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Don’t make Liam Harrison mad by kneeing him in the face!

The Main Event – Event City, Trafford Centre, Manchester England.

UK's Liam Harriosn takes a big knee from Andrei Kulebin of Belarus

I got the feeling that Belarussian Legend of the Muay Thai world really pissed off Liam Harrison when he smashed him right in the face with a big brutal left knee.

Harrison retaliated by stepping up another gear and then utterly demolishing his world class opponent with a Low Kick to the thigh of such brutal force it ended the fight instantly and 3 minutes later Kulebin’s left leg above the knee was twice the size of the right one.

Liam Harrison no stranger to legendary status himself, was clearly overjoyed with his nights work as he made the Belarussion with over a 100 fights to his name look in a different class to himself. Harrison known for his big left hook is equally at home with the kicking side of the business of Muay Thai and I can only wonder at the world of pain Kulebin must have been in the next day as he was clearly struggling to stand up as his left leg continued to balloon up when the trophies were handed out.

What next for Harrison who has been in the ring with anyone who matters in Thailand, and now needs more challengers from world class western fighters? Whoever the opponent is, he will be a welcome addition to the next Main Event in October 2012, watch this space!

See all the images of the Main Event here, buy downloads and prints.

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Carlos Condit take home pay $110,000 UFC 143

Carlos "Natural Born Killer" Condit

So Carlos Condit pocketed a cool $110,000 for his nights work at UFC 143 after a points win over moody banger Nick Diaz. Am I in the minority that seems to agree with that decision? I actually only saw the fight from the end of the second round onwards. And from what I saw he clearly won the three full rounds I witnessed, so for me in a 5 round fight that’s a victory.

I am a big fan of Diaz and his balls to the wall dont give a f*** attuitude and fighting style. But Condit was cleaner, crisper showed great range and technique as opposed to Nick Diaz’s walk forward “I’m gonna knock you out” strategy.

As Uncle Dana says “dont leave it to the judges!”

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Ally McCrae

Just got this in off Geo Thomson an artist known in the MMA comunity who does amazing large scale paintings of iconic moments from the UFC fight archives.

Geo asked me some time ago if i could kindly supply him with a photograph of Scottish MMA Fighter Ally McCrae he had seen somewhere. He sent me the link to my pic, and it was a nice photo i took of Ally walking towards the cage at the OMMAC MMA show in Liverpool in early 2011, for his fight with local favourite and rising MMA star Pietro Menga.

Ally wasnt particluarly nervous, or anxious and seemed to be taking it all in his stride, the photo was pretty cool as OMMAC use some great lights and smoke effects when the fighters walk to the Cage. Although Ally lost the fight, he was still smiling at the end of it and gave a good account of himself.

Ally died later in 2011, in an unfortunate accident at work where he worked in an Abbatoir where beleive it or not, a dead bull fell on him. I guess it was a fight with a mammoth heavyweight he couldn’t hope to win, and it was a tragic loss for his family and friends for someone who looked like he liked to live life to the max.

Geo Thompson used this photo to create a large painting for Ally’s family which was completed this week. RIP Ally McCrae.

: Ally McCrae v Pietro Menga – OMMAC Liverpool MMA Show 2011

Ally McCrae v Pietro Menga - OMMAC Liverpool MMA Show 2011

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Muay Thai Image of the Week – Week 1

Welcome to my first Muay Thai image of the week! This is week 1, and i will try and upload one every week. If i dont manage it i’ll try upload 2 the next week. Hopefully this time next year there will be 52 images in here with some brief words about all from me.

Clinch training at Keatkhamtorn Gym

Muay Thai Boxers at Keatkhmatorn Gym, Bangkok

It must be a tough life being a kid in a Professional Thai Boxing camp in Thailand. Hours of training every day split into two sessions with a long morning run to start off the day followed by round after round of padwork, bagwork and sparring. Clinch training doest look like much but can be draining beyond belief if you experience it first hand.

Clinch work is a strange mixture of secret little moves, techniques, superior balance, feints and twists and clever footwork that put together with strength and stamina can result in 80kg Westerners being thrown around like rag dolls by Thai boys such as the ones in this photo. If you try to out muscle them they hang off your neck until your legs begin to weaken and then your turned, kneed and flipped before you know whats happened. Followed of course by the trademark Thai smiles as you look up like a fool.

