Archive for the ‘OMMAC’ Category
OMMAC 3: Only the Brave
Next Saturday sees the third helping of MMA goodness from OMMAC. “ Only The Brave” features many of your usual Olympia favourites plus a couple of juicy title fights.
Paul ‘Boom Boom’ Cahoon is the star attraction. Cahoon is a significant figure in the sport. Without him, in the UK in general and Merseyside in particular- MMA would not be as big a deal as it is. No Cahoon – maybe no Wolfslair. No Wolfslair- maybe no Bisping. No Bisping winning TUF: maybe no UFC expansion into Europe. As well as being a historical figure, the good news for those heading to Liverpool is that Paul can still mix it with the best of them. Cahoon looked like he was about to get some long overdue recognition after his destruction of Elvis Sinosic, but it didn’t quite work out. He dropped two decisions in a row. First a rejuvenated Ian Freeman put on career best performance to beat him at Cage Rage then Kazuhiro Nakamura got the nod from the judges at Sengoku – Fifth Battle. After over a year away from the cage- Paul Cahoon will have his work cut out against tough Swede Matt Makela.
Icelander Arni Isaksson takes on Luis “Besouro” Dutra Jr for the vacant world welterweight title.
OMMAC (and Cage Gladiators before it ) is as good as it gets when it comes to domestic MMA. Do yourself a favour and get down to the most majectic venue in combat sport.
MAIN EVENT
PAUL CAHOON V MATTI MAKELA
Tony Moran v Shaun Lomas
Lee Chadwick v Ronan McKay
Arron Wilkinson v Tim Newman
Jay McGuiness v Carl Harrison
WORLD WELTERWEIGHT TITLE
ARNI ISSAKSON (ICE) V LUIS “BESSOURO” DUTRE JR (BRA)
Richie Ryder v Chris Cooper
INTERVAL
Jay Gladden v TBC
Chris Oban v Tom Morris
Jay Manning v Tom Thorneycroft
Mick Solomons v Ash Pollard
David Hill v Afsul Miah
semi pro
Uche Ihiekwe v Ben Eastwood
Dan Abbott v Frazier Opie
Pietro Menga v TBC
Sass v Sinclair Preview
Rob Sinclair and Paul Sass finally meet on Saturday. No need for hype- this is a fight everyone really has been waiting for. The two lightweight princes duelling to see who is the king of the Olympia.
Sass has plenty in his favour. Forget the record breaking triangle run- just check the names on his record: Jason Ball, Ian Jones, Harvey Harra, Martin Stapleton. With a CV like that, you have officially graduated from promising youngster to player. Obviously, he is exceptional off his back and people keep falling for it. You have to be pretty smart to get lucky that often.
The closest he has come to defeat was against Jason Ball last November. Ball kept the fight standing with some neat footwork and sly fence holding. Daddy Cool was on his way to a decision victory before his discipline slipped. Unloading from half guard and looking for the finish, he was the last person in the Olympia to know he was the latest victim of the Sass triangle. Everyone knows what Sass has got, but it seems he is unstoppable.
Rob Sinclair is the toughest challenge Sass has faced. Like Sass, his win column is full of top names, but it’s his solitary defeat that made Rob Sinclair the fighter he is. At Cage Gladiators 8, Sinclair and Greg Loughran fought a war of attrition. On my card, Sinclair was edging a gruelling clinch and ground war against one of the best guys in the domestic game. One slip, Kimura on and the old fox Loughran is volleying his mouthpiece into the crowd in celebration while Sinclair kicked himself.
To quote from the hurtbusiness report:
A good learning fight for Rob Sinclair and confirmation that there’s no substitute for experience.
Wise words if I say so myself. Before that fight, Sinclair was good. Since then- he looks on another level. He dictated the shape and pace of his fight against Tim Radcliffe to earn a unanimous decision. Next, he relentlessly pounded the tougher than your toughest pair of old boots Aidan Marron then played a mature waiting game before clinically taking out Alexandre Izidro.
Whatever the result; Sass and Sinclair are both on the way up. Both are improving and should be making waves on the international scene shortly. Right now, I think that Sinclair is the more complete package, with a definite edge standing. With his mature attitude- I don’t see him making the fatal mistakes that others have when facing Sass. Taking into consideration his power, hurtbusiness picks Rob Sinclair to win by stoppage.
