April 15, 2019

YOKKAO 27 - 28 will surely go down in history as one of the most memorable shows for the UK Muay Thai scene. With stunning knockouts, two successful YOKKAO world title defense and a splattering of blood, sweat and emotions, this show has set the bar higher than before for all future YOKKAO events to live up to.

YOKKAO 27

The action escalated quickly with the second bout when Joe Craven finished off the fight fast and furious with a round 1 TKO over Matthew Crozier. Spencer Brown and Stewart Pringle turned the action one notch up with 5 rounds of explosive back and forth battling that saw Spencer taking home the win by points.

FIGHT OF THE NIGHT

The first few matches paved the way for Superlek Kiatmoo9 vs Christopher Shaw in what many consider to be the fight of the night. Superlek showed the audience at Bolton why he is one of the best in Thailand, and possibly in the world of Muay Thai today. He came out strong in the fight with a series of strong teeps and low kicks, then cutting Shaw deep above his right eye in the very first round. Shaw remained unfazed despite wearing a bloodied look throughout the entire 5 rounds, but Superlek’s dominance was apparent and brought home a win via unanimous decision for his UK debut.

YOKKAO WORLD TITLE -65KG For the main event, Liam Harrison faced a young, iron fist opponent in Kevin Burmester who unleashed a flurry of powerful punches from the get-go. The fight took a quick turn in round 2 when Harrison’s tree-chopping leg kicks left Burmester buckling and crumpling to the canvas. Burmester attempted to continue the fight but another leg kick from Harrison was all it took to convince that the fight was all over. A TKO win via referee stoppage for the Hitman. Harrison proved yet again why he’s still at the top of the game, retaining the YOKKAO World Champion -65 kg title once more.

YOKKAO 28

Scotland's Chris Shaw kicked off the second half of the double event with the first full-fledged KO of the afternoon. Meanwhile, rising female star Amy Pirnie added another win to her fight record in the only female bout of the event by beating Swedish fighter Josefine Lindgren Knutsson via points.

KO OF THE NIGHT

In another highly anticipated match up, Rungarai Kiatmoo9 made a less eventful UK debut in his fight against Daniel McGowan. The 2 young fighters came out strong and evenly matched, looking to be a fight that would likely go to the judges. However, McGowan put on the pressure in the third round and shocked the crowd with a powerful left hook that dropped Rungnarai instantly and out for the full 8 counts. The crowd went wild for McGowan’s stunning KO win, emotions ran high throughout the stadium were almost on par with the fighter’s victorious euphoria.

YOKKAO WORLD TITLE -70kg

The other headlining event of the matinee featured Jordan Watson in his title defense against Thai elite fighter, Pongsiri PKSaenchai. Watson followed up his Bad Company team mate’s Liam Harrison win with a KO victory over Pongsiri. It was a climatic end for everyone at the Macron Stadium when Watson delivered a head kick KO in round 2. This was by no means an easy feat as Pongsiri is a former Lumpinee Stadium welterweight champion, fighting at the highest level of the sport.

YOKKAO fight promotion is not just the best Muay Thai event in UK that pits local fighters against each other, but puts them to the test against the very best fighters from Thailand and around the world As another event concludes successfully yet again, YOKKAO is already planning for even bigger things to come. Look out for not only the next show in March but also the YOKKAO Next Generation Kids event that will be held on November 26th with a new established trio of promoters: Stefania Picelli, Brian Calder and Peter Spensley.  Meanwhile, stay connected with YOKKAO and look out for the HD videos of the event that will be uploaded soon.