The Olympic Arena and Fight Times surpassed any of their previous world title shows with a real spectators treat of combat sport. The pre fight weigh in at the South Dunedin Civic video was a major success arranged through Tank and Norm Butler of Civic Video. Fight fans came to meet the fighters, watch the weigh in and have their questions answered by the fighters and get autographs. People brought boxing gloves with them to have autographed and T-shirts and posters. There were full colour glossy posters all over Dunedin in the weeks leading up to the fight including posters over one metre in height.

Both Jason and Hiriwa sat at the interview table beside each other showing the utmost respect for each other like the true gentlemen and fine sports persons they are. They were very honest with their answers and were more than pleased to answer questions and pose with fans for photos.

The Caledonian Gymnasium was the new venue for the fight night with separate changing room access for the red and blue corners complete with good heating and twelve changing rooms, which made the fighters and trainers very happy indeed.

The thirteen corporate tables were sold out in the first few days of being made available and unfortunately some corporates keen to secure a table missed out.

The big screen playing the action as it happened and the ring announcer and commentary team made the atmosphere fitting for the occasion and the catering for the corporate tables received many compliments as they were treated to the finest of food.

The fights were action packed to say the least and all competitors came to fight and displayed guts and grit. Terry Hill as always controlled the ring, giving every attention to the fighter's welfare and also the fantastic spectator event that it was.

The Dunedin Casino Highlander's cheerleaders performed fabulously and the crowd enjoyed their routines very much during the evening. The ring girl entered the ring to a positive response for every bout and was just another spot aspect of a fine promotion.

The night began with a wrestling bout between Drew Handcock a NZ secondary schools wrestling champion and Jessica Todd, a NZ female wrestling champion and daughter of Tank and Trish. Both these wrestlers are from the Combat Sports School Olympic Wrestling Club at the Todd Group facility. Jessica took the bout on points and both these fine young wrestlers very much impressed the crowd with their skills, strength and determination. The second bout of the night was between Jamie Kerr of Dunedin City Wrestling Club and current NZ heavy weight champion Vincent Roxburgh also of the Combat Sports School. Vincent won on points against Jamie, a seasoned competitor and tough opponent. The audience always applaud the amateur wrestling bouts on our cards as they see them for what they are, a tough and exciting combat sport that fits well with kickboxing.

We had watched in the past promotions with Vale Tudo on the undercard and saw spectators bored when encounters on the ground were less than exciting to them as they did not understand the sport or could not see the close in struggle and many subtle moves. We had also seen ring karate and full contact karate with no hands contact to the head over the Tasman on kickboxing fight undercards and the negative audience response when they were there to watch the kickboxing and could compare it to the kickboxing. So we did not want any negatives and chose wrestling with its no submitting or retreating or being passive rules. Fast and constant action with no stalling or stopping to adjust uniforms and the possibility of spectacular moves like the suplex that is not even permitted in the realms of no holds barred fighting. This is a great way to promote the oldest of combat sports and the phone rung hot the Monday after such events with newcomers to the sport.

The first kickboxing fight was between. Ben Kerr a former TKD stylist and Marty Houghton of Combat Sports School Kickboxing trained by Girish Rae. This was only Marty's second time to the ring after a quick win in Queenstown earlier in the year. Ben started strong but Marty targeted his body from the outset and put an eight count on Ben by way of a rib kick.

Marty continued to work Ben's body with rips, knees and kicks and after Ben hit the canvas twice more the bout was stopped by way of TKO.

The next bout was between Kyokushin stylist Luke Lambert and 2nd time fighter Steven Patterson of Nelson Martial Arts and Fitness trained by Isaac Takarangi.

Steven caught Luke with a low kick that Luke complained being South of the boarder but referee Terry Hill said it was fine and reminded Luke he had a groin guard.

Luke threw a back spinning fist narrowly missing his target only to find himself soon after on the mat under Steven and facing an eight count. Steven began to pick Luke off and after Luke had hit the mat several more times and been given another eight count the bout was stopped.

