MMA: Dean ready for hard fight in feature encounter

There will be 16 fights, including a mixed martial arts title defence, when Hammerhead Promotions hosts its first fight night of the year at the Caledonian gymnasium tonight.

In the title bout, 22-year-old Dunedin man Robert Dean, from Team Hammerhead, will be defending the International Sport Karate Association light heavyweight title he won last year in a rematch against Shannon Dillon (Christchurch).

Dillon (27), fighting out of Strikeforce gym, was guaranteed a rematch after taking last December's title fight on short notice.

Dean was a convincing winner, stopping Dillon in the first round.

Judging by the promotional posters, which show Dillon's abdominal muscles ripped beyond a simple six-pack, it should be a more even contest this time round.

Hammerhead Promotions promoter and coach Matt Toa said because Dillon had had a much better preparation than his first fight, he would be a far tougher opponent for Dean.

He said Dean was in great shape and ready for a hard fight.

"This will be his second fight this year, and he has had four training camps in a row after two fights late last year."

Dean has a record of five wins and two losses, while Dillon's record is six wins and two losses.

The fight is scheduled for three 5-minute rounds.

The other feature is a full Muay Thai bout between Dunedin's Blake Tomlinson, fighting out of Combat Sports, and Finbarra Long, from Queenstown Muay Thai.

Toa said he expected this fight, scheduled for three 3-minute rounds, to be a brutal encounter.

Eight mixed martial arts fights and eight kickboxing fights are carded.

Five Dunedin clubs are competing and other clubs will travel from Queenstown, Invercargill, Timaru and Christchurch.

Toa said he had received 63 entries for the event, and in matching up the 32 confirmed fighters he put an emphasis on the best, fairest and most experienced fighters as opposed to having novices on the card.

The reason for such a large number of entries was because of the popularity of the sport, the television exposure and the media support his shows had received, he said.

He was expecting a sell-out crowd of about 800 people tonight.

Toa will not be fighting because he is preparing for a shot at the Industry of Combat New Zealand heavyweight title in Auckland next month.

Doors open for tonight's show at 5pm and the first bout is scheduled for 6pm.

 

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