Cage Rage 12: Weir Back on Track, “Shaolin” Dominates Again
Under Card Bouts
Pedro Wrobel Jul 3, 2005
In the night's slowest-paced affair Phil "The Gladiator" Norman
proved how important fitness is in this game, as he comprehensively
outworked wrestler Hassan
Muridi en route to a unanimous decision victory in their
undercard bout.
Muridi was visibly gassed by the end of the first round but his excellent wrestling instincts kept him in the game as he repeatedly took his opponent down and laid on him. For his part, Norman looked fast and dangerous on his feet and exhibited an impressive rubber guard on the ground. Although Norman was unable to finish his opponent, the older man pushed the pace and, in my opinion, thoroughly deserved the victory.
In a vertical mismatch, the powerfully built Fabio Piamonte took on the
lanky, 6-foot-5 Frenchman Cyrille Diabate. This was a
fast-paced encounter as the Frenchman initially dominated the
striking game, forcing the Brazilian to look for the takedown.
Piamonte accomplished this but could not keep the Frenchman down, and Diabate rapidly regained his feet. Fortunes reversed at this point as Piamonte launched a flurry of punches that seemed to stun Diabate, putting him down as the Brazilian swarmed in.
In the third fight of the night, the Wolfslair gym's Tom Blackledge took on Alan "Mad Raddy" Murdoch. Murdoch is a funny character whose angry look is actually his natural facial expression. It took me a while to realize that as I sat, embarrassed, wondering what I'd done to piss him off.
The fight was pretty one-sided, with Blackledge seemingly breaking Murdoch's ankle after around a minute. Clearly I wasn't the only one who heard some disturbing cracking noises as referee Marc Goddard stopped the action to check that Murdoch's foot was still attached. It was and "Mad Raddy" seemed unconcerned, so the fight restarted and Blackledge tried his luck with a textbook armbar.
This time Murdoch did tap, but only because his arm was hyper-extended to a disturbing degree, with Blackledge later expressing shock at quite how tough the crazy man was. Blackledge earned the victory by submission after 2:56 of the first round.
Former Phats and Small vocalist Tony Thompson took on the Elite's Rick "Just The Trick" Andrews in the second fight of the night. Thompson, making his pro MMA debut, seemed calmer and more comfortable than Andrews, a Cage Rage veteran.
It was Andrews who charged across the cage, throwing bombs with his head down. It was Andrews who worked hard for the takedown. And it was Andrews whose overenthusiastic ground-and-pound left him vulnerable to Thompson's armbar. Thompson makes a successful debut, forcing the tap at 1:53 of the first round.
In the opening bout of the night Dave "Organically Fuelled" Lee upped his record to 4-1, all of his wins coming by way of submission. Ignoring the bluster and the posing from his well-built opponent, Lee remained calm and weathered an early storm, eventually taking Jason Barrett’s back and forcing him to tap out to a rear-naked choke 4:28 of the first round.
Muridi was visibly gassed by the end of the first round but his excellent wrestling instincts kept him in the game as he repeatedly took his opponent down and laid on him. For his part, Norman looked fast and dangerous on his feet and exhibited an impressive rubber guard on the ground. Although Norman was unable to finish his opponent, the older man pushed the pace and, in my opinion, thoroughly deserved the victory.
Advertisement
Piamonte accomplished this but could not keep the Frenchman down, and Diabate rapidly regained his feet. Fortunes reversed at this point as Piamonte launched a flurry of punches that seemed to stun Diabate, putting him down as the Brazilian swarmed in.
Acting on instinct alone, Diabate managed to fend the Brazilian off
with his flailing legs, standing and reversing him as Piamonte
charged back in. Piamonte would not be denied though, and caught
the Frenchman in a very tight triangle, forcing him to tap at 2:09
of the first round.
In the third fight of the night, the Wolfslair gym's Tom Blackledge took on Alan "Mad Raddy" Murdoch. Murdoch is a funny character whose angry look is actually his natural facial expression. It took me a while to realize that as I sat, embarrassed, wondering what I'd done to piss him off.
The fight was pretty one-sided, with Blackledge seemingly breaking Murdoch's ankle after around a minute. Clearly I wasn't the only one who heard some disturbing cracking noises as referee Marc Goddard stopped the action to check that Murdoch's foot was still attached. It was and "Mad Raddy" seemed unconcerned, so the fight restarted and Blackledge tried his luck with a textbook armbar.
This time Murdoch did tap, but only because his arm was hyper-extended to a disturbing degree, with Blackledge later expressing shock at quite how tough the crazy man was. Blackledge earned the victory by submission after 2:56 of the first round.
Former Phats and Small vocalist Tony Thompson took on the Elite's Rick "Just The Trick" Andrews in the second fight of the night. Thompson, making his pro MMA debut, seemed calmer and more comfortable than Andrews, a Cage Rage veteran.
It was Andrews who charged across the cage, throwing bombs with his head down. It was Andrews who worked hard for the takedown. And it was Andrews whose overenthusiastic ground-and-pound left him vulnerable to Thompson's armbar. Thompson makes a successful debut, forcing the tap at 1:53 of the first round.
In the opening bout of the night Dave "Organically Fuelled" Lee upped his record to 4-1, all of his wins coming by way of submission. Ignoring the bluster and the posing from his well-built opponent, Lee remained calm and weathered an early storm, eventually taking Jason Barrett’s back and forcing him to tap out to a rear-naked choke 4:28 of the first round.
