Chase Inglalls vs Karim Pahalloo at the Pinnacle Hotel

Last week the reports came out that the City Council of North Vancouver voted to disband the North Vancouver Athletic commission after a year-long trial. Reports have already been published in blogs elsewhere, that North Vancouver City has disbanded the City’s Athletic Commission. Seems that fans of MMA and Martial Arts everywhere still have a lot of work to do off the mat to gain acceptance by both the public and politicos. Counsellor Pam Bookham has expressed her horror after channel surfing and landing upon UFC, calling it ‘… repugnant… barbaric’. Its a pity she feels that way. Brookham has probably never met and talked to a fighter, or a sensei from any of the martial arts gyms in North Van, in whom parents entrust their children to act as good role models, or for that matter ever attended the Tiger Balm Internationals to see the great depth and diversity there is for martial arts in her community…. the one she was elected to represent.

It is likely that the City’s inability to host a pro fight event was little more than filibustering against something they didn’t ‘get’, and didn’t really want to have in their city in the first place.

The existence of the Athletic Commission was made to sanction professional fights in the City, be it for Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, or MMA. The year long existence of the commission was indeed stillborn, having never sanctioned a single pro fight during its short life. Apparently, the City was too preoccupied with the work of sorting out old rules and creating new ones. It is likely that the City’s inability to host a pro fight event was little more than filibustering against something they didn’t ‘get’, and didn’t really want to have in their city in the first place.

The fracas at the end of the night at the Pinnacle probably had very little to do with the decision to kill the commission. In fact such events, being total amateur cards, will be able to continue since there are no pro fights on the card. And as I suggested in my review of the Pinnacle night, with greater support for the work of referees and administration (with something like an athletic commission), such situations will be mitigated so much more easily in the future.

Actually, its pretty repugnant when a politician makes no effort to understand her community and her world beyond what she sees channel surfing. So it will likely only make it a little bit longer, a little bit more effort working together to teach the general public and government officials that we really want MMA and martial arts fighting in our city and province. Pam Brookham is also completely naive when she says that the fighting is ‘barbaric’. Barbaric is something ring and tournament fights can never be, because between fighters there is no real malice, unlike conflict elsewhere in greater society. No Pam, fighters love what they do. For heaven’s sake, most fighters stay in touch over Facebook, pretty much like anyone else, and martial arts programs makes people fit, strong, and responsible.

Links to articles:

CagePotato.com: City of North Vancouver Disbands Athletic Commission, Effectively Blocking MMA Sanctioning by the City.

North Shore News: City of North Vancouver KO’s athletic commission.

Got some fight news for the fight blog. Fight night is coming soon to Victoria BC. Summer Slugfest is back for its fourth year of fights on August 21.

Summer Slugfest IV Victoria

August 21 – Velox Rugby Club
3957 Gordon Head Rd, V8N3X2
Victoria, BC, Canada.
Google Maps Link

Facebook Event Page

Please note, last year, the event was held at Western Speedway, this year, the Velox Rugby Club, near University of Victoria.

Tickets Available at:

Club Phoenix - 2122A Government Street (250) 920-0300
Sports Traders – 508 Discovery Street, (250) 383-6443
Canada’s Best Karate – 777 Goldstream Ave (250) 590-6019
Peterec’s Gym – 831 Fisgard St, (250) 389-6166

Fighters interested in participating on this card, please contact Stan Peterec at (250) 389-6166.

Wanna be a CARD GIRL? Slugfest is Hiring (Link).

Here is a video of highlights from last year:

Update: Blake won by TKO with a Spinning Back Kick, in 2nd round. I understand Bebe Elzer backed out for personal reasons but brought one of his best guys from his gym. More info as I get it.

I am adding this alternate poster to my fight blog from my former Sensei, Blake Lirette. He posted this message recently on his FaceBook page. This should be a great matchup.  I know Blake as a great martial arts instructor and a super hard and tough guy to spar with. He is an incredible fighter to watch. Osu!

