The Sprawl And Brawl Video Review - Cage Rage 25: Bring It On
Posted by Randy Harrison on 03.11.2008
Ken Shamrock invades the UK to take on a Cage Rage veteran, the "Master of Leglocks" lives up to his nickname, and we get to see the first women's MMA match ever in Wembley Arena. Cage Rage gets the Sprawl and Brawl treatment, as we check out their 25th event, Bring It On!!!
If it's Tuesday morning, it's Sprawl and Brawl time! This week, we have a bit of a treat as we'll be looking at the Cage Rage event that took place over the weekend. Now this isn't the first time that the Sprawl and Brawl has covered Cage Rage, and this is also not the first time that there's been a focus on a more recent event in the Sprawl and Brawl, as at the start of the year, I reviewed the M-1 Yarrenoka show. This show features the UK debut of "The World's Most Dangerous Man" Ken Shamrock, in a main-event, heavyweight tilt against Cage Rage veteran, Robert "Buzz" Berry. This one will be from the Sky Sports feed and not the Showtime broadcast, so if you wonder why I don't make any quips about some of Mauro Ranallo's one-liners and zingers, that would be why.
Cage Rage 25: Bring It On
The show starts out with the cage dancers, both male and female, shaking their respective thingies and doing various ninja flips and things like that.The cage looks pretty good with the new EliteXC gear all over it, but I will miss that bright yellow mat that screamed Cage Rage. They introduce Dave O' Donnell and Andy Geer, who welcome us to Wembley Arena. Dear god, that crowd is amped up. Probably hammered too, but really, REALLY amped up. They hype the card then throw it to a video of Ken Shamrock. Shamrock says he's excited to fight in the UK and that he thinks that it's a challenge. He loves how much the fans get into the fights in Cage Rage and he says that he's seen some great fighters in the organization. He looks forward to a lot of great things coming out of Cage Rage. Back to the announcers and they even reference Kenny's WWF career a little, which is usually a scarlet letter for MMA. They talk about the main event and give a little nod to Buzz Berry, saying that he's got a big size advantage and could knock out even the best of them. They throw it to a video package laying out the fights for the night, with the heavy British influence.
From there we move to highlights from Ryan Shamrock's fight a little earlier in the evening, with Ken looking on nervously at a monitor backstage. We see Shamrock and Giorgio Andrews waging a back and forth war in the first round, but find out that Shamrock broke his hand in the first round and couldn't come out for the second. Andrews acts like he won the lottery and climbs the cage to celebrate like an asshole. Didn't you learn anything from seeing Mark Coleman do it? Don't celebrate a win like it's a Super Bowl when the only reason you won was an opponent's injury.
Backstage to Ian Freeman who's with Ken and Ryan and Ryan has the big icepack on his hand. He remembers that the first punch he threw hit the top of Andrews' head and that's when he felt it break. He thought that he'd be able to finish the fight but it got worse and worse throughout the round, and the corner thought he should stop it. Ken feels really proud of how he fought and how strong he is with great stand-up and that he has a bright future. Ken says that he told his corner not to let there be any unnecessary injuries in the fight and he says that it could have ended up being something permanent and that there wasn't any need to risk his career for one fight.
Rob Nutley and Malcom Martin are our announcers for this evening and the ring announcer in the cage is good old Mark Aplin. He's honestly what I think would happen if Bruce Buffer and a used-car salesman had a child.
Match One: Middleweights
Pierre Guillet (10-7) vs. Tom Watson (4-3)
Guillet says he wants to give the fans what they want, while Watson says that he sees that Guillet is a very well-rounded fighter. Watson says that he's not just a stand-up fighter anymore and that he's worked on a lot more skills. They both mutter random idle threats and Watson leaves us with a rhyme about how he's going to win in Round One with a KO.
Stephen Quadros joins us for a breakdown, mentioning Watson's former British boxing championship days, and how he's worked with Rashad Evans in the United States on his ground game. He thinks that this fight is going to be primarily a submissions vs. striker match-up.
