A MMA bantamweight main event between two undefeated fighters promises to have some real feeling to it when Hammerhead Productions holds its fight night at the Edgar Centre tomorrow.
The highlight of the 10-bout fight card will be Dunedin's Ricky Welsford (Team Hammerhead) and Christchurch's Will Aranguiz (StrikeForce) fighting for the New Zealand Amateur International Sport Karate Association bantamweight title.
Welsford (4-0) is an accomplished wrestler who has the ability to literally latch on to his opponent's mistakes and punish them.
The former New Zealand wrestling representative has not fought in about two years, instead staying active wrestling, including winning two titles at this year's national championships to cap off a 10-year run of titles.
Aranguiz (28) secured an impressive submission win in May in Dunedin after beating two current Hammerhead fighters last year in Christchurch.
Hammerhead promoter-coach Matt Toa said Welsford (24) had a focused camp.
He said both fighters were not just grapplers but also dangerous, aggressive strikers.
Aranguiz had a background in Muay Thai before moving from Chile to Christchurch about four years ago.
He said he expected Welsford to take the fight to the ground, and he hoped to ''stand and trade''.
The only professional fight will be between welterweights Brogan Anderson (Hammerhead) and Christchurch's Dan Reveley (UMAF).
Toa agreed Anderson (4-2) looked too skilful, but Reveley (6-5) was a fearless fighter.
He said Reveley had power in both hands and Anderson was too professional to take him lightly.
Both fights are scheduled for three five-minute rounds.
In a welterweight clash that screams fight of the night, Dunedin's Joel Gibson (Hammerhead) faces Invercargill's Siitia Leti (Ultimate MMA).
Gibson (4-1) is a tall, rangy fighter who is equally handy with hands and feet, while Leti (4-2) is a crowd-pleasing striker.
In a lightweight matchup, Team Hammerhead's Latham Stevens (4-2) faces Invercargill's Milner Aupouri (Ultimate MMA) (6-7).
In one of three female match-ups, Team Hammerhead's Hannah Dawson (2-0) will face Auckland MMA's Serina Cole (2-4).
Toa said Dawson was an exciting young fighter and he expected a tight tussle after Dawson beat Cole earlier this year in somewhat controversial circumstances.
It was great to have three female fights, Toa said, and it showed MMA was not a male-only sport.
All three fights are scheduled for three rounds of three minutes.
In one of two kickboxing bouts, Invercargill's David Watts (Toa Fighting Systems) (12-7-1) faces Team Hammerhead's Aaron Taylor (1-1 draw) in a middleweight bout.
Toa said both liked to throw hard and he expected it to be a fierce start to the night.
Reduced fighter pools and the frequency of other promotions meant putting a show together had been challenging, Toa said, and it would be the first time in about six years a Hammerhead show was not at the Caledonian Gymnasium.
Toa said capacity-crowd cutbacks at the Caledonian proved financially unworkable and he was looking forward to having a show at the Edgar Centre.
The doors open at 5pm and the first fight is scheduled for 6.15pm.
