BAMMA 6 takes place this Saturday and it promises to be one of the biggest cards ever held in the UK and that includes the UFC events. With names like Rua, Watson, Ewin, Santos, Salaverry and Trigg amongst the cast assembled to do battle at the Wembley Arena BAMMA 6 promises to be an epic night of fights and one that the whole world will be interested in.
The main event features the ever popular Tom “Kong” Watson defending his BAMMA middleweight title against a certain Murilo “Ninja” Rua. Watson is a rising star in the MMA world, training in New Mexico with Greg Jackson his name is often mentioned in connection with the UFC these days and his toughness and gritty determination have helped him succeed from positions where he looked to be heading out. He won his title from Matt Horwich back at BAMMA 3 and was very nearly choked out early on in the fight but fought back to secure a unanimous decision victory. Since then he has defended once against Alex Reid in a fight that he was expected to win easily, Reid had lost his previous 6 fights and hadn't been inside a cage in years. The fact Reid was involved brought MMA further into the mainstream in the UK than ever before due to his celebrity profile and given that platform the bout itself really stepped up to the mark. Surprisingly Reid brought the fight to Kong and worried him early on. Eventually Watson wore down the Reidernator and secured a decision to retain his belt.
There were issues between BAMMA and Watson over payments for that fight and at one point the champion took to twitter and his own website to announce he was relinquishing his title in protest. Thankfully the issues were resolved swiftly and Kong remained with BAMMA.
He now faces arguably his toughest test yet in “Ninja”. The man from Brazil is a legend in the sport, originally coming from the infamous Chute Boxe camp, he and his brother Shogun have a trophy cabinet full of title belts from the major organisations, Ninja having landed the Elite XC middleweight championship to add to his brothers UFC and Pride belts. Ninja is another tough character who isn't afraid to mix it with some of the biggest names and indeed people in the sport. At one point the natural middleweight entered the Pride Heavy Weight GP where he met the massive Sergei Kharitonov. Whilst Ninja lost that bout in brutal fashion he rebounded and won against Quinton Rampage Jackson in his very next fight. Officially he lost the fight and Rampage won a spilt decision but everyone watching and indeed Rampage himself felt Ninja had gotten the better of the larger Jackson. Riding a 4 fight win streak until a recent loss to an opponent that missed weight by 5.5lbs Ninja comes into this title match focused and determined to add another belt to the strap laden Rua trophy cabinet back at the gym he runs with his brother in Brazil.Frank Trigg is a name that needs little introduction, a wrestler that has been around the top of the welterweight division for years he had been looking towards retirement and focusing on his announcing career but BAMMA have tempted him back into the cage. He faces a dangerous task in facing John Phillips, the well travelled Welshman. Riding a 5 fight win streak Phillips will be looking to stop the veteran Trigg and bring himself firmly into the title picture. Only 25, Phillips has a bright future ahead of him now that he's put mistakes such as testing positive for a banned substance earlier in his career firmly behind him. First he has to beat Trigg though and that's no easy task as Roy Neeman found out when Trig recently TKO'd him.
The next fight on the card could well end up being the fight of the night. Matt Ewin wants a title shot at Watson but he's going to have to go through a living legend to get there. He faces Ivan Salaverry who stepped in as a late replacement for the New York Bad Ass Phil Baroni who withdrew late on with a hand injury. Ewin and the NYBA had been trading insults in the lead up to the fight and it was disappointing to see the fight cancelled.Ewin on Baroni: http://www.fullmount.co.uk/index.php/mma-news/1-latest-news/1003-bamma-6-matt-ewin-wants-alex-reid-after-he-beats-baroni
Baroni on Ewin: http://www.fullmount.co.uk/index.php/mma-news/1-latest-news/1000-bamma-6-the-nyba-phil-baroni-interview-
Despite that call off Ewin remains on the card and as mentioned faces Ivan Salaverry who is another fighter that had been pretty much retired. Away from the cage for 2 years the lure of combat pulled him back. We caught up with Ivan and found him to be very eloquent, gracious and very interested in a shot at Watson's middleweight belt should he dispose of Ewin. Whilst he was polite about his understanding of Matt's prowess, the underlying feel to the interview was that despite the late call up this is no quick “pay day and done” shot for Salaverry, he means business in this fight and the BAMMA middleweight division.