Check it out fight fans: I’m fighting in a Muay Thai match this Saturday in the Abbotsford sports arena. I will be fighting a guy from Sanfrancisco who has some recent titles…so should be a good one; however I can’t promise that I won’t knock him into outter space! Tix are $50 for …reserve seating and I still have one VIP table next to the ring available -$750 for table of 10. Proceeds go to help Joshua Ismirioglu a young boy with Cancer. You can get the tickets at Tactix gym downtown 1449 Hornby st. Vancouver. 604-719-7745 -c u der!

Join Blake ‘The Blade’ Lirette’s Fan Page on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/blakethebladelirette.
OR text ‘Like Blake The Blade Lirette” 32665.

Gerry Gionco Presents a night of World Championship as a fundraiser for Joshua Ismiroglu in support of his fight against cancer. Featured on the card is my former Sensei Blake Lirette former Kickboxing world champion and a great martial arts instructor, and Gerry Gionco is also to come out of retirement for one more fight.  For more info, visit http://www.gerrygionco.com/ .

Fight fans and fight bloggers alike enjoyed a truncated fight card for MMA at the Rock 2 at River Rock Casino on July 9 2010.

Cam Delorme of RDC Jiu Jitsu Kelowna went against Cole Tilbury of Independent in Richmond for an MMA featherweight fight. Delorme won by rear naked choke and tapout at 1:22 of the 1^st round. Delorme dominated, had Tilbury early with a body slam. To his credit, Tilbury put up a good resistance but was in the weaker position. Delorme got the choke in tight after a couple tries and got the tap.

The second fight was a middleweight Muay Thai fight in the MMA cage, with Bronson Petterson of Comox Valley Boxing Club against Shawn Hunt of Team Havok in Kelowna. Petterson was hot from beginning to end and showed as a hard hitting, accurate fighter. Shawn Hunt did not recover from second knock down at the end of round 2 and was beaten by Petersen’s accurate, hard strikes. Talking with Bronson after the fight, he told me he was mostly a wrestler and took the fight only a couple of days prior to the fight.

Tricky Nick Marinos from Team Denarius of North Van won his fight against James Lepage of Tong Moo Doo in Richmond with an imperfect but harsh arm crank at about 1:30 of the 1st round. Marinos was first to shoot, kept control of Lepage despite slipping in and out of guard and half guard, kept passing and pushed back until the pass stuck.

Lindsay Ball of Peteric’s in Victoria ran the pace of the first round against Heidi Otterbein of Revolution in Port Moody in their featherweight Muay Thai fight, getting an initial knockdown by leg trap. Otterbein must have listened to something her coach said to her in the corner after round 1, because she came out aggressive and focused and was a far better opponent in round 2. Otterbein went on to get two leg trap knockdowns, laid in knees, and faced down Lindsay Ball through the round. Otterbein got two more knockdowns in round three and clinched the judges decision in her favor.

Jason Keller of Karma Fight Team in Surrey got the upper position after the standup clinch struggle in the first round of the welterweight MMA match against Chad Gerow. Gerow defended well from guard. Round 2 was looser and a stand up striking game until Keller could clinch and use knees, Keller again clinched and took Gerow down but Gerow defended even better against Keller than he did in the first round. Despite being on top, Keller looked gassed. The referee would eventually stand them up to keep the action going. The second round ended with Gerow in guard as it did in the first. In the third round, Chad Gerow dealt with Keller’s takedowns, slipping out of an arm triangle attempt, and managed to reverse his ground position and pounded him out with a mount triangle until referee stoppage. A considerable win since Jason Keller had dominated the first two rounds decisively.

