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 Good evening and welcome to the Liberty Dome here in downtown New York City for tonight�s SPNY main event matching recent Light Heavyweight challenger Haloti Gnata up against the impressive veteran Belin Billet.� Gnata will be looking for a win to re-establish himself as the leading contender at 205 while Billet is looking to secure a third consecutive win for the first time in his last 12 fights.� Tonight�s undercard features the first Featherweight Title defence of Malakai Semerkhet against Simon GM.
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Main Event: Light Heavyweight
Haloti Gnata 17-6 (14-6 SPNY) vs Belin Billet 32-22-2 (4-2 SPNY)
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Gnata comes into this fight fresh from his unsuccessful title challenge against Toby Le Rone in which he was TKO�d in the 3rd.� I was a little surprised to see him accept this match up given that he was badly injured during that fight and I will be surprised if he enters the cage tonight at 100% fitness tonight.� Gnata is a heavy hitting boxer with some wrestling skills if he is taken down but never looks to take the fight to ground himself.� Tonight he will want to avoid ground situations totally against a fighter like Billet who has so many submission wins.
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Billet at 37 is still one of the better Light Heavyweight fighters in SPNY, consistency has been a major problem in recent fights but in terms of skill he remains in the top echelon.� Tonight expect his versatility to come to the fore against Gnata, if Billet can take this fight into the clinch or to ground he stands to have a large advantage.� Most impressive about Billet is that he has only been stopped in 6 of his 56 career fights.
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Gnata is still under an injury cloud and Billet is at his most confident in a long time, I see Billet finishing this one within the distance.
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2: Light Heavyweight
Zachery Rey 27-14-1 (6-4 SPNY) vs Jarred Rose 15-7 (3-2 SPNY)
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Rey is one of the best Muay Thai specialists in SPNY but lacks the jujitsu skills of a top level fighter.� Tonight he will need to ensure he does not let himself be taken down by BJJ black belt Rose.� Striking at distance or fighting in the clinch Rey will have a significant advantage tonight, but he is 15lbs lighter and will not want to be caught on his back and controlled.� The biggest issue for Rey will be trying to find the knockout to finish the fight, Rose has a very good chin and Rey isn�t known for his finishes with just 16 KO�s from 27 wins.
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Rose is more versatile than a pure submission grappler but will see his submissions as his best chance to win tonight�s fight.� Black belt vs blue belt in BJJ suggests that as long as Rose can get a takedown he will be able to use his superior jujitsu to transition into a dominant position from where he can either work his ground & pound or look for a submission hold.
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This one should be a win for Rose by submission.
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3: Heavyweight
Jon Snow 14-8 (SPNY Debut) vs Jacob Ford 18-15 (1-2 SPNY)
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Montreal based new boy Snow arrives at SPNY with 4 wins from his last 5 outings and a reputation as a solid submission grappler.� In the stand up he is known for his leg kicks and powerful takedowns but lacking any offensive abilities in the clinch.� To test his abilities to step up at the bigger stage boxer Jacob Ford has been selected as his first opponent.� Ford�s career would probably have gone a lot further but for his tendency to cut, 6 TKO losses on doctors stoppages from cuts have truly prevented his from achieving the heights he otherwise may have.� I expect his to clinch Snow and attempt to dirty box his way to a win tonight.
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Snow to take Ford down and work his ground & pound for a TKO win.
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4: Light Heavyweight
Jason Gambit 14-12 (1-3 SPNY) vs Antero Rokka 9-5 (SPNY Debut)
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Gambit is a boxer and wrestler who has found the step up to the quality of opponent at SPNY difficult; tonight he is hoping to provide a similar experience to debutant Rokka.� From all reports Rokka is a quality boxer and kick boxer who does not have a strong ground game.� Should this one stay standing the offensive versatility of Rokka will probably prove key although Gambits 2 inch reach advantage will limit this.� However, a Gambit takedown followed up by some ground & pound would probably be sufficient to set him up for a submission finish.
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Gambit by submission.
