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00:00Gentlemen, you know the rules, please follow my command.
00:02Protect yourself all the time, okay?
00:04Touch your gloves if you want, step back.
00:08Here we go.
00:09Five-round title eliminator main event.
00:12Number one ranked Levi Richter
00:14is taking on number two ranked Bahram Rajabzadeh
00:17for a chance to face Rico Verhoeven
00:21December 7th for Collision 7.
00:24Rico Verhoeven, December 7th for Collision 7.
00:30I really wonder what's gonna happen
00:32and how the fight will play out.
00:35I'm predicting first punch is left hook from Bahram.
00:40Yep, he's gonna have to slip off those straight punches,
00:43and there he goes attacking the calves,
00:44but Levi brings one right back.
00:48Ooh.
00:49We can see how much Bahram opens when he starts to throw.
00:53When he starts throwing, he's just fully open.
00:56That's how Doneghi got him and got him to that knockout.
01:00Yeah, the timing, right?
01:02He puts his in, you gotta try to find him,
01:04but to me, the massive key for Richter's is straight attacks,
01:07jab, cross, front kicks, knees up the middle.
01:12Yeah.
01:13But Bahram's gotta get offline.
01:15Richter needs to close up good when Bahram goes crazy
01:19and just water him down.
01:21Let him throw, block everything,
01:23and then just continue to do his work.
01:25Yeah, sometimes the mistake against Bahram
01:27would be to open up and throw when he throws at the same time.
01:30Because he's so unorthodox, he throws so much wild shots,
01:34he can hit you with those.
01:36There you said that left hook from Bahram.
01:38Yeah, very dangerous weapon.
01:40It's quick.
01:43You can see Bahram is using some, like,
01:48right opposite hitting the liver, like push kick.
01:50That's called a crescent kick in English.
01:52Yeah, I didn't know how it's called,
01:54but he's the first guy that I see that uses that often.
01:59He's thrown him quite a bit.
02:01It's an old-school taekwondo karate kick.
02:06I use it only in fun, like on sparring,
02:08but never use it in a fight.
02:10Fight.
02:11Stop, stop, stop, stop.
02:13Oh, Bahram is saying,
02:14this is not a nut shot, that is a body.
02:18We will see probably on replay soon.
02:22We can already see the redness on Levy's body.
02:27Levy's still doing a good job at using his low kicks
02:30and those calf kicks, too.
02:32He needs to turn his elbow a little bit inside.
02:34That way, when Bahram throws low kick,
02:37it will land on his elbow, and he will basically
02:40break his knees.
02:42Not knees, but fingers on leg.
02:46You see even Bahram doing a good job
02:49at checking those low kicks.
02:52Yeah, and good job of staying composed,
02:55not going fully on.
02:56Bahram using his low kick to blast in some punches.
03:01Good strategy for him is using those kicks
03:04to set up his punches.
03:05You can see he's really finding success with that weird kick.
03:11Yeah, you can see that redness.
03:13And Levy's elbow is a little bit bloody.
03:16He needs to close it a little bit more inside
03:20and use straight punches.
03:21He cannot wait too much.
03:22Ooh.
03:26Every time you see Bahram load up,
03:28you have no idea what to expect.
03:29Yeah, what he's going to throw.
03:31Is it a kick, a knee, a head kick?
03:33It's just so explosive.
03:35But Richter is number one heavyweight for a reason,
03:38staying composed, picking his shots.
03:43That style, like you said, Antonio.
03:45On paper, it's Bahram who has the advantage
03:47early on in the fight.
03:48As the fight goes on, it might be Levy.
03:50It should be Levy later on, but we will see what happens.
03:55Here's the Golden Wolf, number two-ranked heavyweight.
03:58You'll also see him in the light heavyweight division.
04:00Signature strike, his kicks, but those left hooks
04:03and his boxing and his combinations are incredible.
04:07Just an action fighter all around.
04:10And here is Levy Richter, the judge.
04:12His signature strike, spinning back fist,
04:16between which one he caught Rico up,
04:19and in 2024, he is glory heavyweight
04:23Grand Prix finalist against Rico.
04:25Yeah, he gets a win here tonight.
04:27He'll get a rematch with Rico Verhoeven,
04:29so he's motivated for that.
04:31He thinks a single fight is completely different
04:34than an eight-man tournament,
04:35and I completely agree with him.
04:37This is what this fight here is showing us as well.
04:40We're gonna see tonight, is he conditioned enough
04:44to try to go on Rico,
04:47not only from him, but also from Bahram.
04:49Yeah, and you gotta remember, Rico is a big boy.
04:52He's not as probably two times the size,
04:54but Levy's opening up now.
04:57Oh, it was a clear right hook on Bahram's head.
05:01It's what happens when he opens up too much.
