Fighters Only

Issue 016

August 2006

Birtley, Gateshead,

4^th June 2006

Written by Peter Falkous, photographed by Alex Wright

“Let's party!” The words of ref Peter Tiark gets the first Valhalla Fighting Championship off to a flying start. The atmosphere was full of enthusiasm and the marquee was an unusual yet perfect setting for a Sunday evening of fighting.

The hardest part was finding the venue, and when driving past the pub in which it was held I remember thinking ‘how the hell is anyone going to fit in there?’ After getting out the car and peering over the hedge, there was a huge marquee slap bang in the middle of the pub’s grounds.

Due to a few injuries it was announced that there would be no professional fights, but with 12 fights (5 amateur and 7 semi pro) there was still plenty of action to keep the audience happy. A good mix of fighters, ranging from experienced to first timers, was in attendance, some local and some travelling from clubs across the country.

The first few fights seemed to be very one sided- Donavan Robson controlled the first round with three guillotine attempts on Chris Air. He escaped them all but could not get his own game plan together. The second round Donavan again tried for the guillotine but eventually won with a rear naked choke.

Notable fight of the night included local Knuckle Draggers fighter Richie Knox. After dominating the first round from the off, he won by armbar in a one sided yet entertaining contest. The atmosphere at this point seemed to be lifting, and clearly the crowd were loving it.

There was a controversial moment where James C? lost by TKO to James? in the first round. A clear right floored James C, but as soon as he hit the canvas he jumped back up and looked ready to fight. Te ref came over to check him out and stopped the fight. It seemed like the whole marquee was about to explode as everyone was confused about what was happening, as it looked like he was ok to keep fighting. Maybe a bad call from the ref but when the safety of your fighters is the main concern, he did what he thought was best and I am sure a rematch has already been set.

Final fight of the night was the heavyweights, which always seems to be the crowds favourite. The build up was tense but when the fight got started it was a pretty much one sided affair and Matt V? was in total control of the Bear Pit’s Adam Thomson, who was making his debut in the ring. After ? seconds of the first round Matt’s kicks and punches were too much for his opponent, and he scored a knock down just before the ref stepped in to stop the fight.

Overall the night was well organised and the atmosphere was great, especially for the promoters’ first show. All the hard work had paid off and I expect that the next event will be even bigger and better.