Lion Fight Sets Its Compass on the Horizon │ Foxwoods on May 23, 2014
Battle Chariots Rumble in Canyons of Concrete │ Combat at the Capitale on June 13, 2014
Evolution: The Big Comeback │ Kuala Lumpur on May 31, 2014 |
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Lion Fight Sets its Compass on the Northeast Corridor’s Horizon at Foxwoods on May 23, 2014
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| Because box office fortune hyperlinks so often to fantasy in the probability distribution of cottage industries like ours, so also is it rare for aspiring locals to develop their reach beyond the grasp of home town celebrity. What makes all the difference is whether gate keepers steer destiny’s children towards on or off ramps in their career paths. |
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| Mohammed Lemjerdine (Sitan Gym in Astoria – New York City) def. Jason Andrada (Fight Capital in Las Vegas, Nevada) by Unanimous Decision: 48-47, 48-45, 50-46. Professional 125 lbs. Men. 5 x 3 Rounds. |
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Smack in the middle of The New England Throughway’s stretch of I-95, Lion Fight’s new destination at Foxwoods is now an on ramp to full rules Muay Thai in the Northeast Corridor. With Las Vegas based Lion Fight’s May 23rd debut at Foxwoods Resort and Casino, for the first time full rules Muay Thai has a national showcase, not unlike the UFC’s and Glory Sports International’s (GSI’s) road tours.
Not since Kaoklai Kænnorsingh and Sænchai Sinbimuaythai head lined in Los Angeles has a box office tested the unique selling proposition that none of us would be here, if someone hadn’t set his (or her) compass on the horizon. Lion Fight’s founder and CEO Scott Kent began moving in that direction, when he featured Lumpini stalwart Sittisuk Por Sirichai vs. Kevin Ross on February 12, 2011.
If you trace our family tree back to the Marquis of Queensbury, Kevin’s entire career makes a pretty convincing case for “it’s not whether you win or lose but how you play the game”. What Kevin proved the way he plays this game – then and now – you’re really settling for artificial flavoring with GSI’s adaptation of K-1 rules vs. full rules Muay Thai done well. |
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| Kevin Ross (left) vs. Chris Mauceri |
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Kevin Ross (Combat Sports Academy in Dublin, California) def. Chris Mauceri (Black ‘n Blue MMA in Kingston, New York) by TKO from Physician Stoppage at 0:21 in Round 3. Professional 142 lbs. Men. Scheduled for 5 x 3 Rounds.
In a sport where you learn from your mistakes, the one Cosmo Alexandre most regrets was leaving it to the judges in Las Vegas vs. Sakmongkol Sitchuchoke on August 20, 2011. When the WBC’s #1 ranked middleweight in the world comes to avenge injustice, Mark Holst probably should consult his scriptures for the part about a sacrifice. |
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| Cosmo Alexandre (right) vs. Mark Holst |
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Fortunately for the Canadian, the legendary Coban Lookchaomaesaitong was the third man in the ring. He remembered that “the course of justice…doth teach us all to render the deeds of mercy.” (William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, Act IV, Scene I)
Cosmo Alexandre (Blackzilians in Boca Raton, Florida) def. Mark Holst (Ottawa Academy of Martial Arts in Canada) by Unanimous Decision. Professional 160 lbs. Men. 5 x 3 Rounds.
Lucy Payne came for redemption – if not vengeance – in her trans-Atlantic rematch with Tiffany Van Soest, whom Jake Burke depicted presciently as “a little pit bull”. If you get too close to a pit bull, she’s apt to rip you apart. That’s exactly what happened. |
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| Tiffany Van Soest (left) vs. Lucy Payne |
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Tiffany Van Soest (Blue Ocean Muay Thai in San Diego, California) def. Lucy Payne(Touch Gloves in Penzance, Cornwall, United Kingdom) by Split Decision: 50-46, 45-50, 49-46. Professional 126 lbs. Women. 5 x 3 Rounds.
A source reports that the dissenting judge in this split decision copped a plea afterwards to dyslexia with the score cards. We can only hope this desert dysfunction isn’t becoming contagious. Learn more about it at ”Bridge Over Troubled Waters”.
No local rivalry sells more tee shirts than Boston vs. New York City. Located about midway between these two urban power punchers, Foxwoods Resort and Casinocouldn’t be in a better place to corner the market potential for full rules Muay Thai where it’s most concentrated on the American landscape. Setting his compass on the horizon, the odds look good for Scott Kent’s gamble here to hit the jackpot.
For the full story, CLICK HERE.
