#8: Neil Grove vs. James Thompson @ Cage Rage 22 (7/14/07), 10 seconds

Three years after his embarrassing 11-second destruction at the hands of Fedor’s younger brother, James Thompson managed to shave one second off of his personal getting-knocked-out record during this Cage Rage match against 2-0 rookie Neil Grove. Following a very brief feeling-out process, Grove starts swinging his big meathooks around until one of them connects squarely on Thompson’s glass chin, sending the Colossus facedown onto the mat for a lil’ nap. The announcer immediately calls the stoppage “UN-BA-LAY-VA-BOWL,” but honestly, what did you expect to see in a fight between two British heavyweights — a flying gogoplata?

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO…

(ShoXC weigh-ins become an impromptu beach party. Photo courtesy of Combat Lifestyle.)

Last night’s ShoXC card from Fresno, Calif. had its share of interesting bouts, but the big news coming out of the Pro Elite camp is that the company has canceled another show, this time in the form of one its smaller confederates across the pond. Contenders 11, scheduled to take place in the UK today, has been called off. Five Ounces of Pain also reports that Cage Rage — another Pro Elite organization — has suffered a rash of layoffs and is down to only three employees. Somehow during all of this, the Pro Elite stock price jumped from $2.50 to $8.00 a share on Friday, even amid reports that they were canceling their September 20 event. As they say on the internet, WTF!?!

Something is going on with Pro Elite, no doubt, but what? Could it be that Pro Elite executives have discovered oil underneath the grounds where their offices lie, and now they’re going to quit putting on MMA shows altogether and move their families to big mansions in Beverly Hills, complete with indoor plumbing and cement ponds? There is very little evidence for this hypothesis at the moment, but we’re going to go ahead and say yes, this is precisely what is happening. You heard it here first.

As for last night’s show, yeah, well, here you go:

Jared Hamman def. Po’ai Suganuma via TKO (strikes) at 2:34 of round 1
Fabricio Camoes def. Sammy Morgan via submission (rear naked choke) at 0:47 of round 1
Cyrille Dibate def. Jaime Fletcher via unanimous decision
Rosi Sexton def. Debi Purcell via split decision
Ray Lizama def. Keith Berry via TKO (strikes) at 2:15 of round 2
Katrina Alendale def. Melanie La’Croix via unanimous decision
Roberto Vargas def. Ralph Lopez via split decision
Jesse Brock def. Josh Rave via unanimous decision
Lucas Gumaza def. Kenny Johnson via split decision
David “Tarzan” Douglas def. William Jacobson via TKO (corner stoppage) at 1:12 of round 1

(Props: MMATKO. Fight starts at the 5:34 mark.)

It looks like Robert “Buzz” Berry’s beating last Saturday at the hands of Neil Grove could be his last. Berry (13-8), who suffered a second-round TKO loss at Cage Rage 27 and who has dropped three of his last four fights, announced his retirement last night via the Cage Warriors forums, writing the following:

Just to let you all know I have had to retire. After my fight with Neil Grove I was taken to the hospital and had to have surgery on my face. They have had to put two plates in, one in my cheek bone and one on my eye socket. So that is it, over for me.

Can I take this opportunity in congratulating Neil Grove on the fight and good luck in the future. Thank you to all my camp and other camps for their help over the years in getting me ready for fights. Thanks to all my fans in their support for me, it has always meant a lot. A real big thanks to John Close, he has been a diamond — we have been joined at the hip for a few years. Neil Wain has been a star for me and wish him all the best in his fight in the UFC. Thanks to the guys at Cage Rage for their part in my fighting and to anyone I have missed out: Thank you.

As you can see in the video from the Berry/Grove fight (above), Buzz was on the mat for about three minutes after the loss, in visible pain. Grove’s leg kicks were responsible for breaking Berry down during the fight, but his final flurry of punches turned out to be a career ender for the man who’d previously knocked out Ken Shamrock at Cage Rage 25 in March. With the win, Grove increased his record to 6-1; in the post-fight interview he called out Cage Rage British heavyweight champion Mustapha Al Turk, as well as (who else) Kimbo Slice.

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

From CageRage.tv:

I want to put on record my sincere apologies to Phil Baroni, the fans and Cage Rage for the incident that took place following my fight on Saturday. It should not have happened and the person responsible is very shamed faced.

