YOKKAO 17-18: The Blend of Energy!
YOKKAO 17 and YOKKAO 18 took place on Saturday March 19th at the Macron Stadium in Bolton with another completely sold out arena. A successful night that wrote yet another historic page in Muay Thai history. A blend of energies made from motivation, progress, self-confidence and achievements that exploded in the newly canvassed yellow ring of the YOKKAO brand leaving Muay Thai fans breathless the entire night.
The evening began with the "YOKKAO Next Generation" development project, the new global initiative designed to introduce a broad spectrum of fighters to Yokkao events in order to discover new Muay Thai talents. On the spot in 6 fights, Artur Saladiak, won by referee stoppage in round 1 against Jack Sampola. YOKKAO 17 Jackson Barkhouse entered the YOKKAO UK Ranking at -70kg winning on points against Luke Imeson. Myk Estlick continues his climb of the YOKKAO UK Ranking at -61.5kg, collecting his fifth consecutive victory at YOKKAO events. The first fighter in the books to win at YOKKAO, 5 times in a row. YOKKAO's Next Generation fighter Juan Cervantes collected a win against Danny Edwards, while the YOKKAO UK Ranking -65kg sees the entrance of Dale Hughes winning by KO (round 3) against Dale Murray. THE NEW YOKKAO FIGHTER 19yr old Manachai, entered the ring determined to show everyone who the current Lumpinee Ranked #1 is, retiring Luke Turner in round 3. News about Manachai will be released soon at www.yokkao.com/news stay tuned.
THE NEW YOKKAO WORLD CHAMPION -65kg Following Tetsuya Yamato's win in Japan against the previous YOKKAO World Champion Pakorn, Liam Harrison vs Yamato was a perfect set determining who the best Muay Thai Fighter of 65kg was of the moment. Climbing the world Muay Thai scene, Liam Harrison (Bad Company YOKKAO Training Center in Leeds) defeated Tetsuya Yamato by points becoming the NEW YOKKAO World Champion at 65kg. The fight was a total war between two great champions. As does seemingly always happen in major fights, someone complained about the decision. Videos and judge scorecards will be uploaded and available soon at uk.yokkao.com/pages/events and www.youtube.com/yokkaoboxing at which point everyone will be free to comment. We recommend fans subscribe for FREE to our newsletter by entering your name and e-mail at uk.yokkao.com/bangkok, be the first to receive the video link. Meanwhile, previews of the fight are already available at instagram.com/yokkao YOKKAO 18 YOKKAO 18 saw four impressive TKOs in a row with Darren Howsien, Jack Kennedy Army Pirnie and Jake Purdy collecting wins for the YOKKAO UK Ranking. In the spotlight, Jake Purdy won for the second time against Soloman Wickstead establishing his name to first position of the YOKKAO UK Ranking at -72,5kg. The prestigious international fight saw an amazing performance from Ben Hodge against Christian Baya from Mike's Gym in Holland. An excellent preparation from Baya but Ben Hodge's experience in Muay Thai lead the difference. Ben Hodge won by points vs Christian Baya.
It must be said that Hodge broke Baya's arms and Baya continued the fight until the end. Mike's Gym fighters will never give up. THE NEW YOKKAO WORLD CHAMPION -70kg The Revenge of the year saw the challenge between England and Sweden: Jordan Watson had his revenge with Sanny Dahlbeck in a fight that no doubt held the right for earning this fight to be sold out. An outstanding performance from both fighters who had the FIGHT OF THE NIGHT. Jordan Watson came into the ring determined to return the YOKKAO title to the UK as never before. Even if Sanny Dahlbeck had badly broken Jordan Watson's nose, the fight still continued leaving the attendance breathless until the end. A sneak peek uploaded on Facebook generated more than 70,000 views in 24 hrs. Jordan Watson rallied winning the fight by points and became the new YOKKAO World Champion -70kg. YOKKAO 17 and YOKKAO 18 have been one of the most exciting YOKKAO nights ever with fighters showcasing the progress of the UK to a worldwide Muay Thai scene. With a perfect team job established between our YOKKAO UK promoter, distributor and the YOKKAO team, the staff from Rocket Media (the first internal media agency in a Muay Thai brand) and the new additional Team from the YOKKAO Training Center in Bangkok, Muay Thai lovers can be sure to expect another outstanding night at YOKKAO 19 and YOKKAO 20, on October 8th at the Macron Stadium in Bolton. https://youtu.be/PfIJTvS1hMo
