'FALL OUT CHAMPIONSHIP MUAY THAI' - (Calgary,
Alberta, Canada) October 27th, 2007
Presented by CAKMA and Mike Miles Promotions.
Saturday October 27th saw the Calgary Amateur Muay Thai and Kickboxing Association (CAKMA) and Mike Miles present their final fight show of the year at the Deerfoot Inn and Casino.
The promoters were coming off the cancellation of 'Savage September' where opposing Team Turkey was denied visa's to Canada literally at the last second, forcing the show to be cancelled.
That blow (cancellation) knocked the wind out of the promoters. Then leading into the 'FALL OUT' show, the scheduled Main Event athlete from Calgary, Chad Sawyer, injured his knee in training
and was not allowed to compete. This left the promoters scrambling to find a replacement.
Regardless of the problems the promoters were facing, the night turned out to be a sold out event. At the last moment, the host Casino even added in an additional 70 extra chairs and they were
sold as fast as they went on sale.
The event provided 8 excellent fights. The Calgary fan base is used to seeing the promoter's events feature international fights with Canadian athletes battling against athletes from different
countries. However, this event featured only 2 international fights but the undercard of some of Canada's top athletes against other top Canadian athletes provided great entertainment.
MAIN EVENT - Professional Lightheavyweight Full Muay Thai Rules bout. Jesse 'Smiles' Miles (Miles / Calgary) vs. Oliver "All Over' Davis (Yodkeripauprai / Toronto)
This bout was originally scheduled as the comeback fight for former Muay Thai Champion Chad Sawyer. Leading into the final weeks of the fight, Sawyer injured himself and could not get doctor
approval to take the bout so a replacement was found on one week’s notice! Coming off his first professional career win in Denver, Colorado in the CHUCK NORRIS WORLD COMBAT LEAGUE
representing the DENVER FURY was Jesse 'Smiles' Miles. Miles had fought his first professional at 164 lbs. and now had bulked up to 175 lbs. for this bout. His opponent Toronto
athlete Oliver Davis fights at 175 lbs. and even higher. Miles was also significantly shorter than Davis who appeared to tower over the Calgarian.
The bout opened to the excitement of the crowd. Davis opened with a few low probing kicks at Miles who playfully answered with a few of his own. Approximately 30 seconds into the bout Miles
picked up the pace and delivered a fast and hard kick to the inside of Davis' thigh. The smack of shin on thigh resonated throughout the venue. This blow awakened Davis who started throwing some
strong kick and punch attempts that Miles snapped out of the way and avoided. Whatever Davis threw, Miles avoided or blocked with his gloves. During a kicking counterattack from Davis, Miles caught
it and the Calgarian kicked out Davis supporting leg who then fell to the canvas with a resounding crash. During this round (and even into the next), Miles played a very tactical game and when it
appeared he would be moving away, he would explode in and land some very strong punches or kicks. This seemed to frustrate Davis.
As the second round opened, Miles looked extremely calm (as did Davis) but Miles was to pick up the speed and power in his blows landing some nice kicks and punches. Davis countered and one
roundhouse kick landed with the toes to the ribs of Miles. Suddenly Miles burst forward and landed a good head shot which stunned Davis. Miles followed up and dropped Davis to the ground. Davis lay
on the canvas for half the count but suddenly managed to get back his feet and beat the count. As the fight resumed, Miles smelled blood and came and started swarming Davis who delivered a strong
frontal knee up the center. The knee caught the shorter Miles in the face but did not deter the Calgarian from his goal. Miles immediately swarmed back in, jumping in with a superman punch which
connected and then worked his way to a solid body shot which dropped Davis to the canvas. Davis could not get up and continue, giving Miles his first professional KO win on his resume (by 2nd round
body KO). This was a very tactical and exciting bout on both athletes part. Winner - Jesse Miles 2nd Round Body KO
SEMI-MAIN EVENT Phil 'No Fear' Leier (Miles / Calgary) vs. Tatsuhiro Yoshinaga (Tani /Osaka) - Full Muay Thai 5 rounds of 2 minutes 150 lbs.
This bout was seen as being very important to Leier and his fight career. Leier had been battling some good wars with international athletes in the last few years, but he was sitting on 3 losses
in a row (South Africa, Japan, and the USA). One of these losses was against Japan's Yuji Nashiro (a team-mate of Yoshinaga) who stopped Leier in the third round in Calgary in September 2006.
