Fight Hard: McGinnis vs Lowe - Event Preview

For a while it seemed like everyone wanted to fight Buddy McGinnis. From Jake Roberts to CJ Hunter - and everyone in between - wanted a shot at "The Hooligan's" No. 1 Spire rankings. Saturday night, Brandon Lowe will get that opportunity.

Lowe (9-2), from the War Room in Wood River, is a tough kid from the other side of the river. Having won five in a row, including three wins last year over top flight competition, he could be McGinnis' toughest opponent to date. Lowe possesses those intangibles that coaches love; heart and toughness. It probably doesn't hurt that he has really great submissions and one of the area's top young coaches working his corner in Jon Menke.

McGinnis is a tough match-up for almost everyone. He has the ability to neutralize his opponent's strengths and drag them into his style of fighting. McGinnis has shown he is tough to submit, having never been submitted, this includes fights against grappling ace CJ Hunter and Christian Camp.

If McGinnis can avoid the ground offense from Lowe and take the fight to the judges, this should be another win for the Hooligan, but don't count out Lowe. He can end the fight at any moment with both powerful punching and nasty submissions.

Derek Clardy has quietly racked up three wins in a row including an upset win over Montuelle Prater at the February Fight Hard event. There has been talk that the winner of the Clardy (5-3) and Iowa's Rafael Bazaldua (6-3) will get a shot at the main event winner, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Brandon Karcher from Pedigo Submission Fighting will look to return to the win column after dropping two losses in a row. Karcher (6-2) had a steep increase in opponents taking on Anthony Livingston and Joquin Buckley in his last two bouts. Karcher is matched up with the tall and lanky Kyle Kurtz who has also faced Livingston and Buckley with similar results.

Out of action since June of last year, Charles Johnson returns. Johnson (7-1) is a high level athlete who competed in track and field at Southeast Missouri State University and is just now getting back to MMA. Johnson will be taking on a very tough Donte Butler in a match between two extremely fast and athletic, young fighters.

One bout to keep an eye on is between Miquel Lisboa and Jamese Taylor. Losboa, from Pedigo Submission Fighting, recently won the IBJJF World Championship in the white belt division in May. Lisboa has a similar frame to Taylor as both are tall with good reach. Lisboa should have an obvious advantage on the ground, but Taylor has proven to be difficult to take down. This fight could end quickly.

Full card:
Buddy McGinnis vs Brandon Lowe - Main Event
Rafael Bazaldua vs Derek Clardy
Brandon Karcher vs Kyle Kurtz
Donte Butler vs Charles Johnson
Steve Barbee vs Aaron Harvey
Cristian Santana vs Kenneth Kinder
Miguel Lisboa vs Jamese Taylor
Dillon Pousson vs Cory Tinnon
Rodney Cotton vs Trevor Lanzone
Dre Cannon vs Jeremy Daniels
Marcus Brownlee vs Kevin Green

Card Subject to change. Print your ticket voucher here.

Fight Hard MMA: McGinnis vs Lowe
Saturday, July 12th
Family Arena, St. Charles, MO