Combat Zone 30 takes place this Friday, November 20 from their usual location, Rockingham Park in Salem, NH. They have a stacked card of 12 fighs, and feature a main event between local 170 pound studs John Manley and Dennis Olson, as well as several other top local fighters.

Manley is undefeated, and has wins over Damien Trites and Nick Calandrino. His wrestling is solid, his BJJ is better but we haven’t seen a ton of his striking…which sounds a ton like his opponent. Olson also doesn’t show much of his hands in his fights, and has relied on his slick BJJ to rack up the wins. Both guys have shown that they have the submission skills to take out top fighters on a moments notice, but I think in this one they’ll have to show their stand up. Often times when you put two similar fighters in the cage, their strong suit is cancelled out and they are forced to show all aspects of their game. I’m predicting some boxing from both guys in this one, as they’ll both struggle to take the other down.

Dan Keefe makes his return to the cage when he takes on Brett Chism. I didn’t see Chism when he fought out this way, but Dan Keefe is a stud, and one of the very best 185ers in the area. He hand good hands, great wrestling, and BJJ to match. He’s a handful for anyone, and coming off a win over Woody Weatherby, he’s starting to really make a name for himself.

John Ortolani is set to take on Mike Littlefield in what should be a great fight. Littlefield hasn’t had a ton of luck lately, but he has been fighting stud after stud. Ortolani isn’t an easy fight for anyone, so this is yet another tough fight for Lit. Littlefield should have the BJJ advantage, as well as the advantage in the boxing department, however, Ortolani is a dominant wrestler who hits hard from the top. I see John taking Mike down and from that point it’s all about whether John can beat Mike up before he gets submitted. Mike certainly has the BJJ submit almost anyone locally at their weight class, but on the other hand, Ortolani has the strength and the hands to stop almost anyone locally if he can pound on them from the top. This should be a very interesting fight.

Dan Bonnell vs. Zack Burhans should be another great fight for Combat Zone. Dan has more fights than Zack, but their pretty similar fighters. Dan has the bigger wins, but Zack is yet to taste defeat. Dan should have the better stand up, and the strength advantage, but it’s tough to say who has the better wrestling. I think this one will come down to what Dan Bonnell shows up. He’s been hot and cold lately. Everything went his way against Giove and Cushman, but nothing went his way against Ferrer and LaBerge. If Bonnell shows up and fights lazy, Burhans will take him down and grind him. If the right Bonnell shows up, I could see him keeping it standing and out boxing Burhans. Either way, it should be a war.

Here is the rest of the card:

Dennis Olson (Gracie Barra NH) vs. John Manley (Link)

Dan Keefe (Xtreme MMA) vs. Brett Chism (VMAC/Praxis)

John Ortolani (Gracie Barra NH) vs. Mike Littlefield (Boneyard)

Jared Dumais (Xtreme MMA) vs. Jeff Silva (Premier Fight Team)

Dan Bonnell (Prime FC) vs. Zack Burhans (Bombsquad)

Chad Lightfoot (Connors MMA) vs. Greg Williams (Team Kaze)

Dave Spero (Premier Fight Team) vs. Mike Winter (Bombsquad)

John Green (Green Mountain Boys) vs. Dave Irving (Prime Athletics)

Shelby Young (Gracie Barra NH) vs. Taylor Trahan (Team Kaze)

Melissa Demers (Team Fury) vs. Shannon Harney (DWMMA)

Nate Ainsworth (Team Kaze) vs. AJ Campbell (AC MMA)

Jamie Courtney (Fury) vs. Jesse Menize (Premier Fight Team)