At the time — thanks to his incredible right hook — I was unaware that Phil had been assaulted. In fact I was totally unaware of anything and everything. Baroni has my utmost respect for his prowess in the Cage — and particularly the way he handled the assault following the fight.

He could have escalated the situation but instead chose to act like a true and mature ambassador for the sport.

I apologised in person to Phil on the night, he duly accepted my gesture — shook hands — and bought him a drink. There is no ill feeling from Phil or his Team and I now wish to continue to strive to improve myself as a fighter and concentrate on my career. I wanted to make that apology public.

Scott Jansen.

Poor guy. I have a feeling this isn’t the first time he’s had to apologize for his knucklehead brother. But a mention of his wife’s rude bird-flipping behavior would have been nice. A word of advice, Scott: Stop bringing your family to your fights. You’re 3-3 now; getting some peace away from that chaotic group might help your career more than you know.

Speaking of bad behavior: TMZ has now obtained video of Rampage’s arrest, soundtracked by the mellow sounds of Canned Heat. And while we’re on the topic, InsideFighting says that Jackson’s hit-and-run charge is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in county jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. No word yet on any disciplinary action the UFC might be taking.

Paul “Semtex” Daley is as talented a fighter as he is mercurial a personality, so it should be no surprise that he manages to court some controversy even while he can’t decide whether he wants to retire or fight. The British welterweight has oscillated between the two in recent months, but came back to easily dispatch Bojan Kosednar in Cage Warriors this weekend.

Apparently, Pro Elite (which has a contract with Daley) was unhappy about the situation and tried to get Daley to agree to a fight on Elite XC’s July 26 show in Stockton, Ca. The problem is that Daley says they offered him a fight with Rory Markham, the ex-IFL slugger who is fighting on the UFC’s July 19 show. Confused yet? Good. Let’s see if Daley can sort it out for us:

“They [Pro Elite] did offer me a fight on the July 26th card against Rory Markham, who we all know has signed with the UFC, so I thought it was a ploy to stop me fighting on Cage Warriors. I felt that if I had accepted the fight, they would have just cancelled on me.”

“A lot of other guys had fought twice in the same month for two different promotions, a non-Pro Elite and then a Pro Elite event – I said look, I’ll fight July 12th and I’ll fight July 26th, not a problem. I feel confident in this fight and all being well I would get out uninjured and with a victory and I’d fly straight to America. They didn’t want to hear any of that.”

“If I had been Nick Diaz, it wouldn’t have been a problem. The guy smokes weed, starts riots on TV, doesn’t make weight, fights whoever the fuck he wants, and there’s no problem there. It’s a bit of a piss-take really.”

Oh man, he just said something about Nick Diaz that could accurately be described as negative. That’s the MMA equivalent of saying “Beetlejuice” three times. You just know Diaz is going to pop up out of nowhere with a semi-intelligible response any minute now.

(Animated gif courtesy of Fightlinker.)

From Fighters Only Magazine:

Phil Baroni says he will not be pressing charges after being subjected to a cowardly assault by an associate of his defeated opponent Scott Jansen at Saturday night’s Cage Rage event.

“These things happen.” Said Baroni. “It must be tough to see a loved one get knocked out like that. Emotions ran high. I want to put this behind me.”

Baroni, who was making his welterweight debut, knocked Jansen out in the first round of their fight.

As medical staff surrounded Jansen, Baroni approached to check on his condition and was unexpectedly headbutted by Jansen’s associate, who then immediately fled the ring. Insult was added to injury when Jansen’s girlfriend launched into a foul-mouthed tirade against Baroni. But Baroni stayed calm and made no attempt to exact retribution for the assault — although his cornerman Mark Coleman was reportedly eager to do so.

The incident was broadcast live and once again calls into question Cage Rage’s policy of allowing friends and family into the cage after fights.

Cage Rage co-promoter Dave O’Donnell says that action has already been taken following the incident and that the organisation “has issued a ban on a member of Scott’s family attending future fights.”

Previously: Baroni Wins WW Debut, Gets Headbutted by Asshole

(Props: FightOpinion)

Phil Baroni’s first match as a welterweight was a resounding success, as the New York Badass dominated Scott Jansen to a first-round knockout victory at Cage Rage 27 last night in London. Unexpectedly, Baroni quickly got the fight to the ground, scoring a smooth double-leg takedown shortly after the bell and effortlessly controlling Jansen from the top. After an armlock attempt didn’t pan out, Baroni moved to full mount, but both men were quickly ordered to their feet by the ref. Baroni then reverted back to his bread and butter, turning out Jansen’s lights with a perfect right hook; Baroni returned after the stoppage to shake the hand of his still-sleeping opponent.

