MEDICINE HAT, AB – Saturday night belonged to local kickboxers at the Cypress Centre with a stacked card at Fists of Fury 14.
Ten fights were held in the martial arts of Muay Thai and kickboxing for the annual event hosted by Southern Alberta Combative Arts.
The main event saw a battle of two Calgary fighters, as Ethan Doucette (11-7) squared off against Kyle Messenger (11-3) in a five-round bout.
Late in the third round, Messenger took control of the fight and kneed Doucette in head to bring the match to an end, winning by way of knockout and taking the Fists of Fury Muay Thai title.
A number of Medicine Hat fighters also brought home gold medals on Saturday, including former Medicine Hat College Rattlers basketball player Pietro de Andrade (2-0).
Coming into the ring wearing the flags of both Medicine Hat and his native Brazil, de Andrade fed off the supportive crowd and controlled his Muay Thai bout against John Mitchel (0-1).
Increasing his speed and power as the fight went on, the six-foot-eight Brazilian picked up his second career win by TKO in the third round.
“I felt that I could develop my game plan throughout the fight,” said de Andrade. “The beginning was just let’s see what happens and then the third round I was feeling very comfortable, not tired at all, and then I could just get the TKO.”
It was the first victory in Medicine Hat for de Andrade, after beating former NHL’er Garret Stroshein in Calgary back in March.
He said it was a special night, getting to bring home a gold medal in front of his adopted city.
“I was just too happy to have the opportunity to fight here at home,” said de Andrade. “I feel like now I have two hometowns, Brazil and Medicine Hat. This is the city that welcomed me really well and I just love people right here.”
Another ‘Hatter’ also earned her first career victory, as 14-year-old August Kelly (1-0) made her debut in the ring in the junior kickboxing division.
Taking on Maesyn Bowman (0-1) from Buena Vista, Saskatchewan, it didn’t take long for Kelly to secure her first win with a TKO decision in the second round.
Training in martial arts since she was five years old, Kelly said all the blood, sweat, and tears over the last decade finally paid off.
“It’s awesome, it is hard work but it’s worth it in the end,” said Kelly.
Now sitting with a winning record, the teenager said the experience of fighting at home in her kickboxing debut will provide valuable lessons moving forward.
“It will help me with some things if I didn’t do something [correct],” she said. “But, it will also help motivate me more.”
Medicine Hat kickboxer Talia St. Jacques (3-0) was also a big winner on Saturday, needing just 63 seconds to defeat Bernadette Nikkari (1-2) by TKO in the co-main event.
SACA’s Calen Anton (1-0) won his first career bout in the 150 pound kickboxing division, winning by referee’s decision following the second round versus Winnipeg’s Oliver Bucher (0-1).
Local Muay Thai veteran Ian Hildebrand saw his career record fall to 0-3 on Saturday night, after being knocked out by Deval Garvey (2-1) midway through the third round.
Ryan Clarke (0-1) had plenty of support from the Medicine Hat crowd in his kickboxing debut, but he ultimately fell to Calgary’s Kalsen Lono (1-0) by split decision.
And a loss for SACA’s Brendon Toderian (0-1) in his first career bout, dropping a three-round decision to Jacob Moran (1-0) by way of TKO.
