Event Title: ZT Fight Night 2
Event Date: 25 June 2006
Event Venue: Copthorne Hotel Resort - Effingham Park
Event Location: London
Date submitted: 04 July 2006
Submitted by: ZT
Following on from the success of ZT Fight Night 1, ZT Fight Night 2 had a lot to live up to. Even with a much stronger card, this second show was up against the second round of England’s World Cup dreams in a match against Equador. Whilst this did affect the attendance of this show, the ZT Team made sure fight fans had the best of both worlds by organising the match to be shown on a big screen during an extended break during the show. Thankfully England won and the atmosphere remained electric for the rest of the show.
First up was a Light-Heavyweight bout between ZT’s very own Martin Hayman and Damien Pinnik. The fight started with both fighters trading blows whilst Hayman was looking for the takedown. Pinnik did a good job controlling Hayman standing and eventually on the ground. Whilst neither fighter looked to end the fight, Pinnik edged a decision at the end of round 3.
Next up was another ZT team member, Alex Backhouse taking on Azran Quasid. Backhouse opened up with a powerful jab that landed on the button and it was rapidly downhill for Quasid from there on. Backhouse unleashed a barrage of punches and knees to the head and body, scored a takedown and then finished with an armbar in the first round. All in all a good performance by the much stronger and technically skilled Alex Backhouse.
Fight three saw the first of S.H.O.O.T Espana’s team, Enrique Anton take on Alberto Mina from London Shootfighters. At fist glance, Mina could almost be mistaken for Jean Silva (who was also in Mina’s corner) and skill level was almost as good as his team mates. Mina connected with a knee that rocked Anton and the stronger Mina eventually won via a ground and pound stoppage.
The next fight saw Jon Hathaway from ZT Fight Skool make his pro debut. Hathaway took on the shorter but stronger looking Jim Morris from the Gorilla Academy. Walking into the cage to the loudest cheers of the night so far, Hathaway looked calm and collected. It seems as though Hathaway wanted to wrap this fight up quickly and that exactly what he did. Text book shoot, huge take down in his own corner, moved to top position and then opened up a flurry of hard punches from the mount position. As Morris turned to protect himself, Hathaway sunk in the choke and Morris tapped.
Next up was the welterweight clash between Lee Doski and Sami Berik. Doski’s height looked to be a problem for Berik who is much stronger on his feet. Although he did catch Doski with some impressive, unorthodox shots including a spinning back-fist, Doski waited for the opportunity to clinch and take Berik down. Once on the ground it was Doski’s world and he submitted Berik with the second rear naked of the night.
The sixth fight of the night saw Nigel Whitear fight Richard Walker from the Gorilla Academy. As expected this was a slugfest and both fighters where looking for the knockout from the outset. This proved to be an exiting fight and the crowd responded accordingly. Whitear scored the first knockdown but Walker was able to compose himself on his back and tie Whitear up. Back on their feet for Walker to score the next knockdown. As Walker follows him down, Whitear was able get himself back together and pull guard. Whilst Walker unloaded a few shots, Whitear attempts a submission and foolishly gives up his back to Walker. Whilst walker did everything he could to sink in the hooks and look for a choke, some how Whitear was able to escape and apply a sub of his own tapping Walker with an armbar.
Scott "Too Hot" Gibson (SAMA & ZT) Vs Mick Trott ( London Thai Fighters). This fight was the only Hybrid kickboxing fight of the night, and this was a short affair , both fighters came out exchanging Kicks with Scott having more success, Scott was landing hard kicks to the head and body which wore down the brave London fighter but then with a big round kick to the mid section Mick Trott collapsed to one knee and Scott charged in with hard front kick that sent Mick one way to the canvas. Scott “Too Hot won by TKO in the 1st rd.
Next up was Brian Adams Vs Armando Sixel from S.H.O.O.T Espana. It was clear to see that Adams had quite a height advantage over Sixel and this proved to be one of the deciding factors in this fight. The fact of the matter is that Adam’s striking was much better than Sixel’s and this coupled with Adam’s height over Sixel, the fight ended with a vicious hammer fist beat down with Sixel taking punishment on his back. Brian had everything to prove in this fight and left no questions unanswered.
The penultimate fight of the night saw Tom Watson from the Gorilla Academy take on Tulio Palhares from S.H.O.O.T Espana. This was a huge fight for Watson who it seems is becoming a force to be reckoned with. Both fighters have a strong stand up game but Tulio looked to be the stronger fighter on paper (as well as being a UFC vet). Even though Tulio comes off a string of losses it was still a big step up for Watson…
The fight, as expected, spent most of it’s duration stood up and Tulio landing the fractionally better shots. Whilst it was clear Tulio was looking for a take down, Watson clinched well and the fight had to be re-started on a number of occasions due to inactivity. Tulio managed to open a small cut over Tom’s eye but it wasn’t enough to end the fight. Tom’s Muay Thai looked stronger as he landed some heavy knees throughout the fight.
When Tulio eventually scored a take down, he didn’t seem to do much to capitalise on what might have been a stronger area for him. Even though he almost secured a reverse triangle, it wasn’t enough to finish the fight. Tulio’s corner made a silly mistake by ignoring Grant Waterman’s warnings for straying from their corner. This eventually cost Tulio a point and quite possible the fight. At the end of round three the judges deemed Tom Watson the winner by decision. A nice scalp for Tom Watson who looked strong on his feet.
The last fight of the night was the big one. ZT’s Ryan "The Great" White took on Przemyslaw Mysiala from Ze Marcello. White has quite a following and his supporters probably made up half of the audience in attendance. On his way into the cage the atmosphere was out of this world and everyone was on their feet.
The fight started with both fighters landing shots but White eventually shooting and scoring a huge, huge Hughes style takedown. These are two are big guys and the noise of them hitting the canvas was loud. Mysiala was just a bit too skilled on the ground for White to keep him down on his back. Mysiala made a failed Kimura attempt before eventually getting back to his feet. Again both fighters stood and traded and Mysiala managed to catch White with a shot that did some damage to his eye. It didn’t seem to faze White and he proceeded to take down Mysiala again with another huge slam. Three more slams later and White looked to be taking control of this fight despite sustain some damage from Mysiala’s shots. In a cruel twist of events, Mysiala managed to reverse the position from his back where he was taking some heavy punches and elbows, and push White into the cage. Mysiala landed a flurry of punches that White did a bad job of defending and the referee stopped the fight.
As you can image, this didn’t go down to well with the supporters and the atmosphere became pretty heated for a while. In the heat of the moment, White protested to the ref but on reflection it was probably the correct decision. White did sustain some damage in the previous rounds and this didn’t look good whilst he was in the bad position on his back.
Let it be said that these are two very tough guys and they put on a show that will be remembered for a while.
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