Muay Thai Premier League: Blood & Steel – 6.11.2011

[youtube:2aul8d64]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpvQauj-lp0[/youtube:2aul8d64]

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Into the Fire – Episode 2

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What a night! I’ve seen really great fights in a great atmosphere.

I’m writing this review with nothing but the help of my memory, so there might be some mistakes, but it will provide you with a general idea of the fights. There were some 8 counts, but I can’t remember exactly in which rounds and in which fights, so I’m just as curious about the videos as you guys are.

Aleide Lawant vs Lindsay Scheer
Lawant was attacking more in the first round and Scheer was waiting and checking out Lawant. In the second round Scheer came back strong with a lot of combo’s and good, sharp counters. The third round was quite equal to the second, but Lawant took more initiative. However Scheer was still sharp en countering very rapidly. Result: Lawant wins by split decision. The right decision in my opinion, but it could have gone either way.

Dennis Schneidmiller vs Mauro Serra
Serra impressed me in his fight with Saiyok at MPL Italy. Of course he didn’t win and Saiyok was of another level, but it wasn’t a walkover as I had expected. He didn’t back down for Saiyok and went in full force.

I had high expectations for his fight yesterday versus Dennis Schneidmiller. He sure managed to live up to these expectations. Serra has a typical Thai style, he is a good clincher and he uses his elbows well. His whole movement is Thai oriented. He cuts Schneidmiller with a nasty elbow to his forehead. Schneidmiller is fighting with blood all over his face. Mauro Serra points to the referee that he should stop the fight, but the referee doesn’t stop and they continue the fight. If I were the referee I would stop the fight to clean the face of Schneidmiller and would have called in the doctor, because the cut looked pretty serious.

In between rounds 1 and 2 the doctor decides that Schneidmiller can continue. After 10 seconds in the 2nd round the blood is pouring out of Schneidmiller’s forehead, but he bravely continues to fight and makes a few decent boxing combo’s. Serra manages to avoid these and strikes back with a couple of hard hitting elbows. Both are covered in Schneidmiller’s blood and fortunately the ref gets a towel to clean the fighters.

In the third round Serra shows his dominance and Schneidmiller doesn’t give up, but just can’t touch the Italian. Result: Serra wins by unanimous decision.

Jiri Zak vs Artem Vakhitov
Vakhitov impressed me at the last MPL. He kinda has the same style as the other Artem (Levin) with a lot of decent footwork and sidestepping which makes him hard to fight. He is taking the initiative and hits Zak a couple of times. Zak is an experienced fighter and is showing heart, but Vakhitov is growing into the fight and is getting stronger. Zak is a tough guy and doesn’t back down, but he can’t win from the Russian bear. Result: Vakhitov wins by unanimous decision.

Valentina Shevchenko vs Ilona Wijmans
Shevchenko enters the ring with some kind of line dance, which fits her Tiroler haircut. She does bring a lot of energy into the venue though. In the first round Wijmans – fighting out of Mike’s Gym – is leading, exposing the classic Dutch kickboxing style. Shevchenko is grabbing her into the clinch and Wijmans seems lost. Shevchenko starts to dominate the fight and is hitting Wijmans with elbows to the back of her head. I thought these weren’t allowed, but the ref doesn’t do anything. Wijmans is tough and tries not to adjust to her opponent, but she just can’t handle the Thai style. Result: Shevchenko wins by unanimous decision.

Yohan Lidon vs Vladimir Moravcik
I went to get a drink during this fight, so I didn’t see the whole fight. What I remember is that Moravcik was going for the kill and was vicious. I had high expectations of Lidon, but he kind of dissapointed. Moravcik was the more hungry fighter and landed some hard elbows. Lidon managed to stay calm and showed his great technique. Because Moravcik went in really hard it looked a bit out of control. Result: Morvacik wins by unanimous decision.

Artem Levin vs Roberto Cocco
Artem Levin was the man of the night for me. He sure doesn’t have a problem with self esteem. Levin is a nasty opponent who tries to humiliate his opponent. He’s playing games, dropping his hands and gesturing.. Cocco tries to stick to his gameplan and won’t be provoked by Levin, but Levin clearly is on a higher level. Levin is turning left and right when Cocco attacks. He’s dropping his hands and looks relaxed and then.. BAM a superb livershot. Later in the fight Levin finishes it with an elbow I believe. Don’t remember for sure.. Anyway, Levin is a good entertainer and the audience is impressed. Levin wins by TKO. After the fight Levin is being interviewed by the gorgeous Sonya Couling and he tells (in very bad English) what everybody was thinking the whole night; “you a beautiful woman”.

Sandra Bastian vs Julie Kitchen
I was curious about Kitchen, the fighter with 13 world titles. The fight began calm with the two fighters waiting and checking. The two looked intimidated by each other. They were clinching a lot, a bit too much imo. Both were good in the clinch, but Kitchen managed to hit Bastian more with knee strikes. I wasn’t really impressed by the boxing and kicking technique of Kitchen. Of course I can’t judge her after seeing 1 fight. Both fighters weren’t agressive enough and looked intimidated. Result: Kitchen wins by unanimous decision.

