Clan Wars 10
What a venue the Ulster Hall proved to be for Clan Wars 10. With seating all around the cage and the balcony encircling the cage it led to almost coliseums like atmosphere. Added to that the fighters came through an entrance of flames and smoke effects under a massive 20 ft crystal clear video screen coupled with the massive crowd all brought the Ulster Hall alive! The electricity was definitely in the air!
First up after the impressive Clan Wars intro and light show no other than UFC fighter Jake Hecht was introduced to the Belfast fans walking in to the funny Team America ‘America F**K Yea’ song which had the Clan Wars fans in hysterics, Clan Wars is known for its light hearted joking around at times and this was definitely a crowd pleasing move. On a serious note Jake was given a massive Belfast welcome and interviewed about his up coming fight before taking his place at the commentary booth.
All the under card fights lived up to the expectations with all the fighters showing heart courage and skill in all the matches. The crowd were clearly enjoying the spectacle and as well as cheering on their favorites, they showed great respect for all the fighters and showed a great understanding off the use of the cage and ground control from the fighters and were quick to show their appreciation.
Two stand out under card fights was Ryan Gray from Fighting Fit verus Geoff ‘The Hummer’ Hall from IFS and Simon Loughlin versus Gerard McKee. Many people know Geoff from the MMA circuit and he is a very popular fighter, he has only been fighting around 12 mths but his persona leaves people thinking he has been on the scene much longer, hes a true fan favorite and a cool customer. Geoff likes to stay tanned and gets the micky taken by his friends (as friends do) and as a laugh the IFS team selected his walk out song which was no other than South Parks Chef song ‘Suck on my chocolate salty balls’ which had the venue erupt in laughter and appreciation of the light hearted walk out confirming why he is one of the Clan Wars fan favorites.
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Geoffs opponent Ryan Gray only took the fight last minute due to a pull out so showed great heart and determination taking the fight which was respectfully addressed to the crowd again after the fight by Geoff Hall.
Simon Loughlin v Gerard McKee was one of the best MMA fights a lot of people has seen in a while and deservingly won the fight of the night award. Gerard started off the round by knocking Simon to the floor with a solid strike however Simon recovered. That fight must have woke Simon up as he massively stepped up the pace and came back like a bat out of hell giving Gerard McKee a lot of problems, this fight looked like Simon was going to finish it in a heart beat as he was dominating strongly until he left a leg in when Gerard was on the ground who took a tight Achilles lock for the win – back and forward, to and fro – gotta love MMA!
The first title belt up for grabs was the GNP Bantam Weight Irish Title between Blaine O’Driscoll who fights out of Lucan in Dublin and his opponent Ricky The Phenom Morrision who fights out of Evolve in Limavady.
The fight took off at a frantic pace with Blaine being able to take Ricky down and into half guard. He then was able to secure full mount and applied some ground and pound. Blaine went for a arm bar but Ricky was able to escape and get back to his feet.
Blaine then managed to take Ricky to the ground applying more ground and pound. In the scramble he was able to take Ricky’s back and secured a tight rear naked choke which Ricky had no option but to tap. Overall a very enjoyable fight with a worthy winner.
The second title belt up for grabs was for the Pro Featherweight NI Title between Joe ‘Kid Chaos’ Clarke who fights out of FIA in Belfast and his opponent Alan ‘The Apprentice’ Philpott who fights out of NGNI in Ballymena.
Before each fighter came out it showed a clip from their video with their hopes and expectations for the fight. This all added to the tension, which at this point was at fever pitch.
Again this fight starts at a frantic pace with both fights throwing punches with Joe managing a knockdown with one of his punches. Joe manages to take Alan to ground with lots of scrambling and at one point the fighters end up in the north south position.
Joe manages to slide into side control and then slaps on the winning arm bar in the first. A great fight with both fighters showing a lot of skill and bravery.
The Third title belt up for grabs was the Pro Bantamweight Irish Title between Ritchie Edgeworth fighting out of Ryano in Dublin and his opponent Steven Taz Mc Combe who fights out of DFC in Antrim.
Both fighters came out like freight trains straight at each other exchanging punches with Steven managing to take Ritchie down but Ritchie managed to end up on top. In the scramble Steven attempts an arm bar but Ritchie escaped and back onto his feet.
Again Steven takes Ritchie down and falls into Ritchie’s guard. Steven then slides into side control. Ritchie manages a reversal but left his arm in. Steven didn’t need a second invitation and slapped on the arm bar belly down and secured the win.
In Stevens’s emotional speech afterwards he talked about how close he had come to that moment before but never quite clinched it until now and what a stage to do it on. Ritchie showed some great skills and I’m sure it wont be long till he’s back in the hunt for the title.
The Last title fight was for the Pro Featherweight Irish Title between Decky The Diamond Dalton who fights out of FAI in Belfast and his opponent Connor Done Deal Dillion who fights out of BTT and is the current title holder.
In his opening video Decky was quick to point out the beating he was about to give Connor, which got the crowd into frenzy.
In the first round both fighters showed great ringmanship moving in and out and throwing punches and kicks. Connor was keen to throw spinning back fists and elbows with a few managing to connect. Both fighters chins where tested and not found wanting.
In the second round Connor managed to take Decky down but Decky scrambled well and got on top before before managing to get back to his feet.Decky managed to land a big right but ‘Connie’ took it well. Towards the end of the round Decky decided to talk a little Trash to Connor with the desired effect in that Connor lost his cool and started to swing widely at the end of the round.
The third and final round was all action with Decky looking the slightly fresher fighter. Decky got Connor into the clinch and was throwing some dangerous knees but Connor managed to break out. Connor attempted a spinning kick which Decky grabbed and took him down. Both fighters got back to their feet and the Connie managed a take down ending in half guard and then into full guard. The ref then stood both fighters up and they traded again before the end of the bout.
Both fighters thought they had won with Connor jumping onto the cage arms aloft to the good natured boos from the crowd.
It was a close fight with the judges scoring it 30-27 30-27 29-27 in favour of Decky.
A great fight with a worthy winner and no doubt these two will meet again.
All in all a great days entertainment with a strong showing from a lot of clubs. MMA is alive and healthy and most importantly of all growing in Ireland and no doubt it wont be long before we have our own UFC champ.
Well done Clan Wars!
By Cormac Gallagher
20 April 2012
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