Five things we learnt from BAMMA 25

Posted on by Tony Quant

BAMMA 25 was arguably the biggest show of the companies history and the roster of #BAMMA25 did not fail to deliver.

With a total of sixteen bouts throughout the night, including four Title fights there was plenty of action to recap but to keep things simple I have compounded down my opinions into a list of just five of my personal highlights.

So sit back and enjoy, 5 things we learnt from BAMMA 25;

Duquesnoy destined for big things

There is absolutely no denying that Tom Duquesnoy is the best European talent outside of the UFC right now. Duquesnoy dropped down 10lbs to face Shay Walsh for his BAMMA World Bantamweight Title and for the second time on the bounce proved that he is definitely not loosing any power with the extra weight cut. Duquesnoy stopped Walsh with one of the most nasty elbows from the clinch, stopping Walsh for only the second time in his career and cementing Duqesnoy’s legacy as a two weight BAMMA World Champion. The sky really is the limit for the “Firekid” and I really like his approach to not rushing things and wanting to jump ship into the UFC, which I think will take place in only matter of time. You can see the devastating finish in the video below;

Else and Arthur bring down the house

There was a lot of animosity between these two 135lbers going into this huge fight but that was quickly cast aside as soon as the cage door locked and both men were focused on the task at hand. Although this fight only lasted just under one round, it really had everything you would expect from an MMA bout featuring two elite level athletes. But the real battle which proved to lead to the eventual ending of the fight was won on the ground and it was Arthur who was able to show off his slick ground game and get himself into a position in which he reigned down enough strikes for the referee to call a halt to the bout. You could argue that Else wasn’t too badly affected and there was only a matter of seconds remaining in the round, but fighter safety must come first and the finish definitely didn’t have any detrimental impact on just how exciting the four minutes and fifty seven seconds were.

Diakiese ends feud and stakes claim for World Title shot

There is absolutely no denying Marc Diakiese is on a whole other level at the moment and just continues to get better and better every time he steps into the cage. The only difference going into this fight was that it had become personal between him and Kane Mousah, but the BAMMA Lonsdale Lightweight Champion didn’t let that get into his head. The bout started with both guys circling and trying to find their range and then BANG, just like that Diakiese unleashed a monstrous right hand (the same which put Rick Selvarajah away at BAMMA 22) and that was it. There is absolutely no denying that Diakiese should now be the next man in line for a BAMMA World Lightweight Title shot and I would struggle not to back him against any 155lber on the BAMMA roster.

A new Featherweight contender emerges

Whilst it may have been both of their BAMMA debuts at #BAMMA25, Ronnie Mann and Graham Turner are two household names who could arguably walk into most European promotions and demand to fight the best guys on the roster. So BAMMA decided to pit them against each other in a 145lbs clash and Ronnie Mann certainly lived up to his “Iron” nickname, stopping Turner in devastating fashion. Turner had a tough weigh cut going into this fight and didn’t make the 145lbs limit, which in hindsight was probably a good thing as if he had dehydrated anymore the damage he took from a right hook may have had an even more dangerous impact. Thankfully Turner was back to his feet quickly and attended to by the medical staff. The veteran Ronnie Mann looked in superb condition and was very relaxed in the cage and he will definitely be a handful for anyone BAMMA choose to match him with.

Keep an eye on Jai Herbert

One of the single best performances of the night for me was Jai Herbert who defeated fellow undefeated Lightweight Tony Morgan to move his professional record to 4-0. It was the second time I had been lucky enough to see Herbert fight live and he seems to have just come on leaps and bounds even since his last fight which was only 6 months ago. The thing that has stood out to me about his performances is just how calm Herbert is inside the cage and the shot selection he uses, he doesn’t just go in throwing everything but the kitchen sink and it really pays dividends to his performances. Even when he clearly has his opponent hurt he doesn’t swarm in and over commit, he carefully takes his time to pick his shot and make sure when he lands a shot its on target. A huge talent who will just keep progressing and getting better and better with experience and I think BAMMA have a huge talent on their hands with Herbert who is definitely one to keep your eyes on if you haven’t already.

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