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NEWS October 15 , 2006 |
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Strike Force Results
First of all, we would like to thank everyone who made it out to the fights to support our team. Fight and Fitness had a huge cheering section and it was great to see everyone all together. It means a lot to the fighters – thank you!!
So what did happen to all of our fighters?
Evan Esguerra was matched up with a fighter from Pacific Kickboxing in Fresno, but it was cancelled due to injury. He wanted to fight and was willing to fight anyone but the Athletic Commission did not approve his match-up and so his bout was cancelled. A special thanks to Universal Martial Arts for trying every which way to find us a fight. Geovanny is a complete savage and gets mad respect from our gym. This guy is willing to fight anyone at anytime! He offered to fight Evan even though there was a huge difference in experience with just a few days notice. Thank you Geo – you rule!!
Ray Juachon was matched up weeks ago against an opponent from Team USA. After the promoter offered Ray the fight, we called him back to make sure that it was approved by Team USA and he said that it was. He trained very hard and looked great going into weigh-ins. Unfortunately, he may have looked a little too good….. At weigh-ins we checked in and saw that Ray was scheduled for bout #4 against the Team USA opponent. The promoter for Strike Force showed us the bout order. Hours past and everyone was weighed in. Ray's name was never called and that is when we were called aside by the promoter. We were informed that Team USA's trainer had convinced the Athletic Commission that Ray was a "no headgear fighter" and the Team USA opponent was a "headgear fighter” so it wasn't a good match. (New fighters usually opt to wear headgear as guys with more fights don't.) Ray's record is 3-1 and the opponent was 2-0. Obviously we were very upset because we have no secrets. If Team USA wasn't happy with the match-up, we should have been informed early on so that Ray would not waste his time training. Hard training required him to miss work and make many sacrifices. We consider this type of behavior very disrespectful to us, our trainers and fighters. The Team USA fighter ultimately fought a lighter guy who was 0-0. Neither fighter wore headgear.
"Heart of a Champion"
The semi-main event was Chris Cariaso vs. Gary Owens from AKA. These were both undefeated pros in there respected weight classes (Gary at 147; Chris at 137.) The first round went to Chris who dominated in every category-hands, kicks, and knees. Chris was faster and even muscled Gary in the clinch-landing him on the ground at least 3 times. FnF fans were going crazy-Chris looked amazing! This continued into the second round but about 20 seconds before the bell-Gary landed a big punch that Chris could not recover from. Although he came out swinging and fighting like a warrior in the third round, Gary was able to put him down with another hard punch that ultimately ended the fight. It was a sad moment for FnF but Chris is definitely our champ and we are super proud of him. Chris is a fighter who challenges himself – never taking an easy fight and always showing us great skills, composure and class. We cannot wait to see his next bout in 2007. Special congratulations and thanks to Gary for accepting Chris' challenge. Perhaps a rematch will take place in the future. We would all like to see it.
We would like to take a moment to talk about all the warrior fighters out there. Don't assume that a fighter who is undefeated is the best. Don't look at someone's fight record and make assumptions. A fighter is only as good as the people he/she fights. We were taught early on by great champions like Bunkerd, Jongsanen, Enn, Paris Alexander, Neungsiam and the late Alex Gong that records mean nothing. A true champion challenges themselves, fights hard opponents and learns from his/her losses. We are really proud of all the fighters in Strike Force and all venues but especially of those who are not afraid to lose. "The only way to know that you are the best is to compete against the best." That is our philosophy at FnF. Thanks again!!
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