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Knuckleup At The Manor: Review
05 Nov 2009
By Ricky Wright
The Celtic Manor Resort was the scene for the third instalment of fledgling promotion turned power house Knuckleup. Set in the grand hall of the hotel, this was the classiest event I for one had ever attended. The perfect host to the most anticipated super fight of the year, Jim Wallhead Vs Che Mills.
Jim Wallhead knew exactly what had to be done when he dominated Che Mills from inside the clinch, a three round battle between the number one and two unsigned fighters in the UK. Wallhead closed in the mighty reach of mills by pressing him up against the cage relentlessly looking for the take down. Every so often Mills would explode and land some heavy shots utilizing his reach but it was not enough for Mills as Wallhead finished the fight strong, mounting Mills landing short snappy elbows and punches which lead him to be favoured best by the judges come the final bell. After being crowned the first ever Knuckleup welter weight champion surely now the UFC will come knocking?
In the penultimate fight of the night Jordan James traded guillotine attempts throughout the bout with his opponent Danny Mitchell. An exciting contest of attempts and escapes from that very move. Mitchell eventually scored the final decisive guillotine which saw James tapping half way through the second round.
Nathan Beer was set to make his first title defence against trojan free fighter Matt Sellers. In the closest fight of the night beer cheered on by his army of fans were silenced when Sellers was awarded the split decision. In the first round Beer Dominated in the only way he knows how, the classic pin and punch. His momentum carried on in to the second round and it looked like we were on our way to see another Beer victory and then, all of a sudden out of no where Sellers dropped Beer with an over hand right. Beer showed a lot of heart recovering from the shot and fighting his way out of a bad situation. Both men entered the third with a round a piece knowing that it was all hanging on the final round. Neither fighter made any significant attempts to steal the round leaving the fight in the hands of the judges who crowned Matt Sellers the New Knuckle Up light weight champion.
Born in Ireland trained in Wales, Joseph "Hot Stuff" Duffy got his chance on a big show to demonstrate to the masses what he is capable of. The hype surrounding Duffy has been generated over the years through his success in the amateur and semi pro ranks. The pressure was on, but would Duffy deliver? Sebastian Grandin was drafted in from France to put a halt to Duffy's undefeated winning streak. The mean looking Grandin was a vast contrast to Duffy's calm collected appearance. As the fight got under way Duffy was in complete control, transitioning from position to position. Duffy at this stage who was fighting from his back extended his his legs and wrapped them around the neck of the Frenchman tapping him out from a triangle choke during the first round. What next for Joseph Duffy?
Former Knuckleup Light Weight Title contender Antanas Jazbutis put on a three round master class over the game yet out gunned Dan James. Jazbutis demonstrated his superior thai boxing skills by controlling James from the inside of the clinch utilizing his knees on more than one occasion. Credit to Dan James who is tough as nails and never gave up. Jazbutis was awarded the unanimous decision victory in a very exciting fight.
The ever slick David Hill out shines yet another opponent in the shape of Frenchman Cedric Perruchet with a rear naked choke extending his record to 5-0. 2010 will be the year that David Hill will cause havoc in the feather weight division.
National pride was at stake when three welsh welter weights Kevin Reed, Russell Smith and David Round went to war with their English opponents Nigel Whitear, Oliver Cullingford and Brendan Flannagan respectively. The Welsh welters came away with three out of three wins all stopping their opponents by ground and pound during the first round.
In the opening bout of the evening we saw Aaron Thomas impress with a first round win as he sent Shaun Voissey tapping to an armbar in a B-class pro fight.
MMA Hit Pit Awards
Fight of the Night: Matt Sellers Vs Nathan Beer
Fighter of the Night: Nathan Beer (for recovering after the knock down)
KO of the Night: David Round
Submission of the Night: Joseph Duffy's Triangle
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