Friday
Jul222011
Friday Night Fights 8-Man Tournament
July 22, 2011 
Written by:
The Arbiter
Eight Men Enter, One Man Leaves
Broad St. Ballroom, New York City
The night was record-breaking for several notable reasons, the least of which was the 105 degree temperatures in downtown Manhattan. Inside the Ballroom, the A/C was pumping alongside the beats and the swelling crowd buzzed with chatter about the night to come:
“Will Rigel show all he’s got?”
“LeGrand or Sheridan? What about the underdogs, Huang and Edgerton?”
“Where is this kid Mauceri from? ...they have Muay Thai up there???”
All questions would be answered by nights’ end. So now let me, your humble narrator, take you through the action.
First fight on the card featured the debut of AJ Pearson of The Center MA in Connecticut. He was taking on Nick Parenty of Real MA in NJ, in his sophomore effort. What started sloppy ended quickly. Parenty opened by attempting a head kick from too close a range and slipped to the mat for it. A moment later Pearson trapped Parenty’s middle round kick and landed a right cross flush to Parenty’s temple that put Nick down for the full 10-count, wrapping things up in :58 seconds and setting a great pace for the night.
From there the show went right into the 8-Man Tournament Quarter Finals, the selection having been done right before the first bout, a random draw in front of the audience. The first pairing was Shawn Fagan of Kingston NY’s Black and Blue MMA, taking on Boston MT’s Diarmaid McGregor. McGregor was effective counter-attacking, but Fagan’s foreword momentum and heavy hands and feet took the first round in my estimation. The second round was slower paced, but Fagan stayed aggressive and busy, seeming to squeak out the second round. McGregor was game and answered often, but it seemed to me that he was too defensive and took too much damage. The 3rd round was more or less the same. A back-peddling McGregor was tough and hit hard, but was constantly in moving back. Fagan’s wild punches, though ugly, kept McGregor busy defending himself. I thought Fagan had earned a trip to the Semi-finals, but two of the three judges saw it differently, Majority Decision to McGregor.
Next Quarter-Final match-up: Ultimate MA in Ottawa’s Troy Sheridan hopped over the ropes to take on Phillip LeGrand, the Brooklyn resident and local favorite. This fight had the potential for fireworks, as both fighters were undefeated up to this point, and didn’t fail to reach that potential. In the 1st, Troy was perplexed by LeGrand’s guerrilla warfare style. Phillip was dancing around the outside, jumping into range and causing damage with his signature uppercut and overhand rights and then jumping out quickly before the steady Sheridan could respond. The awkward angles and movements by LeGrand were effective, but draining and hard to maintain, especially as Troy’s low-kicks started to find their target. Troy recovered well in the 2nd, and his steady approach began to pay dividends. Troy started to lean into his leg kicks, and a strong overhand right found Phillip’s jaw several times. These took the run out of LeGrand, who may have also been feeling confident from the 1st round. Round 3 was all Sheridan. Although LeGrand came out aggressive, he stood in front of Troy and made a great target. LeGrand took several punches on the head before trying to clinch for protection. This was a big mistake, as Troy put his knees into Phillip’s ribs again and again, taking the air out of the once boisterous and posturing LeGrand and setting up a right hand that put LeGrand down for an 8-count. Phillip has no quit in him and got up to continue fighting, but was still unsteady on rubbery legs. Troy took advantage and barnstormed in with a flurry of overhand rights and left hooks, putting Phillip down for a 2nd time in the round and punching his ticket into the Semi-finals.
In Quarter-final #3, Josh Fitzsimmons hopped the ropes to square-off against Adam Edgerton. Fitzsimmons is another in the growing line of tough Canadian fighters rough-riding through America’s Thaiboxers. Edgerton had a good aggressive start, throwing punches in bunches, but they had little power behind them. Fitzsimmons responded quickly and more effectively, snapping Edgerton’s head back several times in a few moments. By the end of the first minute Fitzsimmons was comfortable and hunting for a knockout. By 1:51 he found it, and trip to the Semi’s.
