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 Saturday night will mark the eleventh event in the brief history of Gladiator Fighting Championship and the organization will once gain be aiming to put on a thrilling night of fights for the fans in Las Vegas. GFC XI will be held at Hard Knocks Arena and the main event will feature two of the top heavyweights in the division. The co-main event pairs two extremely talented welterweights and as an added bonus, the GFC lightweight title will be defended for the first time.
The action will start with a welterweight matchup between welterweights Dingle Berrian (19-7) and Bruce Leroy (5-3). Berrian is entering his fourth fight in GFC and after getting off to a rough start and losing his first two bouts, he recorded an impressive win with a flying knee in his last outing. Berrian relies heavily on his Muay Thai skills, most often looking to land kicks and knees. Some critics consider Berrian to be somewhat one dimensional, but with nineteen career wins to his credit it is hard to find fault with his approach to fighting. Leroy made his first GFC appearance recently and came up short in a unanimous decision loss. Leroy's boxing skills tend to be his strong suit and he will typically lean on those skills first and foremost. It would be a safe assumption to think that these two fighters will keep this one standing and trade strikes.
In the second fight we will see a pair of light heavyweights square off. Rafael Oliveira (5-4) will be hoping to reverse his fortunes after suffering a knockout loss in his first GFC fight. Oliveira generally enters a fight looking to get his opponent into the clinch so that he can work them over with knees and elbows. There is really little question as to what Oliveira's strategy is going to be, but more a question of can he be stopped from imposing his will on you. Trying to be sure Oliveira doesn't have his way will be Logan Mitchell (12-9-1). Mitchell is an outstanding boxer who has shown some impressive knockout power thus far in his career. Mitchell recently snapped a long losing streak and is hoping to build on his latest victory and get his career back on track. Both fighters have shown themselves to be susceptible to knockouts, so we could easily see this fight end early.
The third fight will feature lightweight Elvin Ruez (16-9) taking on Bobby Tupper II (12-13-1). Ruez will be making his second appearance in the GFC cage. He looked very impressive in his debut fight, scoring a first round TKO victory. Ruez is a strong fighter who does a good job of using his strength to get his opponents on the ground or into the clinch. He deploys powerful, heavy strikes in an effort to knock his opponents silly. His standup skills are very respectable and he is equally as dangerous on the ground. Tupper II comes into his first GFC fight with a very similar skill set to that of Ruez. Ground and pound is the preferred path to victory for Tupper II and it will be interesting to see how he handles an opponent with such a similar skill set.
Harrison Hansen (7-4) and Maek Houzo (25-22) will go to battle in our fourth fight. Hansen has emerged victorious in three of his four fights in GFC, with his only loss coming to current middleweight champion Auron Almasy. Hansen is a BJJ brown belt who relies heavily on his grappling skills to put is opponents away. Four of his seven wins have come by way of submission and it would be surprising to see his approach be any different in this fight. Houzo has lost four straight fights and desperately needs to figure out how to get things turned around. At 36 years old, many observes have suggested that Houzo is well past his prime and that it may be time for him to consider retirement. Houzo will be out to prove that he still has something left in the tank. Houzo is a pure ground and pound specialist. He wants to deposit his opponent onto their back and go to work pounding away with fists and elbows. He has flashed some submission skills as well that have scored him a few wins. Both of these fighters are at home on the ground, so we should not be surprised to see this one turn into a grappling match.
The fifth fight will pair light heavyweights Mondo Topless (23-7) and Alexander Marius (14-9). Topless is a fearsome Muay Thai specialist with nasty kicks and absolutely wicked elbows. Topless has proven to be deadly in clinch and loves to destroy his opponents with knees and elbows when he gets them wrapped up and in close quarters. Topless has the gas tank to go the distance but has picked up his fair share of wins by cutting is opponents open and forcing a stoppage. Marius is making his first GFC appearance and appears to be a very well rounded fighter. It appears that he excels in the clinch but is comfortable striking from a distance and doesn't mind getting on the ground if necessary. Both fighters are extremely talented and should put up a compelling and competitive fight.
