Cage Rage 24 from Wembley Arena in Middlesex, UK provided some flashes of great mixed martial arts action and some moments of boredom, but it was overall a decent card for an otherwise weak MMA weekend. In the main event, Murilo "Ninja" Rua executed the perfect gameplan against Xavier Foupa-Pokam, although it was a tad later than I would have expected. We'll take a more in-depth look at the card and the main event.
Breakdown of the Cage Rage matchups
During my initial breakdown of the main event, I thought that Murilo's best chance of winning this matchup was to take Xavier to the mat and use his ju-jitsu skills to pull out the submission early. For the most part, Rua executed this plan flawlessly. My only concern during the battle was that in the first round, Rua looked to be trying to stand against Xavier's longer reach and more powerful strikes. Xavier had the obvious advantage with his length and was peppering Rua with leg shots and strikes from the outside while keeping away from Rua's power. He escaped the first round, and was able to clinch up Xavier and put him to the floor, eventually scoring an impressive rear naked choke after some slick movements on the ground. Rua's body control was fairly impressive, although Xavier does not present much of a defense against Rua's ground game.
Drew Fickett took on Mark Weir in what many thought would be an easy victory for Fickett. Initially, it did not look that way. Weir used his striking to put Fickett in some tough spots while he unleashed flurries from the top while Fickett tried to get Weir into guard. Fickett eventually got Weir to the ground, and showed why he wins a lot in the MMA scene. Fickett rolled over a couple of times with Weir in his arms and gained his back by the end of the rolling. Fickett sunk in the rear naked choke after the initial danger from Weir.
Marios Zaromski seemed to be in some danger during his fight with Ross Pointon. Pointon was getting the better of some of the standup exchanges and at times, Zaromski seemed to be slightly hurt and running from Pointon to recover from the blows. After some exchanges in the first, Pointon finally shot in the second, but was cut badly between his left eye and high nose area. The gash extended up to his forehead and was very long. The referee stopped the fight and Zaromski escaped the onslaught, although Pointon looked to be gassing.
Tom Watson vs. Mark Epstein was said to be one of the more even bouts of the evening and it delivered. After some exchanges during the fight, Epstein looked to be ahead in the standup wars. Both fighters had some respectable ground tactics and exchanges in the striking area. Epstein seemed to have some slick reversals on the ground at times and seemed to edge out Watson on the ground during some of the grappling exchanges. Overall, Epstein won a close decision, a split decision.
Neil Grove didn't win his fight, per say. He was being beaten by Robert "Buzz" Berry in the first round after being dropped like a giant Redwood early in the round. After some more exchanges, the fight went to the floor and Berry tried to lock in a keylock with horrible form. Grove eventually emerged from the ground war, and exchanged some "slaps" with Berry toward the end of the round as both fighters gassed. The amazing thing was that everyone thought Berry won the first round. It was the consensus of the MMA fans watching. Berry didn't answer to the referee to continue because he was so terribly gassed. Berry gave up, Grove wins by default.
Elvis Sinosic extended his terrible mixed martial arts record to 11 losses after being knocked out cold by Paul Cahoon in the first round of their matchup. Cahoon exchanged with Sinosic, they moved to the center, another flurry, and Sinosic got caught dead center on the chin. He went down in a Sean Salmon-esque "TIMBER!!". It was obvious that Cahoon had more size on him that Sinosic, and he once again exploited Sinosic's poor standup game.
In other action, Mohamed squeezed out a close decision win over Robbie Oliver. I won't go into detail too much as it was back and forth with Mohamed getting the better of the ground game, but Oliver had some decent skills. Newcomer Robert Paczkow smothered James McSweeney in the first round... seriously. Ivan Serati beat down Lee Hasdell for most of the fight and was able to sink in a submission in the second to win. Interestingly enough, Serati was deducted a point before the fight started due to having Thai Oil on his shins before the fight. Ronnie Mann won in predicted fashion, 1st round submission over Jordan Miller.
Analyzing the wins
Overall, Rua proved that his ground game is much more of a force than people give it credit. Problem is, he tends to fight much like all of the regular Chute Box fighters in the mixed martial arts scene. He gets caught up in the standup wars and uses poor takedown attempts to try to put his opponent to the floor. What has happened to the explosive takedown fighters? Jake Shields explodes into the takedown whereas many other fighters don't. Of course, he's susceptible to a knee in the face when he shoots, but it's much better than the poor takedown attempts of guys like Nick Diaz or Rua's tries on Saturday evening. Hopefully, "Ninja" will continue to use his ground game a bit more in bigger fights or at least gameplan enough to consider it.
Fickett continues to be impressive, but he has been fighting lower level competition since his UFC days. Could we see him back in the Octagon? It's possible, but it would be more probable to see him in HDNet Fights again or EliteXC. Zaromski was a fighter I was looking forward to because of his Lithuanian background. Lithuania seems to be a country that is producing a stronger MMA scene every year. With their K-1 rivalry that has produced small events in the country, I was expecting an explosive Zaromski as I have seen from other Lithuanian fighters. I was a bit disappointed as I didn't expect Pointon to catch him, but overall, it was at least a win.
Epstein, Grove, Serati, Mohamed, and Mann all gave typical performances. Grove and Mann are somewhat exceptions, but I expected wins. Mann needs some stiffer competition, although he did lose to Oliver in his last fight. I think Mann could benefit from some slightly better standup training. Grove got caught big time, and he needs some work on his defense. Flailing punches may be of entertainment value to the British MMA scene, but it gets you broken in standup wars.
Paczkow's debut was actually somewhat decent. He looks like a huge fat guy with no skills, but he came out with quick feet and plowed into McSweeney with some good drive. Although I don't expect him to knock off anyone with a name just yet, he has potential to make waves in Cage Rage.
Overall impressions
Cage Rage still has horrible production. The dancers are pointless, although the cameras seemed to focus less on them. The ring girls... who cares. The camera work was still fairly good, but the post-fight interviewer asked some uninformed questions at times. The event as a whole was ok, and I imagine they were setting up big standup fights that didn't all deliver on their predetermined fate. There was one big theme for the event though, and it's obvious as to what and why.
It should have been named Cage Rage 24: Hype Brits to beat MMA names. Sinosic, Pointon, Hasdell, and Rua are all names from the past and present that people know. Pointon is a Brit as well, but he's not a good fighter and has always had problems. His name is recognizable though. Sinosic is the same in many ways. Poor MMA skills on the feet, but he's a name. Hasdell isn't so much of a name unless you have been a fan for quite some time. Rua is the biggest name on the card. Cage Rage was looking to cash in on matchups and hope for the fan favorites and Cage Rage veterans to win to improve their standing. It worked for the most part, but Rua would have been ruined had he not beaten Xavier.
Final Thoughts
Not a bad card, entertaining for a Saturday afternoon, but it could have been a bit better as far as matchups. Mohamed needs to be tested. He's the champ, yet cannot finish anybody. Bring someone in who can finish him. Serati has a future in Cage Rage, Grove continues to climb, Zaromski was unimpressive but should be brought back for the mere fact that he has explosive power in his striking. Mark Weir tires my eyes. Weir should only fight standup guys for entertainment purposes. Xavier is the same way, as are many of the British and French fighters. Why is it that many of these guys aren't training in the ground game more? It's beyond me. Hopefully we will see some better skilled fighters in the next event.