Fast on the heels of their earlier announcement, top european mixed martial arts promotion BAMMA have this afternoon added two bouts between Mark ‘The Hand of’ Godbeer and Thomas Denham as well as well as the heavyweight clash between Blackpool’s own Karl Etherington who will be making his UK return against Poland’s Kamil Bazelak.
Mark Godbeer vs Thomas Denham (Heavyweight)
After recovering from a series of injuries, Mark ‘The Hand of’ Godbeer (8-2) makes his returns to action after signing a long term deal with BAMMA to join their growing heavyweight division. In his previous appearance for promotion, the 31-year old who trains out of Trojan Freefighters scored a 1st round TKO win (corner stoppage) over Catalin Zmarandescu at BAMMA 9. With the ink now dry on his new contract, Godbeer plans to make the most of his time in the BAMMA heavyweight division starting with his fight against Denham:
“Really pleased to be fighting for BAMMA once again, have a good stylistic match up against Thomas Denham, the guy seems to have a good wrestling pedigree and also improved a lot on his boxing skills, I can see this being a really good fight for the BAMMA fans as always I will be looking to entertain and will always look to finished. this fight will be a stepping stone on my quest to gaining that BAMMA belt. Thomas will be in for a shock when he discovers he’s in with the new me.”
“For this camp I will be doing the first half in tiger Muay Thai working with some big experienced heavyweights. Also working along side some world class coaches. I’m currently doing a lot of groundwork and working a lot of striking defence, the second half I will be training from a local gym from me all or nothing bridgwater. working numerous things dragging in guys from around the area to help me with this camp.”
Thomas Denham returns to BAMMA after his last appearance at BAMMA 12, where he faced Brett ‘The Spartan’ McDermott in a light heavyweight matchup. Denham took the victory over McDermott who had taken his debut fight at short notice. Previous to that, Denham came up short against Mike ‘The Nightmare’ Neun at BAMMA 11 in London. On making his return to take on Godbeer, Denham stated:
“Happy to be back on BAMMA, Mark is a tough seasoned heavyweight. This will be my third test at heavyweight against top 20 ranked opponents. The venue and atmosphere will be electric as Blackpool’s nightlife is well known, I look forward to putting in a solid performance.”
Karl Etherington vs Kamil Bazelak (Heavyweight)
After winning his first 9-fights, hometown boy, Karl ‘The Wrecking Machine’ Etherington, would suffer the first defeat of his professional career against American Bobby Lashley at Bellator 130. With his record standing at 9-1 and all finishes, the 39 year old is now looking to get himself back into the win column and plans on doing it in style in front of his hometown crowd on the 28th March at the Winter Gardens:
“I am very excited to be fighting for BAMMA in my hometown of Blackpool. My huge support will give BAMMA a great reception and create an amazing atmosphere in the Winter Gardens. It’s going to be fight of the night for sure! The Wrecking Machine has come home!”
Kamil ‘Vanderlei’ Bazelak is a 40 year old Polish born Heavyweight from Lodz. His current fight record is 1-3, with his first professional victory registered in his last fight against Jacques Mwamba via Keylock submission. Fighting out of VTP Gym, the 1st Dan Karate practitioner & Polish strongman aims to make an impact at BAMMA in Blackpool.
“I am very excited to be fighting for BAMMA in my hometown of Blackpool. My huge support will give BAMMA a great reception and create an amazing atmosphere in the Winter Gardens. It’s going to be fight of the night for sure! The Wrecking Machine has come home!”
BAMMA 19 goes down on Saturday, March 28th 2015 at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool and is headlined by a main event which see lightweight’s Martin Stapleton Vs. Jeremy Petley do battle.
Updated BAMMA 19 fight card
Martin Stapleton Vs. Jeremy Petley (Lightweight)
Ashley Grimshaw Vs. Orestes Bertran (Featherweight No.1 Contender Bout)
Jack McGann Vs. Marc Diakiese (Lightweight)
Mark Godbeer vs Thomas Denham (Heavyweight)
Karl Etherington Vs Kamil Bazelak (Heavyweight)
