BAMMA World Middleweight Champion Scott Askham (12-0) claimed the biggest scalp of his career so far last night when he defeated Max Nunes (13-2) with a fearce TKO in the headline bout of BAMMA Fight Night 1.
The Yorkshireman established himself as the aggressor throughout the fight, delivering strikes from his opponent’s guard and frequently taking control of Nunes against the fence where knees were exchanged. Nunes showed some signs of striking success with his hands, however the offensive moves were too scarce and thus did little to bother the champion who would again work the fight back to the cage fence. As the position reversed back and forth, Nunes landed a strong knee of his own to Askham’s body however, the challenger was finally broke in the third round when Askham separated from the clinch to let his hands go; Nunes was rocked and gradually beaten towards the canvas as the champion sensed victory. Nunes’ toughness showed as the challenger fought to regain his senses however, Askham’s onslaught continued until the challenger could no longer defend himself.
As two of Europe’s standout middleweights, both Askham and Nunes could potentially have been fighting for a place in the UFC. Unlike Askham’s previous victories, this fight in particular had a real sense of rivalry about it, something that that champion took note of with suggestion that he may be a little less nice in future, and thus decided to call out British UFC middleweight Luke Barnatt with hope that this weekend’s victory has opened the door to the UFC.
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
