You could say the luck of the Irish gave 蜜桃视频appmixed martial arts fighters a hattrick.
During Battlefield Fight League 54, on March 17, Saint Patrick鈥檚 Day, three 蜜桃视频appathletes managed to capture victory.
Cole Smith defended his championship bantamweight title via unanimous decision; Jamey-Lyn Horth won her debut professional MMA match via TKO and Indroop Virk took the win during his first amateur MMA fight via submission.
Immediately before the fight, Smith appeared to take a more casual approach to preparing for the ring.
In the hours before the match, instead of following the general fighters鈥� narrative of ruminating in the locker room for hours, Smith was hanging out in the mall with his girlfriend.
Maybe three fights before his event, he got the callto come back and start warming up at the event venue, which was the Hard Rock Casino in Coquitlam.
鈥淚鈥檓 calm as can be,鈥� recalled Smith, who can now boast a 5-0-0 undefeated professional record. 鈥淚鈥檓 the champ.鈥�
As the 28-year-old entered the ring, a wave of cheers echoed from a big 蜜桃视频appentourage.
His relaxed approach, however didn鈥檛 take anything away from his performance.
Right off the bat in the first round, Smith rammed his opponent, Carlos Galvan, against the cage and kept him there while he threw a steady stream of knees to the body.
There were moments when Galvan was able to break free and counter with flurries of punches and kicks, but each time, Smith was able to close the gap and turn the fight into a grappling match.
It was illustrative of Smith鈥檚 strategy for taking on Galvan, whose strength tends to lean towards standing up and striking his opponent.
鈥淚鈥檝e had a game plan the whole time, and I executed my game plan from the first minute to the 25th minute,鈥� said Smith. 鈥淭he game plan went to an exact tee. He鈥檚 a striker 鈥斅營鈥檓 a great striker, he鈥檚 a good striker, but I鈥檓 good everywhere, so I wanted to take him down and wrestle him.鈥�
Just about everything went exactly as intended, he said, save for the fact that he didn鈥檛 get to choke out Galvan.
鈥淚 did steamroll him,鈥� said Smith. 鈥淗e didn鈥檛 win one minute of that fight.鈥�
Smith said probably the hardest part leading up to the match was cutting weight, as he had to lose 15 pounds in less than 24 hours in order to make his target of about 135 pounds.
鈥淚t鈥檚 tough to put in words,鈥� he said. 鈥淲inning after training for so many months and dieting and putting your body through the terrible stress of cutting weight. Finally getting your hand raised after all this bull鈥︹��
Smith also added that he wanted to thank everyone from 蜜桃视频appwho supports the town鈥檚 fight scene.
鈥淚鈥檓 proud of all my sons,鈥� said Cole鈥檚 mom, Brenda Smith.
For his brother and coach, the win wasn鈥檛 a surprise at all.
鈥淲e kind of expect that 鈥� we work,鈥� said Kasey. 鈥淲e expect to win, we hold ourselves at a high accountability, and you know, it鈥檚 the result that we thought we were going to have.鈥�
Kasey was also a key figure in developing the strategies not only for Cole, but for the other two 蜜桃视频appfighters who fought in the same BFL tournament that day, all of whom fight out of The Sound Martial Arts.
Much of Kasey鈥檚 time was spent poring over tape and analyzing the best way to approach each opponent.
Kasey鈥檚 methods appeared to also work well for Jamey-Lyn Horth, who defeated Coralie Dixon via TKO after a flurry of strikes in the second round of her fight.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really exciting for me, I鈥檝e never been more excited about a win in a really long time,鈥� said Horth, who fought at 125 pounds in the flyweight division. 鈥淢ainly because it was my debut, but my first TKO as well鈥�.What more to start my pro debut than with a bang.鈥�
There was also another first.聽Horth had never been taken down to the floor in amateur tournament fights 鈥� so being taken down in her first professional fight was something of an initiation.
However, it ended up being one of Horth鈥檚 鈥渃lick moments鈥� during the fight.
As Dixon鈥檚 opponent grappled her to the floor, Horth said she heard Jeremy Kennedy 鈥� a UFC fighter who was sitting ringside in the audience 鈥斅燾all out some pointers on how to get off the ground.
鈥淗e leaned in and it was almost like a little person on my shoulder whispering, 鈥楯amey get your leg to the cage, get the underhook and get up,鈥欌�� said Horth. 鈥淚t was like a lightbulb went off.鈥�
Horth recovered and pressed the fight against Dixon.
There was another key moment during the match.
During the second round, Horth threw a kick, which was caught by her opponent. But what should鈥檝e been a vulnerable moment for the 27-year-old turned into fuel for the fight.
鈥淚t turned up a gear for me 鈥� I was like, 鈥榊eah, right, this is not happening.鈥欌�� said Horth. 鈥淎ll of sudden I was on her. It was a flurry...I was like a tiger.鈥�
Horth launched into a combination attack against the opposing fighter.
Throughout the match, Horth pursued a stand-and-fight approach while using sprawls to neutralize her opponent鈥檚 takedown attempts. Dixon is an accomplished wrestler, so Horth鈥檚 approach was to turn the fight into a striking game.
And it worked.
鈥淚 could see it in her eyes,鈥� said Horth. 鈥淪he was hurt like a wounded animal.鈥�
The rest is history.
鈥淚 just want everybody to smile,鈥� said Horth, reflecting on why she fights. 鈥淚 want to put on a show and I want [the community] to have the win more than I do because their support is what fuels my fire.鈥�
She added that she wanted to express her gratitude to everyone in town.
鈥淚 want to give thanks to everyone who鈥檚 been part of my journey,鈥� she said.
The other big local winner at BFL 54 was Indroop Virk, who defeated Neil Sanpedro via a rear-naked choke on the third round.
This match was the 19-year-old鈥檚 first foray into the MMA scene. Previously, Virk competed as a muay thai kickboxer.
He said that he hopes to take a BFL belt before his 20th birthday on October this year, and so far, this win seems like a good way to get started.
The lead-up to the fight was a bit of a nerve-wracking endeavour for the 130-pound fighter.
鈥淭o be honest, going to the casino when I was warming up downstairs, I was just feeling super anxious to fight,鈥� said Virk. 鈥淚 know half of 蜜桃视频appis there with Cole and Jamey fighting, there are so many people from 蜜桃视频app鈥斅爐hat definitely got to me a little bit.鈥�
A lot was on Virk鈥檚 mind. He鈥檚 been dreaming of entering a serious MMA league since he was 15 years old, and he has credited the sport with turning his life around.
Prior to his involvement in combat sports, he had been prone to getting himself in trouble. At one point he found himself expelled from Don Ross Middle School.
But the emotional significance of the event didn鈥檛 prevent Virk from doing what needed to be done.
鈥淎s soon as the bell rings, all the anxiety鈥檚 just gone,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just did my thing and basically just dominated all three rounds up until the choke.鈥�
In the first 10 seconds, Sanpedro managed to get several punches on Virk.
However, it didn鈥檛 phase the 蜜桃视频appfighter.
鈥淚 just walked right through it and just picked him up and slammed him,鈥� he said.
After that, Virk was able to press a steady offensive until he submitted his adversary.
鈥淎t the end of the day, my parents are just happy that I鈥檓 been doing this instead of trying to be a gangster or whatever since I was 14,鈥� he said.
Instead, Virk said he鈥檚 taking what would seem to be the opposite path. He鈥檚 a criminology student at Douglas College who鈥檚 hoping to graduate in about a year.
鈥淚 remember my mom coming up to me after the fight, and she told me she was super nervous until I got the win,鈥� he said.
