MMHK 5/9 to 5/15: Badr Hari Returns in Lyon, Muay Thai in France and the US

Banner image provided by Anton Tabuena

This week's edition of Monday Morning Head Kicks is here. Things picked up a bit this week, as It's Showtime Lyon provided kickboxing some real excitement. Top heavyweights Badr Hari, Tyrone Spong, and Daniel Ghita were all in action, as was 70 kg. kingpin Giorgio Petrosyan. Elsewhere, Thai Fight Extreme 2011 France played hosted to the likes of Buakaw Por. Pramuk, Yodsanklai Fairtex, Sudsakorn Sor. Klinmee, Saiyok Pumpanmuang, and Fabio Pinca. American Muay Thai upstart Lion Fight Promotions hosted the second edition of their Battle in the Desert series, which saw Cosmo Alexandre make his American debut and some big happenings in American Muay Thai more generally.

As always, my focus here will be kickboxing and Muay Thai (MMA will surely pop up now and then). Those sports have a global presence but remain underreported, so if you have news related to fighters and events from your part of the world, chime in. Use the fanpost function on the front page; I'd like to feature some of our reader's thoughts here but they need to be shown first.

I would also like to get some more feedback about what other things should be incorporated in this series specifically. Any ideas for improvement, gripes about omissions or stories being underreported, and general statements on how things look can be left in the comments, emailed to me, or communicated any other way you see fit. Also, since Twitter is what the kids are doing, here you go: @thedutchbaby.

Stories of the Week

It's Showtime Lyon Delivers: Great card from the Netherlands-based promotion. You can check out our play-by-play here. Also, expect some discussion regarding some of the event's bigger names in the very near future.

As big as the names were at Saturday's event in Lyon, the honest truth is that I would expect an even better showing next weekend in Amsterdam. Plus fans have that new television deal with HDNet to look forward to.

Thai Fight Goes as Expected in Cannes: France really had it this week, as Thai Fight also came to town and offered a solid event in Cannes. Check for the results post here.

Buakaw, Sudsakorn, Yodsanklai, Saiyok... they all won. The only unexpected thing that really happened was Fabio Pinca getting cut by Yuya Yamato in the second round of their bout.

American Muay Thai Shines at Battle in the Desert 2: Kevin Ross retained his WBC Muay Thai title. Ky Hollenbeck picked up a WBC title. Cosmo Alexandre made a successful debut stateside and, as he's training over here full-time now between Massachusetts and Florida, he could be a real asset in the American scene. Quick event recap here - make sure to visit Muay Thai Authority as well.

Hesdy Gerges is Free: It's true. He's back on It's Showtime's May 21st card. I can tell you that the folks at Chakuriki are quite happy about this, as we should all be as fans.

Fight Announcements

It's Showtime Fast and Furious Five 70 KG. MAX Tournament: Okay, so not a fight announcement necessarily, but look at this: an eight-man 70 kg. tournament set for September 24th in Brussels, Belgium. Competitors? Giorgio Petrosyan, promotional champion Chris Ngimbi, Andy Souwer, Artur Kyshenko, Gago Drago, Murat Direkci, Harut Grigorian, and Pajonsuk. Insane.

Ondrej Hutnik vs. Redouan Cairo: Ondrej Hutnik was originally supposed to be squaring off against Dzenan Poturak on May 27th. I haven't seen any word on why exactly Poturak pulled out of the fight, but either way we've got Cairo in now. Redouan Cairo should have a little buzz behind him coming off of a title win against Romanian prospect Andrei Stoica (video of that is below).

Dzhabar Askerov vs. Bovy Sor. Udomson: Looks like this will be one of the feature bouts at a Thailand vs. Challenger Series event on July 23rd in Bangkok. It looks like this card will yield a few interesting bouts.

Fight videos, results from the week and more after the jump.

Fight Videos

Chris Ngimbi vs. Willy Borrel - It's Showtime 2011 Lyon, May 14th in Lyon, France

Why you should watch: Well, Chris Ngimbi is the It's Showtime champion at 70 kg. He also hits people with highlight reel type strikes. Flying knee knockouts are something he excels at, as you will see here.

Sudsakorn Sor. Klinmee vs. Abdallah Mabel - Thai Fight Extreme 2011 France, May 14th in Cannes, France

Why you should watch: High level Muay Thai here, even if Sudsakorn tends to cruise a bit here as he's outclassing Mabel. What's more, both are in the quarterfinals of Fight Code's 72.5 kg. tournament so there's an outside chance that we could see them fight again soon.

Kongsak Sitboonmee vs. Sam-A Kaiyanghadaogym - Lumpinee Stadium event, May 10th in Bangkok, Thailand

Why you should watch: This is the pinnacle of 125 lb. action right now in Muay Thai.

Redouan Cairo vs. Andrei Stoica - K-1 Rules Kickboxing in Monaco, April 30th in Monte Carlo, Monaco

Why you should watch: Andrei Stoica entered this title bout as one of the biggest prospects in kickboxing. Redouan Cairo went out there and took out the Romanian, plain and simple. Redouan has put in a fair amount of work in the Netherlands... now it's not so much about watching for Cairo rather than Stoica, but there's another good fighter to look out for.

Hicham Boubkari vs. Miles Simson - A Night to Remember, May 7th in Hilversum, Netherlands

Why you should watch: Hicham Boubkari had a good, somewhat scrappy bout against fellow prospect Yassin Lahmidi last December, ultimately walking away the winner. Both he and Miles Simson put up a decent showing in this bout.

Interviews

Ky Hollenbeck with Muay Thai Authority After WBC Title Win