Kicks Fly In The Mighty North! Promoter Bobby Anderson Scores Big!
McDermid & Whiley Take Home Gold!
Last night was a night that brought back some great memories of a sport so many still have great passion for... KICKBOXING! With the rapid growth of Mixed Martial Arts, Kickboxing has found itself taking a back seat throughout America. However, on this night, Promoter Bobby Anderson put together a show that reminded everyone that Kickboxing is a sport of high skill level, endurance and most of all, Excitement! There have been bigger shows, bigger fights, bigger crowds. However, this was never planned to be a Madison Square Garden style event. Anderson made a commitment to keep the sport alive in the Mighty North and has set out on a smooth pace to accomplish just that.
Persistence and consistency will build his shows, not fancy lights and massive fight cards which will eventually add to his events. Just find a great venue like the Mermaid Event Center in Mounds View, Minnesota, USA, make a schedule and stick to it. Just like a technical fighter goes to work in the fight ring, Anderson and his staff have made plans for the long hall... The full 12 rounds and taking each round one at a time. There are plenty of kickboxers around, but the opportunities for them to perform and compete are becoming less and less. All this sport needs is more promoters who can commit to the long haul and simply be consistent like Anderson has... Any takers?
No matter how good the fighters are, without promoters holding events, they will never be able to show the world their talent. Promoters are the most important part of the fight sports and without them, there would be no venue for the IKF or any sanctioning body to sanction, and no stage for fighters to fight on. With this reality, our hat is off to Bobby Anderson and the other kickboxing promoters out there who keep this sport alive. With that being said, lets get to the results of tonights "Mighty North" Action!
MAIN EVENT
Adam McDermid VS Daniel Brison
IKF Amateur FCR Cruiserweight World Title Fight
As expected, we will begin with the fight everyone wants to know about, the quest for yet another IKF Amateur World title. Top contender Adam McDermid has looked better inside the squared circle before. He even admitted it himself. However, fighting in front of his hometown for the first time and a big time title on the line brought even more pressure on the 26 year old fighter from Mountain Iron, Minnesota USA. Still, even an Adam at 70% is better than many at 100%. So was the case tonight for him against challenger Daniel Brison of Hurricane, West Virginia USA. Brison had some moments, but tonights story was all McDermid. A quick look at the kick count through 5 rounds and you can see where this one went. McDermid threw a total of 83 kicks over the 5 rounds to Brison's 31 winning all 5 rounds in the kick tally, 19-6, 13-6, 16-8, 22-7 and 13-4. In the end, McDermid had won all but 1 round on every judges scorecard in rout to a unanimous decision victory, 50-43, 50-43 and 49-44.
Making the night worse for Brison was when he lost 2 points in the final round from World Class Referee Dan Stell. One for missing the mandatory 6 kicks per round (4) and the other for failing to keep his mouthpiece in which had come out for the 5th time. Brison had some furry moments in round 2 where he looked like he was going to pick it up against McDermid but just could not keep up the pace he needed to. Whether it be a little fatigue from the flight from West Virginia or just not being fully prepared for McDermid's kick attack, tonight just wasn't Brison's night. In the end, we all have a new IKF World Champion as Adam McDermid takes home the IKF Gold in winning the vacant IKF Amateur FCR Cruiserweight World title. Congratulations Adam!
Co-Main Event
Mitch Whiley VS Adam Patneaude
IKF MN State Super Welterweight Title Fight
Two other warriors met up for the opportunity of taking home some more IKF Gold. On the line was the vacant IKF Amateur Minnesota State Super Welterweight Title. In the ring was Adam Patneaude of Cambridge Minnesota facing off against Mitch Whiley of Minneapolis, Minnesota and on the team of powerhouse Celler Kickboxing. Although this was no kicking clinic like McDermid put on, the action was still there. However, Patneaude was fighting an uphill battle all 4 rounds, and we really mean, uphill. Whiley stood 5'10" to Patneaude's 5'6" and those 4 inches made a big difference both inside and out. Still, Patneaude put up 31 kicks through the 4 rounds to Whiley's 29, but this fight wasn't won with kicks. It was won on ring generalship, which Whiley managed to control throughout the fight with a smooth serving mixture of both hands and feet. In the end, Whiley became the new IKF Amateur Full Contact Rules Minnesota State Champion with a unanimous decision victory over Patneaude, 40-35, 39-36 and 39-36.
