Leeds Town Hall hosted a night of mixed martial arts action back in early April, a night in which none of the 17 bouts required the aid of the judges. Almighty Fighting Championships’ choice to host the event in the Town Hall was a great move by the promoters; it was the first time that the majority of the crowd will have seen the thrills of mixed martial arts in such a grand and intricate setting. Classical architecture and two opponents testing their combat skills in a cage is quite the contrast.
Amongst the fighters on the card was Blackpool native, and Cage Warriors and BAMMA veteran, Leeroy Barnes. Barnes looked to be in great condition going into this fight and seemed as confident as ever as he made his walk to the cage. The same could not be said for his opponent, Brad Carter. When the bell rung, Carter was obviously wary of Barnes’ power in his hands and immediately shot for a single leg takedown, which was stuffed by Barnes who then transitioned into full mount. The strikes rained down from Barnes and his opponent looked to scramble out of the mount, but gave up his back in the process. The strikes from Barnes only stopped when he decided to go for the rear naked choke. Carter bravely endured the heavy blows, but the choke was locked in before he could try to defend it. Carter tapped out and Barnes and his team in the crowd were elated.
In the (unofficial) fans’ fight of the night, Aiden Lee faced off with Krzysztof Adamczyk in a featherweight clash that had the crowd on their feet for both of the two rounds. Round one saw some vicious knees thrown by Lee which connected with the jaw of his opponent, sending him to the canvas. A dazed Adamczyk continued to move forward though, and was willed on by a large section of the fans. More knees landed on Adamczyk as he landed some shots of his own, but a knee connected as he shot for a takedown and blood began to stream down his face. A further frantic takedown is stuffed by Lee who lands some brutal shots to close out the round. Round two began and a bloodied Adamczyk comes out throwing wild haymakers, with one of them seeming to connect. Trying to capitalise, Adamczyk got his first takedown of the fight, but Lee was back up to his feet just as fast as he had hit the canvas and landed a takedown of his own for good measure. Adamczyk does his best to get up using the wall of the cage, but he is forced to turtle up against the cage as Lee throws strike after strike. After landing more unanswered strikes, the referee stepped in. The crowd showed their appreciation for both fighters with continuous applause. Lee had just gained a hard fought win, but both men walked away from the cage with many a new fan in tow.
The main event of the evening took place in the flyweight division, with Cage Warriors veteran, Paul Marin going toe-to-toe with Sam Halliday. As soon as the bout began, both fighters moved forward and exchanged blows. After coming worst off in the exchanges, Marin took his opponent down. Halliday tried to use the cage to get to his feet, but was met with the left and right hand of Marin who kept him on the canvas. Halliday managed to endure the barrage of strikes and get to his feet and, again, began to get the better of the striking exchanges. The veteran, Marin, wisely tripped his opponent and attempted to throw ground and pound from guard. His opponent had other ideas and quickly locked on a triangle choke. However, Marin remained composed and picked his opponent up off of the canvas and slammed him back down to earth, not once, but twice! A dazed Halliday was helpless as Marin transitioned into full mount and could do nothing about the series of elbows that landed. The referee stepped in; the fight, and Almighty Fighting Championships’ first event, was over. Halliday was definitely causing his opponent problems, but the experienced Marin overcame them with the only double power slam that I have ever heard of in mixed martial arts. It really was a spectacular sight! Any professional wrestling fan would agree: they were two textbook power bombs.
With big knockout wins for amateurs Michael Mason and Khalid Patel, and slick submission victories for Ben Moss and Adam Butterworth on the undercard, the fans in attendance were treated to some excellent technique and skill. For a debut event, the promoters couldn’t have asked for anything more from the fighters who stepped up and made the walk to the cage. The night was one to remember and as we approach AFC’s second event, I hope another night of excitement is in store.
Tickets are still available for Almighty FC 2 on July 23 at the O2 Academy in Leeds, click HERE.
Almighty Fighting Championships Results:
Paul Marin def. Sam Halliday via KO/TKO at 2:29 of round one
Aiden Lee def. Krzysiek Adamczyk via KO/TKO at 2:54 of round two
Leeroy Barnes def. Brad Carter via submission at 1:30 of round one
Daniel Cassell def. Dave Spowart via KO/TKO at 1:32 of round one
Tom O’Brien def. Will Cairns via KO/TKO in round one
Warren Mason def. Kyle Jones via submission at 2:01 of round one
D. Stringer def. Luke Dalton via KO/TKO at 0:26 of round one
Sebastian Sroka def. James Dowdle via KO/TKO in round two
Khalid Patel def. Nathan Allen via KO/TKO at 0:08 of round one
Jack Temple def. Reece Street via submission in round one
Marcin Bednarz def. Steve Walker – KO/TKO, in round one
Marcus Grubic def. Ashley Gibson via KO/TKO at 1:06 of round one
Ben Moss def. Corey Collins Lose via submission in round one
Chris Green def. Luke Sutherland via submission in round three
Adam Butterworth def. J. Sharp-Bergersen via submission at 2:57 of round three
Michael Mason def. Richard Waite via KO/TKO in round three
Fredrik Sjölie def. Ray Skellern via submission in round three
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