Martial arts: Baria roared on to national glory by jubilant home fans
Ranjeet Baria delighted his home fans by capturing one of five national titles up for grabs on Battle Arena's 'Night Of Champions' at a packed Club Republic, in Leicester.
The Leicester Shootfighters man topped the 25-fight bill against Joe Vidler, of Maidstone MMA Evolution, for the ISKA British 71.5kg belt and did not disappoint.
After a closely-contested opening round, Baria began to dominate and eventually secured a choke-hold technique for the win by tap-out in the third and final round.
Winning the ISKA continued an impressive start to the year for Baria, who also won a gold medal at the Glasgow Open Grappling Championships.
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Johnny Gillan, from Ashby club Devils Pit, took a close-fought contest on a split decision after three rounds against Kevin Richardson (Peterborough Freestyle) to land the 84kg title.
There was no joy for club-mate Phil Tomkins in the showdown for the 57kg crown as he lost on a technical submission to Josh Neale, of Warriors MMA.
The referee stopped the contest at 2min 29sec of the first round as Neale applied the armbar. There was no tap from Tomkins, who was unhappy to be halted, but officials are within their rights to end proceedings if they feel there is a danger of fighters suffering injury.
The other two national titles were won by Chris Fensom (Warriors MMA), at 84kg, and Matt Bolsover (Sheffield), at 93kg.
There was plenty of action on the undercard, with Baria's Leicester Shootfighters club-mates Jake Constantinou, Alex Feary and Kiro Kiffin all claiming impressive stoppage victories.
Fellow Leicester club, 1st Legion, also recorded victories thanks to Josh McManus, Wade Bass and Rob Large.
The Gannon's MMA clan provided two more local winners in the form of Gianni Brigginshaw and Paul Gannon.
2 Comments
by JakeyC
Saturday, March 02 2013, 1:53PM
“Thanks for the mention!! Was a great night, and displayed some Leicester talent that's not often recognised!!”
by Coach_Levo
Friday, March 01 2013, 11:31AM
“Congratulations to all the Leicester clubs that fought and especially to Ranj on winning the title. And thank you to the Leicester Mercury for their support of martial arts in the city.”