Undefeated bantamweight Ed Arthur (4-0) continued his rapid progression at BAMMA Fight Night this weekend with a submission victory over BJJ black belt Michael Cutting (4-3).
Arthur is quickly becoming renown for his intensity and highlight performances. As fight night drew closer, the eagerness of both fighters saw this main card fight become somewhat of a grudge match and, as Arthur made his way to the cage, a mass of vocal supporters chanted “Eddy, Eddy, Eddy..” as he paced back and forth confidently like a 135lb Nick Diaz, raising his arms and gesturing to his followers.
The opening round was just as exciting and compelling as expected. Non-stop grappling was the story of round-1, the gruelling pace demanded the best of both fighters who constantly transitioned back and forth as submission attempts and the dominant positions were reversed, countered, and traded. The end seemed close as the round closed out, Arthur locked up a triangle choke in the last 30 seconds with plenty time to spare. Impressively, Cutting resisted the submission despite Arthur making several adjustments to improve the hold in search of the tap.
As the second round kicked off, Arthur wasted little time in taking the initiative and backed Cutting into the fence with a flurry of clean punches before dismantling his foe with a series of knees that saw flush connections planted on the face of Cutting. As Cutting went to the ground Arthur closed in and, without needing to secure leg-hooks, grabbed a rear-naked-choke to secure a submission victory.
BAMMA Fight Night 1 results:
BAMMA MIDDLEWEIGHT WORLD TITLE
SCOTT ASKHAM DEF. MAX NUNES via TKO, ROUND 3, 1:50
CATCHWEIGHT BOUT [ 75.5KG/ 166.4)
ARTEM KOTOV DEF. ALEXI ROBERTS via TKO (Referee Stoppage), ROUND 1, 1:04
FEATHERWEIGHT BOUT
ASHLEIGH GRIMSHAW DEF. DRAGAN PESIC via ARM TRIANGLE, ROUND 1, 3:35
WELTERWEIGHT BOUT
ALEX MONTAGNANI DEF. TIM MENZIES via KO, ROUND 1, 1:28
BANTAMWEIGHT BOUT
ED ARTHUR DEF. MIKE CUTTING via REAR-NAKED CHOKE, ROUND 2, 1:58
MIDDLEWEIGHT BOUT
MARCUS MITCHELL DEF. NICK JONES via TKO, ROUND 1, 1:49
FEATHERWEIGHT BOUT
JOSH ROW DEF. ANDY HANNON via UNANIMOUS DECISION (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
MIDDLEWEIGHT BOUT
DAMIEN KORYGA DEF. RICKY MITCHELL via GUILLOTINE CHOKE, ROUND 2, 1:35
Photo: Mark Blundell
