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By: Chris Park, MMATorch UK Specialist
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is set to make its return to the English capital for the first time in over 18 months as UFC 120 edges closer. While established Brits Michael Bisping, Dan Hardy and John Hathaway compete in pivotal battles, the new breed of UK fighters will look to make their mark in their first appearances inside the Octagon.
The pick of the matchups has to be Wolfslair lightweight Kurt Warburton, who takes on resilient veteran Spencer “The King” Fisher in arguably the toughest bout of all of the debutantes.
The North-East born fighter, who holds a domestic victory over Ross Pearson, is taking everything in stride.
“There’s no easy fights in the UFC.” Warburton told MMATorch. “I didn’t expect such a big name [for my debut.] He’s got a lot of experience in the UFC but I’ve got a game-plan and it’s got the potential to be a great fight.”
While Warburton was full of praise for his opponent, at the same time he has identified weakness from The King’s more recent Octagon outings.
“In his last two fights he hasn’t performed as well as he could [have]," Warburton said. “Maybe he’s now gone back into his old training regime and he’s hungrier than ever [to face me] and he has brought back his aggressiveness? But you go on last fights and he hasn’t been what people are used to seeing him as, and he could be on a down [swing]... you just don’t know.”
“I’ve got a reach advantage on him and he has to get inside. I’m just gonna try and keep him on the outside, show my range, and hopefully the game-plan will go the right way. Everything that people have seen of me on YouTube or wherever is from before I did any Jiu-Jitsu. I’ve been at Wolfslair for a while now, so you’re gonna find a different fighter.”
While the initial fan reaction towards this card was not exactly positive, the closer you look - the stronger these matches appear to be. The lack of an “International Superstar” which many fans appear to crave is more than made up for with solid matchups between the top fighters in the UK, and other highly ranked contenders in their respective weight classes.
“Everyone was expecting a big superstar to come over,” Warburton added, “and they got a load of flack because of that and I don’t know why; because there’s some great matchups and they sold something [like] 6,000 [tickets] in the first 24-hours.”
Warburton knows he will be walking into a sold out London O2 Arena, and was in a confident mood heading into the vital weeks of training camp, seeming fully focused on delivering a performance worthy of being slotted into the televised broadcast. “If there’s a good knockout involved, or a good submission, or if it’s “Fight Of The Night” I think it will be probably shown. They usually show “Fight of the Night” if something good goes on.
“It would be great to get off to a good start and especially against such a big name. I’ve heard he’s said stuff [about me] like 'he’s too slow.' Well I’m happy he’s saying stuff like that and he’s obviously underestimating [me] because he will get a shock.
“I’m not trash talking him; I respect him and I like him but this is my livelihood now so hopefully I'll just go out and earn myself a few more fights in the UFC by taking him out.”
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OTHER NEWS IN BRIEF:
-As the new season of The Ultimate Fighter made its debut on Sky Sports, the new UFC section of skysports.com was launched last week and alongside it - Michael Bisping's column.
Bisping has always been one to use a touch of verbal warfare to help sell a fight. His taunting of Dan Henderson was one of the better elements of the ninth installment of The Ultimate Fighter, but subsequently fueled the fire with Henderson dropping a second bomb on The Count to “shut him up a little bit” despite knowing the Brit was already unconscious.
Michael Bisping has now expressed a little frustration towards his inability to get the rivalry going with Japanese Judo ace Yoshihiro Akiyama, whom The Count will face at UFC 120 next month.
“I’m not sure whether it’s because he’s a genuinely friendly character or simply because he can’t speak English, but either way I’ve not heard a peep from him yet!" Bisping wrote.
“I want to really sell this fight and hype it up with a bit of needle and bad blood, but there’s really nothing I can do or say to instigate it. Akiyama is not giving me much ammunition and seems to be a very quiet and respectful guy. I can’t just decide to start slagging him off and taking shots at him. That would be very unfair on the guy and wouldn’t really reflect on me very well.”
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-Cage Warriors will return this Friday, October 1 for “Young Guns” at HMW Forum in London. A number of up and coming British fighters will be on the card, along with several UK veterans including TUF 9 competitor Che Mills. Former UFC vet Matt Veach headlines.
For more information and ticket options; please visit www.cagewarriors.com
-The ever growing list of international stars joining the first ever UK UFC Fan Expo just got a little bit longer this week as UFC UK President Marshall Zelaznik announced that Hall Of Famer Randy Couture and Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar will being London for the two day expo at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre.
-BAMMA 4 went off with a bang last Saturday night on Bravo, with Alex Reid proving he still has the hunger for fighting despite dropping a unanimous decision to reigning Middleweight Champion Tom “Kong” Watson.
Many had written Reid’s chances off, assuming he would be stopped early, but it was the challenger who initially set the tone of this five-round encounter. Coming out of the blocks flying, Reid rocked Watson, flooring the champion with a barrage of shots while opening a cut above his eye. Watson stayed in there and grew in confidence as the fight continued, winning the remaining rounds before both me were given a standing ovation with chants of "re-match" echoing the Birmingham NIA.
BAMMA announced that their December show will be headlined by MMA veteran Bobb Sapp, who will be making his debut at the Newcastle Arena.
-So UFC 120 is just a matter of weeks away. These fights are looking very competitive and I feel many people will be surprised by the main event. Michael Bisping stole the show the last time the UFC came to England, crushing Dennis Kang in two rounds, and finds himself back at the top of the bill for the first time since UFC 89.
Kurt Warburton has a tough task on his hands, but he has the hunger; and should he overcome Spencer Fisher then the world is his oyster as they say.
Join me next week for another round up of The UK Scene.
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Chris Park is the MMATorch UK Specialist and guest columnist at ESPN.co.uk. Please email any comments or questions to Chris at; mmatorchuk@gmail.com or look us up at http://www.facebook.com/mmatorchuk2 our new MMATorch Facebook home for UK Fans!
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