What a year it’s been for BAMMA. WHOA TV were cage side at BAMMA 31 and what a night it was. It will be a hard event to top, but BAMMA will be in one of their regular spots in Dublin’s 3 arena. Here is the card breakdown, this is a joint production with Bellator. BAMMA have 7 fights scheduled while Bellator have 6.
(Welterweight) Ion Pascau vs Omar Jesus Santana: We start off the card with 2 experienced fighters. Santana is making his BAMMA debut while Pascau is a seasoned fighter in the promotion making his 5th appearance. He’s on a 3 – 1 – 0 BAMMA record so far, he will look to make this 4 – 1 – 0. Santana is very proficient on the ground with 11 of his 13 bouts coming via submission. Pascau is however a KO machine. A good way to start the night.
(Featherweight) Dylan Tuke vs David Khalsa: David Khalsa has had and impressive run so far in BAMMA, the only criticism in his last bout against Charlie Howard was not checking kicks, but he held on and won by decision. He faces a difficult opponent in Dylan Tuke. Tuke has a lot more experience then Khalsa, fighting out of SBG, he comes from an esteemed gym. He lost his last bout to Cameron Else on the Bellator portion of the Bellator/BAMMA show last year. He’ll want to get back to winning ways with the home crowd on his side.
(Bantamweight) Blaine O’Driscoll vs Dominique Wooding: At BAMMA 31 Wooding was meant to face Jamie Powell but the fight was cancelled. He lost his BAMMA debut for the interim flyweight belt against Andy Young by submission. A keen striker he will be facing a man on a 4 fight win streak. O’Driscoll also representing SBG and is moving more away from decisions and is getting finishes in particular his last 2 bouts. His BAMMA record is 3 – 0 – 0 and will look to make it 4.
(Welterweight Championship) Alex Lohore(c) vs Richard Kiely: At BAMMA 31, the main event between Lohore/Jones was the grudge match. Once again Lohore wins the grudge match accolade. In his post octagon interview, he called out Kiely and it didn’t take long on social media for Kiely to respond and accept. Breaking it down, Lohore has more experience and is currently on a 9 fight win streak and many would argue pound for pound the best in BAMMA. But Kiely is a beast, he doesn’t have as much experience as the champion but whenever he steps into a BAMMA octagon he knocks his opponents out early. He is only 2 – 0 – 0 in professional MMA but he is the wildcard. This has the potential of being fight of the night.
(Lonsdale Lightweight Championship) Tim Barnett(c) vs Richie Smullen: Someone’s 0 has got to go. At BAMMA 28, Barnett beat Rhys Mckee to become champion, since then Barnett successfully defended his belt with a first round KO over Mario Saeed. Meanwhile Smullen fought former champion Mckee to a draw. Barnett is 5 – 0 – 0 while Smullen is 3 – 0 – 1. Both men have an extensive amateur background. Both men like a finish. This one is a coin toss.
(Vacant Flyweight Championship) Andy Young vs Daniel Barez: An interesting bout, champion vs champion. Young became the interim champ with his win over Wooding at BAMMA 28 whilst Barez became the Lonsdale champ in his win over Ryan Curtis at BAMMA 30. Both have a lot of experience and both are all rounders, with Barez having a higher percentage of finishes where Young is known more for going the distance. This will be a great way to cap off a good card.
That’s our breakdown, let us know your thoughts below, on Facebook and Twitter.