05:04It's what happens when he opens up too much.
05:08Antonio, we got some split judges' scores cards here.
05:11Three giving it to Richter's, two to Bahram.
05:13Well, I kind of agree, because for me,
05:16it was also a draw.
05:17I don't know what I would score that.
05:19Yeah, that kind of seemed fair to me.
05:21Yeah. Too close to cause.
05:23Oh, good, strong jab by Bahram.
05:26Ooh, nice little sneaky calf kick there.
05:28But he's opening too much.
05:31I will just wait like Donaghy for the left hook on him.
05:34Wait, wait, wait, counter.
05:36Because when Bahram throws, he opens up his chin,
05:38but that calf kick hurt him, Antonio.
05:40Yeah, he had to switch immediately.
05:43Yeah, that calf kick is gonna be a big factor in this fight.
05:48You can see getting up a little bit easier.
05:52Yeah, again, Levy's low kicks
05:54are gonna be a huge factor in this fight.
05:56Yeah, and every time he punches that calf kick,
05:59the legs moves from the power, so...
06:01And every time Bahram needs to punch,
06:03he needs to put weight on that front leg,
06:05and Richter's doing a good job,
06:07but he can't eat punches and stay here.
06:09This is the problem for Richter's.
06:11When he feel the pressure, does his chin, can he take it?
06:16That's the question,
06:17because he doesn't have good chin as Bahram.
06:20Bahram have a great chin,
06:21but Levy chin is a little bit questionable.
06:24We're seeing some blood on the forehead of Richter's.
06:26Yeah, you can see him slowing down.
06:29Yeah, back to those calf kicks,
06:30but for me, Richter needs to set up those calf kicks
06:33with some jabs, one-twos.
06:35He's got to keep Bahram off of him
06:36and hopefully not counter him,
06:38because the best counter to a good low kick
06:40is explosive punches.
06:41Yeah, and this is what I plan to do to Levy,
06:44just pressure him and make him break.
06:46You can see how he's slowing down
06:48and how he's not unsure of himself anymore.
06:50His whole body language changes
06:53as soon as he get touch on that chin.
06:55Yeah, you have to push Levy back.
06:57You can't give him momentum to pick you apart
06:59and to use his reach.
07:00Yeah, you see these leg kicks here.
07:03Both have thrown quite a few, landed four each.
07:06You need to watch that low kick.
07:08Beware of the right knee to the face, right hook,
07:13but if you can check all of those things,
07:15I think you have a pretty good chance against Levy, anybody,
07:19especially with pressure.
07:21Bahram really not sure what stance to stay in,
07:24because he doesn't want to eat any more calf kicks.
07:27You can see he's now spamming just calf kicks,
07:30but the body language of Levy is different
07:34than the beginning of the round.
07:38If I was Bahram, I would put the gas a little bit on
07:41a little bit before, like in the middle of the round,
07:44I would try to rock him a little bit more.
07:47Now he gives him the chance to go to the corner
07:50and reorganize for the next round.
07:53Yeah, Bahram really good at fighting at moments.
07:55He almost attacks with everything,
07:57takes a little break, and finds those moments to explode.
08:06You see here in some of the replays,
08:08it's some good punch exchanges,
08:10and these are the wild exchanges
08:12you don't want to get into with Bahram.
08:14Especially with him.
08:16You can see his chin, how good it is.
08:19It was right on the chin, a clean right hook,
08:22and he still managed to bounce it off.
08:26And I wonder if we will see when Levy got hit
08:30with the right hand from Bahram.
08:33And it's the cut on the top of the head.
08:34I wonder what that's from.
08:36Yeah, they probably bumped it.
08:37Yeah, headbutt.
08:39Yeah, the way Bahram comes forward,
08:41it's from the arm.
08:43Get hit with some headbutts and also probably elbows.
08:49Let's go.
08:55You have to think this round based on calf kicks to Richter's?
08:59Yeah, probably Richter's.
09:01And also beginning of the round, too clear of the shot,
09:04but in the middle of the round, Bahram was doing better,
09:08but then just stopped to preserve his condition.
09:12Rick, Rick, Richter's back to using his jab.
09:16Yeah, but you can see Richter's.
09:18Antonio, we got a little surprise here.
09:20All five judges giving it to Rajab Zadeh.
09:22Yeah, so...
09:24I don't know, I definitely don't agree with that one.
09:26Yeah, it's also draw for me, also the second round,
09:29similar to the first round.
09:30He basically dropped him with calf kicks,
09:32made him limp around the ring the entire time, but...
09:34Yeah, Levy is just going to the low kick solution.
09:42Ooh, that's what I'm telling about Levy.
09:46When you pressure him a bit,
09:48he starts a little bit breaking down.