About thirty seconds later, Baroni made the mistake of going back again to check on Jansen, and one of Jansen’s cornermen responded by headbutting him — or “nutting” him, as the commentators colorfully put it. (“Wot’a dizgrace.”) The headbutter conveniently disappeared after the confrontation, while Baroni scored big-time respect points for not chasing him down and tearing his dumb ass apart. Video of the fight and post-fight assault is above; the questionable ref standup is at 3:36, the knockout punch is at 3:58, and the headbutt is at 4:45. Baroni competes next at Icon Sport: Hard Times (August 2, Honolulu), where he’ll face 3-5 Jesus Is Lord jobber Ron Verdadero.

In other action at Cage Rage 27, Neil Grove defeated Robert Berry in their rematch, stopping “Buzz” via strikes in the second round, while Mustapha Al Turk scored a first-round ground-and-pound TKO over James McSweeney to win the Cage Rage British heavyweight title. Full results are after the jump.

(“All day! All night! You feel! My heat! Feel, feel, feel, feel my heat!”)

Big news for people who care what weight class Phil Baroni fights at: MMA Weekly reports that in light of his three consecutive losses — to Frank Shamrock, Kala Kolohe Hose, and Joey Villasenor — the New York Badass is dropping from middleweight to welterweight, and will make his 170-pound debut on July 12th at Cage Rage 27, against a British fighter to be named later. Baroni explained his decision in a post on Sherdog.net:

Im making the move because I want to be a World Champion. I dont fight for pay day’s or fame, to be on tv or chick’s. I got into MMA because I wanted to be the best fighter in the world.

This is what I feel at this point in my career I need to do. Im feel Im a better fighter than Ive shown in the ring esp as of late.

As far as the move to Welter Weight goes I feel great. Im more athletic. Im in much better condition, my hand speed is back, an I would go as far as to say Im alot quicker than I was at my previous best.

Im not going to make any predictions or promises. Ive been very humbled as of late. Ive been handed a real wake up call.

Just a little something to whet your appetites for Saturday. James Thompson has suffered some quick and embarrassing knockouts in his career, but this freak bout against Eric Esch at Cage Rage 20 in February 2007 was maybe the most humiliating. The announcers warn Thompson of “Buh’ah’bane”‘s infamous overhand right — but alas, poor James cannot hear them, and he’s out seconds later.

More video awesomeness after the jump…

“Ross Pointon by heel hook” sounds like an MMA forum punchline, but on Saturday night it became all too real as Pointon put on a ghetto jiu-jitsu clinic against the dumbfounded Ross Mason. Here’s the video, which ends with the 6-10 Pointon requesting — nay, demanding — that he be given a championship belt. After the jump: Badass middle-aged man Ian Freeman’s three-round domination of Paul Cahoon.

(Photo courtesy of MMAWeekly.)

Shocking, right? The Gladiator upped his record to 6-10 with a heel-hook submission of Ross Mason (12-9) at Cage Rage 26, which happened Saturday night in Birmingham, England. It was Pointon’s third win in his last 13 fights; though to be honest, every fight that doesn’t end with your head looking like this is a moral victory.

More importantly, 41-year-old UFC/Cage Rage vet Ian Freeman came back from a 20-month hiatus to capture the British Light Heavyweight Title for the second time, with a dominating decision victory over Paul Cahoon. Full results are below; videos to come.

Ian Freeman def. Paul Cahoon via decision
Che Mills def. Marios Zaromskis via TKO (cut) at 5:00 of round 1
James Zikic def. Rodney Faverus via submission (armbar) at 0:25 of round 3
Ross Pointon def. Ross Mason via submission (heel hook) at 1:36 of round 1
Mark Epstein def. Matt Ewin via decision
Marc Goddard and Henrique Nogueira fought to a draw
Brad Pickett def. Paul Reed via decision
Popek Rak def. Kev Simms via TKO (strikes) at 1:12 of round 1
Chris Rice def. Edgelson Lue via TKO (Strikes) at 1:35 of round 1
Harvey Harra def. Garry Kelly via submission (triangle choke) at 3:46 of round 1

(Last strut to a battle for “Semtex”?)

