On march 27 the second opening round of the western Europe region was held in Amsterdam. In a sold out studio two weight classes (light heavyweight and heavyweight) were fighting to determine who is going to the semi finals in May.
Opening fights
1.     (155lbs) Paul Gruntjes, Holland                  vs       Jeroen Janse, Holland
The first fight of the night was Paul Gruntjes against Jeroen Janse. For both fighters this is their first professional fight. However Paul Gruntjes is more experienced because he has a lot of amateur fights under his belt. But that experience didn’t affect Jeroen Janse at all. Jeroen Janse applied a beautiful armbar submission in the first round.
2.     (170lbs) Patrick Asscher, Holland               vs       David Evers, Holland
At the first Selection show in Holland Patrick Asscher had a superfight and lost against Fatih Dogan. This is his moment to redeem himself and put a win under his belt. The only problem was that David Evers wasn’t planning to let him do so. When the fight started both fighters where feeling each other out but out of the blue David Evers hit Patrick with a good punch that made him go to the ground. David smelled blood and pounded away. The referee thought it was enough and called the end of the fight. David Evers wins by TKO
M-1 Selection tournament light heavyweight matches 205lbs
1.     Thomasz Narkun, Poland                           vs       Deji Kalejaiye, Germany
The difference between Thomasz Narkun and “Mad Dog” Deji is huge. Deji looks much bigger and is 10 years older than the 20 year old Thomasz. But don’t judge a book by it’s cover because Thomasz Narkun went for a takedown and controlled Deji on the ground. Thomasz managed to stay on to top. When Deji wanted to get up Thomasz jumped on his back and secured a tied grip. Deji tried to escape but Thomasz had applied a rear naked choke within the first minute and Deji was forced to tap. Thomasz is a great prospect and a big candidate to win the tournament.
2.     Timo Karttunen, Finland                             vs       Johan Romming, France
Johan “Joggi” Romming was the huge favourite coming in to this figh. With a 8-1 professional record he has a huge advantage over Timo Karttunen, who made his debut as a professional fighter. Timo is a well known grappler and is Shooto champion so he has some experience in grappling but not in M.M.A. But Timo showed that grappling is a great base for a M.M.A. fight. Timo controlled the fight most part of the match when it hit the ground and had Joggi in huge problems but Joggi survived until the second round where he was forced to tap through a rear naked choke. Great performance of the Finnish fighter Timo Karttunen.
3.                Davit Tkeshelashvili, Ukraine                      vs       Haik Soukiasian, Holland
The fight started with a explosive takedown of the Ukrainian fighter Davit Tkeshelashvili but he couldn’t control Haik on the ground. Even when Davit had him in full mount he couldn’t bring any damage to Haik. The second and third round was the same as the first round. The fight was evenly matched but because Davit had a slight advantage on the ground it was Davit who took the decision. It was not a great performance of both men but Davit promised in a interview he will do much better in the semi finals.
4.     Hrach Darpinyan, Armenia                       vs       Rody Troost, Holland
Hrach Darpinyan is a young and upcoming fighter with great grappling skills, he even managed to win twice at a grappling competition of UFC fighter Amir Sadollah. Rody is a veteran fighter that made his comeback in the ring. Hrach started the fight well with a straight punch that hit Rody and both fighters are clinching each other. When Hrach went for the takedown Rody hits his head on the canvas and was out of the fight but Hrach didn’t knew and started to ground and pound. Rody tapped immediately and the referee stopped the match. In the replay you could see clearly that it has to be painful. After a few seconds Rody stood up and luckily everything was ok.
M-1 Superfight
5.     (145lbs) Cindy Dandois, Belgium               vs       Dariya Ibragimova, Ukraine
Now it was time for a female superfight. In the first event Cindy made short work of her opponent and this time it was no different. Her opponent Dariya Ibragimova had the same record and age as Cindy so on paper they were evenly matched. The fight starts with a aggressive Dariya but Cindy managed to use her Judo experience and took her down. Dariya escaped and stood up. Cindy tried to get Dariya down for the second time but failed and Cindy ended up in Dariya her guard. From the bottom Cindy is just as dangerous and she had Dariya in a high guard and secured a great double armbar from her back!! Great submission and another great performance of the beautiful battlecat Cindy.
