Bragging rights in Estevan are on the line tonight as Wade Baldwin and Felix Jimenez square off in the main event of Hard Knocks 28 at Spectra Place. This heavyweight bout will feature a couple of fighters who are coming off solid wins in Estevan at Hard Knocks 24 and one of them will make it two in a row.
This is the second time that Baldwin will be in the main event for a Hard Knocks card. He fought against Devon Smith on the first card last year and even though he lost that fight he felt it was a great learning experience and could provide him with an advantage. He says it's very easy to get restless waiting in the dressing room with 15 cards, he says it's important that he stays relaxed throughout the night before he fights.
Baldwin and Jimenez have trained together in the past so both fighters should have an idea of what to expect when the opening bell rings. Baldwin says it gives him for confidence preparing for an opponent that he knows very well. Baldwin has been preparing on what he expects Jimenez will do in their fight by having his training partner Derek Daku mimic Jimenez when they're sparring together.
Baldwin says one of the things he would like to do early on in the fight is apply pressure to Jimenez. He says with Jimenez's judo background he doesn't want to sit back and allow an opportunity for him to apply some judo throws. Instead Baldwin wants to increase the pace of the fight and not allow Jimenez to have an opportunity to use his judo background.
Along with fighting in the main event, Baldwin will be in the corner for Daku when he competes with Allan Bogle on the undercard. Baldwin says him and Daku have been training together almost non stop since Hard Knocks arrived in Estevan and he looks forward to being in Daku's corner whenever he competes.
Baldwin, Jimenez and Daku are three of the six local fighters that will be on tonight's card. Baldwin says it's really exciting to see the local talent on the card. He says with more and more Estevan fighters competing it will likely lead to even more local fighters competing and making the Energy City the hot bed of MMA in Saskatchewan.
-----
Derek Daku will be squaring off with Allan Bogle in a heavyweight bout on the undercard portion of the event. Bogle will be making his MMA debut after spending the last few years training out of Toronto. Daku doesn't have much information on Bogle and he's fine with that as it gives him a chance to worry about himself leading into the fight rather than his opponent.
In last fight in Estevan, Daku squared off with Devon Smith for the Heavyweight Title. Daku dominated the first round with a solid ground game. Daku said after that last fight with Smith he has a lot more confidence in his ground game and he's not worried if he has to take the fight to the ground against Bogle.
Along with competing, Daku will be in the corner for Wade Baldwin in the main event when he squares off with Felix Jimenez. Daku says he really gets into the fight when he's cornering for Baldwin. He thinks that his nerves gets even more rattled when someone he's cornering is inside of the cage.
It remains to be seen what happens to Daku's tite shot opportunity if he picks up a win over Bogle. He was promised a rematch with Smith he could score a win in Prince Albert but his opponent backed out at the last minute. Daku's goal is still to get another shot at the title.
No comments:
Post a Comment