Last night was an event full of surprises, turn arounds and unexpected bouts that kept the crowd entertained.
The first fight of the night was between Ron Peterson and Shawn Hunt in a Muay Thai match. This fight was over quickly as Shawn dominated the entire first round right until the 1:58 minute where it was called by referee stoppage.
James Lepage vs. Tricky Nick Marino was a fairly one sided match, this was at neither fault of the fighters as Nick was a last minute replacement and has more experience under his belt that James has so far. Tricky Nick had James on the mat in the first 10 seconds and had complete control of the fight. He finished it off with an Americana Arm Lock.
Heidi Otterbein vs Lindsay Ball was the most action packed fight of the night so far. A straight Muay Thai competition, the girls struck hard and defended well with punch kicks. Both delivered heavy blows and when Heidi started pummeling on Lindsay's jaw in round 2, Lindsay seemed unfazed. No one can say that she doesn't know how to take a hit. Both fighters had great focus and drive, but in the end the judge’s decision was for Heidi because of her overall dominance in the 3rd round.
Jason Keller vs. Chad Gerow was a turnaround match like no other. From the opening bell Jason was fully controlling Chad on the ground and delivered a heavy beating, ground and pound style. As one sided as it may have seemed this was a very entertaining round as it was over before you knew it. Round 2 brought much of the same and became a technical battle. It seemed to be all over in round 3 when Jason again brought Chad to the ground right away. This was not the case as Chad seemed to just explode as he managed to switch ground positions with Jason and finish him off with a ground and pound that was so intense it caused a referee stoppage at 1:04 min in the round. This was a great turn around fight and the crowd was all over it.
After a few fight card changes Cheryl Chan vs. Sarah McLeod became the main event, and what a main event it was. There was more fury and speed in this match than any of the night. Both fighters came well prepared and fought an aggressive and technical game. Sarah seemed to dominate the first round but was caught off guard a few times and received a couple powerful kicks to the head. Round 2 was well matched and both fighters worked each other hard on the ground, but Cheryl took a beating to the face for a good part of this round. She emerged with two black eyes but seemingly unfazed. Round 3 was when it all changed, the two went at it on their feet, both receiving and delivering heavy hits and kicks. Then the fight moved to the mat and Cheryl's training came through as she secured the win by referee stoppage due to an arm bar. Great job on behalf of both fighters, we are looking forward to seeing them both fight again.
We would like to thank West Coast Promotions for having us there, the fight card may have changed drastically but this was not due to the event promoters, but rather to the match maker. There seemed to be undelivered promises and little explanation was provided. One more thing to note was the heavy RCMP and Gang Squad presence that seemed to be in your face and bordering on harassment from some of the constables. The MMA community as a whole works hard to stay connected and supports each other, we are grateful for all the communities’ involvement and incidents like last night are working against the growth of the sport and social acceptance.
-Nadine
BCMMAA