Combat Sports Challenge on Saturday in Richmond, VA

[Khun Kao]

If anyone is interested....

On Saturday, February 18th at the "The Showplace Arena" on 3000 Mechanicsville Turnpike in Richmond, VA, there will be an all day MuayThai & MMA event.

10am - 12pm: WKA Officiating seminar: learn how to properly officiate matches, including judging, timekeeping, inspectors, and referrees. (NO COST!)

1 - 3pm: MuayThai & MMA "Smoker". Open to all fighters with 3 or less fights. Enter and earn valuable ring experience that will not count towards your offiicial standings!

7pm - ???: Pro-Am MuayThai & MMA event, including the top amateur and pro title defense fights.

General Admission is $20



Picture of me and my two fighters who will be competing in the "Smoker" portion of the event tomorrow

[GonzoStyles]

Khun Kao,

how did your guys do in the smoker, from the pic looked like they have been making the effort to get ready!

[Khun Kao]

Due to the number of people signed up to fight, and due to time constraints, both of my fighters had their matches moved to the evening event.

My first fighter (the white guy on the left-hand side of the above pic) was fighting in his first match, and was paired up against a guy with an "official" 35 lb weight advantage and a 2-0 record. Because my fighter flew all the way from California to represent us in this event (he used to be my assistant coach, but was restationed to CA by the Army and now coaches out there) we decided to go ahead and take the match so his trip wouldn't be a total waste. He gave a good accounting of himself. His MuayThai technique was actually better than his opponents, but his opponent had better timing and knew how to use his weight to his advantage and therefore my guy lost the decision.

My 2nd fighter, Ron (black guy on right of photo) did everything right, but lost his match due to poor judging. Unfortunately, many who judge MuayThai matches simply do not understand the scoring. My fighter's MuayThai was better, he was scoring with cleaner techniques that had a more visible effect, but his opponent was busier with his hands and was throwing techniques with more "flash". My fighter was landing more kicks and knees, and he was usually the fighter finishing each exchange. His opponent was a good fighter, but Ron was "on" that night. I felt very bad for him that the judges did not have the knowledge or experience to make the correct call.

[GonzoStyles]

poor judgement in MA contests is a growing problem I fear, the WKA was the sanctioning body? are these refs new to the game? maybe you could make a tape and point out somethings they missed and submit it to the WKA, not to contest the decision, but to help them along in the right direction, just a thought...........

[mma news]

The problem with the WKA is Brian Crenshaw, he is the sanctioning body (WKA) and it is his event. People are tired of getting robbed with bad decisions and horrible judging. Hundreds of people i know from around the area wont even fight in his show just because they know they will get robbed. He needs to at least be fair to the fighters and have another sanctioning body come in that has the fighters best interest in mind. Good luck to them! You want to see great fights that are evenly matched with great judging and incredible reffing go to Total Cage Combat on JAn 5th in RIchmond 20 fights and 5title fights. That combat show is done! go to www.totalcagecombat.com and get discount tickets now or you may get tickets at the door. Hope to see you there ask around people will tell you this is the way to go.