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In the early stages, Daley was ice cool as Daniel made the running. The German shot for the left leg but the champion calmly kept his balance. Weichel tried to force the pace with three separate overhand rights, none of which landed. Daley waited. It dawned on Weichel that he wasn’t canny enough to win a stand up battle and he attempted another wild takedown, followed by a forlorn overhand right.

Daley stepped it up. Some swift kicks caused Weichel to hit the deck, but the Champ chose to stand back and keep the fight upright. He measured up with a clean one-two. Watched. Waited. One-two BANG. A devastating knee to the head. It was one of those fight night moments. Heart in the mouth as you experience joy, pain, admiration and concern in a nano second.

The knee crashed into Weichel’s face and the challenger lurched forward. Out from the moment of impact. Game over.

Weichel came to fight and deserves respect for taking the action to Daley. However, throwing overhand rights at a proven power puncher is a bold tactic to say the least.Daley marches on to Cage Rage and some big international fights. If he continues to produce moments like tonight- he will be massive.

Frederic Fernandez V Alex Owen

FX3 World Featherweight Title

Bristol’s Alex Owen claimed the vacant title after a technical ground battle with Fernandez. Owen took Fernandez down early in round one. Despite doing a couple of tours de Frenchman on the canvas, he was unable to find a winning position thanks to his opponents skilful defence.

Round two picked up where the first left off. Owen swept Fernandez to the floor. After more of the same, Owen secured a triangle choke and the French resistance crumbled. A deserved victory, but Alex Owen will need to find a bit extra when he puts his unbeaten record on the line against Brad Pickett at Cage Rage.

Jason Barrett v Nigel Whitear

This grudge rematch highlighted how far MMA has progressed in the UK. Both men went looking for an early finish. Whitear let fly a series of wild haymakers- some of them so late they were almost catching Barrett on the way up. ‘Bad Ass’ Barrett counter punched with clinical precision- but made little impression on the Pitbull.

Whitear is obviously a hard man, but repeated sharp punches take their toll and as long as they stood up, there was only one winner.

Whitear threw another off target haymaker. The pair fell together and ended up on the floor. In no time, an armbar was applied and Barrett tapped.

Both men proved they are true fighters. Whitear snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and Barrett held off tapping so long he required prolonged medical attention and left with his arm in sling. There are, however, massive question marks about where they go from here. Much of the action was pretty sloppy. The most entertaining part of the whole affair was Nigel Whitear’s spectacular celebratory body popping. ‘Bad Ass’; who always talks a good fight, called for rematch on the mic. The muffled reaction suggests that not many people would be willing to pay to see it. The talent pool in UK MMA is growing. Being a ‘name’ is no longer enough to keep you up at the top end of the bill.

Przemyslaw Mysiala V Lance King

This battle of the big men (with Lance being a particularly big man) was a metaphor for modern Britain. The Pole: efficient, methodical. Gets the job done with minimum fuss.

The Englishman: unorthodox, flashes of excitement amid long spells of disappointment. Looks like he enjoys a good time.

Przemyslaw cut off the ring and boxed with the poise of a man who has got the T-shirt. Lance backed off and occasionally launched a windmilling attack which had the crowd on the edge of their seats and boxing purists on the edge of a cliff contemplating jumping off it. Predictably, Mysiala put the ever game Lance away without too much difficulty.

This match clearly demonstrated the cultural differences between two nations. Poland produces highly skilled craftsmen while we produce artists who win awards for cutting cows in half. Of the two, you would rather go to a party with Lance.

Przemyslaw Mysiala is a class act and, judging from the Polish support he draws, some one we will see a lot more of.

Andre Winner V Wesley Felix

Andre Winner had a very close escape as he clung onto his perfect record against the tough Wesley Felix.

Supported by the full Rough House squad, Winner produced the cleaner knees in a prolonged clinch at the start and shaded the ground exchanges that followed. Round two saw a change in fortune. Felix swept Winner to the ground and kept him there with a crowd pleasing throw after Andre escaped. The Londoner used up a great deal of energy attempting to lock in a choke. The two were up again briefly before the round ended with a ground stalemate.

