Dean Bray (Pictures) (1-2) fights out of the Elite Fighting Systems camp. He is primarily a striker, and made his name with an aggressive dismantling of Jeremy Bailey (Pictures) at CR 13. Bray's weakness is his lack of a ground game, and both his defeats have come by submission.
Bray is tough, but I don't think he has the necessary skills to stop Guisha from taking him down. If he goes down then his only hope will be to hang tough and if the fight makes it to the third round, he may be able to take advantage of Guisha's questionable cardio. That said, I think Guisha takes it by referee stoppage in the second round.
Mark Chen vs. Robbie “The Flame” Olivier
Robby Olivier (11-6-1) is a well-respected veteran of the European circuit. Having made his professional debut in early 2002, the judo black belt has fought many big European names, pulling out impressive wins against the likes of Thomas Hytten (Pictures), Samy Schiavo (Pictures), Chris Freeborn and Dave Elliot (Pictures), as well as drawing with current CageWarriors featherweight champion Danny Batten. Olivier is a well rounded fighter with heavy hands, a good wrestling base and an excellent and tricky ground game.
“The Flame” was initially scheduled to be taking on Brad Pickett (Pictures) in a rematch of their bout from Cage Rage 15, which Olivier lost via a controversial split decision. Unfortunately, Pickett's hand injury kept him out and, warrior that he is, Olivier has agreed to an interim fight, with the victor taking on Pickett for his British featherweight title in September.
Standing in Olivier's way is Mark Chen (6-4), who fights out of the Pancrase London gym alongside Jess Liaudin (Pictures) and Ashleigh Grimshaw. Chen is a good all-round fighter with solid wrestling and ground skills, and is coming off an impressive knockout victory over Ricky Moore. He has proven his ability to win by submission or knockout but is conservative at heart and the majority of his fights have gone to the judges.
Chen is certainly no walkover but he's the underdog here. I can't see the Pancrase London fighter scoring the submission so Chen's only real hope will be to knock Olivier out and that is very, very unlikely. Look to see Olivier dominate his opponent en route to a victory by unanimous decision.
Phil “The Gladiator” Norman vs. David Bielkheden
Phil Norman (Pictures) (4-0) is a welcome blast from the past. Norman was the first winner of Gladiators, the UK's version of American Gladiators, and has been involved with martial arts in the UK for a long time. Having fought twice in the late 1990s, Norman returned to competition in 2005, fighting and winning twice. His last trip into the cage was a successful one, with the veteran defeating Ian Freeman (Pictures) protégé Hasan Muridi by decision.
David Bielkheden (10-3) is a Swedish BJJ fighter with an aggressive, dominant game. The Swede is not scared to trade shots, but his real weapon is his brutal ground and pound, coupled with a slick submission game. He is exactly the sort of fighter that the long-limbed Norman doesn't match up well against. Bielkheden will come out badly if he tries to trade shots but he should be able to take Norman to the floor and if that's where it ends up then this is Bielkheden's fight to win or lose. Expect the Swede to take this by submission in the second round.
Paul “Semtex” Daley vs. Ross “The Boss” Mason
Paul Daley (Pictures) (10-4-2) must be looking forward to this one. He's had a crack at the Cage Rage belt before, when he took on Paul Jenkins (Pictures) at Cage Rage 11. That fight was ruled a draw and Daley has been dying for a rematch ever since. And whilst this isn't a rematch, a string of consistent injuries has led Jenkins to relinquish the title, due to his belief that champions must defend the belt. This means that the belt is now vacant and Daley has another chance to stake his claim, with a possible third match against Jenkins waiting in the wings should the youngster take it.
Daley's game is simple — he's a rugged, aggressive, heavy-handed striker whose wrestling and submissions have been improving as he gains experience. He's pretty well-rounded these days and it takes something a bit special to put him off his stride. Daley is coming off the biggest win of his career — an impressively dominant victory over UFC veteran Dave Strasser (Pictures) at CR 16.
