(Feb. 22, 2012) BAMMA, Europe’s leading Mixed Martial Arts promotion, is proud to announce that Luke Barnatt is to replace Sam Hooker; and Lewis Long is to replace Rus Smith in two fiery matches at BAMMA 9, which take place on 24th March at Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena.
Stepping in just 5 weeks before the fight, upcoming talent Luke ‘Bigslow’ Barnatt takes Sam Hooker’s place in a bout against Hyde MMA’s Lee Johnson. Lee Johnson is the more experienced fighter with a record of 5-1 and all wins secured by submission within the first 2 rounds. However, fighting out of Cambridge’s Tsunami Gym -home to respected UK talent that includes John and Tommy Maguire, and Robby Olivier –Barnatt, though just 2 fights and 2 wins into his career, shows promising talent and comes from a renowned camp whose star continues to rise.
With Rus Smith out due to injury, Birmingham home-boy Tom Breese will now face new opponent, Lewis Long. Welterweight, Breese, fights out of distinguished referee, Marc Goddard’s gym; and with three rapid submission wins at BAMMA plus a flawless 8-0-0 Semi-Pro record, Breese is a daunting prospect for any undercard fighter. One man brave enough to step up to the challenge is Lewis Long who can boast to have had just one loss in his 6 fight pro-career. With most of his wins also by submission, expect sparks to fly over some pacey, polished ground game in this hot technical match-up.
BAMMA Matchmaker, Jude Samuel, says:
“I’m very excited to have Big Luke on the card. He is one of the UK’s up and coming fighters to look out for. He is one of those tall, dangerous middleweights for whom you have to be on your top game when you come up against him. Both him and Lee are full of character and I’m looking forward to this match very much. Meanwhile, Lewis Long steps into the shoes of Rus Smith. A very capable submission specialist, he will give Tom a new set of problems to challenge his arsenal. The winner of this match will be making headways within the UK MMA community. We wish Sam and Rus a speedy recovery from their serious injuries.”
Buy tickets here
For media accreditation go to: http://www.bamma.com/mediaaccreditation.php