News

Ali Maclean now headlines ICE FC 14

Ali Maclean now headlines ICE FC 14

Northern Ireland's Ali 'Insane' Maclean (14-8-1) will serve as the headline for ICE FC 14 on May 21st in England opposite Cage Warriors vet Ellis Hampson (5-2, 1 NC).

Fighting under the Team Kaobon banner in Liverpool, Maclean recently returned to competition after an 18 month layoff in February defeating David Johnson at ICE FC 11. This win snapped a two fight skid for Maclean that saw him lose to Artem Lobov and Brendan Loughnane.

A TUF veteran and still young Ali will be hoping to put together a string of wins and regain the form that saw him win seven straight between 2010 and 2013 and make a push towards the UFC. 

Hampson comes into this fight having won his past two outings, both via stoppage. Before that he went on a 0-2 run in Cage Warriors. A win over Ali Maclean could see the Next Gen Liverpool fighter jump up the rankings.

ICE FC 14 takes place May 21st from Liverpool, England.

*records and fight info via Sherdog.com

Decky Dalton vs. Seamus Cogan set for Siam Warriors on June 4th

Decky Dalton vs. Seamus Cogan set for Siam Warriors on June 4th

Recently retired MMA star Decky 'The Diamond' Dalton was recently announced to be fighting at the Siam Warriors Muay Thai show on June 4th in Cork.

Dalton, who registered a pro MMA record of 6-1 before retiring last month, represents the Phuket Top Team gym in Thailand who have a renowned coaching staff and team experienced Thai fighters. 

He will be facing a returning Seamus Colgan who has been out of action for 5 years. A press release from the Siam Warriors promotion read:

"It's a long an eagerly waited return of Irish fighting veteran Seamus Cogan. 5 years since he has stepped in the ring and after two disappointing cancellations in recent fights its fitting he gets to return on home soil and in Ireland's most exciting and now legendary fight venue atmospheres of a Siam Warriors fight night.

Belfast native Decky Dalton is better known in Irish MMA circles. However he is a powerful striker with an impressive MMA record and will be looking to stamp a foothold on Muay Thai after training camps in Thailand and a taste of fighting there.

This is a really interesting match up under Full Muay Thai rules. One of over 10 A-Class fights and extremely impressive stacked support card."

Artem Lobov offers to stand in against BJ Penn at UFC 199

Artem Lobov offers to stand in against BJ Penn at UFC 199

Last night various outlets reported that BJ Penn (16-10-2) has been left without an opponent for his anticipated return scheduled for UFC 199 this June after Dennis Siver was forced out due to injury.

Now Artem Lobov (11-12-1) has offered to step in against the former two weight UFC champ and has also offered to donate half his purse to charity. The SBG fighter took to Twitter to offer his services.

BJ Penn has only registered one win since 2009 and went on a 1-5-1 run before retiring in June, 2014. Now 'The Prodigy' has changed camps to the renowned Jackson/Wink gym and is looking to get back in there and go out on a high. 

Artem is currently 0-2 in the UFC after his entertaining run on TUF and is desperate to get one more chance in the Octagon. It comes as no surprise that he has offered to fight BJ Penn as it seems any time a fighter is left without an opponent 'The Russian Hammer' is straight on Twitter looking to save the day, sometimes despite being in a lower weight class.

The Siver fight was seen by many a tune-up fight. Really just to see what level BJ was at. If he lost then everyone would know that he just hasn't got it anymore but if he won then he would get a step up in competition. There was no point putting him in there against one of the top guys after a two year layoff. This makes me wonder if the UFC would actually go with this as Artem offers a similar scenario and he is arguably more popular than Siver.

 

LOL!! Owen Colgan heads to Holland thanks to Joe Duffy

LOL!! Owen Colgan heads to Holland thanks to Joe Duffy

Thanks to borrowing some cash off Joe Duffy Owen Colgan from 'Call Out Prouctions' heads off to Holland to fight some Dutch hard lad.

Check out Owen Colgan's facebook page for more videos.

Gavin Kelly vs. Darren O'Gorman II announced for Akuma FC 8

Gavin Kelly vs. Darren O'Gorman II announced for Akuma FC 8

Akuma Fighting Championships will return on July 2nd in the Templeton Hotel in Northern Ireland and the Akuma Bantamweight Title will be on the line as Gavin Kelly (8-3) faces off against Darren O'Gorman (3-1) for a second time.

They first met at BattleZone 13 in Dublin in June of last year. O'Gorman walked away with the submission win during the first round.

Kelly comes into this fight fresh off a victory over Irish MMA veteran Steven McCombe at Clan Wars 24 last month to claim their bantamweight title. Before that he won the Chaos FC title by beating Neil Ward and now the grappler will look to make it three Irish pro titles in as many fights.

The last time we saw O'Gorman in action was at BAMMA 22 in Dublin in September of last year. It wasn't the best night for the Corkman as he was TKO'd halfway through the first round of his fight with Frans Mlambo. Before that thought he claimed three straight submission wins, which includes one over Kelly.

