"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That's why we call it the present."

Oogway in Kung Fu Panda

Wise words indeed.

This weekend, it's Cage Gladiators giving us a treat. With Cage Rage apparently on the ropes- the other UK MMA brands are flexing their muscles. Hot on the heels of the Cage Warriors mega card- the Liverpool promotion step up to the plate with their latest show.

Two title bouts, a host of other well balanced contests, Britain's best venue and a Saturday night in Liverpool after. Looks good to me.

One of the saddest sights of the year was Colin Robinson after he was stopped early by Antoni Hardonk UFC 80. Big C's face in extreme close up on the mega screens at the Metro Arena- a picture of desolation. The game was up and he knew it.

You don't get rid of the big man that easy. Robinson told anyone who'd listen he was determined to fight his way back to the big time. A false start against the 70s porn star Dan Severn has raised the stakes even further.

Robinson will leave Liverpool with either a shiny new belt or a three fight losing streak. Standing in his way: the imposing Stefan "The Skyscraper" Struve. Last time out, he stunned the Olympia by slapping a triangle on local fave Tom Blackledge. A similar result on Saturday would push the dream of a UFC return even further away from Robinson.

The contest may well be decided in the clinch, where both men are capable of bringing the pain.

A truly meaningful fight.

The British Featherweight title is also up for grabs. Steve "Taz" McCombe moves up a weight after his unsuccessful crack at Paul McVeigh for the Cage Warriors Bantamweight strap. Out of the frying pan- into the fire. McCombe was a huge bantam and looked good with his hands, but he was taken apart on the deck. Ronnie Mann has a rock solid Muay Thai background and a tidy sub game. Taz has guts to spare, but it's hard to see him pulling off the upset.

There are attractive match ups down the card. Rob Sinclair has impressed in all departments and is unbeaten as a pro. He faces his toughest test yet in the shape of Greg Loughran. The wiry Irishman uses every ounce of his experience to win fights. He tends to outsmart his opponents and is particularly dangerous when working for subs off his back.

Mick Sinclair was DQ'd on his last visit to the Olympia after he delivered a kick to the grounded Aidan Marron. Before that, he dished out plenty of legal punishment to earn the nod from the judges after a three round war with Ian "The Mongoose" Jones. His opponent, AJ Wenn, toughed it out for three rounds against the highly rated Andre Winner last year. Neither will be expecting an easy night.

"Sass by triangle" is quickly becoming a Cage Gladiators catchphrase and the man himself will be going for his seventh sub in a row on Saturday. Martin Stapleton had been marching through the opposition, until he was pushed all the way by the ultra-game David Johnson in his last outing. In that fight, Stapleton showcased some mean takedowns- repeatedly slamming Johnson onto his back. If he does that to Paul Sass- he'd better watch out for those legs creeping up his back.

Lurking down the card is a gem. Unbelievably, Kam Atakuru and Lucasz Les both have losing records. Lucasz Les clocked up his 0s years ago in Poland. In his UK debut, he handed Lee Livingstone his only loss to take the honours in the LL derby fight. Les exploded backwards to sub the Rough House jiu jitsu coach via Achilles lock. Atakuru has hung with classy company from the beginning. Seek out film of his epic round against Jason Ball as an example of why people love MMA. Performances like that showed Kam's ability- and earmarked him as a man to dodge. The winner's record will come out of the red. The loser will become President of the "one to be avoided" club.

There are another nine fights, making this a solid offering- but the fights are only half the story with Cage Gladiators. The Olympia is a unique venue in UK MMA: carved elephant heads, ace sound system, bang up for it crowd, flashing cage and built on a proper street in a proper area instead of some leisure park. What more could you want? Not only that- the fights are on a Saturday- opening up the special delights of Liverpool nightlife.

As we learn in Kung Fu Panda- there are no secret ingredients. Whether it's martial arts or noodle soup: what you see is what you get.

Cage Gladiators 8 looks pretty tasty to me.

for more info on Cage Gladiators, visit:

www.cagegladiators.tv

www.hurtbusiness.com

despatches from the frontline of UK MMA

In case you forgot during those long months of retirement- Paul Daley really is THAT good. Semtex blew away a highly rated European opponent with a performance that oozed class in the main event.

His opponent, Bojan "Zelva" Kosednar, came to fight- but Daley dropped him early on- following up a huge knee with right hand to the ribs. The Slovenian did well to survive the furious onslaught that followed.

When the pair got back to their feet- the contrast was apparent: Kosednar intense with slightly mad eyes, Daley all business. The Rough House star connected with a sweet left hook and Kosednar ate the canvas again. A ground and pound stoppage looked inevitable- but referee Goddard stopped the action so Kosednar could replace his mouthpiece.

It was a temporary reprieve. With seven seconds of the first round left- Daley planted his feet and delivered another perfect left hook. Kosednar dropped like a stone. The fight was over.