Nashiro now fights for the K-1 organization in the K-1 Max division and the organization is expecting great things form this athlete and predict he will be a champion at K-1 Max soon. Moving on...
This bout opened somewhat reminiscent of Leier vs. Nashiro. The Japanese athlete pounced forward at the opening bell and landed some extremely hard low kicks on Leier who winced on a few of the
kicks. The remainder of the first round had Leier sitting back calmly and taking some shots, blocking some and successfully intercepting at times. In round two the bout was highly spirited and some
solid exchanges were successful by each athlete. Towards the end of the second round Leier managed to land a few strong shots and he dropped the Japanese to the canvas for his first eight count.
Yoshinaga managed to get up during the count and was saved by the bell (at the end of the count). The end of the round almost looked like the fight should have been over. However, in the third
round, Yoshinaga came out very strong again and the tide turned in his favor again. Leier did weather the storm and the two exchanged some hard combinations. Towards the end of the round Leier
looked like he was regaining control of the match but the snap in his shots was not the same as it had been earlier. In the fourth round Leier regained control of the match and dropped Yoshinaga
from a strong offensive of punches, kicks, elbows and knees. The Japanese athlete beat a second eight count and wanted to continue. The two athletes battled as Leier pursued Yoshinaga across the
ring with all kinds of punches and elbows. With Yoshinaga trapped in a corner, Leier unleashed a barrage of punches, kicks and elbows dropping Yoshinaga to the canvas on all of his fours.
Yoshinaga could not get up in time and was counted out. Leier was ecstatic with his first win in over a year and a half and displayed so in the ring. Yoshinaga finally arose to the appreciation of
the audience. This was a good bout which see-sawed back and forth between two very exciting warriors. Leier walked away with the Roy Lilley Memorial Trophy for the Best In Town Athlete
of the event. Nice work Phil! Winner - PHIL LEIER 4th Round KO
UNDERCARD
Sean McKinnon (Smandych / Calgary) vs. Colin Silver (Pouroskoui / Vancouver) - Modified Muay Thai 3 rounds of 2 minutes 167 lbs.
A newcomer to Calgary fight cards was Smandych's athlete Sean McKinnon. He was to face the highly respected Colin Silver from Vancouver's KB-One camp. Silver's resume included a fight where he
had handily dispatched his last Alberta opponent. "Would newcomer McKinnon be able to weather Silver's storm?", wondered his coach Smandych. The bout opened and McKinnon went to war. Silver
fought back but as the bout progressed McKinnon forced Silver back into the corner and delivered fast flurries of solid punches which stopped Silver in round three. Silver proved to be a very durable
athlete but McKinnon just wanted the win this night, exhibited by his aggressive forward style. McKinnon was to win his first bout in Calgary by TKO. Winner - SEAN McKINNON 3rd Round TKO
Misty Sutherland (Miles / Calgary) vs. Natalie Yip (Yodkeripauprai / Toronto) - Full Muay Thai 4 rounds of 2 minutes 130 lbs.
The bout opened with each athlete delivering solid shots at each other. Yip threw some strong body kicks and Sutherland landed a very solid cross which made Yip's eyes water. Once these athletes
established what their tactics would be (kicks vs. punches) against each other, the pace of the bout slowed considerably for the first three rounds. Both athletes would wait for each other with
Sutherland trying to bait Yip in. Sometimes Yip would take the bait and deliver counter kicks but Sutherland would let the kicks miss but would not make Yip pay. When throwing combinations,
Sutherland would pull ahead in the score cards landing some strong blows and then she would stop and set flatfooted. Then when she would engage again, Yip would land a solid inside low kick knocking
Sutherland off balance and to the canvas. In the clinch, Sutherland looked stronger and was more active with the knees but Yip also landed a few very strong knees up the center. In the last round
Sutherland picked up the pace and started overwhelming Yip throwing combination after combination. The result of the bout was a majority decision for Sutherland with two judges scoring a win for
Sutherland and one judge calling the bout a draw. Sutherland looked flat footed in this bout and Yip proved she (as always), she comes to fight anybody placed in front of her. Winner - MISTY
SUTHERLAND Majority decision
Melanie Goulet (Miles / Calgary) vs. Tandi 'Tandilion' Ogden (Stephens / Salt Lake City) - Modified Muay Thai 3 rounds of 2 minutes 130 lbs.