Ross Mason (Pictures) (8-4) is another rising young lion. Mason is an aggressive striker, with good cardio and some decent ground skills. Mason's last showing in Cage Rage was a submission loss to the slick Chris Lytle (Pictures), a bout which he followed up with a TKO victory over Jesse-Bjorn Buckler at the sixth CageWarriors Strike Force show.
This is the sort of clash that Cage Rage loves to promote. Both of these fighters like to swing and with any luck this will be one for the ages. It's difficult to see a winner but I have a sneaking suspicion that this is Daley's time to shine. I'd love to see a knockout but although both fighters are more than capable, I think there might be a bit of tentativeness here given what's at stake. I think Daley takes it by decision after three rounds.
Abdul Mohamed (Pictures) vs. Jean “The White Bear” Silva
Once again, Jean Silva (Pictures) (12-4-3) comes into this fight at a crossroads. Having shone in the UK circuit since making his debut back in mid 2002, Silva finally earned himself a dream trip to Japan, to face the awesome Takanori Gomi (Pictures).
Despite a vicious assault from his Japanese opponent, Silva managed to hang tough and took arguably the best lightweight in the world to a decision. This may not have been a bad thing, but Silva's next fight was much less impressive with Vitor Ribeiro (Pictures) demonstrating his vast technical superiority over his Brazilian compatriot en route to a dominating victory by arm-triangle choke.
Although Silva recovered a modicum of pride by registering a defeat over Paul Daley (Pictures), the Brazilian has some more to do to convince his doubters that he is once again ready to hang with the best. A win against Mohammed here could, if rumors are to be believed, spell a match with Joachim Hansen (Pictures) and a sure-fire path to redemption.
But first, Silva will need to face Ian Freeman (Pictures)-trained Abdul Mohamed (Pictures) (11-3-2). Afghan-born Mohamed is as close to a pure wrestler as we have active in the UK circuit these days. He's a classic ground and pound stylist, who specializes in high altitude slams and unrelenting ground-and-pound.
The battle-lines are clear here. Mohamed is a better wrestler, whereas Silva is the better stand-up striker and has the better submission game. Most of the intangibles also stack on Silva's side — Sami Berik (Pictures) proved that Mohamed cuts easily and Alexandre Izidro (Pictures) proved that some sharp striking can put Mohamed off his stride. For all these reasons, combined with his sheer unpredictability, I think Silva must be the favorite. I'm going for a decision again, but it should be a clear victory for the Brazilian.
Daijiro Matsui (Pictures) vs. Pierre Guillet (Pictures)
Daijiro Matsui (Pictures) (8-13-4) is someone that needs little introduction. The former pro wrestler and Takada Dojo fighter has been a fixture in Japan since the third PRIDE show, and has entertained and suffered in equal measure since then. Having fought pretty much everyone there is to fight across the ocean, Matsui obviously felt like a new challenge on these shores. Accordingly he made his UK debut at Cage Rage 14, drawing with Alex Reid (Pictures) in a fight that the crowd, at least, felt he'd clearly won. He then made amends by going on to defeat Curtis Stout (Pictures) at Cage Rage 15 by majority decision.
After presumably getting fed up of fighting bigger men, Pierre Guillet (Pictures) (9-4) makes the trip down to middleweight for this fight. Guillet is a truly cosmopolitan fighter, a guy who was born in the USA to Korean parents and now resides in the UK, training with the Cambridge-based Tsunami gym. Guillet is a technician, a submission specialist who nevertheless can strike and strike well if needed.
Guillet's only real weakness is a tendency to buckle under the assault of highly aggressive opponents. I don't think this will be a factor against Matsui, but I also don't think Guillet has the power to put Matsui away. Guillet is likely to be the aggressor here and unless Matsui can counter with something crazy I see Pierre taking the win by decision.