Battle in the Bay 8 December 2011,

After one of our busiest seasons ever, the ExPix team finished off 2011 by heading down to Colwyn Leisure Centre, Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay in North Wales in December to cover Battle in the Bay 8.

Organised and hosted by The Pound MMA, Edghill Kickboxers and World United Martial Arts (WUMA) Wales and sponsored by Computer MOT Centre, Bangor; the event is a fight night for full contact kick boxing and mixed martial arts, (MMA).

The arena was buzzing when we arrived and with 11 fights on the card, things quickly got underway with an action packed kickboxing demonstration from Louisha Doran and Theresa Bolderson. With good techniques and a fast pace, the ladies put on a crowd pleasing show, setting the bar for the male competitors. Lou won by TKO.

The first of the MMA Amateur fights followed and there was an air of tension as James Haynes and Karl Anderson entered the cage. The fight started well but was stopped short and declared a no contest due to accidental injury in the first round.

Ryan Killcourse and Steve Wilkins were up next for the U18’s Amateur Kickboxing fights. The pace was fast leading to a number of missed shots going uncounted. The win went to Steve Wilkins on decision.

2nd of the MMA Amateur fights saw Aaron Scott up against v Frank Carr. The fight quickly went to ground; with some very good grappling action, Frank Carr took the win following submission from his opponent.

The kickboxing fight between Andy Banks and Allan Davies was both fast and furious with fighters fiercely trading blows before the fight was stopped when Andy banks took a blow to the nose giving Allan Davies the win.

Half way through the night and the time had come for ExPix team fighter, Sam "The Sweetie Man" Edmondson, representing The Pound MMA, Bangor to show what he was made of and boy did he do it in style! Taking just 38 seconds, Sam forced his opponent, Omar Samli, representing South Manchester MMA to tap out after placing him in an arm bar. After such an amazing win, imprinted forever by the image of Sam leaping to the top of the cage roaring, we’re thinking of calling him ‘Peperami’, after all he is ‘a bit of an animal’!

The next 2 fights were kickboxing rounds; Paul Hak and Darren Clifft went to judge’s decision with Paul Hak taking the win. Following them was Andrew Clayton who took the win after his opponent, Rhys Parry, retired.

There was a lot of emotion in the crowd when Craig Kelly beat Kaine Rowlands by way of TKO in the MMA B Class in a classic ground fight.

Next up was the first of the two featured kickboxing title fights which saw Lee Bryan and Peris Tecwyn battling it out for the Welsh Kickboxing title. After a close fight, Peris Tecwyn won on decision.

Finishing the night off was Mike Egan and Danny Burke who were fighting for the British Kickboxing title. Again the fight went to decision with Mike Egan taking the belt.

So if we’ve whetted your appetite, click the link to check out more of Battle in the Bay8 MMA and kick boxing action images.

Still want to see more? Then make your way down to North Wales for Battle in the Bay 9 on Saturday 25th February 2012 at 5.30 p.m at Colwyn Bay Leisure Centre.