Dudes, if you guys didn’t know, one of most righteous, raddest, most outrageously awesome, positive homies on the planet calls Stay Fly Muay Thai his home. I’m talking about the Juggernaut himself, Mr. Kenny Jones.
This dude is a fighter, in the truest sense of the word. He got in the ring on short notice last Friday, after fighting only a couple short weeks ago on an exciting dominant performance and beautiful display of Muay Thai. That fight ultimately ended in a TKO after a couple brutal rounds of pretty technique being executed by the dude with the longest legs I know.
This past Friday, Kenny stepped up to fight ad the MAIN EVENT (are we seeing a trend?) on the longest running Muay Thai event in North America. Friday Night Fights is one of the premier events in the country, and our boy was asked to step up on short notice to be the MAIN EVENT.
He fought a great fight and dominated the action. He put his opponent down with a horrific head kick in round 2. The fight was kind of sort of stopped, but ultimately the fight would continue.
His opponent showed massive heart by sticking in there for all 5 rounds and putting up one hell of a fight, but Kenny was just too much to handle, and won the decision.
I’m so proud of this homeboy. For any of you who know his story, he’s an amazing testament to human perseverance and I’m proud to have him on my team in the ring and in life.
I want to just make sure all of you homeboys and homegirls know that there is a big fight this weekend, right in our hometown!!!
And guess what?….Guess who is the MAIN EVENT!?
That’s right! Our very own Big Handsome Mike Rakay will be stepping in the ring this Saturday night at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia. He will be defending his USKA Cruiserweight title against a very tough Brazilian opponent who trains in Richmond, VA.
Also on the card is Kevin “Yang” Rhoades, who is fresh off his victory a few weeks ago in Carona Queens, NY.
Tickets to this event are $45 and available at Stay Fly Muay Thai.
Because he’s a big deal, fighting as the MAIN EVENT and the current reigning and defending WORLD CHAMPION, MyMMAnews asked him if he could fit an interview in with them to talk about the fight.
Boy, do we have some exciting updates at Stay Fly!
We are expanding our schedule. Included in our new schedule will be a 7:30 Strength and Conditioning class and Muay Thai classes that will be held simultaneously. We will have a few new coaches teaching some classes geared to teaching our members some tools to make them bigger, stronger, faster, better versions of themselves. I’m excited for this addition.
Classes will be small as they start, so utilize them to get the extra attention from coaches.
Monday and Thursday night will be led by a new face at Stay Fly, a Strength and Conditioning powerhouse with lots of experience working with fight sports, Shawn Langdon.
Tuesday night will be an introduction to Olympic Weightlifting with Creed WLC’s Daniel Sandoval.
Wednesday will continue to be a Kettlebell focused class run by Kik.
We will hold a simultaneous Muay Thai class on the main mat space at 7:30 Monday-Thursday with a specific concentration each night. Check the new schedule online to see all the updates.
Be sure to check in to class on the app.
Howdy party animals,
It’s been a pretty hectic week, but last weekend was absolutely BANANAS!!!
It was one of those weekends that made me realize how much I love this game and that I’m really willing to do a ton to have as much of an impact in this sport as possible.
On Friday, I headed up to Lion Fight in Connecticut for Lion Fight. The trip took just about 5
1/2 hours door to door. It had been worse, but certainly had been better getting up to the Foxwoods resort. I had been asked by Petch Banchamek to work the corner of the main event of the night. He would take on Jo Nattuwat for the Lion Fight 155 lb title. It was an absolute honor be asked to work the corner of the biggest event in North America for the main event and coach a fighter with almost 400 professional fights and a list of accomplishments under his many, many belts.
As expected the fight was a beautiful display of Muay Thai. It was amazing to be 3 feet outside the ropes and witness that level of mastery firsthand. It made me want to be better. Though many (including myself) thought that Petch did enough to win the fight, the decision was awarded to Jo, and he retained the Lion Fight title belt.
The next morning, I was scheduled to teach a seminar at Renzo Gracie, PA in Hatfield. I had to make the trip home after the fights to get back to get some sleep. I said some hellos to a few friends at the after party, and got back on the road around half-past midnight to get home around 5:00 AM. I woke up and got up to Hatfield to show the dudes whats up. It was a good turnout of a solid crew of students and fighters to learn some new stuff. I showed them a few of my favorite drills, talked some shop, told a couple stories, and said goodbye to the crew. It was a pretty great time, actually.
Next, I hustled back to Philly to snag Mike, Aaron, and Julia, so we could head up to Queens, NY and watch Kenny and Kevin do their thing.
Almost 4 hours later, we got to the event, and met the boys, who had weighed in comfortably and were getting ready to do the deed.
Kevin was up first, but still much later in the card, 9th out of 20 fights. He looked great in his fight, cleanly landing beautiful technique throughout the fight. He slowed a bit halfway through the fight, but caught his wind and finished strong. It was a dominating performance from Kevin, who is quickly improving every time he steps in the ring. That was his 3rd fight in the matter of a couple short months, and he’ll be competing again in 2 weeks on the USKA card in South Philly.
The co-main event of the evening was our tallest of homeboys, Mr Kenny “Juggernaut” Jones. He came out hard and RIPPED his opponent with a body kick that caused his opponent to drop and actually wave his hands as if to say he did not want to continue. After a leisurely count to 9, the fighter showed that he wanted to continue, and the fight went on. Kenny used diligent basic technique and smashed his opponent for 2 rounds, before his coach threw in the towel before the last round would begin.
It was a great night for Stay Fly Muay Thai, who looked like some of the best technicians on a card stacked with fighters from some of the most respected gyms in the northeast. It made me proud to be their coach and see them do the work and represent us the way we want to be seen.
I’m proud of this thing that we’ve built. I’m proud of the people who fly our flag and show support. Thanks to all of you guys out there fighting the good fight. It means a lot.
On to the next one, which will be even before I can catch my breath.
A weekend filled with Muay Thai, and about 17 hours in the car…no better job in the world than this.
Come on out the the Broad Street Ballroom in Manhattan, NYC this Friday 8/11 to see our boys Isaac “Nosferatu” Glendening and Kenny “Juggernaut” Jones do their thing!
Tickets available at the gym. $45 general admission.
This event is always a great time. Come see one of the best shows in the East do what they do. It’s gonna be a good night of fights. See you dudes there. Wear your Stay Fly Gear!!!!
