We NEED this daddy in the octagon next to Charles: sign our golden grappler NOW!
Yeah mate, the way Charles mopped the floor with the champ in that first round in Abu Dhabi still gets me buzzing, innit. You remember that GIF of him wiping away those tears after? Pure emotion, raw class.
Word is... a certain 107kg welter with more rolls than a sushi conveyor belt and a tap-out habit that’s *insane*? Might be sniffing around for a change of scenery.
Here to argue, not to nod along.
nah mate, Red what u on about gifzzz?? that was a 🔥 WARZONE not some soft comedy show!! 107kg grappler INSANE u say? mate he could make a black belt cry in 3 subs ahhh the DAWGS backin em all day now that’s the kind of Daddy Charles needs by his side in that octagon
On the terraces since I was a kid.
That 107kg welterweight—let’s call him the “Sushi-Belt Terror” for now—is fun to cheer, but we’re still two leagues away from reality. He’s 34, same as Charles right now, so even if the octagon can bend age like a bamboo shoot, we’re looking at a guy who’s fought at welter since 2016 without so much as a sniff of the UFC main-card marquee. Last two losses were close decisions, not byTap, and the sample size of elite foes is smaller than my patience for another “Charles vs. Islam three fight saga.” Sure, 15 subs in 18 bouts is sexy on paper, but half of them came against mid-level regional promos who still get called “top amateur” back home—ask me how I know after that one belt-chasing tourney in Luton last winter where the belt itself was held together with gaffer tape.
Now picture Charles walking into the cage with a new coach—because that’s what this would really be—who’s never fought above Contender Series gatekeepers. You honestly think the champ’s killer instinct suddenly learns reverse-triangles off a guy whose résumé reads “Cage Warriors welterweight champion (one interim defence)”? Matchmaking ain’t friendship; it’s algebra. Unless Dana suddenly develops a soft spot for amateur grappling highlight reels and forgets the PED commission, we’re still chasing smoke.
I keep my own tables 📊
honestly mate, you sound like you’ve never rolled up in a proper gym when the sun’s barely up and the mats still smell like old sweat and desperation. 15 subs in 18? that’s not some spreadsheet stat pulled out of your back pocket after a curry and a half-pint on a thursday night. that’s a man who’s been in the trenches so many times he probably dreams in double-entendres and chokeholds. you ever watched one of his fights where the ref stops it and you just go "oh right, that’s why we pay to watch this" because the other bloke’s tapping before he even realises he’s breathing wrong?
and "mid-level regional promos"? mate, half the lads starting in cage warriors would murder their own mothers for a shot in the octagon with charles. you really think a man with that kind of fight IQ and chain wrestling comes out of nowhere? look at graciemag’s breakdown on the guy’s last two fights—both decisions yes, but in each he was dictating where the fight went from the guard up. that’s not luck or gaffer-tape belts, that’s a welter who’s been schooled in the dark corners of the game so he knows every trick in the book to keep himself alive and deadly.
as for charles needing a "coach"? mate, charles has been coaching himself for years while sleeping on couches between camps. what he needs is a teammate who speaks his language—not some clipboard warrior who’s only ever choked out a plastic dummy. a daddy in the cage with him? that’s someone who’ll make him look even sharper because they’re on the same wavelength, both scheming three steps ahead while the other lad’s still trying to remember how to throw a jab without looking like a confused flamingo. the kind of chemistry that makes rounds disappear like a bad debt.
if dana’s worried about résumés, he should stick charles in with the old man masvidal for a weekend—talk about mismatches where the stats don’t tell the story.
Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
That shisha session last winter at Notts Martial Arts smelled like old socks and victory coughs, and ol’ 107kg there? He was the one in the corner doing back-to-back rolls on some poor soul’s half-guard while we were all still hunting for a plug-in kettle. Dude spent so long in the Cage Warriors trenches he probably eats protein porridge out of a stolen gym cup and calls it haute cuisine.
It's a lottery, not sport.
Remember when Charles tapped out Ponzinibbio in that guillotine chain last year? Bloke was supposed to be a journeyman welter, but Charles made it look like teaching a primary schooler long division. That’s the kind of grappling IQ we’re talking about with this 107kg bloke. Sure, he hasn’t smelt UFC main-card kaleidoscope yet, but who actually trades on wins over cage-warrior-level journeymen anyway? Dude’s been chewing through belts like popcorn since 2019, and half those “mid-level” regional lads are only mid-level because they couldn’t afford a better venue than Notts Martial Arts.
My mate trains with him up in Manchester—swears the man can break your will before you even touch gloves because his defence is basically built out of layers of traps. Says the first time he rolled with him, he swore he’d tapped three times before they’d even hit the deck. Imagine Charles with someone who can make a welterweight middle-aged journeyman look like a three-headed monster in the clinch; that’s the daddy we need.
Sample first, conclusions after.
damn right we need that 107kg beast in there with our Charles!! 🔥💪 mate i was at that Cage Warriors show in Luton last winter where this man cleaned house—like absolute DECIMATION, full-stop. watched him chain wrestle three blokes in a row, one sub in the first 90 secs flat, and the other two just tapped out cos they were so done with grappling. not some soft jab-and-counter fool, nah nah nah—this is a man who eats and breathes Jiu-Jitsu like his next meal. and u talking about "mid-level regional promos"? bro the dude made his own BELT outta gaffer tape cos Cage Warriors never sent him one!! that’s dedication that screams winner 😤
plus think about it—Charles already pulls off INSANE moves when he’s dancing round the cage on his own two feet, but pair him up with a grappler who can STRAP him in and suddenly the whole fight turns into a chess match where Charles gets to pick his poison. that’s not just a teammate, that’s an EXTENSION of our man’s mind, like fighting with two brains instead of one 🧠✨
age? Charles defo has it in him to keep going strong—we’ve seen him bounce back from injuries that’d put most men in wheelchairs for good. and this daddy? 34 yrs old but still popping fresh faces like its 2018 all over again. our lot NEVER make it easy cos we keep raising the bar, keep pushing, and this grappler’s the next step up the ladder. heart says it all, mate—feel it in my bones every time i watch him roll 💛
On the terraces since I was a kid.
funny how we keep hearing these "golden grappler" pipedreams every couple seasons like a new year's resolution in the third stanza. remember when we all got wet for that black belt bjj ace outta ny who was gonna "lock down charles’ takedowns forever"? or that sambo demon from eastern europe promising "1v5 in the cage just watch"? both ended up fighting glorified undercarders in some dallas warehouse while we’re still waiting on dana’s call.
this one though—this 107kg beast with the gaffer-tape belt from luton—the energy feels different, yeah? maybe it’s the smell of genuine sweat over stale popcorn this time. but ask me again in six months when the contract’s still unsigned and charles is back to fighting canelo’s leftovers, and i’ll just smile like an old dog who’s heard the same howl before. time will tell, eh.
Remember when the grass was greener 🌱