This promises to be an interesting affair with O'Gorman looking to get back on track and Kelly looking to both avenge a loss win another pro title.

An array of Irish talent competing at Frontline in Scotland

An array of Irish talent competing at Frontline in Scotland

On Top Promotions in Scotland are bring a whole host of pro and amateur MMA talent from all over the Ireland for their 'Frontline' show scheduled for May 28th in Linwood just south of Glasgow.

Representing Ireland will be Northern Ireland's Heat MMA and Dublin clubs Kokoro and Malahide. 

The list of Irish MMA competitors include the following:

Pro - Barry McGuigan (Heat MMA) vs. Scott Malone

Pro - Michael Putlak (Heat MMA) vs. Aidan Stephen

Am - Hugh Gleeson (Kokoro) vs. Nik Binning

Am - Barry Hanna (Malahide) vs. Reece McEwan

Am - Alex Budoiu (Kokoro) vs. Calum Murrie

Am - Ciaran Fagan (Kokoro) vs. Lee Johnstone

The full and finalised fight card has yet to be announced so there could be changes and/or additions to the following list.

Please 'like' Combat Gear on Facebook and following us on twitter @COMBATGEARie.

Check out our range of Venum:

 

Pre-Fight interview with Neil Seery ahead of UFC Rotterdam

Pre-Fight interview with Neil Seery ahead of UFC Rotterdam

Neil Seery speaks with Talking Brawl's Niall McGrath ahead of his fight in Rotterdam this Sunday.

Seery will headline the Fight Pass prelims (click here to read more) against the number 5 ranked Kyoji Horiguchi in what will be the biggest fight of his long career.

Tito Ortiz warns McGregor not to fight the UFC

Tito Ortiz warns McGregor not to fight the UFC

If there is any man who knows what it is like to butt heads with the UFC it is 'The Huntington Beach Bad Boy' Tito Ortiz. 

For years himself and the UFC had public and private disputes over contracts, payment, and opponents. All of which nearly lead to Tito and Dana White spending time in a boxing ring together.

Whether Tito was right or not in his demands is neither here nor there. He knows what it is like to fight the UFC and at the time he would've felt he was right about what he was standing up for. But now with years of hindsight behind him he feels that things could've been handled differently and urges McGregor to consider everything before fighting the UFC.

"I made some bad decisions with the UFC, with Dana and I've been talked bad about from them from Dana, and I look back on it and wish I would have done things a lot different. I just, I hope Conor makes the right decisions, and at the same time, but makes the decision for his future," said Ortiz on Chael Sonnen's podcast (as transcribed by MMAFighting.com).

"He's only 28. Let him sit out for a little bit. Let him see how much money the other fighters can make the UFC. Which they can. The UFC, they are the star. They're gonna make the money. They'll keep bringing more and more fighters in and Conor's going to miss out on a year or two and then he'll have to cave in and ask what Dana and Lorenzo [Fertitta] want him to do...

"We're fighters. We go out there and we'll open a window of opportunity and they're only open for so long and we have to take advantage of that time right then. When I did it, I was 30-31 years old maybe it was a little too late that I should have did it but I did it right. I was okay with the money that I got, the money that I made. So hopefully Conor makes the right decision."

Norman Parke to fight at FFC in September

Norman Parke to fight at FFC in September

UFC veteran and TUF Smashes winner Norman Parke has his first fight announced since his somewhat surprising UFC exit earlier this year after his loss to Rustam Khabilov.

The Northern Irishman will face the undefeated Valdo Sikic (10-0) in the FFC promotion in Austria this September. Parke revealed the news via his facebook page:

"Hi guys! I'm now announcing that my next fight will be against undefeated 10-0 striker "Valdo Sikic" this will be main event on FFC ( Final Fight championship) in Austria, September. This is where my next journey starts, I will be heading out Thailand to prepare for this fight and be in the best possible shape I can. I promise to finish him in this fight and get back to my best!"

29-year-old Parke went 5-3-1 in the UFC over the space of three years and proved himself as one of the toughest to beat. All of his loses were via decision and never looked in any danger during any of them. His last win came against Reza Medadi in Dublin last October.

Neil Seery to headline the Fight Pass Prelims

Neil Seery to headline the Fight Pass Prelims

The Fight Pass Prelims have become an ever growing staple for UFC events and the spot of headlining them is something fighters aim for.

Recently fights like Diego Sanchez vs. Jim Miller and Dustin Poirier vs. Joseph Duffy have been slotted in and now Neil '2Tap' Seery (16-11) will officially be headlining the prelims on Fight Pass.

Seery faces former title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi (16-2) at UFC Rotterdam this weekend in what many consider the most important fight in the Team Ryano fighter's long storied career.

The 36-year-old has went 3-1 in his past four fights in the UFC which includes a 'performance of the night' bonus in his last fight when he beat Jon Delos Reyes via submission. A win over Horiguchi, a fighter who went within just one split second of going the distance with champion Demetrious Johnson last year, could put Seery within title contention. 

 

Our brands