In Quarter number 4, Queens native Richard Huang faced yet another Canadian, Calgary’s Chris McMillan. For some reason, the much taller and longer McMillan let Huang work inside, instead of teeping and jabbing from the outside to set up a finishing blow. In fact, Huang tied him up and frustrated McMillan enough to squeak out the first round. In the 2nd, McMillan showed his accuracy and power, and it proved too much for Huang. Although game and responding with good combos, Huang got tossed around by the confident McMillan and finally succumbed to knees to the body and drew an 8-count. Huang didn’t respond to Referee Chris Wagner’s inquiries at the end of the count and so Wagner waived the fight to a conclusion at 1:51 of the second round. McMillan would go into the Semi’s.
While the tournament contenders were resting for the second round, Camp Sao Lak’s Danny Rangel kept Chris Martinez of Hoboken's L.A. Boxing at the end of his jab and teep. When Martinez did get inside he was neither busy nor effective in the clinch. Rangel stayed busy enough to take a split decision. Next in, the Bermudan Sentwali “The General” Woolrich brought his San Shou styling into the ring against the experienced Thaiboxer out of Anderson’s MA, Jacques “The Cobra” Preira. The General came out landing some low kicks, but he was off-balance and Jacques was unfazed and countered with clean punches to Woolrich’s face. He almost put Woolrich right through the ropes early on. After a restart, Woolrich landed a couple more leg-kicks before being stung by The Cobra’s left leg to the chin, an instant KO Victory for Preira. In what could have been an explosive bout between Indiana’s Robert Blake and New York favorite, Chris Kwiatkowski. Unfortunately, the clash of facial-hair styles was almost as interesting as the clash of fighting styles. Blake’s game-plan seemed to be, “Chop the tree down from the root”, literally. Aside from a few teeps and a few flurries of punches, Blake’s attack focused on Kwiatkowski’s left shin and ankle. I have to think hard to remember any kicks above the knee from Blake. Chris was in his usual hunt ‘n’ peck mode, pawing with the left jab and hook, and looking to stick the straight right down his opponent’s throat. However, on this night Blake was channeling Neo and 'matrix-ing' out of reach of Chris’s right hand. This persisted through all 5 three minute rounds, for a Unanimous Decision and big ice-pack on the shin for “The Polish Punisher” Kwiatkowski.
Well my friends, from there we thankfully went on to the Semi-final round of the Tourney. The first pairing was McGregor vs. Sheridan. I was still trying to figure out how McGregor got in when he touched up with Troy. Troy’s confidence was on the upswing after handling LeGrand so convincingly. McGregor came out tentatively and prodding, while Troy found a home for his hands early and often on Diarmaid’s forehead. Caught in the corner, McGregor went down for an 8-count from a volley of heavy punches. A few moments after, Sheridan landed a solid left hook to the ribs that took the wind out of McGregor’s sails, leaving him dead in the water for a full 10-count. Two fights, two KO’s for Sheridan and a quick trip to the Finals.
The final would be determined by the winner of Josh Fitzsimmons and Chris McMillan, both winner by KO in their first bout of the night, and thus flowing with confidence. Fitzsimmons was dominating the first two minutes of the fight and seemed to be cruising when he relaxed for a moment and ate a round kick to the face, putting him down for an 8-count and evening the round out for McMillan. In the second round it looked like McMillan went into an Ali-style rope-a-dope, with an occasional counter-attack. But he was taking too much damage, drawing a cut across the top of his nose and an 8-count. Both fighters stepped it up and showed a lot of heart in the third round. A tired-looking Fitzsimmons picked his places and shots cleanly, with a game McMillan coming on strong in the end. Both fighters had been downed in the fight, but Fitzsimmons' dominant 1st round prior to the count was the point that won the fight for him, as McGregor definitely won round 3. The Finals were now an All-Canadian affair, with Troy Sheridan taking on Josh Fitzsimmons.
