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Gladiator Fighting Championship will be making its first visit in the history of the organization to the Parisian on Saturday night. After growing comfortable in the friendly confines of Hard Knocks Arena and producing multiple sell outs, GFC has decided to expand its horizons in order to attract more Las Vegas fight fans. GFC is planning to start their relationship with The Parisian with a bang, offering up a fight card chock full of incredible fights. This should be, by far, the most talent laden fight card that GFC has ever produced. Let's run down the fight card.
The first fight will be a light heavyweight matchup featuring Alexander Marius (14-10) taking on Logan Mitchell (13-9-1). Maruis enters the fight having suffered two straight losses and seeking his first win in the GFC cage. Marius is an accomplished striker who has a particular affinity for working in the clinch. He has shown glimpses of power but also has the gas tank to grind out a decision if the situation calls for it. Mitchell has reeled off two straight wins, including a jaw dropping five second knockout in his last outing. Mitchell is a very accomplished boxer with heavy hands. Both of these fighters enjoy standing toe to toe and trading leather, so this should be a barn burner.
The lightweights will be featured in the second fight when Elvin Ruez (17-9) squares off against Rocco Kailea (5-2-1). Ruez enters the fight as the more experienced fighter and has won both of his fights since joining GFC. Ruez has shown very impressive skills in the clinch of late and is always dangerous with his ground and pound. Kailea enters the cage also having won two straight. He is highly skilled in Muay Thai and possesses lethal kicks. Four of Kailea's five wins have come by KO or TKO, so he is a threat to end a fight at any time. Though he has far fewer fights under his belt, Kailea is sure to be a formidable opponent for Ruez.
Another pair of lightweights will be on display in the third fight when Paul Bruens (28-20-1) faces Pvt. Palmer (11-6). Bruens is a BJJ black belt with ten career wins by submission to his credit. With his last ten fights going to decision and a whopping 28 of his career fights going the distance, Bruens has developed a reputation as quite the grinder. His standup skills are reasonable, but he clearly is most comfortable on the ground. Pvt. Palmer (11-6) is returning to the cage for the first time since his failed bid for the lightweight title against Rolando Garcia. Like Bruens, Palmer's fights tend to go the distance more often than not. Palmer is a versatile and proficient striker will need to keep the fight standing in order to succeed. Palmer enters the fight with a new management team backing him, so it will be interesting to see if or how his approach changes.
The fourth fight will be a welterweight matchup between Billy Bobberson (19-18) and Onni Jokinen (14-8-1). Bobberson fell short in his GFC debut and wants to rebound with a strong outing against Jokinen. Bobberson is a BJJ brown belt who has a very clear mission when he enters the cage. He wants to get his opponent on the ground and go to work looking for a submission. 63 percent of Bobberson's wins in his career have come by submission and I'm certain we can expect him to employ the same strategy against Jokinen. Working against Bobberson will be his somewhat suspect chin. He has been knocked out thirteen times in his career and will have to be extremely cautious about protecting himself. Jokinen is a phenomenal boxer who simply comes into the cage and swings his fists. He can cause serious damage both from a distance and from inside the clinch. He has been known to flash some power from time to time but often seems most content to pick his opponents apart with accurate strikes.
The fans will be treated to some heavyweight action in the fifth fight when Blow Jimmy (18-15) takes on Optimus Prime (13-9-1). Jimmy has won two of his three fights since arriving in GFC, with all three fights going the distance. Jimmy is a good boxer who can hold his own standing. He has a high level of success with his takedowns and can smother opponents on the ground by employing a mixture of lay and pray tactics with ground and pound. Prime will be making his GFC debut. Like Jimmy, Prime has an adequate standup game but makes his money on the ground. He sets out to put his opponents on their back and pound them out. With both fighters being so similar stylistically, this could make for a very interesting matchup.
