Premier FC 9 is just days away. This Sunday, May 20th, 2012 to be exact where mma fans from all over will pack their things and take a hike up the mountain to the Log Cabin located in Holyoke MA. This is the second installment of the tournament where some of the fights are Round 2 or the semifinals. The doors open at 11am and fights are set to start at 12. Some of the divisions are having their first rounds as well. The fighters who are in round 2 will not fight the next show but will fight in the finals on the last show. Karyn Wesch, the Premier FC promoter/matchmaker has done a fine job and has packed this card with lots of extra fights in addition to the tournament. We have one professional fight and two female fights also on the card with a total of 13 fights for the afternoon! Follow along with me as I share the full card and how the matchups unfold.
In the 135lb division we have two fights which are round 2 or the semifinals of the tournament. Jeremy Reipold of Team Ravenous located in Greenfield, MA comes into this fight with a 4-1 record. His only loss came to Dat Tran of Team Sityodtong. Jeremy has fought all of his fights for Premier FC and has 1 KO, 2 Submission and 1 decision victory. His opponent Shayne Stephenson in an independent fights and is no stranger to Premier FC as well. He has a record of 2-3 and his two wins all came at a Premier FC show. In the first round of the tournament Shayne defeated Nick Pallini via submission to advance. Jeremy Reipold has also beaten Nick Pallini via decision so they have that common opponent. I think this will be a good ground battle. I know both fighters real well and I know they are ready to put on a show.
The second fight in the 135lb division part of the tournament is between Carlos Candelario and Adler Jack. Carlos is an independent fights and has a record of 1-0 amateur. He won at the last show over Jim Strife via armbar. He was supposed to fight Michael Velazquez but unfortunately Mike got hurt and had to drop out. Please heal up fast Mike! Then his replacement was Mike Tabor who lost to Velazquez in round 1 but he had to drop out due to injury as well. Heal up fast too Mike! Finally Adler Jack who was defeated by Jeremy Reipold in Round 1 has stepped in!! He is an independent fighter as well and comes into this fight with a record of 2-1. I have only seen one of his fights but he quickly got the takedown on Jeremy Reipold and had good position on top. He defended a couple of submissions very well but in the end was caught in a triangle and forced to tap. I expect this bout to be another ground battle with both fighters being comfortable on the ground. Who will make it in the finals of the tournament?? We will find out on May 20th!
For the 145lb tournament we have round 2 featuring Leon Campbell against Soap Am. Leon is from Sityodtong and comes into this fight with a perfect amateur record of 3-0. He won the first round back on April 1st and by ko over his opponent. His opponent Soap from Pradal Serey made his amateur debut at the last Premier FC and won via submission in rd 3. He then followed that up with a 11 second KO victory over Cory Pickering at AFO. Add that all up and he comes into this fight with a 2-0 record. One of these fighters will be leaving May 20th with their first career loss. I expect this to be a fight we all will remember. Soap will want to use his wrestling and take Leon to the ground and control him. Leon will want to keep this fight standing and use his legs to keep his distance from Soap. I could be wrong and I can't wait for this fight! For the second half of the 145lb tournament we have Jorden Pope from Premier Fight team facing Josten Mclamb from Jiu Jitsu Nation. Both of these fighters will be making their amateur debut and are ready to show what they are made of!
In the 170lb tournament we have the second round fight between Myles Reid and George Abele. Myles is from International Martial Arts and make quick work of his previous opponent and won in a minute via guillotine choke. He looked very comfortable for his amateur debut standing and on the ground. His opponent George is from Sityodtong and comes into this fight with a 2-0 record. He has fought both his fights for Premier FC. He won both of his fights via decision and looks very comfortable in the cage as well. I predict this fight will come down to a ground battle but we will see. We also have that afternoon a first round 170lb fight featuring Ray Johns and Tyler Rose. Ray Johns lost to George Abele at PFC 7 at the Mullins Center but fought a real good fight. He lost the decision but there were times where he had dominant positions. He is from Team Thunder and comes into this fight with an 0-1 record. Tyler is from Ultimate MMA and will be making his amateur debut.
