After experiencing setbacks that cancelled his last show, Bruce Marshall fires back with Combat Zone 23: Down and Out. This card is highlighted by the first local one-night tournament in over a year. What started out as two ambitious 8-man tourneys was whittled down to one 4-man, but it is still stacked with talent. On top of that, fans get to see a rematch of one of the best comebacks in local history, as Mandela Kponou replaces Nate LaMotte to take on John Howard. The card shapes up like this:

Vincent Carita – South Shore Boxing Club vs. TBA

Matt Scribner – Independent vs. TBA

Donald Peters – TNT Warriors vs. Calvin Katter – NEAMA (165 lbs.)

Mark Giove – SSSF vs. Damien Montanez – EWKK (155 lbs.)

Robert Pelkey – Independent vs. Jason Bailey – Ripper Ricardo’s Torture Horde (185 lbs.)

I’ll be honest, I don’t know three out of these four fighters. But here’s what I do know: Mark Giove is awesome to watch at shows. No one goes more nuts to see his friends win. When an SSS guy gets his hand raised, expect Giove to go balls-out insane. I also know that “Ripper Ricardo’s Torture Horde” is a friggin’ awesome name for a school. Provided this guy doesn’t come to the ring in a gimp outfit with a ball gag in his mouth, I’ll be rooting for him.

Jason Hathaway – ROC vs. Jason Dublin – Sherman’s MMA (185 lbs.)

This is an interesting fight between two of the best guys around with losing records. Hathaway’s notorious for taking on anyone, anywhere and has stepped up to some of the best competition around Massachusetts. He gave Pat Schultz a hard fight and took on guys like Nuri Shakir, Marcus Davis, and Melvin Guillard. Dublin’s got his own share of impressive opponents, such as John Howard, Mandela Kponou, and wins over Jerry Spiegel and Randy Rowe. Both men have decent wrestling, although I would give the striking and submission edge to Dublin. Look for this one to go to a decision, with whoever controls the position to get the W.

Paul Tomasi – Dragon Warrior vs. Jay Jodoin – Strikezone (155 lbs.)

Jodoin came out firing and won two in a row with quick stoppages, but was derailed in his WFL Title hopes by champion Cesario de Souza. Despite the loss, Jodoin looked strong, taking down the champ before getting caught in a tight arm bar. Tomasi lost his first match by TKO in the first round. Look for aggression from Jodoin that will give him the match.

Andrew Carron – Strikezone vs. Chris Plourde – Valor (155 lbs.)

Carron’s looked good in both of his matches, even winning Match of the Month for his slugfest with CNYMMA’s Chris Ramos. Plourde’s 1-0 with one submission, and, dammit, he lists his school as “Valor.” That right there screams “Hard fought match.”

Ralph Green – Independent vs. Eddie Saldana – Sit Yod Tong/BTT (200 lbs)

The first of two scheduled rematches sets to answer questions left by their first match. In it, Eddie came out hard and clinched. In the process, Ralph clipped him with a punch and opened a cut. Eddie got a takedown to mount, but the gash was too deep, and the referee was forced to stop the fight. Saldana was understandably frustrated and Green was understandably happy for the win, but a rematch was definitely in order. Since the match, Green stepped up and was defeated by local monster Lance Everson. Saldana hasn’t fought, but he was 2-0 before the match. Although Green is tough, I think he got lucky in the last match. If Eddie had thicker skin, he’d be 3-0. I expect Saldana to walk away with a TKO victory this time.

Combat Zone Cruiserweight Title (183-189.9#)

John Howard – Chinese Kickboxing Club (Defending Champion) vs. Mandela Kponou – Dragon’s Lair

The second scheduled rematch of the night is between two of MassMMA’s top 10 185 pound fighters. They met over two years ago with Howard taking the win by heel hook. Mandela was controlling the fight early on, but was guilty of having a little too much fun in the ring. He showboated and ended up getting caught. John took the W and the WFL title, while Mandela took half of John’s front tooth. So Howard just got lucky and Mandela should destroy him, right? Well, maybe on the first, but definitely not on the second. Howard’s improved immensely since that fight. His wrestling and positional control is amazing, and his submissions have improved even more. After watching Kponou’s match against Lance Everson, Howard could implement the same strategy, holding him down and raining down punches. However, Mandela has his strong points. His submission game has always been sharp. Along with that, he has incredible hands. I swear that guy hides bricks in his gloves. If this fight stays standing, look for Mandela to use his reach and crisp, technical punches to score a KO or decision. However, if Howard gets a hold of him, watch for a big slam and a chess-like ground match, in which I predict John to win.

Now comes the fun part. Four little guys enter, one little guy leaves. It’s the Combat Zone 145-pound tournament, with the winner getting $3000 and a hearty slap on the ass from Bruce Marshall himself. The actual matches haven’t been announced, so let’s look at each fighter’s strengths, weaknesses, and chances of winning.

