Las Vegas, NV -- It was a packed house at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for Lion Fight Muay Thai VI. The crowd on hand was there to witness the re-match between Simon Marcus and Joe Schilling and they were treated to a very exciting fight. You could feel the intensity in the room as both fighters met in the middle to receive the referee instructions and Marcus refused to touch gloves with Schilling. It didn’t take long for the action to start as Schilling was the first to strike as he attacked delivered a light teep to the leg of Marcus, followed up by a body kick and some punches. The fight then hit the clinch where Schilling and Marcus fought for position. After the referee broke them up Schilling delivered a teep to the face of Marcus that got the mostly pro Schilling crowd roaring and they erupted moments later when Schilling knocked Marcus down with a left. Marcus seemed to recover quickly, but took his full eight count before resuming the fight. Schilling continued to aggressively attack, but Marcus was able to rally in the frame as he picked up the intensity and landed some solid strikes on Schilling and neutralized his attack in the clinch.
Round 2-5 were very similar to one another, Schilling and Marcus threw punches, kicks, knees and elbows at each other with each strike having bad intentions written all over it. They both connected with solid strikes and Marcus was able to throw Schilling to canvas a few occasions. The fights x factor was the clinch as Marcus clearly superior with his technique when they locked up. He delivered knee after knee to Schilling midsection and legs with the occasional elbow mixed, while it seemed Schilling was more preoccupied with avoiding any big strikes in the clinch. It was clear Schilling was tiring as the rounds went on but, he continued to as Marcus tried to stalk him down. The exclamation point for Marcus came in the when in the final seconds of the fight he caught a teep from Schilling as the final bell was ringing delivered a huge teep that got the Marcus fans in attendance cheering. In the end the judges awarded Simon Marcus a majority decision (47-47, 48-47, and 49-46). There was no controversy this time; the fans were simply treated to a very exciting fight as both fighters left everything they had in the ring. With the win Simon Marcus will now battle Artem Levin in Bangkok, Thailand for the WBC Muay Thai World Light Heavyweight Title.
In the night’s co-main event Thanit Watthanaya pulled out a split decision victory over Romie Adanza. Watthanaya who had lost by knockout to Adanza before was clearly aware of Adanza’s superior boxing skills and made sure to avoid it as much as possible. Adanza pushed the pace of the fight moving forward the entire fight, but Watthanaya used good lateral movement and kicks to Adanza’s body and legs to score points. You could feel the crowd waiting for one of Adanza’s power shots to connect and signal the end of the bout, but it never came. Instead they had a fight that was pretty difficult to call and even the judges seemed conflicted as the several close rounds had one judge giving the fight to Adanza with a score of 49-46 and the other two judges scoring in 49-46 in favor of Watthanaya. The crowd didn’t seem to agree with the decision as booing started as soon as the decision was announced.
Malaipet Sasiprapa successfully defended his WBC Muay Thai National Title against Philadelphia’s Justin Greskiewicz. Malaipet looked the best he had in quite some time as he out pointed Greskiewicz the entire fight. He was clearly as step ahead the entire fight with his strikes and on several occasions tossed Greskiewicz to the canvas. Despite Greskiewicz efforts Malaipet was the clear cut winner as the judges awarded him a Unanimous Decision. Malaipet seemed prepared and focused for this fight and he has claimed he is ready to return to his old form
Matt Embree and Nils Widlund met in a close and exciting fight. Many considered Embree the favorite in the fight, but Widlund came out letting his hands fly and connecting with several good strikes in the opening two frames. It was clear Widlund took the first two rounds, but once round three started Embree began to turn up the pressure and Widlund seemed to begin to fade. Embree forced the fight into the clinch and it was clear he was the superior fighter from the position as he scored with several knees. Embree also began to out box a fading Widlund with his punches and kicks. It was a close fight with rounds 1-2 easily going to Widlund, 4-5 easily going to Embree and the third round being the x factor. The judges agreed as Embree took home a split decision victory with two judges giving it to him 48-47 and one judge giving it to Widlund 48-47.
Tiffany Van Soest is forced in the ring as she out pointed Heidi Otterbein to a unanimous decision victory; Van Soest was simply to fast and technical for Otterbein as she moved well around the ring and landed here strikes. Otterbein showed great effort as she hung in the fight and went the entire five rounds, but when it was over it was clear that Van Soest had taken the fight and all three judges scored all five rounds in her favor.
Michael Madrid defeated Javier Torres via unanimous decision. Both fighters normally fight MMA, but both were making their pro Muay Thai debuts. The fight was slow paced, but Madrid was able to land more strikes to take home the win.
In the night’s opening bout Scotty Leffler and Artem Sharoshkin fought to a Majority Draw. Sharoshkin knocked Leffler down in the opening moments of the first round, but Leffler was able to recover and turn it into a fight. Both fighters went toe to toe the remainder of the fight. In the fourth round it seemed Sharoshkin had scored another knockdown, but the referee deemed it a slip and did not give Leffler a count. In the end the fight was as exciting as you could have hoped for and hopefully a re-match is in the works the fighters and the fans can get a definitive answer.
Results:
Pro Fights
Simon Marcus def. Joe Schilling via Majority Decision
Thanit Watthanaya def. Romie Adanza via Split Decision
Malaipet def. Justin Greskiewicz via Unanimous Decision
Matt Embree def. Nils Widlund via Split Decision
Tiffany Van Soest def. Heidi Otterbein via Unanimous Decision
Michael Madrid def. Javier Torres via Unanimous Decision
Artem Sharoshkin and Scotty Leffler fight to Majority Draw
Amateur Fights
William Briones def. Brandon Ebert via Unanimous Decision
Guilherme Bertholdo def. Chris Lazaro via Unanimous Decision
Genesis Bravo def. Marie Choi via Unanimous Decision
Josh Shepard def. Amir Ansari via Unanimous Decision
Jason Andrada def. Jesse Magusen via Unanimous Decision
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