Thursday, May 1, 2008

Evgeniy Khil - New Muay Thai World Champion

HIGHLAND, CA. – Evgeniy Khil defeated former Lumpini Stadium Champion, Samart “Neungsiam” Samphusri, at the San Manuel Hotel and Casino to capture the IMTC Super Featherweight World Title.

Neungsiam and Khil put on easily the most competitive and entertaining fights of the night, battering each other with stinging kicks and crisp punching. After five rounds, two out of the three judges had the bout scored in favor of Khil, giving him a split decision victory and the IMTC Super Featherweight World Title. Khil improves his unblemished professional Muay Thai record to 12-0-0. The IMTC World Title is Khil’s second major muay thai title, coming just 9 months after capturing the WBC Muay Thai International Super Featherweight Championship in September of 2007.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Khil to fight for Muay Thai World Title

Two-time world kickboxing champion and current WBC International Muay Thai Champion, Evgeniy Khil, will be looking to add to his collection of championship hardware when competes for the 130 lbs. IMTC Muay Thai World Title at the San Manuel Casino on May 1, 2008.

Thrusday, November 29, 2007

Grachev takes out Schilling in 30 Seconds

HIGHLAND, CA. – Grachev needed only 30 seconds to collect his second Muay Thai title of 2007 by knocking out Joe Schilling for the IKKC USA Muay Thai Super Middleweight Belt at the San Manuel Indian Casino.

Schilling opened the action with a leg kick that slightly grazed Grachev. The second leg kick thrown was dodged completely by Grachev who quickly countered with a spinning back kick liver shot, that sent Schilling to the canvas and ended the bout at 0:30 of the 1st round. The win improves Grachev's professional muay thai record to 17-2-0, (7KOs).

Grachev's remains undefeated for 2007 in Boxing, MMA, & Muay Thai.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

K.J. Noons crowned EliteXC champ

by Damon Martin,
MMA Weekly

EliteXC crowned its new 160-pound champion on Saturday night as boxerturned mixed martial artist K.J. Noons picked up the biggest win ofhis professional career. He stopped Nick Diaz, getting a TKO bydoctor's stoppage due to cuts.

Many wondered going into the bout if the Cesar Gracie trained Diazwould stand with the professional boxer, but early on is was clearthat he wanted to put the fight on the ground and use his superiorjiu-jitsu skills.

What Diaz encountered was a tremendous takedown defense from Noons whostuffed him at every turn and used body punches to punish himthroughout the round.

After a few exchanges it was clear that Noons was the more technical striker, landing power shots to his opponent, one of which opened a huge gash just above Diaz's right eye.

The fight was allowed to continue, but later in the round Noons would then land a knee that opened another cut over his opponent's left eye.

In between rounds doctors examined Diaz and it was determined that he could not continue and Noons was crowned the EliteXC 160-pound champion.

While the live crowd in attendance didn't seem pleased with the stoppage, Noons punished Diaz throughout the round and dominated until it was stopped.

"I was ready for a war, but he got cut unfortunately and they had to stop it," said Noons in his post fight interview. "But I trained real hard and I was ready to go five rounds, so it was good."

Diaz left the ring in disgust, walking to the back without congratulating his opponent and using obscene gestures along the way, showing little class in defeat.

Noons celebrated in the cage as EliteXC presented him with the belt and proclaimed that Nick Diaz was the best in the world.

"I'm number one now baby," said Noons after defeating Diaz.

In other action, Internet legend Kimbo Slice made his professional debut in devastating fashion, finishing journeyman fighter Bo Cantrellin just 19 seconds.

After stalking him across the cage, Kimbo (real name Kevin Ferguson) unloaded a solid combination that clipped Cantrell.

He followed with a heavy elbow and forearm strike that seemed to slam into the back of Cantrell's ear and he dropped to the canvas tapping out immediately.

"I wanted to show what all this hard work and sacrifice was for," saida victorious Kimbo.

And as for who the YouTube sensation turned EliteXC superstar might stack up against next?

"What's next is whoever's next," Kimbo stated. "Real talk."

Jake Shields, who just signed a long-term extension with EliteXC, proved just why he is considered to be one of the best 170-pound fighters in the world by dominating Xtreme Couture fighter Mike Pyle, finishing him with a rear naked choke in the first round.

A brief exchange opened the bout, but Shields quickly took the fight to the ground and started to work for a better position. After gaining the mount, Shields took Pyle's back and soon locked on the fight-ending choke.