Before the finals, the crowd got to watch Ruby Calabrese of North Jersey MT over-power and (wo)man-handle Danielle Budlimic of MAS Academy of Ontario. If this was in the street Ruby could’ve been cited for Police Brutality. Next, Kingston NY’s Christian Mauceri out of Black and Blue MMA took on Extreme MT’s Derrick George out of Long Island. Christian is an up and coming fighter whose teep and solid right have been working well for him lately. He smothered and pressured George through 3 rounds, keeping George’s back against the ropes and on the defensive, earning a split decision.
Into the Finals we go my dear readers, hang in there because the road gets bumpy from here on in. Sheridan has 2 KO’s under his belt on the night and was riding high, Fitzsimmons on the other hand, had picked himself up off the mat to recover a tough victory, and now the two would face off for all the glory. Troy started the fight searching for his left hook while Josh took whatever Troy left on the table for him. Josh landed a clean left cross that put Troy in a spot of trouble, earning an 8-count and a 10-8 round. Troy answered well in the 2nd, with good straight right-hands and smothering combos, taking the second round. The third round started with the fighters showing respect before the bell, and then going to war. Both fighters unleashed combinations of punches and kicks, but Fitzsimmons’ right hook landed sharply on Troy’s head, sending him crashing to the mat. Referee Chris Wagner was on the spot with the count, as Troy tried to pull himself together and up off the mat. Sheridan couldn’t get his base and fell back to the canvas, causing Wagner to waive the fight to a KO conclusion, and giving the trophy and tournament title to Josh “Razorhands” Fitzsimmons.
In what was supposed to be the Co-Main Event, Rigel Balsamico of Cool Hearts’ MT in Philadelphia was taking on Alex Berrios, an up-and-coming Pro from Khanomtom MT in Florida. Unfortunately, Rigel had been hit with some personal tragedies that morning that had taken his heart and his mind out of the fight. Afterwards he was overheard saying “I just didn’t want to hit him back,” a very un-Rigel sentiment. So, I’ll leave it at that, suffice to say that Rigel succumbed to his distraction in the third, giving Berrios a TKO victory.
To conclude, my faithful follower, due to the great efforts of Justin Blair, Eddie Marini and the Friday Night Fights crew, the Ballroom was rocking, the fights were exciting, and the A/C held out (at least until midnight) making for a great night of Muay Thai and an amazing 8-man Tourney that had turned into Canadian Muay Thai’s coming out party! A word of warning to the American Nak Muays, BEWARE OUR NEIGHBORS TO THE NORTH!!!
Train hard, and as always, CHOK DEE!!!
-The Arbiter
Broad St. Ballroom, New York City
The night was record-breaking for several notable reasons, the least of which was the 105 degree temperatures in downtown Manhattan. Inside the Ballroom, the A/C was pumping alongside the beats and the swelling crowd buzzed with chatter about the night to come:
“Will Rigel show all he’s got?”
“LeGrand or Sheridan? What about the underdogs, Huang and Edgerton?”
“Where is this kid Mauceri from? ...they have Muay Thai up there???”
All questions would be answered by nights’ end. So now let me, your humble narrator, take you through the action.
First fight on the card featured the debut of AJ Pearson of The Center MA in Connecticut. He was taking on Nick Parenty of Real MA in NJ, in his sophomore effort. What started sloppy ended quickly. Parenty opened by attempting a head kick from too close a range and slipped to the mat for it. A moment later Pearson trapped Parenty’s middle round kick and landed a right cross flush to Parenty’s temple that put Nick down for the full 10-count, wrapping things up in :58 seconds and setting a great pace for the night.
