many fans, Angrrr Management still organised a card show casing a number of potential headliners of the future. Thanks to the hard work of Ollie Ellis who managed to find a number of replacement fights featuring athletes coming up through the amateur division to make their pro debuts, ‘The Octagon Club’ was a resounding success. Fight of the night clearly went to Chris Rice and Christian Smith in their title eliminator and with only three fights going beyond the first round, the excitement never let up.

Looking to win a place to contend for the middleweight title Christian Smith and Chris Rice both entered into the fight with total commitment. Smith opened the scoring with a flurry of chopping leg kicks before Rice shot in to take the fight to the canvas and pound his downed opponent. Smith escaped to keep the action on its feet but was troubled by Rice’s looping rights that landed with consistent ease. After a punishing exchange from both men, Smith was rocked and Rice ended the round ground and pounding his opponent.

Bloodied from the bruising first stanza Smith came out with some vicious punches as both looked to impose their mauy thai game on the other. Rice again found a home for his big right but this never seemed to deter the heavily marked up Smith. He caught Rice with a massive hip toss from the clinch to take mount and land some hurtful strikes that damaged Rice’s nose before the fight came back to its feet. Both fighters stood toe to toe as the crowd became frenzied but with one of Smith’s eyes completely closed Rice began to pour on the pressure. At the end of the round the medics and referee concurred that the bout had to be stopped giving Rice the win in what was probably the middleweight fight of the year so far.

Jay Gilbey took on Team Supreme’s Harvey Harra in a very entertaining bout that saw Harra looking to strike and Gilbey wanting to grapple. In the first round Gilbey landed with some nice kicks before clinching with his opponent but Harra kept top position in the ensuing scramble and backed out to punish Gilbeys legs with heavy kicks. Up on the feet both traded combinations before it went to ground again where Harra continued to control his man. In the second Gilbey looked for the take down but found himself in trouble as Harra got mount unleashing a torrent of strikes. As Gilbey tried to escape, Harra took his back and sunk in the rear naked choke for the win at 2:50 of the second round.

In a welsh derby Nathan Beer took the win over the very game Alec Mead in a semi-pro welterweight contest. Mead looked to impose his will and get the fight on the mat early where he scored with body punches. With the ref standing the fight up Mead again shot in but Beer reversed the position and worked his opponent over with strikes. In the second both stood and traded until Mead shot in. After a terrific scramble Beer took top position and worked an arm triangle that Mead gallantly defended only for his opponent to switch sides and sink it tight for the tap at 2:14 of round two.

Debuting Joseph Duffy showed his pedigree as a top amateur by taking on the older and more experienced Mick Broster. Both came out and exchanged on the feet before Duffy landed a stunning kick that split Broster's forehead open. Down and rocked Broster defended Duffy’s ground and pound by looking for a leg lock but with so much blood and the location of the cut the fight was stopped by the cage side doctor at 2:33 of the first.

Adam Stanton made his pro debut with an awesome display of power over Matt Hedrick. After testing Hedrick with leg kicks, Stanton shot in under a jab and slammed his opponent to the mat. Landing in side control Stanton transitioned into mount where he rained down elbows and punches forcing the ref to stop the contest at 52 seconds of the opening round and saving a bloodied Hedrick from further punishment.

Hywel Knight controlled his debut match against the taller, rangier Ashley James who clearly wanted to use his boxing to fend off Knights wrestling. Knight however shot in quickly and scored the take down against the fence where he patiently worked in a guillotine choke for the victory at 58 seconds of the first.

John Jones fought a great fight against the bigger Thomas Koslowski but could not stop the damaging strikes. Koslowski knocked Jones down early in the opening round and landed some decent shots in on the ground before it came back up and both fighters traded leather. Koslowski continued to fire combinations and then take downs where he scored to the body and head. But Jones kept getting the match back on its feet only to eat a big blow that floored him and let Koslowski dive in with punches to end the fight at 4:04 of round one.

Barry Miras dismantled the young and aggressive Zack Abdullah with some pin point kicks in the first round. Both came out firing and landed shots before Abdullah tried to get his man to the floor. Miras stuffed the attempt and began to let his hands go before stunning Abdullah with a kick to the face and a lovely combination that ended the fight at 1:39 of the opening round by tko.

