Rumble in The Rhondda

After a three year hiatus MMA returns to the valleys for the promotions fourth event. The time has come to Rumble in The Rhondda.

The main event saw the highly anticipated rematch between local favourite Leon "the Surgeon" Rosser against his old foe from down the river Taff, Cardiff's Shane Riley. The last time these two met was under semi professional rules. That night both fought hard for two rounds and many in attendance had scored the fight a round each. The circumstances of the rules used were: if after two rounds of action the fight was declared a draw an extra round would be added to determine a winner. The third round never came to the disappointment of the fans in attendance. Riley was announced the winner as the disappointed Rosser looked on.

Fast forward to the present day where the stakes are much higher as the two rivals meet once again, but this time under professional rules. There would be no third round this time either, or a second round for that matter. It took all of 2:06 of the first round for "The Surgeon" to clinically execute Riley who was instantly on the back foot. Rosser got the better of the stand up exchanges. Once the fight hit the deck Rosser picked his shots from inside of Riley's guard. The shots got heavier and more accurate as Rosser grew in confidence, sensing that Riley was hurt he looked for the kill, forcing referee Mark Woodard to call a stop to the contest. Leon Rosser advances to 2-0 in his professional career making a huge statement on the Welsh scene.

The co main event saw late replacement Dan James defeat Dan Clarke after 47 seconds of the first round by guillotine choke. In a valiant effort Clarke with only one professional fight to his name took on the far more experienced Dan James in a fearless showing as he looked to put his opponent on his back, but James' experience became apparent as he locked in the submission.

Nick Allsop squared off against Gavin Etchell in a fast paced fight that went back and fourth. Etchell had his opponent on the back foot and on more than one occasion took the mount where he looked for the submission. Allsop managed to scramble back to his feet where he looked the more comfortable. At 1:47 Allsop landed a straight right that connected to the chin of his opponent sending him face down into the canvas picking up the knock out victory.

In a clear winner for fight of the night Ryan Marshal went to war against Ryan Evans. The crowd came alive for this fight as both men brought great numbers of support with them. Evans, the bigger of the two used his size, strength and reach to bully Marshal in the opening minutes of the fight. In one instance he threw Marshal to the floor and took the mount where he looked to lock in the figure four. A few tense moments for Marshal who showed tremendous heart in reversing Evans. From the top position he looked for a figure four of his own. Marshal fell into his stride during the second and third as he used his speed to get on the inside of his opponent and land crisp shots. Evans began to tire as Marshall grew in confidence keeping up the same punishing pace until the final bell. Marshal was awarded the unanimous decision victory in a heroic debut performance.

Ben Philips looked impressive with his arm bar victory over Ash Murphy. He controlled his opponents left arm bating his right arm to come up and defend. And as quick as lightning Philips switched his attention to the right arm, sat back and lifted his hips tapping Murphy at 2:20.


Cardiff's Brotherhood MMA bash brothers Lenny Benskin and Reagan Williams picked up wins against Dale Jones and James Williams respectably. Benskin won with a Kimura at 2:20 of the second round whilst Williams picked up a unanimous decision.

Josh Reed nullified any chance his unorthodox opponent Ash Williams had of getting into the fight. He wasted no time taking the striker to the floor where he locked in the rear naked choke at 1:33 of the first round.

Ashton Fielder won a unanimous decision in a closely contested fight against Mathew Wells whilst his tillery combat team mate Joseph Smith picked up a majority decision over Anthony Hares.

In the opening contest of the evening Dave's Gyms Mike "DisM" Bowel sank in the rear naked choke at 1:13 over Dewi Clee.


Review by Ricky Wright.

Published by Boogeyman - Mon, 11 Jun 2012 19:08