Unfortunately, nobody here lights a dollar bill on fire with a cigar (or the reverse? hard to know off the top of my head) and there’s no wonderful bullet drama about the bonds of brotherhood.
However, it’s hard to say a Mike Bailey vs. Matt Tremont match doesn’t live up to that billing.
It’s a very simple ten minutes, and all the better for not trying to extend itself beyond that. Matt Tremont hurls around Young Karate and beats his ass, and Our Hero fights back slowly but surely. The kicks always rock Tremont, so it’s not some consistent pummeling, but it’s much easier for Tremont to throw his punch than it is for Young Karate to ever get a break. Add in a few real gross bumps, and it’s a hell of an underdog story, even while Bailey always has a kicker’s chance. As the match goes on, Tremont also starts to see Seedball coming more and more, avoiding big aerial spots, countering him on the apron, and blocking most of his kicks. It all feels like the luckier fighter’s been figured out, until Seedball goes in an entirely new direction at the end, countering Tremont’s well built up Powerbomb into a tight and deep Triangle Choke for the submission.
A classical hoot and a real compact sort of a banger. Ten minutes or so, full of nasty spots and great strikes, and with a clear story to it too. It’s on Youtube, this isn’t hiding from you, so go and watch it.
***
HANDWERK 