Paul “Semtex” Daley…what a tangled web you weave.

We reported some few odd days ago that the 17-6-2 “Semtex” would be retiring soon, but would first defend his Cage Rage welterweight crown on May 10th. Well, I suppose we jumped the gun — aided in part by Daley’s apparent bi-polar disorder — because the fighter has now ditched vacated his Cage Rage title. The report comes from the Cage Rage official site and it states that the welty might not return to defend the title until next year — if ever. From the site:

This has come as a surprise to many of Paul’s fans, but he has openly said he will return but now needs some time to focus on other areas of his life. Everybody at Cage Rage would like to wish Paul Daley all the best in his new ventures and we look forward to seeing him back soon.

With Paul Daley vacating the title, the door has opened for two new contenders to throw down the gauntlet for the Cage Rage British welterweight title, phenomenal striker and veteran of some of the greatest Cage Rage wars, Marius Zaromskis will once again be strapping on his gloves to fight the very durable and hard hitting Che Mills. These two fighters met once before in an awesome battle at Cage Rage Contenders 2, where the fight ended via a big KO from a knee that Che Mills landed during a trade off of strikes. This one has war written all over it, so get yourself ready as the bombs begin to fly.

After “Semtex” KO’d “TUF” alum Sam Morgan in January, he decided on an early retirement. He was expected to at least defend again before said retirement, but we guess the thought of an early vaca was too much for Daley to pass up. Chances are he’ll be back, but for now, we’ll continue to assume he’s 12 shades of crazy.

In case we never see him fight again, enjoy the “Semtex” highlight vid after the jump.

Just a taste of what Jake will have to deal with on Saturday. In his last fight at Cage Rage 24 (12/1/07), Drew Fickett faced the heavy hands of Mark “The Wizard” Weir, and was taking heaps of abuse while on his back before finding an opening and wrapping Weir up with a rear-naked choke. Unfortunately, Shields has never been submitted in his career — not an encouraging stat for Fickett, who relies heavily on his subs. Any predictions?

Masakazu Imanari’s featherweight title defense against Jean Silva at Saturday’s Cage Rage show seems to have been pulled from every video site on the Internet, so we’ll just post the video of how the “Ashikan Judan” (“10th-degree black belt in jumping locks,” or something) won the belt in the first place. Check out Imanari whiffing on two ridiculous flying kicks before tapping out Robbie Olivier with the kind of submission that earned him his nickname, at Cage Rage 20 in February 2007. Below that is Imanari taking one of his four career losses, at the hands of Joachim Hansen at PRIDE Bushido 8 (July 2005). Despite nearly pulling off one of his signature leglocks, Imanari eats a knee at the video’s 3:34 mark that’s so loud they could hear it in the next prefecture. Like a veteran home-run slugger making perfect contact with a fastball, Hansen just walks away, knowing it.

Man, what a fucking mess. If there was any debate as to whether Ken Shamrock should retire, his Cage Rage appearance last night settled it. Check out the 3:54 mark of the video, as Ken takes a glancing jab and a right hook to his glove, then flops over sideways, Bo Cantrell-style. At this point, it’s hard to imagine any professional heavyweight that Ken has the tools to beat. At the very least, he should have to change his nickname from “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” to “The Third Most Dangerous Shamrock” (after Frank and Frank’s wife).

Even if he’s given the medical clearance to fight next month it’s doubtful that EliteXC will still want to book Ken to get eaten up by Kimbo Slice on their CBS debut. Problem is, he was the most marketable option for Kimbo’s next opponent. Will Slice vs. Berry draw the amount of eyes that Shaw & Co. need for their first network television show? Maybe, maybe not. But any hope for a blockbuster “superfight” just buckled like Ken’s ever-wobbly legs.

Headlined by a heavyweight match between Ken Shamrock and Robert “Buzz” Berry — which may very well decide who gets the next shot at Kimbo Slice — Cage Rage 25 goes down tomorrow night at London’s Wembley Arena. Showtime will run a tape-delayed broadcast of the four top-billed fights at 10:30 p.m. ET. Those other three main card fights are:

Jean Silva vs. Masakazu Imanari (for the Cage Rage Featherweight World Title)
Neil Grove vs. Rob Broughton (heavyweights)
Pierre Guillet vs. Tom “Kong” Watson (middleweights)

Other matches on the 11-fight card include Ken’s son Ryan facing off against Georgio Andrews in a bantamweight match, a heavyweight throwdown between Mustapha al Turk and Gary Turner, and Cage Rage’s first female fight between Aisling Daly and the rather-fetching Aysen Berik. Some other things to be aware of:

— If you clicked that last link, you’d know that Aysen Berik is the sister of Cage Rage vet Sami Berik, who, despite his terrible 12-24 record, knocked Mark Smith out in 9 seconds in a Cage Rage Contenders fight in February.