The bout was originally slated to be for the EliteXC welterweight title, but Pyle declined a championship bout, something Shields was none too happy about.

"I'm furious," said Shields about the fight not being for a title. "I deserve this belt. This is my cage. I'm beating up anyone in it."

Kyle Noke made the long trip from Australia to make his EliteXC debutand was impressive in a win over Seth Kleinbeck, who just recently signed a long-term deal with the organization.

Noke used a crisp jiu-jitsu game on the ground to negate Kleinbeck's offense. Eventually, back on the feet, the Australian landed some solid shots, one of which opened a huge cut over his opponent's eye.

The gash was extremely wide and deep and doctors had no choice but tostop the fight. Noke, who now trains with Greg Jackson in New Mexico, picked up a win in his EliteXC debut.

In the opening bout of the Showtime portion of the card, Antonio Silva returned to action and dominated Jonathan Wiezorek en route to a submission by rear naked choke in the first round.

Full Results (including prelims not televised)

-KJ Noons def. Nick Diaz by TKO (Cuts) at 5:00, R1
-Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson def. Bo Cantrell by TKO at 0:19, R1
-Jake Shields def. Mike Pyle by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:39, R1
-Kyle Noke def. Seth Kleinbeck by TKO (Cut) at 4:22, R2
-Antonio Silva def. Jonathan Wiezorek by Submission (Rear Naked Choke)at 3:12, R1
-Geoff Bumstead def. Robert Ruiz by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 1:30, R1
-Yves Edwards def. Nick Gonzalez by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 3:05, R1
-Matt Lucas def. Jon Kirk by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x 3), R3
-Brett Rogers def. Ralph Kelly by Submission (Strikes) at 1:43, R1
-Jae Suk Lim def. Daniel Pineda by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:42, R1

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Diaz Loses in High Noons Shootout

by Sherdog.com Staff

Nick Diaz (Pictures) has no problem fighting bloodied. Yet KJ Noons beat Diaz so badly Saturday night in Corpus Christi, Texas, that the popular Californian didn't get a chance.

Noons (6-2) started the EliteXC lightweight title fight, the first at 160 pounds for the Showtime-supported MMA organization, with a stinging straight punch to the body. The 24-year-old striker from San Diego, whom few gave a chance of winning, continued landing to the body in the bout's first two minutes, and it was clear that Noons is on a different level with his hands.

Diaz felt a swift counter knee to a double-leg, opening an ugly cut under the Stockton, Calif., fighter's right eye eyebrow.

Bothered by blood flowing down into his eye, Diaz was floored with a right hook, resulting in another cut, this time over his left eye.

Diaz tried to rally, opening up with his hands and landing a few shots as blood streamed into both eyes.

Between rounds, the ringside physician called a stop to the contest after determining Diaz could not see well enough to defend himeslf.

The hot-tempered Diaz, now 15-7-0, stormed out of cage with both middle fingers raised.

The evening's co-feature inside the American Bank Center brought Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson to professional mixed martial arts. The famed Internet street brawler out of Miami didn't need much time to get his first win.

Rushing across the cage, Slice went after Bo Cantrell (Pictures) (10-11), who threw a spinning back fist that missed to kickoff the action.

Slice (1-0) bullied Cantrell, of Citrus Heights, Calif., into the cage before connecting with a short uppercut to the body followed by a glancing right hand. Cantrell went down tapping, asking the referee for help just 19 seconds after the opening bell.

In other action, welterweight Jake Shields (Pictures), of San Francisco, Calif., upped his winning streak to nine by submitting Mike Pyle (Pictures), of Las Vegas, Nevada, with a rear-naked choke at 3:39 of the first.

Friday, November 09, 2007

KJ Noons has nothing to lose against Diaz

by Matt Hill
MMAWeekly.com

California native KJ Noons will step into the EliteXC cage Saturday to face his toughest opponent to date, fellow Californian Nick Diaz. The contest will be a title fight held at a catch weight of 160 pounds, a weight that both fighters seem to be better suited for.

Noons will be in for the fight of his life when he enters the cage with Diaz, a mixed martial artist and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu wizard who has 22 professional fights to his name. Diaz has been in the cage with some of the best competition the sport has to offer. Robbie Lawler, Sean Sherk, Diego Sanchez, Karo Parisyan and Takanori Gomi are but a few of his previous opponents.

