Lion Fight 28 Review

We arrived at Foxwoods Resorts and Casino and immediately made our way to the Fox Theater. It was an easy check in and the Lion Fight staff was very nice, pleasurable and happy to have us. We are excited to be here as we know this is scheduled to be a great night of exiting Muay Thai Amateur and Professional action. Making her Regional Fight Sports debut Tori DiBenedetto will be calling the action. Tori is a young up and coming amateur female Muay Thai fighter who looks to someday have the opportunity to fight under the Lion Fight bright lights.

Referees for tonight’s action are: Bryan Miner and legend Banlu (Coban) Anwiest

Amateur fights begin at 7pm but we became so hungy we grabbed some food and missed some (Most of the amateur action) We did get the results however:

Mike Triana def. Kyle Benner by unanimous decision (a) Maria Kritikos def. Brandy Young by unanimous decision (a) Julian Nguyen def. Jimmy McDonald by unanimous decision (a) Doug Holland def. Greg Muldrow by unanimous decision (a) Andrew Murray def. John Nelson by unanimous decision (a)

140lb amateur Super Lightweight (3x2 rounds)

Niko Qirjazo (RFS/NSMTA) Boston, MA vs. Stergos Mikkios (Thornton Martial Arts) Hartford, CT

Round 1: Fighters immediately clinch to start off the fight. Mikkios lands a harsh inside leg kick prior to the fighters exchanging knees. Despite Qirjazo’s failed attempt to sweep Mikkios, he then redeems himself with damaging knee to Mikkios stomach.

Round 2: Qirjazo comes out with a straight 1,2 combination. Mikkios quickly retreats with a fast and harsh combination. The fighters then continue back into the clinch. As the clinch battle continues Qirjazo sweeps Mikkios to the canvas.

Round 3: Mikkios starts of the round with a harsh leg kick and then chases Qirjazo into the corner. Mikkios sweeps Qijazo. Both fighters are exchanging. As Mikkios has Qirjazo pushed against the ropes he lands a perfect knee to Qirjazo’s stomach. As the final seconds arrive, Mikkios finishes off the round with a superman punch which backed Qirjazo onto the ropes.

30-27, 29-28(x2) Winner by unanimous decision, Stergos Mikkios.

142lb professional Welterweight (5x3 rounds)

Asa Ten Pow (Florida Kickboxing Academy) West Palm Beach, FL vs. Turan Hasanov (Sqaure Circle NY Muay Thai) New York, NY

Round 1: Asa begins the round with a right leg kick. Later follows with a right body kick, Turan catches the kick and sweeps Asa onto the canvas. Fighters exchange a few punches then land into the clinch. The fighters are now slowly getting into their groove. Later, Asa backs Turan up into the corner. Turan escapes, Asa then goes for a crisp spinning elbow right into a headkick.

Round 2: Asa lands a rear teep that throws Turan off guard. Both fighters are now exchanging strikes as Asa is becoming more assertive and chasing Turan down. Asa lands a solid body kick, head kick, body kick.

Round 3: Body kick, teep landed by Asa to start of the round. Asa then lands another harsh teep that devastates his opponent.

Winner by TKO due to a shoulder injury at 37 seconds into round 3, Asa Ten Pow.

135 professional Lightweight (5x3 rounds)

Bryce Lawrence (Fight Sports Naples) Naples, FL vs. Yeison Berdugo (MMA Pro Fighter) Providence, RI

Round 1: Bryce begins the round with a quick 1,2 kick combo. Yesion then falls to the canvas due to a leg sweep by Bryce. Bryce lands a brutalizing leg kick into an uppercut that sends Yesion straight down to the ground. Yeison was not able to land a single strike as Bryce just looked that impressive tonight and was way to much of a match for Yeison.

Winner via KO 2:33 into round 1, Bryce Lawrence.

145 professional Welterweight (5x3 rounds)

Chris Mauceri (Stockade Martial Arts) Kingston, NY vs. Nick Chasteen (Best Muay Thai) Phoenix, AZ

Round 1: Chris throws a teep that Nick immediately catches and then begins to throw a quick punch combination. Nick soon after sweeps Chris to the ground. Fighters are now exchanging damaging punches and kicks back and fourth. Later, Chris throws a devastating left hook, right body kick combo. He continues to chase Nick down with punches and kicks until he causes Nick to lose consciousness due to vicious elbows.