For the main event of the evening, Cheryl Chan of Mendoza Martial Arts in Surrey looked like serious competition for Sarah Mcleod of Team Denarius. Chan displayed wicked spinning back kicks and hook kicks in standup game and used that to her advantage in the fight. Sarah Mcleod managed to reverse Chan’s takedown attempt to be on top at the end of the first. After more boxing and kicking in round 2, Chan delivered a side kick in that put Sarah down for a moment and forced another ground match. More standup action and kicks by Chan in the third was followed by ground fighting and defending from guard by Chan who took a beating and after several valiant attempts fought her way back up from the ground the hard way. The match was called by the referee when Cheryl Chan was able to reverse the struggle on the ground to her favor and then held Marshall in a fully extended arm bar from which she didnt want to tap. Frustrated with the loss, team Denarius did not stay in the cage for the final decision.

Update on Lance's Belly Scar

Cheryl Chan of Mendoza Martial Arts

Full photo set on Flickr.com: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superwebdeveloper/sets/72157624337464419/

News for the fight blog: Vancouver City Council has fired Mirko Mladenovic, the head of the Vancouver Athletic Commission, who had worked to bring UFC to Vancouver, reported the Vancouver Sun today ( http://communities.canada.com/VANCOUVERSUN/blogs/civiclee/archive/2010/07/09/ex-athletic-commissioner-ufc-lover-made-no-friends-at-city-hall.aspx ).  In general, the actions of City Council only indicate that there are still a lot of naysayers about MMA in positions of control in Vancouver City Hall, and its a sport that is still deeply misunderstood by these people. They may not like MMA, but if the sport is given greater legitimacy, it will only improve the quality of fight events in Vancouver and British Columbia.

In the first fight of the night in the ballroom at the Pinnacle Hotel in North Vancouver, Leemar Halim of Total Kombat Academy went against Vik Johal from the Lion’s Den for a full 3 rounds of kickboxing. The first found was fast paced and the next were more paced. In a fight with flying mouthguards and high kicks, the judges scored it close enough (28-28, 28-28, 29-27) to be declared a draw. Halim was the more composed fighter of the two 135 pounders it seemed.

A very impressive mma match featured lightweight Daniel Waterfall of Team Aikki in Chilliwack who is coached by Sean O’Halleran, a very good Jiu-Jitsu coach. He was against Mason Fehr from FAIRN Ultimate Fighting in Burnaby. Waterfall won convincingly by ref stoppage 1^st round TKO at 2:29.  Waterfall went for shoot right away, dominated, pushed into the corner, was still kicking after fighters were brought up, kept pressure on until the end where he could mount and pummel.

Joe Halfar from Posener’s and Houtan Ali Koshani KB-ONE were in a 155lb Muay Thai match in the third fight. This evenly matched fight went the distance but Joe showed he was winning it mentally with a front kick knock down in the dying seconds of round 2. The judges, however, had trouble with their decision and finally settled on a split decision for Joe.

Aaron Shin of Revolution Fight Team Langley, was set against Sparky Makrenko Wuji Systems for a lightweight MMA fight. Shin would win by TKO in the first round by way of a solid knee strike, having already delivered several strikes that way, lots of boxing and scrambles to the ground and back to their feet.

Brandon Babet of TeamHavok from Kelowna, BC was paired up wi th Brian Rudd of ITK in North Van for a 165lb  Kickboxing match. By end of round 2 you could see that Rudd was gassed and from then on, Babet struck at will and achieved a knock down in round 3 with a combination spinning back kick. Soon after, the ref called the fight.

Carlson Gracie MMA would dominate the next two fights. In the lightweight class, Olivier Vajda took on Adam Saad of Team Aikki wth a quick superior attack that enabled a end by guillotine at 58 seconds of the first round.

Bryce Gougeon of the same team was up against Rami Kadi of Wolf’s den for a welterweight MMA match. Kadi looked disappointed with his loss by TKO in the first round. Gougeon took control, was agressive, and had several flurries of striking on the ground to cause the referee to intervene and call and end to the fight.

