xfc 2 mixed martial arts event

The French Team arrived at Duporth holiday Village on Saturday evening after a long days travel from Paris and were welcomed warmly by the XFUK team, once the weigh in was over they made every effort to make us as comfortable as possible including the excellent Chalet accommodation that they provided for all of the fighters. Everyone ate and as the fighters went to bed the rest of us went to sample the dodgy Cornwall night life.

A couple of the guys from XFUK run the security in the very dodgy Gossip night club so that's where we were all headed. One mention of the XFC event and we were ushered in the door without having to pay the entry fee, and lucky we were. Once inside flashbacks from Dusk Till Dawn and old westerns where there's sawdust on the floor to soak up the alcohol and vomit set the scene for the rest of the night. Thankfully the bar served alcohol, we were surrounded by friends and if the local ladies weren't stunners they were at the very least amusing.

The day of the event came round and we were brought to the town to get breakfast, once we were finished and we had found the rest of the flock (I felt like a teacher or a scout master most of the time) we were brought back to the village and informed of plans for the rules meeting and medicals.

The medicals were the most thorough I have ever seen meaning that the rules meeting ran a little late but that's hardly something worth complaining about.

Formalities out of the way the fighters went off to rest and I got about letching on ring girls and barmaids while deciding on the best place to see the action from with access to the bar.

The event started only a few minutes late, which is possibly a first for a UK MMA event, and it started with a bang.

1.Dave Cambell Def Kim Phillips - Rear naked choke

These 2 guys came out swinging, they both landed some hard shots standing and both looked at times like they wanted it to go to the floor. The best way to describe the fight was a slobberknocker as both guys threw huge haymakers until it finally hit the ground and Campbell took over finishing with the rear naked. While this wasn't a top tier fight and these 2 were a way off the A list of UK fighters they both showed a lot of guts and this may have been the best possible fight to start off the night.

2.Matt Thorpe Def Che Mills - Armbar

Matt and his crew had a lot of pressure on for this fight, Matt was hoping to beat former record of a 23 second win and was quite determined to do it.

For a man in a hurry he came out a little slowly but soon showed us that he wasn't messing around as the fight went to the floor. Once there Matt worked his magic and slid a nice armbar onto Che to get the tap at 42 seconds. Matt gets a great win but the former record stays intact.

3.Ray Burns Def Philip Scolard - Rear naked choke

4.Barry Quail Def Obioma Selassie - Guillotine

Barry Quai is a very solid looking fighter, his physique immediately told you he was a wrestler and a powerful one at that. Obi for his part is no small fry and he was described to me as 'very punchy'. How surprised was I then to see the Punchy guy take down the wrestler numerous times and the wrestler rock his punchy opponent just as often.

The Match was hard fought, each man gave their all for the duration with the upper hand changing numerous times until mid way through the second when Barry managed to secure a Guillotine to get the win.

5.Alex Cook Def Andy Evans - Rear naked choke

6.Leon Howell Def John 'Paperboy' Waite - Armbar

John Waite always comes to fight, he has taken on a number of opponents who you could argue are out of league but whatever criticisms you might have of him you can't criticise his heart or his ability to entertain. This fight was no different. John and Leon did it all, they trade strikes, they both landed takedowns and they both showed a good submission game. This night Leon proved to be the better fighter and came away with the armbar win.

7.Martin Kampman Def Dave Jones - K.O. via Strike

In the first international fight of the night 2 fighters of totally different styles went at it. Kampmann came out in his Thai shorts looking every bit the striker that he proved to be. Dave on the other hand came out looking to grapple. As soon as the bell rang Dave shot and clinched looking to take the fight into his zone, Martin though showed good takedown defence and landed hard strikes the whole time he was fighting the takedown. The short fight was fast paced and continued like this until Martin landed a huge knee getting the KO about 30 seconds into Round 1

8.JamesTaylor V Cyril Rousseau - Draw

The International fights continued with 5 french fighters in a row stepping in and showing what they're worth. Cyril Rousseau came out wearing wrestling boots so he wasn't allowed kick to the head he looked a few inches shorter than his opponent but is built like a bull and immediately took advantage of this power with a big double Leg takedown.

Over the 3 rounds of the fight Cyril punished James leg with lowkicks to a point where it looked visibly painful and if he had continued like this he might have gotten the stop. When they boxed both fighters were pretty evenly matched with each landing good shots and defending well during their exchanges. On the ground Cyril had opportunities to finish with a Guillotine from guard and later from mount but failed to close the guard or stretch out his opponent to get the tap.

James for his part on the ground showed some excellent guard passing and ground skills walking through Cyril's guard on more than one occasion and dominating much of the positional game.

As the final round drew to a close, James shot for the takedown and Cyril Sprawled well, for the next few minutes Cyril punished James kidneys with punches from this position while James continued to try for the takedown. With little left in the Round James managed to finish the takedown only to get reversed again shortly afterwards as the match drew to a close.

A close fought that, if there had been judges, could have gone either way but I probably would have given it to the French man.

