ABU DHABI WARRIORS: ROCKIN' KL WITH MMA ACTIONS

International Pro MMA actions thrilled KL fight fans last 8 OCT 2016 at Kuala Lumpur badminton Stadium. This was for the Abu Dhabi Warriors. After locking down semi-finals in lightweight and middleweight tournament with the events in Thailand and Bulgaria, the series move to the featherweight and welterweight division, in KL 

Fans that filled the Stadium Cheras were treated to an electrifying night of action inside the ring. Partnered with Elite Boxing who oversaw the Muay Thai part of the event. The MMA fight cards:

Featherweight Tournament
Gibum Moon (South Korea) vs. Rodolfo Marques (Brazil)

Yerzhan Estanov (Kazakhstan) vs. Ismael Padavia (Afganistan)

Welterweight Tournament
Ivica Truscek (Croatia) vs. Giovanni Melillo (Italy)
Michael Dubois (Switzerland) vs. Nayeb Hezam (Algeria)

After an EFN Muay Thai super fight that warmed up the audience in the arena it was time for the opening MMA fight of the evening with Gi Bum Moon from South Korea fighting against the experienced Brazilian Rodolfo Marques.

Marques who’s a BJJ black belt fought his 30th professional fight and cashed in the extensive ring experience compared to his opponent. There was a lot of grinding throughout the fight as Marques tried to take down Moon who proved to be a tough nut to crack. 

We have seen attempt after attempt but Moon was rock solid and kept his composure. He had his shots but in the end it was Marques who took the split decision.
Rodolfo Marques def. Gibum Moon via Split Decision, Round 3, 5:00 

Next up were Ivica Truscek from Croatia and Giovanni Melillo who represented Italy. 

Ivica Truscek (31-25-0) is definitely one of the most experienced fighters in the MMA arenas all over the world when it comes to comparing his record against all other guys in the tournament. In the last 5 years alone he has fought in over 40 fights which is something unprecedented in the world of mixed martial arts.

His unique stance has surprised many men that faced him in the ring or cage. On top of that, he’s a deadly finisher having won 65% of his fights due to KO or TKO.

Melillo who started his pro career just last year was on a perfect 4-0 run until May of this year when he encountered Karl Amoussou (1-0 as a Warrior) who has inflicted him the first defeat of his career.

Once again the fans witnessed an up-tempo fight even though Truscek had over 50 fights more on his score. The experienced Croatian whose stance is unique in the MMA world had a lot of problems with the fit and muscular Italian who started taunting him from the start. 

But Truscek is far too experienced to fall to that and didn’t show any affection at all as Melillo was inviting him to a slugfest. They exchanged some serious punches and kicks through all three rounds but no one had any real opportunity to finish his opponent. 

It was up to the judges to declare the winner and the split decision went to Melillo in the end although Truscek was also expecting the win. Melillo moved to 5-1 while Truscek will have to wait for another opportunity for his 32nd career win. 

Giovanni Melillo def. Ivica Truscek via Split Decision, Round 3, 5:00

In the second featherweight fight of the evening Estanov from Kazakhstan and Padavia from Afghanistan battled it out for a place in the semi-final and a matchup with Rodolfo Marques who clinched a spot earlier in the evening.

Although Estanov is 4 years younger than Padavia his professional record is quite impressive.

Estanov is entering the tournament riding on a 2-fights winning streak, with the last one against Chinese powerhouse Lianjie Liu at Art Of War FC event in April this year. This submission machine with a 44% submission finishing rate in his career is a renowned BJJ practitioner.

36-year old Padavia lives in France but he’s originally from Afghanistan. He’s the Cage Warriors and KOC veteran and also the reigning KOC featherweight Champion. Padavia trains with the Werdum Combat Team which is run by the former UFC heavyweight Champion Fabrizio Werdum.

Someone’s winning streak is about to be ended that night as the two meet inside the ring. The winner will advance to the Road to Abu Dhabi featherweight tournament semifinals where he will face Rodolfo Marques

On a night of split decisions it was time for a third one in a row. Padavia has shown some of his slick BJJ moves in the opening round when he nearly submitted Estanov but the Kazakhstani survived. In the next two rounds the momentum turned in Estanov’s favour who completely bounced back after the tough Round 1 and eventually celebrated his 19th career win. 

Yerzhan Estanov def. Ismael Padavia via Split Decision, Round 3, 5:00

The last fight of the evening delivered some of the much-anticipated surprise factor as 13-years younger Michael Dubois from Switzerland squared off against Nayeb Hezam from Algeria. It was Hezam’s second appearance on the Road to Abu Dhabi. 

