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STEFANO GIANNESSI AND STEFANO CECCONI PROMOTERS   SHOOT BOXING, FREE FIGHT and VALETUDO MATCHES  

ITALIA VS FRANCIA    

The fighters at the presentation  

No sooner had the lights on the “cage” been turned off and the organizers were already making plans for the next event. This occurs only when the event has been very successful, and that was certainly the case here. Held for the first time in Pisa, the “Dangerous Territory” event filled the sports venue with fans who, with shouts and air horns typical of football stadiums, cheered on their favourites who were trying to have their names entered in the history of cage events in Italy. Stefano Giannessi and his partner Stefano Cecconi were right on target and received compliments from every direction, most importantly from the WMMAF Coordinator for Europe, Patrizio Rizzoli, who naturally was present at the event. Ten matches were planned and only one had to be cancelled due to injury. Let’s look at them one by one.  
This is how the venue's cage looked

The opening bout (shoot boxing with three 3-minute rounds, 67 Kg.) saw Raffaele Pontiroli of Milan-based Fight Evolution pitted against Brazil’s Olivera Tavares fighting for the Arezzo-based Shogun team. The Brazilian’s superiority in take-downs was immediately evident, enabling him to earn point after point. Pontiroli tried to contest the match with standing strikes but Tavares was well aware of the strategy and insisted on taking his opponent to the mat. At 2’ and 30” of the second round he forced Pontiroli into submission with a painful compression on the calf muscle.

In the second bout young Giuseppe Massignani, 19, of Vicenza’s Vigolo Team, made his shoot boxing debut against the more expert Dequadremard of the French Xavier team in the 75 Kg class. Early in the first round Giuseppe was nailed by a tremendous roundhouse kick to the head and he struggled just to finish the match. However, he showed the kind of stuff he’s made of when he managed to achieve a third round parity in points.  
Referee Daniel Marsiglia

 Next up was a hometown fighter who is approaching national team status, Stefano Bacci of Pisa’s Kurosaki Team. He was opposed in the 81 Kg class by Cristian Daghio, a veteran of the ring who came from Thailand for the match. The first round went badly for Cristian who was repeatedly thrown to the canvas. But experience counts heavily and, after losing the first round, Cristian came after Stefano with standing strikes. At 1’ 10” of the second round he caught Stefano with an uppercut to the liver, right where his ribs, damaged in the finals of the Italian Cup at Norcia, had not yet healed. Bacci had no choice but to abandon the bout.

 
Nanosetti (black shorts) and Remmani squaring off

For the fourth match Gabriele Nanosetti of the Florence-based Athena Team and A. Remmani of Team Xavier entered the ring for 3 x 3’ of shoot boxing, 67 Kg class. The match was mostly fought standing with furious exchanges of punches and knee thrusts, with the Frenchman prevailing in the first two rounds. At 2’30” of the third round a cut above Nanosetti’s eye forced referee Daniel Marsiglia, of Brescia, to stop the bout.

After a short break the action switched to Valetudo. Pisa’s Michele Bottai entered the cage accompanied by stadium-like cheers while his opponent, Daniel Pilo of the Chiavari Team, was assisted by Massimo Piram in his corner. The two engaged in a beautiful match, both standing and on the canvas, where Pilo is at his best. At 2 minutes of the second round Pilo managed to gain a montada position from which he unleashed a shower of punches, most of which were blocked by Bottai’s gloves. However, after a prolonged period of little resistance, the referee, Dino Fuoco of Milan, stopped the fight, declaring Pilo winner by T.K.O.  

 
Fabio Ambrosini, one of Europe's best shoot boxing fighters

In the sixth match Fabio Ambrosini of Fight Evolution, a bronze medallist at the Eurasian Championships last year, was opposed in shoot boxing, 73 Kg, by Michalef, a Frenchman. After only 1’ 30” a perfect kick to the liver forced the Frenchman to take the count, but he did finish the round. In the next round Fabio didn’t let up, changing from wrestling to strikes and vice versa, until he ended the match with a K.O. by means of an uppercut to the spleen.  

In the next match, another hometown favourite, Emiliano D’Alessio, a silver medallist at Yalta, faced Alfosso, another Xavier team fighter, in a Free Fight. Emiliano was superior. He easily won the first round and then, at 1’ 45” of the second he took Alfosso down and achieved submission with a perfect Sankaku.

 
Le Monier (on the right) with the Xavier coach

The scene repeated itself a short time later in valetudo 2 x 5’, 70 Kg. Serry Le Monier won by submission at 3 minutes of the first round over Francesco Sarullo of the Vigolo Team.

 
Cassata

 
Dejanduis

The last international match featured Denis Dejanduis of the Croatia-based Trojan Team against Cassata of the French Xavier Team. Two minutes were enough for the Frenchman to vanquish the Croatian. Cassata, a good standing fighter, immediately established a significant advantage with pounding low kicks. Then he took down Dejanduis who turned away from the Frenchman in an attempt to protect his face, granting him an opportunity to end it with a “mata leon”.
Of the nine matches only one ended in a points decision. Four were knockouts, four were submissions and the spectacle was abundant. The next appointment for MMA fight lovers will be in Livorno for the 11th edition of the Showdown Classic. The new decade kicks off a new era, that of the “cage”. The most likely date is the end of November or December and its organization will be handled directly by European WMMAF President Patrizio Rizzoli.