TKO win to Steven Patterson.

Next up another of Combat Sports Schools fighters Henry Medary up against Jason Lees trained by Wayne Vaega of Queenstown Le Gar.

Henry started round one going forward throwing plenty of leather and using his push kick to good advantage. Mid round Jason came back with some leather of his own.

Henry slipped, losing his footing and on the restart landed some good leg kicks.

Near the rounds end Jason turned on some punches and Henry replied. Round two, more of the same with Henry finishing the round strongly. Round three both fighters were feeling the effects but Henry continued to stalk forward and work harder than his opponent. Unanimous points decision Henry Medary.

Next up the big boy's Jay Hepi of Elite Thai kickboxing trained by Jason Suttie and Eric Nosa trained by Mark Buckley of the Olympic Gym.

Eric started strongly with some hard leg kicks and big right hands that just missed their target. Jay was careful and patient and seemed to make Eric just miss with his committed power punches causing him to use a lot of energy. Round two Jay remained focused and caused Eric to miss with more power shots that were not only powerful but also fast. Near the rounds end Jay scored with careful shots and finished the round with a good combination. Round three Eric continued to try hard but more than often missed his mark while Jay picked him off gaining the few valuable points that were on offer. Jay scored with punches and kicks and near the end of the round sensing he was losing Eric came back strongly but Jay shut him down and won by a unanimous points decision.

Fight number seven. Brendon Macnee a WTF stylist of Oamaru trained by Paul McGeown up against JT Thomas of Nelson Martial Arts and Fitness Centre.

Round one Brendon came out throwing punches and kicks but soon was in trouble when he got caught with some well-placed punches from JT. He was given an eight count and just survived the round. Round two Brendon all the better for the break came back stronger landing a head kick that stunned JT and he had an eight count put on him. Brendon sensed JT was in trouble and came out throwing everything at him eventually catching him with a head kick that dropped JT sunny side down for the KO.

This match was a real crowd pleaser with Brendon towering over JT and JT coming close to taking round one with power punches that saw Brendon hit hard and have to turn his back on JT and be saved only by the bell. Then Brendon dug deep and in round two came back and reversed the cards. What a fight.

Fight number eight. Combat Sports School's last competitor for the evening Ryan Ellery up against Tawhai Matchitt trained by Paul Stewart of Invercargill.

Round one was very much a case of both fighters working each other out.

Round two Tawhai started on attack and Ryan countered clinching using his knees while Tawhai ripped to the body. Ryan dominated towards the end of round two but it was still anyone's fight. Round three Tawhai started the round going forward until he walked into a big right hand that made him more cautious. Ryan worked away with nothing flashy other than a jumping knee near the end of the round to win by unanimous points.

Bout number nine. Jade Johnathon of Invercargill up against Stuart Elliot of Dunedin.

This was to be three rounds of punching action from two fighters that had the crowd cheering. Round one was close and in round two Jade came out strongly but Stuart was showing more power in his punches and had a good defence. Soon Stuart had Jade on the back foot finishing round two strongly. Round three Stuart continued his forward momentum leaving Jade to cover up and counter. Jade fell out of the ring on the end of Stuarts punches. Stuart kept the pressure on and Jade never gave up. Unanimous points decision to Stuart Elliot.

Bout number ten. Roi McLean of Invercargill trained by Paul Stewart up against Simon Capnerhurst of Nelson Martial Arts and Fitness Centre trained by Isaac Takarangi. Roi only seventeen years of age and a first time fighter threw just about everything in round one much to the crowds delight while Simon in a composed manner didn't take any chances while moving into range against his unpredictable opponent. Round two started much the same as round one ended until Simon began to work his opponent out a little and find his mark and just when he did Roi would come back. The crowd were right behind the young McLean after the commentators let out that he was a mere seventeen years old. Round three Roi opened with kick punch combinations and Simon replied putting an eight count on Roi. Roi didn't let a little thing like an eight count get in the way of his chance to try everything out in the ring for the first time throwing some good combinations. Simon's power was the difference and his patience that saw him take an unanimous points decision. However it does not end there, Roi in round two later reported knew he had broken his arm but did not say a word and fought on. He sadly had to have surgery and his arm pinned but will be a young fighter to look out for in the future.

