Natalie Bee claimed ISKA & IKF World Featherweight titles on Absolute Adrenaline “Most Wanted” in a comprehensive but bloody 12 round battle with legend Tracey Reno. At 39, Reno was the underdog but commanded full respect from the Kickboxing community, having dominated the lighter weight divisions for a number of years.

Bee started faster and more confidently than in her previous few outings but it was clear that Reno was prepared to travel the whole distance if required. Her style was relaxed yet vicious and Bee knew this one was going into the later rounds at least.
Bee’s previous 3 outings had all ended via the short route and by round 6 of this encounter she looked in control, fresh and ready to step up a gear. Reno on the other hand looked troubled and many thought the contest may end before the 8th. However, Reno rallied and clawed back rounds 7, 8 & 9 before Bee changed gears again.

This was mainly about the punch combinations with both girls off loading clusters of 5 and 6 before following through with the kicks, but it was Bee who had the upper hand. Coming out for the final round Reno needed the stoppage and went all out but Bee met her punch for punch creating a fitting climax to this thriller.

At the final bell the unanimous decision went to Bee who now becomes  a 3 time World Champion

Cairo , Egypt;  promoter Mohamed SOBIH , director  for ISKA NORTH AFRICA, made the Pyramides open tournament in nice Payramides view Hotel in Giza,  photos here

Fighters from 8 countries joint the event and showed very good performance. India female fighter Kaur DALEET was awarded as best technical fighter with a very nice medal.

During this event the fist African continental referee Seminar takes place in the Hotel. Chairman Mr.  Abdulrahmann EL RAYESS from Lebanon and Mr. Josef TEMML from Austria had 44 referees from eight countries and only 14 past the examination positive.

For the very first time in the history in Africa,  Mr. Sobih promoted two ISKA World titles. World Champion Thorsten SPRINGER / AUT  fought for the World title in Fullcontact – 78,1 Kg vs. the Egyptian Champion Ahmet IBRAHIM. In the 5th round the fight was over by KO, and new World Champion Ahmet IBRAHIM received the Belt from Mr. Ghoneim Saad.

Second World title was for the vacant female Oriental rules  – 60 Kg Anna KORCHAGINA / UKR vs.  Noura SWELEM / EGY.  After five rounds of a closed high class fight the Ukraine fighter Korchagina won by 2:1 split decision.

Trabzon, Turkey;  a big event with World title fight in Thai Boxing – 72,30 Kg, Mohamed GÜR / TUR  vs. Balgobin ALAJ / NED. After 5 rounds of a hard fight Gür won by points 3:0. This event was live televised by FOX TV. The last rumour said, Alviar LIMA want to challenge Gür for the title. One of the honourable guests was IBF Boxing Intercont Champion Aydin SELCUK.

Bahadir SARI beat Erhan DENIZ in a fight for Turkish Champion ship in OR + 96,50 Kg .

By this Gala ISKA EUROPE Vice president Davut SIDAL had a meeting with manager of FOX TV  Mr. Bilgehan DEMIR for future cooperation. Mr. Demir knows about the situation in Kickboxing in Turkey and world wide and we will known soon the results.

The next event in Turkey is scheduled in Gaziantep in October next month.

Lviv, Ukraine; on September 18th Promoter Viktor LAZURKO  made again a great event in the national Circus building in the centre of Lviv. Four TV stations broadcast the show, 10 international fights in oriental rules and MMA where on the fight card. Many photos here in the gallery.

In the mainfight  the Moroccan female top fighter Iman CHAIRI CHABALOU challenged the MMA European Champion Olena OVCHINIKOVA for the World title in OR -  56,40 Kg. Both girls are very strong fighter , technical as well as hard puncher. After five rounds of full action on both sides hometown girl Olena OVCHINIKOVA toke the belt.

Chairi Ghabalou was disappointed, because she thought she has done enough. And in fact the fight was very close, although the judges from Poland, Ukraine and Austria made a clear 3:0 decision. On all scorecards Ovchinikova won by just one more point.

In the second main fight Predrag LAZAREVIC from Octagon pro Gym in Vienna / Austria challenge Ukrainian Champion Yuriy RAK for the World title -84,60 in OR. This fight was also very fast and both fighters showed a good performance.

The Austrian Lazarevic was clever and landed some good lowkicks and punches, end of round three he was in front by points. Beginning round four Rak made a nice high kick and the referee counted the Austrian for the first time. Because of a bad injury on the right leg Lazaravic had no chance any more to kick or even to move but he did not want to give up. In the fifth round the referee stopped the fight correct and Yuriy RAK got the belt form the mayor of the City.

Because the Austrian team was not happy with this decision, everybody agreed soon a re-match in Vienna for the title.

Next event in Lviv is scheduled for November 7th and again in December 5th. News about on-line here

Wiener Neudorf, Austria;  Promoter Richard BAUMANN invited Ukrainian female Top fighter Olena KAZUNINA from Union Gym in Lviv for ISKA Intercontinental title fight – 54,50 Kg vs. the strong Egyptian Zeinab MAAMOUN from Sobih academy Cairo and African Champion.

Unfortunately Kazunina broke her right Hand few days before the fight and so Olga DENISENKO was the best replacement for her.

The fight starts after playing booth anthems and after 5 rounds of a closed female title fight the judges scored with 2:1 for Zeinab MAAMOUN.

Coach and ISKA EGYPT president Mr. Mohamed SOBIH was very happy about first Intercontinental title Champion for Egypt and ISKA AFRICA federation.

Belgium;   our new ISKA BELGIUM president Edvik ABDULAHI  post new web site in French language.  In few days he will finish this project , have a look if you speak French Mr. Abulahi promised to come to European Champion ship in Rome with a strong team of Belgium fighters, to challenge the European teams.