Noons may only have seven professional MMA fights under his belt, but he knows that this could be his opportunity of a lifetime and he needs to perform well. He is looking forward to the chance he has to defeat a well-known fighter and to really make a name for himself among MMA fans.

"I'm just super excited to be fighting a guy of that caliber, you know what I mean? It's going to be a great fight. You won't be disappointed," Noons said.

He is a good-sized lightweight, and not having to cut those extra few pounds is something that the young fighter has been looking forward to.

"Oh man, I love it. 155 [pounds] is so hard for me to cut to. I walk around probably at about 175. That last Showtime fight I had, I basically didn't eat for a day or two. It was just so grueling."

Noons continued, "You really don't know how much you lose as far as stamina in the ring from not eating and not drinking and cutting weight and all that stuff the week before the fight, so I'm pretty happy. I'm actually eating a good meal right now."

When asked how he likes the catch class of 160 pounds, he said, "I think it just opens more doors, more opportunities for fighters I'd love to stay at 160 for the MMA and eventually in the future move down to 155 for the boxing."

There is no doubt that Noons is facing a talented ground fighter in this contest. Diaz has trained with Cesar Gracie for years and has held his own with and even submitted some of the games? most proficient ground technicians.

Is Noons worried about the possibility of a quick takedown and an ensuing ground war against Diaz?

If he is uneasy at the notion, he certainly doesn?t let on about it. In a recent interview with MMAWeekly Radio, he broke down his own ground game in addition to commenting on what game plan he believes Diaz will bring into this fight.

Of his ground game, Noons said, "It's something I'm always focused on. Just because I haven't submitted anybody or you haven't seen a lot of it, that's because I choose not to do it. I want to stand and fight. That's something definitely that people want to see. If you're going to do jiu-jitsu in MMA, progress and try to submit or get to a good position and try to finish. It's not laying on the ground."

Many people assume that this match up can be easily categorized as striker vs. grappler, but Noons sees something a bit different when he analyzes this fight.

"Of course, standing is what I want to do, but like I've said before, he's stood with guys a lot bigger than me, Lawler, Gomi. He's stood with a lot of guys toe-to-toe and everybody keeps on saying 'he's going to take you down, he's going to take you down,' and I think he's going to stand to tell you the truth."

He continued, "I think a lot of people underrate his stand-up. I've watched his tapes and I think he has good stand-up."

Diaz's name recognition among fans from his battles both in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride leads some to believe that he will walk through Noons with little resistance. Much like Randy Couture, though, Noons enjoys being the underdog so much to gain with so little to lose.

He said, "I think I'm coming in as the big underdog I like it. I figure nobody knows me, everybody knows him. He's the top dog. I've got everything to gain, he's got everything to lose."

The big question for KJ is, "How is the fight going to go down Saturday night?"

"I see myself and I've seen it over the past eight weeks a billion times with my hand being raised at the end of this fight."

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Local boxer/kick boxer is also very cagey

By Jerry Magee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Mixed martial arts suits K.J. Noons. No one involved in combat hasambitions as mixed as his.

A boxer and a kick boxer as well as an MMA fighter, Noons, based atMark Dion's City Boxing gym in Pacific Beach, goes for a 160-poundchampionship in the Elite XC phase of MMA in Corpus Christi, Texas,Saturday. He is to do battle with Nick Diaz, a veteran fromSacramento. Showtime has the telecast.

Should his efforts in the cage and ring not work out, Noons, a TomCruise lookalike, has another option. "I can always fall back onmodeling," he said.

"That's the thing that is going to make this kid all his money," saidDion. "Very rarely do you find someone in this sport this goodlooking."

Should Noons win in Texas, Dion said the 24-year-old native of Hawaiiintends to begin fulfilling a contract with Main Events as a boxer.Dion, however, said Noons never has trained as strenuously for one ofhis appearances as he has for his match against Diaz, packing on sevenor eight pounds of muscle.

"He looks amazing," Dion said.

According to Dion, Diaz defeated MMA's No. 1 ranked guy in the worldat 160 pounds, but was denied a title when he tested positive formarijuana. Noons, meantime, has had only about a half-dozen MMA bouts,including one in which he was knocked out in the first round by CrazyHorse Bennett, a southpaw from Ocala, Fla.

"He hit Noons with a straight left to the body and then whipped anoverhand right to the head," Dion said of Bennett. "It was the mostperfect punch you could imagine."

Noons, however, rebounded by defeating Edson Berto, another Floridafighter, and now he is going to be on television from Texas, where hewas before he banded with Dion.