Recap

by Hywel Teague

May 9, 2004

Barnsley Metrodome

South Yorksire, England 

Fernandez victorious over Butlin with one second to spare, new featherweight champ crowned

Frenchman Emmanuel Fernandez was crowned the CW Featherweight champion last Sunday night after

defeating Yorkshire resident Ian Butlin in dramatic fashion. Ground specialist and Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown

belt Fernandez showed great patience and a solid game plan in attaining victory in one of the most thrilling

finishes in UK MMA. Not giving famed striker Butlin a chance to fire anything off, Fernandez took an early

takedown from the clinch before methodically working his way to a submission.

Using the cage to nullify Butlin’s guard, Fernandez avoided any submission attempts, peppering in short

punches until stepping up the pace later in the round. On a signal from his corner, Fernandez went up to

fifth gear with his ground strikes before passing to side control- Butlin almost escaped the pin but found

himself defending an armbar. Stacked near the cage, the De La Riva brown belt smoothly transitioned to a

triangle choke, forcing a tap with only one second left on the clock.

Butlin was disappointed with the result but displayed great sportsmanship in congratulating his opponent.

Fernandez was ecstatic with his win, and rightly so. He has defeated all of his opponents with the same

move, yet handled his toughest test yet with relative ease. While Butlin is a dangerous grappler, the

difference in skill was evident, as the talented Frenchman found himself in little danger throughout the fight.

Butlin will certainly go away with a valuable lesson from this loss, and undoubtedly come back hungrier than

ever. A possible rematch later down the line would be a mouth-watering prospect, but I feel there may be

more than a few u65kgs (under 143 lbs.) fighters eyeing up Fernandez’s belt.

Ian "M16" Butlin vs. Emmanuelle Fernandes - Featherweight Title
Fernandes wins via submission (triangle choke) at 4:59 of round 1

Ryan gets “Tengizzed” - the Barnsley Gladiator steam rolls through opponent
Georgian wrestler and ground n pound merchant Tengiz Tedoradze demolished his Irish opponent in

spectacular fashion before a huge home crowd. Now resident in Barnsley, this internationally decorated

Greco-roman wrestler took little time in imposing his will on 7 times Irish Judo champ Andy Ryan.

Showing impressive (and unexpected) boxing skills, Tengiz landed a few clean strikes early on that severely

rocked Ryan. Brushing off the desperate takedown attempts of Ryan, Tengiz systematically went about

taking apart the judo stylist. Following Ryan around the ring from position to position, Tengiz never allowed

Ryan to gather himself or mouth any effective defense, until finally settling into mount and scoring a referee

stoppage at 2 min 5 sec of the first round. A rousing cheer from the crowd saw the Georgian giant extend

his wining streak to 7 fights in a row.

Tengiz Tedoradze vs. Andy Ryan - H/W Title
Tedoradze wins via GnP at 2:05 of round 1

Strebendt taps Elliot with first ever MMA twister
American submission wizard Gerald Strebendt has made history by being the first ever fighter to become

victorious in MMA by applying the “twister” submission hold. In a blistering performance, the UFC veteran

shot in and took the fight to the floor immediately, setting up the unorthodox submission and forcing Gracie

Barra Newcastle fighter Dave Elliot to tap at 58 seconds of the first round. For a few scary moments, it

seemed Elliot might be hurt, and Strebendt was genuinely concerned for his well being, even making an

effort to go over to Dave’s family. Luckily, Elliot was soon up and without injury, but still victim to the first

ever MMA twister.

Soon after the fight, Strebendt and Jean De Silva found themselves facing off in an impromptu precursor to

their scheduled match at Cage Rage (May 23rd in London). Tensions are certainly running high for this fight,

making it one not to be missed.

Gerald, as winner of the lightweight title eliminator, should face Irishman Dave Roche for the belt- dates to

be confirmed, so watch this space.

Dave "Speedy" Elliott vs. Gerald "The finishing Machine" Strebendt (Lightweight Title Eliminator)
Strebendt wins via submission (twister) at 0:58 of round 1

Daley scores quick win over Moradi in a kickboxing fight (rules same as K-1)
In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it encounter, Nottingham fighter Paul Daley won by cut stoppage against the

unknown Ressa Moradi. Coming to the ring with no groin protector (requiring a quick dash back to the

changing rooms) and no tape on his gloves, Moradi seemed an unwise opponent for the dangerous Daley, a

fighter with a rep for big punches and serious KO power.

