Adil Sajjad gives a rundown of the main card action at WCMMA 17.
Main-eventer Hawinder Sira’s crowd-fuelled onslaught was met with minimal resistance from a visibly overwhelmed Tony Louis, who was knocked down a total of six times over two rounds before the referee was forced to intervene at WCMMA 17.
On a night where five amateur/semi-pro titles were at stake, both Hawinder Sira and Stan Wilson became champions under UK-1 rules, meaning that, unlike MMA, the contest took place solely as a stand-up fight with minimal clinching but no takedowns allowed.
It was a night for flamboyant striking, as all five main card fights exhibited a large amount of crowd-pleasing offense.
This trend was no more visible than in Hawinder Sira’s chasing down of now-former Super UK-1 champion Tony Louis with a flurry of fast, powerful strikes, having particular success with the repetition of a one-two-body kick combo used to perfection. Such was the popularity of ‘The Lion’ that after the fight he was forced to ask his own fans for calm.
Almost equally vocal in their support were the fans of co-main eventer and new UK-1 light heavyweight champion Stan Wilson who seemed to be in touch with the crowd demographic as he walked to the cage with the St. George’s cross draped over his shoulders and the national anthem blaring over the speakers.
Shawn Bradosti was able to match neither his crowd appeal nor his intensity over a short fight which ended as the result of a leg kick thrown by Wilson near the end of the first round, which was later revealed to have broken Bradosti’s shin. He was therefore unable to answer the bell for the second round.
When asked about the importance of audience support, new champion Wilson said: “If you’ve got the crowd behind you that’s an extra ten percent… every fighter needs the crowd behind him.”
The other co-main event consisted of an ‘unstoppable force meets immovable object’ deal between Harry Allen and Modestas Bukauska for the light-heavyweight championship under ‘universal MMA rules’.
After three rounds in which the flashy striking of Bukauska was met with the continuous forward movement of Allen, Bukauska’s large variety of flamboyant, successful high kicks must have made an impression on the judges as he retained his belt via unanimous decision.