— Betting odds have Ken Shamrock as a -240 favorite (encouraging for someone who’s won only one fight since 2001). Grove and Broughton are dead even at -115.

— Robert Berry is the lightest he’s ever been for a fight, but will still be coming in 20 pounds heavier than Shamrock.

— Neil Grove and Rob Broughton both hold wins over Robert Berry. Illness forced Berry to throw in the towel after the first round of his fight with Grove in December. Berry’s September 2006 match against Broughton fight ended in a first-round KO.

— If you’re interested in hearing Ryan Shamrock talk, click away.

Our earlier mentions of Chute Boxe and rope-a-dope reminded us of this light heavyweight match from Cage Rage 15 (2/4/06), which could easily earn a place in our greatest fights of all-time list. The first round features as much slugging as you’d expect from these two, but it’s the second round that makes the fight legendary. Cyborg and Melvin become so exhausted from whaling on each other that at one point they can do little more than stand with their hands down and suck air. Luckily, Manhoef has a little extra in the tank. Watch Cyborg baby-punch Melvin’s lifeless body at the end — totally adorable. (Fight starts at the 2:26 mark.)

Ryan Shamrock’s opponent for his second professional MMA fight has been announced; the emaciated 19-year-old progeny of the “World’s Most Dangerous Man” will face Giorgio Andrews on the undercard of Cage Rage 25, which is headlined by a match between his father Ken and Robert Berry. Andrews is 2-0 professionally, with both of his wins coming via first-round stoppage.

Here’s the video of Ryan Shamrock’s pro debut, a bantamweight match against Josh Besneatte last August which resulted in a first-round submission win. Shamrock starts things off with an unexpected body slam, and shows impressive movement on the ground before ending Besneatte’s night with a Swickitine (the action starts at the 2:15 mark):

(Yeah, but what happens when Cage Rage dumps your ass?)

According to The Fight Network, Ken Shamrock’s manager has confirmed that “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” will face Robert “Buzz” Berry during his Cage Rage debut at London’s Wembley Arena on March 8th. Berry fights as a heavyweight, and we’re guessing the match will be fought within that division. Here’s the rest of what we know about Berry:

— His record is 11-7. He hasn’t beaten anybody we’ve heard of, but he’s lost to Tengiz Tedoradze (twice), Dan Severn (last year), and his last two matches resulted in TKO losses against Colin Robinson (who will face Antoni Hardonk in the undercard of UFC 80) and Neil Grove (who is also on the Cage Rage 3/8 card), a loss which he later blamed on fatigue due to a severe chest infection.

Even though Cage Rage employs a deep stable of Brit beauties to remind audiences what round they’re watching, Laura Jones still manages to stand out. The Essex-bred brunette has been a Playboy Cyber Girl, a model for every major U.K. men’s magazine, and is a presenter for a daily SkyTV/Freeview show called Party People. See more of Laura’s work after the jump…

U.K.-based MMA organization Cage Rage is putting on a thoroughly kickass show tomorrow, featuring Murilo “Ninja” Rua, Elvis Sinosic, Mark Weir, Neil Grove, and TUF3 alum Ross Pointon. Check out the full fight card here. I’d never heard of Rua’s opponent Xavier Foupa-Pokam (please keep your “fupa-poker” jokes to yourself), so I decided to search for a clip of him in action, which I’ve posted below. Rua might have his hands full, as Foupa-Pokam looks like a sharp striker who’s absolutely deadly once he falls on his ass. You should also keep an eye out for Neil Grove, a 4-0 heavyweight bruiser whose last two fights resulted in a 10-second knockout of James “The Colossus” Thompson (the video is below) and a 34-second TKO of Domagoj Ostojic. Cage Rage 24 can be seen live at ProElite.com PPV; the action kicks off at 1 p.m. ET.

(Xavier Foupa-Pokam vs. Alex Cook at Cage Rage 18, 9/30/06)

(Neil Grove vs. James Thompson at Cage Rage 22, 7/14/07)