We have two female bouts of the evening. This is a rare treat and I can honestly say I have never been to a show where I have seen two female bouts in one evening. The first one is between Denise Goddard and Marina Shafir. Denise was supposed to fight Sarah Payant a while ago and was unable to make weight at 135 so that fight had to be turned into a grappling match with Katie Merrill at a previous PFC. This fight is in the 155lb division which is a more comfortable weight for Denise. Denise is from Guardian and will be making her amateur debut. She will have her work cut out for her against Marina. Marina is good friends with Ronda Rousey, yes I am sure you have all heard of her. She was on a the JR Judo team with her and is from New York. She trains with Bruno Tostes and is ready to make her amateur debut. I predict this will be a striking battle and if Marina gets in trouble she will use her judo to fall back on. The second female bout of the evening is between Sarah Payant and Christina Houck. Sarah has a record of 0-2 and trains with Gladiator BJJ. Both of her fights have come via submission in the first round. I know Sarah has been training hard and ready to put on a show for everyone. Her opponent Christina is from NY and trains with Bombsquad. She will be making her amateur debut that afternoon. If she is like her team mates from Bombsquad I expect her to have some great wrestling/ground skills to show off for us that afternoon. This fight will be in the 125lb weight class and I can't wait for both of these fights!
Then we have Marvin Maldonado against Mike De Los Reyes in the 135lb division. Marvin trains in NY with Bruno Tostes and has a record of 1-2. He has one decision win and two decision losses. One of his losses came to Jacob Smith for Kaged Kombat so if he hung in there with Jake then I know he is gonna put on a show. Mike trains with team Dexter and has a record of 1-5. He is a very entertaining fighter to watch and his last fight was against Jared Sarno for AFO. He did an outstanding job in that fight and had many dominant positions. Most of his losses were from decision and he has lost some submissions. I can see this fight going to a decision here but prove me wrong guys! I am not saying it is going to be boring, I guarantee it won't be! Mike has never been in a boring fight!
Next is Isaiah Gomez against Josh Smith. Isaiah is from Sityodtong Northshore and has a record of 1-1. According to Sherdog, he has one decision loss and one decision win. This fight is at a 160lb catchweight and his opponent Josh Smith will be making his amateur debut. He fights out of Jiu Jitsu Nation and I see his facebook posts and he is training hard and will be ready! We also have Mike Ingalls against Leo Powers in the 205lb division. Mike is an independent fighter and comes into this fight with a record of 1-1. He has one KO win and his only loss came via decision. His opponent Leo is from Team Dexter and also has a record of 1-1. His win was a ref stoppage to punches. Coincidentally both of the fighters have wins over Anthony Soto so they have that for a common opponent. I think this is going to be a good standing battle and who knows, we may see a knockout!
Tim Flores, brother of Mike Flores who we all saw get the brutal knockout over Fred Mandrachia at Premier FC 7 is set to fight Nick Pallini. Tim is an independent fighter who comes into this fight with a 1-1 record. This is in the 135lb division. I couldn't find any info on him. Nick has fought for Premier FC many of times and comes all the way up from PA to fight for us all. He is an independent fighter and has a record of 2-3. I don't have all his stats but I know he has a submission victory over Chris Chartier and has lost to Shayne Stephenson, Jeremy Reipold and Leon Campbell via submission. He is a very entertaining fighter and is proud to fight for us in Mass. We thank you for that Nick.
For our pro fight of the afternoon we have Patrick Early against Terin Swanson. Patrick trains with the Factory and comes into this fight with an 0-1 record. There is a little discrepancy in his record. MixedMartialArts.com says 0-2 and Sherdog says 0-1. Either way he lost one definitely by ref stoppage in round 1. Terin trains with Gladiator BJJ and has a record of 1-1. This fight is in the 145lb division. Terin has a knockout loss to John Naples and in his last fight for Reality he came up with the victory via RNC to John Lopez. WesternMassMMA.com fans have read about him in the featured fighter we did on him not to long ago. Terin is a good kid and works hard. This is going to be a great way to end the afternoon of fights!
There you have my teaser MMA fans. I hope you all enjoyed it and if anything is incorrect by all means please let me know and I will gladly fix. Also I recommend for all the fighters to sign up with sherdog and get your information accurate so people like me who are forgetful can look you up! It will be a great afternoon of 13 fights, featuring some great second round of the tournament, two female bouts and of course the one pro fight. It is unclear at this time how the rest of the tournament will work out but as soon as we know we will let you know. Again the tickets are in range 75, 45 and 30 and you can get them by clicking here. I hope to see you all there! We gotta support the promotions in Western Mass because if we don't, they may disappear. Very sad but its a business and that is why we are here to educate you all and let you know about their happenings! I will be at the weigh ins taking photos and I will do a quick writeup Saturday night before the Strikeforce fights start. I will post all the photos I take on our facebook fan page as well!
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