It was an evening of highs and lows as the British Association Of Mixed Martial Arts (BAMMA) launched the first of its ‘Fighting Premiership’ events last Saturday. Held in a small-capacity, luxury venue, Room On The River, a crowd of twenty-somethings were treated to close-up views of the action, before heading to a barbeque-serviced garden terrace area in the breaks.

Hosted for the television by OJ Borg and Christian O’Connell, with veteran Ian Freeman in the ring, the event was screened on a 24-hour delay on Bravo. Geared strongly towards their small-screen audience, the presenters were on-hand to talk newcomers through the sport, the structure of the competition, and the fighter’s backgrounds and non-combat interests.

The Fighting Premiership is initially a three-event deal, with the third event, in September, being purely title fights. The 27th June card marked the semi-final of the featherweight, lightweight, middleweight and welterweight categories, with fighters selected from a range of other MMA events across the UK.

Tom ‘Kong’ Watson and John ‘The One’ Maguire went head to head in the middleweight category, with Watson’s stint at Jackson’s MMA in the US lending a marked improvement to his standup. Stating in the pre-fight interview that his game plan was “to try and confuse”, Kong’s attack consisted of solid combination punches and blistering low and high kicks which all hit their mark. Maguire launched a consistent barrage of takedowns, but the assault proved all too brutal, and with a heavy roundhouse causing a suspected broken arm in Round Three, the blows started sending him matward. After waiting for his opponent to stand only to repeatedly fell him, a TKO was awarded to Watson at 2.47.

Going up against Watson on the 26th September will be Denniston Sutherland, whose entirely ground-based match against Gracie Barra Swansea opponent Johnny Phillips led to a tapout from Ground ‘n Pound just 3 minutes 22 seconds into the first round. Unusual in its absence of striking, the prior minutes were spent in a continual cycle of takedowns and sweeps, before the Team Crossface fighter claimed victory.

The welterweight division saw fights between Edgelson Lua and Che’ Mills, and Eugene Fadiora and Nathan Champ. Karate-schooled fighter Edgelson ‘The Edge’ Lua showed an impressive ability to escape from ground-based submissions, but risked a solid knee on belly Ground ‘n Pound position for an armbar attempt in Round Two. It proved ill-judged, as Che’ ‘The Assassin’ Mills recovered and by Round Three had the Edge’s head caught in his lap for an ongoing pattern of blows. A unanimous decision gave the victory to Mills.

Nathan Champ’s boxing background proved futile in the face of multi-faceted opponent Eugene Fadiora. The lead-in interview suggested ‘The Sniper’ was willing to use “hands, knees, legs and feet” to give him an advantage, and with a notable height distance, Fadiora’s extra range left Champ trapped on the outside. Sticking to textbook combination punches followed by low and high kicks, The Sniper cruised to a unanimous decision.

Abdul Mohammed’s wrestling background also proved problematic, as his ongoing takedown attempts were evaded by opponent Tim Radcliffe in the welterweight division. ‘The Slam Man’s’ punches were heavy and dramatic, but repeatedly failed to connect, whereas Radcliffe’s targeted low kicks reaped continual results. As a unanimous decision sent him through to the final, the Nova Forca fighter warned that ‘Heagney better watch out’.

Not that Francis Heagney seemed to have too much to worry about. In the other welterweight semi-final, the Irish London Shootfighters’ representative hurled straight into a combination of strikes and a takedown, leaving Zack Jones trapped against the cage and open to elbows and hammer fists. The fight was stopped 3 minutes and 6 seconds into Round One.Undercard highlights included Team Titan representative Radek Piechnik charging into an immediate Ground ‘n Pound barrage in his fight against Spencer McMorris, and Adam Stanton submitting Dan Movahedi by North South choke within 1 minute 8 seconds of his middleweight match.