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 Mark: "To kick off this press conference I'm happy to say that Lumpinee 9 broke a couple Lumpinee (KT) records. Lumpinee 9 was our most successful event to date in terms of revenue and event rating according to the critics. Being honest, this is the first event we managed to break a profit since I joined as co-owner. Sadly we didn't beat the attendance of Lumpinee 3 which had 993 people attending but we managed an impressive 911.
From those I was talking, they were very impressed with the quality of the fights and the overall event. It's a credit to the staff here at Lumpinee (KT) who give 110% to ensure we have a successful org, so a big thanks to them all. The Of the Night awards were kindly picked out by Sully in case anyone haven't seen the winners here's a quick reminder:
jhinh, on 21 Mar 2016 - 12:48 AM, said:
(Via The Junior Grand Master of KT II thread)
James "Sully" McGuiness (237725)
(Participant of The Island Season 2. Former MMA and KT Fighter.
Owner of Sully's Bar & Grill on The Island)
Congrats to Bruce Luis and Hadi Ozturk who put on another barnburner in t heir rematch to earn Fight of the Night honours.
KO of the Night goes to Duke McStoner, who also on top of his KO of the Night bonus earned himself a cool $100k with his awesome Spinning Backfist KO to open the night (Courtesy of GBK16 and Max Octane who paid $50k each).
I must admit that I fully agree with the winner of the KO of the Night award and I felt the Ozturk vs Luis fight was probably the best fight on the card but I feared I was being biased so I spoke with my fellow co-owner Conor The Kind about it along with Sully and between the three of us we unanimously decided that it was the Fight of the Night.
From what I've heard, it seems that McStoner is a fan of the "spinny shit" and so hopefully this wont be the only time we'll seen a spinning KO from him, I think he's also a big fan of the money he earned from that KO. I heard he's already planned what he's going to do with it *laughs*. I also want to congratulate Grigoriy Chirkash who knocked out Benson Randolf to earn himself a cool $25k.
Reporter: "Hi Mark, could you tell us whether or not there's any plans to see Lodbrok, Luis, Ozturk or Nichols back in the Lumpinee (KT) ring in the near future?"
Mark: "Firstly, I want to say a big thanks to all 4 of these fighters, I feel they really helped the event and I can't thank them enough for that, all four of them have a strong following in the world of KT. I know for sure Luis is interested in returning to fight again. He said if I get a fight lined up for him he'd be up for it. As for Lodbrok, I'm honestly not sure. I'd love to have him back.
Hadi Ozturk is managed by myself and whilst he didn't get the win tonight, he had fun and I think he'd be fine with fighting here a couple more times providing I can get match ups for him. Nichols is a strange one, I haven't heard from the manager in a while and apparently he didn't show up to watch the fight. I feel sorry for Nichols but it looks like he's got to find a new manager before his future will be decided."
Reporter: "As manager of Bolkiah, you must have been delighted to see him win in that kind of fashion."
Mark: "Of course! Not often you see a front kick KO and having a fighter under my management get one in a tournament was a kick ass moment for me. That's two KOs within the first minute, the kid certainly has KO power and I feel he's got a good chance of winning this tournament if he can keep getting these kind of KOs."
Reporter: "Would you say Bolkiah is your favourite for the HW tournament? Who is your favourite for the MW tournament?"
Mark: "I wouldn't say Bolkiah is the favourite for the tournament, I am confident in his abilities as his manager and I feel he's got a great chance but as an organisation owner I feel the favourite would have to be Pepe Apolo. That dude has looked scary in his fights. Don't get me wrong, I still feel Bolkiah has a great chance and could give Apolo a run for his money and definitely test his chin.
For the MW tournament, it has to be Duke McStonner at this time. How could you not have him as a favourite after that kick ass KO?! That's a highlight reel finish and one we'll be showing time and time again."
Reporter: "I know you've already spoken about GAMMA: Muay Thai in the past but do you feel threatened by them? Isn't there a risk they could be the next big KT org?"
Mark: "Of course there's a chance of them being a the next big KT org but really that'll only happen if we're not around. We're going places, we've got a good foundation to build upon and Lumpinee 9 showed we're moving in the right direction. I wish them all the best but judging by how the KT world has been in the past I doubt there'll be enough fighters for both GAMMA: Muay Thai and Lumpinee (KT) to survive, I hope I'm wrong because I'd love to see our fighters compete against other."
Reporter: "What's your thoughts on the change of ownership at EFFA?"
Mark: "I wasn't about the new owners whenever Bob stepped down, I just had a nervous feeling about them because I don't think they had any prior experience of running an organisation and it looks like it wasn't for them. As for Aaron ThaiGuy, honestly I don't think EFFA could have gotten a better owner. Me and Aaron go back to our days of being in the same alliance but that's not why I feel he's the best owner for the job, Hadi Ozturk got his big break under my management fighting in Aaron's old KT organisation and from what I heard his old org was a favourite among the KT fans. I wish him all the best and I know EFFA is in safe hands.
That's all I have time for today. If you haven't seen my Buzz already about the main event for Lumpinee 10, it's a big one. We got the Middleweight title on the line and two big Lumpinee (KT) names fighting for the belt: Fleece Johnson vs Gary Baxter. Both guys have been completely dominant in their respective divisions and I had to ask Baxter to change weight division with there being a new ID restriction in place for the LHW division, so he dropped down to MW and because he was so dominant at LHW, I felt he should fight Johnson who has been undefeated since signing to Lumpinee. Both guys have KO power and while Baxter has never been beaten before, I know for sure Johnson will be the biggest test to date for Baxter, I can't wait for this one and I hope you guys can't too!"
Fleece Johnson vs Gary Baxter
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