Guillet comes down to the cage with a full military ceremony and a group of soldiers standing at attention on either side of the ramp as he comes down. Tom Watson is led to the cage by a ringmaster of the circus. "Kong" is in a cage, wearing a full body suit and a gorilla mask, clutching a banana. They show the crowd and there's a huge section of them holding inflatible bananas and one of his cornermen is wearing a banana costume. That's dedication to the art there, people.
Round One
They move to a clinch almost instantly with watson hitting a knee tot he ribs. Guillet firs back and pushes Watson against the cage, taking him down with a trip. Watson gets it to full guard and Guillet backs off to lands a couple of strikes. Watson gets back to his feet and they're back to the clinch, trading knees up against the fence. Watson hits a good three punch combination and just misses a high kick, before Guillet clinches him and trips him down again. Guillet works from the full guard and lands some good shots to the body, but nothing with too much force. Watson is showing a fairly active guard from the bottom for someone who is known more as a striker. Guillet tries to dive in past the guard and just EATS AN UP KICK. HARD. He scarfed that down like it was a plate of fish and chips at the local pub!!! That one's for you Mauro. Guillet rolls over and turtles, and Watson lands a few more right hands for good measure until the referee steps in and stops the beatdown.
Winner: Tom Watson, TKO at 2:05 of Round One
Fight Analysis: That was a perfect storm of violence. I've seen up kicks do serious damage before, but I've never seen anyone be as unfortunate as to jump right into one and increase the force. Thumbs up from me for the match, just because I've never seen an ending like that in MMA, ever.
Post-match, Watson's banana comes in to congraulate him and Guillet is flat on his back looking like he got hit by a truck, with a huge cut under his eye. Bananas are getting thrown into the cage in appreciation of Watson's effort. We see the slo-mo replays and holy FUCK, that looked really ugly. That was a heel strike RIGHT IN THE EYE. He'll be lucky if that orbital bone isn't broken after that shot. Like I love about every Cage Rage show, the ring announcer announces the winner, then gives the guy that lost the rub as a "runner-up" and not a loser.
Watson thanks Jackson Submissions for his training and he respects Guillet as a warrior and that he just made a mistake diving in the way that he did. He thanks his mum and that's it for "Kong".
Back from commercial and we see the up kick stoppage one more time before we head to the back and join Ian Freeman with Buzz Berry. He says that it's a great opportunity to fight Shamrock and that there's no pressure on him, but there's quite a bit on Shamrock. He hopes he can take Shamrock's jaw off, and Freeman points out how much better Berry looks and I agree. He looks a lot leaner than some of his previous fights and he says that his cardio is better and that he thinks he's going to take it.
Match Two: Heavyweights
Rob Broughton (6-3-1) vs. Neil Grove (5-0)
Grove says that Broughton is a great fighter, with a great chin, good wrestling background and that he's the ex-British Heavyweight champion. Broughton calls Grove "crafty" and thinks that he's been working on the ground game lately. Broughton thinks that it's going to be a stand-up KO or a ground and pound fight.
Quadros joins us again, talking about how Grove is a knockout artist and that Broughton has the wrestling game that will give him the advantage if the fight makes its way down to the floor.
No fanciness for the entrances after the productions that the two guys in the first fight put on, as Broughton comes in and looks almost like a mover, rather than an MMA fighter, but never judge a book by its cover I suppose. Grove makes his way down the ramp in a gi with a black belt, which I assume is his karate background. They talk about Grove's KO upset of James Thompson and that he's undefeated in Cage Rage.
Round One
Grove flashes out a jab and they circle as Grove starts throwing combinations. Leg kick from Grove and another before they trade jabs. Grove keeps landing those hard leg kicks and the stiff left jab on Broughton. Superman punch misses for Grove but he hits a hard left hand. Grove cuts Broughton off against the fence and hits ANOTHER chopping leg kick. Broughton with a jab that lands and a right hook glances off of Broughton's chin from the hand of Grove. Grove throws a high kick that misses and Broughton finally throws a leg kick of his own. Broughton tries a little harder to establish the jab but can't and keeps eating those low kicks.
