By Alex Dillon-
@ADillon__
BAMMA 20 bought UK fans a great show this past Saturday at the BarclayCard arena in Birmingham as two new champions were crowned and many more pro's made statements in their respective divisions. Now the dust has settled, lets look at who some of the winners should face next.
Ed Arthur (C) vs Mike Wootten
This potential bantamweight match up has been lingering for some time now with both fighters previously speaking of their desire to face one another with the newly crowned world champion Arthur even approaching Wootten at BAMMA 17 to ask him for the fight. For one reason or another, it never materialised for the world title at BAMMA 20 and instead, Arthur fought and defeated Alan Philpott. Maybe Wootten didn't believe Arthur was as good before and wanted more (a move to the UFC) but Arthur has more then proved himself now by becoming the champion and quite frankly, can fight anyone in the UK rankings. The champion said in his press conference he wants to fight people in the top 10 now and with Wootten being ranked there it makes sense, it's a great technical match up on paper and it's sure to deliver with both guys being entertaining fighters. Let's hope it happens.
Andre Winner vs Martin Stapleton
On the UK domestic scene, it's fair to say that Winner and Stapleton are the top two lightweights in the country at the moment. Stapleton successfully despatched Jeremy Petley in the main event at BAMMA 19 and as you know, Winner gained a big victory over Colin Fletcher this past weekend at BAMMA 20. Straight after, the BAMMA World Lightweight champion Mansour Barnaoui said he would like to fight Winner next in a title fight but it's well known that he is still negotiating a contract with BAMMA in a dispute which has been going on for sometime therefore the fight between Winner and Stapes could possibly be a number one contender fight for the champion should he decide to re-sign, Stapleton has looked on fire in the UK scene since coming back from a disappointing spell at Bellator, looking rebuilt through his training at SBG Manchester under Karl Tanswell and of course, Winner is still one of the best fighters in the country as Saturday proved to us.
Jack Grant vs Jack McGann
Jack Grant bounced back in scintillating fashion Saturday night at BAMMA 20 as he brutally KO'd UK MMA veteran Warren Kee in one round which left the latter in a really bad way for quite a while after the fight. Grant has been hit and miss on BAMMA but Saturday he shown that he can live up to his potential. He claimed after that all the bad issues are in the past i.e weight cut and he's now taking the sport seriously. Saturday certainly proved that but ideally, he needs stiffer competition. Kee had been KO'd in his recent fights quite often so its difficult to gauge where Grant really stands in the rankings. In come Jack McGann who only just fought Marc Diakiese for the Lonsdale lightweight strap at BAMMA 19. Yes he lost but, he's still one of the UK's top prospects. The other intriguing element of a match up between these two fighters is that they both like to fight on the feet. McGann is well known for his crisp boxing and well Grant's KO Saturday should tell you all you need to know about his stand up. This fight could send the winner back up to the rankings and into contention.
Regis Sugden vs Nathaniel Wood
What more can you say about one of the UK's brightest bantamweight prospects Regis Sugden? In all of his BAMMA outings he has looked phenomenal. Even though he comes from a K-1 background, he has displayed some magnificent BJJ in his fights. However, Saturday saw him utilise his striking to dispatch Ant Phillips and it was truly a work of art. After, he called for a shot at new World champion Ed Arthur but in all honesty, it would be a massive risk to put him in with such a highly skilled fighter. Regis is still very young and very young to the pro game why risk rushing him? Nathaniel Wood albeit coming off a loss to Michael Cutting (who was practically a featherweight for their encounter) would serve as a good test and overall good match up for Sugden. Both are deemed to be top young prospects so why not pair them together?
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