Keatkhamtorn Gym in the outskirts of Bangkok is a strong fighters gym with a good stable of top stadium fighters known for their dominant clinch work pefected by round after round of practice at the end of an already gruelling training session. The tricks of the trade and all the subtle intricacies are passed down from fighter to trainer to fighter and so on.

This image is a typical one in most professioanl thai camps. Fighters bathed in sweat after a long training session, under 40 degree heat of the stifling Bangkok climate, drilling techniques trying to get the domiant position so they can unleash knees or elbows on each other.

EXIF Canon EOS 1D Mark III, 50mm, iso 3200, 1/80sec

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Gong Kakutogi Magzine

Received the copy of Gong Kakutogi Magazine that my photos from UFC 123 of Michihiro Omigawa appeared in.

As you can see its all in Japanese so i have no idea what its saying. The only bit of English being my name at the very top.

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UFC 138 – Omigawa and Vaughan Lee warm up

Michihiro Omigawa warming up UFC 138 Birmingham UK

Vaughan Lee UFC Debut warming up UFC 138

So since i was shooting UFC 138 Leben v Munoz for japanese MMA mega mag Gong Kakutogi i thought i’d see if i could sneak behind the scens and get some shots of Japanese Fighter Michihiro Omigawa warming up. As luck would have it he was in the first curtained area i wandered into. Along with the awesome brit Vaughan Lee whom i have photographed before at OMMAC i rattled off a couple of shots.

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Fighter or Musician?

Well Maybe Both, and not many people can say that can they?

Hanky Park’s James ‘Shinny” Davenport – professional boxer and front man to Indie Rock Band from Salford, warming up and doing a rehearsal for the Rumble at the Reebok 4, Muay Thai Fight Night at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton UK

James 'Shinny" Davenport of Hanky Park

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Its nearly time to Rumble!

This weekend sees one of the highlights of the European Muay Thai Calander. Rumble at the Reebok 4 promises to be another night of intense Muay Thai Action with the production values of a fight event rarely seen outside of a UFC. The Rumble has it all! brilliant fights, amazing production, dancers, indoor fireworks, 100 decibel bangs, flashes, sword girls, 10 foot flames, booming sound system, lasers, smoke, fire, international Muay Thai opponents, Girls title fights, Thai fighters , UK legends of the sport, stunning ring girls, up and coming UK superstars, UFC stars in attendance, the cream of UK thai boxing, blood, guts, cuts, knock outs, high kicks, low kicks, hard five rounders, close decisions, split decisions, clashes of styles, great sponsors (get your gear from www.fightshop.com!), what more can you ask for?

Muay Thai Fighter Lucy Payne makes her way to the ring - Rumble at The Reebok 3

The Rumble at the Reebok 1 was the first fight show I photographed back in May 2009 and as the Official Photographer on all the Rumble events i am going to have to pull the stops out for this one. New to the Rumble this time is a live band: Salford’s very own Hanky Park with frontman “Shinny” a former pro boxer to add to the half time entertainment mix.

Final Fight Card

(Click on the image to enlarge)

Rumble at the Reebok 4 - Fight Card

Daitan Jackson of Salford Muay Thai - Fights for British Title Belt on RATR 4

Click on the image above or here to see my gallery from RATR 3.

Tickets available online from www.fightshop.com, hurry there isnt many left.

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BAMMA Post Fight Interviews

In between the fights BAMMA had me running back to an interview room to get a coupe of shots of the fighters straight after the fight was over and just before their interviews, he’s a couple of shots that stood out for me as capturing the emotions that must go through their minds after a war in the cage.

John Phillips contemplates defeat to Frank Trigg

John Phillips contemplates defeat

An emotional Joao Paulo De Souza

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BAMMA 6 Weigh Ins

I was asked last minute to do the weigh in pics for BAMMA 6, due to official BAMMA photographer Lee Whitehead still on a plane flying back from China. No Problem at all! that is until Mauricio Shogun Rua former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion went and accidentally spilt load of chocolate milk down the back of my suit trousers. I was going to give him a slap but he was very apologetic so i let him off.

For the rest of the weigh in photos visit the Fightshop Facebook Page here

Murilo "Ninja" Rua