April Duels - April 5, 2025

April Duels – April 5, 2025

It was my second time at Budo Canada, as we had been there just a month ago for the Provincial Tournament. April Duels was organized by the legendary Simon Marcus at Budo Canada. At this event, all the VIP tables had sold out, which wasn’t good news for me, as I usually sneak into one of those seats for my blogging purposes.

I interviewed Bardh Kadriu from Sette Muay Thai. Well, I tried to interview Bardh! I asked Bardh how he felt, and he responded, “Not a single thing on my mind.” Kru Ralph interrupted, “There is always a game plan! Don’t take the fight opportunity for granted…” Kru Ralph hijacked Bard’s interview! I stopped taking notes because I didn’t want to encourage my interviews with fighters being hijacked by their Krus! Bardh fought Hugo Bueno Tavares from One Muay Thai. Hugo won that fight by referee stoppage in the second round. Bardh kept lowering his guard, and Hugo was very quick to take advantage. I should interview Kru Ralph sometime. I think he has a lot to say. He said Coach Hamed has fled the country! It might actually be true, as I haven’t seen Coach Hamed around lately!

Aaron Ma from Old School Muay Thai fought Guillermo Esquivel from One Muay Thai. I had a chance to have a quick chat with Aaron while Guillermo was sitting wrapped in a heating blanket to make weight. We could see Guillermo through the glass window, so Aaron kept sipping his jug of Pedialyte and saluting Guillermo with a smirk. This fight was particularly interesting because Aaron seemed to be following and taking directions from Simon, who was actually cornering for Guillermo. I’m sure Kru James was also yelling from Aaron’s corner, but all I could hear was Simon’s voice: “THROW VOLUME.” I think Aaron felt he had to listen and follow, or Simon was going to get in the ring himself! I stayed in a runner’s lunge position, ready to jump and hold Simon back if he tried to fight Aaron. Aaron won that fight at a cost of a bloody nose!

So, up until now, I was under the impression that as the weight brackets increased, the Nak Muays got taller or gained thicker muscles. Well, not at this event. The +90 kg weight class that evening set a new record for the amount of meat jiggling around in the ring. I mean this in the most compassionate and sweetest way when I say: think JELLO! The +90 kg fighters did have one advantage, however; they didn’t need to check kicks! They could just take them with no problem!

When Trevor Colley from Kingdom MT got in the ring, I realized I had missed six-packs (not referring to beer)! Trevor had been standing in front of a mirror, admiring his new shiny belt ever since his title fight back in February, but we finally decided enough was enough! We took away Trevor’s belt and put it on display at Kingdom, so Trevor had to get back in the ring. Trevor was fighting Natt Charrasse from One Muay Thai that evening. If you recall from one of my previous blogs (Provincial Championships), Natt managed to fall out of the ring all on his own during the Provincial Championships. I had a quick chat with Natt in his cute French accent. Natt has been training in Muay Thai and MMA for less than a year. Natt put on a fantastic performance that evening. For some reason, Trevor couldn’t clinch that night. Trevor is so good at clinch; I handpicked him to teach me clinch. But that night, Trevor’s knees decided they weren’t going to swing. This fight ended in a draw, but even Trevor said he felt he had lost.

My all-time favorite champion and a hero, Alireza Jadidi, made a surprise appearance that evening and made me all googly-eyed. From that point on, I forgot who was who, and the Wai Kru dance seemed too romantic.

The co-main event between Kevin Eguillor from One Muay Thai and Jack Picard from Large MA was the highlight of the night. These two fighters were next level when it came to technique and having volume in their attacks and counters! Kevin won the fight.

The last fight of the night between Marcus Ferguson from Southside and Marko Gjoka from NTA was the perfect finish to a Muay Thai fight night. Marcus won the fight by referee stoppage in just over 30 seconds into the first round.

I should note that Simon cornered 10 fights straight that evening, and by the end of the night, he still had a voice to thank everyone for coming. I think all Krus and PC Krus should inquire about the secret to Simon’s voice!

I should also talk about the elephant in the room: There wasn’t a single fighter from TKMT!! I think Kru Dylan took all of them to Ottawa with him to prevent them from throwing a party at the gym in his absence. He didn’t take Sam Skinner though. He left Sam behind to come to April Duels and be officially judgmental!

A few notes on the community:

• I still don’t have a match at CMTO! Ladies, please start cutting weight!!

• The most beautiful Muay Thai couple got engaged! My best wishes to PC Kru Francesca and Kru Yai Gianluka. I hear the wedding is going to be one hot sparring night with Thai pads thrown at them instead of rice!

• Kingdom added a tradition by taking the coaches to teach a session at Chantel-Benoit Elementary School in East Gwillimbury. While the boys let out some fire, the girls lit up and found the power in their voices to go “OOOWEEEE.”

See you all in May!