Filip Verlinden vs Chris Knowles
Verlinden is on a roll the last year. He was my favorite in this fight. Verlinden shows that he didn’t come to relax. He hurts Knowles with a couple of hard punches to the face. Knowles has to go in reverse. The English fighter has a lot of experience and is coming back strong with hard punches. It’s Verlinden though who is more dominant and is doing more in the fight. He is getting better and stronger in the 2nd and 3rd round. Result: Verlinden wins by unanimous decision and shows he is a force to be reckoned with in the heavyweight division.

Michael Dicks vs Mootje Khamal
Dicks is doing a Ram Muay which includes shooting arrows at Mohammed Khamal. The muaythai fans of course know this is part of the game. The Moroccan fans start to boo and shout. Dicks decides to make it worse by digging an imaginary grave for Mohammed hahaha.

The fight is a clash of styles. Khamal showing the Dutch style and Dicks showing the Thai style. Mohammed is a smart and tactical fighter who can adjust to any opponent and unlike most Dutch fighters, he can fight with elbows. Mohammed starts southpaw and switches to an orthodox stance within the fight. Dicks is using a lot of chopping elbows en drags Khamal into the clinch. Khamal is trying to end the fight with side elbows in the clinch.

Mohammed manages to hit Dicks a couple of times with all or nothing punches and he cuts Dicks with an elbow to the side of the head. Dicks can continue the fight. After a hard 3 rounds Mohammed Khamal wins by unanimous decision.

Nieky Holzken vs Ky Hollenbeck
Ky has an incredible record of 25 wins and 0 losses. He has a strange style which doesn’t look very good, but it’s effective though. He won from Jordan Watson at the MPL in Italy which is a great achievement. Holzken brought a lot of fans and they will make sure everyone knows they are Holzken fans. Great atmosphere in the venue.

The fight takes of and Hollenbeck shows Holzken he isn’t affraid of Holzken’s reputation. He takes the initiative and is boxing his way through the ring. He is connecting a couple of shots. Holzken is trying to use low kicks, but he misses. It seems like Nieky is impressed by the American, he doesn’t go forward and gives Hollenbeck too much space. Hollenbeck uses this to his advantage keeps attacking.

Second round. Hollenbeck continues in the same manner and is fighting forward with punches elbows and back elbows. Nieky was instructed to do more and he’s making more combo’s. It isn’t very convincing however. As the round continues Nieky is getting stronger and combining better.

In the third round Holzken is clearly more comfortable and boxing a lot. It’s nice to see how he progressed during the rounds. He connects with a spinning back kick to the liver and Hollenbeck is feeling it. This is Nieky’s sign to go berzerk and finishes the fight with a hard liver shot. Hollenbeck drops and is counted. At the end of the count the fight is stopped and it looks like Nieky won by TKO. Later we here that the round was finished and Holzken won by unanimous decision.

In the interview after the fight Holzken told he broke his toe two weeks ago and couldn’t kick. Considering this, his victory is even greater. Holzken is breaking Ky’s clean record of 25-0-0 with a defeat against the Dutchman.

Nathan Corbett vs Abdarhmane Coulibaly
Corbett is a great fighter who has never fought in Holland I believe. A couple of year back he won by TKO from Tyrone Spong in Jamaica. I was looking forward to this fight. I had never heard from the French fighter before.

First round starts and both fighters show they have good technique. Corbett is obviously better than Coulibaly and is fighting forward with heavy shots to the body. He’s crushing the liver of the Frenchman. Coulibaly is trying to counter but he can’t do any damage.

In the second round Corbett continues with boxing combo’s to the body and to the head. He throws a couple of elbows but they don’t connect. The French fighter gets an 8 count after being hit by another livershot by Corbett. All his energy was beaten out of his body and he’s trying to avoid Corbett and manages to survive the second round.

In the third round Coulibaly is just trying to survive, he’s worn down. Corbett is taking it more easy which is a pity, because it would have been great to see him end the fight with a KO. Result: Corbett wins by unanimous decision.

Marco Pique vs Ali Gunyar
This was a title fight for the WMC Intercontinental belt at 72.5kg. I found it really strange to see two Dutch fighters fight for an intercontinental belt, but as I’m thinking about it Ali Gunyar is fighting for Turkey and Pique is fighting for Suriname. Of course everybody knows both fighters live in Holland and have grown up here as well.

This is a 5 round fight. Pique and Gunyar have fought before twice and both have won one time. This makes it even more exciting. 12AM has passed when the first round starts. The fighters are quite even and their checking each other. Of course they have to fight 5 rounds so they are taking it easy. In the second round they are getting more active and demonstrate some decent kickboxing. I intentionally call it kickboxing, since it looks more like it than thaiboxing. Pique throws an occasional elbow.

In the third round the pace of the fight is getting higher and both fighters are showing they want to take the belt home. Pique is a bit more sharp than Gunyar and the difference is getting bigger in round 4 and 5. Pique is working harder than Gunyar and he seems to have a better stamina. Result: Pique wins the belt by unanimous decision.

General remarks: It was a great event with superb fights. The venue was filled for about 3/4 which is good. They’ve sold about 3/4 of the VIP tables as well. I’ve seen some prominent Dutch fighters. Ernesto Hoost, Ramon Dekkers and Ivan Hippolyte were present. Hoost told the audience he liked to see muay thai, he just doesn’t like receiving elbows himself haha. The audience proved Holland is ready to see more muaythai and not just K-1 rules anymore. I really hope the MPL is continuing to grow and if there is a show near you, please go there to support the organization.