Tuomas Grönvall was already close to victory in the second set.
Tuomas Grönvall’s title hunt ended in defeat in Sweden. Stock photo. MIKKO HUISKO
Freelancer Tuomas Grönvall, 30, went to Stockholm to claim the Fight Club Rush championship belt. However, there was a loss in the title match of the midget category (61.2 kg). of Spain Hecher Sosa was crowned champion on points.
In advance, the match was expected to be difficult. After an internationally successful amateur career, Sosa had fought eight matches as a professional, losing only once.
Known as a violent wrestler, Grönvall immediately tried to take the match to his best part. However, the Spaniard skillfully defended all takedowns and wrestling situations. In addition, he gave several hits with his knees. The worst came with a jumping knee directly in Grönvall’s face, but the Finn survived.
In the second set, Grönvall was really close to finishing. The insanely tight guillotine was on Sosa’s throat for more than a minute, but with some sneer the Spanish freak freed himself from it.
Even in the second set, Grönvall took a lot of hits in vertical match situations.
– What the hell is Grönvall’s chin made of? the announcer asked during the second round of shooting.
– I guess he is made of Finnish steel, the narrator continued later.
In the third and last set, the clock worked in Sosa’s favor. Grönvall had to take risks, but the opponent’s knockdown defense was still effective. With five seconds left in the round, Grönvall caught another guillotine choke. Time ran out.
Sosa was declared the winner by unanimous decision. Grönvall, who took hard knocks to his face, knew it himself. You can watch a video clip of the moment after the match from this link.
– I have a strong neck, Sosa commented on Grönvall’s guillotine squeezes.
Grönvall, who trains in Espoo and represents 03 Fight Team, has now won 11 fights and lost six in his career. The match was his first Swedish promotion in FCR.
A win and a wild knockout
The main card of the match night started with Grönvall’s teammate Matias Kallion and Norway Zelim Zubairaev in the intermediate series encounter. Kallio, who got the third victory of his professional career, suffered his first defeat. It came in a rough way.
Hard hits were already shared during the first two rounds. At the beginning of the third, Kallio caught Zubairaev’s kick and started to strike back. However, Zubairaev’s elbow hit directly into his goal, Kallio’s head.
The rock fell from his bare feet to the canvas. The situation looked wild as the maintenance crew immediately gathered around him. After waiting for a while, Kallio took his post.
Immediately after Kallio, Finns experienced happy news. From Tampere Walter Hakkinen beat Sweden by Raymond Johansson by unanimous decision of the judges.
The three-set twist was full of twists and turns. Hakkinen dominated the match for long periods while being on the mat. In the last round, Johansson got some hits, and Hakkinen’s gas tank started to be empty. He fought to the end, and a hand was raised in the air at the verdict.
The undefeated Hakkinen’s professional career statistics now show four wins, three of which have come in FCR. After the match, the announcer asked if he would be ready to fight for the promotion’s featherweight championship belt.
– Why not? Hakkinen answered.
The Finns’ evening was completed by a middleweight who had already fought on the preliminary card, Abubakar Abdulhalakov.
The fighter from Helsinki’s GB Gym suffered a defeat For Enes Kollar with rear choke.