As Daley advanced Moradi leapt into the air with a spinning back kick to the midsection! Following it up with

another, Moradi was obviously a dark horse, but this didn’t stop Daley from landing a huge knee to the

head, opening a bad cut and requiring a stoppage at around the minute mark of round 1.

Paul Daley vs. Ressa Moradi (3x3 rounds)
Daley wins via cut stoppage in round 1

Bouchalegham rear naked choke attempt on Ewin

Ewin battles it out to become CW middleweight champ- possible fight of the year
In a strong candidate for fight of the year, Matt Ewin fought a grueling battle against French fighter Greg

Bouchalegham. Employing what could best be described as a grappling version of rope-a-dope tactics,

Ewin braved his way through three and a half rounds of being in the worst positions imaginable before turning

it around in the greatest MMA comeback ever.

Bouchalegham has previously beaten Ewin’s mentor and trainer Mark Weir, and seemed poised to do the

same against the Gloucester native. Repeatedly taking Ewin down and moving from mount to rear mount to

mount, Bouchalegham seemed only seconds way from victory for much of the fight. The wily Ewin evaded

every submission attempt from the De La Riva BJJ purple belt and sensationally reversed the fight, winning

by way of corner stoppage. With a fatigued Bouchalegham cowering against the cage under a barrage of

punches from Ewin, the fight was called to a halt as the towel came in at 2.25 of round four.

Matt Ewin vs. Gregory Bouchalegham - Middleweight Title
Ewin wins via ref stoppage (towel) at 2:25 of round 4

Gav Bradley (left) vs. Dave Roche (right)

Roche proves doubters wrong in dominant performance
Irish fighter Dave Roche is easily the unluckiest man in MMA, but finally proved himself in a one sided win

over tough lightweight Gav Bradley. Using some sharp striking to force a shoot from Bradley, the

permanently smiling Roche completely out-classed and out-powered Bradley on the mat, taking a guillotine

choke at only 1.19 seconds of round 1.

Roche certainly seemed at ease during the brief fight, and claimed he can rise to much greater heights when

presented with the right opponent. With a possible match with Gerald Strebendt (one Roche is itching for) on

the cards, Roche’s wish may come true.

Gav Bradley vs. Dave Roache (Lightweight Eliminator)
Roache via submission (guillotine) round 1

Lee Dorski (top) vs. Andy Walker (bottom) - lee setting up for an armbar 

Dorski smoothly submits Walker, first win for Tsunami
Southpaw Lee Dorksi caught Andy Walker in an armbar at 3.06 of the first round, earning a win for the

newly created fight team Tsunami Gym.

An amalgamation of fighters based in Cambridge and featuring names such as Pierre Guillet, Mark Day,

Robbie Olivier and Dave McLaughlin, the new Shooters affiliated gym enjoyed a convincing win as Dorski

first closed down Walkers stand up game before setting up the armbar for the first round submission victory.

Andy Walker vs. Lee Dorski
Dorski wins via verbal submission (armbar) at 3:06 of round 1

Fernandez makes it a double in family affair
Emmanuel Fernandez’s brother Frederick managed to grind out a three round decision victory over Londoner

Mark Chen in the opening fight of the night. A close call throughout, Fernandez scored well on the judges

scorecards for his submission attempts and stronger clinch. While Chen certainly had the edge in striking, it

was an unenviable job for the judges to decide a winner, but they settled on the tourist.

Mark Chen vs. Frederick Fernandes
Fernandes wins via unanimous decision (round 3)

There are few MMA events in the UK that can be said to match Cagewarriors’ efforts in showcasing

homegrown mixed martial arts talent.

Time after time promoter Dougie Truman has sought to bring together the finest MMA fighters in the UK.

Featuring all-star domestic fights or battles between Britain’s finest and their foreign challengers,

Cagewarriors has raised the bar a few notches with its last show.

Once again employing the maxim quality over quantity, this event was full of drama and action with every

fight entertaining the crowd and exciting the pundits.

Cagewarriors travels to the Octagon Centre in Sheffield University on September the 18th, promising more of

the same and then some. Keep checking www.cagewarriors.com for updates.

Plus there will be a DVD of this exciting event out soon which features the Twister submission that everyone

is talking about.  Check www.cagewarriors.com for updates.

From Hywel Teague & CageWarriors - with a little editing from us (color, some highlights, etc...)

Pictures courtesy of CageWarriors.com

Thefightgame.tv would like to apologize to Mr. Teague for omitting his name in this great report and we'd like

to thank him for his great work.

(5/12/04) 

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