One of the biggest UK fights possible has been officially announced as Scott Askham will finally go toe-to-toe with ‘The Bigslow’, Luke Barnatt at the Sheffield Arena on 23rd September.
Both of these fighters have flown the flag for the UK in the middleweight division both domestically and abroad. From competing on the regional and national shows all the way up to the fighting on the biggest stages for the biggest promotions but despite the fact that they have earned their wares in the same weight-class and, at some points in their careers, in the same promotion this fight has previously failed to happen.
Although their paths have never crossed they have certainly been on each others radars as fans for each fighter have fuelled the fire with the constant question of who would take the bragging rights if this clash ever happened. Well, that question is just weeks away from finally being answered.
Some thought this fight was set to be filed in the ‘what if’ section of UK MMA after Luke Barnatt made the move to Light-Heavyweight for his last fight against Swedish Man Mountain Max Nunes but after Barnatt dispatched Nunes in under a round he took to the mic to make this statement: ‘That was my second fight at light-heavyweight a division I now have two wins and two knock outs in so my future does lie here but I have one more bit of business down at middleweight, a fight the fans have been after for a long while, so Scott Askham I’m coming for you! ACB, lets set this up for September! Scott, I’m coming to knock you out!!’
When asked his response to this statement Askham replied ‘He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! He’s the one who’s been knocked out twice and I’ve never been finished. This fight has been a long time coming and I’m coming to take his head clean off!’
Further fuel will be added to the fire this coming Saturday at ACB 65 in Sheffield as both fighters will face-off in the cage at this event and ahead of their big fight in September. Askham was adamant that when they actually do look into each others eyes Barnatt will realise he’s bitten off more than he can chew! ‘It’ll be a different story when he looks in my eyes. He can’t hide behind a keyboard then so let’s see what he has to say when we come face-to-face!’
Barnatt has never been one to back-down from a fight though and with his impressive record and with being the higher ranked fighter of the two he will be looking to solidify that position with an impressive victory on September 23rd. When asked about the fight he said ‘The fights not the hard part, the weight cut is the toughest part of me fighting at middleweight but I will make that weight one more time, knock him out and then get back to chasing down that light-heavyweight belt’.
Tickets for this epic fight will be on sale from today at 12pm via www.sheffieldarena.co.uk
To witness them go face-to-face for the first time you can also get tickets to ACB 65 on July 22nd at the Sheffield Arena from JUST £20.