MMA takes centre stage this week with two massive promotions, one close to home and the other Down Under.
UFC 127 touches down in the Acer Arena in Sydney in the early hours of Sunday morning live on ESPN and is laden with talent like Michael Bisping, Curt Warburton and Tom Blackledge. But just a few hours before their Wolfslair team-mate Leeroy Barnes will be doing his thing on the groundbreaking BAMMA 5 bill at the MEN Arena.
Former UFC star Paul 'Semtex' Daley tops the Manchester bill which is easily BAMMA's biggest and best promotion yet.
Despite a disappointing end to his UFC career, Daley remains one of the biggest draws in European MMA and this weekend he hits the North West in familiar, explosive style.
Japan's Yuya Shirai has made the trip from the East and his 20-8-0 record featuring nine stoppages suggests that this one may not go the distance.
The BAMMA welterweight title will be up for grabs and Nottingham puncher Daley, himself now 20-9-2, is confident that fight fans are in for a treat.
The 12-fight card also features former Pride and UFC heavyweight star Ricco Rodriguez, whose extensive Octagon record features names like Randy Couture, Antonio Nogueira and current man of the moment Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva. The 45-11-0 New Yorker, currently on a run of 10 straight wins, takes on Londoner James McSweeney, the former TUF contestant, who is himself looking to claim a mammoth scalp to try bounce back from his short-lived UFC stint.
Merseyside regular Alex Makhonin also appears on the main card, the Lancastrian taking a big step up in class from domestic level to challenge another fighter with UFC experience, Frenchman Xavier Foupa-Pokam. Scouse fight fans will recall 8-1-0 Makhonin's recent winning displays on the last few OMMAC bills at the Liverpool Olympia.
However, the bulk of MMA supporters making the trip up the M62 this Saturday will undoubtedly be doing so in support of Barnes.
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| Wolflsair's Leeroy Barnes features on this weekend's BAMMA 5 card at the MEN Arena |
The Wolfslair welterweight has taken his show on the road after a couple of early fights on Merseyside and has suffered some mixed results against good quality domestic opposition. His 4-6-0 record hides a real dedication to his craft and after stringing together back to back wins for the first time in his MMA career the popular scrapper is confident of adding to his revival this weekend.
Norwegian novice Mohsen Bahari, with just one pro win on his slate, will be in the opposing corner in Manchester and despite him being something of an unknown quantity, Barnes has benefited from a great training camp and is raring to go.
"I feel great, I just want to get in there now and do my thing. I've had a great camp for this fight and I am looking forward to fighting on my first BAMMA show."
BAMMA 5 Full Fight Card:
Paul Daley v Yuya Shirai
(Welterweight Championship)
Ricco Rodriguez v James McSweeney
Alex Makhonin v Xavier Foupa-Pokam
Claudio Henrique Da Silva
Undercard:
v Jean-Francois Lenogue
Daniel "Denzil" Thomas v AJ Wenn
Leeroy Barnes v Mohsen Bahari
Rob Mills v Leigh Cohoon
Jason Ball v Peter Duncan
Paul Cook v Michael Johnson
Costas Doru v Liam James
Franky Slater v Jeremy Petley
* Tickets are priced from £25 and are available via ticketmaster.co.uk
NICK PEET
Tim Newman v Diego Vital
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