From there the show went right into the 8-Man Tournament Quarter Finals, the selection having been done right before the first bout, a random draw in front of the audience. The first pairing was Shawn Fagan of Kingston NY’s Black and Blue MMA, taking on Boston MT’s Diarmaid McGregor. McGregor was effective counter-attacking, but Fagan’s foreword momentum and heavy hands and feet took the first round in my estimation. The second round was slower paced, but Fagan stayed aggressive and busy, seeming to squeak out the second round. McGregor was game and answered often, but it seemed to me that he was too defensive and took too much damage. The 3rd round was more or less the same. A back-peddling McGregor was tough and hit hard, but was constantly in moving back. Fagan’s wild punches, though ugly, kept McGregor busy defending himself. I thought Fagan had earned a trip to the Semi-finals, but two of the three judges saw it differently, Majority Decision to McGregor.
Next Quarter-Final match-up: Ultimate MA in Ottawa’s Troy Sheridan hopped over the ropes to take on Phillip LeGrand, the Brooklyn resident and local favorite. This fight had the potential for fireworks, as both fighters were undefeated up to this point, and didn’t fail to reach that potential. In the 1st, Troy was perplexed by LeGrand’s guerrilla warfare style. Phillip was dancing around the outside, jumping into range and causing damage with his signature uppercut and overhand rights and then jumping out quickly before the steady Sheridan could respond. The awkward angles and movements by LeGrand were effective, but draining and hard to maintain, especially as Troy’s low-kicks started to find their target. Troy recovered well in the 2nd, and his steady approach began to pay dividends. Troy started to lean into his leg kicks, and a strong overhand right found Phillip’s jaw several times. These took the run out of LeGrand, who may have also been feeling confident from the 1st round. Round 3 was all Sheridan. Although LeGrand came out aggressive, he stood in front of Troy and made a great target. LeGrand took several punches on the head before trying to clinch for protection. This was a big mistake, as Troy put his knees into Phillip’s ribs again and again, taking the air out of the once boisterous and posturing LeGrand and setting up a right hand that put LeGrand down for an 8-count. Phillip has no quit in him and got up to continue fighting, but was still unsteady on rubbery legs. Troy took advantage and barnstormed in with a flurry of overhand rights and left hooks, putting Phillip down for a 2nd time in the round and punching his ticket into the Semi-finals.
In Quarter-final #3, Josh Fitzsimmons hopped the ropes to square-off against Adam Edgerton. Fitzsimmons is another in the growing line of tough Canadian fighters rough-riding through America’s Thaiboxers. Edgerton had a good aggressive start, throwing punches in bunches, but they had little power behind them. Fitzsimmons responded quickly and more effectively, snapping Edgerton’s head back several times in a few moments. By the end of the first minute Fitzsimmons was comfortable and hunting for a knockout. By 1:51 he found it, and trip to the Semi’s.
In Quarter number 4, Queens native Richard Huang faced yet another Canadian, Calgary’s Chris McMillan. For some reason, the much taller and longer McMillan let Huang work inside, instead of teeping and jabbing from the outside to set up a finishing blow. In fact, Huang tied him up and frustrated McMillan enough to squeak out the first round. In the 2nd, McMillan showed his accuracy and power, and it proved too much for Huang. Although game and responding with good combos, Huang got tossed around by the confident McMillan and finally succumbed to knees to the body and drew an 8-count. Huang didn’t respond to Referee Chris Wagner’s inquiries at the end of the count and so Wagner waived the fight to a conclusion at 1:51 of the second round. McMillan would go into the Semi’s.
