Fight ikon review

On October I got the opportunity to attend Fight Ikon 9 at Ikon Nightclub in Bolton as a reviewer for BodyActive. I also managed to rope one of my friends with an SLR into coming with me so I picked up a number of good photos to go with the review.

The venue itself is a nightclub in the main center of Bolton. It’s roughly circular in shape, and with the 8 sided cage sat squarely in the middle the view for spectators and commentators was excellent. As you would expect with a nightclub, the established sound system was superb and carried the announcer (the fabled Sandy Holt) and entrance/interval music brilliantly. I got tingles several times as fighters made their way to the cage and my seat was vibrating with the deep base of an adrenalin inducing walk in song. This was accompanied by a synced lighting system that just served to set the atmosphere for a great night of fights.

The spectators were positioned in balconies above the cage and around the bar area, whilst the raised seating area was reserved for VIP’s and sponsors. I had the fortune to hold a VIP band myself and I was less than six feet from the cage, right in front of the fighters walk ins. It was great to see the intensity as the coaches applied the Vaseline to the eyebrows and cheek bones of fighters prior to them stepping in for war.

Fight 1

The fights began with an Amateur C bout between Adam Meskell from HAMMA and Nicholas Hepple from Powerzone MMA. Amateur C is a great way to transition from other arts into MMA, or start your fight career. It is no head shots standing or on the floor for 3×3 minutes.

Hepple looked dominant during the first round, with a strong Thai clinch that left openings for him to rain in knees to the mid-section of Meskell. Meskell spent a lot of the time pressured against the cage or being rag-dolled by Hepple, but he displayed a great amount of toughness and came through the round unscathed. Hepple’s cardio was clearly up to the task and he kept going until the bell.

The second round started much like the first, but Meskell was beginning to settle, and once on the floor he looked far more comfortable. His transitions were smoother, and the clinch work from Hepple obviously lost its potency. The second round led into the third and at this point Meskell seemed well settled. A good armbar attempt from Hepple was capitalised on by Meskell who used the setup to take the back and scramble into a rear naked choke. The choke went on very fast and Hepple tapped almost straight away.

Credit has to go Hepple, who made a good start for his first fight. He looked strong throughout and the fight may have gone differently in the first had head shots been allowed. Meskell takes his record to 2-0-1 with this win.

Fight 2

The next fight was an amateur B contest between Jo Naz from East Lancs Predators and Jack Talbot representing HAMMA. The B Category only allows head shots when standing. It was over rapidly as Naz took his first win almost immediately. He clearly knew exactly what he was doing on the floor and managed to takedown after being pushed into a clinch by Talbot against the cage. He quickly transitioned into an arm triangle that looked to be locked in, but he didn’t sit through to increase the pressure and instead transitioned into a tight triangle. Talbot attempted to stack to defend, but left his arm in, giving Naz his first victory via a quick armbar. Naz looked impressive on the ground, so it will be interesting to see how he does in his next outing.

Fight 3

This was the second Amateur B contest between Kyle Hubbersty from Sukata MMA and Wayne Tierney from the East Lancs Predators. Tierney had a clear height and experience advantage, but Hubbersty didn’t seem to be fazed by this at all and immediately engaged with some crisp stand up. He landed a left uppercut that sent Tierney back into the cage wall, leaving us to question why he didn’t follow this up and seek to finish the fight there and then. Tierney regathered his wits and answered with a crisp leg kick that everyone could hear.

Hubbersty then attempted a double leg takedown that was met by a good strong sprawl from Tierney. Kyle attempted to pull guard from the takedown and ended up in half guard, sweeping to top position. Tierney was wise to this and immediately pulled a textbook triangle attempt that Hubbersty just wasn’t quick enough to defend, he tried to stack but couldn’t loosen the submission and left his arm in resulting in a tapout. Another good win for Tierney who now has six amateur fights behind him. Hubbersty will come back stronger for his next fight.

Fight 4

This was a female MMA bout between Helen Copus and Cheryl Flynn. Copus’s wrestling looked excellent throughout this fight, and she wore Flynn down systematically by grinding for the takedowns against the cage and wearing her out on the floor. Copus had a height advantage and used her leverage really well to close the gap and stop Flynn T’ing off with her stand up. In the second round Copus managed to take the back after passing to mount. Flynn was game and defended the RNC for a good minute before the respite of the horn signalling the end of the round.

The third round was more of the same. Copus took the clinch to the cage, and then forced the takedown straight into mount. She began to work the GnP which left the opening for S Mount and the subsequent but inevitable armbar attempts. Three attempts later, Copus finally sunk it in and Flynn had no choice but to tap. Flynn must be frustrated by this fight as she didn’t get chance to showcase her skills. On the flip side, Copus looked excellent and needs to maintain that amount of pressure with future opponents.

