Scottish fighters held their own against tough foreign opponents at an international MMA and Muay Thai event at the weekend. The event, at Oran Mor, was a resounding success, with several exciting fights taking place.

The theme of the event was ‘Scotland versus the world’ and, although foreigners were able to win several fights, every Scot put in a commendable performance.

The venue was sold out for the 15-fight card, and the lively crowd saw young Scot Jordan Calder dismantle his opponent in the main event. 17-year-old Calder was in complete control against Irishman Aaron O’Callaghan, continuing his 10-fight unbeaten record as a pro.

The first round of the Muay Thai fight was fairly even, and the very aggressive O’Callaghan looked a good match for Calder, Griphouse gym member. Every round after that, Calder seemed to get better and better. In the third he landed a great combination, leading with a good punch before following it up with elbows and knees in the clinch.

A big front kick sent O’Callaghan to the canvas in the fourth round. Once back to his feet he merely received more punishment, taking an uppercut straight to the jaw and several big body shots from both punches and kicks.

Throughout the fight, Calder’s movement and speed were very impressive. The huge potential he has was clear to everyone in attendance, and he took the comfortable unanimous decision, although looked close to stopping his opponent at stages in the fight.

The penultimate bout before the main event was equally as exciting, when Michael Wiseman avenged his loss to Chris Moir with a well-deserved decision victory in their Muay Thai bout.

This was the second fight between the two, after the first was awarded Fight of the Night honours at a previous show, and only settled after an extra added round.

This time fighting under A-class rules at 67kg, a technical war ensued. Moir started the first round well, but Griphouse fighter Wiseman landed the more effective strikes, particularly with his front kicks.

A very close second round followed, before Wiseman dominated the third with great body-kick counters. Moir was then launched to the ground by a sweep on two occasions.

The final round was very fast-paced and intense, with Moir desperately trying to steal the victory, even throwing spinning elbows. In the end, Wiseman held out for the decision victory.

Brian Totty had the tough task of fighting the most international fighter on the card, a Thailand resident known as Joe Pos Team.

Although Griphouse fighter Totty came alive with a 5-6 punch combination of clean blows in the fourth round, he was comfortably beaten by Joe in a solid fight. Joe out-pointed Totty with the help of his stinging low leg kicks.

Although the main event saw Scotland defeat Ireland, both of the other two bouts between the Celtic nations went in favour of the visitors. The 66kg Mixed Martial Arts fight between Robert Whiteford and Neil McGuigan was one of the more dull fights on the card, with large portions of inactivity on the ground.

In each of the first two rounds, Whiteford looked to have a rear naked choke locked in, only for his opponent to spin around and take top position. The Irishman had clearly won the first two rounds, having stayed in top position for most of each round, and landed some ground and pound upon his opponent.

Although Whiteford did everything he could to try and finish the fight in the third, he was simply too tired to force the stoppage, and McGuigan won a decision victory.

Ireland also came out on top in the frantically-paced C-class women’s encounter between Scot Ailsa Currie of the Griphouse and Emma Pye of Ireland. The 55kg fight was a back-and-forth war, but Pye managed to get the better of Currie with some great knockdowns, effective leg kicks and powerful hooks.

To the credit of Currie, she kept coming forward for the entire fight, and didn’t accept defeat without a fight.

Scotland were also defeated by the ‘Auld Enemy’, in a clash between Andy Napier of Kombat Muay Thai and Juan Cervantes of the Faktory gym in England. Cervantes superior movement and kicks were enough to give him the decision victory in the 82kg fight.

However, Griphouse female fighter Asma Khurshid ensured England would not beat Scotland twice. Khurshid won a unanimous decision victory over Annete Fink, another Faktory gym member.  The first round of the fight was very close, before Khurshid began to dominate, landing jabs at will by the fourth round.

Having won and lost one against England, Scotland did the same against Holland. In a B-class 75kg fight between Paddy O’Brien and Tim Hollweg, Scotland narrowly came out on top, with a decision victory in favour of Griphouse fighter O’Brien.

Hollweg displayed a classic Dutch style, utilising leg kicks and good Boxing. He landed more shots than his opponent, especially in the later rounds, but O’Brien was the most damaging of the fighters. His two knockdowns with brutal knees to the body did enough to earn him the win.  

World champion Dutchwoman Linda Ooms avenged her country’s loss with a first-round stoppage of Kirsty Mac in their A-class Muay Thai fight.

However, Mac deserves huge credit for accepting the fight on the same day as the event, after her sister was unable to compete because of medical reasons. She showed real heart, but her opponent was noticeably in another class to her, and her corner sensibly threw in the towel after she was given a standing eight-count.

In the other Mixed Martial Arts fight of the evening, Brian Hyslop of the Griphouse beat Darren Gilchrist of Fighter’s Hive by armbar.

Running down to the ring, Hyslop looked very fired up for the fight, and got the victory after a Judo-style takedown set up the finish. He was in side control, before moving into full mount and getting the win with an armbar in the second round.

Another all-Scottish fight took place between Mani Singh and Eric Pavlowka, in which Singh won a clear unanimous decision. His body shot counters were decisive throughout the fight, although his opponent Pavlowka was competent in the clinch, and had some good Boxing skills.

In the Junior fight between 13 year olds Brad Newlands, Griphouse, and JP Gallagher, Douglas, a new champion was crowned. Pink-haired Gallagher started strongly, but by the third round Newlands was countering with ease, expertly evading his opponent’s strikes before landing his own.

Both fighters clearly have promising futures, but Newlands was able to get the victory in this fight, and win a Junior title in the process.

Other fights on the card saw Griphouse fighter Michael Anderson out-point Mark Price of Wossobama in a C-class 55kg fight, and two exciting bouts to open the event, when Davy Park won by TKO against Chris McKean in a C-class 58kg fight, and Jamie Scott defeated Ross Woodburn of Wossobama by KO in their 85kg C-class bout.

The event at Oran Mor was packed with quality fights, particularly the last two Muay Thai bouts on the card, Calder v O’Callaghan and Wiseman v Moir.

Impressive performances occurred in almost every fight, and although Scotland were often defeated by international fighters from across the globe, every Scot showed great heart and didn’t lose without making a real fight of it.