MAX Xtreme Fighting, presented by Cage Wars Productions, enjoyed another successful evening of MMA in Belfast’s King’s Hall on Sunday 9 March.

The hotly anticipated event saw a host of exciting bouts between some of the most well-known names in European MMA and some of the best up-and-coming young fighters.

PRO FIGHTS

Dan “The Beast” Severn v Colin “Big C” Robinson
“Big C” had an unlucky turn of the cards with a close fought loss against Dan “The Beast” Severn. Dan scored a win after three rounds was rocked in the first when “Big C” let his strikes fly but “The Beast”, being a master of the spoil, scored the take downs and landed knees from side control.

Michael Nichol v Jimmy Mills
Mills’ cool as a cucumber performance saw him win over Nichol by an anaconda choke. This was Mills’ third Belfast performance and his confidence with the crowd was apparent. Nichol, who took on the fight at short notice, came out aggressively at points but was powerless wo win against Mills, a fast rising star of MMA.

Lee McKibben v James Head
McKibben came up short against Head even though he had dominated the fight with strikes and leaving him with a very large mouse under his left eye. At one point he even shook the US warrior with a vicious right cross but Head locked in a triangle and scored the submission.

Chris Stringer v Tim Estes
A close second for fight of the night was Stringer’s fight against another undefeated US fighter – Tim Estes. The two fighters are good strikers and the first round pace was furious with both ending up on their back at different times in the round.
By the end of the third round the fighters were exhausted and only sheer heart and a desire to win kept them both going, especially after Estes was caught in a triangle choke which would have rendered most fighters unconscious or tapping. Stringer scored the victory in a very close match which had the crowd on their feet.

Peter “Slam” Duncan v Tom Ahern
Without a doubt the fight of the night. “Slam” fought a see saw three-round war with top ranked, undefeated win nine wins in a row, USA wrestler Tom Ahern.  This fight moved at a high pace with both excellent ground work and stand up action. Duncan earned the victory with a unanimous decision with all the judges scoring it 30-27 to Duncan.
Ricardo De Oliveira v Gareth Loye
Ricardo gave a great display against Gareth Loye and scored a submission victory over the very tough undefeated Belfast fighter. The Brazilian had a very slick Ju Jitsu game and moved from submission attempt to submission attempt until he earned the tap.

Daniel Abrol v Danny von Bergen
As always with Abrol this fight was full of fireworks. His opponent, the equally explosive von Bergen, this fight was down to who got their shots off first.  Von Bergen went straight to work landing some fast shots and shooting for the clinch. Abrol scrambled but looked stunned from the opening shots. Von Bergen worked into a control position and then slipped effortlessly into an anaconda choke for a quick win in round one.

Ciaran Kelly v Adam Salowski
Kelly, a crowd favourite, made his usual strong entrance building on the anticipation of the crowd. Salowoski went straight into submission attempts and Kelly was caught in a guillotine choke.

Paddy Montgomery v Dominic McConnell
Montgomery bounced across the ring and appeared to stumble. Wearing wrestling boots nay have been undoing as he appeared slower and less precise. A quick scramble lead to Mc Connell taking Montgomery’s back for a RNC.

SEMI-PRO FIGHTS

Ali McLean v Gareth Lyons
Crowd favourite Ali was very unlucky to be caught with arm bar in the first. McLean showed some dominance in the early part of the round but Lyons played the waiting game and identified the opportunity for the submission.

Noel Dugan v Chris Gallagher
These MMA newcomers set off at a ferocious pace.  Gallagher dominated with good strikes and kicks and caught Dugan with an anaconda choke in the 1st round.

Jamie Graham v Chris McCaffrey
Graham started the fight with excellent strikes landing some heavy hands and raising a large mouse under McCaffrey’s right eye. McCaffrey pulled an excellent arm bar to force a submission in the first round.