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Fallout from Cage Rage 25 event
By Zach Arnold | March 13, 2008
Written by Adam Underhill
At long last the dust has ultimately settled from the sudden collision of Heavyweight rivals and veteran fighters that the nation witnessed this past Saturday night in London, England. Cage Rage presented yet another flourishing evening of mixed martial arts action to a sell-out crowd at the Wembley Arena with little disappointment. Regarded by many as Britain’s top mixed martial arts organisation, in association with ProElite Inc., Cage Rage offered its twenty-fifth event to the apprehensive residents of London with eleven extremely fast-paced and remarkable bouts. With only two of the fights going to the judge’s decision and the rest ending in the very first round, the fans undeniably experienced a thrilling night of ultimate fighting action.
Since the company was acquired by entertainment magnate ProElite, the parent company of the EliteXC and ShoXC promotions, the overall production values of Cage Rage have improved a great deal. ProElite have definitely provided the business with a new edge and has enhanced the widespread appeal of the product. The production values of past Cage Rage events have been questionable, much like the majority of mixed martial arts promotions operating in the United Kingdom, but it’s incredibly apparent from their twenty-fifth instalment that they are looking to develop their brand further and make it a product that can be enjoyed worldwide.
The arena was evidently bursting with both avid and casual fans alike, as a sold-out crowd in the region of twelve thousand fans filled the Wembley Arena, to witness both Ken Shamrock and his son Ryan Shamrock fight against laudable opponents in Robert Berry and Giorgio Andrews respectively. Veteran Jean “White Bear” Silva challenged the Japanese leg lock specialist Masakazu Imanari for his Cage Rage Featherweight title, whilst undefeated Gary Tuner battled heavy hitter Mustapha al-Turk, as fan favourite Rob Broughton clashed with Karate practitioner Neil “Goliath” Grove. The middleweights went at it with Tom “Kong” Watson taking on Pierre Guillet with both fighters coming off recent loses, while the enormous Italian powerhouse Ivan Serati battled striker Roman Webber in a clash of Light Heavyweight titans.
The first televised contest on the Sky Sports 3 broadcast was the scrap between nineteen-year-old Ryan Shamrock and Giorgio Andrews. In what looked like a tremendously fast-paced brawl, with both fighters swinging for the fences, it was an inadequate end to Ryan’s night as he failed to come out of his corner for the second round due to a broken left hand. This was a big win for the ‘Cage Rage Contenders’ participant, but a loss that Shamrock simply could not have prepared for. Ryan Shamrock is definitely a credible competitor, with strong and accurate punches, and Cage Rage in addition to EliteXC, will welcome him back once his injury has completely healed.
Subsequently with both Middleweight fighters coming off recent losses in their Cage Rage careers, fan favourite Tom “Kong” Watson battled Tsunami Gym’s Pierre Guillet. Guillet’s preceding two fights resulted in two first round stoppages against his favour, while Kong furthermore lost his last fight with Mark Epstein to a split decision at Cage Rage 24. With Pierre Guillet controlling the fight on the ground for the majority, he ultimately failed to utilise his game plan as he jumped right into Kong’s left up kick from the bottom position, ensuing a knockout victory for the Gorilla Academy scholar. Pierre thought he could keep the bout on the ground, so leaped into Watson in an attempt to embrace his position. An impractical error that Guillet will learn from without a doubt.
Next up on the card is another fan favourite in Rob Broughton returning to engage Karate practitioner Neil “Goliath” Grove in a heavy-hitting heavyweight war. The Goliath and The Bear both approached each other with an exchange of punches and low kicks as expected, with Grove later displaying great cage control and an arsenal of very stiff blows. Broughton is the first to shoot in and attempt to take the fight to the floor, but again Neil Grove showed great ability to stop potential takedowns and snuffed out any threat. Both effectively slugged it out until the end of the second round. At the beginning of the third Broughton immediately instigated a guillotine choke after a failed takedown attempt by Grove, but soon after lost position and Grove ended up in the dominant guard. Both men were enormously fatigued by this point, but both never ceased in attempting to establish the more dominant position. Both fighters landed some heavy shots and matched each other extremely well. Rob Broughton ultimately took the judges decision; ending Goliath’s undefeated fight record and placing himself in top contention for the Heavyweight title, but not without a great struggle on Neil Grove’s part.
