Video: Vicious Knees to Thigh Allow Jo Nattawut to Retain Title at Lion Fight 35

Jo Nattawut, whose nickname is “Smokin,” was on fire Friday night in the main event of Lion Fight 35 in stopping Kengsiam Nor Sripueng. In a battle of rival Thais, it was Nattawut who seized control early and never relented until the fight was over inside Foxwoods Casino Resort on AXS TV.

The two exchanged words leading up to the bout, both proclaiming that one wouldn’t be able to withstand the other’s leg attacks. Nor Sripueng (65-13-5, 10 KOs) regarded himself as the world’s best at leg kicks, but in the end, he was the one who was stopped from that weapon. Nattawut slammed several nasty, crippling kicks into his challenger’s legs early and often, disallowing Nor Sripueng to find his range or get into a groove.

Nattawut said he noticed early in their contest that Nor Sripueng was in pain and turned up the heat until it was over. With Nor Sripueng’s back against the ropes late in the third, “Smokin” Jo slammed two brutal knees into his left thigh, the second of which dropped him. Nor Sripueng writhed in agony on the canvas and was counted out by referee Bryan Minor, officially ending the fight at the 2:40 mark of the frame, allowing Nattawut (62-6-2, 16 KOs) to retain his Lion Fight super welterweight title.

Naruepol Fairtex was a tricky puzzle to solve for Amadeu Cristiano (51-16, 9 KOs) in the Lion fight 35 co-feature as the Brazilian could never find a rhythm. Fairtex used a methodical approach to the super welterweight affair and systematically broke the Brazilian down for five rounds, though he never truly dominated his foe. Rather, the Thai uber veteran employed a tactical approach over the five rounds and did just enough to outscore Cristiano. Fairtex (180-46-5, 53 KOs) won via unanimous decision with scores of 49-46 (twice) and 48-47.

Bellator MMA and World Series of Fighting veteran Chip Moraza-Pollard has really come into his own in Muay Thai and he looked sensational yet again Friday night. “The Surgeon” tore apart Scott Noble from the start as he tagged him virtually whenever he wanted, both at a distance and on the inside. Noble (1-1) showed true grit in surviving the full five rounds, but he was in way over his head against the Massachusetts native. In the end, Moraza-Pollard (3-0) won a lopsided unanimous decision with scores of 50-43 (twice) and 50-44.

Jeri Sitzes was in control of the action inside the ropes against Andra Aho, but as good as she looked, it wasn’t enough to earn the win. Sitzes suffered a gruesome cut on her forehead early in the fight thanks to a perfectly-timed elbow from Aho. Even with blood oozing from her face, though, Sitzes dominated her foe. But when she was tearing into Aho late in the third, the referee stopped the contest because of the cut. Without having the ringside physician examine the laceration at that moment, the ref figured that since she looked like the, “Thanks for the ride, lady!” guy from Creepshow 2, he called it off. The controversial decision by the ref allowed Aho to win via TKO at 2:35 of the third.

Jafar Toshev (1-0) was too much for Yeison Berdugo to handle as he wound up stopping him in the third to kick things off on AXS TV. After dropping Berdugo early in the fight, he battered him around the ring and then sent him to the canvas in the third thanks to a spinning backfist. Berdugo (2-3) stayed on his gloves and knees as he was counted out at the 1:26 of the frame.