Brits Abroad: September

Brits Abroad returns after an uneventful August, with eight fighters from all around the Isles fighting in foreign territories this past September.

Half of September’s vagabonds competed under the Extreme Fighting Championship banner, at EFC 53, which took place from the Carnival City Casino in Johannesburg, South Africa. The event was billed as ‘RSA vs UK’ and was headlined by an EFC Middleweight title fight between UTC head honcho Yannick Bahati (6-2) and former EFC Welterweight Champion, Michiel Opperman (12-10). Oppermnn stepped up on short notice after Bahati’s original opponent David Buiriski withdrew due to a knee injury.

In a fairly shocking upset, Opperman toppled Bahati with strikes in just twelve seconds. Despite the loss, Bahati will soon have a chance to make amends, as he is rescheduled to take on Buirski at EFC 56 in December, for the EFC Welterweight belt.

In the evening’s co-feature, Welshman Azi Thomas (6-3) fell to Boksburg’s Boyd Allen (14-3-1) in a back and forth scrap. Thomas had his moments during the fight, including putting Boyd on his arse with a three-punch combo in the second round, however Allen was able to rally in the final stanza, overwhelming Thomas with strikes for the TKO stoppage.

Edinburgh’s Daniel Henry (9-2) had a relatively easy night in his sixth EFC appearance, as he dispatched of Wade Groth (5-4) with punches 37 seconds into the second frame. With the win, Henry boosts his promotional record to 5-1, with four victories coming via stoppage.

#10 ranked UK heavyweight Tony Mustard (6-1) was also on the card, making his promotional debut. The Sunderland native fell for the first time in his career, succumbing to strikes from Andrew Van Zyl (13-3) 67 seconds into the very first round. All seven of Mustard’s professional fights have ended via first round TKO.

Joanne Calderwood (11-2) was also in action in September, as she faced the female incarnation of John Lineker, Jessica Andrade (15-5). The strawweight bout opened up the UFC 203 pay-per-view, with both women looking to build off of their ultra-impressive TKO wins over Valerie Letourneau and Jessica Penne.

Unfortunately for Calderwood, it would be Andrade who would walk away with the win. Andrade was able to ground Calderwood with ostensible ease and spent the majority of the fight controlling from top position. With 30 seconds left on the clock in the first round, Andrade latched onto a deep guillotine choke as Calderwood looked to return to her feet. Despite fighting the choke valiantly, Calderwood was forced to submit.

Meanwhile over in Thailand, #10 ranked UK light-heavyweight and Phoenix fighter, Jamie Sloane (6-3) fought and lost to Masoud Ranjbar (3-0) allegedly under very questionable circumstances. Sloane’s camp have since claimed that an illegal head-butt was the catalyst in the second round TKO stoppage, as well as slamming the promoter’s post-fight treatment of Sloane and some of the other competitors on the card. The bout was part of the Full Metal Dojo 11 event, held at the Insanity Night Club in Bangkok.

A day later, over in the land of the Rising Sun, school teacher Ben Buchan (6-7) competed under the Pancrase banner once again, this time in the Pancrase 4-man 70kg tournament finals. Unfortunately for the 33-year old Brit, he would come up short of winning all the marbles, falling via unanimous decision to journeyman Yutaka Kobayashi (7-19-4).

FROM HULL TO TOKYO – BEN BUCHAN’S FORAY INTO MMA

UK MMA regular and #10 ranked UK welterweight, Matt Inman (18-8) was also in action in September, cracking skulls in the MMA Galla from Odense, Denmark. Inman was paired with David Rosmon (10-8), whom he defeated with a combination of punches and elbows in the third and final round.

Last but certainly not least was Luke Barnatt’s protege Jay Cucciniello (6-0), who earned the biggest win of his career to date with a first round stoppage of Victor Marinho (10-4). The fight took place at the AFL: Road to Pancrase event, in Barcelona, Spain.