After spending his entire career up to this point in Montreal, Krzysztof Krzak (9-3) has made his way to Vegas to become part of the GFC family. Krzak is a very accomplished boxer who has shown powerful hands in his career. Krzak clearly prefers to stand and bang with his opponents and has no desire to be on the ground. We can expect Krzak to be ready to brawl. Looking to give Krzak an unpleasant welcome to GFC will be fellow middleweight Brutal Delux (16-13). Delux has traditionally been a brawler who likes to throw fists and knock people out, but has evolved his game of late. Delux shocked many be pulling off an arm bar submission win in the first round of his last fight that earned his the first Submission Of The Night award of his career. Delux will most certainly be looking to take Krzak out of his element and get the fight on the ground.
Jesse Wolfe (17-9) will be on a mission to bounce back from a heartbreaking majority decision loss in his last fight when he faces Paul Bruens (27-20-1). Wolfe gave Rolando Garcia all he could handle in their fight for the then vacant GFC lightweight title but came up just short. Since then, Wolfe has hit the gym hard and vowed to be back, looking for the title sooner than later. Wolfe is a GFC mainstay who is a favorite of the fans. He is a fantastic striker with very impressive power and one hell of a chin. Wolfe has been known to occasionally resort to ground and pound when warranted, but feels most comfortable on his feet throwing punches and kicks. Bruens enters the cage riding a four fight losing streak. Most recently he was greeted into GFC with a split decision loss to Jean Charles that saw him come up short by a razor thin margin. Bruens is a BJJ black belt who goes heavy on takedown attempts and makes no efforts to disguise his desire to take his opponents to the ground and submit them. He has ten submission wins to his credit and will be looking to add another at Wolfe's expense.
The eighth fight is scheduled for five rounds and will see GFC Lightweight Champion, Rolando Garcia defend his title for the first time. Garcia was the first champion ever crowned by GFC and hopes to hold on to the gold for a long time to come. At 36 years old, Garcia is a very savvy veteran who knows all of the tricks of the trade. He has good boxing skills that can keep him in a fight standing but prefers to do battle on the ground. He is a very accomplished wrestler and BJJ black belt who can make an opponent miserable on the canvas. Pvt. Palmer (11-5) has made it his mission to be sure that Garcia's title reign is short lived. Palmer looked fantastic in his GFC debut, scoring an impressive first round knockout. He has traditionally been somewhat of a grinder, but showed some rare power in that fight. Palmer is a very proficient striker from a distance and boasts some very good ground and pound, though he is unlikely to want to engage Garcia on the ground. This is a highly anticipated fight that should be a real crowd pleaser.
The co-main event will be a welterweight contest between Tomasz Szczerek (12-5-1) and Royce Silva (24-12). Szczerek returns to the GFC octagon after suffering a very disappointing majority decision loss in his GFC debut. Szczerek is a phenomenal grappler who has scored the bulk of his wins by submission. He is a BJJ brown belt who tends to do very little striking and is opportunistic with his takedown attempts. Szczerek tends to struggle to defend himself standing and in the clinch and will have to get the action to the ground early and often to be successful. Silva will be making his first GFC appearance and like Szczerek brings a great deal of grappling prowess to the table. Silva is clearly the better striker of the two and may opt to try and keep the fight standing. Silva has shown flashes of power and may be able to score a surprise knockout if Szczerek doesn't defend himself well.
The main event will see two of GFC's biggest and baddest collide in a heavyweight showdown. In one corner will be Jimmy Jones (7-2). Jones was the reigning heavyweight champion in a different fight org before deciding to bring his services to GFC. He brings some of the most brutal ground and pound that we have ever seen to GFC. His stand up striking leaves a lot to be desired, but up until this point in his career it hasn't come back to haunt him. Jones has scored takedowns with a very high rate of success and once the ground and pound starts, the end is usually near. Only one of Jones' fights has gone past the first round, so he is likely to finish or be finished early on. Rick Ruent (14-5) could not be a more polar opposite fighter from Jones. Ruent is a pure standup fighter who comes out swinging for the fences and looking to knock you out. He uses a highly effective blend of punches and kicks to punish opponents and wear them down. Ruent also possesses some potent dirty boxing skills that he will mix in with knees and elbows in the clinch to overwhelm his opponents. The winner of this fight will clearly be determined by where the fight takes place. If Jones can get Ruent to the ground, you have to like his chances, but if Jones is able to keep things standing he has a decided advantage.
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