The British Association of Mixed Martial Arts have announced four additions to the card of BAMMA 19, scheduled to take place at the Blackpool Winter Gardens on March 28.
Andy DeVent Vs. Conor Cooke (BAMMA-Lonsdale middleweight title)
Marc Diakiese vs. Jack McGann (BAMMA-Lonsdale British lightweight title)
Brendan Loughnane vs. Steve Polifonte (featherweight)
Lewis Monarch vs. David Johnson (lightweight)
Bryan Creighton vs. Sam Creasey (flywweight)
Boasting a long tradition associated with combat sports, Lonsdale titles are some of the most coveted titles in the world, and at BAMMA 19, two more fighters will assume the mantle of the top British fighter.
Marc “Bonecrusher” Diakiese and Jack McGann will fight for the BAMMA Lonsdale British Lightweight title, last held by UFC veteran Curt ‘The War’ Warburton who defeated Stevie Ray in the first fight of a memorable trilogy at BAMMA 12 in 2013; Warburton vacated the title when he unsuccessfully took on Mansour Barnaoui at BAMMA 13 for the BAMMA World Lightweight Title.
Both McGann and Diakiese are undefeated having made highly impressive starts to their careers. McGann (7-0) took out Kayvan Fallah at BAMMA 17 by forcing a corner stoppage at the end of the first round, and furthermore, each of the 21-year-old’s victories have come in the opening round via stoppage.
In contrast, Doncaster’s Diakiese (6-0) has gone 2-0 in BAMMA so far with a pair of unanimous decision victories over Jefferson George, and Vernon O’Neil most recently at BAMMA 17.
“Im absolutely over the moon for this opportunity given to me by BAMMA,” said Diakiese, “It’s going to be the toughest fight of my career against Jack McGann who’s a very well rounded fighter, but I know where I need to be and what I need to do on the night and I very much look forward to becoming BAMMA-Lonsdale British Lightweight Champion.”
“I was informed today that the fight will be sanctioned for the Lonsdale British Title. It’s an honour and a privilege to be chosen by the BAMMA executives for this opportunity,” McGann responded, “my friend and team mate Brian Rose is the current 4-time Lonsdale boxing champion, for me to bring this belt home in MMA will be a huge achievement for me and my team.
“Lonsdale is part of British fighting culture, and is recognised as a prestigious accolade, I am very pleased. I have prepared extremely well for this fight before this announcement, this will only serve to increase my efforts.
“I want to win and do it with the crowd on the edge of there seats. We’re Wolfslair… We finish fights.”
Andy ‘The Lions Paw’ De-Vent and Conor ‘Da Crook’ Cooke will face off for the right to be the next BAMMA-Lonsdale British Middleweight Champion. Former champion Harry McLeman vacated the title late last year after winning the belt via unanimous decision at BAMMA 15 in a competitive fight with De-Vent.
De-Vent holds an 11-9 professional MMA record. Following the unanimous decision loss to McLeman, of which shattered a 4-fight win streak, the 36-year-old dominated Frenchman Roggy Lawson to force a second round corner stoppage at BAMMA 16 last September.
Cooke (6-5), who fights out of the Next Generation Northern Ireland gym, made his debut in the promotion at BAMMA 16 where he took a hard earned victory over Lee ‘The Butcher’ Chadwick, a team mate of De-Vent at Lion’s Paw MMA.
“I will fight like a lion come the 28th March, that’s for sure,” explained De-Vent, “I will know only one feeling on the night when my hand is raised as the new BAMMA-Lonsdale British Champion, the feeling of victory.”
Cooke responded, “I’m very excited to be fighting for the BAMMA-Lonsdale title against the very tough Andy De-Vent. I’ve had my sights set on this title for quite some time now and I finally have my opportunity to claim it. I’ve no doubt in my mind that the title will be coming back to Ireland with me. I work too hard and give up so much to accept anything other than a victory. This will be a tough test for me, but every fight I have, I improve and I evolve, and I’m going to show how good I really am come March 28th!”
BAMMA matchmaker Jude Samuel added, “The young guns are back and ready to rage war on BAMMA 19. Jack and Marc have carved a way through to the top by taking out some well established names in UKMMA in style. Whichever way this fight goes, their next opponents will have their hands full.
“Always a pleasure to work with, Andy and Conor return after both had defining wins which placed them higher up the middleweight rankings. This fight absolutely made sense and Andy would be looking for a little bit of revenge for his training partner, Lee Chadwick.”