09:50You can see the difference in the body language.
09:53Main thing I do when I watch the fight and the fighters
09:57is how they behave, when they hit, when they get hit,
10:00when they go forward, was the body language,
10:03not just what they throw.
10:05Yeah, I'm sure you studied Levy Richter's a lot
10:07when you were scheduled to fight him.
10:09I was watching more him
10:11than I was seeing my girlfriend and mother.
10:14I mean, are you seeing some of the things
10:16that would have worked?
10:18Yeah, I think Bahram pressure,
10:20but he needs to connect with that right a little bit more,
10:26because he's, again, back on the low kick,
10:28and Bahram doesn't punish him when he throws the low kick.
10:31You need to punish him early or block it good,
10:33then he will stop.
10:35Yeah, Bahram putting that head forward again.
10:37Ah, this is a little bit, I don't know.
10:40Richter's grabbing his nose.
10:42Is it broken? No, it's...
10:44Head bleeding still.
10:46But I don't think it's...
10:48I don't think it's face is...
10:52To me, at least, maybe on a slow-mo we see.
10:56All right, let's take a look.
10:58Moment.
10:59There's a little clash.
11:00Ooh!
11:03I'm sorry, Levy.
11:04That was wrong from me.
11:06That was clear headbutt.
11:07Didn't look like this from my angle,
11:09but it looks like he kind of missed it,
11:12but this is a clear headbutt.
11:14He needs to get warning from here.
11:16Warning, warning.
11:17No headbutt.
11:19Yeah, that was a pretty cheap shot there.
11:21Yeah, that is cheap, but you don't want to do that.
11:25I'm all for the violence and for all the stuff you can do,
11:28but stuff like that cannot.
11:31Just seeing these guys, every time they open up,
11:34urgency from Bahram.
11:35Yeah, this is what Levy needs.
11:37When he opens up, he needs to stop and wait a bit.
11:40Ooh, there's those knees from Richter's.
11:43I love when Richter's throws that jump knee,
11:45scissor knee off of his clinch.
11:47And he's just headbutting the jab.
11:49Look, look at this.
11:50Look at Bahram.
11:52Just going like crazy.
11:53You cannot not love him as a fight fan.
11:56Oh, look at him.
11:57It's always so fun to watch.
11:59This is so wild.
12:00It's amazing.
12:01Yeah.
12:03The wolf is a perfect nickname for him.
12:06Such a wild man.
12:08Yeah, he'll take the jab, take the jab,
12:10and he thinks he's going to be that,
12:11and he tries to bait you in and slip off.
12:14Yeah, but Levy.
12:16Bahram split right open, you think, from the knee, maybe.
12:18Yeah, he's opening his head and open also, yeah.
12:22Please, tell her, Levy, tell her.
12:26We see the doctor is going to check it out.
12:29That looked really bad, the way he was squirting out,
12:31but top of the head could be OK.
12:33In the middle between the eyes, so I
12:35don't think there will be problem.
12:37It's just very nasty to see.
12:40I don't think the doctor will stop it.
12:43Ooh, it's a vertical cut.
12:45Yeah, but it's the one I think you already have.
12:50Let them go.
12:51Not on the line here.
12:52Please, doctor, let him go.
12:54He's good.
12:55He's a wild man.
12:56He wants to fight.
12:58Doesn't look positive.
12:59Doctor, yes or no?
13:00No, it's good.
13:01Come on.
13:01It's good.
13:02Yes, is that scissor knee from the clinch?
13:05Yeah, it's one of the best thing that Ricksters does.
13:08And it's over.
13:10The cut doctor stopped the fight.
13:13The crowd really upset by that.
13:15I mean, I think I'm a little disappointed
13:17because it was turning into something good
13:20and Baran was just waking up.
13:22They need to do part three because this fight was just
13:26getting good and nice.
13:29I wish to see what will happen in round number four and five,
13:32especially also for Rico fight because then we
13:36will see what they are both made of because we are sure Rico
13:40will make them go to the deep waters
13:43and test them how good of the swimmers they are.
13:45Yeah, Rico will punish you for all five rounds.
13:48And I think that's probably where Rico has
13:50some of the biggest advantage.
13:51For the last 10 years, he's been fighting five round fights.
13:54So a lot of these newer up and comers and contenders
13:57are only used to three rounds.
14:00And I think fighters get scared of the five rounds.
14:03So they go too cautious and doesn't
14:07do in the first two rounds enough as much
14:10as they should usually.
14:12But it was a fun fight to watch, but it's a shame
14:15doctor stopped the fight.
14:17I agree with you.
14:19I mean, a five round fight is completely different.
14:21You sometimes do need to pace yourself.
14:22I know when I fought my world title,
14:25I mean, it was in my head a little bit.
