THE TWO SHEDS REVIEW by Julian Radbourne – now in it’s 10th year!
E-mail: juli316uk@yahoo.co.uk
Website: www.twoshedsreview.com
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British mixed martial arts is on the agenda again as Dave O’Donnell’s Ultimate Challenge presented their latest show Invincible, shown on a four day delay on Sky Sports here in Britain this past Wednesday night.
The show began with heavyweight action as Ian Hawkins went up against Mark Potter.
A controversial fight saw Potter cut his taller and heavier opponent down to size with some great body shots. But Potter went too far and kicked Hawkins in the head as he slumped to the ground.
The referee quickly stepped in and disqualified Potter straight away. Potter would surely have won but for that moment of madness.
It was down to the middleweight division for the next fight as Earl Brown faced Jake Bostwick.
Sadly we only got highlights from the first round, and there wasn’t much from the second because Bostwick connected with a big right that knocked Brown out cold, giving Bostwick the KO win. You have to wonder if the near twenty year age difference was too much for Brown to overcome.
After a highlights package from some of the other fights it was on to featherweight action as Tom Dixon took on John Kelly.
A fast paced fight saw both men going all out from the start. Kelly looked like he was going to overwhelm his teenage opponent early on, especially after a big slam, but Dixon came back well, opening up a cut on the bridge of Kelly’s nose.
Round two didn’t last long. A big left from Kelly sent Dixon crashing out before he hit the ground, taking home the knockout win.
Then it was up to lightweight as Brad Wheeler faced Francis Heagney.
A nice technical ground battle saw Heagney get the early take down after a four shot combination, and from there he all but dominated. Wheeler went for a couple of submission attempts but Heagney escaped easily, and with his ground and pound going unanswered towards the end of the round the referee wisely stepped in and gave Heagney the TKO win.
Welterweight action followed as Edgelson Lua took on Jamaine Facey.
This proved to be another great ground battle. Lua put in some good work in the first round, but the extraordinary moment when he took Facey’s back and synched in a rear naked choke, keeping the choke on for what seemed like an eternity. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Facey managed to escape.
They continued with the ground work in the second round with more transitions and reversals before Facey took Lua’s back and unleashed with the ground and pound. Lua failed to respond and it wasn’t long before the referee stepped in and saved him from further punishment, giving Facey the impressive TKO win.
The main event saw Valentino Petrescu challenge Jimi Manuwa for the Light Heavyweight title.
A great striking battle began with both fighters testing the waters early on, but as the fight progressed Manuwa had great success with some knees from the clinch, which set him up for the quick combinations that sent Petrescu crashing to the ground, giving the Poster Boy the title retaining KO win.
In conclusion – on the same night that a certain middleweight fight was happening Dave O’Donnell and his crew once again proved something that we’ve known for some time – that Ultimate Challenge is the best MMA promotion in Britain right now.
All the fights here were highly enjoyable, and I was pleased that we didn’t see any of the UK1 kickboxing fights that drag the show down a little.
So in all another good show, and here’s looking forward to their next outing in September.
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