The fight that every mixed martial arts fan in London was eagerly anticipating was up next. Japanese DEEP legend and leg lock specialist Masakazu Imanari entered the cage against Cage Rage veteran Jean “White Bear” Silva in the semi-main event for Imanari’s Cage Rage Featherweight title. Undefeated in Cage Rage competition, the DEEP and ZST veteran was looking for a win at any price against the Chute Boxe hopeful in protection of his World title.
Both fighters came out of their corners looking for an opening, with Silva picking some good shots forcing Imanari to take it to the ground. Imanari attempted to work different submissions from the guard, until eventually giving up position and giving Silva adequate space to maneuver several submissions of his own. Both were scrambling for control until forcing each other back to the stand up position. The crowd was really enthralled by the aggressive action, and applauded both fighters for their efforts. White Bear attempted to pass guard with a sweeping kick-like transition but ended giving up his leg to Imanari. Both fighters were rolling around the mat trying to apply leg locks of their own, but it was the ‘Master of Leg Locks’ who appropriately succeeded in tapping out his opponent with one minute and forty seconds of the first round left on the clock. White Bear was immobile on the mat for a number of minutes after the fight prior to returning somewhat to his feet. He was carried out by his team mates and stretchered to the back but whether he sustained any serious injuries is not clear at this point. There hasn’t been any hearsay of serious damage from his team, so we can only hope for the best. Featherweight champion Imanari will be back to defend his title belt later in the year.
With the biggest fight in Cage Rage history upon us, the main attraction of the evening was finally here. Robert ‘Buzz’ Berry was the first out to the cage, as expected, with a fine response from his London following. A similar reception could be heard for Ken Shamrock too, as made his way to the cage and entered the battleground. As Cage Rage MC Mark Aplin introduced both fighters to the fans, the crowd really did sound in favour of the former UFC super fight champion. It is without doubt that both fighters will be looking to improve on their own unsettled fight records regardless of how the crowd responds. Shamrock cannot afford to lose the fight if he is to begin his comeback campaign successfully and productively. It was not the most exciting encounter, with Ken Shamrock looking extremely sluggish and tentative throughout, but ‘Buzz’ did what was required and finished Shamrock with a straight right hand three and a half minutes into the first round. Shamrock failed to pick any shots whatsoever while ‘Buzz’ kept to his solid game plan and slowly exerted the fight to an early finish. The bout has really put Robert Berry at the top of the Heavyweights, so it would be sensible to suggest rematches with Tengiz Tedoradze or Rob Broughton, or else an encounter with London Shootfighers’ Mustapha al-Turk, who defeated Gary Turner earlier in the evening, very shortly to establish a credible heavyweight face for the promotion. There has been some discussion of a match with EliteXC’s Kimbo Slice in the near future, too. Ken Shamrock’s next encounter in Cage Rage is ambivalent; he will return to the United States for EliteXC and try to build on the first loss of his comeback. If he is successful then we could see ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’ back on British soil later this year.
With Cage Rage’s expansion into the American market, with its working agreement with ProElite Inc.’s EliteXC promotion, there should be many additional fighters coming over to Britain in the near future to fight the best that the United Kingdom has to offer. There is already talk of a match between heavyweights Robert ‘Buzz’ Berry and popular street fighter Kimbo Slice, and I’m sure more will develop in the prelude to Cage Rage’s next event on May 10th at the N.E.C in Birmingham. An interesting note is that British fighter and EliteXC/ShoXC tenderfoot Paul “Semtex” Daley is booked for the next show, even though he openly announced his own retirement from the sport for after his March 29th fight with EliteXC against an unnamed opponent. The whole community was deeply shocked by his sudden departure from the sport. Why would such a young and talented competitor throw it all away at such the right age? Until then, we eagerly anticipate Semtex’s response.
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UK | 13 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
“Since the company was acquired by entertainment magnate ProElite, the parent company of the EliteXC and ShoXC promotions, the overall production values of Cage Rage have improved a great deal”
Really?!
