Lewiston, Maine (Fevereiro 12, 2016) - Fights Nova Inglaterra (NEF), Número um promoção luta regional da América, irá realizar o seu próximo evento, “NEF 22: TODAS AS ESTRADAS CONDUZEM AQUI” em Sábado, Abril 22, 2016no Colisée Androscoggin Bank em Lewiston, Maine. O card da luta contará com uma mistura de artes marciais mistas (MMA) e lutas de boxe profissional. Hoje cedo, NEF announced the addition of a featherweight contest to the amateur portion of the “NEF 22” cartão da luta. Bantamweight Champion Johnny Crafts (4-0) will move up in weight to face Taylor Costantino (2-1) em 145 libras.

Crafts was successful last Saturday in his attempt to capture the inaugural NEF MMA Amateur Bantamweight Title. He took out Henry Clark (3-2) in the third round of their bout in Lewiston. Crafts is a decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) brown belt out of Team New England United (NEW). He also cross-trains with Central Maine Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (CMBJJ) em Lewiston.

“I’m excited to step up to 145 to fight Taylor,” said Crafts of the upcoming matchup with Costantino. “I will be very strong at that weight seeing as I cut pretty extensively to make 135. It will allow me to focus on different areas this camp instead of putting a lot of my energy into cutting weight.”

Costantino is himself coming off a big win last Saturday at “NEF 21.” It took him a mere 25-seconds to down Frank Johanson (0-1), a training partner of Crafts at CMBJJ, na primeira rodada. Costantino is clear that he is coming to fight on Abril 23, and he does not plan on engaging in a grappling contest with Crafts.

“Respect to him for coming up in weight,” said Costantino of Crafts. “He’s a glorified pajama warrior that has never been punched in the face with any type of authority. He will clinch quickly and look for the takedown. He’ll realize real quick that he has never fought or trained with anybody like me.”

Crafts and Costantino are not strangers to one another. Several years ago, the two met in a jiu-jitsu tournament with Crafts coming out on top.

“Taylor and I have competed before in a sport jiu-jitsu tournament,” recalled Crafts. “Taylor says I am a glorified pajama warrior who has never been punched in the face, but if I recall correctly, I submitted him without my ‘pajamas’ no-gi in that tournament pretty quickly. I train with a lot of very talented and tough fighters daily who punch me in the face very hard. People say the same thing about me not getting punched – bem, I have had four fights and they just haven’t had the chance to. Anyone who has trained with high-level fighters will tell you that gi jiu-jitsu only makes you more of a technical fighter. If he doesn’t believe that, that is fine – he will feel it on April 23rd.”

“Johnny did submit me when I first moved to Maine,” Costantino admitted. “Legit submission, and his pure grappling is definitely high level. My grappling is MMA based, not slow jitsu. It’s grimy, grueling and punishing. Pure grappling, I would worry about his game. But it’s a fight, sport jiu-jitsu means next to nothing to me.

“I wish I could say people will get to see my whole game, but I can’t guarantee that. Johnny will feel my power and look to go to his comfort zone. I will break him, you will see quit in his eyes.”

“After Taylor won in impressive fashion at NEF 21, he immediately screamed at me while still inside the cage that he wanted a black belt for his next challenge,” disse NEF co-proprietário e matchmaker Matt Peterson. “Bem, he’s getting a brown belt in Johnny Crafts who, by all accounts, is due to receive his black belt any day, is a perfect 4-0 in the cage and is the current NEF amateur bantamweight champion. This fight is dripping with drama and will define a future top contender for the featherweight title in NEF’s stacked 145-pound division.”

próximo evento 'New England Fights, "NEF 22: TODAS AS ESTRADAS CONDUZEM AQUI," acontece em Sábado, Abril 23, 2016 no Colisée Androscoggin Bank em Lewiston, Maine. Os ingressos para "NEF 22" começam apenas $25 e já estão à venda no www.TheColisee.com ou ligando para o escritório de caixa em Colisée 207.783.2009 X 525. Para mais informações sobre as atualizações de cartões de eventos e de luta, por favor visite o site da promoção no www.NewEnglandFights.com. Além, você pode assistir a vídeos no NEF www.youtube.com/NEFMMA, segui-los no Twitternefights e juntar-se ao grupo no Facebook oficial "New England Lutas".