Friday Night Fights Results: Hill edges Nichols

Friday Night Fights was in full swing last night in New York, NY. The night's main event featured a bout between two of the best recognized female Muay Thai fighters in Angela Hill and Ashley Nichols.

Hill and Nichols both came out and put on a show for the fans in a bout that went the distance. Hill was the more aggressive of the two and used her punches to score more, while Nichols more technical preferring to attack with kicks and knees. In the end the judges awarded Hill a split decision victory.

In the night's only other pro fight Robert Thomas and Tarek Rached went at it for three rounds, but in the end Thomas was able to score a (T)KO over Rached.

Results:

Angela Hill def. Ashley Nichols via Split Decision

Robert Thomas def. Tarek Rached via (T)KO in Rd. 3

Thomas vs. Rached ready to set off fire works this Friday

Friday Night Fights returns to the Broad Street Ballroom this Friday in New York. In the night’s co-main event Robert Thomas and Tarek Rached will look to set off fireworks. Neither fighter is too familiar with the other, but they both guarantee they are ready to adapt as necessary in the ring.

Rached has been making his way to Sitan Gym in New York City from Long Island every day to train with Aziz Nabih. The focus in their training camp has been sharpening Rached’s Muay Thai technique. Thomas says that for him training camp has been the usual work of running, bag work, pad work, and everything else that he needs to be ready when he steps in the ring and nothing changes from his previous camps.

Both fighters are expecting and fast and furious fight. Rached states “I'm expecting a great fight with a lot of kicking combinations, it's going to be very fast fight. One thing for sure is everyone watching is gonna be very pleased to witness a fight like this, it will be the fight a lot of people will be talking about.”

Thomas states to those that might not be familiar with him “Can expect to see an exciting fight. I always bring it and am looking to put on a good show.”

Both fighters have one goal in mind, and that is being the best. They each are an obstacle on the others path to the top and on Friday one man will continue him climb up the ranks, while the other will take a step backwards. Who exactly it will be we will know on Friday night, but for now you ask each fighter and their answer is simple, me.

Brett Hlavacek vs. Tarek Rached set for Take-On XXIV

Brett Hlavacek was expected to fight on the December 13th Take-On XXIV fight card at the Resort World Casino in New York, and now his opponent has been confirmed as Tarek Rached. Hlavacek will be looking to build upon his win at Glory 9 where he defeated Paul Marfort while Rached will step into the ring for the first time since his KO loss to Eric Utsch at the Road to Glory tournament back in March. 

Hlavacek is one of the east coast's top fighters and considered one of the strongest clinch fighters in North America. With the bout being full rules, Rached who has more of a kickboxing style and might face some issues trying to keep Hlavacek form turning this into a clinch heavy fight. Rached possesses knockout power, so Hlavacek needs to make sure not leave any opening that Rached could exploit when going for the clinch.

Headlining Take-On XXIV will be about between Cyrus Washington and Travis Lerchen.

Fight Card:

Cyrus Washington vs. Travis Lerchen

Nick Vaughn vs. Marc Seno

Brett Hlavacek vs. TBA

Francois Ambang wins Road to Glory welterweight tournament

The Road to Glory welterweight tournament took place Friday night in New York. Many people considered the top four fighters going into the tournament to be Brett Hlavacek, Eric Utsch, Anthony Nieves, and Marcus Fisher, but when it was all said and done dark horse Francois Ambang walked away the tournament winner. With his win Ambang took home the $20,000 tournament prize and a Glory contract.

The night’s tournament started with Marcus Fisher winning a unanimous decision over Anthony Nieves to advance to the semifinal round. Francois Ambang, Brett Hlavacek, and Eric Utsch all advanced to the semifinal round by scoring KO or (T)KO’s over their opponents.

In the semifinal round Ambang struck early against Fisher knocking him down in the opening frame. Fisher rallied in the second and third frames and it seemed the bout might go to an extra round, but the judges awarded Ambang the victory by majority decision. In the other semifinal bout Hlavacek outpointed Utsch to win a unanimous decision.

In the tournament final Hlavacek started off strong with leg kicks, but in the second round Ambang cornered Hlavacek and unloaded a flurry of strikes to the head and body. The referee stepped in and called an end to the bout giving Ambang the tournament victory.