Broughton just keeps throwing jabs, but isn't following up with anything off of them. Leg kick from Broughton and the crowd is whistling and booing a little. Another Superman punch from Grove misses and Broughton hits a right hand and a combination before they move to a clinch against the fence. They grapple against the cage and work for the underhooks before Grove lands a HARD right hand that stuns Broughton and a combination to follow. Broughton grabs the clinch and tries for a takedown, but ends up on the bottom after Grove falls on top of him. Broughton works the guard really well from the bottom, avoiding any damage and holding on until the round comes to a close, with Grove landing some hard shots to the body.
Round Analysis: Grove took that round with the striking and aggression and kept Broughton at bay, keeping him from getting any momentum to try for a takedown. The low kicks were the most devastating weapon of the round, and with the way Grove was landing them they were doing a lot of damage.
Round Two
Grove with the leg kicks again to open the round and he hits a solid jab before eating a glancing right hand from Broughton. A HARD leg kick lands for Grove and an overhand right clubs in on the head of Broughton. Broughton shootsin for a takedown but Grove sprawls out of it and pummels away at his head with some hammerfists before they get back to their feet. They trade combinations and Grove hits another WICKED leg kick. Broughton tries for a takedown but they end up clinched against the fence with nothing really happening. Broughton with a leg trip attempt but Grove maintains good balance and over/under hooks to keep his feet. They clinch and there's nothing happening and the whistles and boo's come again.
The referee separates them and Broughton eats another hard jab before they trade them at the same time. Broughton lands a good left hook and they circle with more jabs going back and forth. Broughton with a bruising punch but Grove lands a right hand and a backfist in response. More jabs being traded and neither guy seems to have a lot of steam on their punches at the moment,, but Broughton wobbles Grove with a big left hook, and they're back to the clinch against the cage. Grove still looks wobbly and they trade wildly with Broughton landing an overhand right flush. They exchange again and clinch in the middle of the cage to end the round.
Round Analysis: A closer round, but still one that I think was taken by Grove. Broughton had a flurry at the end of the round that might have stolen it in some people's eyes, but I still think that Grove did enough in the first part of the round to carry it.
Round Three
Both looked gassed at the end of the second, so it'll be interesting to see how the third starts out. Broughton doubles up on the jab and Grove looks to shoot in for a takedown. Broughton grabs a standing guillotine but ends up losing it as he falls back and Grove takes advantage to land some good punches from the guard. Grove holds Broughton down and lands some hammerfists and short punches, pressing Broughton up against the fence. The referee stands them back up and they restart with Grove throwing his solid jab again. They trade punches and Broughton rocks Grove with a BIG knee up the middle. Broughton can't follow up on it and Grove manages to get the clinch against the cage. Grove looks like a feather could put his down at this point and Broughton hits a solid shot to the body and hits some short punches from the clinch.
They stay clinched against the fence and the crowd starts to turn on it again, but just as quickly Broughton sweeps Grove to the mat, takes his back and starts raining in some hammerfists and punches. Grove gets a single-leg and holds onto it, transitioning to a double-leg as Broughton stands up against the fence. Grove gets the quick takedown, pressing Broughton up against the fence and doing some striking from the top. The referee stands them up again and they both struggle to get to their feet. Broughton tries to advance but Grove pushes him away. They move in close for more clinching against the fence and both trade body shots as the bell clangs to end the fight.
Winner: Rob Broughton, Majority Decision
Fight Analysis: Broughton won the third round, but I still don't think he did enough to win the decision. I had the first two rounds for Grove and I think that the only thing that saved Broughton was the flurry at the end of the second round that stunned Grove. If it hadn't been for that sequence, Grove would have easily won the round in all the judges eyes and taken the win.
We're back from a commercial and Ian Freeman is in the cage, announcing his return against Paul Cahoon and we see his last fight against Elvis Sinosic and how he put Sinosic out cold before he hit the ground, with a solid right hand on the button. Cahoon says "boom boom" and that's that. Wow, that segment seems like it kind of fell flat a little bit. They talk about how Jean Silva is a tough challenger for Iminari and throw it to that video package.
Match Three: Cage Rage World Featherweight Championship
Jean Silva (15-7-3) vs. Masakazu Iminari (c) (13-5-1)
Silva talks up Iminari's submission game and he says that he has power and technique in his hands and that it's going to be big to win here and possibly move over to America. Iminiari says that whoever the best man is will win and they both want to give the crowd a good fight.
