March 24th will see Supremacy Fighting Championships present the first instalment of the 2012 calender with SFC 9 returning to West Auckland's West Wave Rec center. A full UFC rules fight production featuring 2 NZ Title Fights, supported by a solid under-card of the best and up'n coming MMA exponents from the length of the country.
With SFC NZ Champions “Hot” Rod MacSwain and Gareth “Fists of Fury” Ealey both stepping down from their top spots to pursue international MMA careers, we are left with vacant Welterweight and Middleweight belts and SFC 9 will see those two belts up for contention.
Contesting the vacant NZ Welterweight Title we are proud to announce two of the countries most exciting up'n coming MMA stars. Both have tasted international success when they represented NZ together last year at the Australian Fighting Championships and now they will face each other in a quest for Supremacy over the NZ Welterweight talent pool. The No#1 Contender in this division is Strikeforce KO specialist Jacques Marsters who brings a pro MMA record of 4wins 3 loss 1 draw to the table. Two wins in the SFC Arena by way of knockout. Jacques opponent for this National Championship Bout will be Luke “the Juggernaught” Jumeau who fights out of Incorporated Martial Arts in Hamilton. Jumeau brings to this event a perfect record of 4wins-0loss in pro class MMA. He is an all rounder who can strike with the best of them and is just as at home on the ground, Luke took a win on SFC 7 by way of Triangle Choke over Jacques team mate Roman Hunt earning himself the No#2 spot in the Welterweight division.
Peter “The Bear” Clinch fighting out Hooligan MMA in Dunedin sealed his Middleweight No#1 Contender spot with two wins in the SFC arena, both coming by way of Submission. He brings to the cage an overall Pro Class record of 5W-0L, a South Island MMA Title, and multiple National Titles in BJJ and Submission Grappling. Come March 24th however one man will be standing in his way. SFC NZ No#2 Middleweight Contender, Cole “Showtime” Davids. “Showtime hails from Christchurch by way of Zimbabwe and represents the Strikeforce Gym. He sports an impressive 7W-0L pro class record and has fought on just about every major show in the country including Hammerhead, Shuriken, ICNZ, Kodiak, Cage Warrior and SFC. His unique stand up style has so far been an unsolvable puzzle for most of his opponents and has attracted a lot of attention winning him many fans the length of the country. A classic Grappler vs Striker match with both fighters coming in with unblemished records, but only one can walk away with that honour intact and the Middleweight Strap around his waist ending the others so far unbeaten streak.
If two NZ title fights weren't enough to get your juices flowing, we have a number of other high profile bouts on the under card that could very well change the shape of the MMA landscape here in NZ.
So with this in mind we are proud to announce one of the headline fights of the under-card in the Featherweight Division between former SFC Lightweight Challenger, Scott MacGregor of TFMA in Timaru and “Dynamite” Doug Higgens who fights out of SMAC gym in South Auckland and currently holds the ICNZ Featherweight Title. MacGregor a South Island based NZ Wrestling Champion has dropped in to our new featherweight division after an unsuccessful bid last year to rest the belt from our Lightweight Champion Dan Hooker and believes he will be more comfortable fighting in his natural weight class. He will however have his hands full again come fight night as his opponent has been the stand out MMA exponent at this weight in NZ for quite some time. Dynamite Doug is a seasoned campaigner at 65kg's with a pro MMA record of 6 wins from 9 fights has held the ICNZ Championship Belt since 2009.
Another exciting young talent Dre Rahipere who fights out of Hibiscus Coast MMA returns to Supremacy to take on SGR's Kieran Joblin from Christchurch. Joblin has made a name for himself clocking up wins on Cage Warrior and a number of other South Island shows While Dre is carving his own success story in the North. With both fighters looking to solidify their standings within the division you can be assured this will be one fight not to be missed.
Middleweight stand outs Rob Baxter and Forrest Goodwin both returning to SFC will face off on the night. Baxter representing Highbury BJJ in Palmerston North, is coming of a win at The Cage 2 in Whakatane at the end of 2011 and brings an aggressive game that fight fans love to see. His opponent who holds the ICNZ Middleweight Belt was plagued with injuries throughout most of last year which had seen the Strikeforce representative hit a bit of a sticking point. Working hard in the downtime to come back stronger Goodwin is looking to 2012 to be his most active year yet and with two fights (one win and one lose) under his belt already this year he's looking on track. Both fighters have good all round games with either unafraid to mix it up standing or on the ground.
Also returning to SFC for this event West Auckland favorite, Strikeforce Gym's Beau Rawiri who will finally get to meet his match in Andrew Mangi fighting out of Syndikit MMA in Tokoroa These two were scheduled to meet at SFC8 but a late injury ruled Mangi out at the last minute. Look for some fireworks here as these two boys love nothing more than to bang hard and guaranteed to leave nothing in the cage come final bell. Everyone loves the hearty fighters and they don't come any heartier than these two warriors.
More matches are still being confirmed but here is a sneak preview of the card to date.
(Fights are in no particular order and subject to change)
77kgs Welterweight Title Fight
Jacques Marsters (Strikeforce Auckland) 4-3-1 vs
Luke Jumeau (Incorporated Martial Arts Hamilton) 4-0
84kgs Middleweight Title Fight
Cole Davids (Strikeforce Canterbury) 7-0 vs
Peter Clinch (Hooligan MMA Dunedin) 5-0
65kgs Featherweight Match
Doug Higgens (SMAC, Auckland) 6-3
Scott MacGregor (TFMA, Timaru) 3-2
76kgs Welterweight Match
Dre Rahipere (Hibiscus Coast MMA, Auckland) 2-0 vs
Kieran Joblin (Shoot,Grapple, Roll, Christchurch) 4-1
84kgs Middleweight Match
Forrest Goodwin (Strikeforce Canterbury) 4-2 vs
Rob Baxter (Highbury BJJ, Palmerston North) 3-1
93kgs Light Heavyweight Match
Kevin Bently (Strikeforce Auckland) 2-0 vs
Pane Hauraki (Fierce Fitness Napier) 4-0
HW -Heavyweight Match
Mika Maliefulu (Olivers MMA Auckland) 3-0 vs
Steve Warby (City Kickboxing Auckland) 5-0
64kgs Featherweight Match
Caleb Lally (Crolin Gracie/JR Mcgyver Tauranga) 2-1 vs
Yukon Kemp (Syndikit MMA Tokoroa) 1-2
80kgs Catchweight Match
Beau Rawiri (Strikeforce Auckland) 1-0 vs
Andrew Mangi (Syndikit MMA Tokoroa) 2-1
84kgs Middleweight Match
James Griffiths (Crolin Gracie/JR Mcgyver Tauranga) 4-4-1-1 vs
Isreal Adesanya (City MMA)
75kgs Catchweight Match
Roy Moko (Journey MMA Auckland) 1-1 vs
Yakob Brown (Crolin Gracie/JR Mcgyver Tauranga) 1-2
84kgs Middleweight Match
John Vake (Olivers MMA Auckland) 0-0 vs
Brent Tumoana Shadbolt (Marcelo Lopez BJJ, Hamilton) 0-1
Heavyweight Match
Mani Sharplin (Hybrid MMA, Tauranga) 0-0 vs
Ioane Rota (Syndikit MMA, Tokoroa) 1-1
