UNLEASH THE FIGHTERS!

AT UNLEASHED FIGHT NIGHT!

The Full Fight Card!

(Note: Yazlisyam was replaced with Sam Micheal)

On the 28th of May, I was given the honour of hosting the first ever

Unleashed Fight Night that was organized by our friends and neighbours of

the local Kickboxing community of Global Elite Gym (owned by Master Barbod

“The Unleashed”) and held at Asia Pacific University in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia. It was a multi-national affair as the card was filled with talents from

all over the world. Participants came from nations such as Afghanistan,

Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Russia and France to name a few.

There was also a good balance of local Malaysian participants as well who took

on stiff and tough competition from a very diverse set of participants.

The K-1 Kickboxing ruleset was the menu of the day, myself being a big fan of

this ruleset, expected a night of thrills and knockouts!

So here is my personal opinion on the Good, the Bad and the Downright Crazy!

THE GOOD!

Alot of the matches ended by way of decision, while some may ask “how is that good?”

it shows that the matchmaking was pretty on point and the level of

competition was pretty tight. Though majority of the fights went to a decision,

those that ended before the ring of the final bell ended in spectacular fashion.

Boy Lui (Naga Hitam Shah Alam) vs Bekzhan Kuzaidarov (Adai Fight Club) was

the first Malaysia vs Kazakhstan fight of the evening much to the viewing

pleasure of the noisy Malaysians and the stoic yet thunderous Kazakhs. The

Kazakh managed to land in some really good punches and combinations in

some exchanges against the more traditional Muay Thai style of the Malaysian.

Despite Kuzaidarov’s stoic manner and unflinching bravery, he fell short in the

second and third round when Boy Lui managed several sweeps and low kicks

landed in the early rounds took away much of the power and mobility of

Kuzaidarov.

Boy Lui deservingly takes the decision after three rounds of

fighting!

Another one of the “GOODS” of the night was the brutal knockout of Malaysian,

Sam Michael (AIX Warrior) by Russian participant Artem Bogomaz (TNT

Kickboxing).

The story of the fight was of the big and imposing Russian, Artem

chasing down Sam Michael for most of the first round. A big thing I liked about

Artem’s performance was his ability to stay composed and slip the punch to

counter with a very heavy and accurate right cross.

Sam Michael used good movement to escape the majority of the power but in

the second round Artem with laser precision, landed his right hand square on

the chin of Sam Michael to end the fight in the second round by way of TKO.

Sitting at the host’s table I felt that punch like a missile explosion! Like DAMN!

THE BAD!

Like any other event, there were some things that could have been improved

on, first up, this is my opinion and if you don’t value constructive criticism then

skip to the DOWNRIGHT CRAZY! part of the article!

Anyways! THE “BADS”, aside from a few scheduling conflicts and a hectic

backstage process, the show did run smoothly although there were shortages

of printed lists and few instances of miscommunication between floor staff

(which is normal considering the industry).

Security also was abit of an issue as we saw Non-Media fill up the area around

the ring, a problem which was considered a minor one as it did not effect the

show as a whole!

Personally as a host, Kazakhs are a difficult bunch to excite!

Very serious and stoic people, but it was great to see them finally come alive

when their fellow Kazakhs fought!

Another bad was also the space, I felt that more could have be done to fit in

more people and some volunteers were abit clueless as to how the program

flow worked.

All in all, just very general “BADS” that happen to first time events, I am sure

the crew of Unleashed Fight Night have looked back at this and will come back

smoother than ever! It is after all a learning proccess!

THE DOWNRIGHT CRAZY!

There were a few downright crazy moments at Unleashed Fight Night and these

(in my opinion anyways) were some of the crazier moments of the night!

The Afghan-Persian Clash was a balls to the wall kinda fight, the Afghan,

Suliman (Asia Pacific University) faced off against Persian, Mahyar Tab (Monash

University) and from the moment the bell rang, it was just off the freakin’ hook!