Winner by KO 1:55 into round 1, Chris Mauceri.

154 professional Super Welterweight (5x3 rounds)

Justin Greskiewicz (Stay Fly Muay Thai) Philadelphia, PA vs. Ky Hollenbeck (Combat Sports Academy) Dublin CA

Round 1: Ky lands a swift hand combo then tops it off with a hard body kick. Fighters are beginning to exchange shots. Things are quickly getting more intense. Shots are being fired on both ends. Fighters clinch up. Fighters break and Ky lands yet another damaging combination on Justin to finish off the round.

Round 2: Ky throws a harsh teep to the face then goes straight into many vicious punches that immediately pushes Justin onto the ropes. A spinning elbow is landed by Justin. Fighters then clinch up and Ky lands an extremely harsh left knee. Fighters break and a brutal right elbow was landed by Ky.

Winner by TKO 2:09 into round 2, Ky Hollenbeck

132 professional Lightweight (5x3 rounds)

Stergio Wieizen (Black Label / FF Carbin) Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS vs. Ognjen Topic (North Jersey Muay Thai) Lodi, NJ

Round 1: Fighters go right into the clinch. They soon later break. Topic throws a hard punch combination that backs up his opponent. The fun is now beginning. The fighters are really starting to hash it out. In the final seconds of round 1 Topic swiftly sweeps Wiezien off of his feet.

Round 2: Fighters hash it out once more. Topic lands a harsh right roundhouse kick to Wieizen’s body and then sweeps his opponent to the ground. The fighters then clinch up, Wiezien lands a solid knee as Topic sweeps him down to the ground again. In the final seconds of the round Topic throw two consecutive body kicks prior to Wieizen landing a right elbow.

Round 3: Topic lands a nice left hook to Wieizen’s head. Shortly after, the fighters break due to an incidental blow. Fighters are now back in action. Wieizien comes in with a completely devastating left upper ward elbow.

Winner by TKO due to doctor stoppage at 50 seconds into round 1, Stegio Wieizen.

NEW LION FIGHT Lightweight WORLD Champion Stegio Wiezen

154 professional Super Welterweight (5x3 rounds)

Cedric Manhoef (Manhoef Fight & Fitness) Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS vs. Jo Nattawaut (Bangkok Boxing) Atlanta, GA

Round 1: Fighters square off and Jo lands a right low kick, later followed by a left body kick and then another body kick. Both fighters are now throwing harsh kicks to the body to eachother. Shots are being fired. Leg kicks and body kicks both continue to be utilized by each fighter throughout the entire round.

Round 2: Jo begins with a right low kick into a switch kick to the body. Cedric is now backed into the corner and eats one of Jo’s vicious knees to the stomach. Cedric gets himself off of the ropes and aggressively throws some punches to redeem himself. Fighters are now hashing it out. A cut on Jo’s left eye has appeared, due to Cedric’s powerful punches.

Round 3: The round has begun and Jo is again resorting to what he feels most comfortable throwing, his kicks. Cedric lands an aggressive cross but Jo quickly counters with another harsh roundhouse to Cedric’s body. The fighters finish off the round in a clinch battle. Knees are being thrown on both ends.

Round 4: After a few shots are exchanged, Jo clinches up with Cedric and then begins to land some knee strikes on Cedric. Jo then sweeps Cedric down to the canvas. The fighter square back up and Jo immediately resorts back to throwing his damaging kicks on Cedric. Cedric has had enough; he comes in with powerful quick combo of his hands that slightly throws Jo off.

Round 5: Cedric lands a huge left hook to Jo. The battle continues as shots are now being exchanged. Cedric backs Jo up into the corner as they clinch up. Following the clinch, Cedric drops to the ground as he ate a damaging teep to the body from Jo. The fighters square up once more exchange shots for the final seconds.

50-45, 49-46(x2) Winner by unanimous decision, Jo Nattawut

AND STILL LION FIGHT Super Welterweight WORLD Champion "Smokin" Jo Nattawut