We had all been looking forward to the NAKA Fight Night. NAKA fight series is particularly important to Coach Hamed and he had told the Kingdom that he expects full participation. I think it’s because there is very good souvlaki just down the street from the location, and Coach Hamed really likes his Greek fries. Oscar Renderes and Andy Laicha were fighting for the Kingdom at NAKA Fight Night III.
Oscar’s fight was #6 on the card, against Dylan Keimel from Legacy Muay Thai, and it was going to be Oscar’s third fight. Oscar meditated (I’m sure he was napping) to Spanish affirmations for a good couple of hours before his fight. When I chatted with him, he was very calm and said he was going to win the fight by focusing on the basics. Kru Arash said Oscar was much faster than his opponent and had better cardio. Oscar’s fight with Dylan was clean. Oscar won by unanimous decision with his very basic, yet fast, teeps and high kicks.
Since Andy’s fight was #18, I had a chance to meet and talk with a few fighters before their fights. I met Euraysia Duhaime from Phady Muay Thai. When I first saw Euraysia, I thought she was definitely an A-class fighter, but when I talked with her, I found out she had a strong karate and kickboxing background and had had only one prior Muay Thai fight. Euraysia’s first fight was with Shaunna Johnston, and Euraysia won by TKO in the first 37 seconds, during which Kru Dylan was using the facilities. Euraysia broke Shaunna’s nose in that fight, and somehow, the two warrior women bonded over that and became very good friends. Euraysia’s second fight was with Amanda Ding from NAKA Muay Thai. Kru Dylan had told Euraysia he was limiting his fluid intake and wasn’t going to miss her fight this time. I spoke with Amanda before the fight. She said she was very nervous, as she was aware of Euraysia’s strong background, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her from fighting Euraysia. Euraysia won the fight by referee stoppage. Amanda had nothing broken, so I don’t think Euraysia and Amanda became friends.
Andy’s fight was coming up. Andy is one of the Kingdom’s most disciplined fighters. He has a very chill yet serious personality. At times, I’ve caught him with “tiger eyes". When Andy gifted the Kingdom with the cutest Mufasa, incapable of a decent roar, I thought “What? Andy’s sweet?” For now, let’s say the young warrior remains a mystery. Andy’s fight was with Matthew Tsui from NAKA Muay Thai. For this fight to happen, Andy had to give Matthew 16 pounds of his fat! Poor Matthew, it all went to his belly. Andy on the other hand, had never looked better. I asked Andy if he had met his opponent, and he said, “Matthew looks weak, and I’ve been watching NAKA fighters. They do a lot of 1-2, 1-2-kicks, so I’m going to use fakes to throw him off".
Matthew was anything but weak. I think we were all surprised by how fast and strong Matthew was! The first round was tough. Andy was swept and thrown off balance a couple of times, and many of Matthew’s punches landed. Andy lost the first round. After the first round, Kru Arash did what he does best and brought Andy back to his A game. As if he reminded Andy that he can use his arms to defend and through punches. The second round was a close tie, but in the third round, Andy made some serious impact with his strong hooks and killer kicks. It seemed Andy was getting stronger with each round! Vince said Matthew got lucky there wasn’t a fourth round. Andy won the fight by split decision, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who aged 10 years during Andy’s fight. Kru Arash lost his voice and had to wave everyone goodbye.
The event had several other highlights. Eric Phan Tran from Farang’s Martial Art, who had come to kill, settled with a stoppage by Judge Paul. I met my Persian little sister from another mother, Roya Zadeh from Evolucao Thai MMA. Coach Hamed lost his pants just before Oscar’s fight, and last but never the least, Kru Howie raised the wrong hand as the winner, just to see if anyone was paying attention.


























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