Range Fighter Chris Debieux faced off against John Dowd in a semi-pro heavyweight contest that showed both had tremendous heart. Dowd took the fight to Debieux who landed a big right before clinching his opponent. Dowd clearly wanted to strike so Debieux showed his experience by getting the fight to the canvas where he landed a number of body blows to set up a tight arm triangle for the victory at 1:07 of the first.

Experienced Neil Huntley took on the debuting Team Supreme fighter Eugene Fadiora in the middleweight division. After feeling each other out Fadiora walked through Huntley’s jab to land his own strikes and get the plumb grip where he landed a devastating elbow that dropped his man. Huntley tried to recover and work a take down but Fadiora took control, first in side position then in crucifix where he unleashed a flurry of elbows to stop the fight and tak the victory in just under two minutes of the opening round.

Matt Freeman

But this time the engineering team responsible for constructing one of the best and safest designs in MMA arenas produced a nine sided cage. In front of a capacity crowd the fighters on the night gave it their all and the new structure played its role to perfection. With one of the pioneers of the sport, Ken Shamrock, facing off against Robert ‘Buzz’ Berry in the headlining bout and a tantalising featherweight title fight between Masakazu Inmanari and Jean Silva, the London audience was in for a night of excitement.

‘Buzz’ Berry did exactly what he said he would: knock Shamrock out. Showing improved fitness to go along with his leaner physic, Berry showed composure against such a legendary figure, taking his time to find his range with leg kicks and land continuous thumping jabs. Flustered, Shamrock rushed in wildly to try and clinch the British brawler and work a take down but Berry’s superior strength meant he shrugged off the attempt and replied with a crisp combination of strikes that had the American on the back foot. Sensing he had Shamrock hurt Berry piled on the pressure landing a big right that stunned his opponent and signalled the beginning of the end. Berry followed Shamrock to the mat but the referee clearly saw that Ken was out of the fight and called a halt to the action at 3:26 of the first round.

Masakazu Imanari defended his title against the Brazilian Jean Silva in a great match that showed why both men are so respected in the sport. Imanari worked a take down under Silva’s jab but found himself pulling guard as he ate punches. Unfazed the Japanese fighter quickly rolled to a shoulder lock, sweeping Silva before taking a leg and looking for a submission. Silva managed to escape and drop his opponent with a damaging leg kick before dropping in on Imanari with punches. But the champion seemed nonplussed and calmly worked another heel hook. As Silva rolled to evade the submission, Imanari reversed the hook and left Silva no choice but to swiftly tap before permanent injuries were inflicted.

Rob Broughton made his return from injury taking the giant Neil Grove three rounds and ending his winning streak with a typically brave and fierce performance. Weathering an early barrage of leg kicks Broughton soon found his own range and began to land kicks and punches at will. An increasingly tiring Grove came out in the second looking to find a home for his big right hand but Broughton kept him guessing using looping lefts and damaging jabs to great effect. In the third a gassed Grove scored with a take down but could not capitalise and Broughton began to control the match, working well in the clinch and on the mat with some vicious ground and pound to take a tough majority decision.

In a middle weight clash Tom Watson scored an impressive KO over Pierre Guillet in a helter skelter bout. Scoring easily with take downs from the clinch, Guillet seemed to have the perfect game plan to frustrate the striking skills of Watson. Tom managed to keep his opponent off him, pushing Guillet away. But, showing unusual aggression the American service man leapt into the air with every intention of landing a punch only for Watson to time an up kick that landed flush and ended the fight in spectacular fashion after two minutes.

Battling for contention in the heavyweight division Mustapha Al Turk out classed Gary ‘Smiler’Turner with a consummate display on the ground. Catching an ill worked front kick, Al Turk drove his opponent into the sidings and land some thudding body blows. Turner looked for a guillotine but Mustapha reversed the position, taking Turner’s back and promptly flattening him out. Landing punch after punch Mustapha was in total control. As Turner tried to escape Al Turk worked a rear naked choke before putting his man face down on the mat again and pouring on the pain forcing the tap out due to strikes at 3:19 of the first.