Ivan speaks to us: http://www.fullmount.co.uk/index.php/mma-news/1-latest-news/1017-bamma-6-ivan-salaverry-exclusive-interview
Matt delivered the quote of the BAMMA 6 build up when we caught up with him again to discuss the replacement of Baroni with Ivan. “I can't wait to Salaverry the Salaverry” he said. Referring to the crucifix top control position Salaverry has named after him. Whilst Matt expects a very different fight with Salaverry compared to Baroni (he doesn't expect Ivan to gas after one round) he is still confident in his ability to win and put himself into pole position for a shot at Watson's belt. It is worth noting that Ewin had been jailed previously, something he spoke about in our interview and something he regrets and because of it he lost 3 years from his career. He is a man in a hurry and with redemption possibly being a factor in his eyes the fight promises to be stand out on a card that promises a lot of great action.
Matt on Ivan: http://www.fullmount.co.uk/index.php/mma-news/1-latest-news/1015-bamma-6-matt-ewin-qi-cant-wait-to-salaverry-the-salaverry-q
We also have Jason Ball Vs Leonardo Santos to look forward to on the night and whilst Jason is a huge name in UK MMA, Leo Santos it's fair to say, isn't. He has fought lot in Japan with Sengoku and having racked up some impressive wins he comes into BAMMA 6 determined to work his way to the top of the lightweight division. A four time world BJJ champion, Santos will be looking to get Ball down and submit him, although he said he's ready for the fight to stay standing if needs be when we spoke with the Brazilian grappling wizard;Jason countered by stating that Santos should be more scared of the fight staying standing than he will be if it goes to the floor. It's something that Ball could well prove correct, while Jason submitting Santos would be incredible, Jason surviving on the floor but battering the BJJ star in the stand up is something that could very likely happen. Whatever the outcome, the fight promises to be an exciting mix of styles and one that could go either way on the night and with the added spice of the fight being a title eliminator the fight promises to have it all.
Jason Ball talks: http://www.fullmount.co.uk/index.php/mma-news/1-latest-news/1004-bamma-6-jason-ball-talks-leonardo-santos-and-a-prospective-bamma-title-shot
Aaron Wilkinson is already a huge MMA star, having returned to the UK after a stint on The Ultimate Fighter, he is hungry to work his way back onto the UFC roster. Wilkinson intends to do so by keeping the momentum he gained by beating Arunas Klimavicius at OMMAC 9 and adding Shane Omer to his list of victims. Omer replaced his injured team mate Lee Wieczorek but is no bench warmer, sporting a 6-0 record with 3 submissions and 3 TKO's he is a tough test for the Daywalker and keen to propel himself up the ladder in BAMMA and MMA in general. We spoke to Aaron to see how he felt about the fight, his time on TUF and whether or not Josh Koscheck is an ass or not;
All in all this writer can't wait for BAMMA 6. It promises to be a huge event for UK MMA and will further ingrain MMA into the British sporting fabric. BAMMA do a great job of taking MMA and packaging it as a sporting contest and their production improves with each event. With the main card fights being broadcast on SyFy, a prelim on facebook and the other fights available online its promises to be an exciting night for fight fans whether you're at home or at the Wembley Arena on Saturday night!
Also, for those of you at home on fight night BAMMA have recently acquired one of the pieces of the jigsaw that marks a really top class organisation, that's right, Michael “The Voice” Schiavello will be calling the fights for BAMMA 6 which really is the icing on the cake of a great night of fights!
Full Broadcast details here: http://www.fullmount.co.uk/index.php/mma-news/1-latest-news/1161-bamma-6-full-broadcast-details
BAMMA 6: Live at Wembley Arena, Saturday 21st May.
Buy tickets from:Ticketmaster.co.uk
UK FANS: Watch Live Exclusively only on Syfy at 9pm Sky/HD 114, Virgin TV 135 and TalkTalk 22
INTERNATIONAL FANS: Watch on http://bammatv.com/
Interviews and press releases supplied by HALO PR MMA
Buy tickets from:Ticketmaster.co.uk
UK FANS: Watch Live Exclusively only on Syfy at 9pm Sky/HD 114, Virgin TV 135 and TalkTalk 22
INTERNATIONAL FANS: Watch on http://bammatv.com/
Interviews and press releases supplied by HALO PR MMA
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