SFC 4 Photos and Review

Post date: 17-Apr-2011 20:11:34

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SFC made a triumphant return to Stirling’s Albert Hall’s on Sunday 17th April with their fourth show to date. An enthusiastic crowd packed out this superb venue proving once again that SFC are matching the fights that Scottish MMA fans want to see. Injury robbed the card of the John Cullen V Paul Reed rematch for the featherweight title. However with both the welterweight title up for grabs and the first title defence in the promotions history, for the lightweight belt, the fans were not disappointed.

A strong undercard of amateur and semi professional bouts wet the crowd’s appetite for the main card with Lycans fight team’s Scott Liebenberg taking Bryn Park’s back and applying a rear naked choke to earn a submission victory in 1 minute 6 seconds of the first amateur contest.

In the Second amateur bout Lee Gray overwhelmed William Cummings with his own rear naked choke, this time in just 21 seconds!

It seems something was in the air as first Semi Pro fight lasted just a second longer with Fusion MMA’s Martin Donaldson quickly heelhooking Gladiatorial Combats Peter Kolatowicz in 22 Seconds.

Hostile Territory’s Craig McIntosh survived several submission attempts in the first round against Team Unity’s Chris McDougal before an impressive head kick and follow up shots on the ground earned him a TKO victory in 7 seconds of the second round.

The normal service of quick submissions resumed in the penultimate Semi Pro match with a quick armbar victory for Gladiatorial Combats Stephen Cusick over Fusions Aiden Steven.

The judges finally earned their wages in the final Semi Pro match awarding the fight to the Jordan McCall of the Griphouse following his tough 3 round slam filled battle with Mataleon’s Steven McGhee.

With some great stoppages the Pro fighters had a lot to live up to and the future looks great for SFC with some excellent talent developing in the amateur and semi pro division.

PROFESSIONAL CATCHWEIGHT BOUT

James McAllister (Battlefield MMA) vs. Jamie Nolan (Mataleon)

Former Battlefield MMA bantamweight McAllister, now fighting out of the Griphouse gym in Glasgow was looking to extend his 1-0 pro record against Mataleon’s (Wishaw) Jamie Nolan. The fight started with Nolan knocking McAllister down and following him to the ground . However, upon passing to side control Nolan found himself in an armbar which shows McAllister is competent on the ground and always looking for the submission. McAllister couldn’t finish the armbar but used it to improve his position and get back to guard . Nolan utilised the cage well through the first to restrict McAllister’s movement but was swept by McAllister who then briefly held on to the cage to prevent Nolan returning the favour , referee John Jamieson spotted this and forced him to release which allowed Nolan to complete his own sweep and finish the round on top.

In the second McAllister took Nolan down but Nolan remained busy on his back throwing elbows and breaking McAllister’s posture to prevent him getting off much ground and pound. McAllister passed to half guard but Nolan was able to get low under his hips and sweep him, before the fight found its way back to the feet. McAllister tried for a takedown again against the cage but Nolan able to spin to his back and sink in a rear naked choke forcing McAllister to tap with just 2 seconds of the round remaining.

Winner Jamie Nolan RNC 4.58 round 2

PROFESSIONAL LIGHTWEIGHT BOUT

Adam "Handsome" Stevenson (Hostile Territory) vs. Sophian Boucherf (France)

Alloa’s Stevenson (1-1 MMA Universe) aimed to take his SFC record to 2-0 against Frenchman Sophian Boucherf (0-2) having submitted fellow Frenchman Karim Kondua at SFC 3. The fight started at an awesome pace with both fighters exchanging heavy shots before clinching and exchanging knees with bad intentions. Stevens was able to stuff a takedown attempt before advancing to side control and full mound before unleashing a torrent of elbows and hard right hands on the Frenchman’s head before the referee stepped in at 1 minute 33 seconds to stop the punishment.

Winner Adam Stevenson TKO 1m33

PROFESSIONAL CATCHWEIGHT BOUT

Graham Armstrong ( Mataleon) vs. Lova Randrianasolo (Busido Academy, France)

Graham Armstrong (3-2 Sherdog) from Mataleon (Wishaw) came into this bout having recently defeated SFC welterweight contender Scott Ward’s brother Garry in a 3 round decision at On Top 1. Aiming to extend his two fight run streak Armstrong had the misfortune of scheduled opponent Neil Laird pulling out due to injury prior to Frenchman Randrianasolo (2-2 Sherdog) taking the match on short notice.

Both fighters entered the cage sporting matching beards and the Frenchman was looking to land the overhand right on Armstrong’s! Armstrong took him down and tried to use the cage to minimise the movement of his opponent, a tactic his teammate Jamie Nolan had used to good effect earlier in the day, but the Frenchman was able to prevent this by walking his feet on the cage and pushing off. Following a referee standup Armstrong utilized a whizzer overhook and managed to put the Frenchman on his back but before long they were swapping positions pressed against the cage Lova threw several knees which forced Armstrong to drop to a knee to avoid just as the round ended. In the second round Lova secured a takedown with a trip from Clinch but Armstrong’s high guard prevented any meaningful offence. Following a referee separation Armstrong was able to takedown Lova passing to mount via half guard. Once there he unleashed vicious ground and pound, forcing the referee to step in and end the fight at 4 minutes 35.

