Lerchen replaces Case against Berrios at Friday Night Fights season opener, full rules postponed

Travis Lerchen has replaced Ben Case at the Friday Night Fights Muay Thai (FNFMT) 2012 season opener. Case was originally slated to fight Alex Berrios at FNFMT’s event on January 20th in New York; however Lerchen will now be facing Berrios.

Lerchen recently defeated Daniel Finz at FNFMT’s “Fall Brawl” by split decision in a tight knit fight. He has spent a good amount of time competing in MMA as of late, but it seems he is looking to remain active in Muay Thai.

Berrios is looking to bounce back from his defeat to Joseph Valtellini in September. Known as a technician, Berrios will be making his third appearance in the Friday Night Fights ring in the last six months.

Full Rules Muay Thai in New York, Alex Berrios vs. Ben Case headline Friday Night Fights Muay Thai January 20th, 2012

Muay Thai in the state of New York has been under fire from fans and fighters alike for not having full rules Muay Thai. Well, the longest running Muay Thai promotion in New York is about to change that. Friday Night Fights Muay Thai will feature the first full rules Muay Thai event in the state of New York on January 20th, 2012, with the evening’s main event featuring a bout between Florida's Alex Berrios and New Jersey's Ben Case.

While the state of New Jersey implemented full rules Muay Thai in July of this year, it seemed that this would be the closest full rules Muay Thai would come to the big Apple, the East Coast’s Muay Thai epicenter. We caught up with the President of Friday Night Fights Muay Thai, Justin Blair to discuss the recent development of full rules in New York and his organization being the first to do it:

Pictures: Friday Night Fights Valtellini vs. Case & Hasanov vs. Greskiewicz

As always Lance Burns was on hand for Friday Night fights to take some great pictures of all the nights action. Below are some of Lance pictures of the Friday Night Fights even which took place on April 29th. You can visit PhotoBurns.com to see more great photography from Lance Burns.

Friday Night Fights Recap - Hasanov wins via split decision, Valtellini wins by TKO

by Peeloshmee Deonarain

New York, NY -- Turan Hasanov and Justin Greskiewicz met in the nights main event in a re-match. Greskiewicz had previously defeated Hasanov via TKO due to leg kicks. Hasanov pressed the action, coming forward with big punches looking to knock Greskiewicz out. He succeeded in pressing Greskiewicz up against the ropes several times, but Greskiewicz covered up or slipped the punches. Greskiewicz mixed it up throwing punches in combination with kicks and won the battle in the clinch. He did not utilize the leg kicks that won him the first fight as much this time around, but when he did Hasanov blocked or moved out of the way. Greskiewicz was able to dodge many of Hasanov's punches and caused him to come out in the second round with a bloody nose. The judges gave the win to Hasanov via split decision with the scores being 48-47 Hasanov, 48-47 Greskiewicz, 48-47 Hasanov. The fight was extremely close and some could argue that Greskiewicz deserved the nod.

Someone is saying goodbye to being undefeated

In the fight game your only as good as your last fight, however, in Muay Thai you are also measured on the level of competition you face. Keeping your record as immaculate as possible is important, but that doesn't mean you dodge good fighters. Some fighters understand this and are willing to put their record on the line against good fighters on a consistent basis, others don't and prefer to fight lesser competition to keep that record looking good but in reality are living behind a false facade. 

Valtellini, Case, Greskiewicz, and Hasanov all in action at April 29th Friday Night Fights event

April 29th Friday Night Fights will bring another quality show to New York as they take over the Hall at St. Paul. Three bouts have been confirmed for the night. Joseph Valtellini vs. Ben Case, TuranHasanov vs. Justin Greskiewicz, and Harris Norwood vs. Joseph Sampieri.

Valtellini, and Case will meet and when the nights over someones undefeated record should be gone. Valtellini enters the bout with a 3-0 record with his latest win coming over veteran Sean Hinds in December of last year by TKO. Case defeated Sean McKinnon in March via Split Decision to improve his mark to 7-0.