‘The Machine’ Scouts UWC for IFL Fighters
Matthew Freeman Nov 11, 2007
SOUTHEND-ON-SEA, U.K., Nov. 10 -- Ultimate Warrior Challenge
featured two headlining bouts for its fifth installment, in front
of a packed arena.
Stav Economou looked to protect his unbeaten record against Italian wrestler Alfredo Achilli, and Premslaw Mysiala and Valentino Petrescu (Pictures)battled it out for supremacy in the light heavyweight division as Ian Freeman (Pictures), head of the U.K. IFL team, watched on with interest.
Petrescu took the initiative early, combining a sharp jab with a
thunderous leg kick to put his opponent on his back foot. Mysiala
quickly found himself on the receiving end of accurate combinations
and tried to tie up Petrescu, only to be rewarded in the clinch
with knees.
Sensing his advantage, Petrescu broke out of the clinch and began throwing heavy leather, but Mysiala kept his head and shot in to score a takedown. Petrescu regained his feet quickly and turned up the heat. Landing his jab-kick combination at will and stuffing the takedown of the Total Dojo fighter, Petrescu scored with two devastating uppercuts that floored Mysiala at the end of the first for the KO.
Team Sure Grip's Stav Economou continued to impress his legion of fans with another convincing win against the very game Alfredo Achilli.
In a battle of the heavyweights, Achilli began well, beating Economou to the punch early. Though in attempting to take the fight to the mat the Italian found himself in enemy territory, as Economou landed vicious body blows before breaking off with a flurry of punches. Achilli eventually got the takedown but only after taking a fair amount of punishment that left him marked up at the bell.
Economou continued to throw with intent in the second, quickly wearing his opponent down. Dropping the Italian with a damaging combination of hooks and knees against the fence, Economou took the TKO win at 2:16 of the second round.
Jamie Banks dispatched Lee Woods without ceremony, coming out swinging for the fences and overwhelming his opponent. Throwing left-right after left-right, Banks stalked Woods down and cut him badly, knocking him down to claim victory after just 19 seconds of wild middleweight action.
John Hales went 3-0 after a clinical display against the undersized Denas Banevicius. After a feeling-out period, Hales used his jab to close the distance and take his adversary to the floor. Transitioning easily from side control to mount, Hales proceeded to drop bombs that forced Banevicius to tap out after 2:44.
Matt Thorpe (Pictures)'s bout against Brazilian Claude Henrique was called a no contest after the U.K. fighter was hit with an illegal strike to the back of the head.
Ronnie Gill (Pictures)'s quick thinking gained him victory over the debuting Luke Blythe after an even round of trading strikes. Both had patches of success before Blythe ducked in with a straight left to the body, only for Gill to use a guillotine to take his man to the mat. Securing mount, Gill landed a number of heavy punches to take the win via verbal submission at 4:40 of round one.
Arunas Andriuskevicius (Pictures) turned the tables in his bout against Matteo Piran (Pictures) after being dominated on the ground. Exchanging leg kicks and punches, Andriuskevicius began pawing at the Italian, who shot in and took the fight to the mat.
Punching to the head and body from inside the guard, Piran looked to be controlling the match until Andriuskivicius landed a shocking blow to the temple. Reversing the position on the stunned Piran, Andriuskivicius pounded away until the ref stepped in to save the Italian from further damage at 4:25.
Lee Mayo destroyed Mexican Fernando Saucedo (Pictures) in just 24 seconds of the first round in their middleweight bout. Mayo waited long enough for Saucedo to fire a leg kick before rushing in with furious punches, knocking Saucedo down and finishing him with powerful ground-and-pound.
The impressive Norwegian Simeon Thoresen kept his unbeaten record intact, taking out American Chas Jacquier in the first stanza. Jacquier came out strong, but Thoresen weathered the storm and started to throw leather that forced the American into the clinch, where he ate a number of knees to the midsection. Thoresen then took Jacquier down, moving beautifully into mount and devastating his foe with strikes that compelled the ref to halt the bout at 3:04.
Lee Wieczorek and Kevin Porter engaged in an exciting back-and-forth battle on the mat. Wieczorek had the upper hand initially from the takedown, getting back position and looking to choke his opponent out. But Porter escaped into top position to score with fearsome strikes inside the guard, only for Wieczorek to roll and sink an omoplata for the submission at 2:31 of the first period.
John Brown (Pictures) took the unanimous decision over Stuart Davies after a thrilling three-round tear-up. After an exchange of punches, Brown scored his first double-leg slam that fixed the pattern of the fight. Though Davies defended diligently, he was always on his back foot against the Sure Grip fighter, working off his back and getting pummeled with punches and elbows. Even when caught in a triangle, Brown slammed Davies to escape and was never really troubled, taking the victory with relative ease.
In the semi-pros, TSG Italia fighter Marco Matta defeated a very game Nikolas Cilkinas in a close three-round war of attrition. Cilkinas continued to march forward throughout the bout, but Matta's jab began to tell as the fight progressed. Coming under pressure from the Lithuanian, Matta used his wrestling to get the fight to the floor and tie his opponent up and take the victory.
William Morley earned a hard-fought victory over debuting Lee Whitehead in their amateur clash. Whitehead scored with the first takedown after stunning Morley with a vicious bodyshot.