While the tournament contenders were resting for the second round, Camp Sao Lak’s Danny Rangel kept Chris Martinez of Hoboken's L.A. Boxing at the end of his jab and teep. When Martinez did get inside he was neither busy nor effective in the clinch. Rangel stayed busy enough to take a split decision. Next in, the Bermudan Sentwali “The General” Woolrich brought his San Shou styling into the ring against the experienced Thaiboxer out of Anderson’s MA, Jacques “The Cobra” Preira. The General came out landing some low kicks, but he was off-balance and Jacques was unfazed and countered with clean punches to Woolrich’s face. He almost put Woolrich right through the ropes early on. After a restart, Woolrich landed a couple more leg-kicks before being stung by The Cobra’s left leg to the chin, an instant KO Victory for Preira. In what could have been an explosive bout between Indiana’s Robert Blake and New York favorite, Chris Kwiatkowski. Unfortunately, the clash of facial-hair styles was almost as interesting as the clash of fighting styles. Blake’s game-plan seemed to be, “Chop the tree down from the root”, literally. Aside from a few teeps and a few flurries of punches, Blake’s attack focused on Kwiatkowski’s left shin and ankle. I have to think hard to remember any kicks above the knee from Blake. Chris was in his usual hunt ‘n’ peck mode, pawing with the left jab and hook, and looking to stick the straight right down his opponent’s throat. However, on this night Blake was channeling Neo and 'matrix-ing' out of reach of Chris’s right hand. This persisted through all 5 three minute rounds, for a Unanimous Decision and big ice-pack on the shin for “The Polish Punisher” Kwiatkowski.
Well my friends, from there we thankfully went on to the Semi-final round of the Tourney. The first pairing was McGregor vs. Sheridan. I was still trying to figure out how McGregor got in when he touched up with Troy. Troy’s confidence was on the upswing after handling LeGrand so convincingly. McGregor came out tentatively and prodding, while Troy found a home for his hands early and often on Diarmaid’s forehead. Caught in the corner, McGregor went down for an 8-count from a volley of heavy punches. A few moments after, Sheridan landed a solid left hook to the ribs that took the wind out of McGregor’s sails, leaving him dead in the water for a full 10-count. Two fights, two KO’s for Sheridan and a quick trip to the Finals.
The final would be determined by the winner of Josh Fitzsimmons and Chris McMillan, both winner by KO in their first bout of the night, and thus flowing with confidence. Fitzsimmons was dominating the first two minutes of the fight and seemed to be cruising when he relaxed for a moment and ate a round kick to the face, putting him down for an 8-count and evening the round out for McMillan. In the second round it looked like McMillan went into an Ali-style rope-a-dope, with an occasional counter-attack. But he was taking too much damage, drawing a cut across the top of his nose and an 8-count. Both fighters stepped it up and showed a lot of heart in the third round. A tired-looking Fitzsimmons picked his places and shots cleanly, with a game McMillan coming on strong in the end. Both fighters had been downed in the fight, but Fitzsimmons' dominant 1st round prior to the count was the point that won the fight for him, as McGregor definitely won round 3. The Finals were now an All-Canadian affair, with Troy Sheridan taking on Josh Fitzsimmons.
Before the finals, the crowd got to watch Ruby Calabrese of North Jersey MT over-power and (wo)man-handle Danielle Budlimic of MAS Academy of Ontario. If this was in the street Ruby could’ve been cited for Police Brutality. Next, Kingston NY’s Christian Mauceri out of Black and Blue MMA took on Extreme MT’s Derrick George out of Long Island. Christian is an up and coming fighter whose teep and solid right have been working well for him lately. He smothered and pressured George through 3 rounds, keeping George’s back against the ropes and on the defensive, earning a split decision.
Into the Finals we go my dear readers, hang in there because the road gets bumpy from here on in. Sheridan has 2 KO’s under his belt on the night and was riding high, Fitzsimmons on the other hand, had picked himself up off the mat to recover a tough victory, and now the two would face off for all the glory. Troy started the fight searching for his left hook while Josh took whatever Troy left on the table for him. Josh landed a clean left cross that put Troy in a spot of trouble, earning an 8-count and a 10-8 round. Troy answered well in the 2nd, with good straight right-hands and smothering combos, taking the second round. The third round started with the fighters showing respect before the bell, and then going to war. Both fighters unleashed combinations of punches and kicks, but Fitzsimmons’ right hook landed sharply on Troy’s head, sending him crashing to the mat. Referee Chris Wagner was on the spot with the count, as Troy tried to pull himself together and up off the mat. Sheridan couldn’t get his base and fell back to the canvas, causing Wagner to waive the fight to a KO conclusion, and giving the trophy and tournament title to Josh “Razorhands” Fitzsimmons.