Photo Credit: Ed Diller/GLORY

Results:

Road to Glory Quarterfinal Round
Marcus Fisher def. Anthony Nieves via Unanimous Decision
Francois Ambang def. Jeremy Carper via (T)KO at 2:05 of Rd. 2
Brett Hlavacek def. Ryan Parker via (T)KO (Two Knockdown Rule) at 0:41 of Rd. 1
Eric Utsch def. Tarek Rached via KO at 0:18 of Rd. 1

Road to Glory Semifinal Round
Francois Ambang def. Marcus Fisher via Majority Decision
Brett Hlavacek def. Eric Utsch via Unanimous Decision

Road to Glory Championship Round
Francois Ambang def. Brett Hlavacek via (T)KO in Rd. 2

Matchups for Road to Glory welterweight tournament

The weigh-ins for the Road to Glory welterweight tournament tomorrow in New York are complete and the opening round matchups have been set. The winner of the tournament will take home $20,000 and a Glory contract. Dustin Jacoby and Mike Lemaire have already won tournaments in their respective divisions. Looking to join Jacoby and Lemaire are Eric Utsch, Marcus Fisher, Anthony Nieves, Francois Ambang, Brett Hlavacek, Ryan Parker, Jemery Carper, and Tarek Rached.

Below are the opening round match ups for the tournament.

Road to Glory Tournament Quarterfinals:
Eric Utsch vs. Tarek Rached
Anthony Nieves vs. Marcus Fisher
Ryan Parker vs. Brett Hlavacek
Jeremy Carper vs. Francois Ambang

Reserve Bout:
Cyrus Washington vs. Chris Clodfelter

Road to Glory welterweight tournament set for March 22nd in New York

The next "Road to Glory" tournament is set to take place March 22nd in New York, NY in conjunction with Combat at the Capitale 30. This time the tournament will be in the Glory welterweight division which is 170lbs and will feature some prominent American fighters. Eric Utsch, Anthony Nieves, Cyrus Washington, Marcus Fisher, and Brett Hlavacek are among the fighters expected to participate. There is no word on which eight fighters will be in the tournament and which two will be in the reserve bout, but all the fighters listed below are expected to be involved in the tournament.

Anthony Nieves
Eric Utsch
Marcus Fisher
Brett Hlavacek
Tarek Rached
Francois Ambang
Chris Clodfelter
Jeremy Carper
Ryan Parker
Cyrus Washington

Results and Recap: Take-On Productions: Muay Thai at the Mecca 2

Take-On Productions returned to the theater at Madison Square Garden this weekend with Muay Thai at the Mecca 2. The night’s fights were action packed and headlined by Chike Lindsay and Cyrus Washington.

Both fighters started out fairly even in the fight with strong kicks, but as the rounds started to pass Lindsay began to find his tempo and started to pull away. Washington was more than willing to engage with, but Lindsay seemed to be just a step ahead as he was more accurate with his strikes. In the end the judges scored the bout a unanimous decision victory for Lindsay with scores of 50-45 twice and 49-46 once.

In the night’s main event Eddie Martinez was taking on Italy’s Angelo Campoli. Both men made sure to keep the crowd entertained as they fought tooth and nail for five rounds. Both throwing and landing hard kicks, punches and knees. Martinez was the bigger fighter and he was able to use that to his advantage. It was a tightly contested fight through out and in the end despite Campoli constantly moving forward, Martinez was able to land some clean combinations. The judges scored the bout a unanimous decision victory for Eddie Martinez.

Jay Matias welcomed Cody Moberly to the pro ranks with some vicious knees. Despite an early sweep by Moberly, Matias was on point. He went to work early to the body with punches and kicks. Two consecutive knees from Matias send Moberly down. When the fight resumes Matias continues to unload at one point knocking Moberly down again, but he jumped right back to his feet and the referee didn’t give him a count. Another knee to the head sends Moberly down again and an eight count is given. It seemed Moberly was going to make it out of the first round but with less than ten second left Matias unloaded a flying knee that sent Moberly crashing to the canvas and the fight was called off. Nice looking (T)KO win for Jay Matias.

Nick Vaughn and Phil LeGrand were both making their professional debuts. LeGrand used a lot of movement in the fight and both fighters had their moments landing solid kicks through out the bout. In the end Nick Vaughn was able to take home the win as the judges awarded him the split decision victory.

In the night’s opening pro bout Ryan Madigan and Tarek Rached met under K-1 rules. The bout was a re-match from a few years back which Rached had won. Both fighters started off with some stiff punches and kicks. As the first round is coming to an end Rached unloads some left kicks to the left knee of Madigan and he goes down. Madigan is unable to get up and is counted out giving Rached the KO victory with only one second left in the first round.

