A brutal knockout of the year candidate capped a fantastic night of fighting at Contenders 19 at the Norfolk Showground last night.
The 15-fight card saw four titles decided, with the main event, which pitted Great Yarmouth's Modestas Andrijauskas against Ipswich's Corrin Eaton for the 66kg pro K1 title, ending in highlight-reel fashion.
Eaton, a rising MMA star who was making his K1 debut, dropped Andrijauskas early in the fight. But the Norfolk man rose, blazed back and caught his foe with a perfect knee to the head as Eaton advanced.
The Ipswich fighter, separated from his senses, crumpled face first to the canvas unconscious, and referee Dan Movahedi had no choice but to wave the contest off in the first round.
It was something of an upset win for Andrijauskas and he celebrated wildly after Eaton came round. The Suffolk scrapper was clearly crushed by the defeat, but can take another step up the MMA rankings when he fights for a title at Contenders 20 on September 16.
In the co-main event, King's Lynn's Stevi-Ann Levy enhanced her growing reputation as she lifted the 61kg boxing belt with a majority decision win over Yarmouth's Tia Sayer.
In a close fight, Levy's strong finish was enough to secure victory over an opponent who claimed the centre of the ring for much of the contest and never stopped throwing.
Elsewhere on the card, there was not one, but two fights of the night.
In a sensational boxing battle, Norwich's Mariusz Karas took a majority decision win over Ipswich's Jordan Williams.
The teak tough Karas soaked up some serious punishment from the slick, flashy Williams, who fights out of Mamba Martial Arts, but landed enough hard shots of his own to sway the judges. Both men are fighters to watch closely in future.
In the other standout bout, Cromer's Ben Sell retained his 61kg youth K1 title in a terrific tear-up with Ipswich's Jack Purdy.
The long and languid Sell was pressured and pushed the whole way by Purdy in a breathless war, but secured two knockdowns - in the first and final rounds - to retain his belt on a majority draw. A rematch must surely be on the cards.
In the other title fight of the night, David Balogh relieved Piotr Panczak of his 77kg K1 strap with some of the most vicious leg kicks you will ever see, rendering the champion unable to stand and forced to quit in the first round.
There were also fine showings from a very composed Evan Hubbard Norman on his K1 debut, who never looked threatened en route to a wide points win over Jack Potter, and Jakob Doman, who used his thunderous baseball bat kicks to stop Tomas Siaucila in the third and final round of their K1 clash.
Full results
- Kye Bulbeck beat Laurry Uzemeckas by 2nd rd TKO
- Liam Halse beat Matt Beacroft by 2nd rd KO
- Beth Boland beat Fran Clarke by 2nd rd TKO
- Raheel Khan beat Mario Des Mata by UD
- Andris Kazoks beat Sam Mason by UD
- Mariusz Karas beat Jordan Williams by MD
- Adam Ellis beat Tomec Skrzypiec by MD
- Astijus Siaulinkis beat Scott Davis by 1st rd KO
- Evan Hubbard Norman beat Jack Potter by UD
- Ben Sell and Jack Purdy shared majority draw - champion Sell retains his 61kg youth title
- David Balogh beat Piotr Panczak by 1st rd KO - wins 77kg K1 title
- Shaun Williams beat Dennis Turner by UD
- Jakob Doman beat Tomas Siaucila by 3rd rd KO
- Stevi-Ann Levy beat Tia Sayer by MD - wins 61kg boxing title
- Modestas Andrijauskas beat Corrin Eaton by 1st rd KO - wins 66kg pro K1 title
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here