Mitch ‘The Dragon’ Chilson wins featherweight mixed martial arts title

By Dr Low Sze Sen/Red Sports

Resorts World Sentosa, Thursday, May 13, 2010 – In ancient mythology, the dragon was seen chasing the sun across the sky and devouring it. Singapore-based Mitch ‘The Dragon’ Chilson did likewise when he exhausted the power of ‘Lightning’ Zhang Jing Xiong when he subdued him in the fourth round to win the coveted Featherweight Martial Combat Champion’s Belt.

The pugilists were evenly matched in height and weight and with equal measure of endurance, speed and agility. The match lasted through to the fourth round but early in the first round, Zhang committed a foul when he kneed Chilson in the groin. That took the wind out of Chilson whose facial grimace showed through as he doubled up in pain. Wisely, he made use of the statutory five minutes afforded him for such an infringement to compose himself and focus on the task at hand.

There were many exchanges of punches to the face and torso by both men as each continued to slug it out on the canvas and up against the chain-linked cage fencing.
Cries from both team corners were relentless in egging their fighters on to the ultimate fight prize.

By the end of the third round Chilson had exacted revenge on his opponent as the bruising and swelling on Zhang’s face became noticeable, and his nose began to bleed. A report later confirmed that Zhang had suffered a facial fracture in his maxillary bone.

Chilson’s knock out right hook that floored Zhang came in the fourth round and the crowds were up on their feet as they witnessed a historic win for Singapore.

His trainers and supporters from Evolve Fight Team were ecstatic as Chilson triumphantly declared, “I was born for this!”

Another exciting match up was between the MMA veteran American David ‘The Fox’ Gardner and the South Korean ‘Dragonball’ Doo Jae Jung. In a match that lasted the full three rounds, the American’s experience and tenacity got him the unanimous decision of the judges. However, it wasn’t all one-sided as Gardner took several direct punches to the jaw but they seemed not to deliver the desired effect for the Korean.

The first bout between Kevin ’The Silencer’ Belingon from the Philippines and Ngoo Ditty from Thailand was a one-sided affair. Soon after Belingon took Ditty down onto the canvas, the fight was stopped because the Thai apparently was not retaliating and was receiving punishing punches from the Filipino.

The heavyweight bout between Yang ‘The Protégé’ Yu Cun of China and ‘The Korean Bear’ Joon Soo Lim of South Korea lasted just inside one round. Despite their heavy frames (both weighing in at around 110kg a piece), the agility of their high kicks drew gasps from the crowd. Victory went to the Korean Bear with an arm-bar submission hold on Yang.

This was an occasion when a doctor of the medical team from Changi General Hospital Sports Medicine was summoned to assess the severity of the forced joint injury. Yang had his elbow dislocated but fortunately was able to reduce the injury himself before leaving the cage.

In another bout, ‘The Destroyer’ Zhang Jian Jun of China confidently overcame his opponent ‘Bulldog’ Abhijeet Petkar of India in the first round with a Kimura submission hold. Zhang was an instant crowd pleaser with his warrior poses reminiscent of the movie ‘300’ executed before and after his contest.

The evening of high-octane martial arts combat ended with a euphoric crowd heaping praises and accolades as they followed our champion around the ballroom. This should bode well for Resorts World Sentosa as they continue to host MMA fight nights twice a month for the next 5 months.

13 May 2010 Bouts

Flyweight
Kevin ‘The Silencer’Belingon (Philippines) beat Ngoo ‘The Indomitable’ Ditty (Thailand)

Heavyweight
‘Korean Bear’ Joon Soo Lim (S.Korea) beat Yang ‘The Protégé’ Yu Cun (China)

Lightweight
David ‘The Fox’ Gardner (USA) beat Doo ‘Dragonball’ Jae Jung (S.Korea)

Cruiserweight
Zhang ‘The Destroyer’ Jian Jun (China) beat Abhijeet Petkar (India)

Main event Superfight
Featherweight
Mitch ‘The Dragon’ Chilson (Singapore) beat ‘Lightning’ Zhang Jing Xiong (Taiwan)

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