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Battle Chariots Rumble in Canyons of Concrete in Combat at the Capitale on June 13, 2014
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| Just in case your search engine’s algorithm defaults to boxing, no one fights his or her way up the rankings in kin sports like ours. That’s because there are no rankings. If you think Glory Sports International (GSI) does rankings, don’t even go there. GSIonly ranks fighters under contract. Have you ever seen any ladies in GSI’s shows, who weren’t waving round cards or serving cocktails? |
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Don’t take my word for it. See “The Fighting Spirit” for a dose of reality. [Full Disclosure: this is an hour long tv show.] Then compare WBC’s ranking of boxers with the Muay Thai division’s flea market for U.S. national titles. The only objective criterion determining who gets to fight for these titles is how many tickets they can sell.
Exactly because there aren’t any rankings is getting noticed ultimately by a gatekeeper – like GSI’s national talent scout – such a big deal for career advancement in our sport. It’s the same deal in mixed martial arts, where the UFC mints coin of the realm.
That’s why 3x world kickboxing champion Lou Neglia measures success by how many of his Ring of Combat headliners have made the leap to UFC stardom. So long as the UFC occupied the only stall in the mall, Combat at the Capitale produced stand-up to mma’s specifications. Just as market incentives shape economic behavior, so also is Combat at the Capitale now standing up to a more GSI compatible profile. |
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| The Capitale in New York City |
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We’re seeing less quantity, for example, and more quality in the matchmaking. Pro purses are now the rule, rather than the exception. You don’t even have to bring a compass to see these shows are going in the direction of career development. Plus they’re making money, which means that Lou has hit on a viable business model.
Appearances can sometimes be deceiving. For all the skin GSI has in the game, let’s call an ace and a spade a spade. This NYC local shows more on his bottom line than all of the sorcery in Singapore. Which business model is more viable?
In the shadow of Wall Street: bulls make money; bears make money; pigs get slaughtered. Hedge fund management is a game for gamblers. Even if the gamblers can afford to lose their bets, they’ll be left with no chips on the table. Better not to bet the bubble. Let’s go to the recap for Combat at the Capitale on June 13, 2014. |
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FEATURED FIGHTS:
WKA Northeast Championship. Amateur Glory Rules, 4x2, 180 lbs. Men
Andrew Ball (Neglia Competition Team in Brooklyn) vs. James Smith, Jr. (B52/Weapons 9 in New Jersey)
Southpaw cruiserweight Andrew Ball just brought home a low kick title from the WKAworlds in Italy. Open invitations to WKA’s European tournaments are authentic as we’re going get to a world title in this sport. Never mind ‘amateur’ means un-pedigreed by definition.
European pros also compete in these tournaments. They bottom fish for wardrobe accessories to stroke their obviously superficial egos or maybe to play for some local pay. You can never go wrong following the money. What you can infer from this, though, is that Andrew is pretty damn good.
Back on home turf, Lou Neglia matches Andrew with New Jersey’s James Smith, Jr. for WKA’s Northeast title. Jurisdiction and citizenship both are local for mainstream bragging rights. Glory rules come with so much more brand recognition than low kick, which is basically a transition for full contact kick boxers to either get a life or pull the plug.
Heir to the throne of the B52 dynasty is trained by his Hall of Fame dad, from which you can also infer that he moves with the grooves. Pivoting orthodox off his left foot for a round kick, Smith maintains the classic left guard carriage, with a right hand back sweep for accelerated torque.
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Herein lurks the peril in one size fits all, because Andrew is a southpaw. So James is literally putting all of his strength into a collision with Andrew’s left hook, which clobbers him on the jaw. This is where we get the expression “knock yourself out”. You better believe that Eric Haycraft will eventually pick up Andrew’s blip on his GSI radar.
Winner: Andrew Ball by KO at 0:56 of Round 1. |
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Pro Glory Rules, 3x3, 160 lbs. Men
Elvis Gashi (Lion Martial Arts in Brooklyn) vs. Mike Santiago (Team Top Notch in Chicago)
Amongst “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, none still on this planet are more ferocious than the Tasmanian Devil. It is this animal spirit that seems to inhabit Elvis Gashi from first bell.
A left hook flush on his jaw rings Mike Santiago’s bells. Instinct, nature and probably Mike’s corner all tell him to keep his guard up. That leaves the door unlocked downstairs for Gashi to clobber him with knees. Santiago goes down twice – without the TLC that referee "Big" John McCarthy gave Mirko Crocop at Glory 17 in Los Angeles on June the 21st – where it seems kind of transparent which best-selling brands GSI’s corporate hq has endorsed in its WWE business model. See “How to Kill a Sport” by Mark Jacobs. |
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The common core standard here at least is “kill the body and the head will die”. While Elvis goes for the kill, Santiago seems to have stopped paying attention or lost the capacity to defend himself. It’s enough for a ref – whom you can evaluate by his job performance – to show how it should be done. Chris Wagner stops the fight to let the doc also do his job.
