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 To those who have cut weight to compete I say 'no guts no glory'! Conditioning is for your hair. Saturday night, fight night!
Heavyweight: Ilya Murometz (5-4) vs Chris Carwin (0-2)
Ilya Murometz has all the tools to be a dark horse in the heavyweight division. Sat tentatively on the bottom rungs of the ladder the Russian prospect is a powerful boxer with a steadily improving ground game. There is no shame in losing to Herba Durba as he did in his sophmore outing in TTFC and he will be the favourite to bounce back with a win over Carwin. Carwin is perhaps even more powerful than Murometz but his lumbering style and lack of speed meant that Chris Leben telegraphed virtually every strike in their pair of bouts. If Carwin can catch Murometz he can make something happen but Murometz is a better fighter pure and simple.
Prediction: Ilya Murometz should impose his will here, stopping Carwin in round one with strikes either standing or on the ground after taking his man there.
Bantamweight: Raje Malapitan (5-5) vs Rubber "Training" Dummy (1-1)
Raje Malapitan comes into this bout in a similar position to Murometz at heavyweight. Holding a mediocre 3-2 record inside the TTFC cage Malapitan is barely on the radar in the chasm like bantamweight division. But with good skills and a decent run that could all change and in fighting Dummy he has the perfect opponent to begin his transformation. You would be a fool to roll with Dummy who posseses a black belt in BJJ that is not for show but Malapitan has the wrestling and the standup to nullify that threat.
Prediction: With vastly superior striking and wrestling Malapitan should dictate this fight, and barring a monumental lapse in concentration should out box his man en route to a decision victory or late TKO.
Welterweight: James "J-Digz" Graves (13-7-1) vs Tyke Mison (18-11)
James Graves' slow and steady downgrading from super prospect to average fighter has not gone unnoticed and opponents are never quite sure which version of J-Digz will turn up. The one that appeared last time out was the fired up and determined J-Digz who put on a Fight of the Night showing with Mark Decan. His jack of all trades approach sometimes comes up short against specialist fighters but means he never enters any fight as a big underdog. In Tyke Mison he meets a fighter who loves to throw bombs but has a deceptively dangerous submission game including excellent arm locks. With 3 submission wins and 13 KO's Mison is an out and out finisher and will look to use the respectable scalp of Graves to launch a run at the title.
Prediction: Graves has never been knocked out but tonight may well be the night. Mison is deadly standing and has his number on the mat. Mison takes it with a vicious KO.
Middleweight: Jake Rosholt (4-3) vs David "Dr" Cox (1-1)
Both of these guys came up big last time out to preserve their TTFC careers with much needed victories. Dr Cox banished the spectre of his debut demolishment by Gerd Stenner by putting a brutal beatdown on Alexander Krush, showing his solid hands and his eye for detail putting together a smart and well executed strategy. Opposing him is excellent wrestler Jake Rosholt who possesses reltentless takedowns and crushing top control that drains the fight out of opponents over 15 minutes. Rosholt uses ground and pound to more to prevent the stand up than to put away opponents but he does look for submissions when available. It isn't pretty and as yet it has only been vaguely effective but you can be certain this will be Rosholt's approach in this one.
Prediction: Rosholt is too good at what he does for Cox to stop him. Rosholt plants his man in round 1 and keeps him there, repeats in the second before exposing Cox on the mat and taking the submission win late in the round.
Lightweight: Hoyt "The Hammer" Jurgensen (10-8) vs "Blazin" Bobby Porterfield (12-5)
Ever exciting Bobby Porterfield looks to put together another unlikely win streak by following up on his victory last time out. As probably the smallest man in the lighweight division Porterfield was a capable but unremarkable featherwieght, piecing together a 7-4 record. Since jumping up to lightweight he has gone 5-1 despite walking around at 155lbs between fights. Small and mighty Porterfield has power belying his size and will want to unleash it on The Hammer who he tangled with successfully not so long ago. That fight was Jurgensen's TTFC debut and he gassed badly after a promising first round. Out boxed and out worked Porterfield took a deserved win that did little to showcase the boxing skills of The Hammer nor his execellent ground game.
Prediction: Jurgensen can submit Porterfield but his cardio and stand up were not up to scratch last time out and not enough has changed. Porterfield takes the decision win again.
Featherweight: Fusion "The Rebel" Weapon (8-9) vs Thanawat "Thai" Kanokvichitra (8-4)
Dueling debutants Weapon and Kanokvichitra bring similar skill sets to this fight with near identical stand up and ground skills. The Rebel can be hard to predict and tailors his gameplan to his foe, the sign of an intelligent fighter but his well rounded style means he often doesn't have the required particulars for the fights. Kanokvichitra is less diverse but can mix things up also. Against similar opponents he favours the clinch, utilising his dirty boxing to work his opponent over. When the clinch breaks look for him to use his good kicks to catch his man on the exit.
