Joe Davidson talks upcoming fight with Jack Thames and his return to Muay Thai

Last year Joe Davidson announced his retirement from Muay Thai, but he is now ready to step back into the ring. On September 24th he will be facing Jack Thames at Pala Casino under the WCK Muay Thai banner. Joe took some time to answer a few questions for Muay Thai Authority about his upcoming return to the ring.

MTA: Late last year you announced your retirement, but now you have decided to come back. Why the change of heart?

WCK Muay Thai at Pala in September

WCK Muay Thai will be returning to Pala Casino on September 24th. The event will be the first in 2011 that the WCK hosts with multiple pro fights. Up until now the "Road to WCK" series featured amateurs fights with the occasional pro fight mixed in.

Highly ranked American Romie Adanza will be taking on China's Shuichu Wentz. Adanza last competed in the Philippines where he defeated Huang Hai Gong by decision. Adanza will be looking to win his third consecutive fight when he faces Wentz.

WBC Muay Thai USA middleweight champion Craig Buchanan will fight Kwame Stephens. The bout was scheduled for April of 2010, but Stephens was scratched from the fight at the last minute and was instead replaced by Jack Thames. Buchanan recently defeated Jack Thames for a second time to defend his WBC Muay Thai USA middleweight title.

Craig Buchanan defeats Jack Thames to retain WBC Muay Thai U.S. national title

WCK Muay Thai was in full effect Saturday at the Pala Fitness Center in Pala, CA. In the nights only pro fight Craig Buchanan and Jack Thames met in a re-match of their April 2010 fight. Buchanan the WBC Muay Thai U.S. national middleweight champion had not competed in over a year, but that didn't stop him from successfully defending his title.

Their first meeting in 2010 ended in a split decision in favor of Buchanan and once again the fight went the distance, but this time it was unanimous in favor of Buchanan. Midway through the fight Buchanan knocked Thames down with a big right elbow, but was unable to finish him. It was a solid performance by Buchanan who was in complete control of the fight.

Craig Buchanan vs. Jack Thames for WBC Muay Thai Middleweight U.S. National Title

Current WBC Muay Thai Middleweight U.S. Champion Craig Buchanan will defend his title against Jack Thames as WCK Muay Thai's July 30th event in Pala, CA.

Buchanan and Thames previously met in April of 2010, a fight in which Buchanan walked away with a split decision. It was a closely contested fight in which Thames continued to move forward despite Buchanan working an effective attack incorporating elbows and knees.

Currently this is the only pro bout scheduled for the event. Keep checking back here at MuayThaiAuthority.com to stay up to date on the July 30th WCK Muay Thai event in Pala, CA.

Fight Card for WCK Muay Thai Dec. 11th at the Las Vegas Hilton, Kitchen vs. Nakamoto no longer main event

The originally scheduled event for WCK Muay Thai at the Las Vegas Hilton on Dec. 11th has been postponed due to an injury to Julie Kitchen. Stepping into the main event slot will be a WBC Muay Thai title fight with champion Craig Buchanan taking on challenger Jack Thames. The fight is a rematch after the pair had previously met earlier this year in April where Buchanan took home a split decision. Thames has worked his way back up the ladder by claiming two stoppage victories due to elbows in his last two fights.

In one of the other pro title bouts Justin Greskiewicz and Scotty Leffler will finally meet. They were scheduled to meet back in August but an injury to Leffler forced him to pull out of the fight. Greskiewicz has stayed active since the original bout was supposed to take place and has recorded a controversial draw with Byoung-Ku Park at WCK Muay Thai @ Pala, and a TKO victory due to leg kicks in November at Friday Night Fights NYC. It should an interesting match up as both fighters are exciting to watch but their styles differ quite a bit with Leffler being more of a power puncher and Greskiewicz relying on speed and timing.

WCK Muay Thai at Harrah's Casino Nov. 13th fight card

WCK Muay Thai is bringing patriotic competition back for their November 13th event. The event will feature U.S. fighters vs. the Chinese WuLinFeng Team.

Headlining the event will be a bout between Heath "Cowboy" Harris and Wang Hongxiang, with a co-headlining bout featuring Ben Yelle vs. Kang En.

Current Fight Card:

Heath "Cowboy" Harris vs. Wang Hongxiang
Ben Yelle vs. Kang En
Adrienne Grotte vs. Yi Long
Jack Thames vs. Hong Guang
Shane Oblonsky vs. Xu Yan
Alfred Khashakyan vs. Lin Shuai
Andrew Kapel vs. Guo Quiang
Nat McIntyre vs. Li Ning
Tiffany vanSoest vs. Wang Cong

WCK Muay Thai Pala pictures

WCK Muay Thai Pala Results - Grachev, and Adanza win

WCK Muay Thai came to Pala Casino and offered a full night of fights.

In what was being billed as a Muay Thai vs. MMA fight, Denis Grachev out worked and out struck Fernando Gonzalez to win a unanimous decision. As many Muay Thai enthusiast expected, Grachev had no problem with Gonzalez who showed nothing but heart stepping into take a Muay Thai fight against a fighter the caliber of Grachev.

