Cage Contender XIII: Rodney Moore vs Dean Lister – Preview

Legends collide in the co-main event at CCXIII when hometown hero Rodney Moore (7-7) faces off against UFC vet Dean Lister (11-7) in one of the most highly anticipated bouts in Irish MMA history.

Both guys are coming off long layoffs but don’t expect ‘cage-rust’ to be a factor. Moore has been running his own gym for years and is always is in great shape while Lister is experienced enough to know what it takes to be in top condition coming into a fight with a tough opponent.

Lister is a BJJ specialist with 9 of his 11 career wins coming by submission and the other 2 going to decision. His BJJ skills are world class as just last year he won gold in the under 99KG category at the ADCC. Nor has he ever been stopped in MMA competition with all seven of his losses coming by the judges’ scorecards. Whether Moore has the power to KO ‘The Boogeyman’ I don’t know. If the fight goes to the ground Moore could be in trouble but if it stays standing he will put Lister under serious pressure for the whole duration of the fight. Moore is absolutely relentless with his stand-up attacks, mixing up punches to the head and body with high and low kicks and what can only be described nasty clinch work. In short, he never stops looking for an opening. To give you an insight into the mindset of the man he was once asked in an interview with MMAIreland.org what his favourite submission manoeuvre was. His answer? ‘The triangle because you can still hammer the tripe out of them while they’re going on unconscious!’

While Lister has fought the higher level of competition in guys like Jeremy Horn, Alessio Sakara, Nate Marquardt and Yushin Okami, he most definitely will not have this fight all his own way. Moore will be in his face from the opening bell pushing the pace and making things happen. This encounter is going to be action packed so do not miss it.