M-1 Selection tournament heavyweight matches
6.     Dawid Baziak, Germany                             vs       Borislav Iglev, Bulgaria
The first heavyweight tournament fight was one of Germans best heavyweights Dawid Baziak against Borislava Iglev. This fight was just fireworks. Both fighters went in the ring to hurt each other. Both fighters came through and took damage at the same time. However it was Dawid who had the better hands and mixed it up with low kicks. When the fight went to the ground both fighter tried for a leglock but Dawid managed to get on top and started with some devastating ground and pound. Borislav tried to escape but gave his back and Dawid applied a rear naked choke. Great performance by both men and this could be the fight of the night.
7.     Guram Gugenishvil, Ukraine                       vs       Jur Dekker, Holland
The second fight was between two big guys. Jur Dekker was a late substitute and took the fight on a two days notice. But his Ukraine opponent Guram Gugenishvil looks too tall, big, athletic and strong for Jur. At the opening of the fight Jur rushed to Guram but Guram managed to get the take down. In that process Jur gave his back and Guram could hook in and secure the rear naked choke. In less than 40 seconds the fight was over. A very easy and short victory. With this easy fight Guram made sure he’s one of the favorites to win the tournament.
8.     Stas Romanov, Holland                              vs       Nills van Noord, Holland
At fight day Stas Romanov cancelled his match against Nills van Noord due to a strange injury. Due to his cancellation on very short notice we didn’t manage to get a substitute fighter in his place. So according to the rules, a forfeit means that Nills will advance to the semi final.
9.                Arya Hosseini, Holland                               vs       Drazen Forgac, Croatia
Only 21 years old, Arya Hosseini has a impressive physic but not very experienced at M.M.A. His opponent Drazen Forgac is just the opposite. His looks are not very impressive but appearance doesn’t say anything. That was made clear in this fight. Arya Hosseini didn’t do much in this fight. Drazen was stalking him and applying the pressure. After a few minutes it was clear that Arya was getting tired and Drazen was waiting for the right moment to finish him. That moment came after 1 minute and 26 seconds when Arya went down with a left uppercut of Drazen. The referee saved him for further damage and stopped the fight.
M-1 Superfight
10.  (170lbs) Fatih Dogan, Turkey                    vs       Kuku Victor, Holland (0-1)
This fight was agreed on a weight of 170lbs, Kuku normal fight weight is 155lbs and he secured himself a spot in the semi final of the lightweight tournament. Fatih Dogans opponent got injured and Kuku wanted to fight him even on 170lbs. Kuku is a strange character and a pure entertainer. That was shown when he came in the ring with his entrance. With crazy dance moves he entered the ring, and the crowed loved it. Not only his entrance is fun to watch also his fighting style is something people love to see. Flying knees, jumping kicks, he will do everything to surprise his opponent. In the beginning of the fight Fatih wasn’t surprised and took Kuku a couple of times to the ground. But the flexible Kuku could stand up and tried to get the advantage on the feet. The fight was evenly matched till the moment Fatih wanted to shoot but Kuku jumped and gave him a devastating knee that knocked Fatih out cold!! This was absolutely the fight of the night.
11. (185lbs) Nathan Schouteren, Holland          vs       Robert Jocz, Poland
The last fight of the evening was Nathan Schouteren against Polish best Robert Jocz. Jocz is considered one of the best fighters in Europe but Nathan never turns down a big challenge. Nathan started good but when the fight went to the ground it was obvious that Robert Jocz was too strong for Nathan. Nathan survived but had to tap due to a arm bar. A great performance of Robert Jocz.
