THE TWO SHEDS REVIEW by Julian Radbourne
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Last week Cage Rage made another appearance on our television screens on Sky Sports, with another highlights package from their recent Cage Rage 17 show, with the main attraction being the return of Britain’s own Ian “The Machine†Freeman. Our hosts for the evening were Andy Geer and David O’Donnell, two likely lads with shaven heads, who told us how great it was to be at Wembley Arena.
We begin with Darren Geisha taking on Dean Bray. A quick one to begin the show. Geisha went for the early take down, but Bray was able to get out, and soon synched in the rear naked choke for the tap out victory.
Heavyweight action follows as Gilbert Yvel faces Fabiana Scherner. Another quick one here, with Scherner going for a few submissions early on, with the referee stepping in to stop the action as Yvel hammered away on his opponent.
The third bout sees Jean Silva against Abdul Mohamed. It’s a highlight package for this one, with Silva dominating the majority of the first round before Mohamed came back strongly. The second round looked to be pretty even, with both guys putting in a good showing, and it was the same in the final round, with the action going back and forth, and the judges giving the win to Mohamed with a majority decision.
Next up, middleweight action, with Curtis Stout against Zelg Galesic. Another quick match. Stout took Galesic down early, looking as if he was going for the ground and pound, but Galesic soon moved things around, applying an armbar, with Stout tapping a few seconds later.
Back to the heavyweights, as Henry Sentoryu Miller facing Robert Berry. It starts off as a slugfest, and continues in that way until the referee stopped the fight with Miller failing to reply to a barrage of shots from Berry.
We stick with the big boys, with Mark Epstein going up against Dave Legeno. A quick knock-out here, with Epstein connecting with a lethal left hook, Legeno falling to the mat like a felled tree.
Then it’s on to the main event, as Melvin Manhoef defends the CRFC Light-Heavyweight title against Ian Freeman. This one lasts less than thirty seconds. Manhoef knocked Freeman down early, before quickly finishing him off as the referee stepped in to stop the fight, giving Manhoef the title retaining win.
In conclusion – an enjoyable show from the Cage Rage team, although it’s still quite disappointing that we only get a one hour highlights show, and then some weeks after the event. With Cage Rage, and mixed martial arts in general, becoming even more popular here in Britain, perhaps Cage Rage should consider holding pay-per-view television shows here in Britain, as I’m sure they would get some good buy-rates if they took this course of action.
