Venator FC's Norwegian Stars Stake Their Claims for a UFC Call-Up

Emil "Valhalla" Meek talked the talk and he walked the walk on Saturday night.

The 27-year-old Norwegian was the only man willing to fight Rousimar "Toquinho" Palhares following the Brazilian's defection from fighting in the USA due to a two-year suspension imposed on him by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Palhares was adjudged to have deliberately held on to a kimura submission for too long against Jake Shields despite the referee calling off the fight after Shields had tapped out. It was the latest allegation made against Toquinho for holding career-threatening submission holds for too long following accusations made by Tomasz Drwal and Mike Pierce. As a result of this last occasion against Shields, Palhares was also stripped of his World Series of Fighting welterweight championship.

Simply put, you'd forgive a fighter—a competitor who appreciates their limbs and joints in equal measure—for not wanting any part of a fight against Palhares.

Meek, though, is a different proposition altogether. Not only was Valhalla willing to take a risky fight against Palhares, he actually asked for the match-up while on the cusp of a UFC call-up.

Fightland interviewed Meek ahead of the biggest contest of his career and he was aghast at the thought of a fighter not willing to take on such a behemoth challenge as Palhares.

"He is absolutely beatable. 100%. I'm not afraid—I wanted this fight and there's no way I'd take a fight unless I thought I would win. If I could ask for any fighter outside of the UFC, it will be Palhares as he is the biggest-known and highest-ranked welterweight out there—that's the kind of fight I want."

"I had some contact with Venator before for appearing on future cards. But, they were having trouble matching Palhares so I asked for the fight myself. They checked with him and here we are. I can't really understand why people won't want to fight him. For me, it's all about taking big risks. It's make or break time for me and if I were to lose, there's no shame in that as he's probably one of the world's top five welterweights and I think I could live with that. If I win, it's the greatest day of my career and I can't in my wildest dreams refuse a fight like this."

Meek was right. Palhares was beatable—and it only took 45 seconds to do so. After a pensive first 30 seconds with both men measuring their opponent out, Palhares looked to seize the initiative and dived for Meek's legs to implement his serious submission arsenal. Meek was his equal, however, shimmying to his left, before unleashing numerous hellacious elbows and punches to the dome of Palhares to draw the stoppage. Toquinho claimed he was punched in the back of the head, but the replays would suggest otherwise.

It may have been brief, but Meek had shocked the MMA world.

While Meek impressed in an abrupt fashion, his compatriot and good friend Jack "The Joker" Hermansson was equally imposing and in imperious form.

After Saturday night, the Cage Warriors middleweight champion now has eight knockout victories to his credit following his dominating victory over Polish journeyman Ireneusz Cholewa, whose admirable grittiness only prolonged his own beating until the fight was called off in the third and final round.

While Hermansson's opponent is nowhere near the level to that of Palhares, as the saying goes, you can only beat who's in front of you, and that he did.

With an impressive record of 13-2, Hermansson put on a striking clinic against his counterpart in Cholewa, peppering his foe with numerous jabs and accurate, pin-point combinations to keep the Pole on the backfoot throughout.

It was The Joker's second win in the space of a month. Hermansson retained his middleweight title against Brazilian grappler Alan Carlos with another third-round knockout following a prolonged beating hid behind one of the best jabs in the middleweight division.

With the UFC's middleweight luminaries such as Luke Rockhold, Chris Weidman, Michael Bisping, Lyoto Machida, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Tim Kennedy, Yoel Romero and Anderson Silva competing in the upper echelons of their division well into their thirties, with the latter of which aged 41, the premier MMA promotion is in dire need of young blood at the 185lbs weight limit. At 27-years-old, Hermansson more than fits the bill.

The Norwegian MMA scene is in an odd situation. Despite the popularity of both Meek and Hermansson, and the sport's growth in neighbouring Sweden, MMA remains a sport outlawed in Norway—a country that has long banned any combat sports that "promote" knockouts as we reported in 2013.

However, the waters have since been muddied somewhat. 2014 saw Norway reintroduce boxing as a legal professional sport thanks in part to the popularity of Cecilia Brækhus—ending a 33-year hiatus which saw Norway hold the title of being one of three countries to outlaw professional boxing alongside human rights nightmares North Korea and Iran. But, MMA remains a sport on the outside.

Despite this, both Meek and Hermansson remain popular figures in their homeland. Meek's vociferous "Valhalla Army", clad in their now infamous American football jerseys, travelled in strong numbers to support their countrymen in Milan, Italy, on Saturday night—a necessity considering Norwegians cannot fight on their home turf.

In our interview, Meek alluded to the fact Norwegian MMA needs its own Brækhus to help move mixed martial arts into the country's sporting subconscious and eventually gain official, legal recognition. "When Norway has a fighter in the UFC, hopefully me, a guy that they can root for, I feel MMA would be huge in this country just like how it helped in Sweden with Alexander Gustafsson and with Conor McGregor in Ireland. Norwegians need a fighter they can relate to."

You can't help but feel that both Meek and Hermansson are the relatable figures Norwegian MMA needs and two fighters the UFC should be securing to contracts as soon as possible.