Fight 5

Dez Parker (Sukata MMA) Vs. Mark Ryder (Apex MMA) was an Amateur A ground battle and exciting to watch. From the very beginning Parker pressured in for the shoot, wrapping his long arms around Ryder and forcing the takedown. An explosion of reversals followed as both fighters worked hard to maintain top position. The coaches (Tom Hanlon and Gary Savage) were shouting clear instructions and Parker was following very well, at one point hitting a very nice pendulum sweep and reversing Ryder into mount. He followed with some measured GnP. It’s always preferable for a fighter to pick his shots in this situation as it shows maturity. Ryder used his whizzer to good effect and nullified further attacks from Parker to end the round.

In the second round Parker again took down from clinch and passed tightly into side control where he began to work some knees to the body. In a smooth transition Parker then attempted the armbar. The attempt wasn’t quite tight enough and Ryder used the opportunity to take top position, sitting into Parker’s guard. Parker attempted to work a tight high guard and was slammed for his trouble, but he then used the guard opening to set up a pendulum sweep into an oma plata. Ryder defended well and turtled out of the attempt, but Parker locked in an inverted triangle whilst Ryder was still turtled and took a surprise submission from an unorthodox position. Parker looked very strong on the ground and clearly has good strength in his frame. With tighter take downs and clinch work he will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in the amateur and even pro divisions.

Fight 6

Daniel Hitchings (Shootbox MMA) Vs. Scott Gregory (Team Colosseum) was a fight that nearly went the distance – again at Amateur A. In round 1 Gregory shot a good double and took Hitchings down, showing good hip pressure and posture from top. His GnP was measured and sporadic as Hitching was looking for the kimura from bottom and almost locked it in twice. Gregory rode the attempts out and defended well, ending the first round on top.

The second round began with an almost immediate clinch into the cage and Gregory forced a takedown. This was seized by Hitchings who attempted an oma plata but was unable to capitalise. The ensuing scramble saw Gregory remain on top in Hitching’s increasingly dangerous guard. Hitchings made a quick grab for a heel hook and the escape from Gregory saw Hitchings take his back and sink the hooks in. This was then reversed and Gregory pulled an escape into a scramble and ultimately took the back himself.

The third round started with some crisp stand up into a takedown attempt from Gregory. It turned into a battle and Hitching eventually ended up on top. There was a slick pass into mount and then a rolling triangle attempt from Hitchings that Gregory quickly defended. There was then an alternating armbar attempt from the triangle guard, and then back to triangle, finally causing Gregory to tap. This was a good back and forth battle that the crowd really got behind. It was a good fore-runner to the pro rules bouts that followed soon after.

Fight 7

This was the first pro bout and featured Alex Minogue(representing Wolfslair) and Joe Deeney (representing Immortal MMA). Minogue started the bout striking straight into a clinch. Deeney dropped levels and shot a sweet double leg with an accompanying trip that Minogue foiled with excellent takedown defence, standing straight up. He used the opportunity to return the favour and ended up in side control where he began to work short elbows to the face. Deeney managed to turn and scramble to turtle, causing Minogue to underhook and replace him in on top. Deeny retained full guard and a salvo of ground and pound ensued from Minogue who threw some big shots and used the attack to set up a pass into side control. Deeney had a small cut to his right cheek bone at this point and was struggling to deal with a strong posture and good control on the floor from Minogue.

The second round began with the clinch again. There was some good pummeling with some tight whizzers leading Deeney into a nice takedown on Minogue. He couldn’t keep him down and Minogue popped up again to take Deeney down into full guard. He used good posture and hip pressure to put Deeney up against the cage pass straight into mount. Deeney defended valiantly and turned away causing Minogue to take his back and sink in an RNC. Deeney struggled briefly before tapping out.

String ground control and good postural wrestling was the key to this win and Minogue did excellently, dominating Deeney to take the tick in the win column.

Fight 8

Danny Welsh (independent) faced up against Rob Friedman (East Lancs Predators) in the second pro bout of the evening. Welsh was the more experienced fighter with 10 bouts under his belt. 8 of those were losses however, so I would call this bout even on the cards with a single win on the books for Freedman.

Freedman looked strong and pushed the fight straight into clinch and forced the takedown against the fence. He was in Welsh’s guard for a matter of moments before forcing the pass into side control and setting up a very nice crucifix. He used the crucifix well to set up some ground and pound, but Welsh refused to settle and scrambled out of the hold whilst Freedman pulled mount. Again, ground and pound forced Welsh to scramble out and to his front, allowing Freedman to sink in a sharp RNC that forced a quick tap.

Welsh looked overpowered by Freedman and should possibly consider a drop in weight should he wish to carry on his career. Freedman gave a solid performance and will be looking to bolster his record ASAP after this fight.

Main Event

This was a much anticipated Championship fight between Gavin Sterrit (challenger from Wolfslair) and Avi Jack (current ISKA champ from the Predators). Both Sterritt and Jack came in with similar records, with Sterritt having only one loss. Jack was unbeaten at pro level. They both looked fit and lean and up for the fight. Tom Blackledge and Aaron Wilkinson cornered for Sterritt and looked as pumped as he was before the fight began.