Results:
Pro
Chike Lindsay def. Cyrus Washington via Unanimous Decision
Eddie Martinez def. Angelo Campoli via Unanimous Decision
Jay Matias def. Cody Moberly via (T)KO at 2:57 of Rd. 1
Nick Vaughn def. Phil LeGrand via Split Decision
Tarek Rached def. Ryan Madigan via KO (Leg Kicks) at 2:59 or Rd. 1

Amateur
Sean Fagan def. Joey Hernandez via (T)KO at 1:29 or Rd. 5
Sokun Kit def. Henry Lee via Unanimous Decision
Elijah Clarke def. Angel Flores via Unanimous Decision
Steve Hernandez def. Ariel Abreu via Unanimous Decision
Pawel Zawistowski def. Jovan Davis via Unanimous Decision
Manny Casais def. Jeff Hobbs via Unanimous Decision
Jess Ng def. Melanie Odria via Unanimous Decision
Irina Khouade def. Chantal Perry via Unanimous Decision

*Photo by Bauzen

Fight card for Take-On Productions: Muay Thai at the Mecca 2

The fight card for Take-On Productions: Muay Thai at the Mecca 2 is set with five pro bouts and 8 amateur bouts. All of the action will be happening tomorrow night at the theater in Madison Square Garden. In addition to the fight’s Take-On Productions will be helping raise funds for victims of Hurricane Sandy.

The night’s main event will feature Cyrus Washington vs. Chike Lindsay in what should prove to be one of the night’s most exciting bouts. Also featured on the fight card will be Eddie Martinez vs. Angelo Campoli, Phil LeGrand vs. Nick Vaughn, Cody Moberly vs. Jay Matias, and Ryan Madigan vs. Tarek Rached.

Full Fight Card:

Pro
Cyrus Washington vs. Chike Lindsay
Eddie Martinez vs. Angelo Campoli
Phil LeGrand vs. Nick Vaughn
Cody Moberly vs. Jay Maitas
Ryan Madigan vs. Tarek Rached

Amateur
Sean Fagan vs. Joey Hernandez
Sokun Kit vs. Henry Lee
Angel Flores vs. Elijah Clark
Steve Hernandez vs. Ariel Abreu
Jovan Davis vs. Pavel Zawistowski
Jeff Hobbs vs. Manny Casais
Melanie Odria vs. Jessica Ng
Irina Khouade vs. Chantal Perry

Ryan Madigan talks re-match with Tarek Rached at Muay Thai at the Mecca 2

This Saturday at Take-On Productions: Muay Thai at the Mecca 2 (@TakeOnMuayThai), Ryan Madigan (@RyanTheLionKick) will be looking to even the score with Tarek Rached. All of the action will go down at the Madison Square Garden theater and as recently mentioned by Take-On Productions, they will be helping raise money to assist people who were affected by Hurricane Sandy. The pair fought a few years back and close bout ended when Madigan blew his knee out. Ryan was kind enough to take some time from his busy training schedule and answer a few questions for Muay Thai Authority.

MTA: Ryan you have a rematch with Tarek at the upcoming Take On Productions show. How glad are you to finally have this re-match?

Ryan: I’m very excited for the rematch glad Tarek is giving me the opportunity and of course excited to be back at MSG

MTA: Now for fans that did not get to see the first bout can you walk them through what happened in the bout?

Ryan: I felt it was close but like I was winning the bout when in the 5th round I simply stepped wrong and tore my knee

MTA: You have had a few issues with your knee, how difficult is it for you to step into the ring and not think about your knee when you are in there?

Ryan: Not too bad I know that I have done everything possible to strengthen my legs and feel confident in that and the program at Evolve

MTA: Aside from the knee injury, how do you think this fight with Tarek will be
different?

Ryan: The Pace will be a lot faster being only a 3 round k-1 rules fight so fans can expect some action.

MTA: How have you evolved as a fighter since your first bout?

Ryan: I have learned a lot about myself and Muay Thai and kickboxing and the biggest is my conditioning and strength improvement

MTA: Can we get a prediction for your fight with Tarek?

Ryan: I will have my hand raised but expect a good fight

MTA: You recently fought Dave Nielsen in California and the bout ended in a controversial no contest. Can you explain to fans exactly what happened in that bout?

Ryan: I won first round 10-9 on all 3 judges scorecard and in 2nd after being swept Dave threw a kick to my face while propping myself up..... the fight was overturned later to a no contest.

MTA: Is a re-match with Dave something you are interested in?

Ryan: I’m in if Dave is in and have talked to the WCK promotion about it and they say they will get me back on soon.

MTA: Any words for your supporters?

Ryan: With 50 people traveling to MSG for Nov. 10th I really appreciate the support from all them..... Big thanks to my coaches Lorenzo "The Legend" Scott, Steve the razor Taczyk.... my sponsors AC Plastering, Amity Hall, Omega athlete , Evolve (John Cook) and a special thanks to my girlfriend ,Ashley for the support!