For me it was all square going into the last. Felix looked the more tired, holding his hands dangerously low. In a clinch, each delivered crushing single knees. Andre then let off an eye catching set off four unanswered knees, which will have caught the judges eyes in a close match. The round ended on the deck with Felix in Winner’s guard.

A split decision went to Winner, a useful victory before his big test against M-16 Butlin on home soil in April. Full credit to Wesley Felix, who could easily have sneaked it on another day.

Pick of the Undercard

Lawson Tennant.

A star is born. An eighteen year old kid comes into the cage and is announced as Lawson ‘The Soul Reaper’ Tennant. The giggles around me were barely stifled. Mansfield lad Tennant can fight- nobody who saw him can dispute that. His opponent Ben Vickers was on top for most of the fight. What impressed everyone was the calm reaction of Tennant. After being under the cosh, he rolled into mount midway through round two. The crowd went wild and cheered his every strike till the ref called it off.

Won the fight and won the crowd over. Huge potential.

Azran ‘The Kid’ Quasid

Another calm, verging on cocky, youngster. After being tied up on the ground, he grew impatient and launched a barrage of strikes to end the fight. For a split second, before he landed with the first blow, he left himself wide open. On another day he would have been sparked out. He took a risk and it paid off. Isn’t that why we love this sport. Enjoy it Kid.

Brendan Flannigan

Edged a local derby against Steve Baggaley. Both did their supporters proud with a one round dust up that got the crowd on it’s feet. Flannigan prevailed by ground and pound. It wouldn’t surprise me if these two get it on again.

Venue

Comfy, tiered bench seating- but a leisure centre is a leisure centre. Hence the red plastic school chairs at the ‘VIP’ tables. All leisure centres give me flashbacks to fingering lasses on the fire escape and scoffing Monster Munch. (Being a gentleman, never at the same time)

Crowd

Generally supportive. Good turnout, but thinned dramatically towards the end. Casual fans will not stay for a main event after eleven. Many of those who stayed seemed more bothered about dashing for the car park than applauding Daley’s stoppage. He received his belt in front of a sea of turned heads shuffling for the exit.

Lesson of the night

If you let a load of people into the highly charged atmosphere of the cage after a fight- something unsavoury is likely to happen. It wasn’t Valencia v Inter- but it was silly.

Quote of the Night

Make some muthafucking noise- I’ve just had my arm broken, Jason Barrett on the mic.

Runnner up

Does it hurt when they kick each other? Bloke behind me.

Strange sight of the night

Constantly being tapped for donations by the Reading Marine Cadets in full uniform. The youngsters seemed more interested in the ring girls than the fights. All over Berkshire, I suspect that Sunday saw Mummies telling their little soldiers that they must stop ‘blowing their noses’ on the bed sheets.

Final Thought

Cage Kickboxing. Why?

Full Results

Pete Brake v Jared Farre - win Farre, RD1 Grd & Pnd (B-Class)

Paul Reed v Rob Neesham - win Reed, RD1 Grd & Pnd (B-Class)

Steve Baggaley v Brendan Flannigan - win Flannigan, RD1 Grd & Pnd (B-Class)

Kazys Grigulanias v Pete Mercer - win Mercer, Judges decision (X1 Kickboxing)

Dion Oakes v Azran Quasid - win Quasid, RD1 Grd & Pnd (B-Class)

Ben Vickers v Lawson Tennant - win Tennant, RD2 Grd & Pnd

Wesley Felix v Andre Winner - win Winner, Judges decision

Przemyslaw Mysiala v Lance King - win Prezemyslaw, KO

John Healey v Damien Hamilton - win Hamilton, Judges decision (X1 Kickboxing)

Frederick Fernandez v Alex Owen - win Owen, Triangle choke

Jason Barrett v Nigel Whitear - win Whitear, RD1 Tapout due to arm bar

Daniel Weichel v Paul Daley - win Daley, RD1 KO

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