Shamrock FC: No Mercy - Preview

Shamrock FC is back at the Lumiere Place Casino with a night of pro/am MMA on April 16.

Slated for No Mercy's main event is a classic match-up between a technical striker and a submission ace when Steven Mann takes on Aaron Cobb out of Forth Smith, Arkansas.

Mann has lost three straight, including two at Bellator, and will want to use his hometown advantage to right the ship. All three of Cobb's wins have come via submission.

Jordan Dowdy (2-1) makes his return to action coming off his first loss as a pro. Dowdy fell to Adam Meredith on the November Bellator undercard and will look to rebound against Raymond Gray. Gray (3-3) is coming off loses to Bobby Voelker and Dakota Cochrane and has career wins over Darryl Cobb and Jesse Gerringer, and Wayne Collier.

Brandon Lowe (0-1), who last lost to the streaking Rashard Lovelace, welcomes Montuelle Prater to the pro ranks. Lowe out of the War Room in Wood River racked up multiple amateur titles before turning pro last November at Bellator 145. Local fight fans will know Prater very well having chalked up over 30 amateur fights.

Kicking off the main card is the return of Kelly Burch. Burch, a one-time active amateur, faces Hutch who sports one of the better nicknames in the game: "Afro Samurai."

The undercard is highlighted by a SFC lightweight title bout between two blue-chip ammys, Issac Purnell versus Evan Elder. Purnell created quite a bit of buzz for himself when he sent Montuelle Prater to one knee with a nasty liver kick. Still undefeated, 21st Century's Purnell will return to action after almost a year layoff. He won't have an easy night when he steps into the cage with red-hot Evan Elder from Hahn's MMA who has shown a well rounded ground game to compliment his exceptional striking.

"Issac Purnell vs Evan Elders might be the most exciting amateur fight we have ever done, on paper." Shamrock FC President Jesse Finney said.

One of the area's most prolific amateur fighters, Damian Newman, is slated to make his return against Mark Chappell. Newman has been on the shelf for over 29 months due to health issues. With his complications in the rear view, Newman is hungry to hit the ground running and return to his previous form that saw him win two of our Amateur Fight of the Year awards, and St. Louis' 2013 Amateur Fighter of the Year.

Full card, subject to change:

Steven Mann vs Aaron Cobb
Jordan Dowdy vs Raymond Gray
Montuelle Prater vs Brandon Lowe
Kelly Burch vs Marco Hutch

Isaac Purnell vs Evan Elder- 155 title
Courtney lemons vs Shannon Goughary 115 title
Damian Newman vs Mark Chappel
Joe Estrada vs Sebastan Grant
Tiffany Axton vs stefani lamm
Dustin Lampros vs Greg Freund
Gaston Marrabotto vs Zashaun Gist

Shamrock FC: No Mercy
Saturday, April 16th
Lumiere Place Casino, St. Louis, MO