Well, my fight last didn’t go the way I wanted but I didn’t lose so I guess that’s a good thing. From what I’ve been told a draw is acceptable but it’s frustrating that I’ve ended up here twice this year. That aside it was a cracking fight. Although a little nervous before the fight I think I settled into it well and it was very evenly matched throughout. It was a war and tit for tat at points although he was stronger than me with his hands, I evened things out with my low kicks and knees however we spent most of the fight in the clinch trading knees. My right thigh today is very painful as both of us were kneeing to the legs and ribs.

I am hoping that at some point there is a rematch on the cards, but I also know I have a lot of work to do in the meantime. I still need to work harder when clinching but I seem to be able to find my shots. I’m currently on the verge of taking my right knee out for a bite to eat and a beer because I am that pleased with it’s performance last night. My left low kick is still strong and being honest I wish I threw more of them because I think it would of been a different story.

He did keep on landing a cracking knee straight down the middle in the clinch until I started blocking it with my leg and countering, and at points he also used the same tactics with my knees. We both attacked the legs as well as the ribs and again it did feel very much like a tit for tat fight towards the end. There was a couple of moments  I was sure I was winning and at points I knew unless I did something I was going to get in real trouble. I also landed a good uppercut and body shots too. Last night seemed to be all about boxing and knees and right from the first round he wanted to knock me out. That’s never been done before and I am pleased to say it still hasn’t! It was an exciting fight and I feel like I have improved a lot.

The rest of the show was equally exciting with some real skill and heart being shown by all fighters. At points the atmosphere was electric and the venue was rammed (about 700 people)  and I feel privileged  to have fought on such a successful event. What made me smile was when someone who saw my first fight in 2010 said how much I have improved and how even then they thought that I was fighting well. Thank you. 🙂

Mark May won his title defense against Charlie Guest with a fantastic knee KO to the head, and Scott Hamilton’s title fight against Paul Quick from FSC was explosive from the word go. Well done to both fighters!. Also I was equally impressed with Jude, Mark and Al from Bristol Thai (my camp) who for their first fights showed heart and skill and from the onset. Ant Sanderson showed a lot of courage and did incredibly well against someone a lot heavier than him in a boxing match he took last minute due to his opponent cancelling. Big respect to all fighters from Combat Warriors, Phraya Pichai Muay Thai, Eagles, FSC  and the other gyms who competed. (my normal elephant like memory has let me down today so apologies!) Again, real skill, sportsmanship and heart was shown all round. All of you are warriors.

So what’s next? Well this year has been ok in terms of fighting. I think I need to find that additional something to tip over that division line and get back to winning again, but I am very pleased that I am in good shape for competition and more importantly that I’m improving all the time. Very big thank you to Craig and Sonny Perez for a great match up and big respect to Neil Owen from FSC. Your a warrior.

So next week is going to be all about a little r and r for me and letting some injuries settle down .I seem to have a Wolverine like healing factor thing going on because the bruising round my eye from last night has nearly gone although my I am going to be limping most of the week from some good knees into my thigh!. Other than that I think I am going to take stock of where I am at present and what I’ve accomplished and start to think about what I need to do differently. So for this week, I guess that’s kind of all she wrote. Thank you very much for reading, train hard and as always fight easy. Chok dee for everything Muay Thai. I guess I’ll see you on that road.