Cage 16: Kuivanen beats Meller, Niinimäki knocks out Frachey

Beforehand Cage 16's main event fights were seen as final tests for Finnish MMA stars Anton Kuivanen and Tom "Stoneface" Niinimäki who have been patiently waiting for their shot at the major leagues. The wait should be over as both fighters passed their test with flying colors.

In the extremely exciting main event fight hometown hero Anton Kuivanen (16-4) defended his Cage Lightweight belt against Blackhouse MMA's Thiago Meller (17-4) of Brazil. In the first round Kuivanen controlled the action with crisp striking and used his speed advantage to stay out of harms way. Near the end of the round Meller however caught Kuivanen with a overhand right that sent the Finn on floor. Kuivanen quickly recovered, but as he was working on his way up, Kuivanen ended up in Meller's guillotine choke. Kuivanen kept his calm and waited for the round to end. In the second round Kuivanen turned up the volume punishing fading Meller on the feet with fast strikes. With one minute left in the round Kuivanen connected with blazing combination that sent the Brazilian dazed against the cage. Kuivanen threw everything but the kitchen sink at Meller who absorbed an unbelievable amount of punishment refusing to give up. In the third round exhausted Meller caught Kuivanen once more in a guillotine choke that looked very tight but again Kuivanen did a marvelous job defending the choke, popped his head out and rained down elbows from the top position.

Anton Kuivanen is ready for the big stages (Photo by Kulmassa.fi)

In the end Kuivanen kept his Cage lightweight belt with a lopsided unanimous decision. The Finnish striking machine has now won his last nine fights including wins over Ivan Buchinger (16-2) and Tim Radcliffe (11-4). Convincing win over a highly regarded veteran in Thiago Meller should be enough for Kuivanen to land a deal with a major promotion.

Number two featherweight in Europe Tom "Stoneface" Niinimäki returned to action after almost a year away from the cage. In the Cage featherweight title fight the defending champion showed no signs of ring rust as he crushed his French opponent Johnny Frachey in a little over minute. Frachey, a powerful grappler who had won his last five fights, was stunned by Niinimäki's beautiful headkick. Niinimäki quickly followed up with a shattering uppercut that sealed the deal and left Frachey unconscious on the floor.

Tom Niinimäki is a beast who has gone 6-0 at featherweight (Photo by Kulmassa.fi)

Since dropping down to featherweight Niinimäki (16-5) is still undefeated after six bouts winning them all in a dominating fashion. In the Euro circuit there are no meaningful fights left for the young Finn so the most reasonable next step for him would be signing with the UFC. Another option is the Bellator that has been lately signing a lot of Euro talent.

Also on the main card was the welterweight bout between Finnish grappler Olli-Jaakko Uitto and Sweden's Nicholas Musoke. In a quite uneventful fight Musoke won the decision as he was able to stuff Uitto's takedown attempts and got the better of the striking exchanges on the feet.

In the women's bout Finland's Katja Kankaanpää (5-0) kept her record clean by outgrappling Spain's Karla Benitez (5-1) to a decision win.

Full results:
Cage Lightweight title bout: Anton Kuivanen (16-4-0) vs Thiago Meller (17-4-0), Brazil: Kuivanen by UD

Cage Featherweight title bout: Tom “Stoneface” Niinimäki (16-5-0) vs Johnny Frachey (13-8-0), France: Niinimäki by KO R1

Welterweight: Olli-Jaakko Uitto (8-1-1) vs Nicholas Musoke (7-2-0), Sweden: Musoke by UD

Lightweight (women 55kg / 122 lbs): Katja Kankaanpää (5-0-0) vs Karla Benitez (5-0-0) Spain: Kalliokoski by UD

Heavyweight: Jarno Nurminen (6-2-0) Team Scandinavia vs Catalin Zmarandescu (6-2-0) Romania: Nurminen by Submission strikes R1

Bantamweight: Heikki Tiilikka (5-3-0) vs Mikhael Daboville (4-4-0), France: Tiilikka by UD

Lightweight: Antti Virtanen (5-3-1) vs Viktor Tomasevic (3-2-1) , Lithuania: Virtanen by Split Decision

Lightweight: Lauri Väätäinen (5-3-0) vs Makwan Amirkhani (3-1-0): Amirkhani by Heelhook R1

Welterweight: Lauri Tonteri (3-2-0) vs Johan Vänttinen (5-2-0): Vänttinen by KO R1

Welterweight: Jussi Halonen (2-0-0) vs Sergei Kabalinov (1-0-0): Halonen by UD

Fight Festival 31: Robertson knocks out Linhares, Victorious Vänttinen announces deal with Bellator

Fight Festival 31 offered a long and entertainment night for the fight fans on the 1st of October at the Töölö Sports Hall in Helsinki, Finland. Even though most of the fights on the card went to distance, the night was filled with exciting back-n-forth battles between evenly matched fighters.

