CageWarriors: Strike Force is the Southern arm of the promotion, and their first show will be held in the Skydome in Coventry on May 21. The theme, as the title mildly suggests, is UK-based fighters against some of those guys from across the channel. The idea is that there will be 10 fighters on each team, and national pride will be at stake. The French are going to be picking first, with the UK team to be assembled once the French team has been announced.
Either way, the CageWarriors team has confirmed that in order to maintain a rigorous standard of fairness, a French referee will preside over half of the bouts, and a French judge will be employed to share officiating duties.
The only fighter who has been confirmed to fight is Barrington Patterson, local hero and ex-champion kickboxer, who recently lost his WAKO super heavyweight title to Michael Bisping. This will be his debut in professional MMA, and he's guaranteed to bring with him a raucous home crowd. It is not clear at this point whether Patterson will be fighting on the UK team or whether his fight will be separate from that.
CageWarriors: Ultimate Force
The Northern arm of the CageWarriors promotion had previously announced its debut offering for April 30. Does that date sound familiar to you at all? Yup, it's the same day as Cage Rage 11, which is probably not too wise a decision from the Northern boys. On the other hand, a significant proportion of the UK MMA fan base lives up North, so perhaps they'll prove me wrong.
Either way, this offering will debut at the Xscape Centre in Castleford, near Leeds. Three match ups have been announced so far. Irishman Dave Roche will be facing BJJ black belt and 2H2H veteran Kazeka Muniz; Mohammed Khacha will be facing Matt Thorpe; and Mark "Spenna" Spencer will be facing Ollie Ellis.
FX3
The Freestyle Fighting Federation is a young UK MMA promotion, but they're already boasting quite an impressive fight card. The show is scheduled for June 18, at the Rivermead Leisure complex in Reading.
Whatever FX3 is doing, its doing right because it has scored names like Mike Bisping, Paul "Semtex" Daley, a rematch between Jess Liaudin and Abdul Mohammed (two months after they fight at Cage Rage 11), Paul Jenkins, Damien Riccio and a very intriguing match up between up and comers Ashleigh Grimshaw and Frederick Fernandez.
The full card is:
Mike Bisping vs. Alex Cook
Paul Daley vs. Sami Berik
Jess Liaudin vs. Abdul Mohammed
Paul Jenkins vs. Peter Angerer
Damien Riccio vs. Vlaijko Perovic
Nigel Whiteyear vs. Laurent BonaFoux
Ashleigh Grimshaw vs. Frederick Fernandez
Andy Harby vs. Sofaine Esgone
Ollie Ellis vs. David McLaughlin
Amir Subasic vs. Steljos Simeonidis
Ze Marcello/BTT UK – Taking on All Comers?
I was sitting down in the pub one day last week when this cadre of Brazilians in hoodies marched right up to my table. I was a bit scared at first, especially when two of them drew their lightsabers. Fortunately, it turned out that these were just the guards, and their charge was Mr. Eduardo Carriello, head of Ze Marcello/BTT UK, and he had a few things to get off his chest
The main thrust of the Brazilian's argument is that his team now has a number of good fighters and that these fighters are ready to whoop some ass. Aside from Dave Lee, who scored a 43-second submission over Ricky Andrews at Cage Rage 10, Alexandre "Xandinho," a black belt and veteran of SHOOTO Brazil, is also ready to fight.
Likewise, the team is anxious to avenge former coach Ronaldo Campos' losses to Paul "Hands of Stone" Jenkins. Henrique "Lagartixa" Santana, last seen beating Jeremy Bailey at Cage Rage 6 (later ruled a No Contest) and Matt Thorpe at the Nightmare Before Xmas show, was mentioned as a possible contender.
To top things off, the Ze Marcello/BTT UK team is also holding a three-day series of seminars with BTT black belt world champion Murilo Rupp. Mr. Carriello emphasized to me that Rupp is a "world champion, international champion, state champion, and Planeta Atlandida Vale Tudo champion." That sounds good.
The seminars are open to all individuals of all skill levels. The price is £20 for each session and the timetable is as follows:
3/19 - BTT London: 10 a.m. till 1 p.m. (with gi)
3/19 - BTT Milton Keynes: 5 p.m. till 8 p.m. (with gi)
3/20 - BTT Slough: 3 p.m. till 6 p.m. (no gi)
3/21 - BTT Milton Keynes: 12 p.m. till 3 p.m. (with gi)
3/21 - BTT London: 8 p.m. till 11 p.m. (with gi)
Addresses:
BTT London: Tokei Martial Arts Academy, 28 Magdalen Street SW1 2EN
BTT Slough: Montem Leisure Centre, Montem Lane, Slough
BTT Milton Keynes: Total Dojo, Princess Way, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK2 2HQ,
For further information contact Eduardo Carriello on 07960744622 or by email at carriellojiujitsu@hotmail.com or bttuk@hotmail.co.uk / www.braziliantopteam.com