#BAMMA23 is now in the books and what a show it was from top to bottom. The show saw the crowing of four new Champions and also played host to a number of young up and coming fighters to show their skills on the big stage.
So with the card now behind us #WHOATV have looked at a number of fighters from across the card and have come up with some fights we would like to see them compete in next;
Darren Stewart Vs Paul Craig
Someones 0 has got to go! For me this is a great fight with two of Europe’s best Light Heavyweight prospects. Craig proved his dominance at BAMMA 23 stopping Marcin Larzarz in relative ease. Likewise, Stewart has stormed the UKMMA scene in the last year racking up four wins, three by stoppage. Stewart will be defending his Killacam Light Heavyweight Title in December against Frenchman Gregory Pierre, but a win over Pierre could set up a warm welcome to BAMMA against submission specialist Craig. Craig has now finished seven of his eight wins by submission and with a general lack of Light Heavyweight challenges on the scene, could very well see himself competing on a bigger stage in the future.
Nathaniel Wood Vs Ed Arthur
For me this one is inevitably going to happen again so why not now? Arthur is coming off his first career loss and knowing Arthur he will be looking to come back with a test just as hard as his last bout. Step forward Nathaniel Wood. Woods broke his BAMMA curse at BAMMA 23 picking up a unanimous decision win over super tough Bryan Creighton and showed some precision striking on the way to the victory. Arthur will have learnt a great deal in his loss to Walsh and will be keen to jump back to winning ways and get back into that Title picture and a win over someone like Woods would certainly help his argument. Likewise a win for Woods could propel “The Prospect” into a shout at a Title shot a fight or so down the line.
Martin Stapleton Vs Mansour Barnaoui
Stapleton looked superb in defeating Gavin Sterritt in under two minutes and is now the Champion, but how bitter sweet would it be to beat the former Champion who stepped away from the promotion due to contract disputes? Since stepping away from BAMMA, Barnaoui has fought for M-1 twice, once at Lightweight and once at Featherweight but the temptation of coming back to BAMMA for a Lightweight would surely be too much for him to turn down? I think the fight style wise makes for a very exciting proposal and Barnaoui would prove a real test for the newly crowned Lightweight Champion. Aside from his constantly improving skills, Stapleton just seems to have his mind right at this stage of his career and I think we would need to see the very best of Mansour Barnaoui to take that belt away from the new Champion.
Nad Narimani Vs Patrick Pimblett
A fight which BAMMA could easily use to crown either the official Champion or Interim Champion depending on what current Champion Tom Duquesnoy decides to do after his first drop to Bantamweight. Duquesnoy aside, Pimblett and Narimani certainly are two of the best Featherweight’s in Europe and it would have probably been inevitable that these two would have met had Cage Warriors still been about. Narimani returned from over a years lay off and destroyed Jeremy Petley which isn’t an easy thing to do, just ask Martin Stapleton. Pimblett is currently riding a five fight win streak which includes four stoppages and saw him crowned FCC Featherweight Champion. I’m not sure of Pimblett’s arrangements with FCC but I think we could all agree that a fight with Narimani on any stage would be a hell of a scrap.
Stuart Austin Vs Ruben Wolf
Now I’m not entirely sure what happened with Wolf at BAMMA 23 but he did not end up making it to the UK and played no part of the show which was disappointing, but lets move on. He was bought in originally to fight Mark Godbeer for the BAMMA Heavyweight Title but with Godbeer now fighting in the Rizin FF tournament, Stuart Austin is the top Heavyweight in the promotion and he proved that at BAMMA 23. Austin was calm and collective even under pressure and finally was able to pick apart Tom Denham in an impressive second round stoppage. Wolf is riding a four fight win streak and coming off a strong stoppage win over James Mulheron and would make for an exciting opponent for the newly crowned BAMMA Lonsdale Heavyweight Champion, assuming he hasn’t burnt his bridges with BAMMA.