14:26But five rounds is a different, completely different
14:30fight.
14:31It's like a sprint to a marathon.
14:32Those two extra rounds make a big difference.
14:34Yeah, my opinion, doctor should let it go.
14:39They are fighters.
14:40Nothing will happen to him.
14:42He's used to getting hit and get bloody, especially Bahram.
14:46You can see how wild he is.
14:48It's a shame fight ends like this.
14:50But it is the fighting world.
14:52Referee and doctor can stop the fight at any moment,
14:56like we said in the beginning.
14:57So things like this, unfortunately, happens.
15:01And we, as the fighters, are not the happiest about it.
15:05But sometimes you need to have somebody
15:09to put the brake on you, because it can get worse for you
15:12than it needs to be.
15:15I mean, the cut's not a terrible cut.
15:16I think it's just the position of the cut really
15:18close to the part of the eye.
15:20So a lot of the blood going into the eye.
15:23I mean, we're fighters, Antonio.
15:24We wouldn't want it to stop.
15:26Yeah, here are the highlights.
15:28You can see the good right hook that Levy threw to Bahram
15:31immediately when he opens up and goes full on crazy.
15:36But Bahram did find sex.
15:38And we will see now in the second round.
15:41I think it was more of the Levy round,
15:43but judges gave it to Bahram.
15:46In the middle of the round, he was more wild
15:48and threw the wide combination like this,
15:51hitting Levy with the right hook and right straight.
15:55Now round number three.
15:58You can see they hug it up a bit in the middle.
16:02And now Bahram doing Bahram things crazy, headbutt.
16:07Nobody ever expected that.
16:08But in some way, me as a fighter, I respect him.
16:12I understand the mindset.
16:14I would want to do everything in my power to win too, so yeah.
16:18Trying to get in the head of Levy,
16:20try to do anything to win.
16:21Yeah, anything to win.
16:22And I think he started to get inside the Levy's head.
16:25And yeah, it's good.
16:30Now we can see strikes by the zone.
16:32And we can see in total, Levy's 165 strikes
16:37against the 128 strikes of Bahram.
16:41He was landing much more precise, 51% than Bahram.
16:46But Bahram is such a wild guy that you
16:48never know what he throws.
16:50And here are strike by round, round now, round one.
16:53Levy easy, and round three, and round two,
16:57the round that the judges gave goes to Bahram.
17:00Yeah, fair judging, I would say.
17:06Ladies and gentlemen, you watched it as it happened.
17:08The doctor has stepped in and called a halt to this contest
17:11because of a cut with an official time
17:14of two minutes, 23 seconds of that third round.
17:18Declaring the winner by technical knockout,
17:22Levy Richter.
17:33I'm here with your title contender winner,
17:35Levy Richter.
17:36A pretty tough fight, a weird one.
17:38What is your thought on this fight?
17:39Well, as we knew, it was going to be
17:41a hard fight with this guy.
17:43So I want to give all the credits to him.
17:46Yeah, the way it ended, yeah, you maybe
17:48don't want to win like this.
17:50But it happened, and we're on to the next one.
17:54I mean, the next one, probably the biggest one of your career.
17:56You get a chance to fight Rico Verhoeven at Collision 7.
18:00What's your early thoughts on that matchup?
18:02It's crazy, man.
18:03I've been saying it for years.
18:05This is my dream, and I'm finally there, man.
18:08So I think it's time for a new champion.
18:12I mean, Rico Verhoeven's been dominant for so years.
18:14What do you think you have to be able to dethrone him?
18:18Well, I think I showed a little bit in the tournament already.
18:21I just have to be a bit fitter, in a good shape, better shape,
18:26and then give him another surprise.
18:28All right, so what's the plan now for you
18:29as you go to prepare for Rico Verhoeven?
18:31Well, I think my coach want me in the gym this Monday already.
18:35So we have to train hard.
18:37With Rico, you have to be really fit
18:39and make the dream come true.
18:41Were you almost hoping this went five rounds?
18:43You know Rico's a good five-round fighter,
18:45and you might have to push that five rounds.
18:48Was that something you were thinking about?
18:49Yeah, man, I was ready for the five rounds.
18:51I trained really hard for the five rounds,
18:52so I hoped I could go a bit deeper this fight
18:56for preparation for the next fight.
18:58But it ended like this.
19:00A win is a win, and we're on to the next one.
19:02All right, any last words?
19:03You know, you got the win here.
19:04You're the main event.
19:06Say what you want.
19:07Rico, it's time for a new champion.
19:11All right, let's hear it for your winners.
19:13Levi, The Judge, Richter's.
19:18What a smack!
19:19That was probably the most fantastic trick play I've seen.
19:25I don't believe what my eyes just saw.
19:47♪♪
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