Middleweight Bout: Trevor Prangley vs. Curtis "Vision Quest" Stout
HISTORY: Prangley grew up in Cape Town, South Africa where he raised sheep and horses. There he won a National wrestling title and competed in the Olympic Trials, losing in the overtime round. Trevor first got involved in MMA in 1998 after he blew out his knee in a National tournament. It really upset him because he was performing well and had a chance at winning the whole thing. With surgery to his knee complete and his competitive thirst not quenched, he hooked up with Idaho native Derek Cleveland and began training jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai and other martial arts in preparation for something new. Prangley competed in judo tournaments to wet his appetite and then branched into many local MMA shows. Cleveland and Prangley also began promoting their own amateur show under the Professional Fighting Association banner and currently run the Idaho Lion's Den. With Ultimate Athlete, IFC and MFC Euphoria appearances under his belt, Prangley is ready to step up and enter the octagon for the first time.
Prangley/Renato Sobral: Trevor was outwrestled by Brazilian wrestling champion "Babalu." He was taken down at will and though Prangley fought a game fight and was able to trade on the feet, he was dominated. Many would chalk the loss up to Prangley being overwhelmed by being in the ring with his best competition to date, but Trevor himself felt he didn't exude his will and allowed Sobral to control the match. "Babalu" took a majority decision victory and went on to win the eight-man IFC Global Domination tournament.
Prangley/Andrei Semenov: The first round was a feeling out process with Prangley going for multiple takedowns, one of which brought Semenov to the mat and they worked from Andrei's guard until the round ended. Trevor came out striking in the second round and ducked a kick to bring Andrei to the mat yet again. They stayed grounded as Prangley picked apart Semenov's defense and bruised his ribs and face. Round three was another dominating round for Prangley and though Semenov was able to reverse position on the mat, the outcome was never in doubt. Prangley took a unanimous decision victory.
STRENGHTS AND WEAKNESSES: As a decorated wrestler, Prangley will have solid grappling skills and control the realm in which the bout is fought. He does have some knowledge of submission and is completely cross training at this point in his career. Prangley also seems anxious to show his stand-up game. As for a weakness, it's the usual: he has very little experience fighting at this level. Sobral and Semenov were a good start though.
HOW HE CAN BEAT STOUT: On the mat. Curtis has been tagging and dropping people lately and his confidence is high. And though his opponent has BJJ experience, it is in Trevor's best interest to bring this one to the canvas and try to pound out a win.
CURTIS STOUT: American muay Thai fighter, jiu-jitsu stylist, M-1 Mix-Fight Championships veteran; HOOK'n'SHOOT veteran; Reality Submission Fighting veteran; Victory Fighting Championships veteran; trains with Brad Jones, Travis Phippen, trainer Steve Crawford and the rest of the fighters at the American Jiu-Jitsu Academy; has trained with Enson Inoue and Carlos Newton; with a 18-3-1 record in MMA making his 2nd appearance (0-1) in the UFC.
HISTORY: As a boy, Curtis had an interest in boxing and began training at 15. He discovered MMA when he spent time in Japan. While there he trained with fighters competing in Shooto events including Enson Inoue and Carlos Newton. Stout continued to train boxing, kickboxing and jiu-jitsu but he really took to muay Thai kickboxing. He is a longtime HOOK'n'SHOOT veteran and began fighting for the promotion in September of 2000. Curtis got his first big break in February of 2001 when he was invited to take part in UFC 30 against a then unknown Phil Baroni. It went the distance and Stout lost by decision. He continued to fight in HOOK'n'SHOOT and made a trip to Russia to fight in that countries biggest MMA event, the M-1 Mix-Fight. There he faced highly touted striker/grappler Andrei Semenov. Again, fate sided with his opponent and Stout left without a victory. He returned to HOOK'n'SHOOT and continued his winning ways there as well as branching out to other smaller shows like the VFC and the RSF. Now Stout gets his second chance in the UFC after more than three years away from the octagon.
Stout/Brian Guidry: From the bell, Stout is able to avoid a takedown attempt but is knocked to the floor and winds up in guard anyway. Curtis holds him tight and avoids a slam by hooking Guidry's leg and punching him in the face to make him reconsider. They trade punches inside Stout's guard with each scoring a punching flurry but the round ends with no change in position. Guidry attempts a takedown to begin the second round but Stout sprawls and bounces back to his feet. A second takedown attempt is met in a similar fashion accept Stout accentuates it with knees to the body. The pace slows from the clinch but Stout is still brings the knees. Stout breaks the clinch and employs leg kicks. He eventually gets a bit cocky, standing hands down and jerking his head from side to side, but Guidry only make him pay for it with one solid strike. Another takedown from Guidry sees them fight from Stout's guard and they hand fight until the round ends. Although is seemed like Stout may have done enough to secure the win, the bout is ruled a majority draw.