Last year he had to shake the hands of Diego Gonzales after dominating most of the fight in Bangkok, Thailand. This time Dubois didn’t stand a chance. The young gun came out guns blazing but after a swing and a miss it was all Hezam till the end. Hezam grabbed the legs of Dubois as his punch missed and moved the fight into the red corner. 

Once he got his opponent’s back, Hezam dominated. Dubois tried to defend himself and get out of the grip but Nayeb was just too powerful. Michael tapped after 90 seconds in Round 1 giving Hezam a well-deserved victory that placed him in the semi-final where he’ll meet Melillo.
Nayeb Hezam def. Michael Dubois via. Submission (Rear Naked Choke), Round 1, 1:30

Now the Abu Dhabi Warriors are moving to Brazil for the last leg of the 2016 Road to Abu Dhabi series. On November 1 we are coming to Sao Paolo.

THIRAPHONG'S VICTORY: EFN 8 - FIGHT RECAP

Sat 8 October was a packed week of martial arts events in Kuala Lumpur. MIMMA 4 Grand finals was on in Stadium Negara. Copa De malasia was held in P.J.  It was also HARI SUKAN NEGARA ( National Sports Day ) with many Muaythai competition organised in other states.

For fight fans that craved for Pro Muaythai actions, they were rightly  treated to an electrifying night of action at Kuala Lumpur’s Badminton Stadium, as EFN Champions league 8 came to town. Alongside several exciting MMA match ups as part of the Road to Abu Dhabi series.

EFN 8 is part of a series of events organised around the world. It began in Bangkok for EFN6, followed by EFN7 in Bulgaria. KL is the 3rd installment for the 2016 series. The 4th installment - EFN 9 will be in Brazil in November and finally all the champions from these 4 installment will meet at the year end December Grand Finals in Bangkok for the Kings Cup.

Production standard was top notch and the fights was action packed!

Super 4 - 72kg

Super 4 - 65kg

The muaythai portion of the card saw two 4 man tournaments, one at 65 kilos and the other a 72 Kilo tournament to decide the 3rd contestant to go through to the Kings birthday tournament on the 5th of December in Bangkok. 

The Muaythai action opened with a super fight between local fighter Iwan Merican and Thai fighter Nonthachai Kiatkorwit. The Thai fighter forced the pace throughout and looked a bit stronger and more dominant in the clinch, managing to throw down Iwan several times. Nonthachai took the points decision at the end.

Iwan vs Nontachai

In the first of the 65 kilo semi-final fights Petsaharat Sor Kiatiwat of Thailand faced Ncedo Gomba of South Africa. It was Ncedo who started the faster, landing with some eye catching jumping knees and kicks early on, before dropping Petsaharat for an 8 count near the end of the 1st, with a sharp overhand right. Petsaharat tried to get back into the fight at the start of the second, attacking Ncedo with some sharp kicks and solid punches, but by the second half of the round seemed to have run out of gas. In the final round Ncedo was in cruise control and took a clear win at the end.

Petsaharat vs Ncedo

The second semi-final saw Amir Naseri of Iran take on Malaysia’s Wes Jaya. Wes was the more aggressive, forcing the fight from the start, but Amir showed a clever control of the clinch and some clinical elbows, cutting Wes in the opening round and dropping him for an 8 count in round 2. 

Wes kept coming forward n the last round looking to punch, but Amir was never troubled and took the decision.

Wes Jaya vs Amir

In the 72 kilo tournament the first semi-final was over fast when Thiraphong Kiatkorwit made short work of Malaysia’s Muhammed Al Saiyuti, hurting him with solid left punches before finishing the fight with a minute to go of round one with some devastating low kicks.

Thiraphong vs Muhammad

The second semi-final also failed to see the distance as Kurits Michael Allen of the UK took apart Bow Suweilek of Malaysia in the second round, dropping him early in the round with a fast high kick to the jaw and then finishing the fight with a barrage of punches shortly after.

Bow vs Kurtis

The final of the 65 kilo 4 man saw Ncedo looking aggressive in the opening round of his fight with Amir. The young Iranian looked composed though and in round two the crowd saw more of his clinical elbow work, as he drove a hard, rising elbow through the guard of Ncedo, dropping the South African down for the count. 

65kg finals: Ncedo Gomba vs Amir Naseri

In the 72 kilo 4 man final Kurtis looked to have a bit of a size advantage over Thiraphong and the Thai fighter fought a cagier fight plan this time, sitting back more and looking to pick of Kurtis with fast counters. Kurtis pushed forward well and caught Thiraphong with a few sharp punches, but Thiraphong never looked troubled and was awarded the decision at the end. Earning his place in the final 4 man on the Kings birthday and making up for the disappointment of losing in the semi final the previous year, to the tournament winner Sean Kearney.

Final 72kg: Thiraphong vs Kurtis

Next stop it's EFN 9 at Brazil on 1st November.
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