One day after Tanko FC 2, The Sprawl broke the news that the show would be back on February 11th for Tanko FC 3. Now, the first bouts for the show have been announced, as James Duckett takes on Daniel Cassell in a welterweight scrap, and Dave Graham faces Adam Wright in a light heavyweight fight.
The fights were announced via the Tanko FC Facebook page.
Dave Graham (3-1) has amassed three finishes in his three victories as a pro, going 1-0 in his first bout with a submission, before dropping his first loss which was an armbar to Tommy Cook at OMMAC 16. Rebounding from the loss, Graham stopped Arunas Klimavicius with strikes before doing the same to Jamie Stephenson. Graham’s last bout took place in 2013, though he was due to compete at ICE FC 18 in October of 2016, but the bout was canceled.
Wright (1-2) picked up the first win of his combined amateur and professional MMA career last time out, stopping Vahid Hoseinpoor in under one minute. Prior to that, the Englishman had gone 0-3 as an amateur and 0-2 as a professional. Don’t let his record fool you though, as he has faced some of the stiffest, and well known competition available, with some of his losses coming at the hands of Dan Konecke, Jenaid Ebanks and now UFC fighter Paul Craig.
James Duckett (2-1) is riding a two fight win streak following a loss in his pro debut, but before making the switch to professional, he went 7-4 as an amateur. His first professional bout was at ICE FC 11, where he was stopped by Ole Magnor in the first round. Duckett didn’t let the loss effect him, though, as he rebounded at Tanko FC 1 with an impressive decision victory over Danny Nash. Following the win, Duckett added another one to his record, stopping Ant Davies with a brutal head kick in the second round of their bout at UK Fighting Championships 2.
Cassell (2-1) who is maybe better known as “pork chop” is also riding a two fight win streak after dropping his first professional bout, and is also a very experienced amateur, going 4-3. Cassell’s first bout was also a loss, and was also a submission, but his being in the third round against Dan Good at Golden Ticket Fight Promotions. Cassell rebounded from the loss with a first round TKO victory over Dave Spowart at Almighty Fighting Championship 1. Following a canceled bout against Matthew Miller, “Pork Chop” met Dave Sutcliffe at Almighty Fighting Championship 2, and won the bout by decision.
So, two fighters, both 2-1, both lost their debut, and both have one stoppage win and one decision win… And, one of them is called “Pork Chop”, what more could you hope for?
Tanko Fighting Championship 3 takes place live from the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester on February 11, 2017 following the massive success of their first two shows.
