Carbazel on 𝕏

I'm a writer and podcaster who writes a lot about combat sports, martial arts culture, and entertainment. Subscribe and join over 1,000 readers every week!

Feb 20Β β€’Β 1 min read

The mixing of the martial arts


There's nothing like it when two fighters with similar backgrounds and styles face off in MMA.

For those of you who follow my work in combat sports, you know one of the outlets I contribute to is Spectation Sports. I write fighter features for them, and it awards me the opportunity to speak with many great up-and-coming fighters, veterans of combat sports, and more.

The Bantamweight division in MMA was always exciting to me.

I know lightweight has always been considered the most exciting and toughest division in MMA, but something about the 135-ers always interested me.

Joe Warren, who fought in Bellator MMA, probably past his prime, was one of the fighters who made me notice that division. He did so when he beat Eduardo Dantas, who was younger than him, and unified the Bellator bantamweight title in 2014. That fight made me a fan of his, Dantas, and the division.

So, it's rare when I see fire like Warren/Dantas come up in an upcoming match. But one is coming up this weekend.

American Fight Promotions

AFP 5 is this weekend, and I got to speak with two bantamweights whose highlights made me feel that 2014 fire to get excited for a match.

Robert Presley and Alex Poinar will be facing off, and I find them to be almost mirror images of each other as fighters. I got to interview them both, and they agreed about their output, but not their strategy.

If you want to see these interviews, you can check them out on Spectation Sports here.

Presley promises chaos, Poinar wants to deliver a master class. What's best in MMA?

If you want to take notes on this and other fights to find your own answer, I made a notebook for you to do that here.


➑Follow me on 𝕏: @Carbazel​

πŸ“˜ My books: Bow and Arrow Mysteries (my fiction writing)

πŸ“© Mixed Martial Answers on Substack​

πŸ“ƒ Fight Night Card Companion: PDF​

πŸŽ₯ My YouTube channel: The Blogboard Jungle​

πŸ“Έ IG: @Carbeerzel​


I'm a writer and podcaster who writes a lot about combat sports, martial arts culture, and entertainment. Subscribe and join over 1,000 readers every week!


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