An amazing scramble ensued with Morley looking to strike and Whitehead working a toehold and then a kimura. In the second after a fierce trade of leg kicks, Morley slammed Whitehead before transitioning into mount and taking the victory with an armbar at 3:25.
Stav Economou looked to protect his unbeaten record against Italian wrestler Alfredo Achilli, and Premslaw Mysiala and Valentino Petrescu (Pictures)battled it out for supremacy in the light heavyweight division as Ian Freeman (Pictures), head of the U.K. IFL team, watched on with interest.
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Sensing his advantage, Petrescu broke out of the clinch and began throwing heavy leather, but Mysiala kept his head and shot in to score a takedown. Petrescu regained his feet quickly and turned up the heat. Landing his jab-kick combination at will and stuffing the takedown of the Total Dojo fighter, Petrescu scored with two devastating uppercuts that floored Mysiala at the end of the first for the KO.
"Petrescu is definitely someone I will be looking at to join the
British IFL team," said Ian
Freeman (Pictures). "It was a great
performance."
Team Sure Grip's Stav Economou continued to impress his legion of fans with another convincing win against the very game Alfredo Achilli.
In a battle of the heavyweights, Achilli began well, beating Economou to the punch early. Though in attempting to take the fight to the mat the Italian found himself in enemy territory, as Economou landed vicious body blows before breaking off with a flurry of punches. Achilli eventually got the takedown but only after taking a fair amount of punishment that left him marked up at the bell.
Economou continued to throw with intent in the second, quickly wearing his opponent down. Dropping the Italian with a damaging combination of hooks and knees against the fence, Economou took the TKO win at 2:16 of the second round.
Jamie Banks dispatched Lee Woods without ceremony, coming out swinging for the fences and overwhelming his opponent. Throwing left-right after left-right, Banks stalked Woods down and cut him badly, knocking him down to claim victory after just 19 seconds of wild middleweight action.
John Hales went 3-0 after a clinical display against the undersized Denas Banevicius. After a feeling-out period, Hales used his jab to close the distance and take his adversary to the floor. Transitioning easily from side control to mount, Hales proceeded to drop bombs that forced Banevicius to tap out after 2:44.
Matt Thorpe (Pictures)'s bout against Brazilian Claude Henrique was called a no contest after the U.K. fighter was hit with an illegal strike to the back of the head.
Ronnie Gill (Pictures)'s quick thinking gained him victory over the debuting Luke Blythe after an even round of trading strikes. Both had patches of success before Blythe ducked in with a straight left to the body, only for Gill to use a guillotine to take his man to the mat. Securing mount, Gill landed a number of heavy punches to take the win via verbal submission at 4:40 of round one.
Arunas Andriuskevicius (Pictures) turned the tables in his bout against Matteo Piran (Pictures) after being dominated on the ground. Exchanging leg kicks and punches, Andriuskevicius began pawing at the Italian, who shot in and took the fight to the mat.
Punching to the head and body from inside the guard, Piran looked to be controlling the match until Andriuskivicius landed a shocking blow to the temple. Reversing the position on the stunned Piran, Andriuskivicius pounded away until the ref stepped in to save the Italian from further damage at 4:25.
Lee Mayo destroyed Mexican Fernando Saucedo (Pictures) in just 24 seconds of the first round in their middleweight bout. Mayo waited long enough for Saucedo to fire a leg kick before rushing in with furious punches, knocking Saucedo down and finishing him with powerful ground-and-pound.
The impressive Norwegian Simeon Thoresen kept his unbeaten record intact, taking out American Chas Jacquier in the first stanza. Jacquier came out strong, but Thoresen weathered the storm and started to throw leather that forced the American into the clinch, where he ate a number of knees to the midsection. Thoresen then took Jacquier down, moving beautifully into mount and devastating his foe with strikes that compelled the ref to halt the bout at 3:04.
Lee Wieczorek and Kevin Porter engaged in an exciting back-and-forth battle on the mat. Wieczorek had the upper hand initially from the takedown, getting back position and looking to choke his opponent out. But Porter escaped into top position to score with fearsome strikes inside the guard, only for Wieczorek to roll and sink an omoplata for the submission at 2:31 of the first period.
John Brown (Pictures) took the unanimous decision over Stuart Davies after a thrilling three-round tear-up. After an exchange of punches, Brown scored his first double-leg slam that fixed the pattern of the fight. Though Davies defended diligently, he was always on his back foot against the Sure Grip fighter, working off his back and getting pummeled with punches and elbows. Even when caught in a triangle, Brown slammed Davies to escape and was never really troubled, taking the victory with relative ease.
In the semi-pros, TSG Italia fighter Marco Matta defeated a very game Nikolas Cilkinas in a close three-round war of attrition. Cilkinas continued to march forward throughout the bout, but Matta's jab began to tell as the fight progressed. Coming under pressure from the Lithuanian, Matta used his wrestling to get the fight to the floor and tie his opponent up and take the victory.
William Morley earned a hard-fought victory over debuting Lee Whitehead in their amateur clash. Whitehead scored with the first takedown after stunning Morley with a vicious bodyshot.
An amazing scramble ensued with Morley looking to strike and Whitehead working a toehold and then a kimura. In the second after a fierce trade of leg kicks, Morley slammed Whitehead before transitioning into mount and taking the victory with an armbar at 3:25.
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