(Images via Nitro MMA)
The Ultimate Fighter “Australia vs U.K” contestant Ben Wall (above right) walked away with the Nitro Lightweight Title last night at Nitro MMA 8 as he out-wrestled former champion Jai Bradney (pictured left) to get the unanimous decision victory.
Nitro MMA 8 was held at the Logan Entertainment Centre in Logan City, Queensland.
Wall entered the arena to the tune of Macho Man by The Village People, with Wall playing the role of the sailor. After being announced to the crowd, Bradney took his time appearing in front of the crowd which left Wall pretending to be asleep in the cage. When the action did start Wall made his intentions clear as he got the early takedown. From the bottom, Bradney remained calm and was attacking with a guillotine choke which Wall wriggled free from. Wall dominated from there as he was able to move to side-control and attack with a kimura. Bradney fought through it and momentarily got back to his feet and behind Wall’s back, only for Wall to attack with another kimura submission attempt and get the fight to the ground.
After the first-round it was clear that Bradney needed to try and keep this one standing and make it a brawl. Bradney started the second-round with a head-kick that was blocked. He followed that up with a body kick which Wall caught and used to get the fight to the ground. It was much of the same from there as Wall dominated from the top. Bradney was more active with punches off his back but struggled to get back up as Wall moved from side-control to north-south and attacked unsuccessfully with another kimura.
In the third round, Bradney attempted a front kick that gradually missed as Wall secured another take-down into guard. Wall looked to pass to half-guard but Bradney regained his guard and forced referee Peter Hickmott to stand the fighters up due to inactivity shortly after. Bradney attempted a knee but again Wall countered with a take-down attempt. As Wall dominated from top, Bradney fought to the end constantly looking for a submission and increasing the amount of strikes he would throw from the bottom as Wall looked to progress to a superior position. Wall never looked in danger from the submission attempts but an up-kick from Bradney looked to momentarily stun Wall before he dropped back down to grind out the win.
The judges decision came back with 30-27, 30-27 and 30-29 score-cards. Always entertaining on the microphone, Bradney’s post-fight speech nearly stole the show, as he commented “He (Ben Wall) is the champion. All these people that boo because he out-wrestled me. This is MMA! If I wanted to kickbox I would not be here. I love MMA. If you don’t like Wrestling then F*** Off! Or learn MMA and try to beat him!”
Both fighters will now move on to compete in Combat8 under their adapted rules. Bradney will face Wes Capper while Wall will meet Bernardo ‘Trekko’ Magalhaes.
Temple Dogz fighter Sam Kei (pictured right) was hoping to rebound from a recent loss in Melbourne when he took on Joe Muir (pictured left) in a fight that had little chance of going to a judges decision. Kei was defending his Nitro Light-Heavyweight title which he won whe he upset Chris Lokteff last October.
Kei started the more aggressive landing early punches as Muir remained calmed and covered up. Muir slipped attempting a kick but scrambled straight back to his feet as Kei attacked with more strikes. Muir again covered up with a high guard before countering with a uppercut that rocked Kei. Tasting victory, Muir immediately went on the attack as he connected with more punches. Against the cage, Muir connected with further strikes that dropped Kei. Muir jumped on top of him to force the referee stoppage 1:21 into the fight.
Impressive performance from 5 Rings Dojo fighter Muir who was returning to action following an injury. Muir immediately called out Integrated MMA fighter Chris Lokteff post-fight. The two were scheduled to meet last October before Muir suffered an injury in an overseas fight leading up to the event.
Jay Cobain returned to action for the first time in well over a year and looked to be heading home with a loss when he took on Ryan Yanz in a welterweight clash. It was also a retirement fight for Yanz, and it looked like it would be a successful one early as Yanz rocked Cobain with punches as the two exchanged early. The two continued exchanging before Cobain got the takedown straight into mount. From there Cobain composed himself, opened up Yanz who forced to turn his back, which allowed Cobain to sink in the rear-naked choke to get the tap at 1:35. Cobain requested a match-up against Ian Bone for the Nitro Welterweight Title.
