(OMMAC 6: Battle Stars)
Following on from their successful card in June, the Olympian Mixed Martial Arts Championships returns on Saturday with a card headlined by two highly anticipated title fights.
In the main event, John Maguire returns to the venue where he won the Cage Gladiators British Middleweight title when he challenges OMMAC British Welterweight champion Wayne Murrie. The fight between two of the top UK Welterweights is expected to be a war, with both men renowned as solid well-rounded fighters.
Yorkshire based Murrie won the title in March with a dominating Unanimous Decision victory over Pete Irving. That night, he used his ability on the mat to out-wrestle his opponent in a performance that earned rave reviews from martial arts fans. Currently riding a seven fight win streak, he’ll be looking to add another win to the column as he continues his climb up the rankings.
The challenger this weekend is John Maguire, who is coming off the back of a Unanimous Decision loss to Norwegian submission wizard Simeon Thoresen at BAMMA 3. It was his first loss since dropping down to 170lbs fourteen months ago, but Maguire’s solid stand-up throughout continued to impress as he pushed on for the win. With nearly sixty four percent of his wins by submission, he’ll also fancy his chances if the fight goes to the mat.
“I’d say them two and Che Mills and Jimmy Wallhead are the best four unsigned welterweight fighters that are in that division from the UK” says promoter Chris Zorba. “I think a couple of wins for either of these guys and I think they should be stepping on to bigger stuff really”.
The second title fight sees undefeated featherweight Dave Hill take on OMMAC British Featherweight champion Ashleigh Grimshaw in a fight between two of the in-form men in the division. Hill comes in to the fight with an impressive ground game and with several submission victories on his record, including his recent rear naked choke win over John Cullen, the Elements MMA fighter will be hoping to add Grimshaw to his list of victims.
However, the Cage Rage veteran will be no push-over and having recently knocked out highly ranked featherweight Paul Reed at BAMMA 3, Grimshaw will be looking to continue his rise up the division and towards the number one spot. Ready to defend his title following his win over Vaughan Harvey last year, the Team Titan fighter will be looking to stay on his feet and land another big knockout punch.
“The two title fights are getting quite a lot of national interest from the UK MMA scene” states Zorba. “(Ashleigh) Grimshaw versus (David) Hill – a lot of people seem to be talking about it. Dave Hill is unbeaten and Ashleigh Grimshaw is coming off that big knockout win on BAMMA when he knocked out Paul Reed.
“There’s been a lot of hype about David Hill about him being unbeaten and how good he actually is, so I think this is the right time for him to step up against the big boys now” he adds.
Elsewhere on the card, undefeated semi-pro lightweight Uche Ihiekwe makes his pro debut, highly touted Wolfslair prospects Tony Moran and Adam Parkes will be in action and Team Kaobon’s undefeated welterweight Jay Manning will look to end the win streak of proclaimed “Kaobon Killer” Ronan McKay – who has picked up two wins against the team on recent OMMAC events.
“Someone on the internet called him the “Kaobon Killer” says Zorba. “I know Jay Manning is looking to settle the score for Team Kaobon to try and avenge those two losses”.
It’s another great fight that rounds off a solid card – for more information on the event visit www.ommac.tv.
OMMAC 6 Fight card
British Welterweight Title – Wayne Murrie (champ) v John Maguire
British Featherweight Title – Ashleigh Grimshaw (champ) v Dave Hill
77kg Jay Manning v Ronan McKay
84kg Mick Solomons v Steve Behan
HW Adam Parkes v Roy Hales
84kg Tony Moran v Lee Mckibben
70kg Chris Fishgold v Jules Willis
70kg Uche Ihiekwe v Danny Fletcher
77kg Chris Hoban v Kevin Reed
77kg Avi Jack v Nasef Alganga
77kg Danny Withington v Craig Allen
Semi Pro –
93 Kg Matt Wise v Darren Gleed
68kg Greg Severs v Anthony Fisher
60kg Pietro Menga v Jamie Barrett
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