Joel Antik Presents TOP RANK - WELTERWEIGHTS

Welcome back fans and fighters alike to another installment of TOP RANK. I'm Joel Antik and the amateur tournaments are heating up! Lets get right into the action! Today we'll be focusing on the up and coming welterweights!


Starting us off at #5, Jay Clarke or Ghetts as he likes to refer to himself as. Part-time rapper, full-time fighter, and very, VERY, deadly and talented grappler. Perhaps the best in the WW divsion. But I'm sure a couple would love to argue and disagree with me, which I welcome of course! This young British kid has been known to be very outspoken, perhaps second to Cannon Mendoza in the WW division in terms of running their mouth. He's made his enemies too, there's no doubt. JSP has been hinting on possible black on black violence in the future if he'd ever cross paths with Clarke. Jay Clarke has also managed to call out the management at AFC, claiming that he's a star and deserves more headliners, which has come from a burning statement from the management themselves basically telling the young British kid to get off his high horse or get relegated back to the undercard. Yeah sure, there's no doubt Ghetts is disrespected and underrated. Kids a wonderful grappler, an ace for his age. With a couple years of training he may be a force to be reckoned with. He's shown to have some natural knock out power in his punches with a HUGE surprising ground and pound knock out win over the Cannon Mendoza killer Kirill Shikov. Why isn't the British kid higher y'all ask? I honestly don't know. Maybe I'm criminally underrating him, maybe I'm intentionally disrespecting him. For some reason, I feel like this kid needs that chip on his shoulder, he needs people to doubt him, because that's when he shines his brightest. He stands to always prove people wrong, and he's done just that. I mean yeah, he arguably got out grappled by Hae Sup in his only amateur loss, but Ghetts was probably nervous going into that fight or something. It was very uncharacteristic of him fighting the way he did that fight. Perhaps he was sick, who knows. I just know Jay Clarke has some deadly submissions to his game. Maybe it's time to drop the rap career and focus solely on the fight game. You've got a long road ahead of ya kid, here's to ya!
 

The first of many sluggers in our WW list. 'C4' or Jimi Roberts. 'C4' describes this man perfectly. Every punch he throws packs the power of C4. Roberts certainly hits hard, VERY hard in fact. What else is he capable of? Who knows, I just want to see him hit people. I mean, if you're good at something, why do something else? Just keep doing that one thing your good at, cause more good will come out of it. That's just at tidbit that I just got off a fortune cookie from this crappy Chinese restaurant that I ate at the other day. Although Jimi Roberts only has two knockouts so far in his amateur career, it's not really a good indicator of his power. He's come real close to finishing his opponents but you know what they say. Everybody tends to wrestle after they get hit smack dabbed in the face. His opponents are clinging for their lives, it's a wonder how they're still standing after receiving bomb after bomb from Roberts. Sometimes I feel like we have to rehaul the entire reffing system. Like these guys are getting their shit rocked all day and all fight long, and these refs are just watching the fight like a fan before realizing 'OH SHIT I FORGOT I'M THE REF, MAYBE I SHOULD STOP IT'. Fighters are reportedly suffering from concussions and even possible brain damage after fights. Not saying that Jimi Roberts is a cold blooded murderer/sociopath that only joined mixed martial arts to beat on folks to get a hard on in the most legal way possible. Hell maybe he is, who knows. But yes, Jimi Roberts hits like a truck alright. If you don't believe me, just ask him to hit you in the face. You'd probably wake up a vegetable. Just sayin'. 'C4' at #4. Hey look, I made a rhyme, does that make me a rapper now Jay Clarke? Just kidding, don't break my arm please.



Oh, Gary Holmes, or also affectionately referred to as 'The Dentist' by his fans. An interesting nickname without a doubt. Was Holmes a dentist, or studying to be a dentist before deciding on a career path in mixed martial arts? The world may never know. I only know why Gary Holmes would even be considered a dentist. This guy removes teeth surgically... not with a scalpel or with any power tools of sort, he does it with his two hands. Yeah, I'm sure dentists love him, cause he gives them business by knocking teeth out and some jaws loose. His power has been on display since day one at his debut. First three fights? Three brutal finishes. There's no better way to start off a career if you ask me. I actually started off as those guys that flip signs on the street ya know? But I'm sure y'all don't give two shits about Joel Antik here. Anywho, Holmes doesn't always finish his fights but he always seems to dominate. If he doesn't finish you, he's gonna try and maim you. Sometimes it's better to just take the fall ya know? Maybe I should hold a poll. Would you rather just get knocked out quick? Let the pain and misery just fly by in seconds, or endure a long, painful, brutal beatdown from a possible sociopath that refers to himself as 'The Dentist'? Well I know my answer to that and I'm sure most of y'all would agree with me, except you masochistic bastards. The WW division is full of heavy hitters, and Gary Holmes is one of the best, if not the best. 'The Dentist' is at #3.