In a battle of two Gold Coast based fighters, Chris Morris and Shannon McClellan met in what was a Bantamweight title fight eliminator against another Gold Coast based fighter. McClellan took control early as he landed a strong leg-kick before securing the double leg take-down. McClellan stayed active from the top before Morris worked his way back to his feet. Against the cage he was able to reverse and get a take-down of his own. Morris landed short strikes before McClellan opened up a cut over his opponent’s eye as the round ended.
In the second, McClellan landed an nice right and followed it up with another early take-down. This time though, Morris worked his way back to his feet a lot earlier before slamming McClellan on his back. Morris worked with short strikes from there as McClellan remained very active off his back opening up further cuts on Morris.
McClellan started the third with a leg kick before Morris secured a take-down. The action slowed down on the ground and the referee stood the two fighters up. McClellan this time took the fight to the ground but it was reversed by Morris almost immediately. Off his back though, McClellan kept a very active pace attempting to land strikes from the bottom as the two exchanged strikes. Possibly knowing he was down on the score cards McClellan looked for submissions however Morris defended well to get the the unanimous decision. Judges awarded the fight 30-28, 30-28, and 30-27 to Morris who moves on to face Julian ‘Julez The Jackal’ Rabaud for the vacant Nitro Bantamweight Title.
Impact MMA fighter Taipari Rikihana defeated Luke Ellia by submission in the first-round. Rikihana unloaded early with big shots as Ellia looked to counter with a body-kick early. It was caught by Rikihana as he glanced Ellia with a big punch. He followed that up with a take-down where he utilised strikes to open up Ellia, and lock-up the rear-naked choke submission. Ellia tried untilhis last breathe to escape but eventually was forced to tap at 3:32.
Earlier in the night, Matthew Frincu dropped his opponent Rhys Murray in the first round but was not able to finish him having to wait until the second-round where he was able to secure the mount position before opening up Murray to secure the rear-naked choke submission at 1:20. The two where trading some big shots, especially inside the clinch with dirty boxing in the early stanza before Frincu started to take control.
Alex MacDonald kept his promising career going as he defeated Muay-Thai practioner Taylor Harvey. Not wanting to have much of the stand-up game, MacDonald took the fight to the ground early where he was able to control the action. Harvey stayed in the fight by escaping the early submission attempts but in the second round MacDonald secured the rear-naked choke submission to get the win at 2:51 of round two.
Isaac Tisdell got the quickest win in Nitro MMA history as he knocked down his opponent Harley Taylor with a spinning back-kick. Tisdell immediately followed up with strikes before the referee halted the fight only 9-seconds in.
In the opening fights of the night, Chris Birch needed only 34-seconds to submit his opponent Josh Webb with a guillotine choke while Shantaram Maharaj impressed again with a first round armbar victory over Mitchell Mallett.
The promotion announced that Isaac Tisdell was awarded the KO of the Night, while Chris Birch the Submission of the Night. Matthew Frincu and Rhys Murray walked away with Fight of the Night.
- Ben Wall def Jai Bradney via Decision (Unanimous: 30-27, 30-27, 30-29) – Nitro Lightweight Title
- Joe Muir def Sam Kei via KO (Punches), Rd 1, 1:21 – Nitro Light-Heavyweight Title
- Jay Cobain def Ryan Yanz via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 1:35
- Chris Morris def Shannon McClellan via Decision (Unanimous: 30-28, 30-28, 30-27)
- Taipari Rikihana def Luke Ellia via Submision (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 3:32
- Matthew Frincu def Rhys Murray via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 2, 1:20
- Alex Macdonald def Taylor Harvey via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 2, 2:51
- Isaac Tisdell def Harley Taylor via TKO (Spinning Kick & Punches), Rd 1, 0:09
- Chris Birch def Josh Webb via Submission (Guillotine), Rd 1, 0:34
- Shantaram Maharaj def Mitchell Mallett via Submission (Armbar), Rd 1, 4:04
