−−− BY GARETH WHITEHEAD −−−
Almighty Fighting Championship (AFC) returned to the O2 Academy Leeds for their 6th event last month, showcasing the talents of both local fighters and those from gyms further afield. The promotion claims to be Yorkshire’s premier mixed martial arts event and from what I have seen on the local scene it truly is. The organisation, production, and the presentation was fantastic, as were the officials and referees ensuring fighter safety throughout.
AFC 6 had an amazing line up of 18 fights in total, absolutely stacked with very competitive fights due to even matchmaking. The event was headlined by Danny Randolph (1-0) who won in just 3 ½ minutes, beating a very skilled Danny Stirk (debut) by side choke. For me, the most impressive fight among many was Ben Crawley (2-1) who was up against the champion of the welterweight division Jonny Brocklesby (7-3). For three rounds solid, Jonny was dominating most of the striking and groundwork. Ben looked like there wasn’t really a way for him to come back into the fight, when just 11 seconds into the fourth round, Ben set up a take-down resulting in a knee bar out of nowhere to win the title.
Another outstanding fight was for the women’s AFC bantamweight championship between Louise Hiller (3-1) and the undefeated Joanne Doyle (6-0). Joanne started as the more accurate, active striker and began to take charge of the fight, landing some very nice punches. As the fight went on Louise worked her way into the exchanges and started to score. The more the fight went on the more Louise was coming into the fight and eventually won by decision to be crowned champion of the women’s bantamweight division. The fight was very competitive until the end with both ladies leaving everything in the cage.
Also on the main card Steven Hooper defeated Patryk Kazak and Luke Westwood beat Mateusz Piechocki both by submission. Mick Parkin defeated Dawid Oskar with a rear naked choke after some very nice stand up exchanges to retain his AFC heavyweight title. One of the highlights from the undercard was a very physically gruelling hard-fought match for Simeon Otley who defeated Jakub Krol by split decision.
All in all, it was a fantastic night. Almighty Fighting Championships returns to the O2 on the 25th November which is sure to be another spectacular night of mixed martial arts action.
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