190 pounders Nygel Yargeau of Pure Self Defence in Campbell River and Mathew Vogleri of Total Kombat Academy in New Westminster squared off for a kickboxing fight. Yargeau was a totally solid and fluid fighter and delivered some stunning blows body shots in a mostly boxing fight. Volgeri turned his back too often and knew he was outclassed in the ring and wisely threw in the towel after round 2.

A first round ground and pound TKO was how the middleweight MMA fight between Dave Ferguson from Revolution Fight Team and Jacob Tournour would end up. Ferguson was persistent, kept attempting takedowns off the top. Tournour was able to get back to his feet, but eventually something worked and Ferguson put a quick end to the fight by referee stoppage.

Two heavyweight guys weighing in at around 260 lbs would face off for a kickboxing match. Clay Berg of Comox Valley MMA would win by unanimous judges decision against Curtis Baker of Wolf’s Den. Despite Baker rallying in the third, it would not be enough to even out the judges score at the end.

Chase Ingalls of Pure Self Defence in Campbell River, BC was matched against an impressively trim and fit Karim Pahalloo Lion’s Den for a 165 lb Muay Thai match. The judges handed Chase Ingalls a unanimous decision in well matched fight Ingalls was very effective at pre-empting Pahaloo’s attacks, and appeared better at fighting at multiple levels.

The main event put up Adam Santos of Morganti Ju-Jitsu (Team Narita) from Richmond against Team Denarius fighter Neil Menard for a heavyweight MMA fight. Menard was a late substitution for Clayton Smith from Edmonton who could not make the fight. Menard went down early and was in trouble on the ground. But what happened next depended on one’s point of view. At about the first minute of the first round, Referee Jason Williamson had to make the call about stopping the fight. Menard was on the ground while Santos was in the process of passing guard and mounting to finish. But Neil Menard, the figher on the ground, wasnt ready to give in. When Williamson jumped in between the fighters to stop the match, Menard then tried to push the referee off to continue defending. But by that moment the fight had been called. Marcus Hicks, the coach in Menard’s corner was furious and indeed most people in the room were howling with disbelief. Reviews of the fight night by the Vancouver Sun, MMARingReport.com and others described the end a little differently, saying that Santos was still striking after the referee intervened. Apparently, both fighters didnt think the fight was over just yet. The media reports already published focused harshly on this unhappy ending to an otherwise decent amateur fight night. While there was a great ‘verbal tirade’ by Marcus Hicks and others, he did not immediately ‘storm the ring’ as was implied in reports, even though he did eventually step in. Hicks, team Narita, and everybody else calmed down afterwards outside the ballroom. Hicks submitted an apology for rushing the ring, his tirade, with other comments about the quality of the event later to the media.

However, that is how the fight got called and after a great deal of dissatisfaction between all the parties, the referee raised Santos’ hand in victory.

In the referee Williamson’s defence, stepping in between fighters to call a fight is probably the most difficult decision a MMA referee has to make. Williamson chose as any referee must, to intervene when a fighter is on the ground, is taking hits, is unable to return hits, and is unable to improve his position. But you dont have to be an MMA fan for very long to have seen a match preempted by the referee just a touch early, acting on legitimate concerns for safety. From the fighter’s point of view, it is probably the worst possible outcome when a referee calls it prematurely. But MMA has its quirks and everybody knows that. One of the things that could improve MMA the most is greater support for the referees in the ring. More referees could be added to the night to alternate between fights and more instruction could be provided to fighters and coaches beforehand to establish a solid understanding about how and why a fight is going to be called the way it is. What went down after the fight just proves again that the stuff that goes on outside the ring is tougher than what goes on in the fight.

Lance and Lisa from Comox Valley Boxing Club

MMA brothers Andy and Nick Marinos with their ladies

Victor Wang and the Card Girls

I am happy to report here on my fight blog that the promoters have finalized the fight card for Battle at the Pier, June 26th 2010 in North Vancouver. This is promising to be the biggest martial arts event ever held in North Van.