On any other night- such a display of star quality would have guaranteed fight of the night honours. On any other night- you don't have Jim Wallhead v Fabricio Nascimento.

Look into the eyes of Nascimento and you see a window into a world of chaos. The Brazilian came out throwing accurate, single shots and looked to set up a takedown. On the deck- Nascimento went close with a leg lock attempt, but Wallhead kept his cool and rolled out of danger.

As the round wore on, Judo Jim began to take control of affairs with some slick boxing. Round two and three saw the pair trade punches. Once again, Wallhead impressed with his intelligent stand up. Fabricio Nascimento tried to draw his man into a brawl. With each passing second, Fabricio moved further away from sanity. He advanced forward in a stance that resembled a mechanical rooster that was desperate for a piss. He called Wallhead on- slapping his chest, grinning and keeping up a demented commentary. Judo Jim- responded with sharp blows, but kept his work organised and avoided taking unnecessary risks.

The crowd went crazy throughout and gave the local boy a roar when he took a unanimous decision. Nascimento also got a big ovation. A fantastic fight.

For rest of report and audio interviews with Johnny Nelson, Paul McVeigh and Michael Portillo (honest) go to:

www.hurtbusiness.com

Cage Warriors Enter the Rough House 7 is arguably the best UK MMA card ever.
(And before I get any pedantic email- obviously the UK UFCs don't count).

Starting at the top- Paul Daley returns from his self imposed exile- hoping to re-establish himself at the very top of the UK pecking order. Semtex was making a big splash with EliteXC and Strikeforce before his shock retirement. On a five fight winning streak, he had smashed everything in front of him.

The first obstacle on the road back is Slovenian Bojan "Zelva" Kosednar.  Unbeaten records don't always mean much, but when they belong to Balkan choke artists- you'd better beware. Kosednar has a judo background and is no doubt looking for a big scalp to thrust him onto the international scene. Due to his experience, Daley must be favoured to win- but he's fighting a hungry guy on the way up.

Down the card- the standard of the matches is unbelievable. Matt Thorpe fought at Cage Warriors Strike Force 4: Night of Champions 2005- arguably the previous best UK MMA card ever. That night, he pushed soon to be UFC star Dan Hardy to the limit for 5 rounds. Last time out, he looked as sharp as ever and will need to be against Simeon Thoresen. Cage Warriors don't do joke imports and the undefeated Norwegian has names like Chas Jacquier and "The Hands" on his CV.

Wayne Buck's career consists of a series of first round Nottingham demolition jobs. Matteo Minonzio is a huge, brooding hulk with dangerously fascist looking tatt's adding to the aura of menace. Kind of a cross between Paolo Di Canio and the Gruffalo. On his last trip to the UK- he was bombed out in just over a minute by Martin Thompson, but that's only half the story. Recently, "The Ox" Thompson has been making it his business to plough through the cream of the UK heavies. Early on, Minonzio stood and had a good old bang with him and did more than OK. Thompson showed his fighting brain and took the Italian down before pounding him out. Buck could do worse than following this example.

Jim Wallhead is the only person to fight on all the Cage Warriors Rough House shows to date. He has won the last five of those with performances that have established him as a crowd favourite. His opponent, Fabricio Nascimento, was ranked the #4 welterweight in Europe by Groundandpound as recently as March 2008 and will hope to leapfrog back over Judo Jim in the prestigious ratings (Visit www.groundandpound.de for quality rankings and a generally ace site).

Another home fighter with a difficult night in store is Andre Winner. Winner oozes class- particularly when dispensing trademark Rough House knees in the clinch and his superb conditioning means he has no trouble going the distance. Against Abdul Mohamed- the full fifteen minutes is likely to be needed, but you never know which Abdul you're going to get these days. In his last five fights- he has ground out a couple of dour points wins, lost on an early cut and knocked out Ross Pointon with a spinning backfist. He's also been subbed in the first- but that is unlikely to happen to the ace wrestler on Saturday. It could be stunning- or it could be a yawn fest. Two European top ten fighters- it is a significant match which needs to happen.

The whole show hasn't got an ounce of fat on it. Paul McVeigh, as exciting a fighter as you're going to see, is putting his title on the line and the bill is studded with names who you know will deliver. Eddie Podolski, Cliff Hall, Rocci Williams, Chris Cooper and Pete McGurk have all impressed the Nottingham crowd before and have interesting matches.

For me, the fight of the night could be Lee Livingstone v Wayne "Mayhem" Murray. Rough House v Ultimate Force. Both throw brutal leg kicks. Both have the capability to pull off spectacular submissions. A potential classic - and on the card I've seen it's seventh fight down.

If you are a fan of UK MMA- you must be at the Harvey Haddon on Saturday.
It's as simple as that.

Enter the Rough House 7
12th July 2008 6:30pm,

Harvey Hadden Sports Centre, Wigman Road, Nottingham, NG8 4PB

www.hurtbusiness.com

despatches from the frontline of UK MMA