I’ve been to live Cage Rage events pre and post the buy out, and noticed very little difference, if any!
I do agree tho that it is definately increasing the audience…
Good report otherwise 🙂
From watching the show on Sky Sports 3 it appears that the promotion are now taking great notice in the post-production and telecasting credentials of the event. I have watched past Cage Rage broadcasting, be it on TWC/Fight Network or otherwise, and I feel there is a significant difference between before and after the buyout as far as television production is concerned. Thanks for your comments!
Not be rude, but was this written as a tryout for http://www.proelite.com? Did you intend it to be a puff piece?
I ask because it just does not fit with what is expected from fightopinion. Zach and company aren’t really known for sugar-coated positivity, but for true analysis of a situation – warts and all.
“I ask because it just does not fit with what is expected from fightopinion. Zach and company aren’t really known for sugar-coated positivity, but for true analysis of a situation – warts and all.”
Mostly warts. 😉
No, I covered and portrayed the event as I saw it in my own words. I do not know what you mean by ‘puff piece’ and I did not intend to sugar-coat anything. This is how I portrayed the event personally. I’m not into writing pessimistic articles that point out every fault I could find, but rather a contrast in views and personal ‘fight opinions’.
A puff piece (in this instance) means that you’re trying to make something sound really amazing, when it was just OK. I agree that this sounded like a puff piece as well and I don’t know if you call Cage Rage ultimate fighting in real life but that’s what they called it for a while, so this bit sounded like a promotional speech;
“the fans undeniably experienced a thrilling night of ultimate fighting action.”
Your piece is nicely written and easy to read, it just sounds a bit flowery and overly excited, that’s all.
My thoughts on this Cage Rage – I hope they stop concentrating on the heavyweight brawlers because to casual observers, MMA is just going to look like horrible, horrible boxing. Broughton vs Grove was absolutely cringeworthy but this seems to be Cage Rage’s MO in recent years, moving away from legitimate main events, to freak shows. I can’t remember when they last had a main event that actually meant something. Perhaps Vitor vs Zikic.
As a MASSIVE MMA fan, I would never go to a Cage Rage event, so long as they have freakshows as their main attraction. Bring back the days of signing up people like Chris Lytle as far as I am concerned! Legitimate lighter weight fighters and more than just one fight per event please!
I am not going to criticize the cage rage promotion for being second-tier. I mean, for gods sake, I am going to the Yamma event, and thats like 3rd or 4th tier, at best. But this piece does seem to overstate the relevance or quality of CR25. With a main event like that, lackluster both on paper and in reality, it really cant be that great.
I’m going to take some flak for this, but I think the Gary Goodridge-Butterbean fight is better than Shamrock-Berry.
There are three things that annoy me about Cage Rage.
1) Dave (of Dave and Andy – the promoters), who just acts like a complete idiot and should not be within 50 metres of any tv camera.
2) The post fight interviewer who clearly needs to get a haircut and be told how to dress. Waistcoat over a t-shirt – horrific! You are on national tv – try to look professional.
3) The ring announcer, who wears clothing that looks too big for him and needs to lose the earring. He also needs to stop calling the loser the runner up. In a fight between two people you have a winner and a loser, not a winner and a runner up…
If those three things were acted on as a starter Cage Rage would come across a million times better on tv, which can only be a good thing. I think it is a good organisation and would rather go to their events than those of the UFC, which seem to increase in price with every new visit to the UK.
The production is improved for Cage Rage. I used to HATE that top camera view looking down into the cage that they’d always use.
By the way, I love the ring announcer. He’s my favorite since the G-Man.
I didn’t really notice a dramatic change in Cage Rage’s production, but what I did notice I liked. New announce team featuring zero Quadros (Thank goodness for that). They really need to get rid of Quadros’ pre-match predictions which really add nothing to the event IMO. I also really liked the new canvas. The grey canvas is much easier on the eyes than the piss yellow one they had before.
I’m not having a dig, but having only read the introductory paragraph so far – I can definitely why the accusations of “puff piece” are being thrown around.
Adam, were you actually there?
And why no mention of the female fight?
The wordy and flowery style is annoying and yes, it’s way too eager about an event that was mediocre at best.