Ben Manseau (Team Woo-MFS)

Normally, you wouldn’t call a guy that’s 5-0 with 5 submissions a “dark horse” but that’s exactly what Manseau is in this tournament. The reason is simple. Unlike the other three, he has yet to face, let alone defeat, a MassMMA top 10 fighter. That’s not to say Manseau isn’t worthy of his spot, it just raises suspicion. In his five matches, he’s outclassed every one of his opponents. His guard is excellent, as he showed in his triangle wins over Jonathas Lopes and Mike Bodner. His grappling skills are top-notch, but the problem is that so are the skills of the other three. With the exception of Lopes, no one that he’s fought has had a reputable ground game. Manseau’s chances stack up like this: If he faces Pedro or Bicalho, he’ll have fits trying to do anything to them. If he faces Brandao, his best chance is to pull guard himself and attack from there. But as I said, Manseau is the dark horse.

Aguilano Brandao (BMAC)

The only fighter to hold a win over another fighter in the tournament, Brandao has been tearing it up and submissionizing nearly everyone he can get his hands on. He holds wins over ranked 145-pounders Henrique Bicalho and Chris Grandmaison as well as various fighters from the Calloway Cup, with his lone loss coming to Dan Ferrer. Brandao’s game is pretty simple: pull guard, triangle or arm bar. Everyone sees it coming, but no one can do anything about it. He can take a tremendous amount of punishment because he is so focused and confident in getting the tap. However, his biggest strength also tends to be his biggest weakness in this format. Pulling guard and taking punishment for the sake of a submission is not conducive to winning two fights in one night, especially against top-flight competition. He might be able to pull it off against his first opponent, but will he have enough gas in the tank for his second? Brandao’s chances against his possible opponents look like this: Against Manseau it turns into whoever can pull guard first. Against Bicalho he comes in with the mental advantage, holding a win over him already. Matt Pedro looks to be his toughest match, as Pedro has been in the grappling game forever, and is far too crafty to let Brandao impose his game on him. I expect Brandao to get past his first opponent, or at least give a good fight, but the second match is going to be very tough on him.

Matt Pedro (Team Pedro)

If you haven’t heard of Matt Pedro’s skills, you probably haven’t met him. Although he’s only had one fight three years ago, that match was a submission win over WFL Champion Dan Ferrer. As stated before, Pedro’s been grappling for years and has some notable wins. Even in some of his losses he has gone the distance with BJJ black belts. He may not be known well, but he is dangerous. He comes from the famous Pedro family of Judo and probably knew how to ippon someone before he was potty trained (Which, I believe, was about two weeks ago. Congratulations Matt on getting your big boy underwear!). Against Manseau and Brandao he has a distinct advantage, as he can at least fend off a submission, if not advancing position and gaining one himself. I think that two things will be his biggest threats. Firstly, Bicalho is dangerous due to his ferocity and heavy hands. Before tapping out Ferrer, Pedro was knocked into the ropes with a hard right. He recovered for the win, but it left a question mark on his jaw. Henrique comes out looking to kill, and if he hits Pedro on the mark, it could be the end of his night. The second roadblock is his time away from the ring. Will he be ready for the cold water shock of getting back in not just once, but possibly twice in the same night? That factor alone may do more to derail Pedro than his opponents.

Henrique “Pitbull” Bicalho (Dragon’s Lair)

Bicalho’s coming into this match sporting a 6-2 record, being the only blotch on the careers of local standouts Josh Grispi and Matt Smith. He has yet to go to a decision and has looked amazing in his wins. He combines fast, hard hands with a mean ground game to put an all-around attack that is painful to receive but fun to watch. However, the Pitbull’s weakness is one that could cost him dearly on Saturday night: his cardio. Both of his losses have come because he was completely gassed, whether it was a late submission to Aguilano Brandao, or not being able to answer the bell against Rafael Rebello. Both matches were fantastic, but both also took a lot out of him. In a tournament format, your biggest friend is cardio. Hopefully Bicalho’s been working on it, but if he’s not he’ll gas out in either the semi-finals or finals. He has three very tough opponents facing him, and any one could catch him at any time. On top of that, he faces the mental challenge of possibly fighting someone who he has already lost to in Brandao. If Bicalho can keep his gas tank running he could walk away with the $3000, but if not, look for his night to be over after giving it his all.

So, in light of all these observations about these fighters, who is my pick to win it all? Who do I think will send three other top-notch fighters down to pick up three grand? Personally, I think Matt Pedro will take it all, but none of the other guys would surprise me. In the three-way battle between EFI, Untamed and Combat Zone to get your thirty-five bucks, give some serious consideration to the card that Bruce Marshall has put together. The tournament alone will be worth it.