Goulet seemed flatfooted and uninspired in this bout. She just could not get any flow happening. She single shot throughout the bout and missed many blows and this seemed to frustrate the
Calgarian even more. Ogden on the other hand pulled the trigger faster and threw some fast punch combinations. She also was always first to throw a knee in the clinch. The combination work was what
was required to give Ogden an unanimous decision over Goulet. Good match. Ogden was to win the Roy Lilley Memorial Trophy for the Best Out of Town Athlete of the Night! Congrats Tandi!
Winner - TANDI OGDEN Unanimous Decision
Mike Musto (Smandych / Calgary) vs. Gabe Varga (Peterec / Victoria) - Modified Muay Thai 3 rounds of 2 minutes 145 lbs.
Musto was coming off a loss in August at the IKF World Classic. Would this affect his confidence? As this bout opened the highly touted Varga caught the Calgarian with a huge right hand
that affected Musto's vision. Varga went to work and landeds some strong follow up punches and kicks. Musto decided he had enough and the bout was stopped giving Varga the win by TKO. Disappointing
to Musto but a good win for Varga. Varga has now put in a challenge to meet Nate Smandych. This will be a great bout and expect to see this match up in coming months. Winner - GABE VARGA 1st
Round TKO
Peter Arbeau (Miles / Calgary) vs. Mike Dufresne (Pouroskoui / Vancouver) - Modified Muay Thai 3 rounds of 2 minutes 167 lbs.
Dufresne looked physically stronger and carried himself with a lot of confidence at the opening of this bout. Arbeau looked somewhat more frail but in this bout, it proved that looks could be
deceiving. Using the strategy he had worked on leading into the fight, Arbeau managed to nullify Dufresne's attacks. Duresne looked strong and delivered some very nice boxing combinations but
Arbeau seemed to control the distance and either intercepted with a teep, sidestepping, or falling into the clinch. Arbeau was more active in the clinch. In the third round a spinning backkick out
of nowhere landed on Dufresne's chin. Dufresne tried to come back but Arbeau pulled the rabbit out of the hat by controlling the range and thus winning the bout by unanimous decision. A very good
and exciting match up from both athletes. Winner - PETER ARBEAU Uanimous Decision
Darren Snell (Mike Miles / Calgary) vs. Jason Bryant (Arashi Do / Calgary)
This was to be an important bout for both athletes. Bryant had been training a little in Thailand and lost his last match and Snell had his confidence beaten up by losing his last three fights
in a row. Both athletes had something to prove tonight. The bout opened with Snell pressing forward while Bryant answered with some good focused shots. Snell managed to drop Bryant for an eight
count but Bryant recovered and the bout continued. In the second round, Snell was to be hit by a few more shots that got through by Bryant. However, Snell had also turned up the pace and had his
foe backing up. Snell fell into the clinch and appeared more dominant in there. A solid low kick from Snell affected Bryant's balance and when Bryant dropped his leg to the ground he twisted it and
broke the foot. The bout could not continue and Snell won by second round TKO. Great action from both athletes. They came to scrap! Winner - DARREN SNELL 2nd Round TKO
The promoters want to send a quick thank you to all the coaches who turned the night into a very professional event. A big thank you goes out to Ajahn Suchart Yodkeripauprai who runs
Siam No. 1 in Toronto. Also a thank you to his representative Peter Blythe, pure class all the way. Thank you's go out to Mr. Koichi Tani from Japan, Mr. Kwame Stephens
from the USA, and the Canadian coaches including Former World Champion Mr. Stan Peterec, Kru Medhi Pouroskoui, Mr. Mike Bonde, and Calgary's Kru Trevor Smandych.
A big thank you goes out to all the officials, the ringside doctor, and the Calgary Combative Sports Commission.
Sitting in the front row of the event was Ken Kupsch, Canadian owner and promoter of the Canadian version of King Of The Cage. Mr. Kupsch has a big MMA fight event taking place in
Calgary on the 3rd of November. Best of luck to him and his event.
Stay tuned for the next big fight event which will announced in the next week in which the first fight event of January 2008 will be made public. Expect to see a strong international card.
Possibly 3 professional fights with Jesse Miles, Scott Clark and Chad Sawyer. Should be a hot show!