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5: Middleweight
Bon Joy 20-7-1 (1-0-1 SPNY) vs Jason Stern 20-9 (SPNY Debut)
The pretty boy of SPNY Bon Joy will match his Muay Thai talent against former Olympic wrestler and professional boxer Jason Stern.� When Stern turned to MMA after a successful college wrestling career culminated in an Olympic appearance for the USA and a few professional boxing bouts he was touted to be the next big thing, 11 straight wins followed before a rocky patch of 3 changes in management and training camps led to a 9-9 record since then.� Joy has punctuated his MMA career with occasional kick boxing bouts will look to use his 3 inch reach advantage and long legs to keep Stern at range, should the fight stay standing Joy is a real chance at winning but Stern would be expected to dominate on the ground.
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Stern by KO.
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6: Heavyweight
Andy Chick 8-2 (2-1 SPNY) vs Mamoru Takamura 6-7 (1-1 SPNY)
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Despite lacking knockout power English-born kick boxer Chick remains one of SPNY�s hottest young prospects.� Takamura is a boxer who swings hard but lacks the versatility and refinement of technique needed to truly compete at the top level.� Tonight will be a good test of the chin of Andy Chick, but a comprehensive decision victory to him is the expected outcome.
Chick by decision.
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7: Welterweight
Yusuke Urameshi 10-7 (SPNY Debut) vs Tony Hendricks 13-12-2 (7-5-2 SPNY)
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Newcomer Urameshi is a kickboxing knockout specialist and tonight will be matched against submission specialist Hendricks.� This will be Urameshi�s first fight in quite some time having parted company with his old training camp and relocated to New York from his St Petersburg base.� He has a substantial 10lbs weight advantage and very dangerous head kicks to watch out for.� Hendricks will look for the takedown early rather than risk striking with Urameshi, and once down will work the ground & pound and submission attempts we know him for; Urameshi apparently has very good defensive technique on the ground which should make this interesting.
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I like Hendricks by decision for this one.
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8: Featherweight Title
Malakai Semerkhet (c) 4-1 (4-1 SPNY) vs Simon GM 3-1 (3-1 SPNY)
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Semerkhet will be looking to buck the trend that every Featherweight champ loses their title on their first defence.� Semerkhet is a kick boxer who manages to inflict surprising power given how accurate his striking is leading to all 4 of his victories coming by knockout.� His weakness is obviously on the ground and defending takedowns, but the style we are used to seeing from GM would not exploit that.
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GM earned his title shot with a solid decision win over Thelonius Skunk and will be looking to punch his way to the title here.� A 4 inch reach advantage for GM will go some way to overcoming the ability of Semerkhet to use his leg kicks to establish his preferred distance.� Like Semerkhet he has knockout power and accurate strikes, but probably lacks the versatility in this one.
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I like Semerkhet�s kicks to enable him to keep GM at range and lead to a successful defence by KO.
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9: Featherweight
Wee Ning 4-1 (1-0 SPNY) vs Tony Frank 3-2 (3-1 SPNY)
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Submission grappler Wee Ning comes into this fight against former SPNY champ Tony Frank badly out of shape.� Whether it was poor preparation or disrespect for his opponent Ning�s chances of winning this fight are next to none.� Whilst Frank is known for his takedowns and his ground & pound it is his work rate rather than his power that wins him fights, however, Ning is so unfit that I see him recording just his 2nd KO finish tonight.
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Frank by KO.
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10: Featherweight
Peter Smith (Professional Debut) vs Moe Biscapoe 1-1 (1-1 SPNY)
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Debutant Smith wrestled at high school but wasn�t good enough to get a college scholarship, with no professional fights and a recently earned blue belt in BJJ we can only assume his tactics will be to try to take Biscapoe down and work some ground & pound.� Biscapoe is a wrestler of similar ability level who has a purple belt, so we anticipate he will happily be taken down and look to advance his position and submit Smith.
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I expect a fairly dull fight with Biscapoe coming out with a submission win.
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