9.Abdul Mohamed V Fred Dutriat - Draw

Abdul is probably the best wrestler competing in the UK at the moment, Fred is an experienced MMA fighter from a Thai background with a recent submission win over Paul Jenkins. This fight went much as expected with Fred trying to Tee off on Abdul before getting taken down and held on his back. Abdul made some good attempts to improve his postion while Fred continually looked for submissions but their styles seemed to neutralise each other.

While not the most exciting match in the world it was by no means boring as both men continually worked to finish or improve position.

By the end of 3 rounds nothing was decided so the match ended in a draw.

10.Jean- Francois Lenogue Def Suley 'Baad' Mahmoud - Ref stoppage (G&P)

When Franck Conejero pulled out with dislocated ribs less than 2 weeks before the fight Jean Francois Lenogue stepped in to replace him. With a recent loss to Mark Weir, Jean Francois wanted to redeem himself while Suley wanted to continue to climb the ranks in UK MMA.

As against Weir, Lenogue flew out of his corner like a greyhound and started striking hard, Suley clinched looking for the take down but Jean Francois managed to Thwart his attempts and open up a cut over his right eye. The ref stopped to match to check the cut and while the doctor said he was OK to continue the cut would prove to be fatal for Suley.

At the restart Suley managed to get the takedown and landed in the French Mans guard. From here he started to try and work his Ground N Pound but Jean Francois moved well off his back and managed to avoid most of the strikes that Suley threw over the next few minutes. The round ended with Suley in Jean Francois guard.

The second round was completely different, this time Jean Francois got the takedown with a trip and passed almost immediately to mount, from here he unleashed his own Ground N Pound. Suley covered up well but the onslaught proved to be too much and the ref stopped the match.

11.Xavier Foupapokam Def Matt Ewin - Ref stoppage (Knee)

The first of the title fight was up next as Xavier Foupa-Pokam from Cyrille Diabatés Snake team took on one of the UK's Top Middleweights in Matt Ewin.

The fight started fast with both fighters trading strikes before Matt decided he wanted it on the floor, Xavier had other ideas and continued to throw strikes while trying to disengage from Matt. Matt clinched and shot a number of times determined to take the fight to the Ground until as he shot for a double Xavier landed a knee opening up a cut on the left side of Matts head.

The ref checked the cut and called in the doctor to take a look who decide that it was time to stop the fight.

Xavier becomes the XFC European Middleweight Champion and walks away with a Katana for his trouble

12.Kassim Annan Def Mustapha Al-Turk - Arm bar

When both their opponents pulled out these two fighters decided to take a risk. Mustapha took on a much more experienced fighter in Kassim who gave up almost 20Kg to his English opponent.

Kassim shot immediately for the takedown and with little struggle he got it. One on the floor he methodically passed Mustaphas guard, took side control then mounted his opponent. Once Mounted he continued to improve his position, with the aid of his strikes until he had isolated an arm then fell back for an armbar to get the tap.

13.Gerald Strebendt Def Pat 'Motor' Carr - Rear Naked

The first of 2 main events was up next involving the first of 2 UFC fighters to appear on this show. On paper this was an easy match for Gerald, Pat has a good record but until this fight he seemed to have choked when he steps up in competition against Kim Hovgaard and Peter Tiarks. This was completely based on his record as before this match I had never seen him fight. Gerald on the other hand has a string of victories in submission grappling, BJJ and MMA and recently made his UFC debut.

Paper was wrong!

While Gerald dominated from start to finish both standing and on the ground it was by no means easy. Every submission attempt Gerald threw at Pat, Pat found a way out of. No matter how many shots he threw, Pat kept on coming by the end of the third round Gerald must have been becoming disheartened and wondering if this man ever tapped.

At the rules meeting the fighters involved in the championship matches had been told that if there was no winner at the end of the third round a fourth would be added, the promoters didn't want their championships going to decisions. The end of the third round came and Gerald walked to the ropes and said something to the judges before going to his corner.

The third round went like the rest of the match, Pat showed incredible toughness and defensive technique and Gerald continued to put on a clinic. As the round drew to a close, Geralds moment finally came with only 11 seconds left in the final round Pat tapped to a rear naked choke.

14.Gregory Bouchelaghem Def Mark Weir - Rear naked choke

In a show of unity the final member of the French team came to the ring accompanied by all of the previous French fighters plus team Coach Cyrille Diabaté. As he stood in his corner waiting for the contest start Gregory paced back and forth like a caged animal.

As the fight started Greg was hardly out of his corner when Mark was across the ring and took him immediately to the ground. This would prove to be a mistake against the DeLa Riva purple belt and winner of the BIG grappling championships. Gregory took Mark into his half guard and tried to tie him up as he worked the sweep. As Mark Defended against the sweep Greg managed to take his back beside the ropes. As Greg worked in his choke the 2 fighters found themselves too close to the ropes and the referee restarted them in the middle.

Before the ref's intervention the French man had both hooks in and was working the choke, once they restarted it took him only a few seconds to finish it and become the XFC Super fight champion in under 2 minutes.

I'd like to say a huge thanks to all of the guys at XFC for their hospitality, they really go out of their way to look after the fighters. I'd also like to say sorry for the lack of photos but every single one I took came out blurred, I think I need a better camera!

DROC