Winner: Elvis Gashi by TKO at 1:11 of Round 2. |
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Pro Glory Rules, 3x3, 140 lbs. Men
Julio Arce (Team Tiger Schulmann in Queens) vs. Brian Burgan (Soo Do Thai in Detroit)
It seems like Cruel and Unusual Punishment for a native son from Detroit – which has experienced so much heartache – to come all this way for a demolition derby in the shadow of Wall Street. Is there any place better at steam rolling whoever gets in the way of what it wants?
Unlike the loose cannons – which are apt to sink their own ships – Julio Arce takes aim at risk and opportunity. His exchanges with Brian Burgan are crisp. They’re also purposeful. Julio’s left is getting through. Burgan seems unable to defend himself against them. It looks – by the first round’s end – like Arce has managed to hurt Brian. |
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They’ll tell you on Wall Street “buy the rumor, sell the fact”. Brian buys a bull dozer from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Julio sells him cab fare to LaGuardia Airport. Referee Chris Wagner paves the way with an early curfew, so they can both catch a pizza at Lombardi’s before Burgan hits the road back to Motown.
Winner: Julio Arce by TKO at 1:40 of Round 2. |
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Pro Glory Rules, 3x3, 124 lbs. Women
Andrea DeAngelo (Neglia Competition Team in Brooklyn) vs. Theodora Pisiolis (Hook Up Muay Thai in Toronto, Canada)
You’re not going to see anyone do the tricks better than Andrea DeAngelo. She also exhibits a fashion flair, which just happens to precipitate a wardrobe malfunction. Though it’s not quite as sensational as Janet Jackson’s at Superbowl XXXVIII, neither should it go unremarked. The message in this media is: “if you’ve got it, flaunt it”. |
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Andrea’s left jab works all night for her, except when she inexplicably goes into hibernation. That’s also when Lou’s blood pressure begins to code, as Theodora Pisiolis gets her knees into the action. The clinch clearly isn’t Andrea’s favorite place to hang out. It’s probably what costs her a round on all of the score cards.
When she flaunts it, though, DeAngelo blasts Theodora with a spinning back fist in the opener. She later drops the Canadian with a high octane mule kick in the same round. Finishing with a flying knee at closing bell, Andrea launches off the canvas like a rising star.
Winner: Andrea DeAngelo by Unanimous Decision: 29-28, 29-28, 29-28.
Given Glory Sports International’s uniquely male selling proposition, we just don’t live in a fair world. Theirs is not a business model that endorses gender neutrality. All the more reason to patronize shows that headline the best from both worlds.
If money talks, you’ve got to believe that it’s eventually going to connect with whoever figures out how to listen. What it’ll take is a school of hard knocks like Combat at the Capitale to put the ladies on a career path to equal pay for equal work. We’re perfectly capable in this country – and especially in this town – of standing up to the profile of our own destiny.
For the full story, CLICK HERE. |
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Evolution: The Big Comeback in Kuala Lumpur on May 31, 2014
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| Jom Kitti (Thailand) on the right vs. Vahid Sor Keawseuk (Iran). |
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| Elite Boxing came out a winner in Malaysia on May 31st, with the re-launch of Evolution at a black tie gala event at the One World Hotel just outside Kuala Lumpur. |
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Australia’s popular Muay Thai event brand, Evolution was recently acquired by Elite Boxing. Ending a two year hiatus, Evolution hit the comeback trail with an event that scored a number of firsts. Beyond the first Evolution event to be organized by Elite Boxing, it was also the first Evolution branded production outside of Australia. All the news about what’s happening at Elite Boxing is just a CLICK AWAY.
