By Dean Weir

MAX MMA returned to Wesley's Nightclub in Pudsey, Leeds for their sixth installment. Mark Spencer and Peter McFadden deserve great credit as these events get better each time. 4 amateur, 7 semi-professional, 2 professional and 1 Thai fight entertained the near sell-out crowd for the evening.

The main event was a professional Lightweight Title eliminator between Mark "Superman" Aldridge and Simon "The Punk" Neale. The fight started with exchanges of knees in the clinch before Aldridge took it to the ground. He gained top position and delivered some ground and pound. Neale kept his composure and regained his feet only for Aldridge to put him on his back again and deliver some more ground and pound. This time though, Neale saw the opportunity to take the loose arm of Aldridge, lock it up and gain the win via tapout to armbar.

Team Allegiance and Caged Steel fighter Jay "Blast" Furness added to his unbeaten record with an impressive victory over Leeds MMA product Anthony Wainwright. Furness gained the takedown seconds into the contest, gained top position looking to deliver some punishment to Wainwright. Furness on this occasion couldn't keep his man down and the fight was soon back to its feet. Furness again attempted the shoot and forced Wainwright to the fence where he took his opponenents legs to gain top position again. This time though, when Wainwright was working to escape, Furness wrapped his arms around the open neck of his opponent, fell to his back, wrapped the legs around the body and forced Wainwright to tap to the tight guillotine.

The top semi-professional bout on the card was for the Light-Heavyweight title between local man Carl Meson and Joshua Hickins from Scarborough. Hickins didn't get the opportunity to show anything in an offensive capacity as Meson threw a leg-kick, imeediately clinched and forced Hickins to the ground. A couple of body punches and mount changes later, Meson worked his position to sink in an arm triangle to gain the belt.

The other semi-pro bouts saw some exciting contests with none more so than between crowd favourite Andy McGrath and Kieren Grey from S18 gym. The two traded on the feet as the crowd raised the decibel level for the their local man. Grey's more accurate and precise punching rocked McGrath on a couple of occasions but McGrath showed he was game and continued to push for the takedowns. The round ended with McGrath getting the takedown but Grey locked in an armbar as the bell sounded. The second round started with a great straight left from Grey that had McGrath falling into the fence. As they broke from the ensuing clinch, Grey landed another straight punch which again rocked McGrath. This time though Grey followed up with the takedown and dominated from the top before sinking in a tight arm triangle that put McGrath to sleep.

Wins were also gained via submissions by Danny Milnes, Mark Tidswell, Thomas Connory, Darren Straughan and Tom Murry.

The four amateur fights saw three go to the judges and one ending in a submission victory via Triangle to Mike Adams. The judges awarded victories to Rich Ives and Dan Lancaster, with Lee Kelly and Joe McNally battling it out for a Majority Draw. James Harrison and Dan Lancaster deserve some recognition as their fight did not go the ground once, which is extremely unusual for an amateur rules contest. They stood and traded kicks, knees and body punches for the full ten minutes giving the crowd great entertainment.

The Thai rules contest, a first for MAX, was an exciting five round war between the precise and clinical Danny Aston-Bowen and the more unorthodox gutsy Oliver Milnes. It was a closely contested bout which ended in Aston-Bowen coming out away with a split decision victory.

May 21st 2011 is the date of the next MAX show, again at Wesley's Nightclub. With the ongoing improvements and streamlining of these events, MAX 7 is a show that should not be missed for some great grass roots MMA action.

MMA Hit Pit Awards:

Fight of the Night - Andy Mcgrath (Sindrome) Vs Kieren Gray (S18 gym)

Submission of the Night - Thomas Connory (South Shields Fight Factory)

Fighter of the Night - Kieren Gray (S18 gym)

Full Results:

Professional
LW - Simon Neale def. Mark Aldridge (Allegiance) - R1 (2:31) - Armbar
FW - Jay Furness (Allegiance/Caged Steel) def. Anthony Wainwright (LMMA) - R1 (1:40) - Guillotine

Semi-Professional
94kg Title - Carl Meson (LMMA) def. Joshua Hickins (Scarborough) - R1 (1:45) - Arm Triangle
66kg - Danny Milnes (Sindrome) def. Andrew Cook (Heavy Hitters) - R1 (4:32) - Armbar
70kg - Mark Tidswell (Fulinkazan) def. Vince Irvine (Chester Submission) - R1 (1:12) - Armbar
84kg – Kieren Gray (S18gym) def. Andy Mcgrath (Sindrome) - R2 (2:41) - Arm Triangle
77kg - Thomas Connory (South Shields FF) def. Turan Ahmet (Heavy Hitters) - R1 (2:34) - Armbar
60kg - Tom Murry (Murry Camp) def. John Bowe (Heavy Hitters) - R1 (1:38) - Triangle
77kg - Darren Straughan (South Shields FF) def. Gavin Neaverson - R1 (1:17) - RNC

Amateur
84kg - Dan Lancaster (Chester Submission) def. James Harrison (LMMA) - Unanimous Decision
60kg - Joe Mcnally (South Shields FF) v Lee Kelly (Chester Submission) - Majority Draw
84kg - Mike Adams (Chester Submission) def. Harry Brereton (Blackdog MMA) R2 (2:32) - Triangle
74kg - Rich Ives (Chester Submission) def. Neil Gray (South Shields FF) - Decision

Thai Rules
Danny Aston-Bowen def. Oliver Milnes - Split Decision