Lyle Cheney promoted his second fight card of the year WINTER WARFARE # 2 on Saturday November 17th. The event featured modified Muay Thai bouts as well as Kickboxing
(low kick) rules bouts and was sanctioned by the Canadian Muay Thai Council - Amateur. The event was a complete sell out with approximately 1000 people in attendance.
Coaches from across Alberta and Saskatchewan were in attendance including Chris Bonde, Mike Miles, Brad Wall, Lyle Cheney, Dave Robson, Hank Desjardins,
Nathan Smandych, Nick Ring, Kevin Carrigan, D. Soroka, and Gary Vig.
The Main Event was for the vacant CMTC-A Amateur Western Canadian Supermiddleweight Muay Thai Title. The principals were Chris Bonde (Arashi-Do/Edmonton) against
Curtis Mang (Desjardins/Regina). This was to turn out to be a very good fight. The athletes exchanged some very good skills. Mang seemed to have the advantage in the clinch whereas Bonde
worked better on the outside. The bout was a war with Chris Bonde taking the nod by split decision. The new CMTC-A Western Canadian Supermiddleweight Muay Thai Champion is Chris Bonde from Edmonton.
The undercard featured the following results:
- The CMTC-A Western Canadian Lightheavyweight Champion Vladimir Quijada (Purnell/Red Deer) stepped into the ring against Chris Yalbir (Miles/Calgary). This was a non-title modified Muay
Thai bout and was scheduled for 3 rounds. There was a huge height difference between Quijada and Yalbir and this was to play a big part in the bout. The gap between the two athletes seemed to cause
Yalbir to sit back and wait. When he decided to move Quijada always had a punch or kick that greeted the Calgarian on his way in. Yalbir caught the Champion with a few shots but it was the Champion
Quijada who rocked the Calgarian with a big kick in the 1st round and some nice knees in the third. The winner by unanimous decision was Vladamir Quijada.
- Red Deer's Stephanie Schmale (Cheney) squared off against Cindy Uden (Soroka) in a Kickboxing rules bout. Schmale was to control this bout from the beginning until the very end when it
was stopped by TKO in the 3rd round. Schmale won the bout by 3rd round TKO.
- In a very exciting bout that moved back and forth Stephanie Essensa (Vig/Red Deer) faced Melissa Reaume (Smandych/Calgary) in a modified Muay Thai rules bout. Good technique was
displayed by both these athletes. The first round had Reaume pressing the action and scoring a little more effectively than her opponent. In the second round Essensa picked up the pace and started
to work some nice knees in the clinch and was catching Reaume's kicks. The round was close but the nod went to Essensa. In the third round Essensa picked up the pace and started pressing hard while
Reaume went on the defensive. Essensa clearly won this round through straight forward aggression. At the end of the fight Essensa performed a few push ups to the delight of the audience. The winner
of the bout by unanimous decision was Stephanie Essensa.
- Tim Bobyk (Cheney/Red Deer) faced lightheavyweight Derrick Jolivette (Bonde/Edmonton) in a Kickboxing rules bout. This bout featured some exciting rock 'em sock 'em action. Jolivette
seemed to possess the more conventional kickboxing skills but it was Bobyk's desire and broken rhythm that pulled the win in this see-saw battle to him. The winner was Tim Bobyk.
- The first bout after intermission really got the crowd excited again. Featuring two Calgarian's, Steve Arena (Smandych/ Calgary) stood across the ring from Robbie Williams (Carrigan/
Calgary) in a 3 round modified Muay Thai rules bout in the supermiddleweight division. Bouncing and focused on getting the bout going, Williams pounced on Arena as soon as the bell rang. Williams
came forward throwing everything but the kitchen sink. Arena provided good opposition and made Williams miss with head movement. In the first round a resounding smack was heard on Arena's glove from
William's kick and this drove the audience into a frenzy. Arena answered and rocked Williams who in turn took a standing eight count. In the second round Williams jumped forward again aggressively
and the two exchanged but Arena was able to score the better shots. In the final round Arena was to rock Williams again but was unable to finish his opponent off. Steve Arena was to take the win by
unanimous decision. A great fight!
- In the first contested female fight of the evening Susan Twitchell (Bonde/Edmonton) stepped into the ring against Suzanne Landers (Soroka). Both athletes mixed it up with a lot of heart
but Landers appeared to be the stronger of the two athletes. Landers was to walk away with the win in this Kickboxing rules bout.
- The fourth bout of the evening was a Kickboxing rules bout that was supposed to feature Teri Treiber (Cheney/Red Deer) against Melanie Goulet (Miles/Calgary). Goulet suddenly became
very sick and had to withdraw from the event. Promoter Lyle Cheney asked Sandra Bastian one day's notice to step into the ring and do an exhibition with his athlete. Sandra agreed and the
two put on a fast and technically paced bout to the appreciation of the audience.
- Willie Quijada (Purnell/Calgary) squared off against Troy Kulass (Ring/Calgary) in a welterweight modified Muay Thai bout. This was another crowd pleaser with plenty of action and plenty
of leather. Quijada seemed to score a little more effectively and the result was Willie Quijada winning the bout by unanimous decision. Exciting bout!
- The second bout of the event was a Kickboxing rules bout between T.J. Dubas (Cheney/Red Deer) and Nick Belgrave (Smandych/Calgary). This was an action packed crowd pleaser of a fight.
Both athletes were swinging and letting leather fly. Dubas started the bout strongly but Belgrave seemed to score the cleaner and more effective shots. At the end of the bout the decision was given
to Dubas by split decision. After the awards the jury realized that the scoring had been totalled incorrectly and the decision was changed. Walking away with the split decision was Nick Belgrave of
Calgary.
- Opening the event was a lightheavyweight Kickboxing rules bout between Scott Alan (Purnell/Red Deer) and Matt Hansen (Wall/Lethbridge). The two athletes gave it their all but Alan
seemed to be in slightly better shape and this helped him score a little more effectively. Alan was to walk away with the win by unanimous decision.
Lyle Cheney's event seem to be getting bigger and better with each event. Congratulations to the winners and the promoter for such a top notch event.