Khun Kao Charuad
06-22-2003, 05:11 PM
I have to be completely honest. Because of my responsibilities as the co-coach of my fight team, I did not get to spend a lot of time watching the event. I forgot to bring home a list of the matches that took place, so I will not be able to report the match-ups and results.
So, what happened?
I’m very disappointed to inform everyone that none of my fighters won their matches.
Dante Baker (14 years old & fighting at 130lbs) lost his debut amateur Muay Thai match by TKO in the 3rd round. This was a very good fight, though! Dante fought a local fighter named, Marc Moreno. Dante had won the 1st round, and was winning the 2nd round until the last FIVE SECONDS of the round, when his opponent Marc nailed him with a vicious punching combination and stole the round. Dante just never really got it back together after that. His gas tank was empty. Marc, on the other hand, was catching his 2nd wind and took control. The ref stopped the fight (correctly) partway into the 3rd round.
I can’t tell everyone enough how proud we are all of Dante’s performance. Even though we’re all disappointed in the final result, we were all impressed with his work. He had really stepped up to the plate and did a great job! I cannot tell you how many people approached me after his match and voiced how impressed they were with him. I have no doubt that he will be a successful fighter if he stays with it!
My gyms 2nd fight of the night was an MMA fight featuring Jeff Rockwell at 175lbs. Dan “the Beast” Severn was the special guest referee for this match! For the life of me, I cannot remember Jeff’s opponents name. Sorry about that! This fight started off well. Jeff started the fight dominating the standup fighting with punches, leg kicks, and some knees. But, as he and his opponent clinched, Jeff was thrown and wound up in a bad position on the ground. I am not a coach of the ground game, so I could not really offer him any instruction. He told me afterwards that he knew how to escape the particular position he was being held in while on the ground, but he was in the wrong place within the ring. He needed to bridge, but he was up against the ropes and the edge of the ring and the ropes were preventing him from bridging. His opponent was able to get his back and submit him with a Rear-Naked Choke.
Our 3rd fight featured Tony Talbert fighting amateur Muay Thai at 210lbs. Tony’s opponent was also named Tony (Ionne?). What can I say about this match? Our Tony had a bad night. Their Tony had heavy, HEAVY punching that was sending my fighter reeling across the ring. By the end of the 1st round, our Tony had received his first standing 8. After the initial exchange of the 2nd round, our Tony appeared to be settling down and about to take control, but their Tony managed to turn the tables and scored a mid-2nd round KO.
So, my return to coaching a fight team started off on the wrong foot. Overall, I am pleased with my teams performance. The final results were not what we were hoping and expecting, but I’ve been around the fight game long enough to know that some nights you win, some nights you lose.
I am also pretty confident in our training program. My fellow coaches and I have come away with a lot of positive “feedback” from seeing how our fighters were able to apply what we have drilled for so long over the last 2 months of training. But we were also to see where our weaknesses were. Fortunately, the weaknesses that were exposed are going to be fairly simple to address.
Thanks to William Varner, VBAMA, Danger Zone Productions, the Surfside Inn, the Colonial Inn, Lendy’s Bar & Grill, all the officials, the crowd, and all the MMA.TV members who showed up for the event. Despite the disappointment we have in our performance, I feel that I speak for everyone that we enjoyed ourselves.
Khun Kao
So, what happened?
I’m very disappointed to inform everyone that none of my fighters won their matches.
Dante Baker (14 years old & fighting at 130lbs) lost his debut amateur Muay Thai match by TKO in the 3rd round. This was a very good fight, though! Dante fought a local fighter named, Marc Moreno. Dante had won the 1st round, and was winning the 2nd round until the last FIVE SECONDS of the round, when his opponent Marc nailed him with a vicious punching combination and stole the round. Dante just never really got it back together after that. His gas tank was empty. Marc, on the other hand, was catching his 2nd wind and took control. The ref stopped the fight (correctly) partway into the 3rd round.
I can’t tell everyone enough how proud we are all of Dante’s performance. Even though we’re all disappointed in the final result, we were all impressed with his work. He had really stepped up to the plate and did a great job! I cannot tell you how many people approached me after his match and voiced how impressed they were with him. I have no doubt that he will be a successful fighter if he stays with it!
My gyms 2nd fight of the night was an MMA fight featuring Jeff Rockwell at 175lbs. Dan “the Beast” Severn was the special guest referee for this match! For the life of me, I cannot remember Jeff’s opponents name. Sorry about that! This fight started off well. Jeff started the fight dominating the standup fighting with punches, leg kicks, and some knees. But, as he and his opponent clinched, Jeff was thrown and wound up in a bad position on the ground. I am not a coach of the ground game, so I could not really offer him any instruction. He told me afterwards that he knew how to escape the particular position he was being held in while on the ground, but he was in the wrong place within the ring. He needed to bridge, but he was up against the ropes and the edge of the ring and the ropes were preventing him from bridging. His opponent was able to get his back and submit him with a Rear-Naked Choke.
Our 3rd fight featured Tony Talbert fighting amateur Muay Thai at 210lbs. Tony’s opponent was also named Tony (Ionne?). What can I say about this match? Our Tony had a bad night. Their Tony had heavy, HEAVY punching that was sending my fighter reeling across the ring. By the end of the 1st round, our Tony had received his first standing 8. After the initial exchange of the 2nd round, our Tony appeared to be settling down and about to take control, but their Tony managed to turn the tables and scored a mid-2nd round KO.
So, my return to coaching a fight team started off on the wrong foot. Overall, I am pleased with my teams performance. The final results were not what we were hoping and expecting, but I’ve been around the fight game long enough to know that some nights you win, some nights you lose.
I am also pretty confident in our training program. My fellow coaches and I have come away with a lot of positive “feedback” from seeing how our fighters were able to apply what we have drilled for so long over the last 2 months of training. But we were also to see where our weaknesses were. Fortunately, the weaknesses that were exposed are going to be fairly simple to address.
Thanks to William Varner, VBAMA, Danger Zone Productions, the Surfside Inn, the Colonial Inn, Lendy’s Bar & Grill, all the officials, the crowd, and all the MMA.TV members who showed up for the event. Despite the disappointment we have in our performance, I feel that I speak for everyone that we enjoyed ourselves.
Khun Kao