Fans call him 'Magic'. And that's exactlly what Marcellus Coleman is, MAGICAL. I was debating the #2 and #3 spot, it could've gone either way between him and Gary Holmes, but after watching what Coleman did to Eric Riley in the first round of the NA WW tourney, I made my choice. Did you guys see Marcellus knock the lights off that kid? Within the opening seconds of the fight! My jaw dropped. My god. It's not even his first time doing that. He's literally done it to all of his opponents except Jordan Blackburn. And who's Jordan Blackburn? Just some bum that Coleman decided to toy with for three rounds and beat the living crap out of. I'm not even kidding, he gave the guy brain damage. BRAIN DAMAGE! He sounds like some gladiator from the times of the Ancient Romans and he might as well be one, or reincarnated from one. This guy knows how to fight. His stand up is top notch and his power is arguably at the TOP of the WW division. Statistics don't lie. Ask all of his opponents, at least the ones that can still form a complete sentence. Mar....celll...us.. cooaereraeetman..... is all I'm hearing. Oh, you're drooling a bit there, let me get that for you. Yeah. Sometimes I think this guy's just roided out and comes into every fight roid raged. Just look at this guy! He's an animal! I'll be honest, I'll love to see him and Gary Holmes go at it, or Jimi Roberts! Any who, Marcellus Coleman, you're one bad man. One baaaaaaaaaad man. #2!


Was there really any doubt at all? I mean this guy is definitely on a lot of peoples shit list and that's no secret. You can't deny the talent Cannon Mendoza possesses. Right from the start, you can already tell he was a star in the making. The way he handles himself at press conferences, outside of the octagon, aside from his other questionable hobby. Fighting out of 209 and the 420 Fight Club (Way to be inconspicuous!) the older Mendoza brother is the real deal. The guy just exudes confidence where he goes. Sure, he rubs people all the wrong way, unless you're a fan of him of course. I mean I know he lost a very close decision to Kirill Shikov, VERY CLOSE, and even though majority of fans and media alike agreed with the decision, it doesn't mean that Cannon's a scrub. This guy comes into every fight with one objective, to put on a show and to beat the crap out of his opponent. Sure, his gameplan and execution was a bit sloppy and questionable. Whoever his corner was for that fight should be fired. Think about it this way. This was Cannon Mendoza at his 'weakest' and he still fought his heart out. You best believed he bounced back immediately after the loss and resumed his dominance. He's currently on a 3 fight win streak following that loss to Shikov with no sign of slowing down. He's one of the favorites in winning the regional NA WW tournament. Hate all you want, Mendoza will fight anybody, anywhere, anytime. This guy even took a fight at catchweight to prove his skill, and he passed with flying colors. C'mon. Haters can hate, but you gotta see the talent in this guy. You can't deny it! You just can't! Y'all must be smoking some of that good stuff, some of the stuff that the Mendoza brothers and the Jackson brothers would love a hit of. Not that you heard it from me. Cannon Mendoza, one of MMAs most notorious shit talkers and fighters is #1 at the WW standings. 10-1? HOW CAN HE BE THE BEST WITH ONE LOSS? Well F*** you midget, as Cannon Mendoza would say. I don't have to go through each of his fights, even if you're a casual follower of the amateur scene, you know who Cannon Mendoza is. YOU JUST KNOW WHO HE IS. Already a household name, just imagine how big he'll be when he hits the pros. Keep hating cause Cannon Mendoza probably does not give a single shit about what you think and how you feel while he's beating the crap out of your favorite welterweight and wiping his pretend tears with wads of Benjis. #1. Thank you. That's all.

On the Bubble: Garrett Pholly (5-0), John Doer (4-2), Gunnar McCarthy (4-2-2), Kirill Shikov (4-4)

There we have it. The welterweights! Honorable mention to Gunnar McCarthy! I feel for you buddy! You really can't catch a break! Judges sure don't appreciate your style, but I love the fight you bring. Don't let them bring you down! I know you may be eliminated from the tourney, but heads up young man! I'm a fan, and I'm sure you got plenty all over the world! Tough stuff, but if anything I know you of all people can bounce back from this experience! But anywho, that's it from TOP RANK. Feel free to discuss!