Romie Adanza has now won 3 of 4 against Paulo Da Silva. Although Da Silva took the fight on short notice he was very familiar with Adanza, and was looking to even the score, but Adanza used his well rounded arsenal to take the fight home on the judges score cards with a unanimous decision. With the win Adanza keeps his IKKC International Super Bantamweight Title.

WCK Muay Thai Pala Predictions

Denis Grachev vs. Fernando Gonzalez
In what is being dubbed a Muay Thai  vs. MMA fight Denis Grachev will take on "The Menifee Maniac" Fernando Gonzalez. If everything goes as it should, Denis Grachev should will win by KO. It's a fight and Gonzalez is a tough guy so anything can happen, but it seems like a long shot that Gonzalez who's MMA style is mainly ground and pound will be able to out strike Grachev, an IKF Muay Thai champion. As this past weekends Shane Oblonsky vs. Anthony McDavitt fight on the MTAA show demonstrated, MMA fighters who's bread and butter involves the ground game should not step into the ring with an experienced Muay Thai fighter, more often than not they will end up on the wrong end of KO.
Prediction: Denis Grachev by KO in the 2nd Rd.

Updated WCK Muay Thai Pala fight card

The upcoming WCK Muay Thai at Pala event will feature some changes. In a bout for the IKKC Muay Thai International Super Bantamweight Title, Romie Adanza will now be fighting Paulo Da Silva for a 4th time rather than Haigang Huang.

Justin Greskiewicz will now face Byoung-Ku Park for the IKKC Muay Thai International Super Lightweight Title instead of Coke Chunuawat.

Jack Thames steps in for an injured Jared Lara to fight Eric Utsch.

Luis Bio will now face Harris Norwood instead of Terris James.

Below if the entire fight card, the only fighter without a named opponent is Takuma Sugimoto.

Full Fight Card:
Denis Grachev vs. Fernando Gonzalez
IKKC Muay Thai International Super Bantamweight Title
Romie Adanza (champion) vs. Paulo Da Silva
IKKC Muaythai International Super Lightweight Title
Byoung-Ku Park vs. Justin Greskiewicz
Jack Thames vs. Eric Utsch

Jared Lara injury update

Yesterday it was reported here on MuayThaiAuthority.com that Jared Lara was forced to withdraw from his Oct. 2 title defense against Erik Utsch at WCK Muay Thai at Pala Casino due to a hand injury.

After speaking with Lara, the hand injury has been confirmed. Lara stated to Muay Thai Authority that he injured his hand sparring.

"During sparring I hit my sparring partner in the side of his head and was immediately aware I had a problem. I've tried to hit the bags since and I haven't been able to hit harder than 40%." said Lara.

As reported yesterday, Jack Thames will now step in and replace Lara against Erik Utsch.

Jared Lara out against Erik Utsch, Jack Thame in at WCK Muay Thai at Pala Casino

Jared Lara has been forced to pull out of his October 2nd title defense against Erik Utsch at due to a hand injury. Lara's title defense has been re-scheduled for December 11th in Las Vegas.

Jack Thames will now step in to face Erik Utsch on less than a months notice. Thames recently fought on the August WCK Muay Thai card at Buffalo Bill's where he defeated Mike Ryan in the first round by KO.

Fighter Salaries for WCK Muay Thai at Buffalo Bill's Aug. 28

Below are the salaries for WCK Muay Thai at Buffalo Bill's which took place this past weekend on August 28th in Primm Valley, Nevada.

The night's top earner was Rick Cheek who made $3,000, Cheek lost via KO to Stephen Banks in the second round. William Sriyapai was the second highest paid fighter bringing in $2,500 in defeat, Sriyapai lost a unanimous decision to Raul Rodriguez.

Full Fighter Pay Outs:

Women's WBC International Bantamweight Title
Jeri Stizes ($1,500) def. Joanna MacEachern ($500)

IKKC International Light Heavyweight Title
Stephen Richards ($1,000) def. Shawn Yarborough ($2,000)

Remy Bonnel ($2,000) def. Chaz Mulkey ($2,000)

WCK Muay Thai Event Recap: Sitzes, Richards, and Bonnel all victorious

PRIMM - In an action packed night of fights the women were the main event and they did not disappoint. Jeri Sitzes and Joanna MacEachern both came out looking to win the Women's WBC International Bantamweight Title. 

The action started early with both fighters showing they would not shy away from exchanging with their opponent. The second round started much like the first but it was clear Sitzes was on a mission, she connected with a one two that left MacEachern wobbly for a few seconds before hitting the canvas. MacEachern was able to continue but you could tell she was till not fully recovered, as the fighters clinched Sitzes threw here down to the canvas, and after the action resumed she smelled the blood and went in for the kill. It was obvious that MacEachern was in trouble and the referee promptly stepped in to stop the fight at 2:06 of the 2nd round. Sitzes looked spectacular in winning the Women's WBC International Bantamweight Title and moving her record to a perfect 14-0.


In the night's co-main event Stephen Richards put on a spectacular and gutsy performance to defeat Shawn Yarborough to become the new IKKC International Light Heavyweight Champion.