MIXED MARTIAL ARTS: BARTEK Rozmierek has achieved almost mythical status on the Scottish MMA scene, with tales of his relentless attacks and brutal fight finishes discussed in gyms around the country.
The Polish-born middleweight, now based at Lycans MMA gym in Kilmarnock, is so feared that he struggles to find opponents and, as a result, had only fought twice prior to Friday night's inaugural Rage in the Cage event at the Normandy Hotel in Renfrew.
Bart, as he is affectionately and warily known, was matched against boxer Davie Cairns of Sweeney's Gym in Paisley. One can only imagine the horror stories of which Bart is the star had not crossed the MMA divide into the boxing world and Cairns was likely in the dark when it came to the Pole's skills.
However, at the weigh-ins before the event, Cairns took one look at the steely stare of his opponent and seemed visibly shaken.
It didn't take long once the bout got under way for Bart to live up to the hype that saw Twitter users predict "a murder" in the days leading up to the event.
Although he has very high level Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills, it is his aggressive stand-up style that is the stuff of legend and it took him less than a minute to knock Cairns to the canvas, force him up against the cage and cause the referee to step in to prevent Cairns being more seriously damaged by his ground and pound.
Even guest commentator Alex Reid – yes, that Alex Reid – looked impressed with Bart's performance.
Lycans also had Shaun Taylor on the card and he too was up against a fighter rich in boxing ability but short on submission skills – a fact Taylor exposed very early in the first round.
Taking the time to show off his striking power before forcing the fight to his more comfortable surroundings on the mat, Taylor was impressive in victory as he isolated Jay Thawes' left arm and locked on a fight-ending kimura submission.
The card also featured four semi-pro MMA bouts, with Paul Duffy's entirely one-sided demolition of Bryan Keegan arguably the most impressive performance of the night.
Representing Glasgow Fitness Fight Team, Duffy knew his opponent from Sweeney's Gym – a boxing haven – would be unlikely to cope with his wrestling ability.
And so it proved as Duffy took all of three seconds to shoot for a takedown and take side control on Keegan, from where he calmly worked to the full mount position and finished the fight by ground and pound after four minutes.
Dundee's Billy Thomson and Paisley man Mark McKenzie put on an entertaining show as their bout went the distance, with Thomson winning a unanimous decision thanks to a smart gameplan which saw him use his reach advantage to pepper the Sweeney's Gym representative with countless leg kicks which so nearly ended the fight in their own right.
B-CLASS PRO MMA RESULTS:
Bartek Rozmierek defeated Davie Cairns by submission (rear naked choke) in first round.
Shaun Taylor defeated Jay Thawes by submission (kimura) in first round.
SEMI-PRO MMA RESULTS:
Davie Mason defeated Mike Persil by KO in first round.
Paul Duffy defeated Bryan Keegan by TKO in first round.
Darren Clark defeated Declan McCart by verbal submission in second round.
Billy Thomson defeated Mark McKenzie by unanimous decision.
K1 KICKBOXING RESULTS:
Tony Lindie defeated Jim Dolan by unanimous decision.
Marc Navarro defeated Johnny Quinn by KO (body shot) in second round.
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