It cannot be that some of the best fights in UK history have taken place in Merseyside.
From John Conteh’s defeat of Len Hutchins at Anfield in 1977 to Tony Bellew’s World Championship win at Goodison Park in 2016, the city has forever embraced combat. Both in a sporting and political sense.
More recently in mixed martial arts, Darren Till brought the sport’s biggest promotion to the docks and Next Generation MMA fighters Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann have enjoyed championship nights in front of thousands of their own under the Cage Warriors banner.
Despite all those fights having more mainstream recognition, a contest between Adam Ventre and Ireland’s Dylan Tuke will forever have a place amongst the folktale of combat history in the city.
As Shinobi FC was on the rise to cementing itself as the area’s most notable promotion, it was this fight that took it to the next level.
As the whole combat world was preparing for the Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz rematch weeks later, Ventre and Tuke produced a memorable fight and more specifically, a first round that most will never match.
Coming into the contest, Tuke was tipped as another shining prospect coming out of the Straight Blast Gym circuit in Ireland.
Next Generation’s Ventre came into the fight with a professional record of 4-2 and although most had him as the significant underdog, he pushed his Irish counterpart to the verge of defeat.
As the referee called both men on, what ensued was five minutes of what can only be deemed as non-stop action.
As ‘The Nuke’ implemented a hands-down approach, Ventre caught him continuously with his right hand, dropping him twice and leaving Tuke wobbly throughout.
As the commentator called it the best round of action he has ever called, the pair did little but advance forward continuously.
A specific period with less than thirty seconds to go saw both men stand in the centre and exchange. To the surprise of most, Tuke stayed put; barely.
As the pair recuperated all they could in just 60 seconds, they were sent out to repeat the first five minutes.
Ventre continued his success, landing hard and often, before the Irishman managed to get the fight to the ground and secure the submission finish.
Although the result wasn’t what the home crowd wanted, the result hasn’t gone down in history, the fight has.
A fight so excitingly rare that both left with nothing but respect from everybody who witnessed and will witness in the future.
The full fight can be seen below on Shinobi’s YouTube Page:
The contest deservedly earned plaudits from many of the top media outlets and it will forever remain in the minds of those in attendance.
With Ventre establishing himself on Cage Warriors, with an upcoming fight on March 7th in Manchester, a repeat of the contest between the pair in the future is one the community would certainly get behind.
Picture by Shinobi FC
