Wednesday, 19 June 2013 19:00

Results from the international kickboxing scene this weekend:

Mike Zambidis took home the title at the W5 Grand Prix event in Moscow, although it wasn’t an easy road. In the semi-finals, Enriko Gogokhia provided a tough challenge, taking the fight into the extension round before Zambo could score the decision win. In semi-final #2, Dzhabar Askerov took a decision against William Diender, setting up Zambidis vs. Askerov 2 for the final. The two men once again went to war, and once again it was Zambidis claiming the win via unanimous decision. With that win, Zambidis has won 7 of his last 8, with the only loss coming against Giorgio Petrosyan. Prior to this run, he was on a 2-4 streak, and looked like his days at the top could be finished; it’s been great to see the veteran fighter make this resurgence. Also at W5: Vladimir Mineev won over Vitaly Shemetov by doctor stopage at the end of round 1, Alexandr Stetsurenko def. Vasily Tershonok by decision in the extension round, and Roman Mailov def. Ramil Novruzov via decision.

Evolution 23 took place in Australia on Saturday. As always, the Australian Muay Thai show delivered, with a number of exciting fights. In the main event, one of the scene’s big names, Bruce “The Preacher” Macfie dropped a unanimous decision to Franki Giorgi. Giorgi had defeated Macfie by stoppage at the last card to set up this rematch, and while the Preacher went the distance this time, reports indicate the result was never in doubt.

Elsewhere in the card there was some controversy in a fight between Eli Madigan and Jason Scerri, which Madigan won. Post-show, Scerri’s corner has been very critical of Madigan and Evolution, claiming that when they agreed to the fight, they requested there be no elbows used, as Scerri no longer fights under full Muay Thai rules. According to Scerri’s camp at Jabout Gym, both Evolution and Madigan’s team agreed to this, however when the fight started, Madigan used numerous elbows to cut open his opponent. Scerri’s corner threw in the towel as they felt they were being cheated. Bit of an ugly situation there.

One final note from the show – much credit is due to Glen Purvis, who came in on very short notice to face the tough and experienced Dane Daddy Kool when Dane’s original opponent had to bow out. Taking a fight against a fighter at that level on just a few days notice is impressive. Even more impressive? Purvis is only 16 years old. Hats off to him for stepping in there.

Full results from Evolution 23 in the complete entry.

And finally, top Muay Thai fighter Saenchai Sinbi (the former Saenchai Sor Kingstar) was in action in England. Saenchai faced top ranked UK Muay Thai fighter Liam Harrison. Reports say this was an excellent fight with Harrisoin giving it his all, but in the end, Saenchai was too much and took the unanimous decision win. He’s now 2-0 against Harrison after a 2009 decision victory. If you’re unfamiliar with Saenchai, get to YouTube and check him out – truly one of the most gifted athletes in the world in any combat sports discipline.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 19:00

A few noteworthy results from this weekend:

Kicking off the weekend was Kings of Kombat 3 in Australia.  The show was originally slated to be headlined by Paul Slowinski vs. Peter Graham, but Slowinski had to drop out due to injury and was replaced by Andre Meunier.  In the end, it was the K-1 veteran Graham who was victorious, stopping Meunier in the 3rd with leg kicks.  The semi-main event was another clash involving K-1 names, as 2010 Oceania GP champ Ben Edwards faced Carter Williams.  Edwards took the majority decision in a close fight.  One other result from this show - in a fight of great interest to local fans, Steve Moxon defeated Jordan Tai by majority decision in a fight that sounds like a must see.  At the show they also announced early details for Kings of Kombat 4 in August: headlining the event will be the rescheduled Slowinski vs. Graham fight, along with a rematch between Edwards and Williams, plus Errol Zimmerman vs. an opponent yet to be determined.

In France, the big event was Explosion Fight Night vol. 3.  When this show was announced some time ago, Sudsakorn Sor Klinmee was slated to appear as part of a 4 man tournament, however, Sudsakorn ended up not taking part in the event as the 71kg tournament was cut.  In the main event, Aiello Batonon defeated Nonsai Sor Sanyakorn via majority decision.  Also on the card, Xavier Bastard won over David Macintosh via unanimous decision, and Hocine Bennoui won a 4 man 65kg Muay Thai tournament.

