La Croix knocks out Bajan in MMA

SHERDON PIERRE

Brandon La Croix silenced the packed crowd at the Sir Garfield Sobers Sports Complex, Bridgetown, Barbados on Friday evening, knocking out Bajan Sheldon Jones in the main event of the Spartan Caribbean Fighting Championship Professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Cage Fights.

The main event – the only bout to reach three rounds – did not disappoint the supporters except for the result.

The 28 year old muscularly built Jones was the aggressor at the start of the match but La Croix landed a few a shots to end the first round. Heading into the final round, Jones recorded 30 points while La Croix totalled 27 points. However, from the sound of the bell for the finale, La Croix took control against his tiring opponent.

He landed lots of reversals and venomous counter-attacking hits, resulting in a knockout victory just two minutes into the final round.

Speaking after his victory, the elated 22 year old said, “Coming into the match I tried not to think about ‘Ring-rust’ because this was my first fight in two years. I had to fight hard to show that I had more determination in this ring. I had to get this win because I dislike losing, I’m too competitive and Sheldon had to go down today. Now I am 4-0!”

Draped in his national flag, he continued, “First time I stepped up (to) the middleweight (division), so adjusting to the power was a bit difficult, but I adjusted and went back to all the training I did in the last few weeks and it showed in the final round.” He believes that his next fight will be in December later this year.

In an undercard bout, TT’s Camron Sandy only needed two minutes to win via knockout against his Bajan opponent Dale Marshall. Following his comfortable victory, Sandy said, “The fight was a bit of a challenge for me, having to drop from 160 pounds to 145 pounds and having 24 hours to rehydrate. Overall, it was a great fight, my opponent was prepared to take the fight to the ground, while I was focused on my stand-up game. It worked out well for me. In the end, the fight ended with a TKO but I would have liked for it to go all the way.”

TT’s Randy Sooknarine and Omar Smith won as a result of no-shows while Larry Paponette lost to Barbadian Anthony Snagg (welterweight). Also losing from TT were David Martin to Guyanese Kumi Israel (flyweight) and Naomi Fraser to Dakoda Walkes in the women’s flyweight.