Blitz @ The Ritz

Polat has been training in Muay Thai since a young age and came into the fight with the reputation of somebody you don’t want to stand with. Mamedovas was a late stand-in and an unknown quantity but he quickly learned for himself that Polat has an extensive set of tools on the feet.

But he also knows how to work on the floor and so after laying into Mamedovas for a minute, he took him down and began working ground and pound. Mamedovas gave up his back rather than face this assault but it did him no good, Polat kept raining blows down. The referee jumped in and stopped the fight; Polat earned the UCC Featherweight crown in style.

The only semi-pro contest on the card was between Sean Teasdale and Sam Bolt. The latter emerged victorious from this after implementing a triangle, and forcing Teasdale to tap after 3:34 of round one.

There was also disappointment for Hyde MMA’s Danny Boomer who, despite giving his all, was stopped in the second round by Lloyd Harrop. The winner, a member of Manchester Ground and Pound, came through sticky moments in the first, only for him to prevail after 4:06 of the second with a wide range of striking which made the referee step in.

Craig Chesters didn’t waste any time in beating Neil Harwood on the show, as just 1:27 in, the referee stopped the contest due to ‘Tyson’ relentlessly dishing out ground and pound from back mount.

Popular Wolfslair man Alex Minogue made his pro debut on this show against Arturas Ziukas, but he by no means had it all his own way. Minogue utilised good control of the top position and maintained a good posture throughout the bout, en route to an arm bar victory 4:23 into round three.

In another B-Class Pro outing, Karl Byrne reigned supreme after aggressively decomposing Scott Pickles, and ground and pounding his way to an undebatable stoppage..

You have got to feel for Tony Moran. He spent 14 minutes and 56 seconds knocking seven bells out of Shaun Lomas only to fall victim to a guillotine with four seconds to go. Adding insult to injury, this was a revenge match as Lomas had earned a controversial decision win over Moran months earlier in a fight at Liverpool show OMMAC.

With the UCC light-heavyweight title on the line there was an added incentive at play and Moran went for it. A former professional boxer, Moran’s stand-up style encompasses far more than just his hands and is a big surprise to anyone who is watching him for the first time. He throws axe kicks, spinning kicks, kicks that haven’t been named yet - the range is wide and versatile, confusing opponents who are looking out for a boxer.

As for Lomas, he has a long and distinguished Muay Thai pedigree and is as tough as they come. You could spend twenty minutes beating him with a shovel and the only thing you would get out of it is a trip to B&Q to replace your broken spade. Lomas will not lie down for anyone and he had no intention of allowing Moran easy vengeance

And so to the fight. Moran hit Lomas with the full index of a martial arts textbook. Punches, kicks, trips, knees, elbows and an armbar attempt - and that was in the first round. Lomas knew Moran was putting it on him from the opening second but it took him until the second round to get his distance and rhythm down.

Digging deep, Lomas opened the dirty tricks book in the second frame and had Moran backed against the cage while he foot stomped him with downward heel strikes. This is a particularly nasty strike that looks to break the small bones of the foot, making movement and balance difficult. While legal under MMA rules, it is one of those techniques that many do not use and once it is employed it is a statement of intent: I am here to hurt you.

Nonetheless Moran got himself off the cage and eventually was able to let enough go that he could feel confident of having the round in the bag. Lomas was looking tired from the clinching but was firing overhand rights by the dozen and clearly looking to take Moran’s head off with one of them if he could.

The third round was an all-out war as both guys fought for a win, a title and their pride. Neither took a backwards step and the only break came when Moran had Lomas downed towards the end of the round. Moving in for the kill he left his neck exposed and snap! Just like that, Lomas locked up a guillotine and forced the tap, earning the UCC belt and second win over Moran.

Ali Arish remained unbeaten after coming through a hard fight with Marius Buzinskas unscathed, unlike his unlucky foe. Arish’s wrestling was the key factor throughout the bout, as he could dictate where the fight went. Buzinskas was up for the challenge, as were all the Antonio’s Gym fighters on the card, but he ultimately succumbed to the class of Moss Side Ground and Pound’s Arish, who finished the contest after 2:16 of the second with a heel-hook which forced Buzinskas to remain in agony after the bout had finished.

Toczydlowski was a late stand-in but is no joke, coming from the same stable that produced WEC fighter and former Cage Rage champion Brad Pickett. This looked set to be a very tough fight for Wolfslair man Wilkinson, but in the event it was not so.

Both came out of their corners in fifth gear and decided to abandon the feeling-out process in favour of getting stuck in. Toczydlowski barrelled forward and Wilkinson back-stepped as he threw a right hand. It landed clean and Toczydlowski dropped but in the blink of an eye he converted his downward momentim into a takedown effort.

But Wilkinson was switched on and he locked in a deep guillotine as he fell back with Toczydlowski’s momentum. The fight was over in just 29 seconds but that is no reflection on Toczydlowski, it was simply one of those fights. Seasoned MMA watchers were very impressed with Wilkinson and you will be seeing a lot more of him on your TV screens later this year…

Kahoon came into the fight with a reputation as on to watch and his performance in this fight suggests that he has indeed got something about him. The Hyde MMA fighter faced IFC Stockport’s Ben Eastwood in a fight for the inaugural UCC Welterweight Title.

Eastwood brought the early pressure as he drove forward and initiated a clinch. Kahoon had his back to the cage but stayed calm and when the moment was right he swept Eastwood to the floor and immediately went to side control. Keeping Eastwood in place, Kahoon slipped into mount, postured up and unloaded a barrage of punches. The referee dived in at 1:13 of the first round and Kahoon became the first-ever UCC welterweight title holder.

He said afterwards, “I’m on top of the world. I’m absolutely buzzing. I didn’t think he would come out that aggressively, because I thought we’d be standing up a bit and I’d have to chase him and maybe hunt him down, but he came at me and managed to control me a little bit. So I got a leg trip, took him down and worked the ground and pound from there. I’m so happy now though, and I’ll defend my title as soon as, and against anybody!”

This was a grudge match not to be missed. These two are the middleweight stars of their gyms (Hyde MMA and Samurai Jiu Jitsu respectively). There is no love lost between the two gyms and both lay claim to being the top team in the Hyde area, so there was everything to play for in this one - including the UCC middleweight title.

And what a battle it was. Doing justice to the hype and the stakes at play, the fight swung back and forth as the advantage changed hands several times. Johnson was having the better of the standing early on but Evans was scoring takedowns and working effectively from top position. Evans had top position for most of the second round and Johnson really had to grit his teeth and survive, with the referee taking a close look.

No quarter was asked or given and there was no chance either was going to quit or give up an easy win as they went into the third round neck-and-neck. This round epitomised the rest of the fight, Johnson pushing the pace on the feet and Evans landing the occasional single power shot. Right at the end Johnson had a takedown effort stuffed and Evans was able to get top position. The judges scored the fight his way and he took the middleweight title. A rematch in the future would be of great interest to any fight fan.

The tear-up between Kieran Mullin and Andrius Juska, which represented another Moss Side vs. Antonio’s Gym contest, was a hellacious battle. Juska started the fight by throwing huge bombs, and these continued in earnest after Mullin ended up on his back. Somehow though, Mullin, who looked to be all but out of the fight after some devastating ground and pound, managed to get up, secure the takedown, work his way into side control and get the ‘W’ after 3:31 of the first.