Quadros talks about Silva's capoeira background and how he's going to want to stay away from that and work some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and that with Iminari's submission skills, this will be a fast-paced, technical chess match on the ground.
Both guys enter the cage, with Silva's experience being talked about and the fact that he has been a champion in Cage Rage before, and that he wants his belt back. They call Iminari a genuine champion and that he has notable victories over guys like Jorge Gurgel. Silva sits cross-legged in his corner as Iminari makes his way to the cage and then Iminari does the same, wearing the belt around his neck like a scarf and doing some stretches. I've never seen that before from anyone, let alone from both fighters.
Round One
Silva takes a start like he's running a 220 and they come out with Iminari landing a couple of leg kicks and a body kick before flashing a right hand that misses. Silva catches Iminari with a BIG left hand and they end up on the mat, with Silva in Iminari's full guard. Silva tries to posture up but he can't get anything off as Iminari works rubber guard and transitions that into an omaplata and Iminari is now on top as Silva rolled away from the shoulder lock. Iminari grabs a leg and falls back, with them trading leglock attempts before Silva pushes away. Silva hits a leg kick that sends Iminari to the floor, but Silva won't follow him down. Silva tries a spinning reverse kick and uses it to pass guard, but Iminari takes the leg and they're back to rolling on the mat, with both trying leg submissions. They roll against the fence and Iminari snatches a heel hook, drawing the tap from Silva quickly. After the bout, Silva is still on the mat in considerable pain, and Iminari is down to check in on Silva's condition. That was a WICKED leg lock, and Silva is still down on the mat a couple of minutes later.
Winner: Masakazu Iminari, submission (heel hook) at 2:30 of Round One
Fight Analysis: Well, Iminari's nickname translates into "Master of Leglocks" and that couldn't be any more accurate if it tried. That looked like a legitimately devastating submission hold and Silva had to be carried out of the cage by his team. Inimari is on a huge winning streak and is riding that momentum right now, full force.
We see Ken Shamrock in his dressing room, going through his final preparations for the fight, warming up and looking ready to fight. That leads us directly into the women's fight, a first for Wembley Arena.
Match Four: Women's Bout
Aisling Daly (2-0) vs. Aysen Berik (0-0)
Daly says that she's going to impose her game on Berik since it's Berik's debut. Berik has been working the ground a lot since she's seen that Daly has a solid ground game. Daly says she's going to enjoy putting a nice choke on her and Berik thinks she's going to keep it standing and end it fairly quickly.
Round One
Daly lands a few short rabbit punches right out of the gate and they move to a clinch against the fence. Daly looks to try to clinch into a takedown and Berik has a hold of the head but can't do anything with it. Daly tries to keep Berik down but she's able to cagewalk back up to her feet. Daly gets the takedown again and scores full mount rather quickly, scoring with lefts, rights, hammerfists, competely unanswered by Berik, who is just eaing a ton of punishment. Berik is cut open above the right eye and tries to close up her guard and body control but she's just eating HARD punches and Berik's corner throws in the towel with her eye looking worse and worse with every punch. The doctor is looking and the announcers think that she might have a broken nose.
Winner: Aisling Daly, TKO (corner throwing in the towel) at 1:49 of Round One
Fight Analysis: That was almost uncomfortable to watch. Not because they were two women, but just because there was no need for Berik to take as many shots as she did. She ate punishment for a good 45 or 50 seconds at the end of that fight, and there wasn't really any need for it. The referee could have stepped in at anytime, and while I agree on letting fighters have a little rope, there wasn't a reason to let her keep getting fucked up when she had no defense.
After showing the fight, we get some words with Daly and Berik. Daly was happy to end the fight and it all went exactly the way she wanted it to. Berik gets props for taking the punishment and she says that she'll just keep on taking it and never tap. She says that her first fight didn't go the way she planned but it's not the last one, she can't wait for her next fight. After the break, it's MAIN EVENT TIME!!
We're back and we see a little bit of a production gaffe as we hear O' Donnell and Geer talking about their open for this one. They talk about how the crowd is absolutely amped up for this main event.