The sixth fight will pit light heavyweight Mondo Topless (24-7) against GFC newcomer, Joe Clark (24-13). Topless has won two of his three fight with GFC and badly wants to make a push for a title shot. He is a fantastic Muay Thai specialist who has tremendous kicks and is deadly in the clinch. He is a very adaptable fight who has shown power but can also grind out a win by going the distance. At 36 years old, many question whether or not Topless has it in him to make one more title run. Clark is a very experienced veteran, much like Topless. With eighteen of his wins coming by KO or TKO, Clark will be looking to make a favorable impression in his GFC debut with his power. Clark wants to stand and box and shows no desire to be on the ground. Both of these veterans are prolific striker and this could turn into a true donnybrook.
We move back to the lightweight division for the seventh fight with Keha Anoki (6-1) facing Clifford Donovan (2-1). Anoki is a pure BJJ specialist with submissions on his mind. The brown belt is wildly popular with the fans in spite of the fact that he has never thrown a punch in his career. Anoki looks for takedowns and immediately begins working for submissions. Some have called Anoki a one trick pony, but it is hard to argue a 6-1 career record. Like Anoki, Donovan also relies heavily on one discipline of fighting, which in his case is Muay Thai. Donovan's sole purpose upon entering the cage is to pull his opponent into the clinch and unload with a dizzying array of elbows and knees. Donovan was tapped out in his first career fight but has rebounded with two strong wins that saw him absolutely assault his opponents. In this battle of contrasting styles, clearly the man who is able to force his game plan on the other will emerge with the win.
In GFC, a great deal of effort is put into keeping the fight fresh and giving fighters new opponents and challenges. The eight fight on the card is an exception to that rule. Bobby Tupper III (19-19) and Terry Smith (9-5) will be facing off for the third straight time when they meet on Saturday night. In the first fight, Tupper III lost a unanimous decision but rebounded in the second fight to score a submission win over Smith. With each fighter having defeated the other once, Smith asked for a rubber match to with Tupper III quickly agreed. Every win of Tupper III's career has come by way of submission. He enters the cage with very clear intentions and while he doesn't always get the result that he's looking for, nineteen submission wins in a career is nothing to sneeze at. Smith had won three straight fights before his loss to Tupper III and he wants nothing more than to get back in the win column. Smith is a natural boxer who is comfortable working from a distance or in the clinch. Smith has shown some impressive knockout power in his career and proven that he can end a fight in the blink of an eye. There is no love lost between these two competitors and the emotions involved should make this a great fight.
The co-main event of the evening will see GFC light heavyweight champion Ansgar Axelsson (12-2-1) put his title on the line against Dick Tanner (14-5). Axelsson laid claim to the vacant title in his last fight with an impressive win over Puppy Love. A number of fighters have a incredibly strong boxing or Muay Thai game, but Axelsson is one of those rare fighters who has both. He keeps his opponents constantly guessing where the next attack is going to come from and throws everything with tremendous power. Axelsson has looked awfully impressive since his arrival in GFC and it is going to take an very complete performance to get the title away from him. Like Axelsson, Tanner has done nothing but impressive since arriving in GFC. With back to back wins over light heavyweight contenders, Tanner is poised to make a serious run at the title. Tanner will work some strikes from a distance but ultimately he seeks to get his opponents into the clinch to administer punishment. Tanner throws vicious knees but does his most serious damage with his razor sharp elbows. This fight has all the making of a stand up war that could be a real treat for the fans.
The main event will be a battle between two of the top heavyweights in GFC. The incredibly popular Frank Sigurdsson (22-10) will be making his highly anticipated GFC debut against fellow newcomer Stuart Redmond (32-23). Sigurdsson is far from the most well rounded fighter that you will find. He is however a vicious boxer with power that is unrivaled in GFC. All twenty two of Sigurdsson's career wins have come by KO or TKO. He has no desire to go to the ground. He simply want to stand toe to to and play Rock Em' Sock Em' robots with his opponent. Redmond is a very experienced fighter who has the power to match Sigurdsson blow for blow. Redmond tends to prefer working in the clinch and will very likely try to get in tight on Sigurdsson. Both fighters have shown themselves to be susceptible to the knockout in their careers. Both fighters' styles lend themselves to a knock out or be knocked out kind of fight. We can be sure that both fighters will be swinging for the fences and looking to turn the lights out on their opponent.
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