Affiliates
Follow us on
Follow us on
Dragon Power Muaythai, MMA & Fitness centre was the venue for the Western Province Muaythai Championships & Johannesburg VS Cape Town MMA Fight Night. The venue was packed to capacity with over 1000 fight fans on the edge of their seats from start to finish, with many more queuing outside to catch a glimpse of the action. Aidan Bennetts was MC for the night and kept the crowds informed and entertained between bouts with DJ Solostar mixing it up on the decks.
The first two bouts were juniors, with all the boys coming from Dragon Power Muaythai, MMA & Fitness Centre's Development team. First up was Lwanda Sidinile VS Belinda Dyani. Lwanda dominated his opponent with superior hands and clinch work taking the fight with a unanimous point's decision. Next up was Lutho Sentile VS Pheliswa Mkhululi. It started off with Lutho charging his opponent with his boxing. However Pheliswa remained calm and collected and showed that Muaythai uses all 8 limbs and controlled the first round with his kicking, knees and grappling. They then came out for the 2nd round where Pheliswa proved too strong for Lutho and won by a referee stoppage.
The 3rd fight was called off due to the one fighters having contracted stage 1 Bronchitis, and the doctor ruled it would be too risky for him to compete. Next up was a catch weight bout between Dalvir Gill from Kenya and Lucian Birks from South Africa. As soon as the bell went, Lucian attacked hard with a kick that could be heard over the crowds cheers. This didn't seem to faze Dalvir as he pushed forward with some straight punches. Towards the end of the round Lucian was showing he was stronger and using more of his 8 weapons. The 2nd round started and Dalvir came out with a bloody nose, and was visibly weaker than his opponent. Eventually Lucian caught him in the corner and the referee gave Dalvir a standing 8 count. They continued for a bit with Dalvir on his back foot the whole time, eventually the referee called the fight as Dalvir was not returning any hits and was simply being beaten on.
For a change of pace, the 1st MMA Fight was then up. Luca Castiglione of Dragon Power VS Donnovan Wiken of The Colloseum. This was a back and forth battle with neither fighter wanting to give an inch. Luca spent a good part of the 1st round on his back in guard looking for triangles and arm bars. In the 2nd round Luca managed to transition from a precarious position into full mount and began to ground and pound. His opponent eventually turning onto his stomach and not defending properly leading to a referee stoppage and Luca winning with a Technical Knockout.
A short break was had with some entertainment by World Class UBuntu BBoys displaying some of their amazing skills break dancing skills.
Straight back into the action, a middleweight bout between Romano Birks of Dragon Power VS Alain Ilunga from Panther. This was a quick fight with Alain catching Romano with a very hard roundhouse kick to his mid-section and winding him to the point of not being able to move.
Another short break was had where Sifu Kru Quentin "Dragon" Chong took the stage to say a short speech, as well as to award Jason "The Bull" Roberts a lifetime achievement award for all that he has doen to help grow the sport of Muaythai in South Africa.
Now was time for the 2nd MMA Fight. Marcel "Little Hammer" Tieners from Dragon Power Vs Chris Elgar of The Colloseum. This too was a back and fourth battle that was fought in every position. The first round was pretty even with both fighters giving their all. They then came out for the 2nd round with the meanest of intentions. After a short engagement of boxing, they ended up on the ground with Chris holding Marcel with a tight Armbar. Marcel managed to remain calm and worked his way out of the lock to take mount and then proceeded to ground and pound his way to victory.
Last up was a Light Middleweight war between Justin Sham of Dragon Power and Sisubisu Mdoku Panther. Sisubisu had a lot to prove as he had recently lost to Dragon Power fighter Jarred Rothwell and wanted revenge. Both fighters came out strong, throwing out strong powerful attacks to test out their opponents reactions. Justin proved to be too quick for Sisubisu in the first round, managing to dodge many of his kicks and return them in a dominant fashion. In the second round they picked up the pace exchanging combinations back and forth. Justin used his knees well to fend off Sisubisu's boxing. In the last round they picked up their pace again, neither wanting to risk losing the fight nor get injured. Justin used his teeps well to keep Sisubisu at bay and catching him in the face twice. Towards the end of the fight Sibisobisu began to take control of the fight catching Justin with a strong right hand, how ever it was too little too late. Justin won the fight with a Unanimous Points decision.
We would like to congratulate all the fighters the took part and all those that came to help support and help make the event the success that it was. We would like to wish all those fighters that made the Western Province team good luck for their upcoming fights on 11 June at the South African Championships.
Lastly, a big thank you to our sponsors: Cape Town Appliances, Cheftrapps, Cipla, Thunda.com, Puma, PSS & Dragon Power Productions.