Rising star James Hendin (7-1) is set to return to Made 4 The Cage 23 to defend his Lightweight title for the first time against Russian standout Shamil Ghadziev (2-0) this weekend.
With an impressive judo background and hailing from Judo Club Osaka, Hendin was a former judoka for the England squad and even represented Great Britain as a junior. Now, Hendin has taken the amateur Mixed Martial Arts scene by storm at just 19 years of age.
Formerly training under Colin “The Freakshow” Fletcher, Hendin now trains under Nick Hands and Luke Ord at The Unity Gym in Durham as well as additional training at Unit 1 in Seaham.
Hendin had a great start in MMA racking up three wins via submission, before suffering a loss to Carl Hemsley. Hendin then went on a streak of four consecutive wins including a first round TKO win over Scott Devereuex for the M4TC Lightweight title and a decision win over Callum Laskey for the MMA Total Combat Lightweight title. Hendin now holds the Lightweight title for two promotions in the UK regional scene.
“I take every fight seriously so this one is no different from any other fight I prepare for. I put in max effort to get max effect “.
Standing in Hendins way is Russian Shamil Ghadziev who has fought to a first round submission win over Kamil Podlazewski at Combat Challenge North East and a decision win over Thomas Hepburn at Forza Fighting Championship 5. He may only have two fights under his name but that doesn’t mean to say he won’t bring it come fight night.
M4TC promoter Dale Percival says “I personally think these two lightweight amateurs are two of the very best in the UK. As for the fight itself, it could go either way as both are very strong grapplers with Ghadziev being technically a very good wrestler and Hendin having some of the best Judo in UKMMA.
“Both fighters have great fundamentals and one mistake could see it end in an instant. Hendin will be looking to keep that belt before he turns pro and Ghadziev will be looking at taking it away and keep his undefeated record. Who takes it is anyone guess but what I do know is styles make fights and this could be a fantastic fight when these two up and coming fighters meet on Saturday”.
Sponsoring Hendin for his title defence is Biceps Gym Horden.
This will be a great fight to secure the M4TC Lightweight title but who takes it? It will be a cracker that’s for sure!