Flying knee attempts, spinning back fists, wild and powerful kicks and punches

from the side of the Afghan kept the Persian on the backpedal the entire fight!

Although the Persian did counter well with a few well timed and accurate punches,

the aggresion coming from the Afghan was way too much! The crowd was at it’s

most craziest during this fight and with perfect reason! The Afghan, Suliman takes

the win via Decision!

The Women Fighters!

Another downright crazy was these two respective fighters Australian, Shannon

Lam (TNT Kickboxing) who faced Zunika Marliana (AIX Warrior) and Zimbabwean,

Ayanda (Asia Pacific University) who took on (if I may add a very pretty looking)

Liyana Razman (TNT Kickboxing).

What the Aussie and Zimbabwean had in common were really pleasent personalities

in the locker room but all pleasentries were out the window. These two ladies had

the eyes of a person that would eat your heart on a plate while it still beats!

Ayanda showed more grit and an aura of overcoming the adversity in her eyes whereas

Shannon Lam from Australia stared down her opponent with unflinching fear and

also 10 kg’s underweight compared to her opponent! CONGRATULATIONS SHANNON LAM!

Welcome to the Nik Harris Club ( a running gag for anyone who has ever fought

against an opponent who came in 10 kg’s over agreed limit)!

The Main Event of the Night!

Our main event was a doozy and was brought to us by Olimp Sport Nutrion

Malaysia! It featured Iraqi, Ahmed Saad (Global Elite Gym) squaring off against

Frenchman Nicolas Farrugio (Cross Muay Thai).

There were some really nice combo’s coming in from Ahmed Saad who

showed a very competent K1 Kickboxing style, contrastingly, Farrugio displayed

a very steady and heavy Muay Thai kicking game. Taking away the mobility of

Ahmed Saad early on.

Although there were some notable exchanges from both sides, it was Farrugio who

landed the killing blow with a beautifully times step in right over the shoulder hook

to wobble Ahmed and drop him in the first round! A beautifully timed KO by Farrugio!

All in all! It was an awesome event! Made some new friends and maybe some new

fans as well!

Special thanks to Global Elite Gym and Master Barbod for trusting the microphone

in my hands! Olimp Sport Nutrion for providing the CoMain Event and Main Event

winner with a nice sport nutrion packet!

All the gear in pictures were provided by our friends at Potosan Corner!

Here is the full WINNERS LIST:

Jeshan Dhillon (Maximus Fight Academy)

win by decision

Over Adrian Yow Kok (KCT Combat Team)

Hizairul Azuan (Naga Hitam Sha Alam)

won by decision

over Berzhan Kuzaidarov (Muscle Club);

James Yip (Cross Muay Thia)

won by decision

over Kayirshan (Adai Fight Club)

Artem Bogomaz (TNT Kickboxing)

won by KO

over Yazlisyam (Adia Fight Club)

Neerasheni (Monash U)

won by a decision

over Vanessa Chin (Global Elite Gym)

Chong Zhuang Kit (Utar)

won by 2nd round knockout

over Yerkin Aralbayer (Adai Fight Club)

Liyana Nazira (AIX Warrior)

won by decision

over Jasmine Teo (Taylor’s University)

Sulaiman (APU)

won by a decision

over Mahyar Tab (Monash University)

Ayanda (Asia Pacific University)

won by a unanimous decision

over Liyana Razman (TNT Kickboxing)

Ling Kai Tze (Iron Grid MMA)

won by split decision

over Hong Wua (GEG)

CO-MAIN FIGHT OF THE NIGHT

Shannon Lam (TNT Kickboxing)

Won split decision over Zunika (AIX Gym Warrior)

MAIN FIGHT OF THE NIGHT

Nicolas Farrugio (Cross Muay Thai)

won by knockout 2nd round

over Ahmed Saad (Global Elite Gym)

#kickboxing #unleashed #fightnight