Combat Academy instructor Simon Small faced the toughest test of his 17 year martial arts career when competed in his first Mixed Martial Arts 'cage fight' at the Grapple and Strike VIII event.
Simon faced Welshman Paul Matthews over two 5 minute rounds of full contact punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes combined with submissions techniques.
In the opening exchange of the first round Simon was heavily rocked by a solid right hand to the head, he managed to clinch his opponent taking the fight to the floor, buying sufficient time to clear his head. After a minute on the floor the referee stood the fighters up and Simon opened the exchange with a punishing Thai boxing style leg kick followed with a three punch combination that rocked his opponent to the core. This time the Welshman took the fight to the floor to give himself time to clear his head. On the floor the Welshman secured a painful ankle lock in an attempt to force Simon into submission. Simon pulled out all the stops to resist the lock and a solid left punch to his opponents floating ribs loosened the lock sufficiently for him to escape just as the bell sounded the end of the first round.
At the start of the second round Simon continued to attack with solid leg kicks that had his opponent reeling and looking to take the fight to the floor to avoid the punishment. On the floor the Welshman appeared to have the advantage with regards to strength, but Simon used his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ground-fighting skills to thwart his opponents aggressive moves. The rest of the round continued in the same vein with Simon dominating the stand-up and the Welshman showing good aggression on the ground.
When the bell sounded for the end of the contest the fighters embraced in an excellent show of sportsmanship.
The results from the three judges were collected and when a draw was announced the crowd responded with rapturous applause.
The promoter immediately announced that a re-match would be offered to the fighters for Grapple & Strike 9 to be held in May.
Story Dave Coles
Photos Pat Baker
28 November 2003
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