UK MMA Matches to Make: Lightweight Division
Ricky Wright: For this round of bouts I'm afraid I had to be a little bit biased. When Wickett asked me to choose a lightweight fight I could not put pen to paper without scribbling the name Lewis Long. Two reasons:
1. He's one of my best mates and I've watched him go from a judoka and kickboxer with a black belt in both disciplines to an absolute mixed martial arts machine. I have so much confidence that Lew has what it to takes to make it as a professional fighter and if he does, then when he's in the UFC I can be one of those pretentious hangers on as part of his entourage. I can walk in slow motion behind him and get annoyed when fans want a picture and be all like "not now kid, we're trying to eat" and show them the back hand. Then at the weigh ins, I can be that guy that walks behind him with a ruck sack and hold his sandals for him while he takes to the scales. Living the dream.
2. If I didn't mention him this week in the mix with the lightweights he would act like a baby and give me the silent treatment until further notice. That said a break from his constant texts would be welcome blessing although he would make me pay for it at a later date in training.
A little story about Lewis; I had started training at the Welsh institute of sport with the Welsh wrestling team. I'd been going for a couple of weeks and really enjoying the classes. I asked Lewis to come to along to a class and he obliged. After stepping on the mats he managed to pin the entire team. Most of the team were Iranian expatriates who'd moved to live in the UK and had wrestled since they were in nappies. After one session the coaches were on their knees begging Lewis to join the Welsh national team and represent them in the upcoming commonwealth games in India. Lewis chose to concentrate on his mixed martial arts. A move I'm sure that will pay off.
Now I scour the YourMMA lightweight rankings for a suitable opponent, and frankly I'd like to see him fight them all. But in the spirit of this article I have to choose a candidate for "My dream lightweight fight."
I've set my sights high: UFC veteran Curt "The War" Warburton. The reason I picked Curt is because Lewis wants this fight badly, his many attempts to initiate the fight on twitter have failed. Why would Curt want to fight the relatively unknown Long? Curt is slowly rebuilding his win column against high level opponents in the hope that he will one day get a call back to the UFC where he belongs.
But Lewis is climbing the rankings; his 26 second knockout over Brazilian Diego Vital elevated him to 20th place. Regardless of this he still trails behind Warburton by 14 places.
I'm confident that after a few more wins from Long he will get the fight he craves for, whether it's on the domestic scene or in the hallowed octagon of the UFC.
Next time when we come to the welterweights I promise not to be so unbiased. I hope you understand.
Darren Rees: My choice of matchup for the Lightweight Division is not exactly one of fantasy, as it has happened before and although it's not on the cards for the foreseeable future, this is a rematch I'd love to see and one that has to happen again someday.
So without any further ado, Ladies and Gentleman, introducing to you first, Ready for war in the Blue corner, he holds a professional MMA record of 11-2, representing Predators MMA Gym, He is the current BAMMA Lightweight Champion of the world, Rob "C-4" Sinclair.
And now introducing his opponent, ready for war in the Red corner, he holds a perfect professional MMA record of 13-0, representing Team Kaobon, He is a current UFC Lightweight Contender Paul Sass.
In 13 professional fights, Paul Sass has been nothing short of unstoppable, racking up win after win over some of the world's best lightweights with a variety of dazzling submissions.
The only man that has not fallen prey to this ending is the man I'd love to see him fight again, Rob Sinclair.
Sinclair is the current BAMMA Lightweight Champion of the world and in 2009 at Olympians MMA Championships 2, took Paul Sass to the limit in a split decision losing effort, this fight garnered Sass the OMMAC Lightweight Championship in a critically acclaimed performance.
Despite Sinclair coming up on the short end, this was THE most trouble I have ever seen Paul Sass in.
This fight was as intense as it was technical and was non-stop action from beginning to end, with each man now owning three more years of I would the opportunity to see these to top Lightweights go at it one more time and hopefully be the man to do the introductions!
Steve Wickett: My lightweight fight would be between two fighters I enjoy watching as much as any. One is a Cage Warriors Lightweight Champion waiting to happen in Joe Duffy against the former UCMMA Lightweight Champion, Michael Pastou.
Duffy who boasts a 10-1 record with his only loss coming last October in a title fight against Ivan Musardo. A broken hand and an unfortunate slip probably cost Duffy the belt last year in a fight (in my opinion) that he was controlling for the first three rounds. Duffy always comes to finish the fight with nine of his ten victories coming inside the distance, the one that went all the way against Francis Heagney just over a year ago was a belter of a scrap that had the HMV Forum in London on it's feet throughout. Duffy is destined for stardom and once he makes his long anticipated return to action, it's a matter of when, not if he gets the call-up from Joe Silva to compete inside the world famous Octagon.
So I believe if we throw in Michael Pastou then we'll have a fight that UK fans would travel long distances to witness! Pastou boasts a proud 9-2 (1NC) record that includes victories over Mark Glover, Jamaine Facey, Francis Heagney and Jake Bostwick. Add a tank that seems to run on "full" for the duration of a fight then he'll give Duffy as good as he gets. I'm not brave enough to predict a winner as this would be a war, who knows one day we might see this fight on a UFC card ;)
Flyweight Matches: http://www.addictedmma.com/story-Blog_7839_UK-MMA-Matches-to-Make-Flyweight-Division.php
Bantamweight Matches: http://www.addictedmma.com/story-Blog_7939_UK-MMA-Matches-to-Make-Bantamweight-Division.php
Featherweight Matches: http://addictedmma.com/story-Blog_8110_UK-MMA-Matches-to-Make-Featherweight-Division.php
Follow us on Twitter:
Ricky Wright: https://twitter.com/MC_Ricky_Wright
Darren Rees: https://twitter.com/MC_WarTime_Rees
Steve Wickett: https://twitter.com/AddictedMMA
Picture One: Ricky Wright by Charli Edwards, Little Red Creative.
Picture Two: Darren Rees by Renee-Lea Thackham, Combat Athletics Academy
Published by Steve Wickett - Mon, 6 Aug 2012 19:30
