MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

STEVEN Ray emerged as one of the brightest young stars in Scottish MMA with a stunning third round stoppage of the heavily-fancied Scott Ward at SFC4 in Stirling.

Ray, representing Edge MMA, claimed the vacant Scottish Fight Challenge welterweight title after a thrilling co-main event at the Albert Halls, despite taking an almighty beating in the opening round.

The much bigger Ward used his size advantage to great effect in the first round of a scheduled five. But he could not finish the lion-hearted Fifer who held on until the bell and looked the fresher fighter at the start of round two.

Ward cut a lot of weight ahead of this encounter and it seemed to take its toll on the Dumbarton man who could not handle Ray’s relentless pace in rounds two and three.

Ray, 20, got the better of the second round with some slick grappling and when he finally wrestled his way into the full mount position in round three, he reigned down a series of unanswered headshots that forced the referee to step in.

It brought to an end a bad-tempered affair which had been simmering since the weigh-ins where both men squared up in an angry exchange.

An elated Ray, whose pro record now stands at 6-1, said: “I can’t believe I’ve won the belt after that first round because I took some heavy shots and elbows.

“I didn’t want to be underneath him because I knew he was big and he’s very strong.

“But I’d been working on the flip reversal in training and when he was in side control I just kept flipping him over and it frustrated him.”

Having upset the odds and announcing himself as one of Scotland’s top cage fighters, Ray is now setting his sights on the biggest show on earth.

He said: “I want to go the whole way, I want to go to the UFC.

“People may think I’m not capable of that, but I think I’ve got the biggest heart and I just won’t quit.

“I’ve been the underdog in all my fights because I’ve only been training MMA for a year and a half.

“But I’ve got the heart of a lion.”

The SFC lightweight title was also on the line on an action-packed card that saw the judges troubled only once.

Defending champion Bobby McVitie, of Port Glasgow’s Team Viper, took on the Dinky Ninja Fight Team’s Danny Gray in what was something of an anti climatic main event.

McVitie caught Gray in a guillotine choke and forced his opponent to tap after just 23 seconds. But Gray seemed to twist his ankle during an earlier successful takedown and he appeared to suggest it was that injury that caused him to tap, rather than the choke.

The audience was treated to the rare sight of a heavyweight bout when Rab “Baloo” Truesdale defeated Andy Hillhouse by referee stoppage early in round one.

With so few pro heavyweights in British MMA, this one got the crowd on their feet, no doubt helped by Truesdale’s brilliant choice of entrance music – The Bare Necessities.

Hillhouse added to the theatre too, walking out carrying what appeared to be a fully operational chainsaw and wearing a Jason Voorhees-style hockey mask.

Graham Armstrong continued his fine run of form with a TKO victory over French fighter Sofian Boucherf and his Team Mataleon partner Jamie Nolan, making his pro debut, beat Dinky Ninja James McAllister via a rear naked choke with five seconds left of the second round.

Adam Stevenson capped a fine day for Alloa’s Hostile Territory team when he stopped Houari Boukeroucha inside two minutes of the opening round.

The undercard was stacked with great contests and Jordan McColl’s impressive unanimous decision triumph over Steven McGhee was the only bout that went to the judges.

McColl thrilled the crowd with an acrobatic headkick which floored his opponent at the end of the second round, only for the bell to prevent him moving in for the finish.

Craig McIntosh was impressive in his knockout of Chris McDougal who did not recover from a brutal headkick at the start of round two.

Gladiatorial Combat’s Stephen Cusick was clinical in his perfectly executed armbar victory over Fusion MMA’s Aidan Steven to take his semi-pro record to 2-2.

Cusick, 17, said: “I expected him to come in and go for the takedown straight away.

“He got a good takedown but he didn’t follow it up.

“He left his arm there and I took it. I had it tight and I wasn’t going to let it go.”

SFC 4: RESOLUTION

Full results

Undercard amateur bouts:

Scott Liebenberg defeated Bryn Park by tapout due to a neck crank in round one.

Lee Gray defeated William Cummings by tapout due to a rear naked choke in round one.

Undercard semi-pro bouts:

Martin Donaldson defeated Peter Kolatowicz by tapout due to a heelhook in round one.

Craig McIntosh defeated Chris McDougal by knockout due to a head kick in round two.

Stephen Cusick defeated Aidan Steven by tapout due to an armbar in round one.

Jordan McColl defeated Steven McGhee by unanimous decision.

Main card pro bouts:

Jamie Nolan defeated James McAllister by tapout due to a rear naked choke in round two.

Adam Stevenson defeated Houari Boukeroucha by TKO in round one.

Graham Armstrong defeated Sofian Boucherf by TKO in round two.

Rab Truesdale defeated Andy Hillhouse by TKO in round one.

Welterweight title:

Steven Ray defeated Scott Ward by TKO in round three.

Lightweight title:

Bobby McVitie defeated Danny Gray by tapout due to a guillotine choke in round one.