Preliminary Fights
1. David Anderson (1-0/0, 176, 6'1", 31, Combat Jujitsu Mpls) defeated Josh Bernstein (0-1, 176, 5'10", 21, Celler Kickboxing) by unanimous decision, 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.
Anderson won all 3 rounds in the kick count as well, 12-6, 11-8 and 11-8.
2. Scott Legus (9-4/0, 163, 6', Bloomington Karate) defeated Cody Runquist (5-3/0, 165, 5'7", 17, Iron Range Kickboxing) by TKO at 1:30 of round 1.
THIS bout NEEDS to be talked about! Back on September 29th, 2007 in Hinckley, Minnesota, USA Legus was given the opportunity to fight for the vacant IKF Minnesota Jr. Light Middleweight title against Chuck "The Bulldog" Anderson. When the smoke cleared, Legus had lost to Anderson by Split decision, 28-29, 28-29, 29-28. That being said, it was no surprise that Legus is on a mission for another IKF title shot and his performance tonight all but solidified him one. We thought McDermid put on a kicking clinic for 5 rounds, how about a clinic even more impressive for 90 seconds? Yes, 90 Seconds! Within that 90 seconds Legus threw "22" Kicks and stopped his opponent Cody Runquist with a strong body kick at the 1:30 mark of round 1. WOW! Legus' legs were moving so fast we could hardly keep up, and not just fast, THEY WERE LANDING ON SOLID TARGETS! just ask Runquist. Impressive work Mr. Legus! You will get your shot at some gold again soon!
3. Jordan Allan (12-8-1/2, 134, 5'5", 21, Progressive Martial Arts) defeated DeeJay Jones (16-6/2, 131, 5'6", 27, Justin Whiley) by split decision, 30-27, 29-28 and 28-29.
Lets go back to the 2007 IKF World Classic Tournament in Orlando, Florida, USA. On his way to winning the 2007 IKF Featherweight World Classic Title, DeeJay Jones defeated Jorden Allan in a prelim bout by unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27 & 29-28. So now, 2 years later, did Jones underestimate Allan? Possibly so but who really knows. The fact is, Allan fought a very different fight this time against the quick and speedy Jones. Allan won the overall 3 round kick count 42 to Jones' 30 and won every round in the kick count department too, 18-12, 13-10 and 12-8. Still, Jones made it close with his ever busy hands which made it a nightmare for the judges to separate. This fight was so good that Promoter Bobby Anderson and IKF President Steve Fossum agreed to put the "Rubber match" on Anderson's November 7th fight card but this time, put up some IKF Gold for the winner. In November, these two will touch gloves for the vacant IKF Amateur FCR North American Lightweight (127.1 lbs. - 132 lbs.) Title. If he wins, it will be yet another IKF North American title for Jones to add to his collection along with the one he won at the 2005 IKF *North American Tournament in Orlando Florida.
4. PRO Kickboxing: TJ Gibson (1-0, A: 14-1/12, 193, 5'9", 32, Iron Range Kickboxing, Hibbing, Minnesota, USA) defeated Marty "The Wolfman" Lindquist (26-6/15, A: 8-2/5, 187, 6', 39, Blaine, Minnesota, USA) by injury TKO at 1:34 of round 2 when Lindquist dislocated his shoulder.
On the cards, Gibson was ahead after 1 round 10-8 on all three judges cards after Lindquist lost a point for only getting in 6 of the required 8 kicks. Gibson had launched 10 kicks in round 1 and 11 by the end in round 2 to Lindquist's 1.