Winner Graham Armstrong TKO 4m 35

HEAVYWEIGHT, PROFESSIONAL

Andy Hillhouse (Griphouse) vs. Rab "Baloo" Truesdale (Hostile Territory)

Heavyweights collided for the first time at SFC when the intimidating Andy Hillhouse (1-4) met short notice replacement Rab “Baloo” Truesdale in his professional debut. Hillhouse was initially scheduled to fight Truesdale’s more experienced teammate Billy “Bedlam” Davies. However, an unfortunate injury forced Davies out of the fight and Truesdale seized the opportunity. Hillhouse is a definite showman entering the arena wearing a horror mask andcostume and sporting a chainsaw . Love him or hate him he certainly brings the show aspect to the sport and got the crowd going.

The first round eventually started following Hillhouses extended entrance and after a brief exchange on the feet, during which Truesdale landed a nice headkick, and a cage rocking takedown attempt and scramble the Hostile Territory warrior able to take the slightly heavier Hillhouse to the ground and unleashed a torrent of ground and pound to the head of his turtled opponent forcing the referee to step in and stop the punishment. With a fairly sparse heavyweight division in Scotland it is good to see more talent coming through. However, things would be more interesting if some of the more experienced fighters such as Andy Wilson were more active.

SFC WELTERWEIGHT TITLE

SCOTT WARD (D-UNIT, DNFT) vs. STEVIE RAY (EDGE MMA)

The co main event of this fantastic show 2 pitted two of Scotland’s top welterweight prospects against each other with the aim of claiming the promotions vacant welterweight title. Scott Ward (4-4) of the Dinky Ninja’s D-Unit met Stevie “fucking” Ray (4-1) from Fife’s Edge MMA. Ward is a huge welterweight and was looking to bounce back following his recent loss to the highly touted Ryan Scope (5-0) while the always confident Ray, who has compiled his impressive Pro record since his debut win over Shaun Edmondson at SFC 2 in June last year, was looking to claim his second title following his quick submission victory over Davy Parker in their title fight at Total Combat 39 in December.

Ward started the fight with clear intentions of taking the smaller Ray to the ground and was able to do so fairly quickly and was soon stuck to Rays back with a body triangle. From here he delivered consistent strikes to Rays head and threatened the rear naked choke. Ray defended well but took a lot of damage before Ward transitioned to mount and threw elbows until the end of the first.

Following an extended interval, due to some of the crowd refusing to sit down on the balcony area, the second round got underway. The majority of those in attendance expecting more of the same from Ward ,and he certainly tried! He again put the tough Ray on his back fairly quickly and passed to side control. What followed was a back and forth grappling battle with many surprised how easily Ray was able to reverse and scramble out of seemingly dominant positions held by the visibly tiring Ward. Following a scramble the Edge MMA warrior took Wards back and threatened with chokes and strikes before transitioning to mount and attempting an arm triangle. The round ended with further exchanges of position on the ground, including an attempted Peruvian necktie from Ray.

Both fighters looked exhausted coming out to the third round and with Ward dominating the first and Ray taking the second it looked like one a piece with potentially three more to go. Ray dropped Ward early with a powerful right hand and followed him to the floor where he out-positioned Ward and worked to mount. Ray showed composure by waiting until securely in the mounted position before letting go with the big punches which brought this back and forth battle to a conclusion. John Jamieson stepped in to stop the punishment at 3 minutes 36 seconds. Earning Ray the fantastic SFC welterweight belt.

SFC LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE

In the much anticipated main event the always entertaining Bobby “Black Mamba” Mcvittie (7-8 Sherdog) from Team Viper faced the Dinky Ninja’s Danny “Boomtime” Gray (1-0). This was Bobby’s first defence of the SFC lightweight title he earned in his victories over Johnny Martin and Davie Galbraith at the four man tournament at SFC 2 in June last year. Whilst Bobby is far more experienced on paper he came into this fight off the back of two consecutive submission losses Danny, had only pro fight under his belt but is highly regarded within the Dinky Ninja’s, Scotland’s most successful team and has an extensive Semi Pro record.

In what unfortunately proved to be a slightly anti climactic end to a great event the very calm and composed Boomtime came out with a head kick before being rushed by the more experienced McVittie. Boomtime Impressively scooped up and slammed McVittie to the canvas but the always ready McVittie locked up a guillotine choke immediately. Within seconds Gray was tapping but unfortunately this has been attributed to an ankle injury he received during the preceding takedown and not entirely due to the choke. It was a shame for the fight to end this way but both will be back stronger and who knows, may do it again?

In summary the SFC provided a great platform for Scotland’s up and coming fighters and established professionals to ply their trade. With organisation and production values which are not usually evident at regional promotions they are setting the bar high for their competitors. Bring on SFC 5!

Tom T

All photos by Master Wang all right reserved and copy rigthed by Robb Wallace, to view them not in the slide show just click on the slide show. If saving the pics for Facebook etc this is cool but please DO NOT TAKE OFF the www.themmashow.info. Many thanks and enjoy :)