· Jim Wallhead Wins At “Knuckle Up At The Manor”
Che Mills and Jim Wallhead battled it out in the main event at "Knuckle Up At The Manor" over the weekend. With all of the pressure and rumors circling around two of the best unsigned fighters in the business, Wallhead managed to win a very scrappy technical battle.
Wallhead won the bout by absorbing Mills' strikes and effectively worked from the clinch through the first two rounds, also earning several take downs in the third. The take downs lead to Wallhead advancing position several times, landing a barrage of sharp elbows to Mills, dominating the third round, winning him the fight.
Rumors circulated for weeks that Zuffa or another major U.S. organization has had their eye on both fighters and opened preliminary discussions with one of them.
One rumor hanging over the bout was that Wallhead, a natural welterweight fighter, may be offered a spot in the WEC's lightweight division if he is willing to drop down in weight.
Ian Dean, Wallhead's manager, feels that he is Britain's premier unsigned fighter and is ready to move into top tier organizations, telling the UK Sun, "I'm really proud of Jimmy, it was the biggest domestic level bout for years and he showed a lot of heart to come away with the win against a massive welterweight in Che Mills. I think Jimmy really is the UK and Europe's premier unsigned fighter and I hope this amazing performance is the one that sees him signed to the big show. Matt Hand and the team at "Knuckle Up" put on a great show and the support for Jimmy was brilliant."
For Wallhead, the decision victory at "Knuckle Up" was a big weight off his shoulders. Knowing that, win or lose, he had likely outgrown the local U.K. MMA scene. A win would likely bring offers from the major organizations, while a loss could send him searching far and wide for suitable opponents on upstart shows, a situation not too dissimilar to the career paths of high-end free agents like Jeff Monson.
When we spoke to Warriors Fighter Promotions Fighter Management (Wallhead's managment team) today, they had this to say about their client's future, "Right now both Warrior Promotions and Jim Wallhead hope to see a big show come and snap the talented 25 year old up. He's 18-5 with 10 wins out of his last 11 and has earned his shot at the big show, has great sponsors in Tokyo Five Jeans and Like 2 Fight, and trains at some of the best camps in England (Team RoughHouse and Leicester Shootfighters). UFC, WEC (according to some media), Dream, Sengoku, Bellator, we're open to all offers."
With his win over Mills, and welterweight shuffling coming up in November for organizations like Strikeforce and the UFC, Wallhead may be the next in a list of promising young fighters making their way off the local promotions and into the big time.
