Johannesburg — Thaiholics Fight Promotion’s seventh event in the Mother City produced entertainment and exhilaration for hundreds of fans at the Sunningdale Sports Complex on Saturday night.
Dubbed “Battle Tested” the show produced six stoppages, which included three incredible knockouts.
The main event saw the crowning of a new WMO Featherweight champion when Stacey Kensley outstriked Aneesha Mayman during the course of their five-round bout. Mayman started like a house on fire, pushing the pace, but Kensely did well to absorb the pressure before producing a decisive attack, drawing first blood with a well-timed elbow to the nose of Mayman.
Kensley remained composed during the entire fight standing behind her jab and using her sweeps to good effect.
Mayman enjoyed bursts of combinations with her boxing, but Kensley countered with an array of strikes via her elbows, leg kicks and hooks to outscore her opponent, taking her to a unanimous decision win.
One of the most entertaining fights of the night was the Lightweight matchup between Brian Ncube and Altaaf Armien. Ncube absolutely dominated his opponent over three rounds causing the ref to step in at regular stages due to effective liver shots, which shut down the system of Armien.
Armien showed great dog spirit to continue fighting and took the pressure like a warrior. Ncube was well on his way to securing a unanimous decision win before Armien pulled out a devastating head kick, putting his opponent to sleep and ending the fight with a KO - easily one of the greatest comebacks in Thaiholics Fight Promotions history.
Another standout show was the fight between Candice Lewis and Nazley Effendi. Domination’s Lewis put on a striking clinic, outworking and outstriking her opponent, who failed to answer her shots forcing the ref to call a stop to the fight in the first round.
Thaiholics Fight Promotions returns to the Sunningdale Sports Complex on August 19th.
Stay tuned to their social media pages as well as MzansiMMA for more details.
Here are your results
Lightweight 61kg: Charlie-Hawk Vos (Thaiholics) beat Cornel Verwey (Monarch) via split decision - Amateur
Super Bantamweight 56kg: Candice Lewis (Domination) beat Nazley Effendi (Fighters Inc) via ref’s stoppage - Amateur
Bantamweight 54kg: Megan Brown (Thaiholics) beat Lily Hahn (Bushido) via unanimous decision - Amateur
Super Welterweight 69.5kg: Stavon Lewis (Domination) beat Paul Truter (Monarch) via knock out - Amateur
Welterweight 67kg: George Thanatha (Thaiholics) beat Juan Levin (Art of Thai) via TKO - Pro-am
Lightweight 61kg: Altaaf Armien (Wrestling for MMA) beat Brian Ncube (Thaiholics) via knockout in the third round - Pro-am
Super Middleweight 76kg: Kagiso Manyamala (PFA) beat Ryan Barham (Art of Thai) via TKO in the first round - Pro-am
Super Welterweight 69.5kg: Justin February (PFA) beat Emmanuel van Wyk (Viper MMA) via knockout in the second round - Pro-am
Super Lightweight 63.5kg: Michael Bezuidenhout (Art of Thai) beat Heinrich Jacobs (Wrestling for MMA) via unanimous decision after three rounds - Pro-am
Super Welterweight 69.85: Shane Deacon (Thaiholics) beat Roberto Kitambala (Bushido) via unanimous decision after the fifth round - Pro
Featherweight 57.15kg: Stacey Kensley(Thaiholics) beat Aneesha Mayman (PFA) via unanimous decision after the fifth round - Pro
IOL Sport