Saturday 21st May 2005 was the Miada Fight Night, which has been referred to as a "Battle of the Codes." As the event manager/promoter let me take you through the highs and lows of the night.
First of all the evening was a huge success and a big step forward in proving that women's fighting can be entertaining. There were a few things to be improved on, and with the help of my new Martial Arts friends I will be looking at all reasonable concerns.
The doors opened at 7.30pm and we expected a sell out crowd. Watching from a distance I was surprised to see at 7.45 only two thirds of the seats were full.
This was my biggest disappointment of the evening, and I needed an answer as to why. When security counted the tickets and looked at the numbers it was the hundred tickets given to our major promoter that had let us down.
I appreciate the work they do but we are going to be expecting a strategy for different results in the future.
However those that were there numbered in the high 300's and will present a decent crowd when it airs on TV 3.
Mania held several club fights during the night and I'll talk about them later. First let's get to the guts of the event.
Fight One
Tellulah Jones (Mania) VS Dianne (Integrated Fighting)
Honestly this was an exciting bout to watch. It was fast, furious and the crowd was bouncing out of their seats.
Dianne and Tellulah were well matched and there was a real battle unfolding in the ring.
However there was a negative, during the fight Tellulah's top was pulled up and this bought about calls from the audience of "show us your tits". We have been fighting this image in women's sport for so long that it was disheartening to hear these fighters image lowered to that.
The camera crews also had concerns about Dianne almost biting Tellulah. I talked to Dianne and she said it was an accident and a reaction of being choked.
The win went eventually to Mania and for what is, after all, a very new club on the scene this was an emotional and well received success.
Dianne fought really well and was very competitive with Tellulah. I hope the unfortunate incidents don't over shadow the fantastic fight they put on.
Fight Two
The next bout was between Jenni (Douglas Ju Jitsu) and Charly (Mania).
Another exciting fight. Jenni and Charly matched each other toe to toe until the end of the six minute fight. At the six minute point it was a draw, so two more minutes were put on the clock, and they fought again.
Jenni is a great technical fighter and she was competing against a very spirited competitor, Charly. Eventually the fight was won by Jenni when she scored a submission and Charly popped an elbow. The Physio threw in the towel.
Charly is only 14 years old and her age was a testament to both fighters. Charly because she is amazing for her age and Jenni because let's face it, it is damn hard to get your head around fighting someone so young.
Jenni proved to me my faith is well placed in women athletes both in her attitude and her fighting. She went into the ring and did the business, and straight after the fight went back stage to help the Physio ice Charly's arm.
Good on you Jenni you're a rock'n fighter and a nice chick to boot.
Fight Four
Next up was Lisa (University Judo Club) vs Melyta Delmain (Mania).
This was always going to be an extremely hard fight for Mania; Lisa has a huge fighting profile. She is the Commonwealth Champ, National Champ and Oceanic Champ and if that's not enough she is a black belt as well.
Mania's fighter in comparison has not been fighting long and holds no titles.
Lisa dominated; from the start of the fight she showed her experience and technical ability well. There were moments when Melyta pulled off some good moves and almost gained position in the fight, however Lisa's years of fighting and numerous titles in the end were to much for Melyta and the win went to Lisa.
Fighting against fighters who are as good as Lisa can only improve the skill of the Mania girls and help them challenge their weaknesses. I think Melyta did well just to go the rounds with Lisa. So congrats to both fighters and I hope I see you both line up for the possibility of fighting the Aussies.
The Champs Fight
This was between Nellie (University Judo Club) and Ruby Knox (Mania).
When the fighters stepped out onto the stage the crowd went crazy (proving that women's fighting is exciting), these were both very popular fighters and the audience were split on who they wanted to win.
Nellie has been in retirement but was once a National Judo Champ and is still one darn black belt, fair to say she had the crowd's respect.
Ruby was the under dog in the fight and has no titles and no belts (Mania has no belt system) and as the underdog there were people who were holding their breath and hoping that Ruby could hold her own against this awesome fighter.
These two fighters had trained together leading up to the event, but their faces were pure focus when they stepped into the ring.
Nellie as expected won the fight, her technique was fantastic, and after her time away from fighting she has "STILL GOT IT".
When I talked to Ruby after the fight she was stoked with her loss (weird huh?). She said that to have the opportunity to fight with Nellie was a huge honour and she hoped they would remain fighting partners so Nellie and her could "kick Aussie ass together".
I also talked to Nellie and she seems to think she will be there to stand up to our Australian friends (ha-ha).
The other fights that Mania put on during the evening had varied crowd responses.
Katie VS Tabitha was a great fight with a good level of skill.
There were also two fighters who were added to the card last minute (to replace the Mania cheerleaders who couldn't be there). They did a brilliant job and fought a spirited fight.
The overall outcome of the night was that women fighting proved to be very exciting.
Mania did pretty well in all the fights and with some help from their new friends should be well placed to build a team to move on to an international fight night.
Mania won't be the only fighters who will face off against the Aussies. We will invite some of the women we fought on "Miada Fight Night" to join us in competition.
As the manager of the event last Saturday I welcome your views (we can always improve), so if you were there and have any pointers or advice please don't hesitate to contact me.
If you are a trainer who would like one of your women fighters to be considered to fight, then I would love to hear from you. Of course they would have to beat the current contenders in a spar to get the position.