Stout/Phil Baroni: As some may remember, this was Baroni's debut in the UFC as well as Stout's and Phil made a lot of noise on the internet before this bout. They exchanged strikes on the feet until Baroni got a takedown. They stayed against the fence in Stout's guard with Baroni landing strikes to Stout's body but no serious damage was done. In the second round, they exchanged standing and on the feet and even found time to verbally chastise each other while on the mat. Baroni took a unanimous decision in the two-round prelim bout.
Stout/Shikou Yamashita: Yamashita goes for a double-leg takedown and Stout catches him in a guillotine choke, lets his legs go and brings him to the mat. Stout has a closed guard but Yamashita eventually frees his head. They remain grounded and fight from Stout's guard but nothing significant takes place for the rest of the round. In the second, Stout catches Yamashita with a knee to the face as he rushes in for a takedown. Curtis grabs Shikou's head again but Yamashita eventually gets the takedown and he fights from half guard. Stout reverses the position to put Yamashita in guard but the Japanese fighter quickly hooks and throws Stout over and mounts him. He eats some punches but Stout is able to reverse position yet again and they go back to the feet. Stout lands a flying knee to the head but he is dropped to his back and Yamashita works for side control. As the round ends, Yamashita is pounding Stout with knees to the body. Curtis begins the final round with a kicking display, highlighted by two roundhouse kicks to the head. Stout starts to work his hands but Yamashita brings it to the mat and they fight from Stout's guard. They continue to hand fight inside until a stand up is warranted. Stout goes back to the head kicks but before he can unleash some knees, he is brought to the corner and taken down by Yamashita. Shikou attacks Stout's tailbone with knees but the bout ends. Stout's early efforts win him a unanimous decision.
Stout/John Renken: Stout made John "The Saint" Renken's career with this bout. Most felt Renken would shoot for a takedown but he surprised all by employing his Muay Thai training and landed a left roundhouse kick to the face. Stout hit the mat and the bout was over in 11 seconds.
Stout/Andrei Semenov: Curtis faced his most challenging competition to date at the M-1 Mix Fight Championships (MFC). At the "Russia vs. The World 4" show in November of 2002, Stout battled UFC veteran Semenov and was submitted by the crafty Red Devil-fighter in the first round via rear-naked choke.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES: Striking. Stout has been on a terror cracking heads and dropping opponents in his last four bouts. He fancies himself a Jose "Pele" Landi Jons-type-fighter with solid stand-up skills and the ability to take it to the ground when necessary. Curtis has been studying jiu-jitsu for a number of years but his inclination is to stand and bang. As for a weakness, the majority of his opponents would not be considered at the top of their game. The two biggest names on his bio, Semenov and Baroni, represent two of his three losses.
HOW HE CAN BEAT PRANGLEY: Keep it standing. Stout knows of Prangley's wrestling prowess and wants to keep this one on the feet. The jiu-jitsu training and wrestling Curtis has done may help avoid too much unwanted ground time and the opportunity to lay Prangley out from the clinch may present itself.
MY PICK: Prangley. This is a good match-up experience-wise. Neither fighter has taken advantage of all of the big-league opportunities presented to them -- few fighters do, we know it isn't easy -- but Trevor did take care of Semenov when he had the chance and made a statement with that bout. Prangley seems like he's ready for his breakthrough fight and this could be it. I feel it will be Prangley by TKO in the 2nd Rd.
DOWN THE ROAD: Prangley/Matt Lindland: Sooner or later Matt will need to fight for the title again. Prangley might just meet the man to make Matt's fights truly exciting.
Prangley/Phillip Miller: Remember this guy? Everyone knows about the trouble he got into on the Internet with Zuffa. It has been two years and these guys have looked past people's mistakes (and much worse ones) before. Just FYI, Miller is still undefeated in MMA at 16-0.
Stout/Joey Villasenor: He's 12-3 with losses to David Terrell and Jermaine Andre. The KOTC/IFC regular certainly has the credentials to enter the octagon.
Stout/Denis Kang: Kang dropped UFC veteran Keith Rockel and has battled UFC alum Amar Suloev, Dennis Hallman, Joe Slick and Kei Yamamiya. The Canadians are doing well so let's really open it up.