Elite Boxing aims to rebrand Evolution as a global product. Setting its sights also on what would be a new upscale market, Elite Boxing’s strategy lines up with its campaign to polish the image of Muay Thai for a wallop at the wallets of VIP patrons. |
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| Veselin Veselinov (Bulgaria) on the right vs. Kai Chee (Malaysia) |
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FULL RESULTS:
Ain MuaMalay (Malaysia) vs. Wasim Sor Keawseuk (South Africa)
Winner: Ain MuayMalay by Technical Knock Out (TKO)
Yeang Fei "Ferrari" (Malaysia) vs. Natthaphon Chaowalit (Thailand)
Winner: Yang Fei by Knock Out (KO)
Kai Chee (Malaysia) vs. Veselin Veselinov (Bulgaria)
Winner: Vesselin Veselinov by Points
Teerapong (Thailand) vs. Bruce MacFie (Australia)
WINNER: Teerapong by Knock Out (KO)
Frank Paredez Vilchiz (Malaysia) vs. Anton Petrov (Bulgaria)
Winner: Anton Petrov by Points
Jom Kitti (Thailand) vs. Vahid Sor Keawseuk (Iran)
Winner: Jom Kitti by Points
Ali Yaakub (Malaysia) vs. Ghot Seur Noi (Thailand)
WINNER: Ghot Seur Noi by Points
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| Ghot Seur Noi (Thailand) on the left vs. Ali Yaakub (Malaysia) |
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Even though Australian Muay Thai has been taking it on the chin these last couple of years, Elite Boxing is now putting together a committee that aims to bring Evolution’s brand back to Australia. The committee will include Mark the Hammer, who was an important part of Evolution from its beginning. Mark walked the walk to broadcast the talk on Evolution 27: The Comeback.
The Hammer is set to take a more important role once again, when he becomes the main contact person for promoters in Australia. So they’ll soon be able to incorporate Evolution qualifiers into their own events and make it possible for local Australian fighters to once again be part of an iconic Muay Thai brand.
For the full story, CLICK HERE. |
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The estimable Tony Myers, Ph.D. applies quantitative science to prove bias that we all know about but now he’s nailed it: “Home Team Advantage”.
Bias can creep into our sport’s outcomes for any number of reasons. We see it in a Las Vegas judge who voted 4-1 for the home town favorite, for example, even when the visitor was carving destiny’s child into two separate cover photos for us. |
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| Because this kind of bias is measurable, maybe Tony can do for our sport what Billy Bean did for “Money Ball”. There’s an equally pernicious bias to be witnessed, also, inclueless judging. If Tony wants to test that hypothesis, expect a random distribution around the independent variable of applicable rules. Let a panel of experts staff the control group and compare their consensus to the tale of a judge’s dependent variable tape. Standard deviation from the experts’ mean would then give us probable causefor cleaning up our act. |
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Feng Shui in the Geometry of Athletic Regulation
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| The worst case scenario in regulatory roulette is CSI. Headlines shouted around the world on July 29, 2010 like this one “Female Kickboxer Is Killed At Sloppily Organized Tournament” in DEADSPIN and this one “Fighter Adrienne Simmons died on Monday after being mismatched against a far superior opponent” in OPPOSING VIEWS. |
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| Adrienne Simmons: 1976-2010 |
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Feng Shui is more than the geological doppelgänger of Astrology.
Athletic regulation’s location on a state’s Organization Chart aligns it with the spiritual karma of public policy and priorities such as:
● Community Health, or
● Economic Development, or
● Pork Barrel Politics
So New Jersey’s Athletic Control Board (NJACB) operates under authority of the State’s Attorney General. It’s got the power to cower. California’s State Athletic Commission (CSAC) occupies a more obscure bunker in the state’s Department of Consumer Affairs, with only enough budget to fudge it. There are subway token booths in the outer boroughs that do more to earn what we yearn than New York State’s Athletic Commission (NYSAC).
With a dynamic duo like Commander-in-Chief wannabe Mario Cuomo and legislative maestro Sheldon Silver running the Empire State’s show, this is what happens leaving it to the judge:
“In an odd twist in a courtroom saga dense with allegations of political corruption, the fate of State Senator Malcolm A. Smith and two other defendants may be put on hold…Mr. Smith, a Democrat who was for a time the State Senate majority leader, is charged with being the linchpin in a conspiracy to bribe Mr. Tabone and Mr. Savino so he could get their authorization to run for mayor as a Republican in 2013. Mr. Savino has pleaded guilty to bribery. Mr. Tabone contends that the payment he received was a legal retainer and, moreover, that he was entrapped into taking it…Mr. Tabone [had been taped by the FBI joking]…that the difference between an honest politician and a dishonest one was ‘the honest politician stays bought’…The judge said he might have to consider adjourning the case or declaring a mistrial and impaneling a new jury.” (“Oy Gevalt! Untranslated Yiddish Recordings Stall State Senator’s Trial” by Joseph Berger in The New York Times on June 12, 2014)
You just can’t make this stuff up. We’ll only get our house in order, though, by fixing its foundation. Start with Zach Arnold’s Feng Shui on the geometry of state Athletic regulation’s Power Pyramid in: “Rethinking UFC’s 50-state regulatory policy after recent athletic commission follies”. |
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