ESU Fight Night 3 Event Report

ESU Fight Night 3 took place at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow and promoter Vinnie McWilliams couldn’t have picked a nicer venue. Befitting such a grand ballroom, the event was strictly black tie. The fighter’s ring parade was preceded by members of the Neilson and District pipe band which the crowd were especially appreciative of. I’m not sure how many other events have this type of opening other than Oran Mor but it is a really nice touch. The event was completely sold out with around 500 people in attendance, meaning this event sold more tickets than the last Strikeforce Challengers event.

Obviously, this event is much smaller. However, speaking to Vinnie beforehand, he mentioned that his ultimate goal as a promoter is for the ESU belts to be the ones people aim for in Muay Thai in the same way that MMA fighters ultimately aim for UFC belts. We should applaud him for aiming high not only for his promotion but also for Muay Thai in general. His appreciation of the UFC can be seen in the presentation and smooth running of this event. Continue reading for my event report and full results.

Jamie Smith vs Pawel Kowalski

The vacant 70kg SFMA Scottish belt was contested in a fantastically entertaining bout between Jamie Smith and Pawel Kowalski. Kowalski took the belt home with a unanimous decision and I scored the fight 39-38 for Kowalski, with Smith winning the second round and Kowalski coming back strong in round 3 and pulling away in round 4 to take it.

David Harvey vs Martin Cawley

David Harvey and Martin Cawley fought four tough rounds and scoring this was a very close affair. I personally scored both rounds 1 and 2 as a draw but with a very slight edge to Harvey. However, Cawley picked his game up in the final two rounds and for me, started to pick up more points by continually forcing his opponent to retreat. Harvey’s counter fighting did not seem effective so I scored rounds 3 and 4 for Cawley, which gave him the win on my scorecard, 40-38. The judges did not agree with me however, and David Harvey took the belt with a split decision. I would love to see both men gain a little more experience before rematching at pro-am.

Gav Moore vs Scott Spalding

SFMA 95kg+ amateur champion Scott Spalding defended his strap in a messy and brawling but ultimately successful fight against Gav Moore. I scored every round for Spalding, but Moore was strong in the clinch and bloodied up Spalding late in the 3^rd round with his constant punches. War is not pretty and neither was this fight, but Spalding emerged victorious via split decision.

Mark Bryson vs Ritchie Sockell

Mark Bryson took on late replacement Ritchie Sockell, who stepped up from his previous amateur title fight against Stevo McCulloch to fight at pro-am. Sockell came out aggressively and strong but slowed down while Bryson picked up the pace as the first round came to a close. Bryson scored with well timed teeps and clean boxing, even dumping his opponent twice with good counter work. The second round started as the first ended, with Bryson finding his rhythm but Sockell not backing off and countering well. After scoring with an elbow, Bryson dropped Sockell with a solid body punch, forcing him to take an 8 count. As soon as the referee continued the fight, a flying knee to the body put him back down for another 8 count. The fight came to an end in the second round after Sockell dropped for a third time with another body shot. There was some confusion with Sockell’s corner men not realising the fight had been stopped and sending him out to begin the 3^rd round, but we can confirm that the bout was stopped officially by the referee after Sockell went down for the third time.

While Ritchie Sockell may feel hard done by, he may have to wait a while to get a rematch. I spoke to Mark who told me he and Mikey Roach have verbally agreed to meet, hopefully at ESU 4 in November. He is also hoping to claim back the UKMF welterweight title he relinquished by fighting Jamie McCrae in September.

Aldo McDonald vs Sean McLaughlin

For me, Aldo McDonald and Sean McLaughlin put on the best fight of the night. This was for the vacant 75kg SFMA Scottish title and both men clearly wanted this judging by the pace they both set in the first round. While McLaughlin displayed some good kicking technique, he did not slow the advances of McDonald, who was constantly looking to close the distance and clinch in which he scored well with knees in the first round. The second round seen McLaughlin throwing more knees from outside the clinch range, of which one or two landed, giving McDonald something else to think about. McDonald continued his aggressive march and pace but didn’t throw many effective strikes which weren’t returned equally as effectively by McLaughlin who for me won this round 10-9.