Ivan Serati dismantled a very animated Roman Webber in just 48 seconds of the encounter. Webber rushed the Italian only to find himself unceremoniously dumped to the floor and caught in side control. Serati dropped a number of bombs KOing his opponent and taking what looked to be great pleasure in the victory.

Showing a great improvement in his fitness and desire to win Henrique Santana handled Micheal Johnson with a well executed plan. Using his take downs to good effect Santana kept the damaging striker on his back for the majority of the fight, constantly looking for a reversed guillotine choke. On the feet Santana was happy to exchange and landed a number of leg kicks which Johnson seemed to have no answer for other than the occasional strike. In the third a gassing Santana saw the round out with take downs to win by unanimous decision.

In the first female fight on a Cage Rage card Aisling Daly completely outclassed her opponent beating down Aysen Berik in a decidedly one sided affair. After briefly trading strikes, Daly clinched and took the fight to the mat before unleashing a torrent of blows that caused Aysen’s corner to throw in the towel at 1:49 of the first round.

Ken Shamrock’s son Ryan put on a gutsy display against a very aggressive and game Giorgio Andrews but was forced to retire after the opening round with a broken left hand. In a back and forth scrap both men came out blazing before Ryan scored a nice take down from a whizzer. The fight came back up and Andrews began to throw serious leather putting his opponent on the back foot and pressing the action to take the win.

John Hathaway proved why he is one of the up and coming stars of MMA by destroying Marvin Arnold in a minute and a half. Hathaway took his opponent down quickly, easily passing to side guard and landing hurtful knees to the body before taking Arnolds back. Marvin tried to escape but Hathaway stayed glued and took mount whilst punishing Arnold with punches that forced the referee to stop the match.

Jake Bostwick looked set to take the win over John Phillips in their middle weight clash after a massive take down before securing side control and landing punches. Phillips showed great composure to escape, getting his own take down and pounding Bostwick before the fight stood up and both men exchanged blows. Phillips rocked his man and capitalised by taking the fight back to the floor where he ground and pounded out a well earned victory at 4:10 of the opening round.

Centre, Clevedon, Somerset.

The event was planned primarily as a means to give all competitors & spectators alike a fun filled day as well as a base from which to build upon for future events of this nature, the overwhelming responses from the competitors were filled with positive remarks about the event, almost all enquired as to when the next event would be.

With competitors from as far a field as Belfast, Essex, Midlands, Cornwall as well as the more local lads competing in various categories including weight & length of training the standard was exceptional & was a testament into their dedication & how much effort is put into the daily training that they all do.

Angrrr Management would like to thank everyone who made they day the success that it was, from the competitors & spectators, refs & time keepers as well as the competitors families & friends that came along to support them, also the staff at the venues who were more than helpful & already excited about the next event.

The next event is being planned for the 5th July & will again be held at the Strode Sports Centre, Clevedon, Somerset. Be sure to keep that date free in your diary as the interest already shown says that this will be a bigger & even better event than the last one, information will be displayed on our website: www.grrr.tv along with entry forms.

For all other information regarding other Angrrr Management events along with details of the new range of casual wear please go to: www.grrr.tv

Once again a big thankyou to all who have supported Angrrr Management & their events

RESULTS

Under 68kg <1 year - Luke Baker (Pedro Bessa)

Under 68kg >1 year - Martyn Scott (Pedro Bessa)

Under 73kg <1 year - Michael Freyer (Pedro Bessa)

Under 73kg >1 year - Lee Shearwood (Team Fury)

Under 78kg <1 year - Chris Jones (Pedro Bessa)

Under 78kg >1 year - Darren Yeoman (Pedro Bessa)

Under 84kg <1 year - Barry Meirs (S.D.C.S)

Under 84kg >1 year - Sebastien Green (S.D.C.S)

Under 93kg <1 year - Ian Gledhill (Warrior Kaste)

Under 93kg >1 year - Dave Powan (Warrior Kaste)

Under 100kg <1 year - Ian Glanfield (Trojan)

Under 100kg >1 year - Kashmir Sumal (Len Bates Fight Club)

Over 100kg >1 year - Matt Male (Somerset Jujitsu Alliance)

Absolute - Alex Owen (Team Savage)