Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Shuriken proves a Shore thing with Rising Soldiers


November 12th saw Shuriken MMA return to the North Shore Events Center following their extremely popular ‘Armageddon’ in April and, on the surface, ‘Rising Soldiers’ looked to be a carbon copy.  Packed house?  Check.  High quality explosive bouts?  Check.  Brandon Ropati?  Check. Shuriken would, once again, prove this to be a winning formula as all in attendance were served up 13 mixed martial arts bouts encompassing Corporate, B Class, A Class and Professional bouts.
Arthur Lasike and Wesley Higgins declared war on each other in an early Fight of the Night candidate.  Lasike seems intent to brawl early as he wings heavy punches and walks through everything offered in return.  A huge hook shakes Higgins to his shoes near the end of the first round and he is lucky to survive the round.  He is able to return the favour in the second, dropping Lasike, but he is unable to capitalize.  The final stanza is tight as Higgins lands right hands while Lasike counter-punches effectively.  After seemingly leaving everything they have in the ring, the judges find this bout too close to call and ask these gladiators to squeeze out one more round.  When the dust settled, it was Lasike still standing tall, as he won the final round on the back of his takedowns and precision punching.

                                              (Video produced by Jacob Toms - Ten 8 Media/NZFighters)
Brad Ramsey sets the standard for the A Class bouts with his first round knockout of Keanu Roberts.  Barely giving his opponent time to think, Ramsey jumps Roberts early and the fight goes to the ground.  Ramsey unleashes heavy ground and pound and, due to accumulation of punches, the referee is forced to step in and save a tenderized Roberts from further punishment.
CrossFit proponent Logan Price was given a jiu-jitsu lesson by Yakob Brown in another A Class bout.  Price reels from a right hand early before he is taken down.  Brown softens up his foe with punches from the top before Price gives up his back and is submitted with a rear naked choke in the opening stanza.
Seemingly wanting to be part of the ‘first round crew’, Sam Gascoigne submitted Alex Redhead with a guillotine choke barely a couple of minutes into the contest.  Redhead shoots early on his adversary, and slams him to the mat, however Gascoigne manages to trap him in a guillotine.  No matter how hard he tries, Redhead can not free himself and is forced to tap out.
Professional Light Heavyweight Brandon Ropati continued to impress after steam rolling Australia’s Piki Te Ringa in under a minute.  Both fighters clinch early before Ropati picks up Te Ringa and almost drives him through the floor.  Te Ringa makes it back to all fours however Ropati connects with a couple bombs before a vicious uppercut relieves his opponent of his senses and drops him hard on his face.  The display further put the New Zealand Light Heavyweight on notice as “The Wrath” improved to 4-0.
Results
Kickboxing
Jazz Collins beat Makere Phillips by split decision
MMA B Class Bouts
Leyla Okay (Roundhouse) beat Leiarra Radonich (Gracie Barra) by unanimous decision
Yukon Kemp (Syndikit MMA) beat Daemen Sani (Auckland MMA) by split decision
Matt Yeoman (Ground Control) beat Mike Su (Shuriken) by submission (rear naked choke) in the first round
Charles Wardle (Tu kaha Gym) beat Max Toaka (Syndikit MMA) by majority decision
BJ Yeoman (Ground Control) beat Mathew Samson (Integrated Fighting) by split decision
Adam Stringer (Shuriken MMA/Gracie Barra) beat Samuel Kim (A.U.M.M.A) by split decision
The bout between Arthur Lasike (Shuriken) Wesley Higgins (Integrated Fighting) was original called a majority draw however Lasike would end up beating Higgins by split decision after a fourth round
MMA A Class Bouts
Brad Ramsey (Hybrid MMA) beat Keanu Roberts (Syndikit MMA) by KO (punches) in the first round
Yakob Brown (JR Macgyver/Crolin Gracie) beat Logan Price (Shuriken) by submission (rear naked choke) in the first round
Sam Gascoigne (Gracie Barra) beat Alex Redhead (Tu Kaha Gym) by submission (guillotine choke) in the first round
Pro Class International Bouts
Pumau Campbell (JR Macgyver/Crolin Gracie) was disqualified in his bout against Hana Janan (Australia) after delivering an illegal upkick in the first round
Brandon Ropati (Gracie Barra) beat Piki Te Ringa (Australia) by KO (punches) in the first round - 1mins 13secsNZFighters article found here

No comments:

Post a Comment