McDonald’s corner must have warned him that he had to do something about the now regularly scoring kicks of McLaughlin and he managed to catch a lot of the kicks thrown at him in the third round. Still, McLaughlin scored the cleaner shots in this round, again taking it 10-9. I think the kicks were starting to take their toll in the 4^th round as McDonald slowed down a lot and McLaughlin started to gain the upper edge in the clinch with a good few knees finding their mark. He found a second wind at the right time and again, a 10-9 round for McLaughlin. The final round was much the same, with McLaughlin scoring clean body kicks almost at will. McDonald is a warrior though, and refused to back down. The final score on my score card was 50-46 for McLaughlin and the judges seen it the same way. Sean McLaughlin won a unanimous decision to lift the 75kg SFMA pro-am Scottish belt.

Steve Lochhead vs Ali Demiciri

The final bout of the night was for the ESU pro European 60kg belt between Scottish nak muay Steven Lochhead (11-3) and Dutch kickboxer Ali Demiciri (24-4). The crowd were excited for this fight, with some playful booing not affecting Demiciri at all, who pulled out his best dance moves on his way to the ring. I wasn’t sure how Demiciri would deal with Thai scoring since he has been fighting K-1 rules kickboxing but he and Lochhead set an even pace in the first round, trading kicks and testing each other as one would expect from a pro Thai bout. Just as Lochhead looked to be settling into a groove, Demiciri focused his attack and fired off a three punch combo to the body of Lochhead, dropping him. The Dutch fighter demonstrated very clever ring craft to focus attack on one area, then when his opponent was getting used to this, changing it up, and no doubt doing so in the first round took Lochhead by surprise. The body shots which dropped Lochhead signalled the end of the bout with Ali Demiciri becoming the first ESU 60kg European champion with a KO.

Under card

An amateur under card kicked off the night. While all bouts on the card were fought under full Thai rules meaning elbows and knees to the head were allowed, amateur bouts were contested with head, body, shin and elbow protection for safety and were fought over 4x1.5 rounds. The first fight of the night was a title defence, with Jamie Anderson (BBG) winning the vacant 43kg SFMA Scottish belt with a unanimous decision over late replacement Callum McAllan who came in on two days notice after original opponent Tony Anderson (Carnage) was forced to withdraw.

Two of the remaining four under card fights ended in retiral. Ross Thompson (Rama) unfortunately twisted his knee after he and opponent Jordan Brown (BBG) got tangled min-kick which forced him to retire. Scott Drummond (BBG) picked up a decision victory over Rob Hay (camp), as did Gary Mullaney in his fight with Tony McKenna, a spirited affair with both fighters continuing to fight after the bell in the 3^rd round. The final under card fight seen Scott McDonald (Kombat Coatbridge) take on John Ralston (Rama) who gained extra bonus points from me for coming out to Johnny B Goode. Scott took this fight after forcing John to retire at the end of the 3^rd round. Scott looked good in victory but lost his composure in the second round, continuing to strike his opponent after the hit the canvas.

Full Results

Amateur – 4x1.5

Jamie Kerrigan beat Callum McGowan for the vacant 42kg SFMA Scottish belt by unanimous decision.

Jordan Brown won via tko (knee injury) over Ross Thompson in Round 1.

Scott Drummond won a split decision over Rob Hay.

Gary Mullaney took a unanimous decision over Tony McKenna.

John Ralson won in the 3^rd round after Scott McDonald retired.

Amateur – 4x2

Pawel Kowalski won a unanimous gym over Jamie Smith for the vacant SFMA amateur 70kg title.

David Harvey scored a tight split decision win over Martin Cawley to claim the 58kg SFMA amateur belt.

Scott Spalding defended his SFMA +95kg amateur title, winning a split decision over Gav Moore.

Pro-Am – 5x2

Mark Bryson stopped Ritchie Sockell in the second round after Ritchie took two 8 counts from the referee. Stopped on the third knockdown. Mark wins SFMA Scottish 70kg title.

Sean McLaughlin won a split decision over Aldo McDonald to take the 75kg SFMA Scottish belt.

Pro - 5x3

Ali Demiciri stopped Stevo Lochhead in the first round with body punches to take the ESU 70kg European belt back to Holland.