Finally, a pair of MMA notes from the weekend.  In Strikeforce, K-1 veteran Scott Lighty took part in the latest Challengers event.  Best known to K-1 fans for his 2005 Vegas Grand Prix run, Lighty has put together impressive 6-1 record since making the switch from K-1 to MMA.  However, he hit a bump in the road here as the former kickboxer was soundly defeated by Lorenz Larkin.  And in Bellator, the man who upset Andy Souwer, 2010 Shootboxing S-Cup finalist Toby Imada was back to his MMA roots.  He was defeated by Patricky Freire via TKO in round 1.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 19:00

Leroy Kaestner walks away from Marvin Sansaar after ending his night.  Kaestner defeated Sansaar via 1st round TKO at Battle at the Bhoele in the Netherlands this past weekend.

For more excellent pictures from the event, visit the MixFight.nl forums.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 19:00

Full results are in for today's It's Showtime Brussels card.  In the main event, Karim Bennoui scored a mild upset, defeating Sergio Wielzen for the IS 61kg title via decision.  Good, action packed bout here, and with that win Bennoui becomes the second 61kg champ.  Sadly, Wielzen's run never seemed to take off - we'll see if the largely unknown Bennoui can bring some recognition to this fledgling division.

Marat Grigorian scored an impressive win over Severiano Rijssel, earning a TKO in the 2nd round.  This is exactly the kind of strong showing Grigorian needed as he looks ahead to his IS 73kg title fight with Yohan Lidon in May.

In the opening bout, Evgeniy Kurovskoy was victorious via unanimous decision against Andre Grigorian.  As we mentioned earlier today, Kurovskoy is entered in the huge IS 70kg tournament coming out of Russia in July.  That tournament is absolutely stacked, and Kurovskoy will come in the heavy underdog, but it's good to see him get the win here against a very capable opponent.

Complete results are below, and we'll have more analysis and fall out in the coming days.

Evgeniy Kurovskoy def. Andre Grigorian, Unanimous Decision

Andy Ristie def. Nick Beljaards, KO Rd. 1

Lefterio Perego def. Sonny Dagraed, 4-1 Decision

Marat Grigorian def. Severiano Rijssel, TKO Rd. 2

Sahak Parparyan def. Marco Vlieger, 4-1 Decision

Karim Bennoui def. Sergio Wielzen, 4-1 Decision to win the It's Showtime 61kg World Title

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 19:00

We've got more information coming in from United Glory from this past weekend. First up, if you are interested in the MMA portion of the card, Sherdog.com has full results from the MMA fights online.  Check those out here.  Video has also surfaced of both Nieky Holzken and Errol Zimmerman in their fights, so we have some details on those fights, plus those videos, below.  As for the rest of the card - your guess remains as good as mine.  Which, I have to say, is completely ridiculous.  It's a real shame that this company would put on a show featuring multiple top 25 fighters, then not even bother to tell anyone who was actually on the show.  In this day and age it's absurd not to put results up on your own site, or at the very least, visit a big message board such as Mixfight.nl and post full results.  I'd like to say I'm looking forward to the next United Glory show and Guidon vs. Saki, but I have so little faith that I'll actually see the show that it's hard to drum up much interest.

Up first is Nieky Holzken vs. an unknown fighter mis-labeled as Wendy Annonay.  To be clear, Holzken's opponent here is NOT Wendy Annonay, as the YouTube video states.  Mr. Annonay himself contacted us to clear this up.  Our sincere apologies to him, and our readers for the confusion - just more proof of the lack of information from UG. UPDATE: It appears Holzken's opponent is French fighter Carlos Tavares.

Anyway, not sure what weight class this was, as Holzken has been moving around the 70-77 range a bit lately.  His opponent looks pretty big, so I would guess something higher than just 70kg.  Very impressive performance from Holzken, who patiently waits for the right opening, then takes advantage once he gets it:

Next is Errol Zimmerman vs. Zinedine Hamer-Lain.  After hearing Zimmerman was on this card, I was interested to see this, as the Bonecrusher has not looked too good in his last few showings.  Here, we once again get the somewhat overweight looking Zimmerman - a fighter who looks distinctly different from the man who made the K-1 semi-finals 2 years ago.  On the plus side, he does show off his power and aggression here, putting a heavy beating on Hamer-Lain that ends up breaking the overmatched fighter's arm.  I'll call this one better than we've seen from Zimmerman lately, but still not the kind of shape I would like to see him in:

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 19:00

By Daniel Fletcher

Harrison, Gordon & Howson @ Future of Muay Thai 1

The main event had more sizzle than a boiling saucepan, and it duly spilled over in the third round. Kyle Fella of Bad Company (Leeds) was known as a talented youngster with a dash of impetuous recklessness, and this was clearly demonstrated in a Badr Hari/Hesdy Gerges style end to his tilt at the ISKA British title.