Match Five: Heavyweights
Ken Shamrock (26-12-2) vs. Robert Berry (11-7)
Berry talks about how Ken has been around for a long time and how he's very professional and how Shamrock is good standing and on the ground. Shamrock talks about Berry's fights all finishing in the first round, win or lose. Berry thinks he's the underdog and that it's a huge challenge to be facing someone like Shamrock, while Shamrock thinks that Berry presents problems for him because he throws wild, haymaker punches that can be tough to see coming. Berry says that if he connects with his punching power that it'll be goodnight, Shamrock says that he's never been KO'd and that he wants Berry to bring it.
Quadros is in the control center breaking it down, talking about how Berry is coming off of a couple of losses and that a victory over Shamrock would be huge. He talks about how Berry is going to be throwing the big punches and hoping to connect, while Shamrock would be well-served to take the fight to the ground and hope for a heel hook or leg submission.
Berry comes down to the cage in what looks to be a Gladiator-esque outfit, and the announcers talk about how he loves to please the crowd and that he's going to want to stay away from the ground against Shamrock. Shamrock comes down with a rather good sized pop from the crowd. He looks rather angry, and the announcers put over how he's one of the reasons that everyone is here and watching MMA. They talk about all of his huge wins that he has and that he's one of the pioneers of modern MMA. Shamrock and Berry touch gloves even before the fight starts, in a nice show of respect from the two.
Round One
Berry has a huge size advantage, both in height and weight and it will be interesting to see if he can exploit that. They touch gloves again and circle a little to start out, trading some jabs to gauge the distance. Berry with an overhand right that Shamrock blocks easily. Berry lands some solid leg kicks and keeps on with the jab, before missing with a wild haymaker. Shamrock covering well on his head, guarding tightly to his face to avoid the power of Berry, as Berry doubles up on his jab. Berry starts getting punches around the guard of Shamrock and he slips a combination from Shamrock that misses badly. Berry throws a shot and Shamrock shoots in for the clinch, but Berry stuffs it and lands a HARD knee to the chest. Shamrock lands a short left hand and Berry's hand is dropping when he throws the jab. Shamrock with a combination moving forward but nothing lands and Berry keeps landing the jab over and over, with a mouse under Shamrock's eye from it. Berry throws combinations that land and he drops Shamrock with a JAB and follows up with a couple shots, with something looking like a right to the temple that ends the fight.
Winner: Robert Berry, KO at 3:26 of Round One
Fight Analysis: That was a terrible fight. It was interesting enough in terms of action, but Shamrock really looked like he caught a taste of Berry's power and decided he wanted to continue his UK vacation, collect his paycheck and get the hell out of the cage. I can't say that I blame him, since he's REALLY past his prime, but that was a terrible fight. He's lost more in a row than I can count, and really needs to get out. Full marks to Berry for the win, as he took control of the fight, but it's a shame that Shamrock didn't put out any effort.
Berry heads over to embrace Shamrock after the fight and they show the utmost respect to each other. Shamrock has already headed to the back before the official announcement of the winner is made. Berry gets an interview and says that it's a tremendous honor to have been able to fight Shamrock and he wishes him all the best. He knows that Shamrock can still do it and he tanks the fans for coming out and his family and friends. He feels like all his training paid off and that he looks forward to seeing the fans next time. He says that this is the lightest that he's ever fought at in his career and he says that he still comes to bang no matter what his weight.
We get sent back to O' Donnell and Geer and that's it from Wembley Arena!!
That's it for this week's nearly live edition of The Sprawl and Brawl everybody. Thanks for joining me and be sure to come back in seven short days for another look at the smaller shows in MMA. In the mean time and in between time, I'll see you all next time, for an all-new Sprawl and Brawl Video review.
The 411: Not a very good show, but that's more from the sour taste in my mouth after the main event. The rest of the fights were exciting and a good barometer for where MMA is in the UK and where it needs to go to see more success on an international level. The problem with that is that you could see the huge talent gap between the UK and the rest of the world, at least on this card. A tremendous submission victory for Iminari keeps this one from being a total loss, but just barely.
