Venator FC 3: Rousimar Palhares vs Emil Weber Meek

Venator FC 3: Rousimar Palhares vs Emil Weber Meek – Click Picture Above To PRE ORDER The Event.

Venator FC is Italy’s largest and most successful MMA promotion, and is also home to a number of highly skilled, big-name, and thoroughly entertaining fighters.

Venator’s next event—the third so far—is scheduled for Saturday, May 21^st in Milan, Italy. Based upon the impressive contests that the card boasts, it appears as though it will be not only the promotion’s greatest show to date, but the biggest and best Italian MMA event of all-time.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the contests that are sure to make Venator FC 3 a show to remember.

Rousimar Palhares vs Emil Weber Meek

In the main event of the evening, leg-lock specialist Rousimar “Toquino” Palhares will meet Norwegian knockout artist Emil Weber Meek for the Venator welterweight title.

In the interest of full disclosure, Rousimar Palhares is currently unable to fight in America or any other country with a universally recognized athletic commission. However, this isn’t because of a failed drug test or a legal issue, but rather, because of his highly feared leg locks and general submissions, which he has a tendency to hold after the tap (seriously injuring opponents in the process).

Opponents know what to expect when they fight Palhares, but are powerless in stopping his outstanding submissions, often times.

Emil Weber Meek will look to knock Palhares out just like he does every other opponent. The twenty-seven-year-old Norwegian throws bombs while inside the cage, and especially with Palhares’s ground expertise considered, Meek will be hunting for the KO finish from the get go.

This marvelous main event is a classic grappler-versus-striker match-up, albeit with higher stakes than normal, given Palhares’s dangerous (both in style and nature) submissions, Meek’s vicious punches, and the belt which is on the line.

Jason “Mayhem” Miller vs Luke Barnatt

The well-known, colorful, and deceivingly skilled Jason “Mayhem” Miller will return to the cage for the first time in nearly four years when he meets TUF 17 veteran Luke “Big Slow” Barnatt in the co-main event of the evening. This fight has intriguing written all over it.

Mayhem Miller, as most MMA fans know, has been dealing with a great deal of adversity outside of the cage, in terms of legal complications, since his fight against CB Dollaway. It will be interesting to see how this—and his nearly four years away from the cage, in addition to his older age—factor into the fight (never mind the fact that he’ll be traveling to Italy for the contest).

However, it would be a mistake to count Miller out. He’s always been a submission ace, and in his last bout, he hurt Dollaway several times with strikes, before his knee buckled; it was very clear that Miller worked incredibly hard on his striking in-between the Michael Bisping fight.

On paper, though, Luke Barnatt should have the advantage. A veteran of The Ultimate Fighter season 17, Barnatt picked-up some impressive wins in the UFC before being cut—perhaps prematurely—following some questionable decision losses and a wrestling-based defeat to a determined Mark Munoz.

Since then, Barnatt has opened his own gym in Spain, LiliusBarnatt Martial Arts, and rattled-off two finishes in Venator FC (the first of which won him the belt).

Barnatt is younger, taller, rangier, fresher (in terms of competition), and geographically closer and more familiar with Italy (having competed there in Venator FC twice before) than Miller, but once again, “Mayhem” is highly underrated, and cannot be counted out.

That’s what makes this fight so interesting.

In the interest of time, let’s take a briefer look at some of the card’s other incredible fights:

Matt Hamill, TUF competitor and decorated UFC vet, versus Sokoudjou, the explosive KO artist and veteran of Pride, the UFC, Strikeforce, and Bellator.

Bellator veteran Karl Amoussou, who is incredibly underrated and very fun to watch, will meet UFC veteran and submission specialist Simeon Thoresen, while looking to expand upon an impressive four-fight winning streak.

UFC veterans Che Mills and Cody McKenzie (founder of the McKenzietine) will also appear, along with a number of exciting Italian prospects (there are twenty total fights on the card).

Be sure to catch Venator FC 3 and all of its exciting action live on Saturday, May 21^st, here on  mmatv.co.uk, in stunning high definition for just £7.99 (or about €9.99).

Enjoy the fights!