In what was supposed to be the Co-Main Event, Rigel Balsamico of Cool Hearts’ MT in Philadelphia was taking on Alex Berrios, an up-and-coming Pro from Khanomtom MT in Florida. Unfortunately, Rigel had been hit with some personal tragedies that morning that had taken his heart and his mind out of the fight. Afterwards he was overheard saying “I just didn’t want to hit him back,” a very un-Rigel sentiment. So, I’ll leave it at that, suffice to say that Rigel succumbed to his distraction in the third, giving Berrios a TKO victory.
To conclude, my faithful follower, due to the great efforts of Justin Blair, Eddie Marini and the Friday Night Fights crew, the Ballroom was rocking, the fights were exciting, and the A/C held out (at least until midnight) making for a great night of Muay Thai and an amazing 8-man Tourney that had turned into Canadian Muay Thai’s coming out party! A word of warning to the American Nak Muays, BEWARE OUR NEIGHBORS TO THE NORTH!!!
Train hard, and as always, CHOK DEE!!!
-The Arbiter
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Shawn Fagan Black & Blue MMA, NY |
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Diarmaid McGregor Boston Muay Thai, MA |
Diarmaid McGregor Maj. Dec. |
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Troy Sheridan Ultimate MA, Ottawa |
Troy Sheridan KO – R1 1:49 |
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Phillip LeGrand American Top Team / Evolution MT, NY |
Troy Sheridan Unan. Dec. |
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Josh Fitzsimmons Samir's Combat Reaction, Ontario |
Josh Fitzsimmons KO – R3 :19 |
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Adam Edgerton Louisville, KY |
Josh Fitzsimmons KO – R1 1:51 |
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Richard Huang Queens, NY |
Josh Fitzsimmons Unan. Dec. |
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Chris McMillan LomPaYu Muay Thai, Calgary |
Chris McMillan TKO – R2 1:51 |
Amateur
AJ Pearson
The Center MA, CT
The Center MA, CT
KO
R1 :58
R1 :58
Nick Parenty
Real MA, NJ
Real MA, NJ
Danny Rangel
Camp Sao Lak MMA, NJ
Camp Sao Lak MMA, NJ
Maj. Dec.
Chris Martinez
LA Boxing, NJ
LA Boxing, NJ
Jaques Preira
Anderson's MA
Anderson's MA
KO
R1 :53
R1 :53
Sentwali Woolridge
Bermuda Sanshou Association
Bermuda Sanshou Association
Ruby Calabrese
North Jersey MT
North Jersey MT
Unan. Dec.
Daniella Budlimic
MAS Academy, Ontario
MAS Academy, Ontario
Professional
Chris Kwiatkowski
Church Street Boxing, NY
Church Street Boxing, NY
Unan. Dec.
Robert Blake
Blake's MT, IN
Blake's MT, IN
Christian Mauceri
Black & Blue MMA, NY
Black & Blue MMA, NY
Maj. Dec.
Derrick George
Extreme MT, NY
Extreme MT, NY
Alex Berrios
Khanomtom MT, FL
Khanomtom MT, FL
TKO
R3 2:05
R3 2:05
Rigel Balsamico
Cool Hearts MT, PA
Cool Hearts MT, PA
tagged 8-man Tournament, Friday Night Fights, NYC, The Arbiter in Events, Muay Thai
8-man Tournament, Friday Night Fights, NYC, The Arbiter in Events, Muay Thai 
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