posted at thefightnetwork.com
TEDORADZE, BROUGHTON MISS CAGE RAGE 20 WEIGH-INS
By Stash Capar
LONDON, Feb. 9 --- The Wembley Plaza was brimming with burly athletes today for the official weigh-ins for Cage Rage 20 "Born 2 Fight," scheduled for the Wembley Arena tomorrow night.
All fighters made their requisite weights spare heavyweights Tengiz Tedoradze and Rob Broughton, who were stuck in London's rush hour traffic and could not make it to the scales in time. Ironically, Tedoradze and Broughton are scheduled to face each other tomorrow for the Cage Rage British Heavyweight Title. For now, the match-up is still scheduled to go forward.
CAGE RAGE 20 WEIGH-IN RESULTS
Eric "Butterbean" Esch (397 lbs) vs. James Thompson (264.5 lbs)
Mark Kerr (275.5) vs. Mustafa Al Turk (247)
Tengiz Tedoradze (unavailable) vs. Rob Broughton (unavailable)
Dan Severn (264.5) vs. Dave Legeno (236)
Francis Heagney (166.) vs. Lee Doski (170)
Jack Toczyelowski (168.5) vs. Jason Barrett (167.5)
Ronnie Mann (145) vs. Ashley Grimshaw (145)
Marios Zaromskis (166.5) vs. Damien Riccio (168)
Mazakazu Imanari (145) vs. Robbie Olivier (145)
Tom Howard (247) vs. Tom Blackledge (242.5)
Mark Buchanan (236) vs. Robert "Buzz" Berry (247)
Daijiro Matsui (184) vs. Tom Watson (183)
PRESS CONFERENCE NOTES
The pre-fight press conference following the weigh in was relatively uneventful, with Cage Rage promoter Andy Geer explaining the peculiarities of the Cage Rage rules, specifically the "open guard" rule (which allows a standing fighter to stomp or kick his downed opponent's head when given a prompt from the referee) for which the London-based MMA promotion is unique.
Japanese fighter and Cage Rage debutant Mazakazu Imanari, who does not understand English, needed an extended and time-consuming visual demonstration, much to the amusement of onlookers.
When Eric "Butterbean" Esch Butterbean and James "The Colossus" Thompson were called up to the scales, a sudden silence overtook the room, but was almost immediately replaced by applause as the giants stared each other down.
Cage Rage 20 "Born 2 Fight" will take place tomorrow at London's Wembley Arena. Be sure to check out The Fight Network's cageside coverage, only at www.thefightnetwork.com