Fella looked the sharper of the two in the opening round. He caught a body kick early, and responded with a counter right over the top and a teep that forced opponent Loz Reilly back to a neutral corner. He almost dropped him with a sweeping low kick soon after, and dumped Reilly on his back several times throughout the opening round. A spinning elbow and flurry of punches in the corner only sealed a strong 10/9.

In the second, Reilly’s timing was much better, and he blocked more leg kicks and found the mark with straight punches down the pipe. He looked more composed, and for his part, Fella’s strikes did not carry the same snap and venom as in the first round.

The third was calamity. A clinch near the ropes caused Reilly to become unbalanced, and he fell back into the centre of the ring. As he pulled up and sat on his haunches, trying to rise quickly to his feet, Fella rushed forwards and threw a kick. Like the phantom punch of Ali in the Liston rematch; did it land? Did it graze? Or was there an element of “Bonjasky-ism” in the reaction to the kick? Either way, it was an illegal blow, and it handed the ISKA British Super-Featherweight title to the prone Loz Reilly.

Ah well. Hesdy Gerges defended his It’s Showtime World Heavyweight title against the top ranked Daniel Ghita after winning it in the same manner. There is no reason Reilly cant prove he is a worthy champion either with a solid defence.

Fella comes from Richard Smith’s highly respected camp, and with such team-mates as Howson, Harrison, Jordan Watson, Lisa Smith, Richard Cadden and James France, he will surely show some bouncebackability and recover from this slight career setback.

More after the break.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 19:00

Two big kickboxing shows this weekend to report on:

United Glory hosted the semi-final rounds of their World Series of Kickboxing and MMA tournaments this weekend.  On the kickboxing side of things, in the first semi-final, JLB teammate Brice Guidon defeated Mourad Bouzidi via KO in the 2nd round.  I have not yet found any footage from this fight, but it's an impressive win as Bouzidi is both a solid fighter and very tough to stop.  In semi-final #2, tournament favorite Gokhan Saki (pictured) took a unanimous decision win over Wendell Roche.  Another powerful, leg kick heavy performance from Saki in this one, although Roche put up a game fight, particularly in the 3rd round.  With those wins, the final is set: Gokhan Saki vs. Brice Guidon.  That is scheduled from some time in May, though could very easily be delayed.  Saki will remain the favorite, but Guidon is a tough fighter, with a 2010 win over top 10 Hesdy Gerges.  He'll definitely make this a good final, and has it in him to pull off the upset.

Only partial results are available for the rest of the card, as United Glory is known to shuffle their line-ups considerably at the very last minute.  In more kickboxing action, Nieky Holzken, Errol Zimmerman, and Robin van Roosmalen were all victorious against unknown opponents.  Not much is known here, except that Zimmerman apparently broke the arm of his opponent - we'll have more details on that incident plus all these fights as soon as we can.  Finally, in the MMA tournament, both UFC veterans lost, as Siyar Bahadurzada defeated John Alessio, and Tommy Depret defeated Roan Carneiro.  Siyar and Depret will meet in the MMA finals on that same May show.

The other big event was over in Romania, where SuperKombat and WAKO-Pro presented an event billed as Romania vs. Italy.  In a rematch from the 2010 K-1 Europe GP finals, Freddy Kemayo once again defeated Sebastian Ciobanu, this time via extra round decision.  Romanian site Kombat.ro is saying there was some controversy surrounding that decision, though take that with a grain of salt as they tend to really favor their local fighters.  Dzevad Poturak also took a decision win over Ionut Ifitmoaie, while Catalin Morosanu defeated Yuksel Ayadin, again via decision.  On the undercard, the hyped Stoica brothers were both triumphant, as Andrei Stoica defeated Alex Rossi, and Bogdan Stoica took out Levio Ramoni, both via decision.  Full results here.

Next weekend, the show to watch is It's Showtime Brussels with their 61kg title on the line.  There was a NJKF show also scheduled that was to feature Tetsuya Yamato, but that show has been postponed to May 21 in light of the disaster in Japan.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 19:00

We just saw a hype train not get derailed, but fly off of the rails on its own accord and into the realm of hyperbole. Not in a very long time have I seen a fighter get as hyped up so quickly as Jon Jones has in his very brief Mixed Martial Arts career. Jones has all of the potential in the world, has a large, lanky frame and a wrestling pedigree on top of a sense of creativity that most Mixed Martial Artists are afraid to express.