Prediction: This is a close fight with no clear cut favourite but Kanokvichitra needs a win badly after 3 straight losses and will have the hunger to get it done. Kanokvichitra by decision.
Middleweight: Jack Hanson (10-8) vs Ben Foster (12-12)
Jack Hanson has found the going in TTFC a lot tougher since his return to the organisation, being the victim of stand out performances from Sonny Giovanni and Gustavo Ribeiro. Thats said, no one should doubt his quality in all aspects of fighting. Hanson never waivers thanks to his sublime conditioning that allows him to keep up the pace from first to last. His gameplan rarely changes, even against upper echelon jiujitsu fighters like Gustavo Ribeiro, he looks to take you down and bully you. His ground and pound is vicious and near constant and there is very little his quarry can do but hold on and hope for an opening. In 18 fights Hanson has only been submitted twice and that tells you how often those openings emerge. In Foster he meets a man who owns a ground game that gives him a good chance here. His stand up is vastly improved but not on a level to let him compete with Hanson for prolonged periods. His recent 4 fight win streak was ended by Charles Smith and he will be on the back foot for much of this fight.
Prediction: Foster is capable of making Hanson tap but not tonight as Hanson blitzes his man with a vicious mauling on way to a first round TKO win.
Welterweight: James Polk (15-11) vs Tito "Destruição" Sotto (9-1)
Tito Sotto tasted defeat for the first time in his career in his last outing and he didn't like it one bit. Fired up and ready to make a name for himself in TTFC Destruição brings the kind of mindblowing destructive talent that makes other fighters sick with envy. 9 wins, 9 finishes, all but one in round 1. His stand up is devastating and he punctuates his perfect combinations with the spectacular finish, just ask MarkTwo Arona or Roman Parhomenko. But it takes two men to have a fight and James Polk is no slouch boasting 8 KO's and a far superior wrestling pedigree than his dance partner, and we all know wrestling wins fights. His jiujistu is on a level with Sotto and if he can put Destruição on his back before taking a highlight real flurry on the chin he can posture up and control Sotto throughout.
Prediction: Polk is the kind of hard nosed grinder than give flashy KO artists fits but you have to think Sotto will land something serious at some point and from then on its feeding time. Sotto by TKO in round 1.
Super Heavyweight: Igor "Rat-a-tat" Tatov (14-6) vs Cain "The Freight Train" Colbert (17-7)
The Belarussian executioner meets his American counterpart in this exciting super heavyweight tilt. These boys are pure bred fight finishers with reputations as KO artists who know how to crank on a limb too. Tatov joins TTFC on the back of two impressive KO wins where as Colbert looks to end his two fight slump. When these two collide in the centre of the octagon there will be thrills and spills in what looks set to be a roller coaster back and forth affair until someone puts away the other late in the first or early in the second. Virtually identical in all areas Tatov and Colbert may just come down to luck and who lands the first significant strike in the chaos.
Prediction: These two are so evenly matched that this is near impossoble to call. Like a teenager on Prom Night it will end quickly and messily. Flip a coin, Tatov by better nickname.
Featherweight:"President of the Universe" Brian Maddox (19-10) vs Oil Slick (23-5-1)
When TTFC signed Oil Slick this fight seemed inevitbale. Maddox had business to attend to with Stevie Walker first but he got the job done as many expected and now we get this incredible featherweight title tilt. 8-1 under the TTFC banner Maddox has made the division his own and is perhaps only a win or two away from being talked about in the same vein as Richard Teixeira. Versatile and relentless Maddox has dashed the hopes of every man who has ever come for his title but Oil Slick is without doubt the best fighter to ever stake a claim. ADCC champion Slick has the art of constriction down to a tee. Once he hits the takedown there is no mercy as he peppers opponents with effective but not fight ending ground and pound whilst all the time looking to grab a limb and make you quit. With the general consensus being that it is far easier to KO someone than submit them it is testament to just how good Slick is that he has a 57% win ratio by submission. This guy is hands down the best grappler in TTFC and he wants to get his hands on Maddox and in turn his belt.
Prediction: Maddox is hard working, durable and smart with counter wrestling good enough to stuff a lot of Slick's takedowns but at some point this will hit the mat and as good as Maddox is on the mat Slick is better, taking the win in the championship rounds by chokehold.
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