April 18th 2011

Steven Ray won the SFC Welterweight title in an outstanding back-and-forth fight against Scott ‘The Body’ Ward. 

The 20-year-old from Edge MMA was badly beaten in the first round by the much larger Ward, who secured a tight rear body lock for the duration of the round. Ward landed blow after blow on Ray and worked hard for a finish, but there was absolutely no quit in Ray. 

The second round was a complete reversal of the first. Dinky Ninja Ward appeared to be deterred by his inability to finish Ray, and his younger opponent’s superior conditioning started to shine through. 

Ward has now lost to two young future UK MMA stars in recent months, first to Ryan Scope at On Top 1 and now Steven Ray. He put in a very good performance here and should be proud of his efforts, but Ray’s determination proved to great to overcome. Ray is clearly talented, but his biggest asset is his heart. He is now 6-1 as a pro with this victory, and his ambitions of reaching the UFC seem entirely plausible given his age. 

In the main event, Bobby ‘Black Mamba’ McVitie successfully defended his SFC Lightweight title with an extremely swift victory over Danny ‘Boomtime’ Gray. Many were expecting a war from this fight, but Team Viper’s McVitie caught Gray early in a tight guillotine. However, Gray appeared to hurt his ankle before this, and Grays fellow Dinky Ninjas suggested this was the real reason behind his submission. 

A clash of upcoming prospects Jamie Nolan and James McAllister proved to be a fantastic affair. Nolan fights out of the Mataleon gym, a rising Scottish fight team. The fight took place predominantly on the ground and was very competitive until Nolan sunk in a rear naked choke late in round two, which McAllister tapped to with only two seconds remaining. This was the first loss for McAllister, who has just moved to the Dinky Ninjas. 

Another Mataleon fighter, Graeme Armstrong, continued his good form with a victory over Sofian Boucherf. He had previously defeated Garry Ward at ‘On Top 1: Celtic Park’.  

Hostile Terriory’s Adam ‘Handsome’ Stevenson produced a good display in a whirlwind fight lasting just 90 seconds. He won via TKO against Houari Boukeroucha, landing some vicious elbows to ensure a referee stoppage.  

The heavyweight encounter between the Dinky Ninjas Andy ‘No Fear’ Hillhouse and Rab ‘Baloo’ Truesdale was a great spectacle. Hostile Territory’s Truesdale entered first to the Jungle Book’s ‘Bare Necessities’, before Hillhouse out-did him with the A-Team theme tune and a chainsaw. That is not a typo, he came to the ring with a real chainsaw. Truesdale won comfortably via TKO in the first round.  

The undercard semi-pro fights saw some of the most exciting encounters of the event. 17-year-old Stephen Cusick of Gladitorial Combat won via an extremely tight armbar against Aidan Steven, easily winning submission of the night. Knockout of the night was also fairly simple to decipher, as Craig McIntosh landed a right head kick flush on Chris McDougal. Dinky Ninja Jordan McColl and Steven McGhee put on a good fight, which McColl won via unanimous decision. McColl looked impressive, but his undoubted talent was mostly negated by the good work of McGhee, making his debut at semi-pro. 

SFC’s fourth event was a fantastic card that had everything you could ask for in an MMA event. The promotion is extremely ambitious, and there are big plans afoot for their future events.  

@davidwbateman

Full results:

Bobby McVitie beat Danny Gray by gullotine choke in the first round.

Steven Ray beat Scott Ward by TKO in the third round.

Rab Truesdale beat Andy Hillhouse by TKO in the first round.

Graeme Armstrong beat Sofian Boucherf by TKO in the second round.

Adam Stevenson beat Hourai Boukeroucha by TKO in the first round.

Jamie Nolan beat James McAllister by rear naked choke in the second round.

Jordan McColl beat Steven McGhee by unanimous decision.

Stephen Cusick beat Aidan Steven by armbar in the first round.

Craig McIntosh beat Chris McDougal by head kick KO in the first round.

Martin Donaldson beat Peter Kolatowicz by heel hook in the first round.

Lee Gray beat Will Cummings by rear naked choke in the first round.

Scott Lindberg beat Bryn Park by neck crank/rear naked choke in the first round.