In the main event UFC veterans in Lucio Linhares and Kenny Robertson were hunting for their ticket back to the biggest show on the planet. Early in the round Robertson landed a heavy right on the jaw of Linhares but the Brazilian born Finn pressed forward with punches. Linhares was able to crack Robertson with couple shots of his own but the American countered with takedowns. In the closing seconds of the fighters round when the fighters broke off from a clinch situation, Robertson exploded with a spinning back fist that landed clean on Linhares and knock him out cold. A spectacular win for the high school teacher from Illinois whom we’ll probably see soon back in the UFC.

In the co-main event Finnish lightweight powerhouse Niko Puhakka take on Xtreme Couture’s very experienced John Gunderson. Gunderson started strong landing a quick combo and took Puhakka down where he was able the Finn’s back. Puhakka kept his calm and defended well. In the second round the momentum switched to Puhakka’s side who was able to get dominant position on the ground and land strikes. Puhakka also had Gunderson in a very tight looking anaconda choke but the American did an awesome job defending the choke. In the final round Puhakka was able to set the pace as Gunderson begun to fade away. After three rounds of grueling ground fighting, the judges awarded Puhakka with an unanimous decision. This was probably Puhakka’s biggest win ever so it’ll be interesting to see where his next fight will take place.

In the light heavyweight bout Finnish top prospect Marcus “Caveman” Vänttinen dominated France’s Malid Merak. Vänttinen was clearly the stronger fighter and took his opponent down easily from the clinch. On the ground the long limbed Frenchman quickly tried to apply a kimura on Vänttinen but the Finn tucked his hand deep and punished Merak for the rest of the round. In the second round Vänttinen again took his opponent down from the clinch and started raining down elbows and punches. Eventually Vänttinen moved to mount and hit Merak with couple of horrendous elbows that cut and possibly broke something in Merak’s face, leaving him no choice but to tap out. In the post fight interview Vänttinen announced that he has signed with the Bellator and will participate to promotion’s Light Heavyweight Tournament that starts in early 2012. Excellent news for the talented young Finn but also for the whole Finnish MMA scene that has had some trouble getting its top fighters to major promotions.

Finnish JP Vainikainen and American Steve Lopez fought a draw in an exciting lightweight bout. Lopez scored points early by taking Vainikainen down and spinning to his back but Vainikainen but the young Finn defended skillfully. In the second and third round Vainikainen was able to hit Lopez with heavy shots and the American was in survival mode for latter part of the fight. Few seconds left in the fight Lopez broke the rules by upkicking grounded Vainikainen from the bottom and received a yellow card from the ref. The fight was scored as a draw which was a bit controversial considering Lopez’s yellow card. After the fight Vainikainen's team issued an official protest about the decision. The protest was then processed by the Finnish MMA Federation's jury (five judges) who re-evaluated the fight under FMMAF rules. The jury decided that Vainikainen won the fight based on effective striking, aggression and the point deduction to Lopez.

Another controversial draw decision was ruled in the welterweight fight between Bellator signee Janne Tulirinta and France’s Sebastien Garguier. The fight was real slugfest where both fighters were landing heavy shots on the feet without backing up an inch. The Frenchman got the better of the striking exchange after Tulirinta, who had been sick the week before the fight, begun to gas out. The majority of the crowd seemed to think that Garguier won the fight but the judges thought otherwise and the fight was declared as a draw.

Finnish featherweight prospect Joni Salovaara extended his winning streak to seven consecutive wins by beating Jeremy Pender of USA. Salovaara got the better of the striking on the feet and scored numerous takedowns. In the third round Salovaara cracked Pender with a shattering shot and finished the job on the floor with strikes. Salovaara, currently at ranked 10th on the European Featherweight top ten, has improved by leaps and bounds during the last two years. It will be interesting to see if he gets matched up with a big name 145er for his next fight.

Full results:
Catchweight 80 kg / 178 Lbs: Lucio “Spartan” Linhares (16-6) vs Kenny Robertson (10-1), USA: Robertson by KO R1
Lightweight: Niko Puhakka (24-11) vs John Gunderson (32-11), USA: Puhakka by UD
Light heavyweight: Marcus ”Caveman” Vänttinen (21-3) vs Malid Merak (11-7), France: Vänttinen by TKO R2.
Welterweight: Janne Tulirinta (12-3) vs Sebastien Garguier (9-7), France: Draw
Lightweight: Juha-Pekka Vainikainen (17-5) vs Steve Lopez (12-5), USA: Draw
Featherweight: Joni Salovaara (9-4) vs Jeremy Pender (7-2), USA: Salovaara by TKO R3
Bantamweight: Janne Elonen-Kulmala (4-2) vs Donatas Karlonas (2-3), Lithuania: Jamba by UD
Bantamweight: Mikael Silander (2-0) vs Perttu Paatola (2-0): Silander by UD
Kickboxing WAKO European Championship 64,5 kg Jarkko Jussila vs Petar Zivkovic: Zivkovic by split Dec
Muay thai: Jaakko Dahlbacka vs Paulius Sileikis: Sileikis TKO cut R5