Bout number eleven. Luke Hill son of Terry Hill, yes Terry Hill the referee who swapped his referee position with Wayne Vaega to take his sons corner up against Ruebin Turipa of Tapanui trained by Gabriel Phillips. Terry and Gabriel share a lot more in common than just their love of kickboxing and this bout. They are both Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate men under the legendary Higaonna Morio. Round number one Luke looked very relaxed and Ruebin showed signs of his ring experience staying out of the way of some of Luke's forward momentum. Ruebin slipped to the mat several times under the continued efforts of Luke. Luke took control mid round one with superior power and dominated the end of round one. Luke under the guidance of Terry clearly giving instructions from the corner appeared to hear every one of them and follow them through. Round two the fighters clinched after an early encounter with Ruebin punching in the clinch until both fighters ended up on the mat.

Luke began to enter well, clinch and use his knees, Ruebin never stopped trying but was having trouble with Luke's skills and willingness to fight at all ranges.

Round three Luke worked Ruebin in the corner then dominated centre ring in the clinch continually changing the angle of attack and the target. Ruebin stepped inside Luke's high kick only to end up in the clinch again and the final round ended as the bout had started with good close hard action and a unanimous points decision to Luke.

The Main Event. Bout number twelve. The two competitors with their many years of success in NZ and world kickboxing need little introduction. Jason 'Psycho' Suttie up against Hiriwa 'T Man Hill Billy' TeRangi. This was to be the decider as they had met twice before for a win apiece. Both fighters gave quite an entrance and the crowd knew they were in for a great fight. Round one Jason targeted Hiriwa's lead leg landing some hard low kicks. Hiriwa worked the jab and high kicks while Jason continued to work the front leg of Hiriwa. Jason started to put his punch kick combinations together and Hiriwa let loose with a high back spinning kick followed closely by a jumping knee that saw him go right over the top rope and out of the ring.

Jason ended round one with accurate low kicks and stinging punches.

Round two. Hiriwa threw his favoured back spinning kick again while Jason replied with sharp kick punch combinations. Jason began to step the pace up and the relentless Hiriwa took it all. Jason landed some punishing leg kicks targeting both legs inside and out. Hiriwa seemed to be feeling the effect of this punishment to his legs by the end of round two. Round three Jason continued to find his target with punches and knees and Hiriwa clinched with Jason more often. Hiriwa continued to work but not as often or accurate as Jason and clinched more often. Round four Jason opened up with punch combinations combining hands, feet and knees. Jason had Hiriwa on the ropes and used his knees to the ribs followed up with a good upper cut and body rips. Jason threw the hook and outer leg kick before Hiriwa clinched once again.

Jason continued to push the fight and worked Hiriwa on the ropes with power and accuracy that would have stopped most fighters but not Hiriwa. Round five Hiriwa seemed to suffering the effects of the damage to his front leg suffered in round one. When Hiriwa clinched with Jason he was punished with punches and knees. Hiriwa was still looking for that one big lucky shot that he has so often produced in his career. All the while Jason was finding his mark with a barrage of kickboxing skills racking up the points. Just when you thought Hiriwa was in real trouble he would let his fearlessness take over and take a chance at the big one landing. Jason had Hiriwa on the ropes working him hard when Hiriwa slipped to the mat.

Jason knew the end of the round was near and stepped it up, going forward fighting up and down to the body, legs and head. The round ended with two great fighters having given it their very best and Jason taking a well-earned unanimous decision over the pride of the south in the tough sport of kickboxing.

This was to be Tank's last promotion as he has so many close combat commitments that simply must take priority. However over the past three years he has groomed Gary Chalklin and Mark Buckley of the Olympic Gym to take over as the number one promoters in the south island.

He will however still be involved with big plans for amateur kickboxing growth nationally.