ZT
Fight Skool, owned and operated by former pro boxer and MMA fighter Sol
GIlbert, hosted their 15th Fight Night in Hove, showcasing a mixture of
boxing, hybrid kickboxing and MMA.
Neil
‘The King of Sting’ Wray defended his u71kg boxing title against
Richard Pafluosta by way of the judges decision. After both tumbling
through the ropes in the first round, Wray showed the reason he is the
champion, outclassing Pafluosta and scoring a couple of knockdowns on
his way to victory.
Oli
Thompson, Britain's strongest man in 2006, started his MMA career with
a submission victory against the tough Ashley Pollard. Thompson shot
immediately and secured the takedown. Pollard looked for a couple of
submissions from the bottom, and managed to force Thompson to turtle up
at one point while he brought down punches. Thompson was able to
weather this storm and regain top position, where he stayed until the
end of the round. Round 2 saw much of the same, with Thompson taking
the fight to the floor after Pollard landed some good shots on the
feet. Thompson secured mount and began his head and arm triangle
attack, switching to side control to sink it for the tap mid way
through the round.
ZT
Fight Skool’s Mark Thornton walked through the u81kg boxing champion,
Calid Hughes from Wales, in a little over a minute to take the title
home with him. Thornton brought the fight to Hughes, hurting him with a
couple of shots, before scoring a couple of knock downs that led
referee Alex Reid to stop the fight
A
number 1 contender fight between John Pema and Sharif Haider brought
the crowd to their feet, with Pema out-pointing Haider on the judges
cards after 4 rounds of action. Pema was the more aggressive fighter,
pushing forward and landing more shots than Haider, who spent large
majorities of the fight on the back foot defending shots. Haider got
better as the fight went on, but Pema was relentless in his pursuit of
the title shot, and will now face Mark Thornton for the u81kgs belt at
the next Fight Night in June.
Pete
‘Kurgan’ Mercer came from behind to stop Tom Minter near the end of the
second round in a Light Heavyweight boxing contest. Mercer took a few
shots in the first round, but came back strong and landed with almost
everything he threw in the second, mixing up body and head shots to
take the TKO at 1:59 of round 2.
Chris
Williams came out on top of a back and forth battle against Michael
Davis in a hybrid kickboxing match, that saw him get the victory late
in the third round. Williams looked to mix it up early, landing a kick
that made Davis visibly wince in the first. Davis came back into it in
the latter part of the second and early part of the third, before being
warned by the referee for repeatedly turning his back as he comes in.
Both men had cuts on their lower left legs but battled on. Williams
came out the worse in a clash of legs mid way through the third that
left him limping, but he was still able to push on and score the
stoppage lat 2:58 of the third round.
Kev
‘The Assassin’ Souter had the crowd on his side as he defeated Jack
‘Kung Fu’ Khan in the fourth round of their boxing contest. Khan had
his guard down for most of the fight, a trait that Souter made him pay
for throughout the fight. Souter pushed the pace and landed the better
shots, making Khan wince as the second round came to a close. Khan was
dazed again in the third, before being put down in the fourth and not
answering the count.
Kenny
Moyston gave an impressive debut performance in the only other MMA bout
of the evening, knocking John Miller out with some vicious elbows from
the guard just 25 seconds into the fight. Remember the name.
Andy
Humphries outboxed Dave ‘The Raging’ Bull en route to a stoppage
victory 20 seconds into the third round. Bull pushed forward in the
first but walked onto counter punches from Humphries, scoring a
knockdown early. Bull got dropped again midway through the second, as
his guard began to drop. Humphries took full advantage in the third, by
which point Bull’s corner had seen enough and threw the towel in.
Josh
Baxter did ZT Fight Skool proud with a dominant victory over Tom
Divine, hitting him straight off the bat and not relenting until he’d
knocked him down and pretty much out twice, causing the referee to call
it at 1:21 of the first round.
Uma
Ali stopped Darryl Nickelson late in the second round of their
Lightweight boxing clash. Nickelson pushed forward in the first, but
Ali was countering well. Ali went on to drop him off the back foot
early in the second, showing the better technique, before smelling
blood and moving in for the kill to score to stoppage at 1:52 of the
second round.
A
female hybrid kickboxing bout kicked off the evening, with Laura
Howarth taking a points decision victory over Michelle Moriarty.
Howarth got the better of most of the exchanges, as Moriarty tired
midway through the second round.
Full Results
Laura Howarth bt Michelle Moriarty via unanimous decision ±
Uma Ali bt Darryl Nickelson at 1:52 of round 2 via TKO *
Josh Baxter bt Tom Divine at 1:21 of round 1 via TKO ±
Andy Humphries bt Dave Bull at 0:20 of round 3 via TKO *
Kenny Moyston bt John Miller at 0:25 of round 1 via KO
Kev Souter bt Jack Khan at 1:31 of round 4 via TKO *
Chris Williams bt Michael Davis at 2:58 of round 3 via TKO ±
Pete Mercer bt Tom Minter at 1:59 of round 2 via TKO *
John Pema bt Sharif Haider via majority decision *
Mark Thornton bt Calid Hughes at 1:31 of R1 via TKO*
Oli Thompson bt Ashley Pollard at 2:27 of round 2 via tapout due to head & arm triangle
Neil Wray bt Richard Pafluosta via unanimous decision *
* boxing
± hybrid kickboxing
MMA Hit Pit Awards
Fight of the Night: Chris Williams vs Michael Davis
Fighter of the Night: Mark Thornton
KO of the Night: Kenny Moyston
Submission of the Night: Oli Thompson