Muay Thai Grand Prix delivered an action-packed night of Muay Thai and Kickboxing on Saturday. The memorable night of action, which took place at the Olympia Hall in Liverpool, also featured the very first ‘Road to ONE’ tournament in the UK.
The first half of the tournament bracket saw the first two quarter-final bouts take place in Merseyside on Saturday. In the first quarter-final, Ireland’s Craig Coakley faced tough Swedish fighter Kim Falk.
Coakley, who was coming off a huge MTGP World title victory over Panicos Yusuf in April, was full of confidence going into this bout. Despite Kim Falk’s reputation, Coakley dominated the bout from start to finish. He picked the Swede apart with slick southpaw boxing combinations, knees and elbows. He also showed the quality of his fight IQ, as he used his lateral movement to close off the ring and attack from angles.
Credit to the Swedish star, who showed true heart and determination and also landed some glancing shots. He was caught in the third-round and took an eight count, though, which sealed the deal in a masterclass display for the Irishman, Craig Coakley.
Immediately after Craig Coakley vs Kim Falk, it was the second quarter-final bout between Amro Ghanem and Natty Dodds. Dodds came out with intent from the first bell, landing some huge combinations on the Team Tieu fighter. After receiving two early eight counts, the referee waved the fight off.
Natty Dodds earned a first-round TKO victory and advances to the semi-final of the ‘Road to ONE’ Bantamweight Muay Thai tournament, where he will face Craig Coakley.
The second half of the tournament bracket is set to kick-off on October 1. The two quarter-final bouts taking place at MTGP Sheffield will see Nathan Bendon vs Shaq Davies and George Mouzakitis vs Brian Totty Jnr.
A date for the semi-final bouts has not yet been released. Stay tuned to FightRecord.co.uk for further updates on this story and much more.