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2-0 for Team Colosseum, boom
12 Oct 2009 11:55AM
Star Date:..... yeah right... GEEK!
Anyway, what a weekend!
2-0 for Team Colosseum, boom!
We had two guys fighting on the new Fight Ikon show in Bolton. I've mentioned Fight Ikon before. It's Bolton's first MMA show and was promoted by Darren Sherlock at Salford Fight Factory. Got to say Darren did well. A excellent show by all accounts. I'm sure there were the usual challenges (I'll tell you about 1 in a minute), but essentially the show ran smoothly and was a pleasure to be involved in and watch. You should be able to check it out on www.p4tv.com very soon.
First up was Sam Fergusson facing off against Scott McLellan. Scott fights out of Dec Williams camp, Team Warriors Elite and had a few fights under his belt. Similar experience to Sam, but more mature at 32. No disrespect to Scott, but the fight was complete domination from Sam. Sam dropped Scott twice in the first 10 second of the fight, both from head kicks... a left and a right. Sam then threw some shots and owned the stand up, he then initiated and secured a good takedown. Took control on the ground, secured side control and a 'step over kimura' position. After using body shots to weaken Scott, Sam took the kimura...a very quick and classy win..... AWESOME work!
Next up was Steve Hazeldine. Fighting Evolution MMA's Dale Russel, a young 18 year old prospect. This fight was a different kettle of fish. Steve didn't look on form and Dale is not a fighter to be 'off form' with. A Young warrior, he took it to Steve, throwing some great shots and winning the stand up exchanges. Dale also controlled the clinch and secured the takedowns, so Steve was in real defence mode. It would of been easy for Steve to lose composure as the fight was not going as plan, but Steve kept working and eventually secured a triangle position from guard. Russel hadn't finished though, he tried twice to slam out of the submission... big slams. Steve hung in their and sunk in the submission... again, excellent performance! I expect to see big things from Dale though, loads of respect... at 18, the guy was an animal!
We should of had a third fighter on, Chris Thompson, against Nij Wright, again of Team Warriors Elite. Unfortunately Nij opted not to make weight and we opted to not fight someone who refused to make weight. There's probably a few stories floating around, so I will try to set the record straight as accurate as possible and without any opinion... those who know me.. know this will be tough! :)... so let's get the opinion out of the way now. Tommo would of destroyed Nij and given us our third win of the night
So, on Friday night Tommo was 72k. The fight is contracted at 70k, leaving a very easy 2k cut. excellent. On Saturday Tommo went to the sauna around 9am and struggled to get the weight off. he managed only 600 grams. After a discussion with me, he hit the salt baths, hoping to suck out more and possibly skip off the last few hundred grams at the weigh in. The ISKA rules are clear. You have a 2 hour window on the day before, in order to make weight. You can also only cut a maximum of 4% in that time. If you still can't make weight, you can way in on the day, 8 hours before fight time. We knew we would be OK.
We got to Salford Fight Factory for the weigh in, around 12:20. Tommo hit the scales and was 70.2k. 200 grams over, which we were happy to lose, but actually there is usually a 1 pound allowance and we were within that. Darren Sherlock confirmed that Paul Hennessy of the ISKA had confirmed the allowance meant 70.5k, so we are sorted! Darren also stated that he checked the weight as Nij's coach had called on Friday night, wanting to confirm. Nij was 2k over and a little worried about weight. When Nij turned up, he weighed in at 71.4k 1.4k over the weight and 900grams over any possible allowance. But no problem, he had 2 hours to cut and a sauna near by. I've been with fighters who have cut this and more in far less time, so we weren't worried. Nij and crew headed to the sauna. around an hour or so later they returned and Nij stepped on the scales. 71k... still 1k over, after only loosing 400g. I confirmed that he would still have to loose the weight for the fight to happen and he still had 45mins to do that. To my surprise Nij and his team promptly refused to cut any more weight and Nij grabbed a bottle of gatoraid and started guzzling fluids. I'm a little in shock at this point as Nij still has 45mins to cut weight and won't even try. He's given up and failed to meet weight.... actually, he hasn't fully tried... 45mins are still left! I discussed with Tommo and advise him not to take the fight. There are some discussions with the promoter and during this time Nij approaches Tommo directly to ask him "Are we fighting or what?", which considering Nij's refusal to make weight, is pretty disrespectful. I confirm with the promoter and the fight is off.
They're the facts. With 45mins left on the clock and a back up weigh in 24hours later, Nij Wright opted to stop trying to cut weight. End of story.
You can make up your own mind about the situation, argue about "a few hundred grams", etc, but the fact remains that Nij didn't hit weight, didn't fully try and gave up. That was hugely unprofessional and disrespectful to his opponent, Team Colosseum and the promoter. After Sam SMASHED his team mate to pieces, Team Elite might start getting some bad blood with Team Colosseum. We could rise to that, but to be honest... we don't deal with unprofessional people. I could never match a fighter against a Team Warriors Elite fighter, as I don't believe they will make weight. It would be a waste of time for all involved!
Raises the question of what a professional is... it's not just a set of rules, it's an attitude... it's behaviour... it's credibility. To be a professional you have to do everything you do to the highest standard you can, regardless of how you feel on that day. You can't be right every time, but if you are wrong, be accountable. For a fighter, that means hitting weight. if you can't do that, say you can't do that and except the responsibility. If you can't do this... don't masquerade as a professional... you are an amateur with delusions of professionalism!
Until next time
Chin down, hands up
Aaron
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