London's legendary York Hall was the venue for WKMA Gladiator Wars, a night of Kickboxing, Muay Thai and MMA action which was headlined by a barn storming Light Heavyweight Championship kickboxing bout between champion Galore Bonafandi and challenger Dion Jumah.
The fight of the night went the full 7 rounds, with Jumah having massive crowd support in his title bid. Jumah managed to drop Bonafandi a couple of times in the 3rd and 6th and it was this, coupled with his relentless pace that won him the fight and title of WKMA World Light Heavyweight Champion via a majority decision, which was initially given incorrectly to Bonafandi. With this news, the venue erupted and the new champion was carried out of the ring on the shoulders of well wishers.
Tracy Ling took her opponent Rachel Stevens the distance to become WKMA European Kickboxing champion. Ling was pushing forward and landing more shots than Stevens, despite being warned for an illegal knee in the second round.
England came out on top of the 4 fight England vs France battle, and Audifax Kinga sealed the victory with a decision win against Illermay William in a kickboxing contest. Both men came to fight, but it was Kinga who started taking over in the second round, putting William on the mat several times with leg trips. Kinga picked up the pace in the third and outboxed William. William won the fourth but it was a case of too little too late.
Christophe Evira scored France’s sole victory in a Muay Thai bout against Depesh Desai. Evira showed off his superior boxing skills in this 3 round contest and was able to land a couple of takedowns as well, mixing up body and head shots to take the points decision on the judges scorecards.
Carlson Gracie BJJ trained Dan Edwards took Streetwize’s Earl Brown down in their MMA encounter and escaped a guillotine attempt early, before launching his ground and pound assault that opened a cut above Brown’s eye which caused the referee to call a halt to the action at 2:44.
Kamil Bober of England took the first International Muay Thai fight of the night with a judges decision against France’s Medhy Ben Salem. Ben Salem appeared to have the better boxing, but Bober landed the better kicks and knees when they clinched which is ultimately how he won the fight.
Levi Benjamin, coming out of the world famous Peacock Gym, took a lackluster decision over Streetwize’s Anthony Gooch in their kickboxing match up. It was clear from the outset that Gooch wanted to work inside, while Benjamin was happy to stand off and keep Gooch at bay.
Bloodline’s Luke Gill-Bedford came out aggressive and landed countless leg kicks that injured Dean Turner which brought their MMA contest to a close within the first minute of the first round.
In boxing action, Adam Starling took a one sided decision victory against Guiseppe Ze Firmi in their 3 round affair.
Steven Cook and Chabota Hacid both put on a great performance in their International Kickboxing fight. Cook used front kicks to keep Hacid at bay and work his boxing in the first, but Hacid was able to get the better of Cook in the second. They both came out swinging in the third, but it was Cook that was throwing and landing more while avoiding shots to come out the winner for England after a tough 4 round war.
Castle Warriors’ Tom Rankin outpointed Tottenham Kickboxing’s Craig White in a 3 round kickboxing contest. Ranking was never in danger and took all 3 rounds convincingly.
In the nights opening MMA bout, Sean Rogers and Dan Facey fought to a 3 round draw. Facey took the fight to the ground early in the first but wasn't able to inflict any damage before the referee stood them up due. Facey landed a couple of shots but Rogers was able to put him down with a kick, only to let him up and they clinched at rounds end. Facey again took the fight to the floor in the second round, but it was Rogers who attempted a submission, throwing up a triangle that Rogers was still defending at the bell. The third round played out on the feet with neither man claiming a real advantage.
Jay Swinfield, a product of Streetwize Gym in Windsor, proved to be too much for Pegasus’ Jeremy Routledge in their kickboxing contest. Swinfield came out and hurt Routledge early, dropping him in the opening exchange. Once Routledge answered the count, Swinfield was all over him and didn’t relent until the referee called in to save Routledge. An impressive performance by Swinfield.
Coming out to the Ultimate Warrior’s theme tune brings with it a certain expectation, and unfortunately for Gabriella Guricanova, she was unable to live up to this. Reno was able to get inside, despite a significant reach disadvantage, and work her game plan. Guricanova was unable to use her long legs to keep Reno at bay, and despite a cut Reno received from an accidental elbow, she still went on to win the fight on the judges scorecard.
Danielle Kudmany out smarted her opponent Jo George in their kickboxing contest to take the judges decision. Working mostly off the back foot, Kudmany was able to pick George apart and probably could have finished the fight in the third had she pushed the action a bit more.
Dan Eden and Esmond Francis kept a relentless pace throughout their 3 round kickboxing bout, with Eden taking the 1st and 3rd rounds to get the victory. Eden was able to back Francis into a corner in the third and unleash a barrage of kicks and punches on Francis, who landed some good shots in the second.
The night began with a kickboxing bout in which Warlords Gym’s John Hills took a decision victory over Black Dragon’s Lee Cooper. Hill excelled with his boxing skills but Cooper didn’t back down and landed some good shots of his own.
MMA Hit Pit Awards
Fight of the Night: Dion Jumah vs Galore Bonafandi
Fighter of the Night: Steven Cook
KO of the night: Jay Swinfield vs Jeremy Routledge
Submission of the night: N/A
Fight results
John Hills bt Lee Cooper via judges decision
Dan Eden bt Esmond Francis by judges decision
Danielle Kudmany bt Jo George via judges decision
Tracy Reno bt Gabrielle Guricanova via judges decision
Jay Swinfield bt Jeremy Rowlett via 1st Round TKO
Dan Facey and Sean Rogers drew on judges scorecards *
Tom Rankin bt Craig White via judges decision
Steven Cook bt Chabota Hacid via judges decision
Alan Starling bt Guiseppe Ze Firmi via judges decision
Luke Gill-Bedford bt Dean Turner via 1st Round TKO *
Levi Benjamin bt Anthony Gooch via judges decision
Kamil Bober bt Medhy Ben Salem via judges decision ±
Dan Edwards bt Earl Brown via 1st Round referee stoppage (due to ground n pound) *
Christophe Evira bt Depesh Desai via judges decision ±
Audifax Kinga bt Illermay William via judges decision
Tracey Ling bt Rachel Stevens via judges decision
Dion Jumah bt Galore Bonafandi via judges decision