Great night for Rochdale fighters

Adil Hussain (left) - Full Contact Performance Centre

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Rochdale Mixed Martial Artists (MMA) from the Full Contact Performance Centre (FCPC) had a great night at the Full Contact Contender 5 event staged at Reebok Stadium in Bolton last night (Saturday 16 March).

FCPC had six fighters on the card, and five of the six won their bouts: Adil Hussain, Ben Gratton, Jonno Mears, Danny Cullen and David Bull. Antonio Sheldon put up a good fight but was outclassed by a tough opponent on the night.

Hussain was the first of the FCPC fighters to step into the cage and won his bout by a technical knock out in the second round.

Gratton won by a two to one majority verdict, though as FCPC co-owner/boxing coach David Hodkinson said after the fight, Gratton won at least two of the rounds by some margin so was baffled as to how one judge could give the fight to his opponent.

Sheldon was next into the cage and he was on the back foot from the first round as a tough opponent outclassed him. Sheldon refused to give up despite taking some big hits but ultimately he was comprehensively beaten.

Jonno Mears had a dream start to his fight as he rocked his opponent with a solid punch early in the first round and went on to win by a decision.

Danny Cullen made short work of his opponent, stopping him in the first round with an arm triangle.

David Bull stopped his opponent with a rear choke having dominated from the start.

Talking to Rochdale Online, Martin Stapleton, professional MMA cage fighter and co-owner of the Full Contact Performance Centre, said: "Tonight was a great night for the lads. They train hard and they can all be proud of their performances.

"I was more nervous for them than I am before my own fights, I felt like I was going to have a heart attack!"

The Full Contact Performance Centre is a ground-breaking facility based on Queensway offering world class coaching in various forms of martial arts and an innovative programme of strength, conditioning and fitness classes to suit all levels of fitness.