Quick thoughts+ Some legit fun fights/fighters.
+ Even in subpar fights, all the fighters at least gave spirited efforts.
+ Ionuț Iancu - the tournament winner - is a fun brawler. He should definitely lose at least 10kgs of flab if he wants to get anywhere in the sport, but he did well tonight.
+ Corbeanu/Petrișor was a high-paced, fun fight with some great knee knockdowns, the first one being so fast I didn't see what connected until the replay.
+ Iancu/Lătescu had some fun exchanges. Lătescu really ate some wild hooks and was only knocked down once in the second round.
+ Good safety precautions. All staff members were wearing masks including the ref. Even Adegbuyi who was co-commentating was wearing one. The crowd was very small (~100 people) and most attendants were wearing masks as well. Ring girls were showing round signs from outside the ring. Event was outdoors.
+ The ring announcer is called Mike Diamondz. Also Lungu ref.
- The co-main event - a Boxing bout - was way too clinchy for my liking. And being an 8 rounder, it really killed a lot of the momentum going into the tournament final. It was probably strategically placed there to give the finalists some rest, but it just wasn't a fun fight. Fortunately it only lasted for 4 rounds.
- Virtually no starpower. Most tournament participants seemed to have just a handful of pro fights and at times it really showed.
- Tournament fights had 2 minute rounds for some reason.
- Very few actual heavyweights in the HW tournament. A lot of blown up middleweights with a good appetite.
- The usual slopiness with certain production aspects; 2 minute rounds sometimes had a 3 minute counter and then 'suddenly' stopped after 2. Commercial breaks overlapping with the beginning of fights for at least a few seconds on multiple occasions.
Overall this was an okay event that probably got more attention than it would have in a normal year.
The circumstances we have to deal with globablly make me more forgiving when it comes to some of the shortcoming of this event and it was cool to watch a kickboxing event again without having to worry due to the solid safety measures.
For anyone who missed the event DFS announced on their Facebook page the event would hit YouTube maybe an hour after its conclusion.
Just keep an eye on their channel:
www.youtube.com/channel/UCTxby3wnUBxOTkRK5gmHQww
