Lions Roar Muay Thai 11/6 in Jamaica, NY

This Friday, three of our fighters stepped in the ring to represent Stay Fly Muay Thai at the No Retreat Fight Night hosted by Kru Willie Rivera’s Lions Roar Muay Thai. Set to do battle were Carly Onofrio, Ruem Tan, and Isaac Glendenning.

First up was Carly. This would be Carly’s third fight, second outside of a step up in weight class and experience at the WKA tournament this year. The fight started pretty even, with Carly getting the slight lead in the exchanges. She began landing clean kicks and following with strong punches. She tried to capitalize in the clinch, but her opponent’s balance was superior. Carly fell to the canvas a few times. She continues to put the pressure on as the fight progressed and began landing beautiful punches, strong right hands especially. It was a close, hard fight, but Carly was clearly the stronger fighter and won a unanimous decision. She has shown a strong will and a killer instinct that I think even surprised herself with. Her gas tank is great and she works hard to consistently get better. She’s going to continue to improve and I’m excited to see her progress.

Next up was Ruem Tan. Ruem has been training causally with Stay Fly for a little while now. He has one fight prior to coming to train with us. He’s a good athlete, who frustrated me when we spar, so I know he’ll be too much for a lot of the competition. His opponent was a much more experienced fighter with a perfect record of 4-0, including a professional rules fight in Thailand. It was no secret that this was going to be a tough fight, a step up for Ruem for sure. But I had faith in him.

The fight started a little slower than I had hoped. Ruem landed hard shots that shocked his opponent and broke his rhythm. When Ruem pushed the pace, he smashed his opponent with hard strikes. He squeaked out the first round. The second round, after we lit a fire under his butt in the corner, he came out lookin AWESOME. He ripped his opponent and landed beautiful strikes. As the round went on, his opponent caught Ruem with a couple good strikes and the nerves of the fight and discomfort of being hit slowed him down. His opponent pulled ahead at the end of round two. The third round, Ruem’s opponent used his experience to stay calm and adjust to Ruem’s style and he comfortable won the third round.

I can’t say enough how impressed I was with Ruem’s fight. He took a huge step up against a killer and brought it to him. Yeah, we wanted the win, but he looked awesome and has the bug to fight more now. I’m excited to see him fight again, especially after the immense improvement he has shown in the last couple of months.

Last up was Isaac Glendenning. Isaac is a new addition to the Stay Fly team, but an old friend of mine. Isaac isn’t a spring chicken. He’s not a natural athlete. But he works tirelessly on always improving. He’s had some tough fights and his record is anything but perfect, but he’s a hell of a Muay Thai technician, and he wants to challenge himself. His opponent was a very athletic dude who was game.

In the first round, Isaac did not look comfortable. He wishes his punches and forced the clinch and hung on too long. He was not off to a good start. But, In between rounds, he adjusted well and looked a million times better as the fight continued. His opponent was a strong athletic dude and it was hard for Isaac to keep up the pace. Isaac landed strong leg kicks, kicking under the leg and keeping his composure well. I’m really proud of him for making the adjustments during the fight and finishing well. It’s not an easy thing to stay in there when someone is hammering you. Making an adjustment and changing things up shows poise and composure that many people can’t often muster. It was not his night, but he’s a better fighter for fighting that fight and he’ll be back at it again soon. Of course I wish we could get him the w, but as my buddy Charlie Brennemen said, “if you’re gonna lose, you better learn”.

I’m super proud of these guys and girls. They’re awesome people and amazing fighters. It’s my pleasure to help them on their journey of self discovery through Muay Thai. I love them, and I’m a proud coach.

Muay Thai is really small specific thing in the world, and sometimes it doesn’t seem like it’s very important, but it’s my world. If I can help these dudes and dudettes learn a little about themselves and become better people and better fighters, I feel like I’ve done some good.
It’s my honor to help them on their way.