There is a very good chance that tonight Dana White and the Fertitas were finally able to create a new, homegrown star and one that will have wider appeal than a middle aged white man with a beer gut and a mohawk could have. Jon Jones handled Shogun like he was a small child, and while all of his weaknesses were still there, his strengths were enough to make Shogun look like an average fighter to say the least. Jones had a hard time keeping position on the ground due to poor posturing while going for big elbow strikes, on his feet his footwork as as sloppy as ever and the big shots were never set up or followed up on.

That won't matter to most because he won the fight in dominant fashion and landed a few big, cool moves on his feet that will fill a highlight reel up for future fights quite nicely. A lot of those cool moves he throws he actually did't pick up from Jackson or Winklejohn, but former K-1 fighter Mark Miller (whom I urge you to Google, guy has the best story in combat sports) who he used to train with. So the flash of Jon Jones came from one of the few kickboxers in the United States that were able to prove themselves on an international level in the past ten years and added to the wrestling base that Greg Jackson has been able to have a field day with.

Jones moves on to face team mate Rashad Evans and a slew of articles hailing him as the greatest champion prospect to ever live, but he'll need to keep his head on the ground and pick up some of those fundamentals if he wants to stay on top, because eventually someone will be able to exploit them.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 19:00

Mirko Cro Cop didn't come out to Duran Duran, instead he came out to Ennio Morricone's classic L'estasi Dell'Oro [The Ecstasy of Gold] from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. To many this shows signs of change and for a night of PRIDE NEVER DIE, an ominous sign.

Brendan Schaub is a large, scary dude who looks to have a bright future ahead of him. He clinched Cro Cop against the cage and was broken by Herb Dean for a possible rabbit punch. This just led to a takedown by Schaub. Cro Cop was actually able to sweep him and get back to his feet, but more clinch work from Schaub just exposes what we already know; Cro Cop hates getting clinched.

The second round sees a lot of the same, Cro Cop seems to be afraid of throwing meaningful strikes and his inability to clinch has haunted his UFC career. He throws a left high kick that Schaub was able to avoid and use to take Cro Cop down. The remainder of the round was Goldberg discussing Jon Jones and lots of clinching. Cro Cop actually uses a few close elbows to get some blood out of Schaub before Schaub once again rabbit punches Mirko and loses a point. That might actually even up the fight or put Cro Cop in the lead as he landed the best shots in that round.

The third round starts off with a left inside leg kick from Cro Cop that like a heat seeking missle connects with Schaub's cup. Left leg ball breaker, right leg vasectomy. Schaub after he recovers takes Cro Cop down, Cro Cop pushes him off and gets immediately taken down again with a diving tackle. For some odd reason Shaub lets him get back up and Cro Cop is able to stuff a takedown. It looked good for Cro Cop and then Brendan Schaub lands a crazy right hook behind the ear of Cro Cop sending him flying, head bouncing off the mat.

We love Cro Cop, but it is that time.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 19:00

Saturday was a pretty odd day for the world of fighting. The threat of nuclear meltdown hangs over the collective heads of those in Northeastern Japan, leaving the fight industry there just an afterthought. In between concern over their lives and the lives of their friends and loved ones, you could see fighters on Twitter expressing confusion over what was going on in America, but it passed, as actual pressing matters took over.

In the states, debate, concern, gloating and groaning took place as it was announced that Zuffa, parent company of the UFC purchased top competitor Strikeforce. We are still yet to see exactly how it unfolds, but watching the United States MMA scene over the next two years will be very, very interesting to say the least.

We also got to see Fight Code put on Oktagon, a show featuring Giorgio Petrosyan vs. Cosmo Alexandre, as well as a fantastic top-to-bottom card to support said fight. But there were some other fights of interest in the kickboxing world. In Greece, hometown hero "Iron" Mike Zambidis, better known to some fans simply as ZAMBO outclassed Ali Gunyar on the Iron Challenge event.

The other big fight of note was Albert Kraus fought in Russia against a hometown fighter, Batu Khasikov. This was set to be a tune-up fight for Kraus, but much like Andy Souwer's tune-up fight in Spain, Kraus found himself on the bottom half of a decision and a disappointing end to his Russian excursion.

Oh, and we have videos after the break. Thanks to our pal Brent Ducharme for scouting these.