Last night Shoaib Yousaf continued to show why he is regarded as one of the hottest prospects in the UK when he disposed of Javonne Morrison within four minutes of the first round at ACB 54 in Manchester.
The 2016 IMMAF world championship gold medallist put the fight on Morrison from the start before dealing a crushing head kick followed by a knee to stop the visibly smaller Morrison.
Height and size difference looked to have played a huge factor in the result with Yousaf’s substantial reach advantage allowing him to find his range and pick his strikes without having to worry about getting hit. Morrison who usually fights at 135lbs was unable to get inside and test the natural 145er Yousaf, who in an interview with MMA Plus explained how he found it awkward fighting such a smaller opponent.
“The first time I saw him was yesterday at the weigh-ins, I knew he was short but obviously when I was fighting him today it was totally different even when I was jabbing it was very short but I threw the head kick and luckily it landed so I just had to throw the head kick. Even when I was punching I was punching very low, it was very awkward,” began Yousaf after his win at ACB 54.
What a finish from Yousaf! #ACB54 #MMA https://t.co/IWX1BbW9On
— ACB fighting league (@acb_league) March 11, 2017
Prior to this bout Yousaf trained out in Thailand with Tiger Muay Thai and believes his performance gave a clear indication of how successful his fighting camp went.
“Here it’s training and family but over there it’s just 24/7 train relax train relax so it’s good my mind was just 100 per cent training it helps and it showed today.”
After such a successful fight camp the Bradford man revealed he will ‘100 per cent’ be looking to go return to Tiger Muay Thai in the future. The IMMAF champ now holds a professional record of 2-0 and has caught the attention of many on the MMA circuit but insists he is still learning and will not get ahead of himself too quickly.
“Hopefully just take it as it is, I’m only 21 so I want to slowly build up training, I’ve got a good camp here so hopefully slowly, slowly I’m still learning. I’ve got great coaches so hopefully slowly, slowly make my way to the top”.
Not only was Morrison fighting against Yousaf last night he was battling against the overwhelming following that Yousaf brings with him to every single bout. From Las Vegas to Glasgow the support Yousaf receives is tremendous and at ACB 54 it was no different. Despite Morrison being the local lad fighting out of Manchester it was Yousaf’s name that rang out through the Manchester Arena whilst the Mancunian walked out to chants of ‘Who are you?’ There is no doubt that the crowd that follows the 21-year old has a factor in his performances and Yousaf knows just how important they are to his winning remedy.
“It is very important for me as you can see; I want to thank them all,” Shoaib said. “We are like a family all of them are like a family I wouldn’t call them fans, I am not Shoaib without them I thank them all. I think I have the best support in the world and I have great coaches I can’t ask for anything else.”
