Saturday, July 17, 2010

Liveblog: Take On Muay Thai Part 2

UFC pioneer Guy Mezger is here, relaxing in a VIP couch. Meanwhile, the venue has filled up nicely. The first bout of evening is upon us, and it's a female pairing between Sitan's Jessica Ng and Chok Sabai's Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu. Round 1 sees Duuglas-Ittu walking forward and throwing leather at her opponent's head and Ng kicking her body like it was a banana bag. They continue battering each other in the second round, and Duuglas-Ittu times a couple right crosses that catch Ng off balance and put her on her butt. The pace barely slows in Round 3, and though Ng gets some good licks in, it isn't enough to sway the judges. Duuglas-Ittu takes the unanimous decision. Next is the first bout of the tournament, and it's Marc Deluca of Pittsburgh Muay Thai against Omar Ahmed of Sitan. From the outset it's clear these guys ascribe to the "stand and bang" school of combat, as they take positions about an inch out of each other's range and pick at any openings with an assortment of attacks. Ahmed lands more and lands harder in the first, and keeps the pressure up in the second. Sensing he's behind on the scorecards, Deluca attempts to turn Round 3 into a boxing match - but Ahmed gets the better of him there, and when time runs out the Sitan fighter is awarded the unanimous decision. Tournament bout number two and it's Vishnu Gulati of World Team USA vs. Kevin Molina of Molina MMA. Almost zero combos are thrown in the first round, but as the individual kicks go, Gulati seems to land the more effective ones. I guess in between rounds these guys ingest some TNT in their corners, as they beging exploding in Round 2, going from stationary to a blur and back to stationary. It's hard to gauge who takes Rounds 2 and 3, as both throw wildly and miss wildly, but the judges come to their inevitable conclusion, giving the unanimous decision to Gulati.

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