VAUGHN 'BLUD' ANDERSON'S LEGEND FC 8 INSIDER GUIDE

When it comes to knowing MMA in Asia from the battle lines, Vaughn 'Blud' Anderson is the field marshal.  Or that guy screaming to the front with a big bayonet.  Or that guy who blows the trumpet telling you it's time to die.  In any case, Blud is the man who knows the camps and fighters here as well anyone on the planet.  His exploits in the last year include KOing a Thai in seconds-only stunning fashion in a Muay Thai bout in Thailand, winning an 8-man heavyweight tournament in one night in Taiwan (he's not a HW), coaching MMA fighters at Ole Laursen's Legacy Gym in Ubon, and commentating at Legend FC events in Macau.  


Vaughn's blog is down right now, so MMA-in-Asia.com has jumped at the chance to post his previews of the next card for Legend FC 8 in Hong Kong.  Enjoy!


From Vaughn Anderson:

Legend 8 in Hong Kong here are some of the fight previews!

Jadamba and Nam
We know these guys well. It’s no mistake they're headlining the card. Expect the usual - a relentless, very violent bloodbath. Both have well-placed, punishing strikes and never-surrender stamina. An early knock out would be the only thing stopping this from being another epic battle for the history books, and that threat is a legit concern for both these guys. I am interested to see how our soft-spoken champion reacts to Nam’s in-your-face policy of utter disrespect. I wouldn’t want to be on Jadamba’s shit list.

Ji and Kawanago

Kawanago may be an expert kick boxer but his wrestling and submissions game are what gives him the confidence to stay in the pocket, drowning guys in pain with no fear of being taken down. Jixian, in many ways, is his opposite – always one step ahead, the guys he fights are often frantically scrambling from one escape to the next ‘til their luck runs out. Ji’s sanda base makes his game plan much less predictable - we’re never sure if Loping heads off will be his ‘Plan A’ or his back-up plan.



Wu vs Leonard Delarmino

Delarmino is very strong on his feet. Wu loves gnp, but in his Legend appearances we've seen him use his own scrappy version of Dong Bei sanda to hold his own standing. If gnp is his thing it’s probably the least dangerous option this time where I favour Leonard standing. Delarmino did an awesome job of stuffing many of Jixian’s td’s and showed us he isn’t easily dominated on the ground either. I am a huge fan of guys that fight the way these 2 do. This should be a brawl! Tempted to call this fight of the night but this time around there is too many sick match ups

Wu versus Hooker

Although we have all trained together, Haotian and Wangsai have completely different games. Hooker shouldn’t base Wu’s game on his teammate’s last opponent. Wu is outrageously strong for his weight and his base is wrestling. Most of his fights end by submission in his favour. Hooker also wins most fights and also too mostly by submission. Even though they look the same on paper, I can guess Hoatian is the stronger grappler and Hooker may have an advantage striking. As Wangsai said, “Just the province of Shandong has 100 million people the whole of NZ has less than 10 million”; the talent pool in China is undeniably more competitive. That being said, Kiwi Sam Brown has beat Shandong’s Liu Wenbo - odds are only a reference

Brown and Niimura

Sam ‘Striker’ Brown is back. Never in my life have I seen someone change from so nice to so damn scary. He is truly the MMA world’s version of Dr Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. After beating Liu Wenbo, Brown now faces up-and-coming and undefeated Yuki Niimura. Niimura has all his bases covered, but big bodies demand more oxygen. Niimura hasn’t gone the distance yet, but Brown showed us he is prepared to bang it out ‘til the final bell. We got 2 big dudes that like to bang - the safest prediction here is that someone is going to the hospital after this one

Kim and Nakamura 

Kim Hoon returns! Fighting in the same league a few years ago, I always had my eye on Kim (who kicks massive ass) as I figured one day I ll have to fight him myself. Kim’s thing is fighting people at their own game (how crazy is that?), so we can expect him to drive this fight with Nakamura to the ground. Nakamura has an awesome record and has fought in UFC, Dream, Shooto and a pile of other big promotions. He knows what he’s doing. If Kim gets outclassed on the ground he might consider swallowing his pride and hunt the knock out - hey Kim Hoon don’t forget to clip your nails this time either

Yusuke Kasuya and Song Un Sik

In theory this should be the night’s best ground war - both awesome submission artists. Kasuya is undefeated in 7 fights with 1 draw and the rest finishes. “Tornado” Song is looking for redemption after being on the losing end of the Knock out of the night in Legend 6. Fighting on the ground is their specialty, arriving there conscious is the tricky part


Thanks, Vaughn!  Good stuff, as always.  Looking forward to your next fight... when is it???