There is a new promotion in Western Mass if you all haven't heard. They are called Battle Xtreme Championships and they are coming to the scene in a big way. The matchmaker/promoter Fernando Rivera has done an excellent job bringing a stacked card right to our backyard. Their first event is set to take place on June 16th, 2012 at the Mass Mutual Center and has 9 professional fights on it. It is stacked with veterans from UFC, Strikeforce, WEC, Bellator just to name a few. Follow along as I break down each fight for but first....you can get your tickets by visiting here. Tickets start at $40 bux and range to $215 but seriously 40 bux for 9 pro fights anywhere of this caliber is a hell of a steal! This show will also be streaming live on Sherdog.com but I am sorry it just isn't the same as seeing it live!!
First fight will be between Pat Early and Kevin Axline. Pat comes into this fight with an 0-3 record. Western Mass fans will remember Pat from his last fight at Premier FC 9 where he suffered a loss from a guillotine to Terin Swanson. He will be looking for his first pro win for sure!! His opponent Kevin comes into this fight with an 0-4 record. He lost all four of his fights via submission. One thing is for certain..one of these fighters will be walking away with their first pro win!!
Second fight is between Kym Sturdivant and Robby Roberts. This fight will be for 205lbs. Kym usually fights heavyweight and has been dropping weight and working hard like a madman!! Kym trains with Gladiator BJJ and has a record of 4-8. His last fight he stepped in and fought Randy Smith for AFO Heavyweight title. He was winning this fight for a round and a half against a tough Randy Smith and went to do a jumping guillotine and ended up paying the price. He has one KO and 3 submission victories. His opponent Robby comes into this fight with a record of 7-14. Robby has been fighting since 2006 as a professional fighter. He is very well rounded and has 1 KO, 5 submission and one decision victory. He hasn't fought according to Sherdog.com since May of 2011 but I am sure he will be ready. I expect this to be a ground battle and both fighters showing off their wrestling skills.
Third fight of the night is between Rafael Rebello against Bobby Huron. Rafael comes into this fight with a record of 8-4. He is a WEC veteran and has fought for them three times in 2009-2010. He has 1 KO, 5 submission and 2 decision victories in his career. His four losses came via decision and one of them was a split decision. His opponent Bobby has a record of 4-2. He is also very well rounded and has 1KO, 2 SUB and 1 decision victory in his repertoire. His two losses were via decision and one submission. I can't predict how this fight is going to go, I can see see a submission victory but who knows!!
Then we have Alexandre Vaca Moreno against Trevor Smith. This fight was just listed on Sherdog's top 10 tussels of June to see and lucky for us we get to see it right here in Springfield MA! Moreno trains with Team Link and has a record of 11-2. He almost always finishes his fights and has 10 submission victories in his career with one decision. His two losses came in 2008 and 2009 where he lost by ko and tko to punches. This could be his last local fight before he gets the call to UFC or Strikeforce mma fans. His opponent is Trevor Smith who has a record of 9-2. He has fought for Strikeforce 3 times in his career. He has one KO and 8 submission victories in his career. I think it is pretty safe for me to assume this fight is going to take place on the ground with both fighters being very comfortable in the jiu jitsu department.
Ramico Blackmon will be facing Chris Davis. Ramico comes into this fight with a record of 7-1. The General is his nickname and he has 1 KO, 1 SUB and 5 DEC victories. His opponent Davis has an undefeated record of 7-0. He has 1 decision victory and 6 submission finishes. Davis is very comfortable on the ground and will most likely want to take the fight to the ground. Ramico is very well rounded and may want to keep this fight standing to see how it goes. This is another well matched fight that Battle XC is having for us on Saturday Night of June 16th. How do you guys see this fight going??
Rory Markham is set to fight Jon Kirk. Rory is a three time UFC fighter and before that he fought in the IFL. He has a record of 16-6 and his last two fights he lost to Dan Hardy and Nate Diaz where he lost by way of the fist. He has 11 knockout and 5 submission victories in his career. That is crazy out of all 21 of his fights he has never gone to a decision!! His opponent Jon has a record of 16-9. His nickname is "El Jaguar" and he has 6 KO and 9 submission victories in his career along with one decision. Out of all 25 of Jon's fights only one of them was a decision which ended up being a loss but that is just crazy!! All I gotta say about this fight is I highly doubt it will go to a decision. Out of his losses he has two ko and 6 submission losses. Looking at that could give Rory a big advantage to keep the fight standing and to use his knockout power.
Drew McFedries will be fighting Brad Johnson. Drew has fought for UFC 9 times in his career and has a record of 10-6. He has 8 KO, 1 sub and one decision victory. They don't call him "The Massacre" for nothing. For his losses he has lost twice via ko/tko and 4 times by submission. His losses have come against Thales Leites, Patrick Cote, Martin Kampmann and Nate Quarry. All big names. His opponent Brad has a record of 9-4. He has 6 submission and 3 decision victories in his career. For his losses 3 submission and one decision in his career. This is another excellent matchup where Drew is a striker and will want to keep it standing and Brad with all his submission victories will most likely want to get this fight to the ground where he can try to work a submission victory.
Now for the female bout which is the co-main event between Sara McMann and Anita Rodriguez. Sara comes into this fight with an undefeated record of 5-0. She was an Olympic Medalist where she placed silver in wrestling and a well rounded fighter. She has 1 KO, 2 SUB and 2 DEC victories in her career. Her opponent Anita has a record of 5-3. She has fought for Bellator once and has 3 submission and two decision victories. Her two losses came via one submission and two decision. I would think Anita would want to keep this fight standing and not be outwrestled by Sara but it may end up going that way. This fight is gonna come down to if Anita can handle Sara on the ground. One way or another we will find out on June 16th.
Then for the main event they have Rafael Dias against Ran Weathers. Rafael has a record of 15-9-2. Very rare that you see a fighter with more than one draw but hey its MMA and anything can happen. He has two KO, 10 SUB and 3 DEC victories in his career. Out of his losses he has 3 KO, 1 SUB and 5 decision losses. He has fought for WEC 3 times and his last fight was for Bellator where he lost to Marlon Sandro. His opponent Ran has a record of 16-11. He has 6 KO, 7 SUB and 3 decision victories in his career. Out of his 11 losses 9 of them came from decision. Wow, I can bet he definitely doesn't want this fight to go to decision! As you can see for the main event, both fighters are very well rounded and this fight could go anywhere. Ran is going to want to keep the fight standing where he has the advantage with his knockout power but Rafael has two knockouts himself. Rafael might want to take this fight on the ground and try to earn himself an 11th victory via submission.
That is the card and as you can see it is a big star studded filled card. I guarantee you will get your $$$$ worth with this one. I want to thank Fernando and Battle XC for sharing with us the card so we can bring you all this lovely teaser. The Boss and Selva will be there live getting the scoop for you all and we will have live updates. Warchild and I will be up in Maine this evening so unfortunately we can't witness the fights firsthand. Please take the time and share this article with your friends and support our local MMA, especially the ones in Western Mass!! Til next time! CityBoy out!
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