Another great night of Championship Kickboxing at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet, Essex. Sanctioned by the ISKA and promoted by Kickin Promotions. Topping the bill was Scott “To Hot” Gibson against local fighter Reece Rowell for the vacant ISKA British Light Heavyweight title over nine rounds.

Reece Rowell (Aveley KB) faced Scott Gibson (Sama, Brighton) over nine rounds of Full Contact Kickboxing action. The opening round was a close round, with both fighters showing their skills early and good movement around the ring. Round two both fighters landing with good hard shots to the body and head with good kick punch combinations. The third was the same as the previous rounds with both fighters trying to force the pace, a good even round. The fourth round started well for both fighters with good ring craft and Gibson landing a precise uppercut. Round five saw good boxing round for both fighters, with Gibson landing good head kicks and still trying to force the pace. The sixth was a good round for Gibson with nice kick punch combinations and Rowell countering at every chance. The seventh was even with both men picking up points the eight saw heavy exchanges, Gibson working the uppercut well

Final round saw great work from both fighters, both landing good head and body shots right to the final bell. The winner by a unanimous point’s decision and new ISKA British Light Heavyweight champion Scott “To Hot” Gibson.

Written by Steve Gosden

Photo’s boxingvids@aol.com

Reported by Marc Turbitt, Irish Daily Mirror.

In recent years mixed martial arts has taken root in Ireland, with clubs popping up all over the country making it easily accessible for newcomers to take up the discipline.

With so much interest and promising talent in the country it was only a matter of time before a fully sanctioned official event was organized to pit these fighters against each other under a world recognized governing body of the highly respected ISKA, the event being Clan Wars.

Clan Wars took place on Saturday August 8th 2009 at the Glenavon House Hotel, Cookstown, when Ireland seen its first fully sanctioned MMA event under the quality governance of the world’s most prestigious martial arts body the ISKA. Getting the ISKA on board was a priority for the organizers who want to promote Clan Wars as a professional, safely governed event and shake off any previous MMA stereotypes that were tagged by people who did not fully understand the safety and quality measures that are taken or the training and effort put in by the fighters.

It has been stated by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in a published report of over 1270 fights exposures in the period March 2002 to September 2007 that “Injury rates in regulated professional Mixed Martial Arts competition are similar to other combat sports; overall risk of critical sports related injury appear low” The emphasis must therefore remain on the word regulated. At all times control and supervision in accordance with the rules must be adhered to in order to maintain this fact.

Clan Wars aim is to help build MMA’s future in Ireland to show-case Irish talent and also to ensure quality events that will show that Ireland is catching up quickly with the rest of the world with shows that everyone can enjoy.

I spoke to Paul Mc Laughlin (One of Clan Wars Promoters and IFS.NI coaches)

“MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world and with help from a quality sanctioning body such as the ISKA will only help promote the sport in a positive light, provide high quality shows with the tightest regulations and strict medical health and safety policies. We have 3 doctors at cage-side along with 5 paramedics who are fully equipped with the latest medical equipment ensuring an extremely safe event for all the participants. One thing we HAVE to ensure is that the safety of participants is paramount and this aspect is our number one priority.”

This aspect of the event was exceedingly well planned with full coverage of risk assessments, Health and Safety Policies, Insurance cover and Pre/Post fights health checks. It showed an extremely high safety benchmark.

For a newly staged show I was impressed with the professionalism and attention to detail that the organizers had shown. From the strobe lighting effects, to seductive ring-girls, to the bellowing walk-in music the tone of the night was set as in-your-face sports entertainment at its best and it certainly carried it out. But glitz and glamour aside, this night would have been meaningless without the fighters.

With nine local clubs showcasing their best talent at Clan Wars it was exciting to see promising, well-trained professional athletes get in the cage and put everything they had learned in the long gruelling months spent in training into action.

With 14 fights in total over the course of the night ranging from D class to C class, the variety of different disciplines was a credit to Irish martial arts. The fights themselves where very well matched as a lot of them went to the judges’ decision, which is rare for MMA events of this size.

The fight of the night was the battle between James Gallagher from Revolution BJJ at Queens Uni and Andy Young from Frames Tia Jutsu. This was a classic striker versus grappler fight which was a war to the end with both fighters giving it their all. The fight went to the judges and James Gallagher was declared the victor. This would be an excellent rematch to see from what promises to be two great prospects for Irish MMA.

Submission of the night went to Joe Fry from Israeli Fighting Systems Northern Ireland with a lightning fast takedown and arm bar in 8 seconds against another of Irelands great up and coming fighters Andrew Falconer representing Juku Ryu Ju Jitsu in Larne. Well done to Joe for an impressive display of speed and technique. The crowd was obviously impressed as they erupted with massive applause and cheers for young Joe.

I have been to similar boxing and martial arts events in the past and I must say the quality of Clan Wars 2 totally went beyond any of my expectations regarding professionalism, quality, entertainment and regards for the safety of its competitors. It was excellently run and will definitely promote MMA in a more positive light in Ireland.

I can not wait for Clan Wars 3 in Feb 2010 which will be held at a much larger event I am told and see the first fully sanctioned Pro fights with fighters competing from all over Ireland and England; hype for this has already begun with a large crowd expected from all over Ireland after the success of Clan Wars 2.

International Bregenz Open in Austria on November 28th is traditional the last huge tournament in the Year. Many disciplines in Ringsports and Semi contact are on the schedule.  Last Year Promoter Duo Harald FOLLADORI  & Daniela KLOPFER  had 300 fighters and a lot of kids. This Year Bregenz Open is again first Qualification tournament for the ISKA World Champion ship in Almeria / Spain 2010. Hope to see you in Bregenz.