February 24th.14: Battle Arena returned to Leicester this past weekend and crowned three new British Champions. In the first championship bout a well executed game plan from Adam Turner saw the Tokon Academy fighter secure multiple takedowns of kickboxing specialist Johnny Gillan when against the fence, en route to finishing his opponent and claiming the Battle Arena British Middleweight Championship.
With an emotional victory, Den Palmer prevailed by grinding out a split decision victory over Craig Smith. Smith’s frequent attempts to find something from rubber guard was enough to force a split decision on the scorecards, however ‘The Omen’ maintained control of his opponent to earn the Battle Arena British Lightweight Championship.
In the main event of the evening, an incredible back and forth contest resulted in Rising Crane’s Rory Foster winning the Battle Arena British Featherweight Championship. Having found some early success landing straight shots, kickboxing champion David Gillan countered multiple takedowns with dangerous guillotine chokes, but was unable to suppress Foster who fought through each submission attempt. As the bout progressed Foster landed clean shots of his own in response, and in the final round Foster’s comfort on the ground prevailed with a triangle choke submission.
Full results:
Jason Marshall def. Dinis Naurubin – split decision
Vaidas Stirbys def. Jack West – submission – Round 3
Oliver Winter def. Lukas Baiaz – unanimous decision
Craig Cowen def. Jenny Robson – submission (Rear Naked Choke) – Round 2
Mark Harris def. Andrew Reid – submission (Arm-bar) – Round 1
Daniel Nash def. Liam Ryan – TKO (referee stoppage) – Round 1
Craig Rumming def. Neal McQuade – unanimous decision
Lee Rayson def. Liam Bird – unanimous decision
Mak Mwanza def. Daniel Bloomfield – unanimous decision
Carl Waudby def. Stanaitis Irmis – DQ (illegal head-kick to a downed opponent) – Round 3
Kevin Richardson def. Charlie Watson – TKO (injury – dislocated knee) – Round 1
Danny Ollerenshaw def. Josh McDonalds – submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Mohammed El Ayoubi def. Darren Edwards – split decision
Dean Benamore def. Brett Francis – submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Rob Masters def. Stiven Tomasevic – submission (Guillotine Choke) – Round 1
Kiru Singh def. Said Rehane – submission (Americana) – Round 2
Adam Turner def. Johnny Gillan – TKO (Strikes) – Round 2 – new Battle Arena British Middleweight Champion
Den Palmer def. Craig Smith – split decision – new Battle Arena British Lightweight Champion
Rory Foster def. David Gillan – submission (Triangle Choke) – Round 3 – new Battle Arena British Featherweight Champion
