just what you wanted! But if you want a fight that will feature a chess match contest of wits and wills on the ground, then this is the fight for you! Bolt is an undefeated, 4-0 upstart who has sailed right through his first four fights including the three here at Sucker Punch with all being finished in the first round via submission. Tonight he’ll get his first true test on the ground against another extremely skilled ground and submission specialist in Wille Thai! I spoke with his manager last month and Bjorn O’Donnell told me that if Bolt can pass this test he’ll be a true believer in this kid, who otherwise doesn’t have ‘what it takes’ on paper yet somehow finds a way. His words, not mine Donkey. Thai and manager Shape Shifter are not going to just lie down and allow themselves to be used as a stepping stone! Hell no. Will they lie down? Well, maybe, but only because they want to be on the ground going for submissions and are perfectly comfortable doing that from guard! Thai just defeated another fella named Bjorn last month against Akerfeldt via a triangle. Now he gets to face a Bjorn as a manager. Hmm…any relation Donkey? Ya think? Probably not. Thai has had two shots already to become champ. First against my own Sacrificial Lamb (who now fights under new management) and then four fights later against then champ Jacob Parker. He came up short in both opportunities but a win tonight would give him a third one that I highly doubt he will take for granted! Thai has never been defeated on the ground, with his two losses both coming via TKO’s on the feet. Will that trend continue tonight against a tough, talented and skilled ground specialist as well? Donkey…you have to be psyched about this one eh…? Donkey’s Pick: Thai via Submission (Armbar) Absolutely! It takes a special breed of fan to truly appreciate the intricacies of the ground battle. I’m one of them. This is an exciting matchup and one I really can’t call, although I suppose I have to. Here’s the thing; I don’t think this thing gets to the judges but yet neither of these two have ever been beaten on the ground. Hell, Bolt hasn’t been beaten at all. Does that change tonight? I really can’t say it will. But I’m going to say that Thai’s experience pays off in this one along with his drive and desire to get back to a title shot and prove himself! *********************** Derwent Bolt 5-0-0 Wrong! Guess what, my manager is not pleased with my performance again, says that I boxed like a retard and showed no class in the standup. As for the ground game, he did appreciate that I subbed a top notch BJJ black belt, but expected me to snap his arm before he could tap out. Aah well, can't please everyone all the time, as my gf can second. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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