We are just days away from Premier FC 8 tournament which is set to take place on April 1st 2012 at the Log Cabin in Holyoke MA. It is the first amateur mixed martial arts tournament in Western Mass and it is going to be a memorable one. People will gather around in a vast log banquet hall and gather around the fire to watch the carnage in the cage. There are a total of 11 fights 8 ammy and two professional. I did a semi teaser a few weeks ago talking about the Bantamweight tournament. In this one it is going to be the full teaser and it will have the other three fights that I had in the previous one. Let's begin and get to know the fighters. Many of the fighters are just amateurs and there is little known about them so keep that in mind.
135lb Tournament Round One
The second fight in the bantamweight tournament is between Shayne Stephenson and Nick Pallini. Shayne comes into this fight with a record of 1-3. His only win was right here in Western Mass at a previous Premier FC against Dan Wilcox via triangle back in February of last year. He is looking to snap his losing streak and get the W and to advance to the next round. Shayne trains in various schools but lately has been independent. He was training with Cape Cod Fighting Alliance for a while and stopped about six months ago and he has been trained with Rukus a few times. His opponent is Nick Pallini. He is an independent fighter from Pennsylvania and he just loves fighting for Premier FC. All four of his fights have been for the Premier FC. His two losses were a decision loss to Jeremy Reipold and a ref stoppage to rear naked choke courtesy of Leon Campbell. His two submission wins were against Rich Lamontagne and Chris Chartier(Tyson's brother). This fight is gonna be a great one because both fighters have the same amount of experience and both want to make up for their recent losses have left some bad taste in their mouth so I know they are gonna fight hard!!!
The third fight in this division is Jim Strife and Carlos Candelori. Both fighters will be making their amateur debut and what better way to start their career out by entering a big tournament. Strife trains with Pin2Win Combat Academy out of Phoenix New York. We are told he has excellent standup and is looking to show it off for us all on April 1st.
The last fight in the bantamweight tournament is between Mike Velazquez and Mike Tabor. Velazquez is making his amateur debut and trains out of team Sityodtong so you know he will be well prepared for a war. His opponent Mike Tabor trains out of Guardian MMA. Little is known about both of these fighters since it is their amateur debut so we will see who is the most prepared on April 1st. Onto the 145lb tournament.
145lb Tournament Round One
The first fight in this division is between Leon Campbell and Dan Walsh. Leon Cambell is from Team Sityodtong and comes into this fight with a record of 2-0. He has fought for PFC in both of his two ammy fights. His first one was in July of last year where he won a very close decision to Elijah Paolilo. His other fight was at PFC 7 back in December where he got a submission victory over Nick Pallini. His opponent Dan Walsh is an independent fighter and is making his amateur debut. He will have his work cut out for him taking on a guy with two fights under his belt but this is the time for him to prove himself in the cage!
The last fight in this division is between Mike Wicks and Soap Am. Mike Wicks is from Pin2Win. Pin2Win is a combat academy located in Phoenix Arizona. They train all sorts of different combat styles and are just starting to get fighters into the local scenes. I noticed some of their fighters were on the CFX card and had success so I know they will be ready. Soap Am is a fresh amateur from Team Pradal Serey located in Lynn MA. I have been told Soap is a well rounded and has a vast cardio. He is the first Khmer fighter coming out of TPS. He trains everyday with Ricardo Georges, Aniss Alhajajjy and Louis Torres so I know he will be good and ready. Don't blink on this fight! The other two fights in the first round will be taking place at the next Premier FC. Next up is the 170lb tournament.
170lb Tournament Round One
There are three fights set to take place on April 1st for this part of the tournament. The first one is between Lou Grigneffini and Myles Reid. Lou fought at the last PFC and won a unanimous decision over Rick Langley. He is an independent fighter and according to mixedmartialarts.com he is 112 years old. Something tells me they need to do a fact check on that one!! Nonetheless his opponent is Myles Reid and he trains with International Martial Arts. They have two locations, one in Ipswich and Georgetown MA. He will be making his amateur debut.
Next fight is between George Abele and Brett Braxton. George trains out of Team Sityodtong and comes into this tournament with a record of 1-0. His only fight was for Premier FC back in December and he won a unanimous decision over Ray Johns. He showed an outstanding ground game and there was never a dull moment in that fight. Brett trains with American Martial Arts Academy and Combat Sports Boston. He has a record of 1-1 and has fought both of his fights for AFO. His first fight was back in July against Sean Boisclair where he lost via submission to armbar in round 2. He bounced back with a victory in September of 2011 against James Lajoie where he won via ref stoppage to strikes in round one. This is going to be a really good fight. Mark my word.
The last fight in the tournament is between Rob Solveson and Mike Burke. Rob trains out of New York with Team Bombsquad. It is his amateur debut but if you are familiar with Bombsquad you would know they have beasts and always come prepared. Mike has a record of 1-1 and is an independent fighter. The information online was conflicting with his record but it seems to me like he has a submission win and a submission loss in his career. This concludes the tournament fights...but wait there is more. We have two bonus professional fights. For you newbies that means elbows and kicks to the head standing are allowed.
Extra Bonus Fights
The first professional fight is between Josh Mellen and Carlos Rivera. This fight is set to take place at 185lbs. Josh is very much like Barrington and loves to step in last minute to help save the big fights for the local events when a fighter drops out. This is not an easy task as he does not have a fair amount of time to prepare for his opponent but I tip my hat off to you Josh as you always come prepared and ready for a war. He is listed as an independent fighter but I am pretty sure he trains with Bancroft Boxing and MMA. He has a record of 1-8 and his win came back in June of 2010 against Shawn Baker which he won via triangle choke in Round 1. He has fought alot of big name fighters as Sloppy Joe, Jimmy Quinlan, Brennan Ward and Lowell Zangri. In his career he has 4 ko and 3 submission losses according to Sherdog. Not sure about his other loss. His opponent Carlos is an independent fighter and comes into this fight with an 0-3 record. His last loss was back in May of 2011 against Fran Collins for Paul Vandale Promotions. He has two submission losses and one ko loss. As you can see on paper this is a very evenly matched fight and should be a great one!!
The last fight of the evening is the one I am most excited about. It is the pro battle between Desmond Green and Rob Font. Desmond was set to fight Leon Davis on Century Fighting. With that being postponed he was all ready and happy to accept this fight. He is making his professional debut and trains out of New York with Team Bombsquad. His amateur career from what I can find out he is undefeated and has one submission, one decision and one ref stoppage to strikes in his repertoire. Rob trains with Team Sityodtong and had an amateur record of 3-1. He is one of the nicest fighters out there and has fought many tough fighters in his amateur career. He has a pro record of 1-0 and his victory came at the last Premier FC back in December where he defeated Matt Tuthill via submission in round one. This fight is at 155lbs and should be a great way to finish off the night.
I hope you enjoyed the full teaser for Premier FC 8. You can get your tickets by clicking here. The Bronze Tickets are $30 and they are standing, Silver are $35 and are seated and the last are the Golden Tickets. With these, you are sitting in the first few rows and will be catered all night long!! Did I mention with the golden tickets the food and drinks are all free all day?? Best thing about it is, drinks will be available at this show, where at the Umass shows they were not allowed. Hope to see you all there. Please let me know on facebook or on here if any of the records are false and I will gladly fix.
If You Enjoyed This Article Please Comment. Support us by following our twitter and our facebook fan page. It is the best way to stay up to date on local MMA! Any news you would like us to share email us at westernmassmma@gmail.com. Thanks!