Nitro 8 goes down this Saturday in Logan City, Queensland with the event set to feature a double dose of title fights with both Lightweight and Light-Heavyweight set to be defended.
Jai ‘The Tooth-Fairy’ Bradney will be looking at defending his Nitro Lightweight Title and at the same time making it three MMA wins in a row when he faces The Ultimate Fighter: Australia vs U.K contestant Ben Wall in the headlining fight. Bradney captured the Nitro Lightweight Title with a second-round guillotine choke submission over Greg Atzori at Nitro MMA 7 back in October, 2012 and is coming off a win over Robert Lisita under Combat8 rules.
Wall will have his first fight since losing in The Ultimate Fighter: Australia vs U.K house. On the reality show, Wall was defeated by eventual finalist Colin Fletcher in the first-round. Prior to filming of the show, the Brisbane based fighter was undefeated in his lasts seven bouts which included wins against the likes of Robert Lisita, Nick Honstein and Wade Yates-Taui. Wall recently signed with Big Fights Management and is scheduled to move to Canada where he is looking to compete.
In the other title fight on the card, heavy-hitters Sam Kei and Joe Muir will clash in a bout for Kei’s Nitro Light-Heavyweight Title. Kei caused one of the upsets of last year at Nitro MMA 7 when he overcame a slow start against the previously undefeated Chris Lokteff to capture the Nitro MMA Light-Heavyweight Title in the second-round. Kei is coming off a loss in February on a show in Melbourne and will be looking at bouncing back with a win over Joe Muir.
Muir returns from an injury that forced him from a fight against Lokteff last year after he broke his hand competing in South Africa. There the Gold Coast based fighter made quick work of his South African opponent. Muir holds notable victories over the likes of Madoud Abdollahpouri (twice), Kym Robinson and Hale Vaa’sa. He holds a notable loss to Kei’s training partner in Felise Leniu.
With both guys heavy hitters, chances are fairly high that this one will not go to a decision.
Ryan Yanz has announced that his bout against Jay Cobain on the card will be his last, with ‘The Terminator’ set to start a new chapter in his life following the bout. Yanz holds notable wins over Jon Leven and Gokhan Turkyilmaz and will be looking at going out with a win against local fighter Cobain. Based out of the Impact MMA gym in Capalaba, Cobain returns from a lengthy time out of the cage. The 39 year-old holds notable wins over Jon Leven, Sambo Celikovic and Mark Tabone.
In a bantamweight contender bout Shannon McClellan will face Chris Morris. The winner is scheduled to face Julian ‘Julez The Jackal’ Rabaud for the title.
Nitro MMA 8 will be held at the Logan Entertainment Centre in Logan City on Saturday 23 March. Limited tickets are available at the door and Fight News Australia will provide a few review post-event.
Nitro MMA 8 Fight Card:
- Jai Bradney vs Ben Wall – Nitro Lightweight Title
- Sam Kei vs Joe Muir – Nitro Light-Heavyweight Title
- Ryan Yanz vs Jay Cobain
- Shannon McClellan vs Chris Morris – Nitro Bantamweight Eliminator
- Luke Ellia vs Taipari Rikihana
- Rhys Murray vs Matt Frincu
- Taylor Harvey vs Alex Macdonald
- Harley Taylor vs Isaac Tisdell
- Josh Webb vs Chris Birch
- Mitchell Mallett vs Shantaram Maharaj
