To see a slideshow of photos from Friday’s event, please click here.
Nanaimo’s Nick Hinchliffe was best on the battlefield, winning the main event in fight-of-the-night fashion.
Hinchliffe defeated Bastien Huveneers on Friday to cap off Battlefield Fight League’s BFL 15 mixed martial arts card at the Port Theatre. The Nanaimo Impact MMA fighter won by unanimous decision after the two combatants traded punches for three rounds.
“It showed a lot of people that not only am I a fighter to be reckoned with, but I’m one tough son of a [gun] to take all those punches and keep going,” said Hinchliffe.
Huveneers took even more punishment, and was almost knocked out at the end of the first round before being saved by the horn.
“Most of those strikes that Nick landed would have dropped any of the other opponents that Nick’s fought, but Bastien is just a really tough guy,” said John Punt, Impact MMA trainer.
Hinchliffe said he tried to keep his composure throughout the fight and not get drawn into a brawl.
“I listened to my corner and as soon as I realized what I was doing, I got back to keeping my hands tight, throwing my nice jabs, putting some kicks in there, trying to mix it up a bit,” he said.
The three action-packed rounds had some fans calling for another Hinchliffe-Huveneers fight, but it won’t happen, at least not right away, said Punt. Friday’s win earns Hinchliffe (19-8) a welterweight title shot in BFL, and the Nanaimo fighter will also consider working with other promotions.
“Whoever’s next, put ’em in front of me and let’s go,” he said.
The semi-main event Friday saw Marcus Aurelio finish Matt Dwyer 30 seconds into Round 1. The pace was frenzied until the capoeira fighter Aurelio slammed Dwyer to the mat hard enough to knock the Kelowna fighter out.
“For all the non-believers that thought capoeira was just a dance, I’m here to prove it wrong,” said Aurelio. “If you’ve got a problem, come up with me in a cage.”
One of the highlights of the undercard saw Nanaimo Impact MMA’s Eli Wyse defeat Morgan Bentley with an armbar in the third round of their amateur fight.
“I had the armbar locked, I just didn’t know why it wasn’t breaking… I finally heard it pop,” said Wyse.
The Nanaimo fighter was in clear control for all three rounds.
“Eli’s game was complete in that fight,” said Punt. “He showed great grappling, great wrestling and great striking, the whole works, and his cardio was excellent.”
The young fighter Wyse (5-2) has built an impressive amateur record but said he isn’t considering turning pro yet.
Matt Lockard represented Nanaimo’s Pure Self Defence in the first match of the night and lost to George Al-Shomali in a split decision that the fans didn’t agree with.
Another highlight of Friday’s card was Shawn Albrecht’s first-round KO of Baz Cunningham. After the two had been grappling on the mat, Albrecht got to his feet and delivered a punch that knocked Cunningham cold.
Also, Saeid Mirzaei stopped Zach Zacharias with a D’Arce choke 43 seconds into Round 1, Curtis Harriot submitted Herbert Moon via triangle choke in Round 2 and Craig Maclean won a controversial split decision over Johnny Twofeathers.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
