Lion Fight 13 took place last night at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The night's main event featured a women's title fight between American Tiffany Van Soest and Australian Caley Reece.
Van Soest is known for her explosiveness but it seemed she really had trouble getting into a rhythm. Reece did a good job staying out of Van Soest's range and when the distance was closed immediately going into the clinch where she was able to stifle Van Soest from being able to explode with any strikes. While in the clinch Reece delivered knees to Van Soest's mid section. even when Van Soest had Reece against the ropes Reece continued to work her knees. In the end the judges awarded Reece a split decision victory. With the win the Lion Fight Women's Featherweight Title goes to Australia with Reece as Van Soest taste defeat for the first time in her career.
In the co-main event Kevin Ross and Matt Embree met in rematch from Lion Fight 10. Embree won the first encounter by unanimous decision after using and effective clinch to stifle Ross. In the re-match Ross did a good job at avoiding extensive stays in Embree's clinch and worked his boxing well for the first two rounds. In the third round Embree began to force the fight into the clinch where he worked knees and elbows. Going into the fifth round it seemed the fight was likely two rounds a piece. Embree looked tired going into the round but kept pressing for the clinch, but referee Steve Mazagatti had quite a few premature break ups of the clinch which has drawn some criticism from fight fans. Despite the early break ups both fighters kept at it until the final bell and it wasn’t clear who the judges were going to side with. When the official decision was announced it was Ross who got the nod by split decision. A rubber match is something that seems to be a guarantee now so that the rivalry can be settled.
In another re-match Coke Chunhawat and Rami Ibrahim fought in a winner take all fight. The first fight went to Chunhawat by majority decision. In the re-match Chunhawat was just a step ahead of Ibrahim throughout the fight. Chunhawat used a well rounded attack and Ibrahim was never able to get into any kind of rhythm leading to Chunhawat taking home a unanimous decision win and the entire fight purse.
Jason Andrada and Andy Singh met in a fight featuring two of the sport’s most exciting fighters with both putting their unblemished records on the line. Singh jumped out early to take the lead but as the fight wore on Andrada started to get into his groove. Despite eating a few good shots from Singh, Andrada worked a nice attack to the body throughout the fight and continued to press forward. In the end Andrada took home a unanimous decision and improved to 5-0.
Nick Chasteen improved his pro record to 2-0 after defeating Jonathan Del Rosario by unanimous decision. The decision, however, has garnered criticism as it seems most thought Del Rosario had pulled out the win.
In the night’s opening bout Josh Shepard out pointed Daniel Kim to kick off the night’s action. Shepard started off strong, but seemed to fade late when Kim tried to rally but it was too little too late in the end as the decision went to Shepard.
Results:
Caley Reece def. Tiffany Van Soest via Split Decision
Kevin Ross def. Matt Embree via Split Decision
Coke Chunhawat def. Rami Ibrahim via Unanimous Decision
Jason Andrada def. Andy Singh via Unanimous Decision
Nick Chasteen def. Jonathan Del Rosario via Unanimous Decision
Josh Shepard def. Daniel Kim via Unanimous Decision
Van Soest is known for her explosiveness but it seemed she really had trouble getting into a rhythm. Reece did a good job staying out of Van Soest's range and when the distance was closed immediately going into the clinch where she was able to stifle Van Soest from being able to explode with any strikes. While in the clinch Reece delivered knees to Van Soest's mid section. even when Van Soest had Reece against the ropes Reece continued to work her knees. In the end the judges awarded Reece a split decision victory. With the win the Lion Fight Women's Featherweight Title goes to Australia with Reece as Van Soest taste defeat for the first time in her career.
In the co-main event Kevin Ross and Matt Embree met in rematch from Lion Fight 10. Embree won the first encounter by unanimous decision after using and effective clinch to stifle Ross. In the re-match Ross did a good job at avoiding extensive stays in Embree's clinch and worked his boxing well for the first two rounds. In the third round Embree began to force the fight into the clinch where he worked knees and elbows. Going into the fifth round it seemed the fight was likely two rounds a piece. Embree looked tired going into the round but kept pressing for the clinch, but referee Steve Mazagatti had quite a few premature break ups of the clinch which has drawn some criticism from fight fans. Despite the early break ups both fighters kept at it until the final bell and it wasn’t clear who the judges were going to side with. When the official decision was announced it was Ross who got the nod by split decision. A rubber match is something that seems to be a guarantee now so that the rivalry can be settled.
In another re-match Coke Chunhawat and Rami Ibrahim fought in a winner take all fight. The first fight went to Chunhawat by majority decision. In the re-match Chunhawat was just a step ahead of Ibrahim throughout the fight. Chunhawat used a well rounded attack and Ibrahim was never able to get into any kind of rhythm leading to Chunhawat taking home a unanimous decision win and the entire fight purse.
Jason Andrada and Andy Singh met in a fight featuring two of the sport’s most exciting fighters with both putting their unblemished records on the line. Singh jumped out early to take the lead but as the fight wore on Andrada started to get into his groove. Despite eating a few good shots from Singh, Andrada worked a nice attack to the body throughout the fight and continued to press forward. In the end Andrada took home a unanimous decision and improved to 5-0.
Nick Chasteen improved his pro record to 2-0 after defeating Jonathan Del Rosario by unanimous decision. The decision, however, has garnered criticism as it seems most thought Del Rosario had pulled out the win.
In the night’s opening bout Josh Shepard out pointed Daniel Kim to kick off the night’s action. Shepard started off strong, but seemed to fade late when Kim tried to rally but it was too little too late in the end as the decision went to Shepard.
Results:
Caley Reece def. Tiffany Van Soest via Split Decision
Kevin Ross def. Matt Embree via Split Decision
Coke Chunhawat def. Rami Ibrahim via Unanimous Decision
Jason Andrada def. Andy Singh via Unanimous Decision
Nick Chasteen def. Jonathan Del Rosario via Unanimous Decision
Josh Shepard def. Daniel Kim via Unanimous Decision
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ReplyDeleteTiffany should not get discouraged by this fight. Sometimes when you dominate your opponent, you do not know what areas you have to improve. Now she knows that she has to improve her Muay Thai clinching. Going to train in Thailand is the best for this. You can train all the other weapons elsewhere, but for clinching, you still can't beat the instructions and experiences that you will gain in Thailand. Seriously, don't feel bad. Even legends like Saenchai looks to improve his clinching game in his home country. See him here getting schooled by Pot of Sinbi Muay Thai - same place where Caley trained: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdOntAcyZPw
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