Lewiston, Maine (Februar 12, 2016) - New England Fights (NEF), Amerikas Nummer eins regionalen Kampf Förderung, wird ihre nächste Veranstaltung halten, “NEF 22: ALLE WEGE FÜHREN HIER” auf Samstag, April 22, 2016an der Androscoggin Banküber Colisée in Lewiston, Maine. Die Kampfkarte enthält eine Mischung aus gemischten Kampfkünsten (MMA) und professionelle Boxkämpfe. Bereits heute Morgen, NEF announced the addition of a featherweight contest to the amateur portion of the “NEF 22” Kampf-Karte. Bantamweight Champion Johnny Handwerk (4-0) will move up in weight to face Taylor Costantino (2-1) bei 145-Pfund.
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 (NEU). He also cross-trains with Central Maine Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (CMBJJ) in 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, in der ersten Runde. Costantino is clear that he is coming to fight on April 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. Vor einigen Jahren, 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 – bien sur, 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 23. April.”
“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,” sagte NEF Miteigentümer und Heiratsvermittler Matt Peterson. “Bien Sur, he’s getting a brown belt in Johnny Crafts who, by all accounts, is due to receive his black belt any day, ist perfekt 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.”
New England Fights 'nächste Veranstaltung, "NEF 22: ALLE WEGE FÜHREN HIER," stattfinden Samstag, April 23, 2016 an der Androscoggin Banküber Colisée in Lewiston, Maine. Tickets für „NEF 22“ beginnen erst ab $25 und sind ab sofort bei www.TheColisee.com oder durch Aufrufen der Box Office auf Colisée 207.783.2009 x 525. Für weitere Informationen über die Veranstaltung und Kampf-Karte Aktuelles, besuchen Sie bitte die Webseite der Promotion an www.NewEnglandFights.com. Außerdem, Sie NEF Video anschauen www.youtube.com/NEFMMA, folgen ihnen auf Twitternefights und kommen Sie auf der offiziellen Facebook-Gruppe "New England kämpft."